The beginnings of coinage in the blue horde

Abstract

Since the publication of Hammer-Purgstall’s path-breaking monograph (1840) on the history of the Golden Horde much has been written on this westernmost Tatar state, but some basic problems have remained unsolved ever since. One of the most obscure periods in the history of the Golden Horde is the twenty years’ anarchy (called bulqaq in Turkic) after Berdibek Khan’s death in 1359/60 (AH 761), lasting until 1380, the date of the establishment of Tokhtamish’s rule. With Berdibek’s death Batu’s line extinguished, and a cruel fight began among the Jochid families for the throne. Originally the western part of the Golden Horde (alias Right Wing or White Horde) was held by Batu’s house seated in Saray, and their jurisdiction nominally extended also to the eastern part of the Golden Horde (alias Left Wing or Blue Horde) where Batu’s elder brother Orda and his own successors sat on the khanal throne in Sığnaq. Practically they enjoyed total independence in matters of inner affairs, but had no coinage of their own. For long it was thought that the first eastern khan to mint coin in 770 AH (1369/70 AD) was Urus Khan, ancestor and predecessor of Girey and Jānibek, founders of the Kazak khanates in 875 AH (1470/1 AD).But some contradictory statements also appeared time and again as if a certain Mubārak-ḫoja was the first khan to mint coin in the east. Savel’ev and Markov published a few coins of Mubārak-ḫoja that were allegedly dated to 728 and 729 (perchance to 738 and 739). These dates contradicted our historical knowledge derived mainly from the Persian historian Naṇanzī’s narrative. But Jakubovskij, Safargaliev, and Ağat, bothered by the contradiction of the data, tried to reconcile the numismatic evidence with that of the written sources with no avail.The solution of the question lies in the exact date on Mubārak-ḫoja’s coins. The present paper refutes the former dates 728, 729 (or 738, 739), suggested by Savel’ev and others, as misinterpretations, and endeavours to prove that the correct dates are 768 and 769. This indisputable numismatic evidence of Mubārak-ḫoja’s coins enables us to reinterpret a whole chain of events and eradicate a number of inveterate misbeliefs. Above all, Mubārak-ḫoja minted his coins in 768 and 769 AH (07.09.1366–15.08.1368), i.e. forty years later than supposed hitherto by the majority of researchers. Now it becomes clear that Mubārak-ḫoja was the first khan to mint coins in the Blue Horde, as a sign of declaring independence in Sığnaq, capital of the Blue Horde. All this happened already during the period of the bulqaq , the great upheaval subsequent to Berdibek Khan’s death in 1259/60. Urus Khan then took over power in Sığnaq in 770 AH (1368/69), and from that time onwards the khanal mint in Sığnaq began to issue coins with a regular flow.