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 confidently and firmly onto the political arena of Central Asia. In 1370-80. Timur greatly expanded his possessions, conquering the modern territories of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Northern Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
His stunning military successes, the “Iron Hammer”, first of all, was due to the highest development of military art of his power. Timur’s army was manned by professional soldiers who received a salary for their service and part of the booty captured during wars and campaigns.
The whole army of Tamerlane was divided into seven compounds (analogs of Mongolian “tumen”), two of which were reserve. Timur used the decimal principle of manning his units. Election of chiefs was preserved only at the level of tens and centurions. Tamerlane himself or his closest commanders appointed thousands of commanders and “tumen”.
Timur (Tamerlane)
The striking force of Tamerlane’s army was cavalry, divided into heavy, light and mounted archers. Heavy cavalry was recruited from natives of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva emirates, and light cavalry — from nomads of Central Asia, Middle East, Iran and Transcaucasia. The heavy cavalry (both riders and horses) had plate or lamellar armor.
Timur also used infantry, which moved on horseback during transitions, and rushed into battle. From the conquered peoples formed infantry units, which often without pity and indulgence first threw into battle.
Each warrior of Timur had a bow of the Mongolian model, 20-30 arrows, an axe, a harness, a spear. Selected units were dressed in lats, ringlets, metal helmets, had swords or sabers, 2-3 horses. Armament, equipment, outfit of Timur’s warriors was similar in many respects to the Horde, Ottoman, Mongolian, Asia Minor analogs of that epoch.
Warriors of Timur’s army
Having defeated and subdued his southern neighbors, Tamerlane turned his gaze to the northern provinces of Central Asia. They were under the control of the khans of the Golden Horde — descendants of Genghis Khan. In the last quarter of the XIV century, the once united, powerful and formidable Golden Horde no longer existed.
In the course of long feudal feuds, the Golden Horde actually split into two independent and warring ulus — the White Horde and the Blue Horde. The White Horde occupied modern territories of the Urals, Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan, and the Blue Horde stretched from the Lower Volga to the Black Sea steppes.
His invasive ambitions concerning former possessions of Golden Horde Timur has decided to realize by hands of khan Tokhtamysh. This direct descendant of Genghis Khan and legitimate heir to the throne of the White Horde appeared at Tamerlane’s court in 1376. It happened after Tokhtamysh was expelled from his native ulus by Urus Khan.
Tokhtamysh
The Iron Hammer for a long time supplied his protégé with money and weapons, helping him in the struggle for the lost inheritance. The persistent Tokhtamysh managed to establish himself on the throne of the White Horde in 1379. After two years (again with the support of Timur) he became Khan of the Blue Horde for a short period.
Having achieved his cherished dream, Tokhtamysh became Tamerlane’s enemy. Two powerful khans could not peacefully coexist in the neighborhood for a long time. Since 1383, Tamerlan and Tokhtamysh entered into an open armed confrontation. The first challenge was thrown by the Golden Horde Khan, who suddenly seized Khorezm.
After the return of Khorezm possessions Tamerlan in 1385 had to wrest from Tokhtamysh another emirate — Azerbaijan, which was suddenly invaded by the Horde. In 1387, the Horde army raided directly into Maverannahr, reaching Termez.
Timur rushed in pursuit of the enemies, caught up with them at Fergana and defeated them. However Tokhtamysh managed to leave to Tobol steppes, and from there to Western Siberia. Timur by all forces and means sought to deal with a dangerous and ungrateful rival, but barely the army of the ruler of Maverannahr was on a campaign, as the Khan went to the Ural or Volga steppes.
Tamerlane had to undertake a grandiose campaign against a treacherous and annoying neighbor. In December, 1390 the army of Timur has acted from Samarkand. According to the data of Samarkand court historians and chroniclers, the Iron Hammer led out of his capital 200 000 people, which was certainly an exaggeration.
Having crossed the Syr Darya River, Tamerlane passed Tashkent and Otrar, reaching the upper reaches of the Tobol River. The reconnaissance sent forward found the army of Tokhtamysh in the upper reaches of the Yaik (today the Ural River). Horde Khan began to retreat rapidly westward to the Volga steppes.
He hoped that Timur would not venture far from his possessions. However, Tamerlane was determined to deal with Tokhtamysh. The chase lasted almost two months. During this time Tokhtamysh’s army reached the steppes located between the Kama bend and modern Samara.
Having realized that it would not be possible to escape from the chase, the Khan of the Golden Horde decided on a general battle. Tokhtamysh chose the valley of the river Kundurcha, where it flows into the river Sok (about 50 km north-east of Samara) as the place of the forthcoming battle.
The army of Tokhtamysh on the level of armament, equipment and outfit practically did not differ from the army that brought Mamai eleven years ago to the banks of Nepryadva. No tactical and strategic innovations were used by the Horde khans since the defeat on the Kulikovo field. Tokhtamysh himself did not even have the talents of a commander of “medium scale”, for his unsuccessful military career he had already suffered a dozen defeats, including disgraceful and defeated.
For the decisive battle the Golden Horde Khan chose a plain, in shape resembling a triangle, between the banks of the rivers Kondurcha and Sok (Sok Yars). The place was chosen by Tokhtamysh rashly and unsuccessfully. On a flat terrain selected and invincible cavalry of Timur could easily crush and overturn the Horde army. Tokhtamysh’s army was threatened with encirclement and subsequent extermination in the interfluve of the Volga and Kundurcha, or between the banks of the Kundurcha and the Sok River.
The long-awaited battle, which Timur was so eager for, began on June 18, 1391. As in many similar cases, the exact information about the number of the fighting parties has not reached our days. Medieval Asian and Arabic sources attribute both Tamerlane and Tokhtamysh huge armies of 200,000 and even 300,000 people. Of course, these figures are very, very far from the truth.
Mamai, ten years earlier mobilized for a campaign to Russia all ulus of the Golden Horde and resorted to the services of mercenaries, collected no more than 30,000 soldiers. It is difficult to imagine that Tokhtamysh was able to gather more people than his predecessor. At the peak of his power (the beginning of the 15th century) Timur never gathered more than 100,000 men under his banners.
Based on the above, the forces of the opposing sides can be estimated as approximately equal: a maximum of 40-50 thousand warriors. It is necessary, to take into account, that the battle was preceded by exhausting two-month chase, which knocked out a considerable number of soldiers of both armies. Therefore it is logical to estimate armies of Golden Horde and Timur’s power in 30-40 thousand people.
Arrangement of forces on the eve of battle
On the first day of the confrontation Tokhtamysh took the initiative. Concentrating his best forces on the left flank, he tried to press the enemy army to the river Sok by blows in the forehead and bypass maneuvers. However, Timur not only repulsed all the attacks of the Horde, but also went on the counteroffensive. Developing the attack, the advanced detachments of Maverannahrtsy broke far ahead and got into an encirclement. They were threatened with complete annihilation, but the corps of Muhammed-Sultan corrected the situation.
The next day Golden Horde Khan has exposed powerful attack the left wing of the enemy which was led by Omar-sheikh. Tokhtamysh’s cavalry managed to surround the left flank of Timur’s army, but Omar-sheikh organized a circular defense and kept his positions.
The Iron Hammer threw to the aid of his commander the corps of Mirza Rustem, which turned the Horde into flight. During pursuit Maverannahrtsy crushed both wings of army Tokhtamysh. Only the coming darkness has saved khan from the big troubles.
At night there was a split in the camp of Tokhtamysh. As a result of quarrel Emir Aktau took away his soldiers to Azov steppes. Now the army of Khan of Golden Horde appeared in numerical minority. However Tokhtamysh did not think to concede the initiative to the enemy.
On June 20, 1391 he unleashed a decisive battle, dividing his forces into two wings and a powerful reserve. Timur, on the other hand, divided his forces into a center and two flanks. By powerful attacks of his wings Tokhtamysh connected the front lines of the Maverannahr army, after which he suddenly threw forward his selected reserve.
Timur’s army could not withstand this blow and fell back. Tamerlane was forced to give the order to retreat to the fortifications on the right bank of the Sok River. In order to put the enemy’s vigilance to sleep, Timur ordered his troops to imitate a withdrawal from the battle. Maverannahrtsy began to leave the battlefield demonstratively, build fires and prepare dinner.
The Horde, delighted with this situation, also began to think about rest and went to their camp. At that moment Tamerlane’s heavy cavalry and his personal guard suddenly struck them. From surprise the Tatars mixed up and moved back. One of the centurions of Timur’s army named Begader and his men managed to seize the main bunchuk (army flag) of Tokhtamysh, which had a depressing effect on the Horde.
Moreover, Timur’s soldiers began to actively sow panic among the Tatars, shouting calls to flee and claiming that Tokhtamysh had already left the battlefield. The Golden Horde orders finally came to confusion and turned towards the Volga. At this point, the Iron Hammer commanded a general attack of his forces.
During panic flight army Tokhtamysh has suffered the heaviest losses. The main forces of the Horde were pressed to the banks of the Volga and the Sok River, where they were subjected to the cruelest extermination. Khan managed to take away to Trans-Volga steppes only half of the defeated army.
For three days of fights Tokhtamysh lost half of the army. About 15-20 thousand soldiers of Golden Horde have been killed, wounded or have appeared in captivity. Tamerlane also suffered appreciable losses — up to 10 000 killed, wounded and died from mutilation. Medieval Arab and Oriental chroniclers, who determined the number of the army of Tokhtamysh in 100-200 thousand people, and the army of Timur in 200-300 thousand warriors, in their works claimed that each of the commanders lost about 100,000 soldiers.
The defeat at the shores of Kundurcha did not cool down the ambitious ardor of Tokhtamysh. Already in the fall of 1394, he gathered a new army and attacked Timur’s Caucasian possessions. The ruler of Maverannahr had to organize another campaign against the restless and impudent enemy.
On April 15, 1395 Tamerlane’s army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Horde on the banks of the Terek. Then ruthless Timur ruined Tokhtamysh’s possessions, betraying to fire and sword the steppes from the lower Terek to the upper Don. After these events Tokhtamysh not only finally lost his influence on the Horde vassals, but also lost forever the sole power over the Golden Horde.
The disastrous invasion of Tamerlane, which fell on the possessions of Tokhtamysh in the spring-summer of 1395 finally undermined the former military and political power of the Golden Horde. The once powerful and united state entered a protracted epoch of final weakening, decline and disintegration.
A memorial stone erected on the site of the battle not far from the place where Emir Timur’s headquarters was supposedly located