Golden Horde
Ulus of Jochi
Ulug Ulus
1242–1502
Flag of Golden Horde
Flag during the reign of Öz Beg Khan as shown in Dulcert's 1339 map (other sources claim that the Golden Horde was named for the yellow banner of the khan).
GoldenHorde1300.png
Status
  • Nomadic empire
  • Division of the Mongol Empire (until 1313/68)
CapitalSarai (Western wing, later overall)
Sighnaq (Eastern wing)
Common languages
  • Middle Mongol
  • Kipchak Turkic
Religion
  • Tengrism
  • Shamanism
  • Orthodox Christianity
  • Tibetan Buddhism (1240s–1313)
  • Islam (1313–1502)
GovernmentSemi-elective monarchy, later hereditary monarchy
Khan 
• 1226–1280
Orda Khan (White Horde)
• 1242–1255
Batu Khan (Blue Horde)
• 1379–1395
Tokhtamysh
• 1459–1465
Mahmud bin Küchük (Great Horde)
• 1481–1502
Sheikh Ahmed
LegislatureKurultai
Historical eraLate Middle Ages
• Established after the Mongol invasion of Rus'
1242
• Blue Horde and White Horde united
1379
• Disintegrated into Great Horde
1466
• Great Stand on the Ugra River
1480
• Sack of Sarai by the Crimean Khanate
1502
Area
13106,000,000 km2(2,300,000 sq mi)
CurrencyPul, Som, Dirham
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mongol Empire
Cuman-Kipchak Confederation
Volga Bulgaria
Uzbek Khanate
Qasim Khanate
Republic of Genoa
(Gazaria)
Astrakhan Khanate
Kazakh Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Khanate of Sibir
Nogai Horde
Khanate of Kazan
Great Horde
  1. ^Their state came to be known in historiography as the Golden Horde or theulus("people" or "patrimony") ofDjochi, while the contemporaries simply referred to it as the Great Horde (ulu orda).
  2. ^Official language since the inception of the Golden Horde, used in chancery.
  3. ^Especially the western Kipchak dialects, this language spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of the Black Sea steppe who were non-Mongol Turks, and those in the Khan's army. Shift from Mongol to Turkic occurred in the 1350s, or earlier, also used in chancery.