Golden Horde and Khan Mengu-Temir. Oriental Literature - Library of Medieval Texts Mengu Timur and the Russian Princess

(1282 )

Mengu-Timur(in Russian chronicles - Mangutemir; mind. OK. ) - Khan of the ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde) (-), which became formally independent from the Mongol Empire under him. Son of Tukan, grandson of Batu, successor to 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 hold the post of the Horde governor (temnik, voivode-beklyarbek) in the Balkans.

Mengu-Timur allowed the Genoese through his governor in the Crimea, nephew Oran-Timur, to settle in Cafe, as a result of which the 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 make peace "by all the will of Novgorod". In the Nikon Chronicle it was described as follows: ... the great prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, the grandson of Vsevolozh, the ambassador to Volodimer to gather armies, although go to the Germans, but having gathered a lot of strength, and the great Baskak Volodimersky Iargaman and his son-in-law Aydar with many Tatars came, and then hearing the Germans were frightened, and tremblingly sent gifts to the ambassadors his own, and dobisha with his brow on all his will, and he gave everyone, and the great Baskak, and all the princes of the Tatars and Tatars; I am terribly afraid of the name of Tatarsky. And so, having done all the will of the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavich, and Narova all retreated and the whole return is 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, therefore he had to be punished in accordance with the religious legislation of Yasa - his torn to pieces alive. In 1274, a campaign in the Caucasus and the ruin of the Yask city of Dedyakov. Russian regiments also participate in the campaign.

In 1275, the khan supported the Galician prince Lev Danilovich in military operations against the Lithuanian prince Troiden.

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 rest of the khans did not receive fixed assets. The apparatus of imperial officials, created to collect tribute from subject territories, lost its significance - now tribute directly went to the khan himself. Russian, Mordovian, Mari princes (and princes of other nationalities of the Golden Horde) received, along with the label, a financial register for collecting the Golden Horde tribute, which was also levied on the inhabitants of the Golden Horde. They were divided into two categories: townspeople (who did not participate in wars), who paid ten percent of the profits, and nomads (who replenished the army) who paid a hundredth of the profits.

Mengu-Timur started to mint a coin with his tamga in the city of Bulgar. New cities were built: Akkerman (now Belgorod-Dnestrovsky), Kiliya (the westernmost city of the Golden Horde, located a few tens of kilometers from the Black Sea), Tavan (40 km above Kherson), Kyrk-Er (near 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 the Crimea.

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

Attitude towards the Orthodox Church

On behalf of Mengu-Timur, the first of the yarlyks that have come down to us from 1267 was written about the liberation of the Russian church from paying tribute to the Golden Horde. This is a kind of immunity charter 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, in the label, the privileges of the clergy as a wide social group, including family members, were approved; church and monastic lands with all the people working there did not pay tax; and all "church people" were freed from military service. Muslim merchants ceased to hold the positions of tax collectors among the peasants and insult (slander, defamation) of the Orthodox religion (including by Muslims) was punishable by death. Horde officials were forbidden, under pain of death, to take away church lands, to demand the performance of any service from church people. Even blasphemy against the church was forbidden! Benefits of Mengu-Timur Orthodox Church in comparison with the labels of his predecessors, they were so great that in the Moscow Chronicle of the end of the 15th century they directly wrote: ... the Tatar king Berkai died, and the Christian was weakened from the violence of the besermen .

For the granted privileges, Russian priests and monks were required to pray to God for Mengu-Timur, his family and heirs. It was especially emphasized that their prayers and blessings should be zealous and sincere. And if one of the clergy prays with a hidden thought, then he will commit a sin(Translation of Mengu-Timur's label of the Russian Church into Old Russian in the books: Grigoriev, Yarlyki, pp. 124-126; Priselkov, Yarlyki, pp. 94-98.) It can be assumed that the text of the label was compiled jointly by Mengu-Timur (or his chief Mongolian secretary) and Bishop Mitrofan of Sarai, who represented 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 precisely this that laid the foundation for church wealth. This page in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church was well known educated people XIX century, for example, to the poet A. S. Pushkin, who in his letter to P. Ya. Chaadaev wrote: The clergy, spared by the amazing sharpness of the Tatars, alone - for two gloomy centuries - fed the pale sparks of Byzantine education.

Under the Khan, Bishop Athenogenes from Sarai was appointed head of the Tatar (Volga-Bulgarian) 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, then he shied away from fanaticism and from preferring one religion to another, and from exalting one over the other. which all the rulers of the Mongols had to follow, but not all 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 religious policy Golden Horde.

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Notes

Literature

Vernadsky G.V.= The Mongols and Russia / Transl. from English. E. P. Berenstein, 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 Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1950.
Egorov V.L./ Rev. editor V. I. Buganov. - M .: Nauka, 1985. - 11,000 copies.
Zakirov S. Diplomatic relations of the Golden Horde with Egypt / Ed. editor V. A. Romodin. - M .: Nauka, 1966. - 160 p.
Kamalov I. Kh. Relations between the Golden Horde and the Khulaguids / Per. from Turkish and scientific. ed. I. M. Mirgaleeva. - Kazan: Institute of History. Sh. Marjani AN RT, 2007. - 108 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-94981-080-4.
Myskov E.P. Political history Golden Horde (1236-1313). - Volgograd: Volgogradsky Publishing House state university, 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. The collapse of the Golden Horde. - Saransk: Mordovian book publishing house, 1960. - 1500 copies.
Lavrentiev Chronicle. - S. 475.
Seleznev Yu.V. Elite of the Golden Horde. - Kazan: Feng Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, 2009. - 232 p.
Grigoriev. Labels. - S. 124-126.
Priselkov. Labels. - S. 94-98.

An excerpt characterizing Mengu-Timur

By dusk, the cannonade began to subside. Alpatych came out of the basement and stopped at the door. Before a clear evening, the sky was all covered with smoke. And through this smoke a young, high-standing sickle of the moon shone strangely. After the former terrible rumble of guns had fallen silent over the city, silence seemed to be interrupted only by the rustle of steps, groans, distant screams and the crackle of fires, as it were spread throughout the city. The groans of the cook are now quiet. From both sides, black clouds of smoke from fires rose and dispersed. On the street, not in rows, but like ants from a ruined tussock, in different uniforms and in different directions, soldiers passed and ran through. In the eyes of Alpatych, several of them ran into Ferapontov's yard. Alpatych went to the gate. Some regiment, crowding and hurrying, blocked the street, going back.
“The city is being surrendered, leave, leave,” the officer who noticed his figure said to him and immediately turned to the soldiers with a cry:
- I'll let you run around the yards! he shouted.
Alpatych returned to the hut and, calling the coachman, ordered him to leave. Following Alpatych and the coachman, all Ferapontov's household went out. Seeing the smoke and even the lights of the fires, which were now visible in the beginning twilight, the women, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to wail, looking at the fires. As if echoing them, similar cries were heard at the other ends of the street. Alpatych with a coachman, with trembling hands, straightened the tangled reins and horses' lines under a canopy.
When Alpatych was leaving the gate, he saw ten soldiers in the open shop of Ferapontov pouring sacks and knapsacks with wheat flour and sunflowers with a loud voice. At the same time, returning from the street to the shop, Ferapontov entered. Seeing the soldiers, he wanted to shout something, but suddenly stopped and, clutching his hair, burst out laughing with sobbing laughter.
- Get it all, guys! Don't get the devils! he shouted, grabbing the sacks himself and throwing them out into the street. Some soldiers, frightened, ran out, some continued to pour. Seeing Alpatych, Ferapontov turned to him.
- Decided! Russia! he shouted. - Alpatych! decided! I'll burn it myself. I made up my mind ... - Ferapontov ran into the yard.
Soldiers were constantly walking along the street, filling it all up, so that Alpatych could not pass and had to wait. The hostess Ferapontova was also sitting on the cart with the children, waiting to be able to leave.
It was already quite night. There were stars in the sky and a young moon shone from time to time, shrouded in smoke. On the descent to the Dnieper, the carts of Alpatych and the hostess, slowly moving in the ranks of soldiers and other crews, had to stop. Not far from the crossroads where the carts stopped, in an alley, a house and shops were on fire. The fire has already burned out. The flame either died away and was lost in black smoke, then it suddenly flashed brightly, strangely clearly illuminating the faces of the crowded people standing at the crossroads. In front of the fire, black figures of people flashed by, and from behind the incessant crackle of the fire, voices and screams were heard. Alpatych, who got down from the wagon, seeing that they would not let his wagon through soon, turned to the alley to look at the fire. The soldiers darted incessantly back and forth past the fire, and Alpatych saw how two soldiers and with them a man in a frieze overcoat dragged burning logs from the fire across the street to the neighboring yard; others carried armfuls of hay.
Alpatych approached a large crowd of people standing in front of a high barn burning with full fire. The walls were all on fire, the back collapsed, the boarded roof collapsed, the beams were on fire. Obviously, the crowd was waiting for the moment when the roof would collapse. Alpatych expected the same.
- Alpatych! Suddenly a familiar voice called out to the old man.
“Father, your excellency,” answered Alpatych, instantly recognizing the voice of his young prince.
Prince Andrei, in a raincoat, riding a black horse, stood behind the crowd and looked at Alpatych.
– How are you here? - he asked.
- Your ... your Excellency, - Alpatych said and sobbed ... - Yours, yours ... or have we already disappeared? Father…
– How are you here? repeated Prince Andrew.
The flame flared brightly at that moment and illuminated Alpatych's pale and exhausted face of his young master. Alpatych told how he was sent and how he could have left by force.
“Well, Your Excellency, or are we lost?” he asked again.
Prince Andrei, without answering, took out a notebook and, raising his knee, began to write with a pencil on a torn sheet. He wrote to his sister:
“Smolensk is being surrendered,” he wrote, “the Bald Mountains will be occupied by the enemy in a week. Leave now for Moscow. Answer me as soon as you leave, sending a courier to Usvyazh.
Having written and handed over the sheet to Alpatych, he verbally told him how to arrange the departure of the prince, princess and son with the teacher and how and where to answer him immediately. He had not yet had time to complete these orders, when the chief of staff on horseback, accompanied by his retinue, galloped up to him.
- Are you a colonel? shouted the chief of staff, with a German accent, in a voice familiar to Prince Andrei. - Houses are lit in your presence, and you are standing? What does this mean? You will answer, - shouted Berg, who was now assistant chief of staff of the left flank of the infantry troops of the first army, - the place is very pleasant and in sight, as Berg said.
Prince Andrei looked at him and, without answering, continued, turning to Alpatych:
“So tell me that I’m waiting for an answer by the tenth, and if I don’t get the news on the tenth that everyone has left, I myself will have to drop everything and go to the Bald Mountains.
“I, prince, only say so,” said Berg, recognizing Prince Andrei, “that I must obey orders, because I always fulfill them exactly ... Please excuse me,” Berg justified himself in some way.
Something crackled in the fire. The fire subsided for a moment; black puffs of smoke poured from under the roof. Something else crackled terribly in the fire, and something huge collapsed.
– Urruru! - Echoing the collapsed ceiling of the barn, from which there was a smell of cakes from burnt bread, the crowd roared. The flame flared up and illuminated the animatedly joyful and exhausted faces of the people standing around the fire.
A man in a frieze overcoat, raising his hand, shouted:
- Important! go fight! Guys, it's important!
“This is the master himself,” voices said.
“So, so,” said Prince Andrei, turning to Alpatych, “tell everything as I told you.” And, without answering a word to Berg, who fell silent beside him, he touched the horse and rode into the alley.

The troops continued to retreat from Smolensk. The enemy was following them. On August 10, the regiment, commanded by Prince Andrei, passed along the high road, past the avenue leading to the Bald Mountains. The heat and drought lasted for more than three weeks. Curly clouds moved across the sky every day, occasionally obscuring the sun; but towards evening it cleared again, and the sun set in a brownish-red mist. Only heavy dew at night refreshed the earth. The bread remaining on the root burned and spilled out. The swamps have dried up. The cattle roared from hunger, not finding food in the meadows burned by the sun. Only at night and in the forests the dew still held, it was cool. 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 was pushed up more than a quarter of an arshin. As soon as it dawned, the movement began. Convoys, artillery silently walked along the hub, and the infantry up to their ankles in soft, stuffy, hot dust that had not cooled down during the night. One part of this sandy dust was kneaded by feet and wheels, the other rose and stood like a cloud over the army, sticking to the eyes, hair, ears, nostrils and, most importantly, 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 it was possible to look at the sun, not covered by clouds, with a simple eye. The sun was a big crimson ball. There was no wind, and people were suffocating in this still atmosphere. People walked with handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths. Coming to the village, everything rushed to the wells. They fought for water and drank it to the dirt.
Prince Andrei commanded the regiment, and the structure of the regiment, the well-being of its people, the need to receive and give orders occupied him. The fire of Smolensk and its abandonment were an epoch for Prince Andrei. A new feeling of bitterness against the enemy made him forget his grief. He was completely 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 officers, 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 ran into one of his former staff members, he immediately bristled again; became malicious, 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 unjust and to fulfill his duty.
True, everything was presented in a dark, gloomy light to Prince Andrei - especially after they left Smolensk (which, according to his concepts, could and should have been defended) on August 6, and after his father, who was sick, had to flee to Moscow and throw away the Bald Mountains, so beloved, built up and inhabited by him, for plunder; but, despite the fact, thanks to the regiment, Prince Andrei could think about another subject, completely independent of general questions - about his regiment. On August 10, the column, in which his regiment was, caught up with the Bald Mountains. Prince Andrey two days ago received the news that his father, son and sister had left for Moscow. Although Prince Andrei had nothing to do in the Bald Mountains, he, with his characteristic desire to inflame his grief, decided that he should call in the Bald Mountains.
He ordered his horse to be saddled and from the crossing rode on horseback to his father's village, in which he was born and spent his childhood. Passing by a pond, where dozens of women, talking to each other, beat with rollers and rinsed their clothes, Prince Andrei noticed that there was no one on the pond, and a torn-off raft, half flooded with water, floated 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 the calves and horses walked along English park. Prince Andrei drove up to the greenhouse; the windows were broken, and the trees in tubs, some felled, some withered. He called Taras the gardener. Nobody responded. Going around the greenhouse to the exhibition, he saw that the carved board fence was all broken and the plum fruits were plucked with branches. An old peasant (Prince Andrei had seen him at the gate in his childhood) was sitting and weaving bast shoes on a green bench.
He was deaf and did not hear the entrance of Prince Andrei. He was sitting on a bench, on which the old prince liked to sit, and beside him was hung a bast on the knots of a broken and withered magnolia.
Prince Andrei drove up to the house. Several lindens in the old garden were cut down, one piebald horse with a foal walked in front of the house between the roses. 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, remained alone in the Bald Mountains; he sat at home and read the Lives. Upon learning of the arrival of Prince Andrei, he, with glasses on his nose, buttoning up, left the house, hurriedly approached the prince and, without saying anything, wept, kissing Prince Andrei on the knee.
Then he turned away with a heart to 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, unusual, as Alpatych said, this year's green harvest was taken and mowed - by the troops. The peasants are ruined, some have also gone to Bogucharovo, a small part remains.
Prince Andrei, without listening to the end, 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 had left on the seventh, and again spread about the farm's shares, asking for permission.
- Will you order the oats to be released on receipt to the teams? We still have six hundred quarters left,” Alpatych asked.
“What to answer him? - thought Prince Andrei, looking at the old man's bald head shining in the sun and reading in his expression the consciousness that he himself understands the untimeliness of these questions, but asks only in such a way as to drown out his grief.

Mother Huchuhadun[d] Spouse Absh Khatun[d]

In 1266, Khan Mengu-Timur allowed the Genoese through his governor in the Crimea, nephew Oran-Timur, to settle in Cafe, as a result of which the Crimean trade revived and the importance of the Crimean peninsula itself and its capital, the city of Solkhat, increased.

At the same time, in 1268, Khan Mengu-Timur unleashed a war with the Mongol Ilkhan of Iran Abaka for Azerbaijan. In this war, the ruler of the Golden Horde was supported by the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Baibars I. A year later, a peace treaty was concluded between Khan Mengu-Timur and Abaka.

Opponent of Khan Mengu - Timur - Ilkhan of Iran Abaq

In 1269, at the request of the Novgorodians, Khan Mengu-Timur sent an army to Veliky Novgorod to organize a campaign against the Livonian knights - the crusaders, and one military demonstration near Narva was enough to make peace "by all the will of Novgorod". In the Nikon Chronicle it was described as follows: ... the great prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, the grandson of Vsevolozh, the ambassador to Volodimer to gather armies, although go to the Germans, but having gathered a lot of strength, and the great Baskak Volodimersky Iargaman and his son-in-law Aydar with many Tatars came, and then hearing the Germans were frightened, and tremblingly sent gifts to the ambassadors his own, and dobisha with his brow on all his will, and he gave everyone, and the great Baskak, and all the princes of the Tatars and Tatars; I am terribly afraid of the name of Tatarsky. And so, having done all the will of the Grand Duke Yaroslav Yaroslavich, and Narova all retreated and the whole return is full(PSRL, vol. X, p. 147).

The reconciliation of the Grand Duke of Vladimir - Suzdal Yaroslav Yaroslavich of Tverskoy with the Novgorodians also happened with the help of the ambassadors of Mengu-Timur - this is evidenced by the "Treaty Charter of Novgorod with the Grand Duke of Tver Yaroslav Yaroslavich" dated 1270: Here came ambassadors from Mengu Temer, Caesar / Tsar, plant Yaroslav with a letter to Chevgu and Baisha.

In 1270, by order of Mengu-Timur, the Ryazan prince Roman Olgovich the Holy was executed, who stood up for his subjects and, according to the denunciation, condemned the faith of the khan, therefore he had to be punished in accordance with the religious legislation of Yasa - his torn to pieces alive.

In 1274, under Mengu-Timur, a campaign against North Caucasus, during which the devastation of the Yask city of Dedyakov took place. Russian princely regiments also participated in the campaign.

In 1275, Khan Mengu-Timur supported the King of Rus', Lev Danilovich of Galicia, in military operations against the Grand Duke of Lithuania Troiden. At the same time, other Russian princes, dependent on the power of the Golden Horde, also took part in this campaign, for example, Prince of Chernigov Roman Mikhailovich Stary.

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 rest of the khans did not receive fixed assets. The apparatus of imperial officials, created to collect tribute from subject territories, lost its significance - now tribute directly went to the khan himself. Russian, Mordovian, Mari princes (and princes of other nationalities of the Golden Horde) received, along with the label, a financial register for collecting the Golden Horde tribute, which was also levied on the inhabitants of the Golden Horde. They were divided into two categories: townspeople (not participating in wars), who paid ten percent of the profits, and nomads (replenishing the army), paying a hundredth of the profits.

Under him, the Tatars, together with the Russian princes, made campaigns against the Byzantine Empire (about 1269-1271), Lithuania (1274), and the Caucasus (1277). In 1281, the army of Mengu-Timur participated in the battle with the Mamluks in Syria (between Hama and Homs). The battle ended with no clear winner; After suffering heavy losses, both sides retreated.

Attitude to the Russian Orthodox Church

On behalf of Mengu-Timur, the first of the yarlyks that have come down to us from 1267 was written about the release of the Russian Orthodox Church from paying tribute to the Horde. This is a kind of immunity charter for the Russian church and clergy - the name of Genghis Khan was placed at the beginning of the label. 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, in the label, the privileges of the clergy as a wide social group, including family members, were approved; church and monastic lands with all the people working there did not pay tax; and all "church people" were exempted from military service.

Muslim merchants ceased to hold the positions of tax collectors (Baskak) among the peasants. Insult (slander, defamation) of the Orthodox religion (including by Muslims) was punishable by death. Horde officials were forbidden, under pain of death, to take away church lands, to demand the performance of any service from church people.

The benefits of Mengu-Timur to the Orthodox Church compared to the labels of his predecessors were so great that in the Moscow Chronicle of the late 15th century it is directly written: ... the Tatar king Berkai died, and the Christian was weakened from the violence of the besermen .

For the granted privileges, Russian priests and monks were required to pray to God for Mengu-Timur, his family and heirs. It was especially emphasized that their prayers and blessings should be zealous and sincere. " And if one of the clergy prays with a hidden thought, then he will commit a sin. It can be assumed that the text of the label was compiled jointly by Mengu-Timur (or his chief Mongolian secretary) and Bishop Mitrofan of Sarai, who represented 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 precisely 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 wrote in his letter to P. Ya. Chaadaev: The clergy, spared by the amazing sharpness of the Tatars, alone - for two gloomy centuries - fed the pale sparks of Byzantine education.

Mengu-Temur'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, then he shied away from fanaticism and from preferring one religion to another, and from exalting one over the other. which all the rulers of the Mongols had to follow, but not all followed, especially after the adoption of Islam in the Horde. But Khan Mengu-Timur himself was a follower of the traditional Mongolian religion - Tengrianism and therefore was able to balance the religious policy of the Golden Horde.

Family of Mengu-Timur.

Oljei-Khatun, daughter of Buk-Timur, sister of Oljei-Khatun.
Abish-Turkan, daughter of the Fars atabek Sa "da, son of the atabek Abu Bekr, mother Kurduchin.
Nojin-khatun, daughter of Durabay-noyon.

Daughters: (Mengu-Timur had many daughters, only those known from the chronicle are given):

Kurduchin (senior princess) - the wife of the Kerman Sultan Jalal-ad-din Soyurgatmish, the wife of Emir Satalmish, son of Boraligi, the wife of Togay.
No. - the wife of Emir Sutai-Akhtachi.
Ara-Kutlug is the wife of Taragay-gurgen, the wife of Doladai-eyudechi.

Mangutimer, ﻣﻪﻧﮔوﺗﻳﻣﺌﺭ Mother Huchuhadun[d] Spouse Absh Khatun[d]

In 1274, under Mengu-Timur, a campaign took place in the North Caucasus, during which the devastation of the Yask city of Dedyakov took place. Russian princely regiments also participated in the campaign.

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 rest of the khans did not receive fixed assets. The apparatus of imperial officials, created to collect tribute from subject territories, lost its significance - now tribute directly went to the khan himself. Russian, Mordovian, Mari princes (and princes of other nationalities of the Golden Horde) received, along with the label, a financial register for collecting the Golden Horde tribute, which was also levied on the inhabitants of the Golden Horde. They were divided into two categories: townspeople (not participating in wars), who paid ten percent of the profits, and nomads (replenishing the army), paying a hundredth of the profits.

Attitude to the Russian Orthodox Church

For the granted privileges, Russian priests and monks were required to pray to God for Mengu-Timur, his family and heirs. It was especially emphasized that their prayers and blessings should be zealous and sincere. " And if one of the clergy prays with a hidden thought, then he will commit a sin. It can be assumed that the text of the label was compiled jointly by Mengu-Timur (or his chief Mongolian secretary) and Bishop Mitrofan of Sarai, who represented 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 precisely 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 wrote in his letter to P. Ya. Chaadaev: The clergy, spared by the amazing sharpness of the Tatars, alone - for two gloomy centuries - fed the pale sparks of Byzantine education.

Family of Mengu-Timur.

Oljei-Khatun, daughter of Buk-Timur, sister of Oljei-Khatun.
Abish-Turkan, daughter of the Fars atabek Sa "da, son of the atabek Abu Bekr, mother Kurduchin.
Nojin-khatun, daughter of Durabay-noyon.

Daughters: (Mengu-Timur had many daughters, only those known from the annals are given).

What a concern for poets, whether posterity learns the story of their life.

All of it is in the glory of their work

Pierre-Jean Beranger

Mengu-Timur (Mong. Mongke-Temur) was very unlucky in historiography: researchers usually tend to present him as a rather mediocre ruler against the background of such bright sovereigns and statesmen like Batu, Berke, Nogay, Uzbek, Toktamysh. And in fact, compared to them, he looks very inexpressive. Meanwhile, the very fact that it was Mengu-Timur who became the first Khan of the Golden Horde, who officially took this title, already allows us to classify him among the most prominent "Kings of the Horde".

I

Mengu-Timur was the second of the 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 enthrone after the death of Ulagchi, probably died at the turn of the 1250s-1260s, and by 1262/1263 Tarbu, the elder brother of Mengu-Timur, also died.

As a result, Mengu-Timur remained by this time the eldest in the Batu family, which, it was believed, had some advantages in inheriting the Horde throne. So he became something of a "crown prince" under his great-uncle Burke. Arab diplomats who visited the Golden Horde in 661 h. (1263), it was reported that Mengu-Timur was "appointed as 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 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.

Nevertheless, despite the official status of the "Crown Prince", the rise of Mengu-Timur to power after the death of Berke was not so smooth. Russian chronicles under 1266 (the year of Berke's death) report: “There was a great rebellion in the same Tatars. beating themselves between themselves a numberless multitude, like the sand of the Sea. Mengu-Timur had rivals in the struggle for the throne of the Horde, behind whom were influential forces.

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

However, the origin of Mengu-Timur and the formal status of Berke's heir helped him achieve power. And although the accession of the new ruler 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 to the throne, 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 public 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 nothing is reported about the further fate of the young son Berke, and this suggests that he was eliminated by order of Mengu-Timur.

Not wanting to depend entirely on any overly powerful commander, Mengu-Timur divided the armed forces of the Golden Horde into three parts. He himself headed the center, and entrusted the right wing to Noyon Tayre. and the left one to Noyon Mavu. One must think that both of these commanders contributed to his coming to power and enjoyed the confidence of his grandson Batu.

As we remember, Berke proclaimed himself the head of the Golden Horde arbitrarily, without obtaining the consent of Khan Munke. Khubilai, Mongke's successor, was forced to come to terms with Berke's accession to the throne 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 thought, Khubilai tried to somehow rectify the situation and sent Mengu-Timur a label in which he appointed him the ruler of the Golden Horde. Of course, this gesture could not deceive anyone: in fact, Khubilai himself admitted that he was resigned to the fact that his grandson Batu came 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 in fact and formally, became the law for all subjects of the Jochid state.

II

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

So, like Berke, Mengu-Timur began to maintain allied relations with Egypt. Sultan Baibars exchanged friendly messages and rich gifts with him - despite the fact that Mengu-Timur professed the traditional Mongolian religion Tengrism, and not Islam! It was quite obvious that Baybars hoped for the continuation of the war between the Golden Horde and the Hulaguid Iran, 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 Abagy, which had begun under Berk. But in 1268 the new Horde ruler suffered a serious defeat from the Ilkhan and hurried to make peace with Iran. To the great chagrin of Baybars, this peace was not broken until the death of Mengu-Timur. The Egyptian sultan tried to influence the Horde dignitaries and through them to push Mengu-Timur to a new war with Iran; but only Nogai reacted positively to Baibars's initiatives - and that, probably, because at that time he was out of work and tried his best 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. With Russia, Mengu-Timur (again, like Berke) was in a calm relationship: already at the very beginning of his reign, in 1267, he issued a label to 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: “The Highest God, by the power of the Highest Trinity, by the will of Mengutemer, the word of a human Baskak and a prince and a regimental prince and a tributary and a scribe and a passing ambassador and a falconer and a pardusnik. Genghis the king then that there will be tribute or food, don’t cover them up and with the right heart of God for us and for our tribe pray and break us. Saying so, the last kings along the same path granted priests and blacks. Whether it was a tribute or something else, tamga, plowed, pits, a warrior, whoever asked for anything and they were saying to give, whoever we don’t know, we know everything. And we, praying to God, did not exhaust their letters. Saying taco along the first path, which is a tribute or a plow, or a supply, or food, whoever will, but do not ask; pits, warrior, tamga do not give. Or what is church, land, water, vegetable gardens, grapes, mills, winter quarters, summer houses - but do not take them. And they will be caught, and they will give back. And what about church masters, falconers, pardusnits, whoever they be, let them not seize them, nor guard them. Or that their books or anything else is in the law - let them not be borrowed, nor taken, nor torn up, nor destroyed. And whoever has the faith of their blasphemy - that person will apologize and die. Popov is one bread eating and living in one house, who has a brother or son, and those along the same path are rewarded, even if they did not speak out from them. Whether it will be, whether tribute came from them or something else, give them something else. And the priests from us grant according to the first letter, praying to God and blessing us stand. And if you have an unrighteous heart, pray for us - to God that sin will be on you. So mule. Already who will not be a priest, other people, will have a reception, although pray to the gods that it will be. So mlvya, this Metropolitan was given a charter here. Seeing and hearing this letter from the priests and from the Chernytsy, neither tribute nor anything else you want or stir up the Baskaci, princes of scribes, scoundrels, customs officers, but indignantly apologize and die. Taco is written for the last summer of the autumn right month in the fourth old age on Tali. This label can be considered, on the one hand, a continuation of the policy Mongolian khans in relation to religion (beginning with Genghis Khan, who back in 1223 issued the first such label to the Taoists). On the other hand, this document meant that Mengu-Timur had already intended to proclaim himself khan, for only independent Chingizid monarchs had the right to issue labels.

Rus' was for Mengu-Timur both a source of income and human resources, as well as a transshipment point on the trade route with Europe. The heir to Berke patronized the development of trade in every possible way and therefore sought to create the most favorable conditions for Western merchants 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 is clear” to the Hanseatic merchants, that is, to let them pass through their lands without duties and fees.

Around the same time, Mengu-Timur, the first of the Horde rulers, allowed Italian merchants to settle in the south of the Golden Horde possessions - in the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region, where trading posts of the Venetians, Genoese and Pisans appeared at that time. The Genoese in the era of Mengu-Timur carried out trading expeditions even in the Caspian Sea and adjacent areas. And in 1278, the Venetian consul also arrived in Sudak: the first official diplomatic representative of the republic. In domestic policy, Mengu-Timur tried to follow the principles of his grandfather Batu. He was well aware of the danger that the sovereign Chingizids and tribal leaders, having strengthened themselves in the areas allotted to them, could “take root”, establish family and political ties and, relying on the support of the local population, cease to obey the power of the rulers of Saray. To avoid this, Mengu-Timur periodically ordered his relatives and noyons to migrate with their subjects to new places. So, for example, he transferred Uran-Timur (the son of Tuga-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 a "shuffling". In the end, the specific 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 set about his life's work - the acquisition of complete independence by the Golden Horde.

III

Before Mengu-Timur succeeded in proclaiming himself Khan, he led a not very long, but complex and eventful military-diplomatic game.

As we remember, at the beginning of his reign, Kublai Khan faced opposition in the person of his own brother Arik-Bughi and his supporters. In 1264, Arik-Buga was defeated and surrendered, but his adherent Kaidu, the grandson of Ogedei, remained at large. Being at first an idle prince, who had neither supporters, nor possessions, nor funds, by 1268 he managed to become so strong that he dared to challenge Khubilai himself. Having convened a kurultai in Mongolia, Kaidu proclaimed himself khan, declaring Khubilai an illegal ruler and, in addition, accusing him of violating all Mongolian customs by taking the title of emperor of the Yuan dynasty. As a result, a war began in the east of the Mongol Empire, which lasted until the death of Kaidu in 1301.

Mengu-Timur, having received a label from Khubilai 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 Kaidu's actions. However, Mengu-Timur's position soon changed, and he decided to support Kaidu.

In 1268, Borak, the ruler of the Chagatai ulus, protege and ally of Khubilai, started a war with Khaidu. Meng-Timur was not satisfied with the strengthening of the bloc of Khubilai and the Chagataids, and he immediately sent 30,000 soldiers to help Kaidu under the command of his great-uncle Berkechar, brother of Berke. Caught between two opponents, Borak, who did not wait for help from Khubilai, who was bogged down in the fight against the South Chinese Song empire, was forced to capitulate. In 1269, a kurultai took place in the valley of the Talas River, at which Kaidu, Borak and a number of Genghisid princes from the Jochi uluses arrived. Chagatai and Ogedei. For some reason, Mengu-Timur 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, the 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 winners, Mengu-Timur and Kaidu, separated a good third from the possessions of Borak in their favor. When he expressed indignation at their appetites, they offered him as compensation ... to make a predatory campaign against the possessions of Ilkhan Abagi - the nephew and ally of Emperor Kublai!

However, the most important and fateful of the decisions was that the participants of the kurultai officially proclaimed their possessions independent of the power of Khubilai, and themselves adopted the titles of khans. Although Mengu-Timur from the beginning of his reign behaved like an independent monarch (he minted coins with own name and issued labels), but now he received formal recognition of his khan 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, as he was angry with Khubilai for not providing him with military assistance in the war against Kaidu and Mengu-Timur.

Having received recognition of the title of khan from the Eastern Genghisides, Mengu-Timur stopped interfering in general imperial politics and from that time on he provided his allies with more diplomatic and moral support. Nevertheless, Khubilai and the Genghisids subject to him repeatedly refused to attack the possessions of Kaidu and the Chagataids, when rumors reached them that Mengu-Timur was going to send his troops to help the allies. However, the Golden Horde khan, first of all, defended his own interests and did not want any of the opposing khans to become excessively strengthened. So, for example, in 1271, when Kaidu, 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 all possible support for his plans to strengthen Khubilai's power in the Mongolian steppes. According to Yuan Shi, Mengu-Timur even concluded an agreement with Khubilai on a joint struggle against internal rebels, which almost caused Kaidu 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, began to threaten the balance of power in the empire, Mengu-Timur once again took the side of Kaidu. In 1278, Numugan and his supreme commander Khantun-noyon were betrayed by their allies, the Genghisid princes from the Mongke and Ogedei clans, and handed over to Kaidu. Ogedei's grandson sent them to his ally Mengu-Timur, at whose court both captives were until his death. Such valuable hostages provided the Khan of the Golden Horde with an extremely peaceful relationship with Khubilai! So, having only once involved his military forces in the internecine struggle of the Genghisids, 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 shifted to the shoulders of his allies, who created so many problems for Khubilai that he simply could not afford a war with the most remote ulus of the empire, which was 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 the Ilkhan Abaga) and in the east (by entering into an alliance with Chagatayid Borak). It seemed that this should have freed his hands for an active policy of conquest in the West. However, this cautious and far-sighted pragmatic monarch was more often limited to a show of force than to its actual use.

So, in 1270, when the knights of the Teutonic Order, located in Revel (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 on negotiations between Novgorodians and 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 about the Novgorodians themselves. 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 set out to severely punish the Novgorodians. Yaroslav opposed them with the Vladimir, Tver, Pereyaslav and Smolensk squads, and also sent his envoy, the Novgorod posadnik 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 Kostroma (brother of the Grand Duke) to the Horde, who personally arrived at the headquarters of the Khan and convinced him that "the people of Novgorod rule, and Yaroslav is 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 being ill and feeling the approach of death, came to the khan in order, according to the already established practice, to agree on the candidacy of his successor on the grand prince's table. The support of the khan this time was very important, because the legitimate heir, Vasily Yaroslavich of Kostroma, brother of Yaroslav, had much less ability for a great reign than the next nephew in seniority, Dmitry Pereyaslavsky, son of Alexander Nevsky. Nevertheless, the old ladder right was for 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 after the death of Yaroslav in 1272, Vasily established himself in Vladimir without any problems.

From time to time, Mengu-Timur sent his soldiers to help the Russian princes in the fight against common external enemies. So, in 1274-1275. Khan, at the request of Lev Daniilovich of Galicia, 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 showed support for his loyal vassals, the Russian princes, secondly, he turned the Lithuanians against them (who could become potential allies of Chervonnaya Rus in the fight against the Horde) and, finally, allowed their warriors to seize booty even when the Golden Horde formally did not wage any wars.

In 1276, Grand Duke Vasily Yaroslavich also died (a year before, like his predecessors, he 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, because he did not want to support his grand ducal claims, bypassing Uncle Vasily, did not seek to closely interact with Saray. The new Grand Duke did not even go on a campaign that Mengu-Timur staged against the Yases (Ossetians) in 1277-1278. and in which very Active participation accepted by many Russian princes. 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 positions of the Golden Horde in the North Caucasus and thereby to an even greater extent guarantee peaceful relations with Khulaguid Iran.

As can be seen, Mengu-Timur maintained generally benevolent 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 struggle with his rivals - the specific Pronsky princes, who during the XIII-XV centuries. repeatedly claimed supreme power in the Ryazan principality. It is possible that the rulers of Pronsk attracted the 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, together with 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 on Roman Olgovich to Menga-Timur, as if the prince refused to pay the Horde exit and blasphemed the faith of the Mongols. Khan summoned the prince to Sarai, and he directly in the eyes of the khan condemned his paganism and began to praise Christianity. The enraged khan ordered that he be subjected to a painful execution - “to be torn apart by the joints”, and then his head was cut off and mounted on a spear. This is the official version of the Orthodox Church, but it appeared only in the 16th century. and has nothing to do with actual events. Firstly, not a single case is known of any Golden Horde khan executing a prince or a commoner for defending his religious beliefs. Secondly, Mengu-Timur himself patronized the Russian Orthodox Church, as evidenced by his label of 1267. Bishop Mitrofan of Sarai repeatedly carried out the khan's diplomatic missions in Byzantium. Moreover, during his entire 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 Saray only under the successors of Mengu-Timur. All these facts force us to reject the version of the execution of Roman Ryazan on the orders of Batu's grandson.

Having certain religious preferences, the first Khan of the Golden Horde, however, was not strong in religious matters, and sometimes this ignorance of his led to undesirable political implications. 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 the Crimean city of Solkhat to the administration. However, in 1268 Mengu-Timur made peace with the Ilkhan Abaga and, probably, in order to avoid the resumption of the war, abandoned the Berke plan and changed his attitude towards Kay-Kavus. He withdrew former sultan from the Crimea and kept with him, in Saray. At his court, Izz ad-Din Kay-Kavus died in 1277 or 1278.

It was then that Mengu-Timur showed his ignorance of the features of various religions! He suggested to Masud b. Kei-Kavusu to marry Urbai-Khatun, his father's widow and Berke's daughter. From the point of view of the Mongolian religion and steppe customs, such a marriage was not only allowed, but also welcomed. However, according to the canons of Sharia, he was considered almost as incest and therefore was completely unacceptable for the Seljuk prince. Masud preferred flight from the Golden Horde to a marriage not permitted by religion. Together with his brother Faramarz, he fled from Saray and voluntarily came to Ilkhan Abaga, who, oddly enough, treated the Seljuk princes favorably and even allocated a part of the Seljuk state as an inheritance for them. As a result, Mengu-Timur lost even a ghostly opportunity to elevate his protege to the Seljuk throne and return control over Asia Minor to the Golden Horde, which she had in the era of Batu.

However, despite these setbacks, foreign policy Mengu-Timur turned out to be very effective, and he managed to leave to his successors a power that enjoys great prestige in the international arena.

V

The state 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 which "all the offended thanked his nature, and the offenders complained." Mengu-Timur continued the monetary policy of Berke, consistently ensuring the issuance of a single coin throughout the territory of the Golden Horde, which would have a single weight and a single design. He also ordered that his title be minted on a coin, 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 Batu house” appeared on the coins of the Golden Horde, showing that the Golden Horde was no longer the lot of the entire Chingizid family, but the descendants of Batu.

It is said that he who is favored by the gods dies young. Apparently, Mengu-Timur largely enjoyed their patronage: he died before reaching 40 years of age. The death of the khan came as a result of an unsuccessful operation: an abscess appeared in his throat, which the court doctors clumsily opened, which led to death. It 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. ushin) and Kutui-Khatun. From these wives he had ten sons (Algui, 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.

In 1267-1282, and was born presumably in the 1240s. The chronicles provide the following information about his origin: the second son of Batu Tukan had 5 sons.

Mengu-Timur was the second in seniority. His mother was from the Oirat tribe. The death of his father and older brother made him the most significant contender in the Batu Khan family for the throne of the Horde. His great-uncle Berke, who rules the Golden Horde, never had the title of "khan" and, most likely, ruled on the condition that the throne would go to the direct descendants of Khan Batu. Mengu-Timur was appointed his heir, despite the fact that Berke also had a son.

And although the succession to the throne was determined long before the death of Berke, Mengu-Timur had to fight for the throne.

The steep temper of the Mongol crown prince made the court dignitaries fear his reign, therefore, his younger brother, the complaisant and pious Tuda-Mengu, was nominated as a contender for the rulers. His adherence to Islam attracted many supporters to him, who hoped that he would continue Berke's policies.

Khan title of Mengu-Timur

Another party was headed by a friend and favorite of the late Berke, centurion Nogai. He was a supporter of the erection of the infant son Berke to the khanate. Nogai was a serious opponent of Mengu-Timur - the centurion had great authority in the troops.

After skirmishes, intrigues and a bloody struggle, Mengu-Timur received the title of khan in 1266. He acted quite gently with his main competitor - Nogai was exiled, having received a distant ulus, in whose affairs the khan did not interfere, thus allowing the creation of an autonomous region within the khanate. The fate of Berke's son is unknown to historians - hypotheses are being made that, most likely, Mengu-Timur took care of his elimination.

Taking into account the experience of his great-uncle, the khan did not hand over the management of the army to one commander and divided it into three parts - he headed the central one himself, and entrusted the leadership of the other two to those who helped him get the throne - the noyons Mavu and Taira.

If anyone expected that Mengu-Timur would radically change the external and internal politics state, he was wrong. At first, everything continued the same way as under his predecessor. He continued to maintain friendly relations with the Egyptian Sultan and even participated as an ally of the Egyptians in the war with the Iranian ruler Abaga. But, having received a crushing defeat from him, he stopped hostilities. And, despite the diplomatic tricks of the Sultan, designed to resume them, he avoided military clashes with Iran.

Smart and far-sighted Khan

Khan's foreign policy was quite wise and balanced. Relations with were smooth and calm. The beginning of his reign was marked by the issuance of a "label" to the Orthodox Church, which exempted it from taxes, the khan did not interfere in its internal affairs, granting a certain autonomy.

This gesture can be regarded in two ways: both as strengthening loyalty in the controlled territories, and as actually proclaiming oneself a khan, since such decisions could only be made by Genghisides with this title.

A balanced policy towards his eastern Mongolian relatives helped Mengu-Timur to legitimately obtain this title for himself. Intriguing, supporting now one contender for the title of great khan, then another, through cunning and diplomatic tricks, and also thanks to the military support of the candidates he needed, Mengu-Timur made his relatives at the kurultai of 1269 recognize the independence of the Golden Horde.

In the first three years of his reign, this smart and far-sighted khan managed not only to give legitimacy to his rule, but also to strengthen the borders, creating a powerful and influential state. military force in his reign, Mengu-Timur used relatively rarely. The authority of the Golden Horde during his reign was so high that there were enough rumors about the Khan's intention to start hostilities, and the solution was found through diplomacy.

Wise ruler Mengu-Timur

In 1270, the Teutonic Order was going to fight Veliky Novgorod, and Prince Yaroslav rushed to seek protection from the Khan. Mengu-Timur sent his envoys to the negotiations between the Novgorodians and the knights. Seeing the Mongols, the Teutons signed peace with Novgorod on favorable terms for the Novgorodians. more than once turned to the khan for help, and Mengu-Timur showed outstanding diplomacy in resolving complicated Russian issues.

He did not refuse the Russian princes and help against external enemies. So the relations with the khan among the Russian nobility were quite good. But Mengu-Timur is accused of one princely death: the ruler of Ryazan was killed in a skirmish with less influential princes. And if the khan had anything to do with this, then the most remote.

Subsequently, a legend arose that the Ryazan prince was killed precisely at the headquarters of the khan for his faith: ill-wishers informed Roman Olegovich that he allegedly not only blasphemed the reign of Mengu-Timur, but also called the khan a pagan. The enraged Khan ordered the painful execution of the brave prince, who was later canonized by the Orthodox Church for the suffering he endured.

But this version has several serious flaws. The Horde khans were very loyal to the religion of others, and there was not a single execution before or after the mentioned incident because of religious views. The later appearance of the legend is also confusing - the prince was declared a saint only in the sixteenth century. Meanwhile, the facts testify rather to the benevolent attitude of the khan towards Orthodoxy. For example, Bishop Mitrofan Mengu-Timur of Sarai was entrusted with a diplomatic mission to Byzantium, and also forbade Catholic missionaries to preach in the Horde.

Mengu-Timur proved to be not only a talented politician, but also a wise ruler. Under him, the khanate reached its economic peak: he continued the work of Berke - the issuance of a single coin. And there the khan ordered to give himself the title of "sultan" to raise his authority in the Muslim states. In addition, he declared the Golden Horde the patrimony of the Batu clan, thus cutting it off forever from the claims of Genghisides from other families.

Khan's death

Khan died relatively young, under forty. In 1282 he developed an abscess in his throat. The doctors performed the operation unsuccessfully, and Mengu-Timur died from complications. The ruler did not leave a will, therefore it was not clear which of the ten sons needed to inherit the parental throne. Most likely, the khan did not expect an imminent death, therefore there were no orders in this regard.

And again the centurion Nogai entered the political arena. Using his power and influence, he contributed to the accession to the throne of the Golden Horde brother Mengu-Timur Tuda-Timur. The ruler of the new khan turned out to be weak and short-sighted and, after several years of reign, was overthrown by the descendants of Mengu-Timur in 1287, and then killed.