Golden Horde

The Golden Horde was a Mongol successor state that controlled the Pontic-Caspian steppe, the Caucasus, and much of Eastern Europe following the western Mongol campaigns of Batu Khan. Russian principalities, including Novgorod and the Principality of Moscow, paid tribute to the Golden Horde for over two centuries, a period Russians called the Tatar Yoke. The Horde converted to Islam under Khan Uzbek in the early fourteenth century and reached its cultural and economic peak in that era, with its capital Sarai on the Volga serving as a major trade hub. Defeat at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 by Dmitry Donskoy began its decline; internal fragmentation and attacks by Timur further weakened it until the Khanate of Crimea destroyed Sarai in 1502.

• Existed: 1242 CE – 1502 CE
• Type: Empire
• Government: khanate
• Capital: Sarai