The Golden Horde - the Asian Empire that Reached the West

[John Conduitt]

I've posted this elsewhere before, but I noticed we have very few posts about the Golden Horde, and I think it would be nice to encourage some.

Little is said in ‘the West’ of this huge empire or even the much larger Mongol Empire of which it was part, aside from Genghis Khan and the vastness of his progeny. But I find it fascinating, not least because of how far west these unsophisticated nomads got. I remember asking an elderly Muscovite why Moscow’s Kitai Gorod (‘China Town’) isn’t anything like China Town in London or Vancouver. He told me it was because the Mongols left 500 years ago. The Mongols? A few feet from Red Square?

Their coins are fascinating too, despite some of them looking like they’ve been run over by a Soviet tractor. It doesn’t help that they adhere to Islamic aniconism, even though many Mongol rulers weren’t Muslim. But there’s little you can find on a coin as curious as a tamga – an abstract emblem of a tribe, used by Eurasian nomads to brand animals and identify their clans on coins and seals. I’ve illustrated these below where they appear.

Al-Nasir Jital, recognising Genghis Khan, 1221

Ghazna, Afghanistan. Billon, 17mm, 4.16g. Al-Nasir li-Din Allah (the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad) / Amir al-Mu'minin (‘Leader of the Faithful’). Adl Khaqan al-Azam (‘coin of the Great Khan’) (Tye 329; Album 1969). This is the only common coin securely attributed to Genghis’s lifetime. It was struck in 1221 at a military base during the Mongol chase of Mangubarni, the last ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire, to the Indus River. The Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, Al-Nasir, had appealed to Genghis Khan (‘Universal Ruler’) to stop what he saw as the threat of the Khwarazmian Empire along his northern border. Genghis obliged by annihilating several Khwarezm cities, including Ghazni. Al-Nasir was left with a new threat – Genghis Khan.

When Genghis died in 1227, he was not the ruler of the largest empire the world would ever see. Despite being the only Mongol most have heard of, his empire merely reached northern China and the Caspian Sea. He did, however, unite the nomadic tribes of northern Asia and developed a highly successful method of conquest, involving extreme brutality, that laid the foundations for the famous empire.

The Mongols traded in horses, weapons and livestock, and didn’t mint coins under Genghis. Ironically, the last thing you’d do as a nomad in the ‘Horde’ was put your wealth in the ground. But the cities they conquered did mint coins, and understandably felt the need to acknowledge the Great Khan. The Mongols were not Muslims at this time but tolerated other religions, so the Caliph’s title ‘Leader of the Faithful’ on the coin above posed no threat.

Malik of Kurzuwan ‘Siege’ Jital, June-July 1221

Kurzuwan, Khwarezm. Bronze, 19mm, 3.7g. Rabi II (4th month in the Islamic calendar) around / al-Malik in centre. Kurzuwan (mint) / First Kalima in 3 lines (‘There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’) (Tye 324). Struck in Kurzuwan by an anonymous local ruler (known as a malik) while under siege by the Mongols. Weeks after it was struck, Ghengis completely destroyed the city and slaughtered the population.

It was Genghis’s descendants who established the largest ever contiguous empire. They took what he’d started and rampaged through China, Persia, Russia and into eastern Europe. Like the Romans before them, the Mongols found managing a vast empire required more than one leader. On Genghis’s death it was divided between his sons and grandsons, each subordinate to a Supreme Khan. An argument between his eldest sons Jochi and Chagatai over how completely they should destroy Urgench led to Genghis’s third son, Ögedei, being made the next Supreme Khan, followed by his son, Güyük.

Just as the Romans divided their empire between four rulers, so did the Mongols:

• the Golden Horde in Russia and Eastern Europe (under Batu Khan, son of Genghis’s eldest son Jochi who’d died in 1227)
• the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia (under Chagatai Khan from 1227)
• the Ilkhanate in Southwest Asia (under Hulagu Khan from 1259)
• the Yuan Dynasty in China (under Kublai Khan from 1271).

Batu expanded the Golden Horde by raiding Poland and Hungary, subjugating Bulgaria and sacking Kiev in 1240. The bickering Rus' princes acknowledged his supremacy. He even laid siege to Vienna, right in the heart of Europe. The Golden Horde now extended from Siberia and Persia to the Carpathian Mountains in Poland. It’s not surprising Batu didn’t feel the need to be subservient to anyone, let alone Güyük, who’d insulted him. They nearly came to war, but Güyük died before their armies met, possibly poisoned.

Batu Khan Dang, 1249-1250

Bolgar (capital of Volga Bulgaria, Russia). Silver, 15mm, 1.19g. Möngke (Mengu) Khan / Möngke’s tamga / Supreme. Struck at / Möngke’s tamga / Bulgar (Sagdeeva 4; Album 2018). The first coins of the Golden Horde were struck in Bolgar from 1240-1250. At the time, Batu was a vassal of the Supreme Khan Möngke, and so the coin features Möngke’s name and fork-like tamga.

Batu helped his cousin Möngke succeed Güyük as Supreme Khan in 1251. Their friendship ensured stability and made Batu the most influential person in the Empire. Free of control, he harshly put down a rebellion in Russia where his destruction was only stopped by the Livonian Order. His son Alexander, a Christian, was made the ruler of Russia. Batu founded his capital, Sarai Batu, on the lower stretch of the Volga River.

Even the Golden Horde was too unwieldy to rule alone. Batu, who had primacy, took the west, counterintuitively called the ‘right hand’ (unless you’re looking southwards) and referred to as either the White Horde (in Russian sources) or the Blue Horde (in Timurid and Western sources). His brother Orda took the east, the ‘left hand’, confusingly known as either the Blue Horde (in Russian sources) or the White Horde (in Timurid and Western sources). The Mongols never used these terms. The Golden Horde (a Russian term), also known as the Kipchak Khanate or the Ulus of Jochi, was known to them simply as Ulug Ulus (‘Great State’).

Batu died in 1256, succeed by his son Sartaq, who promptly died. The regency of the infant Ulaghchi ended quickly with his death. Batu's younger brother Berke, who’d converted to Islam (and may have poisoned his rivals), took control in 1258. So, when Supreme Khan Möngke died with no successor in 1259 in the Siege of Diaoyu Castle (near Chongqing, China), civil war ensued. The four khanates became autonomous if not independent, nominally pledging allegiance to Kublai Khan in China (as the next Supreme Khan) when it suited them.

Hulagu Khan Fals, 1260-1261, overstruck on a Badr al-Din Lu'lu' Fals, 1258-1259

Sinjar (Iraq), the Ilkhanate. Bronze, 24mm, 6.87g. Shahada in three lines. 8-point star, ‘the Ilkhan Hulagu, may Allah increase his greatness’ (Album 2125.3; Zeno 35480, this coin). Overstruck on a Fals of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (Album 1876). Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (ruler of Mosul, Iraq) surrendered to Hulagu Khan (founder of the Ilkhanate), sparing his city from destruction. He recognised Möngke as Supreme Khan on the under-coin above. Hulagu overstruck it after their deaths in 1259 and his devastating destruction of Baghdad, where he killed up to 2 million people in less than two weeks. He destroyed Baghdad’s vast, invaluable libraries and threw so many books into the Tigris (perhaps including now-lost Greek, Roman and Islamic masterpieces) the river ran black. It was the end of the Islamic Golden Age. Hulagu was a Buddhist and his slaughter of Muslims enraged Berke, resulting in war and the division of the Empire.

Berke savagely attacked Lithuania, Poland and Prussia, and demanded the submission of both the Hungarian monarch and Louis IX, the French King. The Lithuanians had to pay him tribute, as did the Byzantines after Berke assisted an invasion that almost reached Constantinople. The great powers of Europe were at his feet. Berke was at least friendly with the Mamluks of Egypt, in so far as they could assist him against their enemies and enrich him through the slave trade.

Berke moved the capital upstream to Sarai Berke, home to as many as 600,000 people. Sarai is near modern Astrakhan in southern Russia, the etymology of which is ‘the Great Khan who visited Mecca’. He supported Hulagu’s conquest of Iran, but when some of his princes and the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'sim (an ally of devout Muslim Berke) died suspiciously, Berke went to war with the Ilkhanate. Many of Hulagu's men drowned in the frozen Terek River as they retreated.

Berke Khan Yarmak, 1265

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Silver, 23mm, 2.0g. Padishah (‘the Great King’) / Islam Nasir / ‘Defender of the Faith and Peace’. Struck at Qrim / Berke’s tamga / ‘Blessed be this year of the black cow’ (this translation of the crude Persian is strongly disputed) (Sagdeeva 6; Album 2019G; Zeno 82173, this coin). Qrim was the Horde’s next centre of coin production after Bolgar. Initially, coins weighed 2g but reduced to 1.45g by the end of the century. ‘Dang’, ‘dirham’ and ‘yarmag’ are synonymous but the dirham of Qrim before about 741 was known as the yarmag (or yarmaq) and later coins were known as the dang.

At the same time there was an uprising in Vladimir-Suzdal, Russia, and Berke set off to brutally suppress it. But Vladimir’s Grand Price, Alexander Nevsky, persuaded him not to (as he often did). This helped forge Saint Alexander’s place in the hearts of Russians forevermore. Berke, meanwhile, died in 1266 on the way to another war with the Ilkhanate. He was succeeded by his nephew, Möngke Temür (Mengu Timur, ‘Eternal Iron’).

Möngke Temür Pūl, 1266-1282

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Bronze, 15.7mm, 1.18g. Möngke Temür’s tamga, Mint of Qrim. 48 (such coins) is 1 Yarmak (Zeno 64329). There were 16 pūls per dannik, where a dannik weighed 0.78g. 6 danniks were equal to 1 miskal (4.68g). The Mongols minted many ‘anonymous’ coins that nevertheless featured a tamga that identified the ruler (or at least their clan). The vast majority of inscriptions were in Arabic, even though the Mongols and their subjects spoke Turkic (Kipchak) languages, Persian, Mongolian (with Uyghur script) and much else besides.

Möngke Temür, a shamanist, unsuccessfully plotted against Kublai Khan and the Ilkhanate. But in 1269 at the Talas Kurultai, the rulers of the khanates subordinate to Kublai Khan made an agreement recognising each other as sovereign rulers and allying against Kublai in case he didn’t. They even agreed not to destroy cities or slaughter the civilian populations when attacking them. Möngke Temür became the first ruler of the Golden Horde to call himself ‘khan’ and to put his name (along with Batu Khan’s tamga) on his coins. He consolidated power and gave trading rights to the Genoese, Venetians and Germans, giving the economy a boost.

But he died of an abscess in his throat around 1282 and was succeeded by his Muslim brother Töde Möngke (Tuda Mengu). At the same time, Nogai Khan, a Muslim who’d been given control of lands west of the Dnieper (which runs south to the Black Sea), established himself as an independent ruler. Together with Köchü, son of Orda and Khan of the White Horde (eastern Golden Horde), they acknowledged Kublai as Supreme Khan. Savage raids resumed across Eastern Europe.

Töde Möngke Dang, 1283-1287

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Silver, 22mm, 1.87g. Batu’s tamga in triangle / Coin of Qrim outside triangle. Töde Möngke in square, Equitable / Silver / Legal in segments (Sagdeeva 40; Zeno 270295, this coin). The coin features the tamga of Töde Möngke’s grandfather Batu (as founder of the Golden Horde). All the Golden Horde’s tamgas were variations of Batu’s (to demonstrate the succession), which in turn was based on Genghis Khan’s tamga, which comprised the circle, arm and one horizontal line beneath.

In 1285, Nogai invaded Hungary alongside Töle Buqa (Talabuga or Tula Buga), a great grandson of Batu. They ravaged Poland in 1286, and when they were done destroying Europe, they returned home to overthrow Töde Möngke, who departed peacefully. Töle Buqa, a Muslim, was installed as ruler of the Golden Horde, and promptly launched an unsuccessful invasion of the Ilkhanate.

Töle Buqa feared Nogai was trying to overthrow him and mustered an army to kill him. He was persuaded by his mother, who’d received letters from Nogai, to meet him alone. Instead, it was Nogai who brought an army, killed Töle Buqa and beheaded all the nobles who supported him. Nogai replaced him with Tokhta in 1291, although Nogai, who did not have the birth right to rule, was de facto leader.

Töle Buqa Dang, 1287

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Silver, 20mm, 1.47g. Töle Buqa’s Tamga in hexagram. Töle Buqa / Qrim (mint) / year 686AH (1287AD) (Sagdeeva 44; Album 2022.2). Around this time composite tamgas appeared including some cruciform, possibly incorporating a tamga of Nogai.

Tokhta set about sacking 14 Russian cities to stop them squabbling but this annoyed Nogai, who felt that was his job. Tensions escalated until they were at war, eventually resulting in Nogai’s death in 1299. Thereafter, Tokhta’s reign was peaceful. He established an alliance with Byzantium and although he was Buddhist and Tengerist he was amiable with Christians and Muslims. Of course, he fought with the Ilkhanate, and he fought with the Genoese because they were enslaving his people and selling them to the Egyptians. But he acknowledged the supremacy of the Yuan Emperor and managed to keep the peace for much of his 21-year reign. He died in 1312 while trying to pacify his troublesome Russian princes.

Tokhta Pūl, 1296-1297

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Bronze, 0.97g. Sun face. Tokhta’s tamga / Solkhat (Zeno 65213; Lebedev M8). The mint is given as Solkhat, which was not usually the name given by Mongols (who used Qrim). Pūls were often struck at the request of private customers who provided raw copper. Copper coins bearing a tamga and no khan's name were minted in the Crimea from 1270 onwards. Many pūls from Qrim, unlike other Golden Horde mints but like those from Persia, included images of such things as archers on horseback, birds, leopards and the sun face. Tokha reformed the coinage in 1310 (to his financial benefit) and copper coins were produced at all mints.

Muhammad Öz Beg (Uzbeg) Khan’s long, peaceful reign from 1313 to 1341 saw the adoption of Islam as the state religion. Buddhism and Shamanism were forbidden amongst Mongols. Trade flourished and in Sarai there were quarters for merchants, Mongols and other ethnic groups. The city’s wealth and population grew as demand for their products grew, while their ongoing ties with the Mamluks helped fuel the slave trade.

Inevitably, Öz Beg invaded the Ilkhanate a few times and assisted Bulgaria in their war with Byzantium, although he had been somewhat slighted when he married the Byzantine Emperor’s daughter only for her to flee when she feared she’d have to convert to Islam. But he re-established relations with the Yuan Dynasty and kept control of the unruly Russian princes, eventually backing the Muscovites under Ivan I to lead the Rus’ state (and collect his taxes). Öz Beg's reign was the military peak of the Golden Horde. His army of over 300,000 warriors was one of the largest in the world.

Muhammad Öz Beg Dang, 1333-1334

Saray al-Jadida. Silver, 1.50g. Sultan / Just / Öz Beg Khan, Mint of Saray and year (AH734). Symbol of Faith / Names of 4 Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali (Sagdeeva 203; Album 2025). Saray had become the centre of coin production. Other mints such as Khorezm, Uvek, Azak and Bilar produced silver coins of half or quarter weight for small change. Like the Horde, under Öz Beg the coins were now unmistakably Islamic. From now on the coinage was standardised across mints.

More infighting after Öz Beg’s death and the Black Death in the 1340s (spread to Europe by the Golden Horde) led to the Golden Horde’s painful demise. After Timur invaded in 1396, it broke into smaller khanates that slowly declined. By the mid-1400s, it was referred to as the Great Horde and Moscow was independent. The last remnants, the Crimean Khanate and the Kazakh Khanate, lasted until 1783 and 1847 respectively, 600 years after Genghis Khan started out.

Useful References

Often, you’re told to ‘buy the book before the coin’. But with Golden Horde coins, that’s not easy.

Sagdeeva’s Silver Coins of the Khans of the Golden Horde, 2005 is an invaluable, well-illustrated reference for silver dangs and is widely quoted, but is not available in all good bookstores. Or any. And if you find one, it’s in Russian. If you can't get one, Numista has a growing list of Golden Horde coins, and includes the Sagdeeva illustrations.

Pyrsov’s Catalogue of the Juchid Coins of the Saratov Reginal Museum of Local Lore, 2002 covers many bronze pulos. It's available to download, but is in Russian. Again, Numista has some illustrations.

Robert Tye’s Jitals, 1995 is free to download, which like most useful Oriental coin references is illustrated with line drawings. But it only includes Great Mongol coins (not the Golden Horde).

Stephen Album’s Checklist of Islamic Coins, 2011 is free to download and provides excellent information, although the lack of illustrations makes identification difficult and copper pūls are often not described.

Huletski and Farr’s Coins of the Golden Horde: Period of the Great Mongols (1224-1266), 2016 adds context but the period covered is somewhat short – we’re seemingly waiting for ‘Volume 2’. (Huletski also wrote Russian Coins 1353-1533 with Petrunin and Fishman).

And of course, there’s always Zeno, particularly if you have an idea of what you’re looking for or want to see examples of listings in Checklist of Islamic Coins.

Sources
Coinweek, Coinage of the Mongols
Mongol Tamga
Fedorov-Davydov, Monetary System of the Golden Horde
Lebedev, Symbols and Language of Coins of Krim from the Golden Horde Period

[DonnaML]

Wow! Fascinating; thank you.

[JeandAcre]

@John Conduitt, your level of erudition, about a series of which my own acquaintance is 'pure as the driven snow' (please read, nonexistent), is truly mind-blowing.  I can't believe that anyone who's paying attention can seriously argue about the historical relevance of this to the contemporary European and Middle Eastern contexts.

Edited November 12, 2022 by JeandAcre

[Magnus Maximus]

Nice coins.  
I do not have any coins from the Golden Hoard, but I do have one from the guy who helped destroy them!

AR Tanka of Timur, Minted in Yazd, Persia Date of 797AH or 1394 Weight of 6.00 grams Diameter of 26.28 mm 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Magnus Maximus

[seth77]

In the early 1300s, the Horde shared Crimea with the Genoese and an autonomous Byzantine principality, the Principality of Gothia (later Theodoro-Mangup). There is no coinage known in the international (Western) numismatic literature assigned to Gothia, but coins showing mixed characteristics of Tatar and Genoese influence are known as coming from the south-western corner of Crimea, where the center of Gothia lay, at least since ca. 1300, possibly before.

This is one of those coins:


GOTHIA. PRINCIPALITY of THEODORO-MANGUP(?)
AE follaro, imitation of a pul from the time of Tole Buqa Khan (1287-1290/1), from Qrim
AE22x21mm 2.84g follaro/pul of Theodoro-Mangup(?), ca. end of 13th century or beginning of 14th century
Crowned double-headed eagle, with a ribbon-wreath or a tamgha(?) between the two heads, enclosed in a continuous circular wire border.
Tamgha(?) made up of the pseudo-legend imitating the Arab script on Tatar puls, enclosed in a continuous circle and a dotted circle to the outside.
cf. Lebedev M. 51b, Savosata 25.2 for the official pul type of Tole Buqa at Qrim

The reverse where the legend should have been though looks too stylized to be a regular Tatar issue and was probably used a local tamgha.

Edited August 29, 2022 by seth77

[Ed Snible]

Check out the inscription on this:

Mongols, GOLDEN HORDE. Juchid AE pul. Khwarizm 708 AH (= 1308 AD). Time of Toqtu-bek khan (AH 690-712/ AD 1291-1312). 20mm 2.2g
O: Spiral Kufic, zarb bi-Khwarizm (="was struck at Khwarizm").
R: Spiral Kufic, sanat theman wa seb' miat (="in the year eight and seven hundred").

Ref: Album 2024; cf. Special projects » Khwarizm Numismatics » Juchid 655-815 AH » Toqta; cf. 6400
 

I wish I could read this.  The Wikipedia entry for geometric/square/spiral Kufic is interesting.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufic#Square_Kufic. It looks like a maze video game.

[Ursus]

I^m late to the party – but that is a splendid write-up along with some really nice coins! The yarmak of Berke Khan is a particularly stunning example.

I dabble a bit in Mongol numismatics myself. Below are a few of my coins.

Likely minted for Genghis himself:

Great Mongols, under Genghis (Chingiz) Khan or slightly later, BI “jital,” 1220s/1230s AD, Nimruz (Sistan) mint. Obv: "qa’an / al-‘adil" ('the just khan'). Rev: " zarb i/ nimruz" ('struck in Nimruz'). 14.5mm, 3.42g. Ref: Tye –; Album A1973.

Ilkhanate:

Ilkhanate, under Hulagu (possibly a posthumous issue),  AR dirham, ca. 1261–1265 AD (659–663 AH; also struck posthumously until c. 1281 AD/ 679 AH),  Mardin mint (?). Obv: kalima: "la ilah illa allah/ wahdahu la sharikalahu/ muhammad rasul allah;" in margin, fragmentary Qu'ran 3:26. R: "qa'an/ al-'azam/ hulagu ilkhan/ al-mu'azam;" in margin, fragmentary mint and date formula. 22.5mm, 2.69g. Ref: Album 2122.2.

Ilkhanate, under Arghun with Ghazan as viceroy, AR dirham, 1291–1292 AD (690–691 AH), Astarabad mint. Obv: Uyghur protocol in three lines, two above hawk and one below: "[qaghanu]/ nereber/ deletkeguluksen(?)" ('of the Khaqan / in the name of / struck'); Arabic name of the ruler Arghun in central l. field; citing his heir Ghazan in r. field; hawk r., sunface rising behind. Rev: Shiite kalima in three lines in square: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah / ali waliun allah", partial mint and date formula for Astarabad in margins. Ref: Album 2149.2. 17.5mm, 2.93g.

Golden Horde under Under Öz Beg / Uzbek, the second one with a later countermarks:

Juchids (Golden Horde), under Uzbek Khan, AR dirham/dang, 1314–1315 AD (714 AH), Khwarizm mint. Obv: "al-sultan / al-adil / uz bek" in square. Rev: mint and date formula for Khwarizm 714 AH in polylobe. 16mm, 1.80g. Ref: Album 2025C.

Juchids (Golden Horde), under Uzbek Khan, AR dirham/dang, 1312–1341 AD, Qrim mint. Obv: name and title of Uzbek: “as-sultan muhammad / uz beg khan / ‘azza nasrahu” (heavily worn; countermark “khan”). Rev: kalima in circle: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah,” with worn date around (countermark “khan”). Countermarks tentatively attributed to Abdallah Khan, r. 1361–1370. 16mm, 1.00g. Ref: Album 2025G (including countermark); Sagdeeva 189 (without countermark).

Edited September 15, 2022 by Ursus

[Alegandron]

WOW @John Conduitt, very nice.  I only have one...

Great Mongols, Genghis (Chingiz) Khan,
AH 603-624/ AD 1206-1227,
AE Jital (4.12gm, 2h),
Ghazna type, undated, citing Genghis as Khaqan and
citing on the reverse, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Nasir. O: 'adl / khaqan / al-a'zam("the Just and Supreme Khaqan" or "Just [coin] of the Supreme Khaqan"). R: al-Nasir / li-Din Allah / amir al-mu- / -minin ("al-Nasir li-Din Allah, commander of the faithful").
SICA-9, 1008; Tye 329; Album 1969
Ex: David L Tranbarger

[John Conduitt]

4 hours ago, Ursus said:

I^m late to the party – but that is a splendid write-up along with some really nice coins! The yarmak of Berke Khan is a particularly stunning example.

I dabble a bit in Mongol numismatics myself. Below are a few of my coins.

Likely minted for Genghis himself:

Great Mongols, under Genghis (Chingiz) Khan or slightly later, BI “jital,” 1220s/1230s AD, Nimruz (Sistan) mint. Obv: "qa’an / al-‘adil" ('the just khan'). Rev: " zarb i/ nimruz" ('struck in Nimruz'). 14.5mm, 3.42g. Ref: Tye –; Album A1973.

Ilkhanate:

Ilkhanate, under Hulagu (possibly a posthumous issue),  AR dirham, ca. 1261–1265 AD (659–663 AH; also struck posthumously until c. 1281 AD/ 679 AH),  Mardin mint (?). Obv: kalima: "la ilah illa allah/ wahdahu la sharikalahu/ muhammad rasul allah;" in margin, fragmentary Qu'ran 3:26. R: "qa'an/ al-'azam/ hulagu ilkhan/ al-mu'azam;" in margin, fragmentary mint and date formula. 22.5mm, 2.69g. Ref: Album 2122.2.

Ilkhanate, under Arghun with Ghazan as viceroy, AR dirham, 1291–1292 AD (690–691 AH), Astarabad mint. Obv: Uyghur protocol in three lines, two above hawk and one below: "[qaghanu]/ nereber/ deletkeguluksen(?)" ('of the Khaqan / in the name of / struck'); Arabic name of the ruler Arghun in central l. field; citing his heir Ghazan in r. field; hawk r., sunface rising behind. Rev: Shiite kalima in three lines in square: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah / ali waliun allah", partial mint and date formula for Astarabad in margins. Ref: Album 2149.2. 17.5mm, 2.93g.

Golden Horde under Under Öz Beg / Uzbek, the second one with a later countermarks:

Juchids (Golden Horde), under Uzbek Khan, AR dirham/dang, 1314–1315 AD (714 AH), Khwarizm mint. Obv: "al-sultan / al-adil / uz bek" in square. Rev: mint and date formula for Khwarizm 714 AH in polylobe. 16mm, 1.80g. Ref: Album 2025C.

Juchids (Golden Horde), under Uzbek Khan, AR dirham/dang, 1312–1341 AD, Qrim mint. Obv: name and title of Uzbek: “as-sultan muhammad / uz beg khan / ‘azza nasrahu” (heavily worn; countermark “khan”). Rev: kalima in circle: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah,” with worn date around (countermark “khan”). Countermarks tentatively attributed to Abdallah Khan, r. 1361–1370. 16mm, 1.00g. Ref: Album 2025G (including countermark); Sagdeeva 189 (without countermark).

That's a good selection covering a lot of history. The Ilkhanate has it's own interesting story, which I only touched on because of their constant rivalry with the Golden Horde. (They were meant to be part of the same empire!)

[John Conduitt]

42 minutes ago, Alegandron said:

WOW @John Conduitt, very nice.  I only have one...

Great Mongols, Genghis (Chingiz) Khan,
AH 603-624/ AD 1206-1227,
AE Jital (4.12gm, 2h),
Ghazna type, undated, citing Genghis as Khaqan and
citing on the reverse, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Nasir. O: 'adl / khaqan / al-a'zam("the Just and Supreme Khaqan" or "Just [coin] of the Supreme Khaqan"). R: al-Nasir / li-Din Allah / amir al-mu- / -minin ("al-Nasir li-Din Allah, commander of the faithful").
SICA-9, 1008; Tye 329; Album 1969
Ex: David L Tranbarger

Only one, but a better version of my first coin.

[Alegandron]

18 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Only one, but a better version of my first coin.

Thank you.

[EWC3]

Well of course its nice to get mentioned – as I am the Robert Tye cited above – but I am puzzled by three claims made by John Conduit (is that the one who died in 1737?) above, as follows

1) Al-Nasir Jital, recognising Genghis Khan, 1221…...It was struck in 1221 at a military base

I believe this coin was struck on behalf Genghis Khan, the coin does mention the Caliph, but that seems to me merely customary practice – it really has nothing to do with the Caliph. Lutz Ilisch pointed out to me the very odd fact about these coins. They are indeed fairly common – but at the same time, they involve rather few dies. That is to say – a very large part of the issue survived.

My own guess is tied in with the last point. Exceptionally Genghis or his representative struck these coins at Ghazni in connection with a one-off scheme – the inhabitants were apparently given the opportunity to buy back their own lives. So this might be a way to extract silver and gold from the inhabitants, who perhaps had to first buy these coins with their own gold and silver, before using them exclusively to buy safety. If so they were not intended for circulation – and indeed they are never found worn. As it seems the Mongols then reneged on the scheme and killed the population, it would explain why many survived. When the Mongol army moved on they just left them lying on the ground.

Tamerlane did something a bit similar at Damascus

2) “The Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, Al-Nasir, had appealed to Genghis Khan (‘Universal Ruler’) to stop what he saw as the threat of the Khwarazmian Empire along his northern border”

I never saw any record of this. The standard account is that merchants carrying free passes granted by Genghis were looted and murdered by Khwarezmian border officials. Thus Genghis sought revenge.  However, a different explanation could be that - later Khans held the belief that they had already been granted the earth by god – so were obliged to defeat anyone who contradicted that view. It seems not unlikely that Ghengis thought that too.

Of course none of this stuff is really certain, but I would be interested to get substantive criticism.

Rob Tye

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by EWC3

[John Conduitt]

10 hours ago, EWC3 said:

Well of course its nice to get mentioned – as I am the Robert Tye cited above – but I am puzzled by three claims made by John Conduit (is that the one who died in 1737?) above, as follows

1) Al-Nasir Jital, recognising Genghis Khan, 1221…...It was struck in 1221 at a military base

I believe this coin was struck on behalf Genghis Khan, the coin does mention the Caliph, but that seems to me merely customary practice – it really has nothing to do with the Caliph. Lutz Ilisch pointed out to me the very odd fact about these coins. They are indeed fairly common – but at the same time, they involve rather few dies. That is to say – a very large part of the issue survived.

My own guess is tied in with the last point. Exceptionally Genghis or his representative struck these coins at Ghazni in connection with a one-off scheme – the inhabitants were apparently given the opportunity to buy back their own lives. So this might be a way to extract silver and gold from the inhabitants, who perhaps had to first buy these coins with their own gold and silver, before using them exclusively to buy safety. If so they were not intended for circulation – and indeed they are never found worn. As it seems the Mongols then reneged on the scheme and killed the population, it would explain why many survived. When the Mongol army moved on they just left them lying on the ground.

Tamerlane did something a bit similar at Damascus

2) “The Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, Al-Nasir, had appealed to Genghis Khan (‘Universal Ruler’) to stop what he saw as the threat of the Khwarazmian Empire along his northern border”

I never saw any record of this. The standard account is that merchants carrying free passes granted by Genghis were looted and murdered by Khwarezmian border officials. Thus Genghis sought revenge.  However, a different explanation could be that - later Khans held the belief that they had already been granted the earth by god – so were obliged to defeat anyone who contradicted that view. It seems not unlikely that Ghengis thought that too.

Of course none of this stuff is really certain, but I would be interested to get substantive criticism.

Rob Tye

 

Thank you for the reply, Rob. And for noticing I died 300 years ago.

Yes, I didn't mean to imply the coins were struck by Al-Nasir, who wouldn't have been involved in the chase of Mangubarni. Interesting idea that they may have been used to 'buy' the gold and silver in the town. The Mongol army certainly had no use for them. But would it have been easier than just demanding gold for their lives? It could be that in a particular scenario, Genghis intended to simply sell the coins to the population in exchange for gold and silver (obviously a poor deal for them) and leave them alone. The Ghazni people would have their lives, but also a currency promoting their subjugation to Genghis, which could circulate to other towns as a good bit of propaganda. Either way, when he killed them all, it ended the scheme and none circulated.

Whether Al-Nasir appealed to Genghis Khan to check the progress of the Khwarazmian Empire is loaded with speculation, based on the assertion that Genghis had no intention of invading Khawarzm and that Al-Nasir, under threat from Khawarzm, tried to ally with the Mongols. But if he did, it doesn't mean that was the reason Genghis destroyed them. The killing of his envoy certainly enraged him.

[EWC3]

Hello John

Well there is more regarding type T 329 (Genghis/ Ghazna - pics above) on page 71 footnote 2 of "Jitals". 

My source for the suggestion I make about T 329 was Elliot, Vol II p. 568.  I assumed at the time that Elliot was using Rashid-ud-Din - but well - I will let you check that further if you wish.

So - the main problem is -  you are putting up a somewhat plausible solution - but with no substanciation. 

The further problem with your alternative 'one stage' explanation is this - the first person to say "no" is likely to be killed which will spread more panic.  So your plan is just  not as clever as the two stage one Genghis (or his general on the spot) used to extract the maximum sums up front. 

I think the Stefan Heidemann paper on Tamerlane at Damascus is on the web.  Check that out. As I best recall T. offered to spare the city for a million dirhems or some such.  They paid him - he objected to their coins as only 60% fine or so - so sacked the city anyhow.  Stefan surely figured this out correctly.  T. knew if he went straight in they would bury their coins to spite him anyway.  So he tricked them to get the million up front - got it - than sacked the city anyway - as he planned to all along.

On this matter to do with the Caliph - again - where we have facts - I think we should stick close to them

I think Album A1973 is probably not from the time of Genghis.  Steve probably put it there as a kind of default position.......

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by EWC3

[Al Kowsky]

On 8/28/2022 at 3:08 PM, John Conduitt said:

I've posted this elsewhere before, but I noticed we have very few posts about the Golden Horde, and I think it would be nice to encourage some.

Little is said in ‘the West’ of this huge empire or even the much larger Mongol Empire of which it was part, aside from Genghis Khan and the vastness of his progeny. But I find it fascinating, not least because of how far west these unsophisticated nomads got. I remember asking an elderly Muscovite why Moscow’s Kitai Gorod (‘China Town’) isn’t anything like China Town in London or Vancouver. He told me it was because the Mongols left 500 years ago. The Mongols? A few feet from Red Square?

Their coins are fascinating too, despite some of them looking like they’ve been run over by a Soviet tractor. It doesn’t help that they adhere to Islamic aniconism, even though many Mongol rulers weren’t Muslim. But there’s little you can find on a coin as curious as a tamga – an abstract emblem of a tribe, used by Eurasian nomads to brand animals and identify their clans on coins and seals. I’ve illustrated these below where they appear.

Al-Nasir Jital, recognising Genghis Khan, 1221

Ghazna, Afghanistan. Billon, 17mm, 4.16g. Al-Nasir li-Din Allah (the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad) / Amir al-Mu'minin (‘Leader of the Faithful’). Adl Khaqan al-Azam (‘coin of the Great Khan’) (Tye 329; Album 1969). This is the only common coin securely attributed to Genghis’s lifetime. It was struck in 1221 at a military base during the Mongol chase of Mangubarni, the last ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire, to the Indus River. The Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, Al-Nasir, had appealed to Genghis Khan (‘Universal Ruler’) to stop what he saw as the threat of the Khwarazmian Empire along his northern border. Genghis obliged by annihilating several Khwarezm cities, including Ghazni. Al-Nasir was left with a new threat – Genghis Khan.

When Genghis died in 1227, he was not the ruler of the largest empire the world would ever see. Despite being the only Mongol most have heard of, his empire merely reached northern China and the Caspian Sea. He did, however, unite the nomadic tribes of northern Asia and developed a highly successful method of conquest, involving extreme brutality, that laid the foundations for the famous empire.

The Mongols traded in horses, weapons and livestock, and didn’t mint coins under Genghis. Ironically, the last thing you’d do as a nomad in the ‘Horde’ was put your wealth in the ground. But the cities they conquered did mint coins, and understandably felt the need to acknowledge the Great Khan. The Mongols were not Muslims at this time but tolerated other religions, so the Caliph’s title ‘Leader of the Faithful’ on the coin above posed no threat.

Malik of Kurzuwan ‘Siege’ Jital, June-July 1221

Kurzuwan, Khwarezm. Bronze, 19mm, 3.7g. Rabi II (4th month in the Islamic calendar) around / al-Malik in centre. Kurzuwan (mint) / First Kalima in 3 lines (‘There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’) (Tye 324). Struck in Kurzuwan by an anonymous local ruler (known as a malik) while under siege by the Mongols. Weeks after it was struck, Ghengis completely destroyed the city and slaughtered the population.

It was Genghis’s descendants who established the largest ever contiguous empire. They took what he’d started and rampaged through China, Persia, Russia and into eastern Europe. Like the Romans before them, the Mongols found managing a vast empire required more than one leader. On Genghis’s death it was divided between his sons and grandsons, each subordinate to a Supreme Khan. An argument between his eldest sons Jochi and Chagatai over how completely they should destroy Urgench led to Genghis’s third son, Ögedei, being made the next Supreme Khan, followed by his son, Güyük.

Just as the Romans divided their empire between four rulers, so did the Mongols:

• the Golden Horde in Russia and Eastern Europe (under Batu Khan, son of Genghis’s eldest son Jochi who’d died in 1227)
• the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia (under Chagatai Khan from 1227)
• the Ilkhanate in Southwest Asia (under Hulagu Khan from 1259)
• the Yuan Dynasty in China (under Kublai Khan from 1271).

Batu expanded the Golden Horde by raiding Poland and Hungary, subjugating Bulgaria and sacking Kiev in 1240. The bickering Rus' princes acknowledged his supremacy. He even laid siege to Vienna, right in the heart of Europe. The Golden Horde now extended from Siberia and Persia to the Carpathian Mountains in Poland. It’s not surprising Batu didn’t feel the need to be subservient to anyone, let alone Güyük, who’d insulted him. They nearly came to war, but Güyük died before their armies met, possibly poisoned.

Batu Khan Dang, 1249-1250

Bolgar (capital of Volga Bulgaria, Russia). Silver, 15mm, 1.19g. Möngke (Mengu) Khan / Möngke’s tamga / Supreme. Struck at / Möngke’s tamga / Bulgar (Sagdeeva 4; Album 2018). The first coins of the Golden Horde were struck in Bolgar from 1240-1250. At the time, Batu was a vassal of the Supreme Khan Möngke, and so the coin features Möngke’s name and fork-like tamga.

Batu helped his cousin Möngke succeed Güyük as Supreme Khan in 1251. Their friendship ensured stability and made Batu the most influential person in the Empire. Free of control, he harshly put down a rebellion in Russia where his destruction was only stopped by the Livonian Order. His son Alexander, a Christian, was made the ruler of Russia. Batu founded his capital, Sarai Batu, on the lower stretch of the Volga River.

Even the Golden Horde was too unwieldy to rule alone. Batu, who had primacy, took the west, counterintuitively called the ‘right hand’ (unless you’re looking southwards) and referred to as either the White Horde (in Russian sources) or the Blue Horde (in Timurid and Western sources). His brother Orda took the east, the ‘left hand’, confusingly known as either the Blue Horde (in Russian sources) or the White Horde (in Timurid and Western sources). The Mongols never used these terms. The Golden Horde (a Russian term), also known as the Kipchak Khanate or the Ulus of Jochi, was known to them simply as Ulug Ulus (‘Great State’).

Batu died in 1256, succeed by his son Sartaq, who promptly died. The regency of the infant Ulaghchi ended quickly with his death. Batu's younger brother Berke, who’d converted to Islam (and may have poisoned his rivals), took control in 1258. So, when Supreme Khan Möngke died with no successor in 1259 in the Siege of Diaoyu Castle (near Chongqing, China), civil war ensued. The four khanates became autonomous if not independent, nominally pledging allegiance to Kublai Khan in China (as the next Supreme Khan) when it suited them.

Hulagu Khan Fals, 1260-1261, overstruck on a Badr al-Din Lu'lu' Fals, 1258-1259

Sinjar (Iraq), the Ilkhanate. Bronze, 24mm, 6.87g. Shahada in three lines. 8-point star, ‘the Ilkhan Hulagu, may Allah increase his greatness’ (Album 2125.3; Zeno 35480, this coin). Overstruck on a Fals of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (Album 1876). Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (ruler of Mosul, Iraq) surrendered to Hulagu Khan (founder of the Ilkhanate), sparing his city from destruction. He recognised Möngke as Supreme Khan on the under-coin above. Hulagu overstruck it after their deaths in 1259 and his devastating destruction of Baghdad, where he killed up to 2 million people in less than two weeks. He destroyed Baghdad’s vast, invaluable libraries and threw so many books into the Tigris (perhaps including now-lost Greek, Roman and Islamic masterpieces) the river ran black. It was the end of the Islamic Golden Age. Hulagu was a Buddhist and his slaughter of Muslims enraged Berke, resulting in war and the division of the Empire.

Berke savagely attacked Lithuania, Poland and Prussia, and demanded the submission of both the Hungarian monarch and Louis IX, the French King. The Lithuanians had to pay him tribute, as did the Byzantines after Berke assisted an invasion that almost reached Constantinople. The great powers of Europe were at his feet. Berke was at least friendly with the Mamluks of Egypt, in so far as they could assist him against their enemies and enrich him through the slave trade.

Berke moved the capital upstream to Sarai Berke, home to as many as 600,000 people. Sarai is near modern Astrakhan in southern Russia, the etymology of which is ‘the Great Khan who visited Mecca’. He supported Hulagu’s conquest of Iran, but when some of his princes and the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'sim (an ally of devout Muslim Berke) died suspiciously, Berke went to war with the Ilkhanate. Many of Hulagu's men drowned in the frozen Terek River as they retreated.

Berke Khan Yarmak, 1265

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Silver, 23mm, 2.0g. Padishah (‘the Great King’) / Islam Nasir / ‘Defender of the Faith and Peace’. Struck at Qrim / Berke’s tamga / ‘Blessed be this year of the black cow’ (this translation of the crude Persian is strongly disputed) (Sagdeeva 6; Album 2019G; Zeno 82173, this coin). Qrim was the Horde’s next centre of coin production after Bolgar. Initially, coins weighed 2g but reduced to 1.45g by the end of the century. ‘Dang’, ‘dirham’ and ‘yarmag’ are synonymous but the dirham of Qrim before about 741 was known as the yarmag (or yarmaq) and later coins were known as the dang.

At the same time there was an uprising in Vladimir-Suzdal, Russia, and Berke set off to brutally suppress it. But Vladimir’s Grand Price, Alexander Nevsky, persuaded him not to (as he often did). This helped forge Saint Alexander’s place in the hearts of Russians forevermore. Berke, meanwhile, died in 1266 on the way to another war with the Ilkhanate. He was succeeded by his nephew, Möngke Temür (Mengu Timur, ‘Eternal Iron’).

Möngke Temür Pūl, 1266-1282

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Bronze, 15.7mm, 1.18g. Möngke Temür’s tamga, Mint of Qrim. 48 (such coins) is 1 Yarmak (Zeno 64329). There were 16 pūls per dannik, where a dannik weighed 0.78g. 6 danniks were equal to 1 miskal (4.68g). The Mongols minted many ‘anonymous’ coins that nevertheless featured a tamga that identified the ruler (or at least their clan). The vast majority of inscriptions were in Arabic, even though the Mongols and their subjects spoke Turkic (Kipchak) languages, Persian, Mongolian (with Uyghur script) and much else besides.

Möngke Temür, a shamanist, unsuccessfully plotted against Kublai Khan and the Ilkhanate. But in 1269 at the Talas Kurultai, the rulers of the khanates subordinate to Kublai Khan made an agreement recognising each other as sovereign rulers and allying against Kublai in case he didn’t. They even agreed not to destroy cities or slaughter the civilian populations when attacking them. Möngke Temür became the first ruler of the Golden Horde to call himself ‘khan’ and to put his name (along with Batu Khan’s tamga) on his coins. He consolidated power and gave trading rights to the Genoese, Venetians and Germans, giving the economy a boost.

But he died of an abscess in his throat around 1282 and was succeeded by his Muslim brother Töde Möngke (Tuda Mengu). At the same time, Nogai Khan, a Muslim who’d been given control of lands west of the Dnieper (which runs south to the Black Sea), established himself as an independent ruler. Together with Köchü, son of Orda and Khan of the White Horde (eastern Golden Horde), they acknowledged Kublai as Supreme Khan. Savage raids resumed across Eastern Europe.

Töde Möngke Dang, 1283-1287

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Silver, 22mm, 1.87g. Batu’s tamga in triangle / Coin of Qrim outside triangle. Töde Möngke in square, Equitable / Silver / Legal in segments (Sagdeeva 40; Zeno 270295, this coin). The coin features the tamga of Töde Möngke’s grandfather Batu (as founder of the Golden Horde). All the Golden Horde’s tamgas were variations of Batu’s (to demonstrate the succession), which in turn was based on Genghis Khan’s tamga, which comprised the circle, arm and one horizontal line beneath.

In 1285, Nogai invaded Hungary alongside Töle Buqa (Talabuga or Tula Buga), a great grandson of Batu. They ravaged Poland in 1286, and when they were done destroying Europe, they returned home to overthrow Töde Möngke, who departed peacefully. Töle Buqa, a Muslim, was installed as ruler of the Golden Horde, and promptly launched an unsuccessful invasion of the Ilkhanate.

Töle Buqa feared Nogai was trying to overthrow him and mustered an army to kill him. He was persuaded by his mother, who’d received letters from Nogai, to meet him alone. Instead, it was Nogai who brought an army, killed Töle Buqa and beheaded all the nobles who supported him. Nogai replaced him with Tokhta in 1291, although Nogai, who did not have the birth right to rule, was de facto leader.

Töle Buqa Dang, 1287

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Silver, 20mm, 1.47g. Töle Buqa’s Tamga in hexagram. Töle Buqa / Qrim (mint) / year 686AH (1287AD) (Sagdeeva 44; Album 2022.2). Around this time composite tamgas appeared including some cruciform, possibly incorporating a tamga of Nogai.

Tokhta set about sacking 14 Russian cities to stop them squabbling but this annoyed Nogai, who felt that was his job. Tensions escalated until they were at war, eventually resulting in Nogai’s death in 1299. Thereafter, Tokhta’s reign was peaceful. He established an alliance with Byzantium and although he was Buddhist and Tengerist he was amiable with Christians and Muslims. Of course, he fought with the Ilkhanate, and he fought with the Genoese because they were enslaving his people and selling them to the Egyptians. But he acknowledged the supremacy of the Yuan Emperor and managed to keep the peace for much of his 21-year reign. He died in 1312 while trying to pacify his troublesome Russian princes.

Tokhta Pūl, 1296-1297

Qrim (formerly Solkhat, Crimea). Bronze, 0.97g. Sun face. Tokhta’s tamga / Solkhat (Zeno 65213; Lebedev M8). The mint is given as Solkhat, which was not usually the name given by Mongols (who used Qrim). Pūls were often struck at the request of private customers who provided raw copper. Copper coins bearing a tamga and no khan's name were minted in the Crimea from 1270 onwards. Many pūls from Qrim, unlike other Golden Horde mints but like those from Persia, included images of such things as archers on horseback, birds, leopards and the sun face. Tokha reformed the coinage in 1310 (to his financial benefit) and copper coins were produced at all mints.

Muhammad Öz Beg (Uzbeg) Khan’s long, peaceful reign from 1313 to 1341 saw the adoption of Islam as the state religion. Buddhism and Shamanism were forbidden amongst Mongols. Trade flourished and in Sarai there were quarters for merchants, Mongols and other ethnic groups. The city’s wealth and population grew as demand for their products grew, while their ongoing ties with the Mamluks helped fuel the slave trade.

Inevitably, Öz Beg invaded the Ilkhanate a few times and assisted Bulgaria in their war with Byzantium, although he had been somewhat slighted when he married the Byzantine Emperor’s daughter only for her to flee when she feared she’d have to convert to Islam. But he re-established relations with the Yuan Dynasty and kept control of the unruly Russian princes, eventually backing the Muscovites under Ivan I to lead the Rus’ state (and collect his taxes). Öz Beg's reign was the military peak of the Golden Horde. His army of over 300,000 warriors was one of the largest in the world.

Muhammad Öz Beg Dang, 1333-1334

Saray al-Jadida. Silver, 1.50g. Sultan / Just / Öz Beg Khan, Mint of Saray and year (AH734). Symbol of Faith / Names of 4 Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali (Sagdeeva 203; Album 2025). Saray had become the centre of coin production. Other mints such as Khorezm, Uvek, Azak and Bilar produced silver coins of half or quarter weight for small change. Like the Horde, under Öz Beg the coins were now unmistakably Islamic. From now on the coinage was standardised across mints.

More infighting after Öz Beg’s death and the Black Death in the 1340s (spread to Europe by the Golden Horde) led to the Golden Horde’s painful demise. After Timur invaded in 1396, it broke into smaller khanates that slowly declined. By the mid-1400s, it was referred to as the Great Horde and Moscow was independent. The last remnants, the Crimean Khanate and the Kazakh Khanate, lasted until 1783 and 1847 respectively, 600 years after Genghis Khan started out.

Useful References

Often, you’re told to ‘buy the book before the coin’. But with Golden Horde coins, that’s not easy.

Sagdeeva’s Silver Coins of the Khans of the Golden Horde, 2005 is an invaluable, well-illustrated reference for silver dangs and is widely quoted, but is not available in all good bookstores. Or any. And if you find one, it’s in Russian. If you can't get one, Numista has a growing list of Golden Horde coins, and includes the Sagdeeva illustrations.

Pyrsov’s Catalogue of the Juchid Coins of the Saratov Reginal Museum of Local Lore, 2002 covers many bronze pulos. It's available to download, but is in Russian. Again, Numista has some illustrations.

Robert Tye’s Jitals, 1995 is free to download, which like most useful Oriental coin references is illustrated with line drawings. But it only includes Great Mongol coins (not the Golden Horde).

Stephen Album’s Checklist of Islamic Coins, 2011 is free to download and provides excellent information, although the lack of illustrations makes identification difficult and copper pūls are often not described.

Huletski and Farr’s Coins of the Golden Horde: Period of the Great Mongols (1224-1266), 2016 adds context but the period covered is somewhat short – we’re seemingly waiting for ‘Volume 2’. (Huletski also wrote Russian Coins 1353-1533 with Petrunin and Fishman).

And of course, there’s always Zeno, particularly if you have an idea of what you’re looking for or want to see examples of listings in Checklist of Islamic Coins.

Sources
Coinweek, Coinage of the Mongols
Mongol Tamga
Fedorov-Davydov, Monetary System of the Golden Horde
Lebedev, Symbols and Language of Coins of Krim from the Golden Horde Period

Impressive article with wonderful illustrations ☺️!

[Ursus]

On 11/4/2022 at 9:04 AM, EWC3 said:

I think Album A1973 is probably not from the time of Genghis.  Steve probably put it there as a kind of default position.......

That is interesting. I had wondered about the reasons for Album's dating. May I ask whether you have a theory about when and by whom this type was struck?

[Tejas]

 

Great coins and very interesting contribution. I have a number of coins of the Golden Horde and will post them later. 

 

Here is a Russian film on the Golden Horde. In my view this is a really well made film that gives you a sense almost as it was a documentary filmed in the early 14th century.

 

I think the link above to Youtube does not work. If you go to youtube and paste in the line below, you will find the film.

ФИЛЬМ ПРО ПОКОРИТЕЛЯ, КОТОРЫЙ ПОКОРИЛ МИР И ПРОИГРАЛ! Зарубежные фильмы. Орда

Edited December 12, 2022 by Tejas

[John Conduitt]

4 hours ago, Ursus said:

That is interesting. I had wondered about the reasons for Album's dating. May I ask whether you have a theory about when and by whom this type was struck?

Many (most?) of the coins under Chingiz Khan in Album's Checklist have some sort of disclaimer that they were either posthumous or continued to be struck long after Genghis's death. B1973 and C1973 do, while A1973 is 'recently discovered'. I assume they go under Genghis because that's the earliest they could be. It looks like they continued to be struck into Möngke's reign (the 1250s). The Mongols were very keen to emphasise their ancestry, for similar reasons to a lot of medieval European monarchs, whose coins continued to bear a deceased ruler's name.

[Tejas]

This is my earliest coin of the Golden Horde. 

Time of Batu Khan, AD 1227-1256 in the name of Abbasid caliph al-Nasir, Bulghar mint

Fedorov-Davydov 1; Nyamaa 76; Jena 67-8; Album N2018; ICV 2011. 

[Tejas]

This would be my second earliest Golden Horde coin

Mengu-Timur. Crimea. Dirham. 665AH

AD 1267

I wish I had a translation of the legends.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Tejas

[Tejas]

On 8/29/2022 at 1:56 PM, seth77 said:

In the early 1300s, the Horde shared Crimea with the Genoese and an autonomous Byzantine principality, the Principality of Gothia (later Theodoro-Mangup). There is no coinage known in the international (Western) numismatic literature assigned to Gothia, but coins showing mixed characteristics of Tatar and Genoese influence are known as coming from the south-western corner of Crimea, where the center of Gothia lay, at least since ca. 1300, possibly before.

This is one of those coins:


GOTHIA. PRINCIPALITY of THEODORO-MANGUP(?)
AE follaro, imitation of a pul from the time of Tole Buqa Khan (1287-1290/1), from Qrim
AE22x21mm 2.84g follaro/pul of Theodoro-Mangup(?), ca. end of 13th century or beginning of 14th century
Crowned double-headed eagle, with a ribbon-wreath or a tamgha(?) between the two heads, enclosed in a continuous circular wire border.
Tamgha(?) made up of the pseudo-legend imitating the Arab script on Tatar puls, enclosed in a continuous circle and a dotted circle to the outside.
cf. Lebedev M. 51b, Savosata 25.2 for the official pul type of Tole Buqa at Qrim

The reverse where the legend should have been though looks too stylized to be a regular Tatar issue and was probably used a local tamgha.

This is very interesting. I must say that I am a bit skeptical about this attribution to the principality of Theodoro. I am quite sure that I have seen this, or a very similar design of a double headed eagle on puls of the Golden Horde, while I'm not aware that the Genoese used the double headed eagle.

According to Wikipedia, this design with the double headed eagle was the coat of arms of Theodoro. However, given the very little information that we have about Theodoro, I wonder if this coat of arms is attested in reliable sources, or if it is a modern invention.  

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by Tejas

[John Conduitt]

15 hours ago, Tejas said:

This would be my second earliest Golden Horde coin

Mengu-Timur. Crimea. Dirham. 665AH

AD 1267

I wish I had a translation of the legends.

Sagdeeva gives the legends as:
Obv: Just Khan // Mengu-Timur; Left and right of tamga: Coinage of / Krim
Rev: There is no god but Allah // alone, without partner // his year 225 (=665) 
(Sagdeeva 21).

This is pretty much what every Golden Horde coin in Arabic says.

Edited December 13, 2022 by John Conduitt

[DLTcoins]

Just for fun (and because my phone has an Arabic keyboard):

قان العد (qan al-'ad-)

ل منكو تيمور (-il Manku Timur)

ضرب (zarb)

[tamgha]

قرم (Qrim)

_____

لا اله الا الله (la ilah illa Allah)

وحده لا شريك (wahdahu la sharik)

له ٦٦٥ (lahu [665])

My translation is slightly different but substantially the same:

"Qan the just / Mangu Timur / struck / [tamgha] / Qrim // no god but Allah / alone, no partner / with Him 665".

Or fully fleshed out:

"The just Qan Mangu Timur. Was struck at Qrim. // There is no god but Allah alone. There are no partners with Him. 665."

Nice coin!

[Edited]

Edited December 13, 2022 by DLTcoins

[John Conduitt]

41 minutes ago, Tejas said:

This is very interesting. I must say that I am a bit skeptical about this attribution to the principality of Theodoro. I am quite sure that I have seen this, or a very similar design of a double headed eagle on puls of the Golden Horde, while I'm not aware that the Genoese used the double headed eagle.

According to Wikipedia, this design with the double headed eagle was the coat of arms of Theodoro. However, given the very little information that we have about Theodoro, I wonder if this coat of arms is attested in reliable sources, or if it is a modern invention.  

Golden Horde pūls did feature a double-headed eagle. I don't know how they can be linked to the Byzantines of the Principality of Gothia. This coin featuring a double-headed eagle was struck in Gulistan, the location of which is unknown, but was apparently on the lower Volga (further east).

Anonymous Pulo from the time of Aziz Sheikh, AH766/1364-5

Gulistan. Bronze, 2.65g. Double-headed eagle in a 6-angle star with dotted rim. Linear inscriptions in triangle with dotted rim: Mint in the City of Gulistan. In segments: Year six sixty-seven hundred (766) (Pyrsov 291/18).

Still, it was certainly the case that many coins had Genoese (rather than Byzantine) and Golden Horde features. The Mongols conquered Crimea in the 1230s and Genoese traders arrived in the late 1200s (Töle Buqa was 1287-1291). The Genoese occupied the coast around the south of Crimea. This coin was struck with a Genoese design on one side and a Golden Horde design on the other. 

Akche of Genoese Merchants of Kaffa in the Crimea, 1420-1447

Kaffa. Silver, 16mm, 0.90g. Arms of Genoa, with tower and star. Tamga of Küchük Muhammad (1435-1459) of the Golden Hoard, Islamic legend around (MWI 2358).

There were other types featuring Latin letters and tamgas. Some Golden Horde coins were countermarked by the Genoese:

Anonymous Golden Horde Pul with Genoese Countermark 1358-1377

Qrim. Copper, 20mm, 1.71g. ‘Kaffa Gate’ Genoese countermark (Countermark: Retowski #5; Coin: cf Zeno 28131 and 136763).

But this all relates to Genoese traders, not vestigial Byzantines. Although the Tokha pūl in my original post names Qrim as 'Sulkhat', which seems to be a Greek name. Perhaps the close links between the Genoese and the Byzantines led to the use of the double-headed eagle, but it isn't exactly unknown in Islamic coinage.

[Tejas]

Many thanks for the translation of the legends. This is very helpful.