Tokhtamysh-Timur war
Encyclopedia
The Tokhtamysh–Timur war was fought in the 1380s and early 1390s between Tokhtamysh
, khan of the Golden Horde
and the Mongol warlord and conqueror Timur
, in the areas of the Caucasus mountains
, Turkistan
and Eastern Europe
. The battle between the two Turkic rulers played a key role in the decline of the Turkic power over early Russian principalities.
. After this he united the White and Blue Hordes, forming the Golden Horde
, and launched a massive military punitive campaign against the Russian principalities between 1381 and 1382, restoring the Turko(tartar)Mongol power in Russia
after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo
. The Golden Horde, after a period of anarchy between early 1360s and late 1370s, passed for a briefly reestablishing as a dominant regional power, defeating Lithuania
in Poltava
around 1383. But Tokhtamysh had territorial ambitions in Persia and Central Asia
, and on account of this he turned against his old ally, Timur
.
After the death of Abu Sa'id in 1335, the last ruler of the Ilkhanid Dynasty, there was a power vacuum in Persia. So in 1383 Timur could start his military conquest of that country. In 1385 he captured Herat
, Khorasan
and all of eastern Persia. In the same year Tokhtamysh raided Azerbaijan
and northwestern Iran
. The city of Tabriz
was plundered and Tokhtamysh could retire with a rich booty.
Between 1389 and 1391, the two started fighting, with the Battle of the Kondurcha River
awarding victory to Timur. But Tokhtamysh recovered his position and in the spring of 1395 raided the Timurid territory of Shirvan
. Timur then promoted a new attack, reconquering the area and raiding the Golden Horde's territories. He decisively routed Tokhtamysh in the Battle of the Terek river
on April 15, 1395. In the same year Timur also plundered Sarai
, Ukek
, Majar
, Azaq and burnt Astrakhan
.
, Tokhtamysh was deposed and replaced by Edigu
, fleeing to the Ukrainian steppes and asking for help from Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania
. The two combined their forces in the Battle of the Vorskla River
in 1399, but were defeat and annihilated by khan Temur Qutlugh
and Edigu
, two of Tamerlane's generals. Around 1406 Tokhtamysh was killed in Siberia
by Edigu's men; in turn, Edigu would be slain thirteen years later by one of Tokhtamysh's sons.
The Golden Horde never recovered from this war. In the middle of the 15th century, it fragmented in smaller khanates: the Kazan khanate, Nogai Horde
, Qasim Khanate
, Crimean Khanate
and Astrakhan Khanate
. Thus Turkic power in Russia
was weakened and in 1480 the Eastern yoke over Russia, a reminder of the bloody Mongol conquest, was definitively shaken in the Great standing on the Ugra River
. The last remnant of the Golden Horde was destroyed by the Crimean Khanate
in 1502, and the khanates that arose after the Golden Horde's fragmentation were annexed by Muscovite Russia between the 1550s and early 17th century, except the Crimean Khanate which survived until 1783, under Ottoman
protection.
Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh was the prominent khan of the White Horde, who briefly unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timur...
, khan of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
and the Mongol warlord and conqueror Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
, in the areas of the Caucasus mountains
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
, Turkistan
Türkistan
*Türkistan is the local name for Turkestan, a region of Central Asia.*Türkistan, Kazakhstan is a historic city and place of pilgrimage in southern Kazakhstan...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. The battle between the two Turkic rulers played a key role in the decline of the Turkic power over early Russian principalities.
Background
In the late 1370s and early 1380s, Timur helped Tokhtamysh to assume supreme power in the White Horde against Tokhtamysh's uncle Urus KhanUrus Khan
Urus Khan was the eighth Khan of the White Horde, and a disputable Khan of the Blue Horde, he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Urus himself is the direct ancestor of khans of the Kazakh Khanate.- Ancestor of Urus :...
. After this he united the White and Blue Hordes, forming the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, and launched a massive military punitive campaign against the Russian principalities between 1381 and 1382, restoring the Turko(tartar)Mongol power in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo
Battle of Kulikovo
The Battle of Kulikovo was a battle between Tatar Mamai and Muscovy Dmitriy and portrayed by Russian historiography as a stand-off between Russians and the Golden Horde. However, the political situation at the time was much more complicated and concerned the politics of the Northeastern Rus'...
. The Golden Horde, after a period of anarchy between early 1360s and late 1370s, passed for a briefly reestablishing as a dominant regional power, defeating Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
in Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
around 1383. But Tokhtamysh had territorial ambitions in Persia and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, and on account of this he turned against his old ally, Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
.
The war
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
, Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
and all of eastern Persia. In the same year Tokhtamysh raided Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and northwestern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The city of Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
was plundered and Tokhtamysh could retire with a rich booty.
Battle of the Kondurcha River
The Battle of the Kondurcha River was the first major battle of the Tokhtamysh-Timur War. It took place at the Kondurcha River, in the Bulgar Ulus of the Golden Horde, in what today is Samara Oblast in Russia....
awarding victory to Timur. But Tokhtamysh recovered his position and in the spring of 1395 raided the Timurid territory of Shirvan
Shirvan
Shirvan , also spelled as Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times...
. Timur then promoted a new attack, reconquering the area and raiding the Golden Horde's territories. He decisively routed Tokhtamysh in the Battle of the Terek river
Battle of the Terek River
The Battle of the Terek River was the second major battle of Tokhtamysh-Timur War. It took place at the Terek River, North Caucasus.Tokhtamysh cavalry attacked the right flank and the center of Timur's army. However, some Golden Horde emirs went over to Timur's side. This helped Timur defeat the...
on April 15, 1395. In the same year Timur also plundered 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...
, Ukek
Ukek
Ukek was a medieval city in the Golden Horde, the territory of the Mongol khanate. It was sited on the Volga River in the Uvekovka River's estuary. In the beginning of 14th century, it was a major trade and political center of the Golden Horde. Ukek coined its own money. In 1395 Timur's troops...
, Majar
Majar
Majar or Macar was a medieval city of Golden Horde in 13th-14th centuries. Once it played a major role in the trade between Idel-Ural, Caucasus and the Black Sea region. In 1310–1311 the city coined own money...
, Azaq and burnt Astrakhan
Xacitarxan
Xacitarxan or Hajji Tarkhan , Hashtar Khan / Actarxan or Astrakhan, was a medieval city at the right bank of Volga, situated approximately 12 km north of the modern city of Astrakhan. The first mention of the town was recorded in 1333. In the 13th and 14th centuries it was one of the main...
.
Aftermath
After his resounding defeat in the Battle of the Terek RiverBattle of the Terek River
The Battle of the Terek River was the second major battle of Tokhtamysh-Timur War. It took place at the Terek River, North Caucasus.Tokhtamysh cavalry attacked the right flank and the center of Timur's army. However, some Golden Horde emirs went over to Timur's side. This helped Timur defeat the...
, Tokhtamysh was deposed and replaced by Edigu
Edigu
Edigu was a Mongol emir of the White Horde who founded the new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde....
, fleeing to the Ukrainian steppes and asking for help from Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. The two combined their forces in the Battle of the Vorskla River
Battle of the Vorskla River
The Battle of the Vorskla River was a great battle in the medieval history of Eastern Europe. It was fought on August 12, 1399, between the Tatars, under Edigu and Temur Qutlugh, and the armies of Tokhtamysh and Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania...
in 1399, but were defeat and annihilated by khan Temur Qutlugh
Temur Qutlugh
Temür Qutlugh was a khan of Golden Horde in 1397–1399. He was a son of Timur-Malik, khan of the White Horde, who struggled against Toqtamysh. After the death of Temur Malik in 1379 Qutlugh was reared at Toqtamysh's court. After an unsuccessful revolt against Toqtamysh in 1388, he, along with...
and Edigu
Edigu
Edigu was a Mongol emir of the White Horde who founded the new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde....
, two of Tamerlane's generals. Around 1406 Tokhtamysh was killed in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
by Edigu's men; in turn, Edigu would be slain thirteen years later by one of Tokhtamysh's sons.
The Golden Horde never recovered from this war. In the middle of the 15th century, it fragmented in smaller khanates: the Kazan khanate, Nogai Horde
Nogai Horde
The Nogai Horde was a confederation of about eighteen Turkic and Mongol tribes that occupied the Pontic-Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by the Kalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called the Manghits constituted a core of the Horde...
, Qasim Khanate
Qasim Khanate
Qasim Khanate or Kingdom of Qasim was a Tatar territorial formation , vassal of Russia, which existed from 1452 till 1681 in the territory of modern Ryazan Oblast in Russia with its capital Kasimov, in the middle stream of the Oka River...
, Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
and Astrakhan Khanate
Astrakhan Khanate
The Khanate of Astrakhan was a Tatar feudal state that appeared after the collapse of the Golden Horde. The Khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, where the contemporary city of Astrakhan/Hajji Tarkhan is now located...
. Thus Turkic power in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
was weakened and in 1480 the Eastern yoke over Russia, a reminder of the bloody Mongol conquest, was definitively shaken in the Great standing on the Ugra River
Great standing on the Ugra river
The Great Standoff on the Ugra river The Great Standoff on the Ugra river The Great Standoff on the Ugra river ( in Russian, also (Ugorschina in English, derived from Ugra) was a standoff between the forces of Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Prince Ivan III of Russia in 1480, which...
. The last remnant of the Golden Horde was destroyed by the Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
in 1502, and the khanates that arose after the Golden Horde's fragmentation were annexed by Muscovite Russia between the 1550s and early 17th century, except the Crimean Khanate which survived until 1783, under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
protection.