2023, vol. 11, no. 4. Ivanov V.A.

2023, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 742-757

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2023-11-4.742-757

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/FMYVCA

   THE GOLDEN HORDE THROUGH THE EYES
OF CONTEMPORARIES AND EYEWITNESSES

V.A. Ivanov
Akmulla Bashkir State Pedagogical University
Ufa, Russian Federation
ivanov-sanych@inbox.ru

Abstract: The purpose of the study: To show how the Golden Horde was seen – its population, its way of life, appearances, occupations – by representatives of the European (Catholic) and Eastern (Muslim) worlds. Their impressions, set out in the corresponding narratives, not only created the image of this state, but also influenced later ideas about the peoples who inhabited the eastern steppes – “Tartaria”.
Research materials: The main source on the history of the Golden Horde/Ulus of Jochi are the narrative works of medieval European and Arab-Persian authors. Most eastern narrativist writers had never visited the territory of this state. They drew their information either from the stories of traveling merchants and envoys, or from the writings of their predecessors in compilations. In this regard, the narratives created by Europeans, from the point of view of source studies, differ favorably from the Arab-Persian ones not only in their information content, but also in the directness of its transmission.
Research results and scientific novelty: Almost all the narratives known to us related to the Golden Horde were created for political purposes. Accordingly, their content reflects precisely the political, military and dynastic history of this state. Those few authors who had the opportunity to observe the life of the Golden Horde with their own eyes and from the inside – Plano Carpini, Guillaume (Willem) Rubruk, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta – recorded approximately the same things in their notes, namely that “Tatars” were nomads who fed on the products of cattle breeding and hunting, were unpretentious in everyday life, unpretentious in clothing, formally Muslims but in fact dual-religionists since they preserved pagan remnant traditions of nomads. It is almost impossible to establish the scale of urbanization of the Golden Horde from these narratives. Thus, from the point of view of historical source study, the available material objectively forms three main empirical directions in the study of the Golden Horde, each of which has its own subject, without intersecting and practically without interacting with each other: the archeology of the Golden Horde nomads, the archeology of settlements (cities), and socio-political history. Therefore, the modern presentation of the history of the Golden Horde has the character of essays which will evidently persist for quite a long time.

Keywords: History, Golden Horde, nomads, Plano Carpini, Guillaume Rubruk, Ibn Battuta, sources

For citation: Ivanov V.A. The Golden Horde through the eyes of Contemporaries and Eyewitnesses. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 742–757. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2023-11-4.742-757 (In Russian)

Financial Support: The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation № 22-28-01153, https:rscf.ru/project/22-28-01153/

REFERENCES

  1. The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325–1354, II. Cambridge, 1962. 537 p.
  2. Atroschenko I.G. Analysis of definitions of the concept of “discourse” in modern linguistics. Philological Sciences. Questions of theory and practice. Tambov: Gramota, 2015, no. 12(54): at 4 Parts. Part I, pp. 26–31. Access mode: https://www.gramota.net/
    materials/2/2015/12-1/5.html (access date 15.08.2023) (In Russian)
  3. Vasiliev D.V. About settlements in the Volga Delta visited by Guillaume Rubruk in 1254. Proceedings of the Tuvan complex archaeological and ethnographic expedition. Iss. 8. Perm, 2012, pp. 266–270. (In Russian)
  4. The Golden Horde in the sources. Volume one. Arabic and Persian writings. Comp., introductory article and comments by R.P.Khrapachevsky. Moscow, 2003. (In Russian)
  5. Golden Horde: bibliographic index / Compiled by I.M. Mirgaleev. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, 2013. 412 p. (In Russian)
  6. Ivanov V.A. Nomads of the Golden Horde in the Perception of Modern Historians. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2018, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 618–634. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2018-6-3.618-634(In Russian)
  7. History of Kazakhstan in Arabic sources, vol. I. Almaty: Dyk-Press, 2005. 713 p. (In Russian)
  8. Kovalchenko I.D., Borodkin L.I. Modern methods of studying historical sources
    using computers (textbook). Moscow: Moscow University Publishing House, 1987. 86 p. (In Russian)
  9. Kochkina A.F. To characterize the spatial organization of the settlement system in the right bank of the Samara Volga region in the Golden Horde period. Dialogue of urban and steppe cultures on the Eurasian space. Historical geography of the Golden Horde. Materials of the Seventh International Conference dedicated to the memory of G.A. Fedorov-Davydov (Yalta, November 8–12, 2016) / Ed. S.G. Bocharov, A.G. Sitdikov. Kazan: Yalta, Chisinau: Stratum plus. 2016, pp. 166–169. (In Russian)
  10. Kochkina A.F., Stashenkov D.A. Materials for the characteristics of the settlement system in the Samara Volga region in the Golden Horde period. Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya=The Volga River Region Archaeology, no. 2 (36). 2021, pp. 178–192. https://doi.org/10.24852/pa2021.2.36.178.192 (In Rus­sian)
  11. Lappo-Danilevsky A.S. Methodology of history. Yekaterinburg: Business Book, 2013. 602 p. (In Russian)
  12. Nedashkovsky L.F. The Golden Horde cities of the Lower Volga region and their districts. Moscow: East lit., (In Russian)
  13. Pashinyan I.A. Content analysis as a research method: advantages and limitations. Scientific periodicals: problems and solutions. 2012. 2(3): 13, pp. 13–18. (In Russian)
  14. Polo M. The book of Marco Polo / Translation of the Old French text by I.P.Mi­naev. Editorial and introductory article by I.P.Magidovich [Note by V.V.Bartold]. Moscow: Gosgeoizdat, 1956. (In Russian)
  15. Porsin A.A. History of the Golden Horde of the late 13th – early 14th centuries in the work of Rukn ad-Din Beybars al-Mansuri “Zubdat al-fikra”. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, 2018. 276 p. (In Russian)
  16. After Marco Polo. Travels of Western foreigners to the countries of the Three Indies. Trans., will enter. article and note by Ya.M. Sveta. Moscow: Nauka, 1968. 237 p. (In Russian)
  17. Travels to the eastern countries of Plano Carpini and Rubruk. Moscow, 1957. 270 p. (In Russian)
  18. Rashid al-Din. Collection of chronicles. Vol. II. Moscow-Leningrad, 1960. 245 p. (In Russian)
  19. Timokhin D.M., Tishin V.V. Ethnо-tribal Composition of Desht-i Kipchak as an Object of Discussion (on V.A. Ivanov’s article “Nomads of the Golden Horde in the Perception of Modern Historians”). Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2020, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 437–456. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2020-8-3.437-456 (In Russian)
  20. Tymoshchuk E.A. Discursive analysis as a phenomenological strategy of socio-cultural description. Vestnik permskogo universiteta. Seriya filosofia psikhologiya sotsiologiya. 2012. Iss. 4(12), pp. 66–73. (In Russian)
  21. Tikhonov V.V., Volkov V.V., Glazkov A. N., Pavlenko Yu. A. Investigation of the Klin 1 mound in the Ulyanovsk region. Archaeological discoveries of 2017 / Ed. N.V. Lopatin. Moscow: IA RAS, 2019, pp. 327–329. (In Russian)
  22. Trepavlov V.V. Formation of the Ulus of Jochi. The Golden Horde in World History. Coll. monograph. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Scien­ces, 2016, pp. 137–147. (In Russian)
  23. Foucault M. Archeology of Knowledge. / Per. with fr. M.B. Rakova, A.Y. Sereb­ryannikova; introductory article A.S. Kolesnikova. St. Petersburg: IC “Humanitarian Aca­demy”; University book, 2004. 416 p. (In Russian)
  24. Phillips N., Hardy S. What is discourse analysis?. Modern discourse analysis. Methodology: conceptual rationale. 2009. Iss. 1, vol. 1, pp. 48–84. Access mode: http://www.discourseanalysis.ru/ada1/st4.shtml (access date 15.08.2023)
  25. Hautala R. In the lands of “Northern Tartary”: Information from Latin sources about the Golden Horde during the reign of Khan Uzbek (1313–1341). The series “Yazma Miras. Written Heritage. Textual Heritage”. Vol. 6. General and scientific ed. by I.M. Mir­galeev. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, 2019. 976 p. (In Russian)
  26. Shamiloglu Yu. Tribal politics and social structure in the Golden Horde. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, 2019. 260 p. (In Russian)
  27. Yurchenko A.G. The book of Marco Polo: notes of a traveler or imperial cosmo­graphy. St. Petersburg: Eurasia, 2007. 864 p. (In Russian)

About the author: Vladimir A. Ivanov – Dr. Sci. (History), Professor of the Department of Russian and World History, Akmulla Bashkir State Pedagogical University (3A, October Revolution Str., Ufa 450008, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0002-7243-2588. E-mail: ivanov-sanych@inbox.ru

Received  August 18, 2023               Accepted for publication  November 24, 2023
Published Online December 29, 2023