2020, vol. 8, no. 3. Karpov S.P.

2020, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 504-514

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2020-8-3.504-514

   LIKE A PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES:
THE REBIRTH OF TANA’S TRADE AFTER THE 1395 DISASTER

S.P. Karpov
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Moscow, Russian Federation
spkarp1204@yandex.ru

Abstract: Research objectives: Primarily an investigation of the history of Italian trading stations in Tana (Azak) after their destruction by the troops of the Chaghatayid amir, Timur Aksak, in 1395 and the further renewal of trade between the West and the East through Tana at the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. An evaluation of the commodity circulation of the Golden Horde territories with Venice is based on little-known and unpublished archival sources.
Research materials: Documentary and legal sources in Latin and in the Venetian dialetto from the State Archives of Venice and the archives of the Datini merchant company in Prato, as well as narrative sources, other edited sources, and research publications.
Novelty of the research: The study of this problem, based on the above-mentioned sources, is carried out for the first time. The author provides the first academic publication of a unique source – an inventory of goods brought by Venetian ships from Tana to Venice in 1402. The publication is accompanied by a scholarly commentary and identification of all categories of the listed goods.
Research results: A reconstruction of the history of the renewal of trade between the Golden Horde and the West through the Venetian trading stations in Tana, along with an outline of the main stages of this process. As well, an approximate estimate of the commodity turnover is offered on the basis of new archival evidence. The author analyzes methods and principles used by the Venetian Republic in its relations with the Golden Horde after the defeat of Toqtamïsh in his confrontation with Timur.

Keywords: Golden Horde, Azak, Tana, Venice, Toqtamïsh, Timur Aksak, navigation, galleys, Black Sea trade in the fifteenth century

For citation: Karpov S.P. Like a Phoenix from the Ashes: The Rebirth of Tana’s Trade after the 1395 Disaster. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2020, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 504–514. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2020-8-3.504-514

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About the author: Sergey P. Karpov – Dr. Sci. (History), Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Faculty of History of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Head of the Department of History of the Middle Ages, Head of the Laboratory for the Study of the countries of the Black Sea and Byzantium in the Middle Ages, Lomonosov Moscow State University (27, building 4, Lomonosovsky Ave., Moscow 119192, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0002-1564-2079. Email: spkarp1204@yandex.ru

Received  May 10, 2020   Accepted for publication  August 27, 2020
Published Online September 29, 2020