“The Nogai Massacre”
Screex In 1547, the warlike Crimean Khan Sahib-Girey took Astrakhan and, “having defeated the Astrakhan Khan Yamgurji, scattered his subjects, and the men and women who had escaped death, with all…
Steppe Lords: The Dzungar Perspective on the Centuries-Long War with the Kazakhs
Western Campaign: Why the Sons of Choros Needed the Steppes of Desht-i-Kipchak The lands stretching west of the Tarbagatai and Altai mountain ranges always attracted the Oirat leaders. It was…
Batu’s Iron Fist: The Daily Life of a Warrior of the Great Steppe
Morning in the felt world: rituals and duties The sun had not yet had time to scorch the withered grass, and the camp-smoke was already buzzing like a disturbed beehive.…
Batu — the eldest of the Chingizids
Batu and Guyuk In December 1241, Khan Ugedei died. All power was concentrated in the hands of his wife and regent Doregene (Turakin in Russian sources). Doregene wanted to transfer…
Was Tamerlane a good individual fighter?
"Timur was tall and of good build, as if he belonged to the remnants of the Amalekites ... mighty in strength and courage ... sturdy in body, broad shouldered, with…
Tamerlane’s campaign against the Golden Horde
In 1395-1396. Timur carried out a second invasion of the Horde lands. This time he moved not to the eastern uluses devastated by the previous invasion, but to the rich…
Tamerlane’s art of warfare. Battle of the Kondurcha River
In the last third of the XIV century, Amir Timur, a talented military leader and ruler of Maverannahr (the Arabic name for the Amu Darya and Syr Darya interfluve), stepped…
How was it possible to defeat Mongol horse archers?
Neither Chinese emperors, nor Turkic khans, nor Russian princes, nor Muslim emirs, nor European kings could come up with tactics to defeat the Mongol army. Although, it would seem, their…
Tamerlane’s art of warfare. The Battle of Angora
In the early 15th century, the most powerful ruler of Central Asia was Amir Tamerlane (Timur). Under his rule he was able by that time to unite all the territories…
You can’t enter the same river twice: why did the second Mongol invasion of Hungary fail?
After conquering Russia, Batu was forced to let some of his army go home. A few tumen headed by his personal enemy, Güyük, went to Mongolia. Nevertheless, invasion to Europe…