Biography

During his reign, the strengthening of the power of the temnik Isa Nogai began. Nogai's father-in-law was the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII, and Nogai's son Chika was married to the daughter of the Cuman ruler of Bulgaria. Mengu-Timur persuaded Nogai to keep his headquarters in Kursk or Rylsk and occupy the post of Horde governor (temnik, governor-beklyarbek) in the Balkans.

Mengu-Timur allowed the Genoese to settle in Cafe, as a result of which Crimean trade revived and the importance of the peninsula and its capital Solkhat increased.

By his order, a census was carried out in Rus'. Also, by his decree, the Ryazan prince Roman Olgovich was executed. In 1275 he supported the Galician prince Lev Danilovich in hostilities against the Lithuanian prince Troyden.

He continued the policy of his predecessors to strengthen the independence and increase the influence of the Jochi ulus within the Mongol Empire. He began minting a coin with his tamga. Under him, the Tatars, together with the allied Russian princes, made campaigns against Byzantium (about 1269-71), Lithuania (1274), and the Caucasus (1277). In the name of Mengu-Timur, the first of the labels that have reached us was written about the liberation of the Russian Church from paying tribute to the Golden Horde. During the reign of Mengu-Timur, the Genoese colony of Kafa was founded in Crimea.

Under his rule, the Russian clergy was exempted from military service, Muslim merchants stopped holding positions as tax collectors among the peasants, and insulting the Orthodox religion (including from Muslims) was punishable by death. Under him, Bishop Athenogenes of Sarai was appointed head of the Tatar delegation sent to Constantinople. The rule of those times is known that if a member of the ruling dynasty became an Orthodox Christian, then he did not lose his rights and property.

Mangu-Temir's relations with the Russian princes were good because of his friendly (tolerance is spelled out in the Yasakh of Genghis Khan, which was followed by all Genghisids) attitude towards the Orthodox religion. He exempted church lands from taxes.

The era of Mengu-Timur and the beginning of the Cossacks

The scientist Akhmetzyan Kultasi (18th century) wrote in his works that the world's first Cossack detachment, intended to guard the royal palace, was formed by order of Khan Gazi-Baraj from the Zakazan pagan Garachians in 1229. After the overthrow of Gazi-Baraj, these Cossacks were subjected to persecution of Altynbek and fled from Zakazan to Nukrat (Vyatka), where they founded the city of Garya (Karino) and a number of other villages (probably Koshkarov, Kotelnoy, Mukulin). Then the Garachin Cossacks took part in the western campaigns of Gazi-Baraj in 1238-41. (the campaign of the Mongols and Bulgars against Kyiv and Poland). After the establishment of the power of Mengu-Timur in 1278, part of the Nukrat Garachs converted to Orthodoxy and began to dominate Nukrat. Another part of the Garachians who converted to Islam began to be called Besermen.

Notes

Literature

• Vernadsky G.V. Mongols and Rus' = The Mongols and Russia / Translated from English. E. P. Berenshtein, B. L. Gubman, O. V. Stroganova. - Tver, M.: LEAN, AGRAF, 1997. - 480 p. - 7000 copies. - ISBN 5-85929-004-6
• Grekov B. D., Yakubovsky A. Yu. The Golden Horde and its fall. - M., L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950.
• Egorov V.L. Historical geography of the Golden Horde in the XIII-XIV centuries. / Rep. editor V.I. Buganov. - M.: Nauka, 1985. - 11,000 copies.
• Zakirov S. Diplomatic relations of the Golden Horde with Egypt / Rep. editor V. A. Romodin. - M.: Nauka, 1966. - 160 p.
• Kamalov I. Kh. Relations of the Golden Horde with the Hulaguids / Trans. from Turkish and scientific ed. I. M. Mirgaleeva. - Kazan: Institute of History. Sh. Marjani, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2007. - 108 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-94981-080-4
• Myskov E. P. Political history of the Golden Horde (1236-1313). - Volgograd: Volgograd State University Publishing House, 2003. - 178 p. - 250 copies. - ISBN 5-85534-807-5
• Pochekaev R. Yu. Kings of the Horde. Biographies of khans and rulers of the Golden Horde. - St. Petersburg. : EURASIA, 2010. - 408 p. - 1000 copies. -

Why should poets care whether posterity learns the story of their life?

All of it is in the glory of their work

Pierre-Jean Beranger

Mengu-Timur (Mongolian Munke-Temur) was very unlucky in historiography: researchers usually tend to present him as a rather mediocre ruler against the background of such outstanding sovereigns and statesmen as Batu, Berke, Nogai, Uzbek, Toktamysh. And in fact, compared to them, he looks quite inexpressive. Meanwhile, the very fact that it was Mengu-Timur who became the first khan of the Golden Horde to officially accept this title already allows us to classify him as one of the most outstanding “kings of the Horde.”

I

Mengu-Timur was the second of five sons of Tukan, the second son of Batu. His mother was Kuchu Khatun, the daughter (or sister) of Bug Timur from the influential Mongolian Oirat tribe. The exact date of birth of Mengu-Timur is unknown, we believe that he was born in the 1240s. His father, whom Borakchin Khatun unsuccessfully tried to elevate to the throne after the death of Ulagchi, probably died at the turn of the 1250-1260s, and by 1262/1263 Tarbu, Mengu-Timur’s elder brother, also died.

As a result, Mengu-Timur remained by this time the eldest in the Batu family, which was believed to have certain advantages in inheriting the Horde throne. Therefore, he became something of a "crown prince" under his great-uncle Burke. Arab diplomats who visited the Golden Horde in 661 AH. (1263), they reported that Mengu-Timur was “appointed heir” to Berke and bore as such the title “Amir Oglu, that is, Amir the Small.” Apparently, Berke himself was considered the “senior emir”, who did not claim to khan's title. It is likely that the recognition of Mengu-Timur as the heir became the condition under which the other Jochids agreed to recognize Berke as the ruler of the Golden Horde.

However, despite the official status of "crown prince", Mengu-Timur's rise to power after Berke's death was not so smooth. Russian chronicles from 1266 (the year of Berke’s death) report: “There was a great rebellion in Samekh Tatareh. the numberless multitude beat themselves up among themselves like the sand of Morsk.” Mengu-Timur had rivals in the struggle for the Horde throne, behind whom stood influential forces.

The first of them was Tuda-Mengu, the younger brother of Mengu-Timur. He was the next oldest, had a rather flexible character and, like Berke, gravitated towards Islam. These qualities attracted, on the one hand, the Muslim population of the Golden Horde to Tuda-Meng, and, on the other, those Mongol noyons who feared the imperious nature of Mengu-Timur. The second contender for the throne was probably Berke's young son, who could have been supported by both Muslim adherents of his father and those representatives of the Jochid clan who did not want the direct descendants of Batu to return to power. The most influential among them was Temnik Nogai, Berke’s favorite, who had great weight in the Horde troops.

However, the origins of Mengu-Timur and the formal status of Berke's heir helped him achieve power. And although the new ruler’s accession to the throne was not bloodless, he did not (or did not have the opportunity) to carry out large-scale repressions against those who opposed his accession, and limited himself to removing his most influential opponents from the court. In particular, Nogai was deprived of command of the Horde troops, sent to his inheritance on the Danube and during the entire reign of Mengu-Timur was not allowed to participate in state affairs. However, Mengu-Timur, for his part, tried not to interfere in the affairs of his ulus, allowing the temnik to create something like an autonomous state within the Golden Horde. Historical sources do not report anything about the further fate of Berke’s young son, and this suggests that he was eliminated by order of Mengu-Timur.

Not wanting to be completely dependent on any overly powerful military leader, Mengu-Timur divided the armed forces of the Golden Horde into three parts. He headed the center himself, entrusting the right wing to Noyon Taira. and the left - to Noyon Mavu. Presumably, both of these commanders contributed to his rise to power and enjoyed the trust of Batu’s grandson.

As we remember, Berke declared himself the head of the Golden Horde without permission, without receiving the consent of Khan Munke. Khubilai, Möngke's successor, was forced to come to terms with Berke's accession and now watched with alarm that Berke's heirs were following in his footsteps and did not at all need confirmation of their power by the khan. After some reflection, Kublai tried to somehow rectify the situation and sent Mengu-Timur a label in which he was appointed ruler of the Golden Horde. Of course, this gesture could not deceive anyone: in fact, Kublai himself admitted that he was coming to terms with the fact that Batu’s grandson had come to power and only recognized his accession. Nevertheless, Mengu-Timur accepted this label: without taking on any obligations in relation to the central government, he acquired legitimacy in the eyes of the khan and the rulers of other Mongol uluses, and this strengthened his position within the Golden Horde. From now on, his word both actually and formally became law for all subjects of the Jochid state.

II

Many expected that Batu's grandson, having come to power, would pursue a policy sharply different from Berke's - if only to show that the legitimate branch of the Jochids had returned to power, and to declare himself as an independent politician. However, in general, Mengu-Timur continued the policies of his great-uncle, only shifting some accents. This was especially evident in his foreign policy.

Thus, like Berke, Mengu-Timur began to maintain allied relations with Egypt. Sultan Baybars exchanged friendly messages and rich gifts with him - despite the fact that Mengu-Timur professed the traditional Mongolian religion of Tengrism, not Islam! It was quite obvious that Baybars hoped for the continuation of the war between the Golden Horde and Iran of the Hulaguids, and this promised him, the Sultan, freedom of action in the Middle East.

It seemed that at first Baybars’ hopes were fully justified: in the first year of his reign, Mengu-Timur continued the war with Ilkhan Abaga, which began under Berke. But in 1268, the new Horde ruler suffered a serious defeat from the Ilkhan and hastened to make peace with Iran. Much to the chagrin of Baybars, this peace was not disturbed until the death of Mengu-Timur. The Egyptian Sultan tried to influence the Horde dignitaries and through them push Mengu-Timur to a new war with Iran; but only Nogai responded positively to Baybars’ initiatives - and that was probably because at that time he was out of work and tried in every possible way to maintain his prestige in the eyes of foreign sovereigns. In 1277, Sultan Baybars died without waiting for the resumption of the war between the Golden Horde and Iran. Mengu-Timur (again, like Berke) had a calm relationship with Russia: already at the very beginning of his reign, in 1267, he issued the label of the Orthodox Church, freeing it from taxes and duties and granting autonomy in its internal affairs. In the form that has come down to us, the label of Mengu-Timur looks like this: “By the power of the Most High God, by the will of the Most High Trinity, the word of the people is baskak and prince and noble prince and to the tribute and to the scribe and to the passing ambassador and to the falconer and to the pard. Genghis king then that there will be tribute or food, but not to hide them and with the right heart of God to pray for us and for our tribe and break us for good. Having said this, the last kings also granted priests and monks along the same route. Whether tribute or anything else, tamga, plow, yam, warrior, whoever asked for anything and they said to give, whoever we don’t know about, we know everything. And we, praying to God, did not erase their letters. Thus, saying along the first path, whoever will be asked for tribute or carts, or carts, or feed; do not give yam, warrior, tamga. Or what belongs to the church, land, water, vegetable gardens, vineyards, mills, winter huts, summer huts - don’t take them. And even if they were caught, they would give it back. And whatever the church craftsmen, falconers, pardusnitsa, whoever they may be, do not borrow them, nor guard them. Or what is in the law of their books or anything else - let them not be borrowed, nor eaten, nor torn, nor destroyed. And whoever has the faith to blaspheme them - that person will apologize and die. The priest eats only bread and lives in the same house, whoever has a brother or a son, and those who follow the same path receive a reward, even if they have not left. Whether there will be a tribute from them or something else, something else will be given to them. And the priest received a grant from us according to the first letter, praying to God and blessing us. And if you pray for us with the wrong heart, that sin will be upon you. So I say. Even those who are not priests, other people, will have a host, although they pray to God that this will happen. So, this metropolitan was given a letter. Having seen and heard this letter from the priests and from the Chernytsy, Baskatsi, princes, scribes, servants, customs officers did not want to raise any tribute or anything else; This is how it was written in the fourth summer of the last autumn month on Tala.” This label can be considered, on the one hand, a continuation of the policy of the Mongol khans in relation to religion (starting with Genghis Khan, who issued the first such label to the Taoists back in 1223). On the other hand, this document meant that Mengu-Timur already intended to proclaim himself a khan, since only independent Genghisid monarchs had the right to issue labels.

For Mengu-Timur, Rus' was both a source of income and human resources, as well as a transit point on the trade route with Europe. The heir Berke fully patronized the development of trade and therefore sought to create the most favorable conditions for Western traders to do business in the Golden Horde. So, around 1269, Mengu-Timur issued a label to the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavich, ordering him to give “the path clear” to the Hanseatic merchants, that is, to let them pass through his lands without duties and taxes.

Around the same time, Mengu-Timur, the first of the Horde rulers, allowed Italian traders to settle in the south of the Golden Horde possessions - in the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region, where at that time trading posts of the Venetians, Genoese and Pisans appeared. During the era of Mengu-Timur, the Genoese carried out trade expeditions even in the Caspian Sea and adjacent areas. And in 1278, the Venetian consul arrived in Sudak: the first official diplomatic representative of the republic. In domestic politics, Mengu-Timur tried to follow the principles of his grandfather Batu. He perfectly understood the danger that the ruling Chingizids and tribal leaders, having strengthened themselves in the areas allocated to them, could “take root”, establish family and political connections and, relying on the support of the local population, would cease to submit to the authority of the rulers of Sarai. To avoid this, Mengu-Timur periodically ordered his relatives and noyons to migrate together with their subjects to new places. For example, he transferred Uran-Timur (the son of Tug-Timur, whose descendants traditionally had possessions in the eastern regions of the Golden Horde - the Blue Horde) to the Crimea. And it is not Mengu-Timur’s fault that his successors on the Sarai throne stopped practicing such “shuffling.” In the end, the appanage rulers managed to gain a foothold in certain territories and achieve not only broad autonomy, but also lay claim to supreme power themselves. Having maximally strengthened his power within the country and ensured the security of the Golden Horde in the international arena, Mengu-Timur began the work of his life - acquiring complete independence for the Golden Horde.

III

Before Meng-Timur managed to proclaim himself khan, he played a not very long, but complex and eventful military-diplomatic game.

As we remember, Kublai Khan at the beginning of his reign faced opposition in the person of his brother Arik-Buga and his supporters. In 1264, Arik-Buga was defeated and surrendered, but his follower Khaidu, the grandson of Ogedei, remained free. Being at first an unruly prince who had no supporters, no possessions, no funds, by 1268 he managed to become so strong that he dared to challenge Kublai himself. Having convened a kurultai in Mongolia, Haidu proclaimed himself khan, while declaring Kublai Kublai an illegal ruler and, in addition, accusing him of violating all Mongol customs by accepting the title of emperor of the Yuan dynasty. As a result, a war broke out in the east of the Mongol Empire, which lasted until Haidu's death in 1301.

Mengu-Timur, having received from Khubilai a label confirming his right to power in the Golden Horde, at first did not interfere in the feuds of his eastern relatives. On the contrary, he even promised the emperor that he would support him in the fight against the rebels, and condemned Haidu's actions. However, Mengu-Timur's position soon changed, and he decided to support Haida.

In 1268, Borak, the ruler of the Chagataev ulus, protege and ally of Kublai, began a war with Khaidu. Mengu-Timur was not satisfied with the strengthening of the Kublai-Chagataid bloc, and he immediately sent 30,000 soldiers under the command of his great-uncle Berkechar, Berke’s brother, to help Khaid. Sandwiched between two opponents, Borak, who never received help from Kublai Khan, who was stuck in the struggle with the South Chinese Song Empire, was forced to capitulate. In 1269, a kurultai was held in the valley of the Talas River, to which Khaidu, Borak and a number of Chingizid princes from the Juchi uluses arrived. Chagatai and Ogedey. Mengu-Timur, for some reason, did not consider it possible to personally appear at the congress and sent the aforementioned Berkechar to represent his interests - with the same three tumens of troops that defeated Borak.

The participants of the kurultai made a number of decisions that determined the future fate of the Mongol Empire. First of all, the victors, Mengu-Timur and Khaidu, separated a good third of Borak's possessions for their own benefit. When he expressed indignation at their appetites, they offered him, as compensation... to make a predatory campaign against the possessions of Ilkhan Abaghi, the nephew and ally of Emperor Kublai!

However, the most important and fateful of the decisions was that the participants of the kurultai officially declared their possessions independent of the power of Kublai Kublai, and themselves accepted the titles of khan. Although Mengu-Timur already from the beginning of his reign behaved like an independent monarch (minted coins with his own name and issued labels), but now he received formal recognition of his khan's title in the eyes of his relatives. Khaidu, who had previously made claims to the khan's power, was also recognized by his relatives in the khan's dignity. Borak followed suit because he was angry with Kublai Kublai for not providing him military assistance in the war with Haidu and Mengu-Timur.

Having received recognition of the khan's title from the eastern Genghisids, Mengu-Timur stopped interfering in general imperial politics and from that time on provided his allies with more diplomatic and moral support. However, Khubilai and the Genghisids subordinate to him more than once refused to attack the possessions of Khaidu and the Chagataids when they heard rumors that Mengu-Timur was going to send his troops to help the allies. However, the Golden Horde Khan, first of all, defended his interests and did not want any of the opposing khans to become excessively strong. So, for example, in 1271, when Khaidu, not content with the title of an independent monarch in the Ulus of Ogedei, proclaimed himself a great khan (khakan), Mengu-Timur did not recognize his supremacy. On the contrary, when Khubilai appointed his son Numugan as governor in Mongolia, the khan of the Golden Horde entered into negotiations with the new governor and showed full support for his plans to strengthen Khubilai’s power in the Mongolian steppes. According to the Yuan Shi, Mengu-Timur even concluded an agreement with Kublai on a joint fight against internal rebels, which almost caused Haidu to attack the Ulus of Jochi: only after making sure that the Golden Horde khan was ready for war, Ogedei’s grandson abandoned his intentions.

But, seeing that Numugan’s influence in Mongolia was growing and, in turn, beginning to threaten the balance of power in the empire, Mengu-Timur once again took the side of Khaidu. In 1278, Numugan and his supreme military leader Khantun-noyon were betrayed by their allies, the Chingizid princes from the clan of Munke and Ogedei, and handed over to Khaidu. Ogedei's grandson sent them to his ally Mengu-Timur, at whose court both captives remained until his death. Such valuable hostages provided the Khan of the Golden Horde with extremely peaceful relations with Kublai! Thus, having only once used his military forces in the internecine struggle of the Chingizids, Mengu-Timur achieved the independence of the Golden Horde and became its first khan. He did not even have to fight for his independence: this task was transferred to the shoulders of his allies, who created so many problems for Kublai that he simply could not afford a war with the most remote ulus of the empire, which was the Golden Horde.

IV

So, already in the first three years of his reign, Mengu-Timur managed to achieve the independence of the Golden Horde and secure his possessions in the south (by making peace with Ilkhan Abaga) and in the east (by entering into an alliance with Chagataid Borak). It seemed that this was supposed to give him a free hand for an active policy of conquest in the West. However, this cautious and far-sighted pragmatic monarch was more often limited to a demonstration of force than to its actual use.

So, in 1270, when the knights of the Teutonic Order, located in Reval (Tallinn), once again intended to make a campaign against Veliky Novgorod, and the frightened prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich turned to Mengu-Timur for help, the khan ordered his Vladimir Baskak Amragan to appear at negotiations between Novgorodians and the Germans. The khan’s decision turned out to be effective: seeing a Mongol detachment (Baskak’s retinue) among the Russians, the Germans immediately lost their aggressiveness and signed peace with Novgorod “with all the will of Novgorod.”

In the same year, Grand Duke Yaroslav again turned to the khan - this time with a complaint against the Novgorodians themselves. The Novgorodians refused to recognize Grand Duke Yaroslav as their prince and invited his nephew Dmitry Pereyaslavsky, son of Alexander Nevsky, to reign in Novgorod. Despite the fact that the nephew remained loyal to his uncle and even openly took his side in the conflict with Novgorod, the Grand Duke intended to severely punish the Novgorodians. Yaroslav opposed them with the Vladimir, Tver, Pereyaslav and Smolensk squads, and also sent his envoy, the Novgorod mayor Ratibor Kluksovich, to Mengu-Timur with a request to provide Horde troops to restore order in Rus'. And again Mengu-Timur only pretended that he was going to send his troops to solve the problem. In fact, he waited for the arrival of Vasily Kostromsky (brother of the Grand Duke) to the Horde, who personally arrived at the khan’s headquarters and convinced him that “the Novgorodians ruled, and Yaroslav was to blame.” And the khan “return the Tatar army.” The campaign of the Horde troops against Rus' did not take place again.

A year later, Yaroslav Yaroslavich, probably already ill and feeling the approach of death, came to the khan in order, according to already established practice, to agree on the candidacy of his successor at the grand ducal table. The support of the khan this time was very important, because the legal heir, Vasily Yaroslavich Kostroma, brother of Yaroslav, had much less ability for a great reign than the next oldest nephew, Dmitry Pereyaslavsky, son of Alexander Nevsky. Nevertheless, the ancient right of the ladder belonged to Vasily, and Mengu-Timur agreed to support him as the most legitimate contender for the Vladimir Troy. The authority of the khan in Rus' was so high that Vasily, after the death of Yaroslav in 1272, established himself in Vladimir without any problems.

From time to time, Mengu-Timur sent his soldiers to help the Russian princes to fight against common external enemies. So, in 1274-1275. The khan, at the request of Lev Daniilovich Galitsky, sent soldiers to help him, who took part in the campaign of the Galician-Volyn princes against Lithuania. Such a policy of Mengu-Timur had several positive consequences: firstly, the khan demonstrated support for his loyal vassals, the Russian princes, secondly, he set the Lithuanians against them (who could become potential allies of Red Rus' in the fight against the Horde) and, finally, allowed their warriors to capture booty even when the Golden Horde did not formally wage any wars.

In 1276, Grand Duke Vasily Yaroslavich also died (a year before, like his predecessors, he had agreed with the khan on the candidacy of his successor), and the great table finally passed to his nephew Dmitry Alexandrovich. However, Dmitry, perhaps offended by the khan for not wanting to support his grand-ducal claims bypassing Uncle Vasily, did not seek to closely interact with Sarai. The new Grand Duke did not even go on the campaign that Mengu-Timur organized against the Yases (Ossetians) in 1277-1278. and in which many Russian princes took a very active part. With their help, the khan managed to capture the Ossetian city of Dzhulat (in Russian chronicles - Dedyakov). This victory allowed Mengu-Timur to strengthen the position of the Golden Horde in the North Caucasus and thereby further guarantee peaceful relations with Hulaguid Iran.

As can be seen, Mengu-Timur maintained generally favorable relations with Russia. During his reign, only one Russian prince died - the Ryazan ruler Roman Olgovich, and although in Russian sources it is customary to blame Mengu-Timur for his death, it is unlikely that the khan actually had anything to do with the murder of the prince.

Apparently, Roman Olgovich fell in the fight with his rivals - the appanage princes of Pron, who during the XIII-XV centuries. repeatedly laid claim to supreme power in the Ryazan principality. It is possible that the Pron rulers attracted Mongol detachments of local Baskaks to their side and with their help put an end to the Ryazan prince. It is known that just from 1270 Yaroslav, the son of Roman Olgovich, began to reign in Pronsk: apparently, he and his brothers decided to take revenge on the local princes for their father and drove them out of their own principality.

However, later the Ryazan diocese needed to get its “own” Christian great martyr, and as a result, a hagiographic legend about “the life of the holy noble prince Roman of Ryazan” appeared. According to the “life”, someone reported Roman Olgovich to Mengu-Timur that the prince refused to pay the Horde exit and blasphemed the faith of the Mongols. The khan summoned the prince to Sarai, and he condemned his paganism directly to the khan’s eyes and began praising Christianity. The enraged khan ordered him to be put to a painful execution - “to be dismembered at the joints,” and then to cut off his head and hang it on a spear. This is the official version of the Orthodox Church, but it appeared only in the 16th century. and has absolutely no relation to real events. Firstly, not a single case is known of any Golden Horde khan executing a prince or commoner for defending his religious beliefs. Secondly, Mengu-Timur himself patronized the Russian Orthodox Church, as evidenced by his label in 1267. Bishop Mitrofan of Sarai repeatedly carried out diplomatic assignments for the khan in Byzantium. Moreover, throughout his reign, Mengu-Timur, loyal to the Russian Orthodox Church, did not allow Catholic missionaries to gain a foothold in the central regions of the Golden Horde: at the end of his reign, several missions operated only on the Horde borders with Hungary, while Catholics were able to settle in Sarai only under the successors of Mengu-Timur. All these facts force us to reject the version of the execution of Roman Ryazansky on the orders of Batu’s grandson.

Having certain religious preferences, the first Golden Horde khan, however, was not strong in religious matters, and sometimes this ignorance of his led to undesirable political consequences. This was manifested, in particular, in the story of the Seljuk Sultan Izz ad-Din Kay-Kavus and his son.

As we remember, at the end of his reign Berke managed to rescue the deposed Sultan Kay-Kavus II from Byzantine captivity. Hoping to return Troy to the Sultan and use him as an instrument of his policy in the Middle East, Berke showered Kay-Kavus with favors, married his daughter and granted control of the Crimean city of Solhat. However, Mengu-Timur made peace with Ilkhan Abaga in 1268 and, probably, in order to avoid reasons for renewing the war, abandoned Berke’s plan and changed his attitude towards Kay-Kavus. He recalled the former Sultan from Crimea and kept him with him, in Sarai. At his court, Izz ad-Din Kay-Kavus died in 1277 or 1278.

This is where Mengu-Timur showed his ignorance of the characteristics of various religions! He suggested to Masud b. Kay-Kavusu marries Urbay-Khatun, the widow of his father and daughter Berka. From the point of view of Mongolian religion and steppe customs, such a marriage was not only allowed, but also welcomed. However, according to the canons of Sharia, it was considered almost as incest and therefore was completely unacceptable for the Seljuk prince. Masud chose to escape from the Golden Horde over a marriage prohibited by religion. Together with his brother Faramarz, he fled from Sarai and voluntarily came to Ilkhan Abaga, who, oddly enough, treated the Seljuk princes favorably and even allocated them a part of the Seljuk state as an inheritance. As a result, Mengu-Timur lost even the illusory opportunity to elevate his protege to the Seljuk throne and return to the Golden Horde control over Asia Minor, which it had enjoyed during the era of Batu.

However, despite such failures, in general, Mengu-Timur’s foreign policy turned out to be very effective, and he managed to leave his successors a power that enjoyed great prestige in the international arena.

V

The power of Mengu-Timur prospered and enjoyed peace. Khan showed himself not only as a far-sighted politician, but also as a fair judge: in the memory of his descendants he remained under the nickname Kelek Khan, that is, a fair khan, under whom “all the offended thanked his nature, and the offenders complained.” Mengu-Timur continued Berke's monetary policy, consistently ensuring the issuance of a single coin throughout the entire territory of the Golden Horde, which would have a single weight and a single design. He also ordered his title to be minted on coins, calling himself "the highest khan" and the title "Sultan", which was probably intended to raise the reputation of Mengu-Timur in the Muslim world. In addition, it was under Mengu-Timur that the so-called “tamga of the house of Batu” appeared on the coins of the Golden Horde, showing that the Golden Horde was no longer the domain of the entire Genghisid family, but rather the descendants of Batu.

They say that those who are favored by the gods die young. Apparently, Mengu-Timur enjoyed their patronage to a large extent: he died before reaching 40 years of age. The death of the khan was the result of an unsuccessful operation: an abscess appeared in his throat, which was opened ineptly by the court doctors, which led to his death. This happened in 1280.

Mengu-Timur had several wives, of which the eldest was Dzhidzhek-Khatun, who became the wife of the first Horde khan after the death of her first husband Berke. His other wives were called Oljay-Khatun (from the Kungrat clan, niece of Munke Khan), Sultan-Khatun (from the clan ushin) and Kutuy-Khatun. From these wives he had ten sons (Alguy, Tokta, Tudan, Burliuk, Abaji, Saray-Buga, Togrul, Malakan, Kadan and Kutugan), who, in turn, left numerous offspring. Thus, the preservation and continuation of the Batu clan was ensured.

Mengu-Timur(in Russian chronicles - Mangutemir; mind. OK. ) - Khan of the Juchi ulus (Golden Horde) (-), which under him became formally independent from the Mongol Empire. Son of Tukan, grandson of Batu, successor of Berke.

Biography

During his reign, the strengthening of the power of the temnik Isa Nogai began. Nogai's father-in-law was the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII, and Nogai's son Chaka was married to the daughter of the Cuman ruler of Bulgaria. Mengu-Timur persuaded Nogai to keep his headquarters in Kursk or Rylsk and occupy the post of Horde governor (temnik, governor-beklyarbek) in the Balkans.

Mengu-Timur allowed the Genoese, through his governor in Crimea, the nephew of Oran-Timur, to settle in Kafe, as a result of which Crimean trade revived and the importance of the peninsula and its capital Solkhat increased.

In 1269, at the request of the Novgorodians, Mengu-Timur sent an army to Novgorod to organize a campaign against the Livonian knights, and one military demonstration near Narva was enough to conclude peace “according to the entire will of Novgorod.” In the Nikon Chronicle it was described as follows: ... the great prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, the grandson of Vsevolozh, sent an ambassador to Volodymer to gather armies, although he was going against the Germans, but the gathered force was large, and the great Basque of Volodymer Iargaman and his son-in-law Aidar came with many Tatars, and then hearing the Germans were afraid, and the ambassadors were in trepidation sending gifts his own, and finished off all his wills, and gave them all, and the great Baskak, and all the Tatar princes and Tatars; I am very afraid of the name of Tatar. And so the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavich had done all his will, and the Narovs had given up everything and returned everything in full(PSRL, vol. X, p. 147).

Also, by order of Mengu-Timur, the Ryazan prince Roman Olgovich was executed in 1270, who stood up for his subjects and, according to the denunciation, condemned the faith of the khan, and therefore had to be punished in accordance with the religious legislation of Yasa - his dismembered alive at the joints. In 1274, the campaign to the Caucasus and the destruction of the Yasky city of Dedyakov. Russian regiments are also participating in the campaign.

In 1275, the khan supported the Galician prince Lev Danilovich in hostilities against the Lithuanian prince Troyden.

Mengu-Timur continued the policy of his predecessors to strengthen the independence and increase the influence of the Jochi ulus within the Mongol Empire. By his decree, a census was carried out in Rus' in order to streamline the collection of tribute. The government of Mengu-Timur took measures aimed at strengthening the power of the khan in the Jochi ulus: the remaining khans did not receive basic funds. The apparatus of imperial officials, created to collect tribute from subject territories, lost its importance - now the tribute went directly to the khan himself. Russian, Mordovian, Mari princes (and princes of other nationalities of the Golden Horde) received, along with a label, a financial register for collecting the Golden Horde tribute, which was also imposed on the inhabitants of the Golden Horde. They were divided into two categories: townspeople (not participating in wars), who paid ten percent of the profit, and nomads (replenishing the army) who paid a hundredth of the profit.

Mengu-Timur began minting coins with his tamga in the city of Bulgar. New cities were built: Akkerman (now Belgorod-Dnestrovsky), Kilia (the westernmost city of the Golden Horde, located several tens of kilometers from the Black Sea), Tavan (40 km above Kherson), Kyrk-Er (not far from Bakhchisarai), Soldaya ( Sudak), Azak (Azov), Saraichik (60 km above modern Atyrau), Isker (near Tobolsk) and others. During the reign of Mengu-Timur, the Genoese colony of Kafa was founded in Crimea.

Under him, the Tatars, together with the Russian princes, made campaigns against Byzantium (around 1269-1271), Lithuania (1274), and the Caucasus (1277).

Attitude to the Orthodox Church

In the name of Mengu-Timur, the first yarlyk that has come down to us, dated 1267, was written on the exemption of the Russian Church from paying tribute to the Golden Horde. This is a kind of charter of immunity for the church and clergy of Rus' - the name of Genghis Khan was placed at the beginning of the label to further strengthen the document. It should be noted that following the commandments of Yasa Genghis Khan, the khans even before Mengu-Timur did not include Russian abbots, monks, priests and sextons among those “counted” during the census (Laurentian Chronicle).

Now the label affirmed the privileges of the clergy as a broad social group, including family members; Church and monastery land with all the people working there did not pay tax; and all “church people” were exempted from military service. Muslim merchants stopped holding positions as tax collectors among peasants, and insult (slander, slander) of the Orthodox religion (including from Muslims) was punishable by death. Horde officials were forbidden, on pain of death, to take away church lands or demand the performance of any service from church people. Even blasphemy against the church was prohibited! The benefits of Mengu-Timur to the Orthodox Church in comparison with the labels of his predecessors were so great that in the Moscow Chronicle of the late 15th century they directly wrote: ... the Tatar king Berkai died, and became weakened by Christian violence and besermen .

For the granted privileges, Russian priests and monks were required to pray to God for Mengu-Timur, his family and heirs. It was emphasized that their prayers and blessings should be earnest and sincere. And if one of the clergy prays with a hidden thought, then he will commit a sin(Translation of the Mengu-Timur yarlyk of the Russian church into Old Russian in the books: Grigoriev, Yarlyki, pp. 124-126; Priselkov, Yarlyki, cc. 94-98.) It can be assumed that the text of the yarlyk was compiled jointly by Mengu-Timur (or his chief Mongolian secretary) and Bishop of Sarai Mitrofan, representing the Russian clergy. And if so, then the moral sanction against insincere prayer must have been formulated by this bishop.

Thanks to this label, as well as a number of subsequent ones, the Russian clergy constituted a privileged group, and it was this that laid the foundation for church wealth. This page in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church was well known to educated people of the 19th century, for example to the poet A. S. Pushkin, who in his letter to P. Ya. Chaadaev wrote: The clergy, spared by the amazing ingenuity of the Tatars, alone - for two dark centuries - nourished the pale sparks of Byzantine education.

Under the khan, Bishop Athenogenes of Sarai was appointed head of the Tatar (Volga-Bulgar) delegation sent to Constantinople, that is, in fact, he became the ambassador of the Golden Horde. The rule of those times is known that if a member of the ruling dynasty of the Horde became an Orthodox Christian, then he did not lose his rights and property.

Mengu-Temir's relations with the Russian princes were relatively good precisely because of his positive attitude towards the Orthodox religion. This religious tolerance was spelled out in the Yasa of Genghis Khan: Genghis Khan did not obey any faith and did not follow any confession; he avoided fanaticism and the preference of one religion over another, and from the exaltation of some over others., which all Mongol rulers were supposed to follow, but not everyone followed, especially after the adoption of Islam in the Horde. But Khan Mengu-Timur himself was a follower of the traditional Mongolian religion and therefore was able to balance the religious policy of the Golden Horde.

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Notes

Literature

• Vernadsky G.V.= The Mongols and Russia / Translated from English. E. P. Berenshtein, B. L. Gubman, O. V. Stroganova. - Tver, M.: LEAN, AGRAF, 1997. - 480 p. - 7000 copies. - ISBN 5-85929-004-6.
• Grekov B. D., Yakubovsky A. Yu.. - M., L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950.
• Egorov V.L./ Rep. editor V.I. Buganov. - M.: Nauka, 1985. - 11,000 copies.
• Zakirov S. Diplomatic relations of the Golden Horde with Egypt / Rep. editor V. A. Romodin. - M.: Nauka, 1966. - 160 p.
• Kamalov I. Kh. Relations of the Golden Horde with the Hulaguids / Trans. from Turkish and scientific ed. I. M. Mirgaleeva. - Kazan: Institute of History. Sh. Marjani, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2007. - 108 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-94981-080-4.
• Myskov E. P. Political history of the Golden Horde (1236-1313). - Volgograd: Volgograd State University Publishing House, 2003. - 178 p. - 250 copies. - ISBN 5-85534-807-5.
• Pochekaev R. Yu.. - St. Petersburg. : EURASIA, 2010. - 408 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-91852-010-9.
• Safargaliev M. G. Collapse of the Golden Horde. - Saransk: Mordovian book publishing house, 1960. - 1500 copies.
• Laurentian Chronicle. - P. 475.
• Seleznev Yu. V. Elite of the Golden Horde. - Kazan: Publishing House “Fen” of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, 2009. - 232 p.
• Grigoriev. Labels. - pp. 124-126.
• Priselkov. Labels. - pp. 94-98.

Links

• Mengu-Timur- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
• www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_m/mengu_timur.html

Excerpt characterizing Mengu-Timur

The troops continued to retreat from Smolensk. The enemy followed them. On August 10, the regiment, commanded by Prince Andrei, passed along the high road, past the avenue leading to Bald Mountains. The heat and drought lasted for more than three weeks. Every day, curly clouds walked across the sky, occasionally blocking the sun; but in the evening it cleared again, and the sun set in a brownish-red haze. Only heavy dew at night refreshed the earth. The bread that remained on the root burned and spilled out. The swamps are dry. The cattle roared from hunger, not finding food in the sun-burnt meadows. Only at night and in the forests there was still dew and there was coolness. But along the road, along the high road along which the troops marched, even at night, even through the forests, there was no such coolness. The dew was not noticeable on the sandy dust of the road, which had been pushed up more than a quarter of an arshin. As soon as dawn broke, the movement began. The convoys and artillery walked silently along the hub, and the infantry were ankle-deep in soft, stuffy, hot dust that had not cooled down overnight. One part of this sand dust was kneaded by feet and wheels, the other rose and stood as a cloud above the army, sticking into the eyes, hair, ears, nostrils and, most importantly, into the lungs of people and animals moving along this road. The higher the sun rose, the higher the cloud of dust rose, and through this thin, hot dust one could look at the sun, not covered by clouds, with a simple eye. The sun appeared as a large crimson ball. There was no wind, and people were suffocating in this still atmosphere. People walked with scarves tied around their noses and mouths. Arriving at the village, everyone rushed to the wells. They fought for water and drank it until they were dirty.
Prince Andrei commanded the regiment, and the structure of the regiment, the welfare of its people, the need to receive and give orders occupied him. The fire of Smolensk and its abandonment were an era for Prince Andrei. A new feeling of bitterness against the enemy made him forget his grief. He was entirely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring for his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him our prince, they were proud of him and loved him. But he was kind and meek only with his regimental soldiers, with Timokhin, etc., with completely new people and in a foreign environment, with people who could not know and understand his past; but as soon as he came across one of his former ones, from the staff, he immediately bristled again; he became angry, mocking and contemptuous. Everything that connected his memory with the past repulsed him, and therefore he tried in the relations of this former world only not to be unfair and to fulfill his duty.
True, everything seemed to Prince Andrei in a dark, gloomy light - especially after they left Smolensk (which, according to his concepts, could and should have been defended) on August 6, and after his father, sick, had to flee to Moscow and throw the Bald Mountains, so beloved, built and inhabited by him, for plunder; but, despite this, thanks to the regiment, Prince Andrei could think about another subject completely independent of general issues - about his regiment. On August 10, the column in which his regiment was located reached Bald Mountains. Prince Andrey received news two days ago that his father, son and sister had left for Moscow. Although Prince Andrei had nothing to do in Bald Mountains, he, with his characteristic desire to relieve his grief, decided that he should stop by Bald Mountains.
He ordered a horse to be saddled and from the transition rode on horseback to his father’s village, in which he was born and spent his childhood. Driving past a pond, where dozens of women were always talking, beating rollers and rinsing their laundry, Prince Andrei noticed that there was no one on the pond, and a torn raft, half filled with water, was floating sideways in the middle of the pond. Prince Andrei drove up to the gatehouse. There was no one at the stone entrance gate, and the door was unlocked. The garden paths were already overgrown, and calves and horses were walking around the English park. Prince Andrei drove up to the greenhouse; the glass was broken, and some trees in tubs were knocked down, some withered. He called out to Taras the gardener. Nobody responded. Walking around the greenhouse to the exhibition, he saw that the wooden carved fence was all broken and the plum fruits were torn from their branches. An old man (Prince Andrei saw him at the gate as a child) sat and weaved bast shoes on a green bench.
He was deaf and did not hear Prince Andrei's entrance. He was sitting on the bench on which the old prince liked to sit, and near him was hung a stick on the branches of a broken and dried magnolia.
Prince Andrei drove up to the house. Several linden trees in the old garden had been cut down, one piebald horse with a foal walked in front of the house between the rose trees. The house was boarded up with shutters. One window downstairs was open. The yard boy, seeing Prince Andrei, ran into the house.
Alpatych, having sent his family away, remained alone in Bald Mountains; he sat at home and read the Lives. Having learned about the arrival of Prince Andrey, he, with glasses on his nose, buttoned up, left the house, hastily approached the prince and, without saying anything, began to cry, kissing Prince Andrey on the knee.
Then he turned away with his heart at his weakness and began to report to him on the state of affairs. Everything valuable and expensive was taken to Bogucharovo. Bread, up to a hundred quarters, was also exported; hay and spring, extraordinary, as Alpatych said, this year's harvest was taken green and mowed - by the troops. The men are ruined, some also went to Bogucharovo, a small part remains.
Prince Andrei, without listening to him, asked when his father and sister left, meaning when they left for Moscow. Alpatych answered, believing that they were asking about leaving for Bogucharovo, that they left on the seventh, and again went on about the shares of the farm, asking for instructions.
– Will you order the oats to be released to the teams against receipt? “We still have six hundred quarters left,” Alpatych asked.
“What should I answer him? - thought Prince Andrei, looking at the old man’s bald head shining in the sun and reading in his facial expression the consciousness that he himself understood the untimeliness of these questions, but was asking only in such a way as to drown out his own grief.