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The Mongol Empire is a centralized state that conquered in the first half of the 13th century. vast territory of the Eurasian continent, from the Pacific Ocean to Central Europe.

In the 40s. 13th century on a vast territory from the Irtysh to the steppes of the Volga and the Danube, a state was founded, which received the name of the Golden Horde. The separation of the Horde from the empire of Genghis Khan occurred at the end of the 13th century. The Golden Horde was a feudal state.

It had the following features:

Nomadic and semi-nomadic nature of society;

Large role of tribal leaders;

Hierarchy of nomadic agriculture.

The ruling class was the class of feudal lords (“white bone”), including the Mongol-Tatar nomadic aristocracy.

The first group of feudal lords consisted of the khan and princes from the Jochi clan, the first khan of the Golden Horde. The second group included the largest feudal lords - beks and nyons. The third group of feudal lords consisted of tarkhans - people who held low positions in the state. apparatus. The fourth group consisted of nukers - they were part of the inner circle of their master and were dependent on him.

After the adoption of Islam as a state. religion, the Muslim clergy began to play a significant role.

The feudal-dependent population was called the “black bone” and included nomadic pastoralists, farmers, and city dwellers.

The peasant population was divided into communal peasants who had their own inventory, outbuildings (sobanchi), etc. and impoverished members of the peasant community (urtakchi).

Even during his lifetime, Genghis Khan divided the empire into 4 uluses, headed by a cat. placed his sons. The Golden Horde was led by a khan, who had strong despotic power. He was elected by the kurultai - the congress of the Mongolian aristocracy.

Sofas were the central bodies of branch management. Their work was coordinated by the vizier - the nominal head of the government. The highest officials in the usuls were emirs, in the army - bakouls and temniks. Local government was carried out by Baskaks and Darugs.

The military organization of the Golden Horde was based on the decimal system. The entire population was divided into dozens, hundreds, thousands and dozens; the commanders of these units were foremen, centurions, etc. The main arm of the Mongols was light and heavy cavalry.
Sources of law of the Golden Horde

The main sources of law of the Golden Horde were the following:

Collection of Mongolian laws and customs - Great Yasa of Genghis Khan;

Customary law of the Mongolian tribes;

Sharia norms;

Letters, labels, orders to local rulers, etc.;

- "secret story".

Inheritance and marriage and family relations were based on customary law and traditions. So, the custom demanded the redemption of the wife from her parents, the property after the death of the husband was managed by the main wife until the sons reach adulthood.

It is characteristic of criminal law that the laws of Yasa were extremely cruel. Their failure was often stolen by the death penalty or self-mutilation. Military crimes were punished with particular cruelty.

The trial was adversarial. In addition to testimonies, oaths, duels, torture was used, the principle of mutual responsibility and group responsibility was used.

The GOLDEN HORDE, the Mongol-Tatar state, was founded in the early 1240s by Khan Batu, the son of Khan Jochi. The power of the Golden Horde khans extended over the territory from the lower Danube and the Gulf of Finland in the west to the Irtysh basin and the lower Ob in the east, from the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas and Lake Balkhash in the south to Novgorod lands in the north. The Golden Horde included Western Siberia, Khorezm, Volga Bulgaria, the North Caucasus, Crimea, Desht-i-Kipchak, the steppes of the Northern Black Sea and the Volga region. The native Russian lands were not part of the Golden Horde, but were in vassal dependence on it, the Russian princes paid tribute and obeyed the orders of the khans. The center of the Golden Horde was the Lower Volga region, where under Batu the capital was the city of Sarai-Batu (near modern Astrakhan), in the first half of the 14th century the capital was moved to Sarai-Berke, founded by Khan Berke (1255-1266) (near modern Volgograd).

The Golden Horde was in many ways an artificial and fragile state formation, with a motley population. Volga Bulgars, Mordovians, Russians, Greeks, Khorezmians lived in settled areas. The bulk of the nomads were the Turkic tribes of the Polovtsians (Kipchaks), Kangly, Tatars, Turkmens, and Kirghiz. The level of social and cultural development of the population of the Golden Horde also differed.

After the end of the period of conquests, accompanied by monstrous destruction and mass casualties, the main goal of the Golden Horde rulers was to enrich themselves by robbing the enslaved population. The main part of the lands and pastures was concentrated in the hands of the Mongol nobility, in whose favor the working population was liable. Handicraft production of the nomads of the Golden Horde took the form of home crafts. In the cities of the Golden Horde, there were various craft workshops with production for the market, but as a rule, craftsmen exported from Khorezm, the North Caucasus, Crimea, as well as newcomers Russians, Armenians, and Greeks worked in them. Many cities in the conquered lands were devastated by the Mongols, were in decline or disappeared altogether. Sarai-Batu, Sarai-Berke, Urgench, the Crimean cities of Sudak, Kafa (Feodosia), Azak (Azov) on the Sea of ​​Azov were major centers of caravan trade.

Khans from the house of Batu were at the head of the state. In especially important cases of life, kurultai were convened - congresses of the nobility headed by members of the ruling dynasty. Beklyare-bek (bek bekov) was a kind of head of the executive power, viziers were in charge of separate areas of government. Local power was exercised by darugs, whose main duty was to collect taxes and taxes. Often, along with the darugs, commanders - Baskaks - were sent to the places. The state structure was semi-military in nature, military and administrative positions, as a rule, were not separated. The most important positions in the army were occupied by members of the ruling dynasty - oglans (princes), who owned destinies in the Golden Horde. From among the beks (noins) and tarkhans, a cadre of military leaders was formed - temniki, thousanders, centurions, as well as bakauls (officials who distributed the maintenance of the troops, military booty).

The fragile nature of the state, the growth of the liberation struggle of the conquered and dependent peoples became the main reasons for the collapse and death of the Golden Horde. Already during its formation, the Golden Horde was divided into uluses that belonged to the numerous sons of Jochi. Although the Batu brothers recognized his supreme power, they were largely independent. Decentralizing tendencies were clearly manifested after the death of Khan Mengu-Timur (1266-1282), when a war broke out between the princes of the house of Jochi. Under the khans Tuda-Mengu (1282-1287) and Talabuga (1287-1291), the Temnik Nogai became the de facto ruler of the state. Only Khan Tokhta (1291-1312) managed to get rid of Nogai and his followers. Khan Uzbek (1312-1342) managed to stop the new turmoil; Under him and his successor, Khan Dzhanibek (1342-1357), the Golden Horde reached the peak of its power. The Uzbek army numbered up to 300 thousand people. After the assassination of Dzhanibek, a new period of instability of power began. In 1357-1380, more than 25 khans were on the throne of the Golden Horde. In the 1360s-1370s, the de facto ruler of the state was the temnik Mamai. In the early 1360s, Khorezm fell away from the Golden Horde, the lands in the Dnieper River basin fell under the rule of Lithuania, and Astrakhan became independent. In Russia, a powerful union of principalities was formed, headed by Moscow. In an attempt to weaken the Moscow princes, Mamai, at the head of a huge army, went on a campaign against Russia, but was defeated by the united Russian troops in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). Under Khan Tokhtamysh (1380-1395), the troubles ceased, the khan's power again began to control the main territory of the state. Tokhtamysh defeated the army of Mamai on the Kalka River (1380), in 1382 he carried out a successful campaign against Russia, captured Moscow by deceit and burned it down. During this period, Timur acted as a dangerous opponent of the Golden Horde. As a result of a series of devastating campaigns, Timur defeated the troops of Tokhtamysh, captured and destroyed the Volga cities, including Saray-Berke, and robbed the cities of Crimea. The Golden Horde was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover.

In the early 1420s, the Siberian Khanate was formed, in the 1440s - the Nogai Horde, the Kazan Khanate (1438) and the Crimean Khanate (1443) became independent, in the 1460s - the Kazakh, Uzbek, Astrakhan Khanates. In the 15th century, the dependence of Russia on the Golden Horde significantly weakened. In 1480, Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, which for some time became the successor of the Golden Horde, tried to achieve obedience from Ivan III, but this attempt ended in failure and the Russian people finally freed themselves from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The Great Horde ceased to exist at the beginning of the 16th century.

The Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi) is the state of the Mongol-Tatars that existed in Eurasia from the 13th to the 16th century. During its dawn, the Golden Horde, nominally part of the Mongol Empire, ruled over the Russian princes and levied tribute from them (Mongol-Tatar yoke) for several centuries.

In the Russian chronicles, the Golden Horde had different names, but most often Ulus Jochi (“Possession of Khan Jochi”), and only from 1556 did the state begin to be called the Golden Horde.

Beginning of the era of the Golden Horde

In 1224, the Mongol Khan Genghis Khan divided the Mongol Empire between his sons, one of the parts was received by his son Jochi, then the formation of an independent state began. After him, his son Batu Khan became the head of the Juchi ulus. Until 1266, the Golden Horde was part of the Mongol Empire, as one of the khanates, and then became an independent state, having only a nominal dependence on the empire.

During his reign, Batu Khan made several military campaigns, as a result of which new territories were conquered, and the lower Volga region became the center of the Horde. The capital was the city of Sarai-Batu, located not far from modern Astrakhan.

As a result of the campaigns of Batu and his troops, the Golden Horde conquered new territories and, during its heyday, occupied the following lands:

• Most of modern Russia, except for the Far East, Siberia and the North;
• Ukraine;
• Kazakhstan;
• Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Despite the existence of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and the power of the Mongols over Russia, the khans of the Golden Horde did not directly manage Russia, taking only tribute from the Russian princes and making periodic punitive campaigns to strengthen their authority.

As a result of several centuries of rule of the Golden Horde, Russia lost its independence, the economy was in decline, the lands were devastated, and the culture forever lost some types of crafts and was also in the stage of degradation. It is thanks to the long-term power of the Horde in the future that Russia has always lagged behind in development from the countries of Western Europe.

State structure and control system of the Golden Horde

The Horde was a fairly typical Mongol state, consisting of several khanates. In the 13th century, the territories of the Horde changed their borders all the time, and the number of uluses (parts) was constantly changing, however, at the beginning of the 14th century, a territorial reform was carried out and the Golden Horde received a constant number of uluses.

Each ulus was headed by its own khan, who belonged to the ruling dynasty and was a descendant of Genghis Khan, while at the head of the state was a single khan, to whom all the rest were subordinate. Each ulus had its own manager, ulusbek, to whom smaller officials were subordinate.

The Golden Horde was a semi-military state, so all administrative and military posts were the same.

Economy and culture of the Golden Horde

Since the Golden Horde was a multinational state, the culture absorbed a lot from different peoples. In general, the basis of culture was the life and traditions of the nomadic Mongols. In addition, since 1312, the Horde has become an Islamic state, which is also reflected in the traditions. Scientists believe that the culture of the Golden Horde was not independent and throughout the entire period of the existence of the state was in a state of stagnation, using only ready-made forms introduced by other cultures, but not inventing their own.

The Horde was a military and trading state. It was trade, along with the collection of tribute and the seizure of territories, that was the basis of the economy. The Khans of the Golden Horde traded in furs, jewelry, leather, timber, grain, fish, and even olive oil. Trade routes to Europe, India and China ran through the territory of the state.

End of the era of the Golden Horde

In 1357, Khan Dzhanibek dies and unrest begins, caused by a struggle for power between the khans and high-ranking feudal lords. In a short period, 25 khans were replaced in the state, until Khan Mamai came to power.

In the same period, the Horde began to lose its political influence. In 1360, Khorezm separated, then, in 1362, Astrakhan and the lands on the Dnieper separated, and in 1380 the Mongol-Tatars were defeated by the Russians and lost their influence in Russia.

In 1380 - 1395, the turmoil subsided, and the Golden Horde began to return the remnants of its power, but not for long. By the end of the 14th century, the state carried out a number of unsuccessful military campaigns, the power of the khan weakened, and the Horde broke up into several independent khanates, headed by the Great Horde.

In 1480, the Horde lost Russia. At the same time, the small khanates that were part of the Horde finally separated. The Great Horde lasted until the 16th century, and then also disintegrated.

Kichi Muhammad was the last khan of the Golden Horde.

The state structure of the Golden Horde was studied more than any other side of the Jochi Ulus. It was most fully covered in the last century in the work of I. Berezin "Essay on the internal structure of Ulus Dzhuchiev", which has already been mentioned more than once. But with all the merits of this work, we must not forget that it is at the height of the factual knowledge of the 60s of the XIX century. It would be in vain to look for any coherent picture of the political administration of this large state in it.

It is known that the Mongolian states, in fact, completely independent, were legally considered parts of the unified feudal empire of Genghis Khan. According to B.Ya. Vladimirtsova: “The power of the clan of Genghis Khan over his ulus, i.e., the people-state, is expressed in the fact that one of the relatives, altan urug (urux) "a, becomes the emperor, khan (xan, xagan), commanding the entire empire elected on the council of all relatives (xuriltai ∾ xurultai); other members of the clan, mainly its male offspring, are recognized as princes ... who have the right to receive inheritance-ulus for hereditary use.

Quite indicative was the kuriltai of 1251, at which the princes of the Genghis house, with the active participation of the military nobility, elected after a three-year break the great khan (kaan) Munk, the son of Tulay. The situation of this election, the struggle within the Genghis house itself for a candidate, the trips of princes from ulus to ulus, sending special messengers, intrigues - all this is so expressive and typical here that it can serve as a classic example of how large and small kuriltai were held in the Mongol Empire and its separate parts - uluses.

Rashid-ad-Din tells in detail how Möngke-kaan was elected. Two houses - Jochi and Tulaya - united against two houses - Ogedei and Chagatai. The main and most active role was played by Batu Khan, who wanted to take Mongke, the son of Tulai, to the all-Mongolian throne. His assistant in this matter was his brother Berke, who, with his trip to Mongolia, rendered a great service to Möngke. Batu initially wanted to convene a kuriltai in Desht-i-Kypchak, i.e. in the Jochid possessions, but this did not pass. The princes from the houses of Ogedei and Chagatai insisted on convening a kuriltai in a traditional place, on the banks of the Kerulen (Keluren) River, where Genghis Khan's headquarters had long been located. After long squabbles, in which, in addition to the princes, influential temniki and thousanders, who were at the head of their detachments, were involved, they decided to gather a kuriltai in the capital Karakorum, where they put Mongke on the throne. The political significance of this act was discussed above. Like kuriltai of a general Mongol character, kuriltai of princes and nobility in uluses were supposed to gather. Initially, the "princes", who headed the large uluses, were subordinate to the great khan. However, after Mongke, who died in 1259, there were no all-Mongolian kuriltai, which were obligatory for all uluses.

“The first signs of a weakening of the unity of the empire,” according to V.V. Bartold, - appeared during the life of Genghis Khan, who was going to go to war against Jochi, who was too independent in managing his possessions. By the 60s of the XIII century. from the unity of the Mongol Empire, as we saw above, almost nothing remained. The Golden Horde, the Iranian state of the Hulagids, the Chagatai state were independent, in no way even coordinating their policies with the great khans.

The Golden Horde state can be regarded as a feudal monarchy, where the khan's power, which was from 1227 (the year of Jochi's death) to 1359 in the house of Batu, was in the full sense the power of nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary feudal lords Desht and Kypchak, the Lower Volga region, Bulgar, Crimea and Khorezm. We saw above that the ruling elite of this feudal aristocracy were members of the ruling dynasty, who occupied all the major positions (military and civil) in the state. From them emerged oglans of the right and left wings, temniks and rulers, or governors, of certain parts of the state (for example, Kutlug-Timur in Khorezm). Finally, they also played the first role in kuriltai, which were convened both to select a new khan and to discuss the issue of some kind of military enterprise. “After the death of the emperor (Great Khan, - AND I.), - writes Plano Carpini, - the leaders gathered and elected Okkadai, the son of the aforementioned Genghis Khan, as emperor. He arranged a meeting of princes, divided the troops.

Armenian historian of the 13th century. Magaki says that Möngke Khan, before sending Hulagu to conquer Iran, decided to convene a kuriltai. Arguchi, having arrived at the place, according to the order of Mangu Khan, convened a kuriltai, where they invited all the leaders who arrived with Gulavu.

An interesting story about kuriltai is also given by the Armenian historian Vardan. “These holidays,” writes Vardan. - they called Khurultai, that is, the holidays of meetings, and lasted a whole month. During this time, other khans, relatives of Genghis Khan, in new clothes came to their ruler to confer about everything needed. Every day they wore dresses of a different color. By this day, the kings and sultans obedient to them appeared there with great gifts and offerings.

The same Magakiy says: “A year after the death of Gulavu, a great kuriltai was convened, at which Abagu (1265-1282), Gulava’s eldest son, was elevated to the khan’s throne.” The issues of distribution of individual regions of the conquered country among the Mongol military leaders are also resolved at the kuriltai. So, after returning to the Mugan steppe, the head of the Mongolian government in Transcaucasia and Iran, Dzhurmagun-noyon, or Chorma-khan (in the transcription of Magakia), convened a great kuriltai. According to Magakia, “at the great kuriltai, convened by the order of Chormakhan, these one hundred and ten chiefs divided all the lands among themselves ...”. Women also attended kuriltai and took an active part in their work. Talking about the election of the Khulagid khans to the throne, Rashid-ad-Din emphasizes that the election was made by kuriltai, in which, in addition to the princes and military leaders, Khatuns also took part. So at least Arghun (1284-1291), Geykhatu (1291-1295) and Ghazan Khan (1295-1304) were elected.

Rashid ad-Din says that Arghun Khan was chosen in the Yuzagach district near the Shur River, in the kuriltai. in which not only princes, emirs, but also khatuns participated. According to the same author, Geykhatu Khan was chosen at the kuriltai on 23 July 1291 in the area near Akhlat with the participation of not only princes, emirs, but also khatuns. Finally, also with the participation of princes, emirs and khatuns, the famous Gazan Khan was elected on 3 XI ​​1295 in Arran Karabakh.

Just as in other Mongolian states, and especially in Mongolia itself, the command posts following the temnik, namely the thousanders, sots, were in the hands of noyons and begs. In the chronicles of the Arab, Armenian, Persian, we constantly meet an indication that such and such a noyon or beg was a thousand-man, remembering, as was indicated above, that in the conditions of the nomadic feudal Mongol-Kypchak society, the military rank of “thousander” and “Sotsky” and the title “ noyon" ("running") cannot be separated from one another.

Following the example of the organization of the army of Genghis Khan, the Golden Horde khans apparently also had a guard, mainly from the feudal-aristocratic elite (mainly youth), called a keshik. Needless to say, holding in their hands command positions in the army, which consisted of the feudally dependent nomadic and semi-nomadic population of Desht-i-Kypchak, the feudal lords of the Ulus Jochi could feel in fact the masters of the state and, in case of disagreement with the policy of their khan, oppose him his strong will. With such their military strength, they could not but give the entire state of the Golden Horde a military-feudal character. And this is all the more true because the Golden Horde continuously waged hostilities either against its neighbors or simply against certain noyons or emirs: for example, a long struggle in the second half of the 13th century. of the Golden Horde khans against the famous temnik Nogai.

War, raids, robberies, tribute collection is one of the very important aspects of the life of the Golden Horde state. For the upper classes of society, this is one of the easiest ways to make money and accumulate treasures. Suffice it to say that the booty that the troops of the Golden Horde khans captured during the raids amounted to huge sums at that time. The booty was not only fabrics, silver utensils, money, furs, bread, weapons, but also people who could be turned into slaves and then sold in the markets or used as labor. As in other eastern countries of the era of feudalism, the Mongols, when capturing booty, had a strict procedure for distributing it.

In the Mongolian states, and in particular in the Golden Horde, there was a special position of the military bukaul. In an interesting form of documents "Dastur al-Katib", compiled by Mohammed ibn-Hindushah Nakhichevan for Sultan Uweys (1356-1374) from the Jelairid dynasty (1336-1411), there is the following data on the position of the bukkaul. The responsibility of the bukaul is the distribution of troops, the dispatch of detachments, the distribution of military maintenance relying from the great divan, the correct distribution of booty according to Mongolian customs, and the prevention of insults and injustices that may occur in the army. Emirs - temniks and thousanders - in the indicated area must obey the bukauls. Bukauls were supposed to have a significant content. Bukauls were at every fog (darkness).

The post of bukaul was noted by Hammer and Berezin as existing among the Khulagids, but without an exact disclosure of his duties. It can hardly be doubted that this post was also in the Golden Horde. In any case, it is noted in the Mengli-Giray label of 857 AH. (= 1453) in relation to the Crimea.

Next in importance to the military ranks (temniks, thousanders) were civil administration positions, which had as their function mainly the collection of all kinds of duties from the population. If the military power in the Golden Horde was clearly separated from the civil one, then the same cannot be said about the administrative apparatus. One and the same person could manage the administration of a given area and at the same time collect the income coming from the population. I. Berezin also speaks about the confusion of authorities and departments. He gives an example of how Jurmagun-noyon, sent to Iran, “was at the same time the commander of the army, the ruler of the country and the judge; during his illness, his duties were, by the will of the khakan. in the hands of his wife and children. Not without good reason, I. Berezin believes that the same thing happened in the Golden Horde.

The Golden Horde, like other Mongol uluses, built its central and regional power on a combination of Mongolian customs and the administrative practice of the conquered country. In the sources on the history of the Golden Horde, the term "vizier" is found in the appendix to the head of the government civil authority. However, these references in comparison with other administrative terms come across not very often. The term "vezier" is found in both Arabic and Persian sources. Ibn-Abd-az-Zahyr has a description of the reception of the ambassadors of Sultan Baybars to Berke Khan at his headquarters, which was on the banks of the Itil (Volga) River. Berke Khan sat in a large tent covered with white felt and silk fabrics. The tent accommodated at least 100 people. There were benches along the “wall” of the tent, on which 50 or 60 emirs sat. Khan sat on the throne, next to him was his wife. Berke Khan ordered the message of the Sultan to be read by his vizier. Al-Mefaddal also mentions the Golden Horde vizier Berke Khan, he even calls his name - Sheref-ad-din al-Kazvini, - noting that he spoke Arabic and Turkic well. The Persian author also mentions the vizier of the Golden Horde Khan Dzhanibek, by the name of Saray-Timur, etc. However, a general idea of ​​​​the activities, duties and rights of the vizier can only be obtained from the book of the above-mentioned Muhammad ibn-Hindushah Nakhichevani "Dastur al-Katib". According to one of the samples of labels on the appointment of a vizier in the state of the Jalairids, the vizier must watch all the divans, especially the divan of the state treasury. In full accordance with feudal ideas, which poorly separate the central state departments and court positions, the vizier, along with watching the sofas, should supervise the korkhane (khan's workshop), the stables and the kitchen. The outward expression of the power of the vizier was a golden inkwell, a red seal and a belt studded with precious stones.

According to the Arab writer al-Kalkashandi, who was well versed - in his specialty as a secretary - in positions, “governance of this state (Golden Horde, - AND I.) in the hands of the ulus emirs and the vizier, as in the kingdom of Iran, but ... the ulus emirs and the vizier of this [Golden Horde] kingdom do not have such executive power as there, i.e. ... they are lower in rank than the ulus emirs and vizier in Iran.

Along with the "vizier" we meet the position of "naib", in the meaning of the governor; thus, the well-known Kutlug-Timur, the governor of Khorezm, bore the title of “naib of Khorezm”. In the same sense, the term "naib" is applied to Kutlug-Timur and Ibn-Khaldun, telling about him that he enthroned Uzbek, the son of Togrylchi, after the death of Tokta Khan. Apparently, the term "naib" was also applied to the vizier's assistant.

The two highest administrative ranks in the Mongolian states, including the Golden Horde, are well known: "daruga" and "baskak". According to I. Berezin, both terms mean the same thing. Both translations mean "pressor". "Baskak" in the verb form "bas" - "davi" is the Turkish equivalent of the Mongolian "daruga". A.A. objects to the opinion of I. Berezin. Semenov. In his opinion, "baskak" does not mean "pressure" at all, but "protector". With the terms "baskak" and "daruga" not everything is clear yet. Apparently, I. Berezin is right, believing that the term "Baskak" was not used in the Golden Horde itself, and an official with his functions was called the Mongolian word "daruga". As for the conquered countries that paid tribute, both terms were in use there. So, in the labels to the Russian metropolitans, we sometimes meet “Baskaks” (the label of Mengu-Timur), then “roads” (the labels of Tyulyak, Taidula, etc.). The term "Baskak" was also used in the Caucasus, in particular in Armenia and Georgia. We find the following place in Stefan Orbelian: “Having gathered together with his like-minded people in Tiflis at Argun, a Baskak and a vizier, whom the great khan appointed the main ruler of our country and the head of state taxes and the great Divan, the same one that in 703 carried out a census in all the possessions [of the Tatars], - she [i.e. e. Messenger] with large gifts tried to persuade him to destroy Smbat and take away all his possessions from him. In these words of Stefan Orbelian, not only the mention of the term “baskak” itself is valuable, but also the indication that the baskak was also a vizier, combining the most important management functions. So, the term "daruga" in the sense of the supreme boss over all receipts to the treasury was used mainly in the Golden Horde. In the sources, however, no exact indications were preserved of the relationship the Darugs had with the rulers of certain regions (Crimea, the Caucasus, Bulgar, Khorezm); one must think that they were subordinate to them, although, probably, not in everything. Here, as in many other areas of the socio-political history of the Golden Horde, there are ambiguities that can be resolved only by painstaking work in the future. Apparently, in some - though relatively rare - cases, the functions of the daruga were transferred to the ruler of the region himself, however, even then the latter had officials with the rank of daruga. The term "daruga" was applied not only to the supreme bosses over the collection of duties in favor of the treasury, but also to his assistants, who acted as his agents in certain regions, cities and villages. It is in this sense that the label of Mengli Giray of 857 mentions the “darug”. X. (=1453). The label mentions the "darugs" of the Kyrk-yer area in the Crimea.

Interesting are the observations of A.N. Nasonov about the positions of baskak and daruga (road) in Russia in the XIII-XIV centuries. According to Russian sources, the Baskak should be regarded as a military leader, holding "in obedience to the conquered population."

As for the road, or darugi, their duty was to "census the population, collect tribute and deliver it to the court." Apparently, the Baskaks only in Russia were only military leaders and their duties did not include the functions of collecting tributes, taxes, taxes, etc.

Offices occupied an important place in the management system. In the center of the state, the khan had sofas; however, we cannot say exactly how many there were, just as we do not know the time when they were introduced. There were secretaries in the sofas, who were called bitikchi (scribes). Dastur al-Katib contains samples of labels for the appointment of a person to the post of bitikchi. It can be seen from these samples that this post was considered in Iran under the Mongols (Khulagids and Jelairids) respectable, respected and well paid. The labels for the appointment of bitikchi indicated that the ulus emirs, temniks, thousanders and other major civil and military officials should treat him with respect and pay everything he was supposed to. Here it is said, of course, about the main bitikchi, who was attached to the great divan. In addition to the main bitikchi, there were also bitikchi in ordinary sofas. In their hands was often the actual leadership. The most important was the divan, which was in charge of all income and expenses.

In this couch there was a special list - a list of receipts from certain regions and cities, which was called deftar. There were offices in some areas, at the governors and darugs, where the deftars were also located. The latter were in the conquered countries. Armenian historian of the late 13th century. Stefan Orbelian writes: “Having gone to Tiflis, he (Armenian atabeg Tarsaij, - AND I.) ordered the great Daftar to be brought from the royal sofa and read it to the end; and since it contained the names of Armenian monasteries that were obliged to pay taxes, he summoned the secretary of the main divan, gave him to rewrite Daftar, having previously crossed out the names of more than one hundred and fifty monasteries in it. After that, he burned the old Daftar and thus freed all our churches from taxes. Although these orders applied to Armenia and Georgia - countries then subject to the Hulagids, however, we have every reason to believe that they were common wherever the Mongols ruled. A deftar - a valid list of receipts from the population - was available in each region where the ruler of the khan was and where the daruga was located as a person responsible for these receipts.

It is characteristic that revenues collected from a certain area, and sometimes from a subject country, were often farmed out to individual merchants, and sometimes, apparently, to merchant companies. Both the merchants and the merchant companies themselves consisted for the most part of Muslims, among whom there are names of Khorezmians. From Muslim merchants, including Khorezmian, Darugs within the country, and Baskaks and Darugs in conquered countries were often recruited. Needless to say, how much extortion, bribes and all sorts of oppression was associated with the taxpayer system. Chronicles of that time are full of stories about them. The words of the Armenian historian Kirakos, the author of the 13th century, a witness of these orders in his homeland, that “the princes, the rulers of the regions, assisted them [tax collectors] in torment and extortion, and they themselves profited”, can also be attributed to the Golden Horde .

Especially a lot of detailed information about the harassment of farmers carried out under the farming system can be found in the more than once mentioned Rashid ad-Din. The latter, in the part devoted to the history of Ghazan Khan, vividly paints a picture of the blatant, even under the conditions of Mongol power, abuses of tax-farmers and state officials associated with them in Iraq and Ajem and Azerbaijan at the end of the 13th century. In these areas, the Khulagid khans collected taxes and taxes in the form of kopchur and tamga, which were farmed out. The ruler of the region, the khakim, acted as a farmer. He had his own collectors and scribes, kept in touch and colluded with the entire official apparatus, sometimes up to the naib and even the vizier. Collectors forcibly collected up to 10 kopchurs a year, and sometimes more, which made the population completely ruined. These taxes and dues either reached the treasury in an insignificant amount, or did not reach at all, since they went into the pocket of the tax-farmer and official, as well as for bribery and bribes, in order to unsubscribe that such and such an amount went to the maintenance of messengers, such and such for fodder and food to various officials and military units.

Describing all this, Rashid ad-Din, who knew all these orders well as the vizier Ghazan Khan, wrote: “The khakims of the regions, based on the agreement that they had with the vizier, and on respect for his dignity, felt supported were impudent and repaired all sorts of harassment and insults.

Within a few decades, such a system led most of the regions of Iran under Mongol rule to complete impoverishment. Masses of rayats (peasants) left their homes, looking for a better life in a foreign land. Many villages and towns were so deserted that the person who used to live in them hardly recognized the familiar places. Ghazan Khan, in order to save the situation and, above all, the Mongol power in Iran, had to drastically change the order and carry out a number of reforms, which he did to a certain extent. We cited these facts as an example of the usual administrative practice for Iran under the Hulagids under the conditions of a taxpaying system. Sources did not retain information about the tax-paying system and its abuses in the Golden Horde. However, it cannot be concluded that it did not exist. The Golden Horde was hardly an exception in this respect.

Not a single special work is devoted to the organization of the court in the Golden Horde. Yes, and the information sources on this matter are very fragmentary. At first, before the adoption of Islam by the tops of society and before the Muslimization of the Mongolian authorities, the judicial procedures rested entirely on the yas (unwritten Mongolian law) in cases relating to the Mongols themselves. Yasa did not cease to operate in certain cases of civil life and during the period of Islamization, when some of the cases went to the representatives of Sharia. Ibn-Batuta, visiting in the 30s of the XIV century. Urgench, the capital of Khorezm, the most cultural region of the Golden Horde state, visited its governor, the above-mentioned Kutlug-Timur.

Describing in detail the very reception and the situation of his house, Ibn-Batuta also touched upon the question of the court. “One of the habits of this emir (Kutlug-Timur, - AND I.), - he writes, - the one that every day the qadi comes to his waiting room and sits on the seat allotted to him; together with him [are] jurists and. scribes. Opposite him sits one of the senior emirs, with eight [other] senior emirs and Turkic sheikhs, called arguji [yarguchi]; people come to sue them. What concerns religious matters, the Qadi decides, while other [cases] are decided by these emirs. In these words, we see a clear indication that even under Uzbek Khan in the 14th century, when Islam had already become the dominant ideology of the feudal elite of the Golden Horde society, some cases were still in the hands of the yarguchi, i.e., judges who make decisions on the basis of the Yasa of Genghis Khan - Mongolian customary law. However, even with the existence of the latter, the influence of Sharia and its bearers - qadis - was great.

In Dastur al-Katib, Mohammed ibn-Hindush Nakhichevani gives three examples of labels on the appointment of certain persons to the position of emir yargu, i.e. the chief judge, who makes judgments on the basis of yasas and customary law in general. Usually such a position was entrusted to a noble and influential Mongol. The label indicated that he was worthy of being a yarguchi (judge) on the basis of a yasa, that he should make a decision in a dispute between two persons fairly, without causing harm, insults and violence. The decision must be formalized in a special letter, which in the Khulagid state was called yargu-name. In the Khulagid state there was a special divan yargu. We have every reason to believe that a similar sofa was in the Golden Horde.

The indicated samples of documents also reveal the main source of income for these yarguchi. The litigants had to pay a certain fee in favor of the yarguchi and his scribe (bitikchi). Needless to say, the entire court system in the Golden Horde, as in any other feudal society, was in the hands of the feudal lords and officials associated with them. Kadi and yarguchi, i.e. judges based on Sharia and judges guided by the yas of Genghis Khan, were either large landowners (owned land, herds or landed property in cities, etc.), or lived off the income from the court , including in the latter not only what they were entitled to by law, but also all sorts of illegal fees (bribes, extortion, etc.). Faqihs (jurists) and various kinds of sheikhs were associated with the qadi, which we will have to talk about below. The court in the Golden Horde was so closely intertwined with the administration (rulers, darugs) that there could be no question of its independence. Kadi and yarguchi always acted in full agreement with the highest administration in the interests of the ruling strata of the countryside, city and steppe.

The position of semi-nomadic feudal lords, who have large lands in settled areas and huge herds of cattle in the steppe, is best expressed in the system of suyurgals (feudal estates), which by the end of the 14th century. in Central Asia they are already becoming the dominant form of large-scale feudal landownership. Under suyurgal meant at the end of the XIV and in the XV century. "lan". A person who received a district or region as a suyurgal had the right to collect in his favor all taxes, taxes and duties that had hitherto gone to the treasury of the khan or sultan. A characteristic feature of the suyurgal is that this land was considered to be in hereditary possession. The distribution of suyurgals in this sense was widely practiced in Central Asia in the second half of the 14th century. In any case, Nizam-ad-din Shami was already under 780 AH. (= 1378/79) marks the granting of the suyurgal by Urus Khan in the White Horde. Since the 80s of the XIV century. suyurgals were distributed widely by Timur.

Under the Mongols, in particular in the Golden Horde, the khan's power distributed a huge amount of land with peasants sitting on them, and in some cases gift labels were accompanied by tarkhan labels, that is, letters that freed the population of this land from all or most duties in favor of the state and , thereby providing most of the surplus product of the direct producer in favor of the feudal owner. Only labels of the second kind have come down to us from the Golden Horde.

In the administrative and political life of the Golden Horde, many government orders were issued - decrees of a national and private nature. These decrees in Mongolian times were called labels on the territory of all Mongolian states. The most developed was the design and registration of labels in the state of the Hulagids under Ghazan Khan. The labels were different, some were issued for management to “noble sultans, emirs and meliks and on matters of possessions” - a large tamga of jasper was installed for them. Labels “on matters of medium importance” received a large tamga made of gold, but smaller than those made of jasper. Labels for military affairs also received a large tamga made of gold, only with the difference that it was depicted on it - “bow, mace and saber” around the circumference of the tamga.

Unfortunately, what were the tamgas in the Golden Horde, how they differed from the tamgas in the Khulagid state, is difficult to say. It is known that there were also tamgas there.

Along with the labels, the sources also speak of golden paizas, which were not only a sign of very high honor, but also gave a number of significant privileges. Paizi are plates - gold, silver, cast iron, bronze and even wooden - with a certain inscription, issued as a kind of passes and mandates, according to which their owners were provided with everything necessary for movement (on the way) - horses, wagons, premises, food, etc. e. Depending on the position of the face, the paizi were issued either gold, silver and cast iron, or simply wooden. Marco Polo, in his famous memoirs, tells of the golden paize, which was handed to his father, uncle and himself, the following: “It was written on it that in all countries where three ambassadors come, everything they need is given, both horses and escorts from place to place." In another place, Marco Polo, as it were, supplements the story of the paizi with the following interesting data: “Akhatu [ilkhan Gaykhatu], you know, gave the three ambassadors of the great Khan Nikolai, Matthew and Mark four golden boxes (paizi, - AND I.) with orders. On two there were gyrfalcons, on one they climbed, and one was simple, it was written there by their letter, so that everywhere three ambassadors would be honored and served as the ruler himself, they would give horses, food and escorts. And so it was done; everywhere in his land they were given horses, food, whatever they needed. To tell the truth, sometimes they were given escorts from place to place up to two hundred people; and it was needed." Unfortunately, there is no known case where golden paizi have been preserved anywhere. But in the State Hermitage there are three fine examples of silver paizi and one of cast iron paizi with an inlaid inscription. One silver paiza - with a Mongolian inscription in the Uighur script. It was found in the village of Grushevka, near Dnepropetrovsk, in 1845. It is written on it: “By the power of the eternal sky. The patronage of great power. If someone does not treat with reverence the decree of Abdullah Khan, he will suffer [material] damage and die. Similar inscriptions are given on two other silver paizas with an inscription in a square alphabet (Pakba-Lama's alphabet), as well as on a cast-iron paiza.

Marco Polo in one place has a very interesting indication of how paizi were distributed among different ranks and social positions. “Sotnikov,” says M. Polo, “who distinguished himself, he [the great Khan Kaidu] made thousands of thousands, presented them with silver dishes, and gave them master's cabinets. The centurions have a silver drawer, and the thousand’s one has a gold or silver gilded one, and the one that is placed over ten thousand has a golden one with a lion’s head, and their weight is this: for centurions and thousand’s men they weigh one hundred and twenty saies, otherwise, that with a lion's head, weighs two hundred and twenty; an order was written on all of them: by the will of the great god, and by his great mercy to our sovereign, may the name of the khan be blessed, and may all the disobedient die and disappear.