Greetings, my Faithful Readers!
This week, I am shy of inspiration. Turning to my trusted advisor, my husband Gilbert, I asked for a topic to research. "Magyars," he said, "Islam, Medieval Musical Instruments, Castles."
"Nope," I replied, "I've done those."
"How about Slavs?" Dutifully I entered 'Medieval Slavs' into a search engine. Very little of quality turned up. Clearly I needed other terms, and frankly, my brain hurt.
"Here's one: The Mongol Rus. How about the Golden Horde?" And, lo and behold, the hits kept coming.
Therefore this Links List is about that fascinating organization, which managed to be the largest land-based oligarchy in the history of this planet.
This Links List is dedicated to two of my best friends, who both passed away one right after the other in the last month: my tortoise shell calico, Animas, age 15, and my beagle, Samwise, age 14 1/2. I am really going to miss them. May they be ruling their own Horde in heaven.
Cheers
Aoife
Dame Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon
Riverouge, Endless Hills, Aethelemarc
Khanate of the Golden Horde
http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/Mongols/states3.html
(Site Excerpt) The origins of the name Golden Horde are uncertain. Some
scholars believe that it refers to the camp of Batu and the later rulers of
the Horde. In Mongolian, Altan Orda refers to the golden camp or palace.
Altan (golden) was also the color connoting imperial status. Other sources
mention that Batu had a golden tent, and it is from this that the Golden
Horde received its name.
Early Mongol Coins of the Crimea
http://horde.charm.ru/
Columbia Encyclopedia: Golden Horde, Empire of the
http://www.bartleby.com/65/go/GoldenHE.html
(Site Excerpt) Under the Empire of the Golden Horde, the Russian
principalities retained their own rulers and internal administration.
However, they were tributaries of the khan, who confirmed princely
succession and exacted exorbitant taxes. Until the disintegration of the
Mongol empire (14th cent.) the khans themselves were under the suzerainty of
the great khan at Karakorum.
The Mongols and the Emergence of Moscow
http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis03.htm
(Site Excerpt) Under the Empire of the Golden Horde, the Russian
principalities retained their own rulers and internal administration.
However, they were tributaries of the khan, who confirmed princely
succession and exacted exorbitant taxes. Until the disintegration of the
Mongol empire (14th cent.) the khans themselves were under the suzerainty of
the great khan at Karakorum.
Mongolians test alien idea: Privatizing the land
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/news/mongol.php
(Site Excerpt) Despite the reputation for violent acquisitiveness that
Mongolians acquired when Genghis Khan and the Golden Horde forged the
world's greatest land empire in the 12th and 13th centuries, Mongolia
developed as a communal land-sharing system long before capitalists and
Communists clashed over the principles of property and ownership.
GOLDEN HORDE (SHAYBANID)
http://users.rcn.com/j-roberts/gol.htm
(Site Except) The Golden Horde consisted of two main divisions. The Blue
Horde, which descended from Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis, dominated in the
first half of the 14th Century and the White Horde, which descended from
Batu's brother Orda, played a significant role in the latter part of the
century.
"Olen-Kolodetz" - A Golden Horde aristocrat's burial...The Male Burial
http://www.redkaganate.org/martial/armour/olenkldz.shtml
(Site Excerpt) Although they were first mentioned in an archeological map by
L.M. Savelov in 1902, they hadn't been explored until 1996, when despite the
government protection of the site a construction company started building a
road through it. Six mounds were destroyed by the construction work, and
then inspected by a team of archeologists. Three of them were nomad burials,
two of which are described in detail by Efimov.
Historical Boys Clothing: The Mongols
http://histclo.hispeed.com/chron/med/med-mong.html
(Site Excerpt--note there are no actual images of clothing on this site) The
Mongols burst out of the Asian steppe at the beginning of the 13th century.
The rise of the Mongols began in the East at the beginning of the 13th
century. The Chinese decided to restrict trade with the Mongols, no doubt
understanding that trade was helping to build a military threat to their
north. Temujin united the various clans and was proclaimed Genghis Khan or
Very Mighty King (1206).
State Hermitage Museum: Treasure of the Golden Horde
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/12/b2003/hm12_3_1_2_0.html
(Site Excerpt) This is the first large-scale exhibition devoted to the
artistic life of the Golden Horde. The display includes some 1,000 items
made between the 13th and 15th centuries by craftsmen of the Ulus Juchi or
Golden Horde - the westernmost of the states that formed after the death of
Genghis Khan in the territories of which he was master.
The Tatar Ethnic Minority in China
http://www.china.org.cn/e-groups/shaoshu/shao-2-tartar.htm
(Site Excerpt) Their history in China dates from the Tang Dynasty (618-907),
when the Tatar tribe was ruled by the nomadic Turkic Khanate in northern
China. As this state fell into decline, the Tatars grew in strength, and
their name was used to refer to several tribes in the north after the Tang
Dynasty. Their homeland was later annexed by Mongols, and when the Mongols
pushed west, many Central Asians and Europeans called them Tatars.
Ibn Battuta's Trip: Part Six - The Steppe - Land of the Golden Horde, 1332-1333
http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta's_Trip_Six.html
(Site Excerpt) They had arrived just in time to make the 700-mile trip to
the Volga River under the protection of the King of the Golden Horde who was
traveling only a few days ahead. So they bought three wagons and animals to
pull them and rushed to catch up. (One wagon was for Ibn Battuta himself and
a slave girl - with whom he would father another child! A second wagon was
for his friend, and a third large one was for the rest of his companions and
other slaves.) A prosperous steppe dweller might own one or two hundred
wagons!
