Yihao Qiu*

Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role

Understanding the History of the Golden Horde
from the Perspectives of the Yuan Dynasty

Abstract – This study discusses the history of the Golden Horde and the political status of
the Jochid ulus from the perspective of the Yuan Dynasty. According to traditional narratives,
the rulers of the Jochid ulus were largely antagonistic and apathetic towards the Yuan Court.
However, Chinese sources present a somewhat different picture and shed new light on several
issues, including the status of Jochid rulers in the eyes of Yuan historians, the importance of
Jochid apanages in China, local dual-administrative structures, and local officials of the Great
Khan . The importance of Berke’s conversion to Islam and how this influenced the conflict
between the Jochids and Toluids is also touched upon. The contribution ends with a discussion
of the relationship between the Golden Horde and the Yuan Dynasty in the post‑Berke period.
Keywords: Golden Horde, Yuan Dynasty, Jochid ulus, Islamisation, apanage, title, dual‑
administrative structure
Résumé – Comprendre l’histoire de la Horde d’Or à travers la perspective de la dynastie Yuan.
Cet article montre comment l’histoire de la Horde d’Or et le statut politique de l’ulus de
Jochi étaient perçus par la dynastie Yuan. En effet, le récit historiographique traditionnel
présente les souverains de l’ulus de Jochi soit comme des rivaux des souverains Yuan, soit
comme indifférents à ces derniers. Cependant, les sources chinoises nous permettent de
brosser un autre tableau de leurs relations. Ces sources offrent, notamment, un éclairage
inédit sur un certain nombre d’aspects complexes qui faisaient litige sous les Mongols, dont
le statut des souverains jochides, l’importance des apanages jochides en Chine, les structures
administratives sous double responsabilité et la question des représentants officiels du Grand

* Department of History, Fudan University, Shanghai

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Khan. Cet article traite également de la conversion à l’islam de Berke, de son importance pour
les contemporains et de son rôle dans les conflits entre Jochides et Toluides. L’auteur conclut
sur un état des relations entre la Horde d’Or et la dynastie Yuan après le règne de Berke.
Mots clefs : Horde d’Or, dynastie Yuan, ulus de Jochi, islamisation, apanage, titulature,
double administration

Introduction
Very few articles have been published concerning the relationship between the
Golden Horde (1236‑1502) and the Yuan Dynasty (1271‑1368). This is remarkable
as both polities were influential successor states of the Great Mongol Empire and
coexisted for almost a century. It is the widely‑held opinion in Mongol history
studies that in the civil war between Möngke’s two younger brothers, Qubilai and
Ariq‑Böke, the new ruler of the Golden Horde, Berke (r. 1256‑1266), rejected
Qubilai’s legitimacy and supported Ariq‑Böke. The relationship between the Great
Khan of the Yuan Dynasty and the Khan of the Golden Horde was irreparably
damaged after Ariq‑Böke’s failed claim for the throne. At the same time, the
superiority of the Great Khan was weakened after the dissolution of the Mongol
Empire. As a result of their political and diplomatic estrangement and the vast
distance between New Saray and Khanbaliq, the Great Khan of the Yuan Dynasty
no longer had a voice in the internal affairs of the Golden Horde.
One of the most important Chinese sources, the Yuanshi (The History of Yuan,
hereafter YS), was compiled between 1368 to 1369. The text is mainly based on the
imperial annals, governmental archives, and official reports in the royal chancery
(Chen, 1990: 115-129), and includes a significant amount of information relating to
the military and diplomatic contacts between the Yuan and the Golden Horde. In
addition, there are local Chinese documents and personal works (e.g. gazetteers,
literary anthologies, and inscriptions), written during the reigns of the first four
Mongol Great Khans (1206‑1259), which occasionally reveal the esteem that the
Jochids had in the eastern part of the Mongol Empire.
When it comes to the study of Golden Horde history, Chinese sources suffer
from a number of drawbacks. First, official documents written during the Yuan
Dynasty were deeply influenced by a Toluid bias. An obvious example of this is
the absence of Berke’s name from the biography of rulers of the Jochid ulus and
genealogical tables of the imperial family. 1 Second, Chinese historians sometimes
failed to record non‑Chinese individuals or confused the chronology of distant
events. However, despite these disadvantages, Chinese documents have the

1 The Yuanshi records the names of successive rulers of the Jochid ulus down to the reign of Janibek
(r. 1342-1357), but Berke’s name is not included. Berke’s name is also absent in two genealogical tables of
the Chinggisids. In contrast, Berke’s predecessor, Sartaq (r. 1256‑1257), and successor, Möngke‑Temür (r.
1267‑1280), are recorded in these works (Song, 1978: 2714‑2715; Tao, 1997: vol. 1, 2‑3).
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 31

potential to shed important new light on Golden Horde history. As established by

Chinggis Khan, each branch of the royal clan had to be alloted shares of recently‑
conquered territories. Batu gained an apanage in China, and in subsequent decades
alterations to this apanage always coincided with political upheavals that affected
the whole empire. Chinese documents contain detailed information on the agents,
officials, and administrative structures that the Jochids used to control this and
other apanages.
This contribution seeks to provide an overview of Golden Horde history from the
perspective of the Yuan Dynasty. It uses Yuan sources to obtain new information
on the status of the ruler of the Jochid ulus in the eyes of the Yuan historians, the
importance of Jochid apanages in China, and local dual‑administrative structures
and officials. The question to what extent Berke’s Islamisation influenced the
Jochids’ relationship with the Toluids is also discussed. The contribution ends with
a discussion of the relationship between the Golden Horde and the Yuan Dynasty
in the post‑Berke period.

The Status of the Ruler of the Jochid Ulus

Generally speaking, Chinese historians refer to the Jochid princes as the « princes
of western regions » (xidao zhuwang, 西道諸王) or the « princes of the right hand
» (Song, 1978: 63, 1721). These labels are used in conjunction with the terms «
princes of eastern regions » (dongdao zhuwang, 東道諸王) or « princes of the left
hand » (zuoshouzhuwang, 左手諸王) (Song, 1978: 63, 3797‑3798), which refer to the
descendants of Chinggis Khan’s brothers. The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was
called the heir of « the nation of the centre » (Mong. qool-un ulus), which indicated
he was Qubilai’s lineal descendant and a legitimate successor of Chinggis Khan.
Jochi had a superior status among his brothers during Chinggis Khan’s lifetime,
not only in terms of age but also in political and economic affairs. According to
the Secret History of the Mongols, Chinggis Khan called him « the eldest of my
sons », and due to this position, Jochi was granted rule over the forest peoples in
Siberia after he had conquered the area (Cleaves, 1982: 173). As his successor, Batu
seems to have inherited Jochi’s position and status. In Chinese sources, the status
of Jochi and his successors is emphasised. In an inscription written in 1254, Jochi
is described as zhengong (震宫), a term usually translated as « crown prince » or «
senior prince » (Ma, 1998: 236). 2 A decade later, in a memorandum submitted to
Möngke, the author complains that Jochi’s apanage in China was much bigger than
that of his brothers, which was due to Jochi’s senior status (Hao, 1738: v.32, f.19).
Batu’s Chinese title provides additional information. A recently‑published tomb

2 In general, the Chinese character « zhen » means « to quake, to shake », but as a literal allusion it also means
« eastern, oriental ». In the original text, the term « zhengong » is used as a synonym for « donggong », the
eastern palace (東宮), which is a metonym for the crown prince.

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inscription includes Batu’s title of « supreme commander » (fujun, 撫軍), which

reflects his actual identity from the perspective of the Chinese sources (Liu, 2011:
43). Coincidentally, contemporary Armenian sources also emphasise Batu’s status
as « the commander of the North » (Kirakos, 1985: 309). Like his father, Batu was
appointed to lead various Chinggisid princes to conquer the Qipchaq Steppe, Volga
Bulgar, and Rus’ in 1236, and his Chinese title seems to have been granted at this
time (Juvaynī, 1958: p. 267, 269; Rashīd al-Dīn, 1994: v.2, p. 360). Afterwards, the
title fujun was retained by the Yuan Dynasty. For example, Qubilai’s crown prince,
Jinggim, and the later emperors, Temür and Qaishan, were granted this title before
they were dispatched to Qaraqorum (Song, 1978: 381, 500, 3113).
According to classic Chinese sources, the title fujun (supreme commander)
indicates a prince who was appointed as the main representative of the Great
Khan to lead military operations in a certain area under the joint rulership of the
Chinggisids. 3 The military function of the position is emphasised. In most military
and civil affairs a fujun had to cooperate with princes from other lineages and
join his interests with them. Thus, it can be concluded that during Ögödei’s reign,
Batu was not merely the head of the Jochid ulus; he was also the supreme military
commander and main representative of the Great Khan.
It seems that the meaning and the functions of a fujun were very similar those of
the ilkhan (i.e. a prince who was appointed as chief commander to govern a region
as a representative, rather than a subordinate, of the Great Khan). There is some
evidence that the title ilkhan was used to refer to the ruler of the Golden Horde,
Toqta. 4 In Arabic sources, Hülegü, the later ilkhan, was identified as Möngke’s
representative (mandūb) and lieutenant (nāʿib). He was responsible for governing
Iran and making further conquests in the ‘Irāq-i ʿArab area (Lech, 1968: 91, 103).
A similar description can also be found in Kirakos’ work (1985: 314), who refers to
Hülegü as « the great general ».
The similarity between Batu and Hülegü’s status is also reflected in their princely
titles. The Chinese granted Möngke-Temür the title « to bring benefit to the country
and to show mercy to the people » (jiguo huimin, 濟國惠民), which was probably
inherited from Batu and has the same rhetoric form as Hülegü’s title on Abaqa’s
seal: « to support the country and to procure peace for people » (fuguo anmin, 輔國
安民) (Allsen, 1991: 227‑228; Belyaev and Sidorovich, 2013: 20‑21; Chen, 2015: 70).
These two princely titles correspond to fujun and ilkhan respectively, and indicate

3 The title fujun, supreme commander, is mentioned inW the Zuozhuan (左傳), in the second year of Duke
Min (閔公二年): « [The crown prince] guards the capital when the ruler goes abroad; and if another be
appointed to guard it, he attends upon his father. When he attends upon his father, he is called “Soother of
the troops”; and when he stays as a guardian, he is called “Inspector of the state” [supreme commander], and
this is the ancient rule. » (太子……君行則守, 有守則從, 從曰撫軍, 守曰監國, 古之制也) (Yang, 1995: 268;
Legge, 1893: 130).
4 Rashīd al-Dīn (Rashīd,1994: v.1, 746) mentions that Nogay’s commanders referred to themselves as « the
slaves and subjects of ilkhān » when they wrote to Toqta.
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 33

the same status, namely that of imperial representative of the Great Khan (Buell,
1977: 126, 227).

The Apanages and Benefits of the Jochid ulus in China

Apanages

The apanage of Jochi can be regarded as a loose unity that consisted of a large
steppe territory and a series of isolated fiefs that were conquered during various
episodes of conquest. The steppe territory and isolated fiefs had been established
in different ways.
First, several years before his death, Chinggis Khan divided his empire among
his three brothers and his four sons from his chief wife. The author of The Secret
History and Juvaynī do not mention in what year this occurred, but Sugiyama
(1978: 7) suggests it took place between 1207‑1211. As Chinggis’s eldest son, Jochi
was granted the steppe‑forest territory and peoples between the western side of
the Altai Mountains and the Irtysh River. Around the same time, the empire was
divided into a centre and a left and right wing, reflecting the traditional, tripartite
nomadic military structure. This tripartite division was strictly duplicated in newly‑
conquered territories.
With the collapse of the Jin Dynasty in 1236, Ögödei divided its population and
lands among the imperial family, using the aforementioned tripartite system. The
apanages of the three elder sons were mainly located in Shanxi (山西) Province in
the west, along the route they had marched. Chinggis’s brothers received apanages
in the east, in today’s Shandong (山東) Province. In between was the apanage of the
Toluids, which included the Zhending (真定) Circuit, in the south of Hebei (河北)
Province. As ruler of the Jochid ulus, Batu received 41,302 households in Pingyang
Lu (平陽路) 5 and turned the whole region into his own apanage (Song, 1978: 2414;
Li, 2007: 410-421).
Decades later, in 1281, the tripartite system continued to be implemented by
Qubilai (Song, 1978: 2414), when he divided the population and revenues of Jiangxi
and Hunan, two provinces of the Southern Song Dynasty, which had been conquered
several years prior. As one of the princes of the right wing (i.e. the offspring of
Chinggis Khan’s sons), the Jochid state received 60,000 families in Yongzhou
(永州) in today’s Hunan. Pingyang and Yongzhou together constituted the Jochid
ulus’s most important apanages. Their number of households and annual revenues
were carefully registered in the governmental archives. Even decades later, when
the relationship between the Golden Horde and the Yuan Dynasty had deteriorated,
the Jochid ulus’s rights and privileges in these regions continued to be guaranteed

5 Lu is a Chinese term for a subunit of a local administrative institution, inherited from the Song and Jin
Dynasties.

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by the government. This situation changed in 1288 when Qubilai merged the
Directorate‑General for the Pingyang Apanage (pingyangtouxia zongguanfu, 平
陽投下總管府) into the administration of Pingyang Circuit (pingyanglu, 平陽路).
This meant that the Yuan court stopped paying annual revenues to the Jochid ulus
(Song, 1978: 311). However, when Özbek Khan sent an envoy to make inquiries in
1336, the revenues were paid out after all (Song, 1978: 2906).
Second, when a prince conquered a settled area, he had the right to request it as
his apanage (Togan, 2001: 180, n.39). There is evidence for this kind of apanage
belonging to the Jochid state in China. In 1227, Batu was granted Shazhou (沙州)
in the former Tangut kingdom (xixia, 西夏) as reward for taking the city after a
bloody struggle (Song, 1978: 1450). Sha‑zhou lay outside the major Jochid apanage,
and was linked to it through the postal system (Mong. jam) (Song, 1978: 2906;
Shen, 2015: 98-99).
The outcome of this system was that each Mongol ulus consisted of a loose
unity of apanages that included sections belonging to different imperial families
and minor possessions that were severed from the major apanage and granted to
other princes (Jackson, 1979: 192-193). Naṭanzī, a Timurid historian, inaccurately
explained the genesis of the system:
Chinggis Khan divided [the empire] among his four sons, he assigned each son several
possessions in the territory of the others so that in this way envoys would continuously pass
to-and-fro between them. (Naṭanzī, 1957: 427; Allsen, 2001: 184).

In 1238, Ögödei ordered to sever Shenzhou (深州) and Guchen (鼓城) from
Zhending (真定), and granted them to the Chagatayid and Jochid states respectively.
Both places were on the border of the Toluids’s apanage. Batu received 10,000
households in Zhending (真定), and ordered the establishment of an Office of
Military and Civil Myriarchy (junmin wanhufu, 軍民萬戶府) to administer his
subordinates there (Song, 1978: 1358, 2414). In addition, we know that Berkecher’s
son, Yesü Buqa (Rashīd al-Dīn: f.113b), was given the apanages in Liaoshan
(遼山) and Heshun (和順). These regions bordered the Chagatayids’ apanage, whose
agents once plundered the population of these two counties, resulting in a conflict
involving hundreds of people (Xu, 1985: 259). Besides Jochi’s descendants, Qutuqu,
the son of Qubilai’s concubine, owned pasture land in Luzhou (潞州), which was
an inferior county in Batu’s apanage. This is probably due to the close relationship
between Qutuqu and Batu. Qutuqu’s eldest daughter, Kalmish, married Batu’s amīr
and emigrated to the Golden Horde (Qiu, 2011: 109‑110).
Due to the remoteness of these apanages, it was difficult to maintain an
efficient administration from the main camps of the Golden Horde, especially
during the tumultuous period following 1260. Thus, during Qubilai’s reign, most
of these fragmentary apanages were transformed into traditional Chinese, local
administrative institutions, and placed under the direct control of Yuan officials.
The government no longer registered the revenue of the Jochid ulus separately, but
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 35

included it in the state revenue. In addition, Qubilai’s son, Ananda, Prince of Anxi,
annexed part of Pingyang in the 1270s (Wang, 1998: 72).

Local administrative institutions

Even within his apanage, a prince’s jurisdiction was not exclusive but shared with
the emperor. Normally, the imperial representative was placed in a superior position
that covered more than one princely apanage. The imperial representative took
charge of affairs in cooperation with princely representatives, military officials,
and locally recruited elites. This system can be referred to as a dual‑administrative
structure, which set a precedent for the satellite administration that was established
during the reign of Möngke (Buell, 1977: 125).
Unfortunately, there is only very limited information regarding the dual‑
administrative structure of the Golden Horde, especially in early periods. This is
largely due to the absence of a written historiographical tradition in the Qipchaq
cultural sphere (Halperin, 2007: 273). However, there is direct evidence for the
dual‑administrative structure in Central Asia and China. For instance, around 1230,
Ögödei ordered all the princely representatives in Transoxiana and Turkistan to
assist Chormaqun, the Great Khan’s representative. Batu’s representatives were the
civil administrator, Chin-Temür, and the Mongol amīr, Nosal (Juvaynî, 1958: 482-3).
In China, the Great Khan nominated his intimate attendants to oversee the civil
and military affairs of various princely apanages in Shanxi Province. Around 1229,
Sayyid Ajall was appointed as daruγači of Taiyuan and Pingyang, which belonged
to Chagatayids and Jochids respectively (Song, 1978: 3063). The continuity of
the policy is shown by the fact that two years later a Mongolian official, Süke
(su-ge, 速哥), replaced Sayyid Ajall (sai-dian-chi, 賽典赤) and adopted a new title
« great daruγači of Shanxi Province ». His son inherited this position after his
death (Song, 1978: 3052-3053). The Great Khan also dispatched other officials as
assistants. In 1231, Ögödei’s former bitikči (Mong. scribe), Hu Tianlu (胡天禄), was
dispatched to the Jochid state’s apanage to revive the local economy (Tong, 1986:
v.5, f.13a). The policy of sending assistants guaranteed the supreme authority of the
Great Khan over the whole empire. It allowed him to efficiently mobilise manpower
and other military resources from the apanages and mediate disputes among the
various imperial families.
There existed similar arrangements economic affairs. For instance, the tax
levied on the local salt ponds of Xiezhou (解州), today’s Yuncheng (運城) in
Shanxi Province, provided substantial income for the government. Therefore,
Ögödei assigned Yao Xingjian (姚行簡) as the Commissioner of the Salt Tax of
Xie[zhou] (xieyanshi, 解鹽使) to supervise tax affairs (Wang, 1998: 51). Among
Yao Xingjian’s subordinates, Su Zhuan (蘇瑑), was appointed as the Commissioner
of the Monopoly Office of Taxed Salt of Xiezhou in the Hedong area (hedong
juquexieyansuo dashi, 河東拘榷解鹽所大使) (Liu, 2011: 44). Su Zhuan’s family

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had served Batu since 1236, and as his representative, he was responsible for
overseeing the interests of Batu and other Jochids in local salt tax affairs.
Local gazetteers and inscriptions provide detailed information about several
representatives of the Jochid ulus and local administrative structures. According
to Batu’s edict of 1237, his representatives consulted with the officials of the Great
Khan, namely the jaruqači (judge) Taraqudai and the aforementioned bitikči Hu
Tianlu (Cui, 1826: f. 20b‑22a), before his orders were put into practice. However,
ten years later (1251), another edict indicates that Batu’s status had risen in the
early years of Möngke’s reign. This edict was addressed to Batu’s representative
and governors directly, without consulting the Great Khan’s officials (Qü, 2006:
840‑841).
These two edicts also record the names of several representatives, including Seče
(xue-che, 斜徹), Jara’un (xia-la-hun, 匣剌浑), Jalardai (zha-la-er-dai, 札剌兒歹),
and Qorqai (huo-la-hai, 霍剌海), most of whom can be identified as Mongols. In
addition to Mongol officials, local elites had to be recruited as assistants to take
care of daily affairs. Thus, we can assume that the local administrative structure
in the Jochid apanages included the following positions: 1) jaruqači; 2) chief
daruγači; 3) subordinate daruγači; 4) the nökörs of Mongol officials, 5) Chinese
officials (commander and technical officials); 6) interpreters (kelemači). Other
than collecting revenues, Batu’s representatives participated in many areas of local
administration, such as sponsoring the re-establishment of local offices, recruiting
manpower to rebuild bridges, organising public security, and allocating water.
In general, nothing is known of Batu’s representatives except for their names.
The only exception is an official called Seče, whose name is mentioned in
different works, which enables us to sketch a general outline of his life. In 1237,
Seče was appointed as chief daruγači in Pingyang, and in 1241 he sponsored
the re-establishment of a local office that had been destroyed during the Mongol
invasion. Five years later, he was promoted to jaruqači (Wang, 1998: 61), but
soon after he was executed on Güyük’s orders. It seems that he became a victim
of the personal enmity between Batu and Güyük (Song, 1978: 3467). In addition,
a recently-published tomb inscription mentions a Chinese official serving Batu.
This person, named Su Gongshi (蘇公式), was appointed as « the daruγači
of the various artisans of Pingyang ». He thrice transferred revenue to Batu’s
encampment, which was located in the region of today’s Kazakhstan (Liu, 2011:
43-44; Shen, 2015: 92-100). According to Chinese sources, Batu’s revenue was
paid in gold, and probably included golden wares produced by Chinese artisans.
An archaeological analysis by Shen (2012: 7-97) suggests that golden wares
found in early Golden Horde tombs show Chinese influence in craftsmanship
(Shen, 2012: 7-97).
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 37

A Consequence of Islamisation?
Is it reasonable to consider the hostility between Berke and the Toluids (i.e. Qubilai
and Hülegü) a consequence of Berke’s conversion to Islam? Most Islamic sources
assert that their enmity originated from Berke’s response to Hülegü after the fall of
the Abbasid Caliphate. However, this reading is gradually being questioned. The
evidence remaining in the multilingual corpus reveals that their estrangement began
at a very early stage. In fact, the policies issued during Möngke’s reign already split
the alliance between the two families.
It is well known that after Möngke’s enthronement in 1251, Batu, his main
supporter, was rewarded with further privileges in the western part of the Mongol
Empire. The Talas River became the boundary of Möngke and Batu’s spheres of
influence. However, both de facto and de jure, Möngke’s authority remained absolute
throughout the empire (Allsen, 1987: 54‑63). To achieve the necessary balance
between both parties, Batu had to give up several interests in the east. For instance,
Arghun āqā and Batu made an agreement in 1252 to arrange the taxes of Iran
and the Caucasus, which confirmed Batu’s specific interests (Kolbas, 2006: 143).
As a condition of this exchange, the annual grant to the Jochid ulus from China
was reduced to a much smaller amount than Batu had requested (Song, 1978: 47).
Moreover, Jochid princes were excluded from assignments in Tibet, which was
monopolised by the Great Khan and his three brothers (Petech, 1990: 11).
In the same year, Möngke assigned the conquests of the Abbasid Caliphate in
Baghdad and Southern Song in South China to his two younger brothers, Qubilai
and Hülegü respectively (Song, 1978: 46; Juvaynī, 1957: 607). As part of this
arrangement, the Mongol garrisons stationed in Central Asia and North China
were transferred to the princes, and local economic sources, which had previously
been shared among various imperial branches, were bestowed upon them as well.
According to Möngke’s decree, the Jochid garrisons (Mong. tammači) in Iran and
Kashmir were under Hülegü’s command (Rashīd al-Dīn, 1994: v.2, 975). Thus, with
Möngke’s support, Hülegü’s agent had the upper hand over the Jochids in Herat’s
local economic affairs around 1255 (Sayfī, 2004: 259-267; Jackson, 1978: 222,
n.157). A similar scenario unfolded in China. In 1253, Qubilai monopolised the
salt tax of Xiezhou with Möngke’s permission. A new institution was established,
called the Office of the Expedient Actions (Congyifu, 從宜府), which came to
incorporate the former Monopoly Office of Taxed Salt of Xiezhou in the Hedong
area (Song, 1978: 59; Wang, 2010: 51). The monopoly office had been the office
of Batu’s agent, whereas the new institution, which was responsible for preparing
military supplies and taxation, was controlled exclusively by Qubilai.
In addition to restricting Jochid privileges in China, Möngke started to regulate
the economic disorder in the princely territories. In 1255, a Chinese intellectual
addressed a memorandum to the Great Khan (i.e. Möngke) via Qubilai, wherein
he complained that Batu had redistributed the apanage in Pingyang among the
Jochid clan, and had permitted all imperial relatives to collect taxes from subjects

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directly. Furthermore, Batu had ordered Chinese subjects to pay their annual tribute
exclusively in gold, which caused extensive poverty (Hao, 1738: v.32, f.19). In
response, Möngke issued an edict regulating illegal taxation in 1255, and two years
later a strict population census was conducted, again at Möngke’s order, in order to
prevent economic anarchy.
The relationship between the two families deteriorated further after Batu’s death
in 1255. In a hasty arrangement, Möngke appointed Sartaq to succeed Batu, but
he died on the way back to his realm. Some contemporaries accused his uncle,
Berke, of poisoning Sartaq. Within two years, Sartaq’s successor, Ulaghchi, passed
away also. In the eyes of the Toluids, Berke was not well suited to head the Jochid
ulus, which was partly due to his relatively lowly maternal line: his mother, Sulṭān
Khan, was a former Khwārazmshāh princess, who was granted to Jochi after being
captured by the Mongols (Pochekaev, 2010: 248‑249). Meanwhile, Batu’s chief wife,
Boraqchin, was a powerful regent in the Jochid ulus. She enjoyed Möngke’s strong
support and came from the Alchī-Tātār, an influential tribe in the political life of
the Jochid ulus (Rashīd al-Dīn, 1994: v.1, 89). As Tuda-Möngke’s stepmother and
marriage partner, she supported Tuda‑Möngke’s to become the ruler of the Jochid
ulus. She supposedly obtained permission from Möngke, and in 1256 secretly
dispatched envoys to request Hülegü’s assistance. Mamluk sources state that when
Boraqchin’s plot was revealed, she was executed by the amīrs who supported Berke
(al-Manṣūrī, 1998: 14-17). Jūzjānī (1881-99: v.2, 1292) briefly mentions the ensuing
violent purge in Jochi’s clan. Of the Ilkhanate’s historians, only Qazvīnī provides a
brief and ambiguous description of the event (Qazvīnī, 1960: 585).
Berke was enthroned in 1257, and Möngke’s reaction was antagonistic, which
is clearly borne out by Möngke’s dispensation of allotted territories in 1257. This
dispensation benefitted many members of the imperial families and the nobility. In
addition to the Toluids, even former political opponents were granted households,
including the princes of the Ögödeid and Chagatayid uluses, who had been deprived
of most of their apanages and subjects after 1251. It is noteworthy that no one
from the Jochi clan was included on the distribution list. Instead, a considerable
number of households in Pingyang, a traditional Jochid apanage, were transferred
to the Toluids. For example, 1,100 households in Pingyang were granted to Princess
Dumugan (du-mu-gan, 獨木干), daughter of Tolui, and Noqu noyan (nao-hu
guanren, 猱虎官人), a Mongol official, was allotted 1,000 households (Song, 1978:
2427, 2436). In Central Asia, Hülegü, encouraged by Möngke, stopped paying
revenue shares to Berke (Ayalon, 1971: 174).
Another suggestive action was Möngke’s appointment of Qitai (qi-dai, 乞歹),
son of Qonggirad güregen (son-in-law) Lachin, as the daruγači in charge of internal
security in Rus and Alania (Song, 1978: 50, 1570). In light of the recent political
crisis and rumours that Berke had annexed the possessions of the Jochids who
had opposed him, it is very likely that Qitai was not only appointed to oversee the
registration of the population, as Allsen (1981: 41) suggested, but also to control
Berke, which would reveal Möngke’s wariness of him. The Great Khan’s vigilance
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 39

was justified, as Kolbas (2006: 146) pointed out, because Berke had not abided by
previous agreements and started to mint independent coinage after 1257.
Möngke died in 1259 during the invasion of South Song, and since his eldest son,
Baltu, had passed away before him, there was no appointed successor to the throne.
Baltu’s younger brother, Qubilai, proclaimed himself Khan in Kaiping. Ariq‑Böke,
the Great Khan’s representative in Qaraqorum, followed his example and enthroned
himself as Khan. This resulted in the Toluid Civil War, which involved all branches
of the Chinggisid family.
The members of the two camps are recorded in the Yuanshi and by Vaṣṣāf
respectively. These two sources provide complementary information. According to
the Yuanshi, the list of the rewards issued in 1260 includes all of Qubilai’s actual
and potential allies. Princes descended from Chinggis Khan’s brothers were the
main supporters of Qubilai, and were granted 5,000 silver ingots per family. Apart
from them, only a few minor princes from the Chagatayid and Ögödeid branches
stayed in Qubilai’s camp. The list includes no members of the Jochid branch (Song,
1978: 68‑69).
Vaṣṣāf reports that Ariq-Böke won the support of several influential princes of
the Chagatayid and Ögödeid branches, including Möngke’s widow (Vaṣṣāf, 1960:
11). Berke’s support was especially crucial. During the last years of Möngke’s reign,
Berke had become one of the most powerful persons in the empire, and his prestige
in Central Asia and Iran had grown rapidly. According to a poetic adaption of the
yarlïq addressed to Hülegü, Ariq‑Böke said that his enthronement took place « after
consulting with Barkāy, son of my uncle Jochi, who was the patriarch of the clan ».
For this reason, his claim to the throne may have been considered more legitimate
than Qubilai’s (Qazvīnī, 2010: v.8, 177).
Some of Qubilai’s advisers predicted the political climate very well, and warned
Qubilai that the connection between China and Iran would likely be interrupted by
« nomads of western regions » (xi-yu-zhu-hu, 西域諸胡), almost surely referring to
Berke and his allies (Hao, 1738: v.32, 11). This prediction was based on more than
hearsay. Udur’s son, Qarachar, joined Ariq‑Böke’s army (Allsen, 1987: 17), and
Mamluk historians mention Berke’s military aid against Qubilai and his subsequent
defeat (Ibn Abī-l-Faḍā’il, 1919: 442-446).
Qubilai’s revenge was swift. He renounced Jochid interests in Iran and Central
Asia to gain Hülegü and Alghu’s support (Rashīd al-Dīn, v.2, 880). In 1261, Qubilai
furthermore accepted a local governor’s suggestion to revoke the Jochid apanage in
Zhending (Ren: 1998, 22), and one year later Pingyang was also put under the direct
administration of the central government (Song, 1978: 107). Of all the revenge
measures implemented after Möngke’s enthronement, the revocation and change of
the Jochid apanages were the most extreme.
When one considers these developments chronologically, it is difficult to
assert that Islamisation played a key role in the conflict between the Jochids and
the Toluids. In contrast to Islamic historians, who tend to emphasise the role of
religion in the conflict (Jūzjānī, 1881-99: v.2, 1257; Rashīd al-Dīn, 1994: v.2, 1044;

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al-Yūnīnī, 1954-61: v.2, 365), the hostility can be attributed largely to pragmatic
disputes over political and economic interests rather than religious disagreements.
Both Möngke and Qubilai attempted to establish a centralised state, which
infringed upon the interests of imperial relatives and conflicted with the tribal-
based redistributive system. Therefore, contrary to the impression given by the
historians of the Yuan and the Ilkhanate, Berke was more of a passive resister who
tried to stand up to the Great Khan. However, his resistance always prompted a
more severe reaction from the Great Khan. In Yuan China, contemporaries might
easily conclude that the enmities between the Great Khan and the rebel princes
were due to irreconcilable differences between nomadic values and Chinese
political principles.
Religious motives, or rather an Islamic bias, can be traced back to Muslim
historians, who deliberately emphasised religion as a key factor in their narrative.
They used it to explain the cause of the conflict, and appealed for a jihād against
their common enemy, the rulers of the Ilkhanate. However, there is little evidence in
support of this narrative. In an abridged version of Berke’s diplomatic letter to Sultan
Baybars, Berke accuses Hülegü of being an infidel and an enemy of Islam, and asks
the sultan to block Hülegü’s passage (Ibn Shaddād, 1983: 170-171; Ayalon, 1971: 172).
While this may suggest that religion played an important role, Ayalon (1971: 173)
points out that according to Ibn Shaddād the main cause of the antagonism was
that Hülegü stopped sending revenues to Batu’s family (al-Khazandārī, 2005: 126;
al-Yūnīnī, 1954-61: v.1, 498; Ibn Abī-l-Faḍā’il, 1919: 445). 6
Some Mamluk historians mention that before the outbreak of hostilities, Berke
dispatched a number of « sorcerers » (saḥara) with his envoys to counterbalance
the sorcerers serving the Ilkhan. Among Hülegü sorcerers, an individual named
Bikshā (misspelt as « Yikshā ») accepted Berke’s gifts and agreed to cooperate
with him in an attempt to influence Hülegü secretly. However, a sorceress from
China (min al‑Khiṭā), called « Kamshā », realised their attempt and notified
Hülegü, who then ordered the arrest and execution of all of Berke’s envoys and
sorcerers (al-Yūnīnī, 1954-61: v.1, 498, v.2, 162; Ibn Abī-l-Faḍā’il, 1919: 445). 7
Considering Hülegü’s personal convictions and the religious climate at the Ilkhan’s
court, the « sorcerers » mentioned here are more likely to refer to Buddhist monks
than to Muslim scholars. 8 The linguistic evidence also indicates that the sorcerers’
names are more likely to have been transliterated from Sanskrit. Thus, this episode

6 The first volume of Ibn Shaddād’s biography of Sultan Baybars is lost. Some quotations are included in
later Mamluk works. Jackson (1999: 16) pointed out that al-Khazandārī’s description in Ayalon’s article
was wrongly attributed to Ibn Wāṣil by Tiesenhausen.
7 Blochet suggests to identify « Yikshā » with « Bikshā » (Ibn Abī-l-Faḍā’il, 1919: 446, footnote). However,
in al-Yūnīnī’s version, the sorcerer’s name is spelt as « Taktā », and the sorceress’ name is spelled « Kamsā
» or « Kamshtā ».
8 Hülegü’s patronage of Buddhist monks was widely reported by contemporary Arabic and Persian authors.
Armenian historians also discuss it in detail (Kirakos, 1985: 333).
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 41

indicates that non‑Muslims were not strictly excluded from Berke’s private circle,
even after his public conversion to Islam.
The only record of a religious dispute relating to the Islamic faith of a ruler of
the Golden Horde is that of Zheng Sixiao (鄭思肖), a supporter of the former Song
Dynasty who lived in Suzhou in South China. Zheng Sixiao reported that Batu
ruled the Muslim territories, and that all the Muslims were his subjects, including
Aḥmad, a former vizier of Qubilai. The Muslim subjects and Batu planned to
invade the Yuan territories to avenge Aḥmad who was executed on Qubilai’s order
(Zheng, 1991: 177). As Zheng Sixiao lived in a remote region, far away from the
political centre, there are quite a few confusions in his report. For example, Batu
actually refers to Tudan‑Möngke, and Nomqan’s name was confused with that of
Qachi’un’s grandson, Jaqula. 9 However, ignoring these mistakes, it is clear that this
account was based on more than just a rumour. After Aḥmad’s execution, which
occurred two years before Nomqan’s release, Qubilai took strict measures against
Muslims in China, and issued an edict prohibiting circumcision and the Islamic
method of slaughtering. These policies reverberated in the Islamic world, and gave
rise to continuous tensions in diplomatic and commercial contacts (Togan, 2013:
96‑98). Considering the unstable relationship between the Yuan and other Khanates
in this period, there was a real fear of an invasion from the Golden Horde.

Golden Horde and Yuan Dynasty Relationships

in the Post-Berke Period
After Berke’s death (d. 1267), the tension between the Golden Horde and the Yuan
Dynasty easened. At least, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty no longer considered
the Khan of the Jochid ulus an opponent threatening the north‑western border of his
territory. Around 1270, Qubilai sent envoys to confirm Möngke-Temür’s accession,
which strengthened his legitimacy to run the affairs of the Jochid ulus. Qubilai even
persuaded him not to cooperate with Qaidu, the independent Mongol ruler of the
Ögödeid ulus. Nevertheless, Möngke‑Temür’s policies were variable and pragmatic,
and primarily aimed at defending his own authority and interests. He supported
Qaidu in conflicts against Baraq and Abaqa, but generally speaking remained
neutral and kept distant from the turmoil in the eastern territories. Qaidu once sent
Nomqan, a son of Qubilai, as a captive to Möngke‑Temür’s court, probably with the
intention to involve Möngke‑Temür in the anti‑Qubilai alliance, but this attempt
was unsuccessful. Nomqan was eventually released by Möngke‑Temür’s successor,
Tudan‑Möngke. As a good‑faith response to Tudan‑Möngke, Yuan government
newly constructed thirty postal stations from the Besh‑Baliq to the Taihe Mountain

9 According to the Yuanshi, Jaqula was a subordinate commander of Nomqan (Song, 1978: 239). See Shuʿab‑i
Panjgāna for Jaqula’s genealogy (Rashīd al-Dīn: f.103b).

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42 / Yihao QIU

(大和嶺, i.e. Caucasian Mountain) in the 1281, aiming to link the interior territory
of the Golden Horde with China via the Chaghatai Khanate (Song, 1978: 1569).
However, the foreign policy of the Golden Horde was strongly affected by the
establishment of the anti‑Ilkhanid alliance. The idea was that this alliance would
consist of the Mamluk Sultanate, the Chagatai Khanate, and Qaidu’s ulus and
attack the Ilkhanate from three directions. Despite the alliance’s limited success,
the Golden Horde acted as a mediator, and adopted a somewhat unfriendly attitude
towards the Yuan Dynasty, the Ilkhanate’s major ally. Mamluk chroniclers used
to gloat over Qubilai’s military failure undisguisedly, and without a doubt this
reflected the point of view of the Golden Horde. However, the succession to the
throne of the Golden Horde was unstable, and consequently it was difficult for them
to implement a coherent foreign policy on Far Eastern affairs.
The Yuan Dynasty allied with the head of the left‑wing of the Jochid ulus,
the descendants of Orda, in order to counterbalance their estrangement from the
Khans of Saray. Qonichi, Orda’s successor, implemented an independent policy
in his contact with the Yuan Dynasty and remained neutral in a series of conflicts
(Akasaka, 2005: 156). In 1288 and 1289, the Yuan court twice aided prince Qonichi
with silver and supplies (Song, 1978: 307, 320). Again, at the beginning of the
14th c. (1304‑1312), the Yuan court constantly helped crown prince Bayan to resist
attacks from claimants to the throne during the civil war (Qiu, 2013: 32‑38).
As for the Khans of Saray, they found that confirmation by the Great Khan was
still necessary to consolidate their legitimacy. Therefore, Möngke‑Temür, Toqta,
and Özbek dispatched envoys to request his confirmation and the concomitant
edict, seal, and honorable princely title. In return, Möngke‑Temür and Toqta
issued coins and tablets with Chinese characters and Phags‑pa Mongolian scripts
respectively, which represented the symbolic authority of the Great Khan (Nyamaa,
2005: 106; Tumutogoo, 2010: 125). The Yuan court paid close attention to political
developments within the Golden Horde. In 1305, one year after Toqta endorsed
the peace agreement, the Yuan government aided in providing five‑months’
provisions to Toqta’s Kirghiz subjects (Song, 1978: 465). With the centralisation
of the administrative apparatus of the Yuan Dynasty, the Jochid state’s apanages in
China were brought under the direct administration of the central government. The
Directorate-General of the Territorial Office in Pingyang was dissolved in 1288,
and integrated within local government (Song, 1978: 311; Cai, 2009: 121‑122).
Only the descendants of Chinggis Khan, the Golden Kin, could rule within the
Mongol Empire, and as a result the rulers of different khanates tended to view
disputes among them as family affairs. The term brotherhood, in Mongolian
aqa and de’ü (āqā wa‑īnī in Persian), was used in diplomatic exchanges between
the uluses, and gave these contacts a very different spirit from contacts with
independent states (Kim, 2009: 33). For the Yuan Emperor, the unification of his
relatives in harmonious brotherhood proved that his prestige covered the whole
of the empire. Thus, the Toluid prince Yaqudu (ya-hu-du, 牙忽都) praised the
achievement of the Great Khan Temür (r. 1294‑1307) in these words:
 Independent Ruler, Indefinable Role / 43

Qubilai (shi-zu) had combined the whole world, but the princes of the imperial clan were
unable to have a banquet together. Now, with Your Majesty’s limitless fortune, Batu Khan’s
descendants showed their obedience first, and the rebel prince, Chapar, yielded with his
clans subsequently. The peoples and lands unite as a family again (Song, 1978: 2909).

After the Great Rapprochement of 1304, almost 14 formal embassies took

place between the Yuan and the Golden Horde. 10 There were seven times bilateral
mission exchanges and, seven times again, Great Khan’s embassies were dispatched
simultaneously to the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate and the Chaghatai Khanate.
These embassies indicate that with the revival of the notion of Chinggisid unity, the
connections between the different Khanates intensified.
Since the reign of Sultan Baybars (r. 1260‑1277), the Khan of the Golden Horde
was involved in the long‑distance trade between the Mamluk Sultanate and China.
The Sultan’s commercial agents were entertained at Berke and Möngke‑Temür’s
courts, travelled through Golden Horde territory, and proceeded to Qaraqorum
as far as the Yuan capital of Khanbaliq (Ibn Shaddād, 1983: 307-308). Mamluk
commercial agents were also involved in the slave trade and obtained military and
economic information about the Yuan Dynasty. In 1290, after defeating the Yuan
garrison at Qaraqorum, Yuan captives were transferred to Egypt and sold as slaves
in the market (al-Manṣūrī, 1998: 262). The diplomatic gifts presented by Janibek to
Toghan‑Temür (r. 1333‑1370), including saqalāt (a kind of textile), a chachir (tent),
a knife produced in Egypt, and Arabian horses, reflect the influence of Golden
Horde‑Mamluk commerce (Allsen, 1997: 75; Behrens‑Abouseif, 2014: 61‑65).

Conclusion
The relations between the Golden Horde and the Yuan Dynasty were not interrupted
by the dissolution of the Mongol Empire. On the contrary, they were sustained until
the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty. However, the nature of these relations changed
over time. Originally, the ruler of the Golden Horde was seen as the Great Khan’s
representative, but later he became an independent ruler with a junior status. After
the de facto dissolution of the Mongol Empire, the Yuan Emperor was unwilling
to abandon his self-identification as supreme sovereign of a united Mongol Empire
in diplomatic contacts. Kinship relations and traditional customs continued to play
essential roles in the interrelationship between the Yuan and the Golden Horde.
Islamisation does not appear to have been as important as formerly thought in this
relationship. Most disputes also had to do with political and economic factors.

10 According to Biran’s (2008: 373) definition, the two main functions of a diplomatic embassy are political
and formal. Political embassies were dispatched to discuss alliances, submissions, or requests for military
help. In contrast, formal embassies usually aimed to pay honours and express friendships.

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44 / Yihao QIU

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Appendix 1

Fig. 1 – Mongol apanages in Shanxi Province – Tan, 1996: 7-8.