Sartaq Khan (died 1256) was the son of Batu Khan

Batu Khan

Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...

 and Regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 Dowager

Dowager

A dowager is a widow who holds a title or property, or dower, derived from her deceased husband. As an adjective, "Dowager" usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles....

 Khatun

Khatun

Khatun is a female title of nobility and alternative to male "khan" prominently used in the First Turkic Empire and in the subsequent Mongol Empire...

 Boraqcin of Alchi Tatar. Sartaq succeeded Batu as khan

Khan (title)

Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...

 of the Ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde or Kipchak Khanate).

In 1252, Alexander Nevsky

Alexander Nevsky

Alexander Nevsky was the Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the city's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Rus, Alexander was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military...

 met with Sartaq at Sarai

Sarai (city)

Sarai was the name of two cities, which were successively capital cities of the Golden Horde, the Mongol kingdom which ruled Russia and much of central Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries...

. Alexander received yarlyk (license) to become Grand Duke of Vladimir in vassalage to the Kipchak Khanate. According to Lev Gumilev

Lev Gumilev

Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev , was a Soviet historian, ethnologist and anthropologist. His unorthodox ideas on the birth and death of ethnic groups have given rise to the political and cultural movement known as "Neo-Eurasianism".-Life:His parents were two prominent poets Nikolay Gumilev and Anna...

 he became Sartaq’s anda (sworn brother, probably akin to blood brother

Blood brother

Blood brother can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where the blood of each man is mingled together...

) and an adopted son of Batu Khan.

Sartaq was reputed to be a Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 convert (presumably nestorianism

Nestorianism

Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...

); his father being a Shamanist

Shamanism

Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

. There are several stories of Sartaq's conversion. The Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n writers, for example, alleged that Sartaq was brought up and baptized among the Russians.

However, a message dated August 29, 1254 by Sartaq addressed to Pope Innocent IV

Pope Innocent IV

Pope Innocent IV , born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 25, 1243 until his death in 1254.-Early life:...

, stated that Sartaq, then a duke

Duke

A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

, was baptised as a Christian. The Pope heard the news from a priest whom the khan had sent as envoy to the papal court.

His reign as khan of the Golden Horde was short-lived. He died in 1256 before returning from Great Khan Mongke

Mongke

Mongke means "eternal" in Mongolian language and may refer to:-Medieval:* Möngke Khan , Great khan of the Mongol Empire* Yesü Möngke, khan of Chagatai khanate, 1247-1252* Mengu-Timur Mongke (also Mönkh, Monkh, Munkh) means "eternal" in Mongolian language and may refer to:-Medieval:* Möngke Khan...

's court in Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

, less than one year after his father, probably having been poisoned by his uncles Berke and Berkhchir. The notable Russian historian Karamzin, along with Armenian

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 and Muslim chroniclers, stated that they were hostile to one another because of tensions between religions. Sartaq was succeeded by Ulaqchi

Ulaghchi

Ulaghchi Khan was the third khan of the Blue Horde and Golden Horde, ruling for less than a year in 1257. It is not clear whether Ulaghchi was the son or the younger brother of Sartaq Khan. Mongke Khan granted him the title of Khan of the Jochid Ulus as soon as Sartaq died...

 briefly in 1257, before his uncle Berke

Berke

Berke Khan was the ruler of the Golden Horde who effectively consolidated the power of the Blue Horde and White Hordes from 1257 to 1266. He succeeded his brother Batu Khan of the Blue Horde and was responsible for the first official establishment of Islam in a khanate of the Mongol Empire...

 succeeded to the throne. It is not clear whether Ulaqchi was his brother or his son.

Sartaq's daughter Theodora (or Theothiure) was the wife of Gleb Vasilkovich first Prince Belozersky of Beloozero

Belozersk

Belozersk , known as Beloozero until 1777 , is a town and the administrative center of Belozersky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia, situated on the southern bank of Lake Beloye, from which it takes the name...

 and Rostov

Rostov

Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...

, a grandson of Konstantin of Rostov

Konstantin of Rostov

Konstantin Vsevolodovich was the eldest son of Vsevolod the Big Nest and Maria Shvarnovna.In 1206 and 1207, he was the prince of Novgorod. In 1207, his father sent him to rule the towns of Rostov and Yaroslavl...

 and first cousin once removed of Alexander Nevsky. Their descendants include Ivan IV of Russia

Ivan IV of Russia

Ivan IV Vasilyevich , known in English as Ivan the Terrible , was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres,...

 and innumerable families of Russian nobility.

Ancestry

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External links

• Michael Marcotte: Marcotte Genealogy - Khan genealogy chart (shows part of Sartaq's family; Sartaq is called Sartuk Khan of the Blue Horde)