1352 He was born in a year when the steppe howled with hunger. His mother died before she could whisper his name. His father, the Oglan of Mangyshlak, ruler of an insignificant ulus near the Caspian Sea, did not even look at his son — he left to suppress the rebellion. Nannies wrapped Tokhtamysh in a wolf skin and whispered: “You are a wolf, and you will rule the pack”. But the pack was tearing itself apart.
The Golden Horde, the empire of the House of Djuchi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan that his son Batu created, which once stretched from the Danube to Siberia, by the middle of the 14th century had suffered a plague, shrunk in size and collapsed in the fire of civil war. The Blue Horde in the West, the White Horde in the East. Khans slaughtered each other for 2 thrones, vassals did not pay tribute, in the distance loomed the shadow of Timur — the Iron Hammer, who dreamed of conquering all.
Tokhtamysh grew up amid whispers: “Your blood is sacred”. His grandmother, ancient as the wind, ran her bony fingers over the seal on his hand — the mark of the Golden Family: “Genghis Khan at birth clenched a clot of blood in his fist. You, too, were born to clench the world.” But the world was slipping away. His Tukatimurid lineage came from the 13th son of Djuchi, Genghis Khan’s son. And the descendants of Juchi’s 12 sons ahead of him stood taller.
That’s why his father Tui-Khoji ruled an insignificant ulus. And Urus Khan, the ruler of the White Horde, demanded more and more from Tukatimurids, overstepping the edge of patrimonial privileges. And when his father remembered his pride and refused to kill his nukers in another stupid war, the lord executed Tui-Khoji in front of everyone.
Tokhtamysh was ten at the time. The nukers raised the boy on a shield, proclaiming him Tukatimurid Khan, but by morning the camp was surrounded by Urus Khan’s cavalry. — Give up the puppy, and live, — the herald blared. The old warrior pushed Tokhtamysh out into the night: — Run. Before you become a corpse.
Years of wandering merged into a kaleidoscope of hunger and fear. Tokhtamysh hid in the reeds of the Volga, slept in pits covered with horse dung, stole food from dogs. Once, having slaughtered a rich Persian, Tokhtamysh felt the power over death for the first time. The dagger entered the body easily. — You kill like Batu Khan,” grinned the fugitive slave who had become his first friend. The next morning the friend stole the horse, leaving the bound Tokhtamysh to the wolves of the steppe. But wolves do not eat wolves and Tokhtamysh survived.
At sixteen he came to Urus-Khan, demanding the return of his ancestral ulus. — You? A descendant of Tuk-Timur? — Khan laughed until he started to choke. — Prove it! Tokhtamysh threw his father’s blue paisa at his feet. Urus was silent and, promising to reward the Genghisid by right, left the young man in Sarai-Berk, the capital of the Golden Horde, which he captured after all. And a month later he sent assassins at night. — I will return, — swore Tokhtamysh, wiping his saber on the corpses, and disappearing into the Steppe.
Tokhtamysh returned. Gathering a gang of loyal nukers and deserters, he began raids on Urus’ caravans. — Do you want your own? Steal, — he said, hanging merchants on trees. Urus Khan sent his son Seyid against him. He, as confident as his father, drove Tokhtamysh’s gang into a gorge. — Surrender! I have 500 warriors! — Seyid shouted.
Tokhtamysh ordered to set fire to dry grass in the wind. The flames, like a yellow beast, rushed at Seyid’s horsemen, who were huddled on the rocks. The horses went wild, the warriors were on fire. Tokhtamysh killed Seyid personally and sent his head to Sarai, reminding Urus-Khan of the past. Tokhtamysh’s army grew, soon there were already 5 thousand bagaturs.
But Urus was an experienced fox. In the battle at the Yaik River, he lured Tokhtamysh into a trap. — They are attacking from the hill! — shouted the nuker, but it was too late. Urus’s cavalry, hidden in the gullies, struck from the flanks. Tokhtamysh, having lost his horse, fought on foot until he collapsed, bleeding. He was saved by a centurion who dragged his body into the reeds. — Why? — Tokhtamysh wheezed. — I saw your eyes. You will not die today.
In 1375 Tokhtamysh received Tamerlane’s army, recognizing vassalage in return. He could not defeat Urus Khan, the latter defeated him, and in this cruel war Urus again lost the Blue Horde. But after his death Tokhtamysh killed his eldest son, and in 1379 defeated and the younger, Timur — Malik. Dying, Genghisid wheezed: — You sold the Horde to Tamerlane. — No, — interrupted Tokhtamysh, — I bought it from him.
Tamerlan helped him to win the throne of the White Horde. Tokhtamysh only had to capture the western part of the Dzhuchi ulus — the Blue Horde, where Mamai ruled, in order to do what he dreamed of — to revive the united Golden Horde of Batyi and sit on the golden throne of Sarai.