The Golden Horde (in Turkish - Altyn Ordu), also known as the Kipchak Khanate or Ulus Yuchi, was a Mongol state established in some parts modern Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan after the collapse Mongol Empire in the 1240s. It existed until 1440.
During its heyday, it was a strong commercial and trading state, ensuring stability in large areas of Rus'.
Origin of the name "Golden Horde"
The name “Golden Horde” is a relatively late toponym. It arose in imitation of the “Blue Horde” and “White Horde”, and these names, in turn, designated, depending on the situation, either independent states or Mongol armies.
It is believed that the name "Golden Horde" came from the steppe system of marking the main directions with colors: black = north, blue = east, red = south, white = west and yellow (or gold) = center.
According to another version, the name came from the magnificent golden tent that Batu Khan erected to mark the place of his future capital on the Volga. Although this theory was accepted as true in the nineteenth century, it is now considered apocryphal.
There are no surviving written monuments created before the 17th century (they were destroyed) that would mention such a state as the Golden Horde. The state of Ulus Dzhuchi (Dzhuchiev ulus) appears in earlier documents.
Some scholars prefer to use another name, the Kipchak Khanate, because various derivatives of the Kipchak people were also found in medieval documents describing this state.
Mongol origins of the Golden Horde
Before his death in 1227, Genghis Khan bequeathed it to be divided among his four sons, including the eldest Jochi, who died before Genghis Khan.
The part that Jochi received was the westernmost lands where the hooves of Mongolian horses could set foot, and then the south of Rus' was divided between the sons of Jochi - the ruler of the Blue Horde Batu (west) and Khan Horde, the ruler of the White Horde (east).
Subsequently, Batu established control over the territories subject to the Horde, and also subjugated the northern coastal zone Black Sea, including the indigenous Turkic peoples in its army.
In the late 1230s and early 1240s, he carried out brilliant campaigns against the Volga Bulgaria and against the successor states, multiplying military glory their ancestors.
The Blue Horde of Batu Khan annexed lands in the west, raiding Poland and Hungary after the battles of Legnica and Mucha.
But in 1241, the Great Khan Udegey died in Mongolia, and Batu broke off the siege of Vienna to take part in a dispute over the succession. From then on, the Mongol armies never went west again.
In 1242, Batu created his capital in Sarai, in his possessions in the lower reaches of the Volga. Shortly before this, the Blue Horde split - Batu's younger brother Shiban left Batu's army to create his own Horde east of Ural mountains along the Ob and Irtysh rivers.
Having achieved stable independence and created the state that today we call the Golden Horde, the Mongols gradually lost their ethnic identity.
While the descendants of Batu's Mongol warriors constituted the upper class of society, most of the Horde's population consisted of Kipchaks, Bulgar Tatars, Kirghiz, Khorezmians and other Turkic peoples.
The supreme ruler of the Horde was the khan, elected by the kurultai (the council of the Mongol nobility) among the descendants of Batu Khan. The position of prime minister was also occupied by an ethnic Mongol, known as the “prince of princes” or beklerbek (bek above the beks). The ministers were called viziers. Local governors or baskaks were responsible for collecting tribute and resolving popular discontent. The ranks, as a rule, were not divided into military and civilian.
The Horde developed as a settled rather than nomadic culture, and Sarai eventually becomes a densely populated and prosperous city. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the capital moved to Saray-Berke, located much higher upstream, and became one of largest cities medieval world with a population estimated by Encyclopædia Britannica at 600,000.
Despite Russian efforts to convert the population of Sarai, the Mongols adhered to their traditional pagan beliefs until Uzbek Khan (1312-1341) adopted Islam as the state religion. The Russian rulers - Mikhail Chernigovsky and Mikhail Tverskoy - were reportedly killed in Sarai for their refusal to worship pagan idols, but the khans were generally tolerant and even liberated the Russian Orthodox Church from taxes.
Vassals and allies of the Golden Horde
The Horde collected tribute from its subject peoples - Russians, Armenians, Georgians and Crimean Greeks. Christian territories were considered peripheral areas and were of no interest as long as they continued to pay tribute. These dependent states were never part of the Horde, and the Russian rulers soon even received the privilege of traveling around the principalities and collecting tribute for the khans. To maintain control over Russia, Tatar military leaders carried out regular punitive raids on Russian principalities (the most dangerous in 1252, 1293 and 1382).
There is a point of view, widely disseminated by Lev Gumilyov, that the Horde and the Russians entered into an alliance for defense against the fanatical Teutonic knights and pagan Lithuanians. Researchers point out that Russian princes often appeared at the Mongol court, in particular, Fyodor Cherny, the Yaroslavl prince, who boasted of his ulus near Sarai, and Prince of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky, brother-brother of Batu's predecessor, Sartak Khan. Although Novgorod never recognized the dominance of the Horde, the Mongols supported the Novgorodians in the Battle of the Ice.
The barn conducted active trade with the shopping centers of Genoa on Black Sea coast- Surozh (Soldaya or Sudak), Kaffa and Tana (Azak or Azov). Also, the Mamluks of Egypt were long-time trading partners of the khan and allies in the Mediterranean.
After Batu's death in 1255, the prosperity of his empire continued for a century, until the assassination of Janibek in 1357. The White Horde and Blue Horde were actually united into a single state by Batu's brother Berke. In the 1280s, power was usurped by Nogai, a khan who pursued a policy of Christian unions. The military influence of the Horde reached its peak during the reign of Uzbek Khan (1312-1341), whose army exceeded 300,000 warriors.
Their policy towards Rus' was to constantly renegotiate alliances to keep Rus' weak and divided. In the fourteenth century, the rise of Lithuania in northeastern Europe challenged Tatar control of Russia. Thus, Uzbek Khan began to support Moscow as the main Russian state. Ivan I Kalita was given the title of Grand Duke and given the right to collect taxes from other Russian powers.
The Black Death, the bubonic plague pandemic of the 1340s, was a major contributing factor to the eventual fall of the Golden Horde. After the assassination of Janibek, the empire was drawn into a long civil war that lasted throughout the next decade, with an average of one new khan per year coming to power. By the 1380s, Khorezm, Astrakhan and Muscovy attempted to break free from Horde rule, and the lower Dnieper was annexed by Lithuania and Poland.
Who was not formally on the throne, tried to restore Tatar power over Russia. His army was defeated by Dmitry Donskoy at the Battle of Kulikov in his second victory over the Tatars. Mamai soon lost power, and in 1378 Tokhtamysh, a descendant of Horde Khan and ruler of the White Horde, invaded and annexed the territory of the Blue Horde, briefly establishing the dominance of the Golden Horde in these lands. In 1382 he punished Moscow for disobedience.
The mortal blow to the horde was dealt by Tamerlane, who in 1391 destroyed the army of Tokhtamysh, destroyed the capital, plundered the Crimean shopping centers and took the most skilled craftsmen to his capital in Samarkand.
In the first decades of the fifteenth century, power belonged to Idegei, the vizier who defeated Vytautas from Lithuania in great battle at Vorskla and turned the Nogai Horde into his personal mission.
In the 1440s the Horde was destroyed again civil war. This time it broke up into eight separate khanates: the Siberian Khanate, the Qasim Khanate, the Kazakh Khanate, the Uzbek Khanate and Crimean Khanate, which divided the last remnant of the Golden Horde.
None of these new khanates was stronger than Muscovy, which by 1480 was finally free of Tatar control. The Russians eventually captured all of these khanates, starting with Kazan and Astrakhan in the 1550s. By the end of the century it was also part of Russia, and the descendants of its ruling khans entered Russian service.
In 1475 the Crimean Khanate submitted, and by 1502 the same fate befell what remained of the Great Horde. Crimean Tatars wreaked havoc in the south of Rus' during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, but were unable to defeat it or take Moscow. The Crimean Khanate remained under Ottoman protection until Catherine the Great annexed it on April 8, 1783. It lasted longer than all the successor states of the Golden Horde.
At the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. on Far East the Tungus-speaking Jurchens entered the historical arena (Nüzhi, Nüzhen - in Chinese; Jurje - in Persian; chiorchie, chorchia, chorcha - in some European languages). The question of the origin of the Jurchens currently remains unclear. It can be assumed that within the Southern Primorye, the adjacent part of Manchuria and northeastern China, at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. numerous ethnic entities, among which the leading role was played by Tungus-speaking groups known as Mukri tribes. The latter were directly related to the emergence and history of the Bohai state. One group of Mukrians included the Vanyan clan, which became the core consolidating around itself many other clans in the fight against the Khitan. As you know, the Khitan recently defeated Bohai. But the struggle of the Mukrians against the Khitans did not stop. At the beginning of the 12th century. The Wanyan forced the Koryo people (eastern neighbors) to cede part of Korean Peninsula(north). This victory led to the growing influence of the Wanyans inside and outside the Jurchen lands. A primitive, “barbarian” type of power apparatus began to take shape. Then the fight against the Khitans began. In 1113, the Wanyan leader Aguda won his first victory over the Khitans. In 1114, he won a number of more victories, which allowed him, at the beginning of 1115, to announce the creation of the “Golden Empire”, which is known in the literature of that time from Chinese language like Jin (Golden).
The emergence of a new state in the region significantly changes the political situation, in which both Korean and Chinese rulers are forced to take into account the existence of the Golden Empire of the Jurchens. Aguda, the head of the Jurchen empire, wages an active struggle against the Khitans, and in 1125 the Khitan emperor was defeated and was taken prisoner by Aguda. The Khitan Liao Empire ceased to exist. From that same time, a long and generally successful war with China began for the Jurchens.
Starting from the second half of the 12th century. The Jurchens entered into a long war with the Mongols, who had already created the state of Hamag Mongol, led by Khabul Khan, in Primorye and North-Eastern Mongolia. Military relations with the Mongols developed with varying degrees of success. The entry into the political arena of Temujin, who received the title of Genghis Khan in 1206, was a formidable omen of serious trials for the Golden Empire.
1211 - the beginning of the war with the Mongols, who invaded the Golden Empire. Khitan uprisings, betrayal of military leaders, and the formation of small states - vassals of the Mongols - began. Then in the early 1230s. The Mongols began a massive offensive against the Jurchens. By the end of 1233, their state was defeated.
In Primorye, the main population of the state were the Jurchen Udige. The population offered strong resistance to the troops of Ogedei, the successor of Genghis Khan. Archaeologists have discovered numerous traces of the invasion: burned-out villages, disorderly burials, dismembered human skeletons. The Mongols intensely pursued the Udige, who were forced to go to the mountains and taiga to escape. This gradually led to the degradation of their culture (material and spiritual).
Monuments of Jurchen archeology in Primorye are numerous. But one of their peculiarities is that there is not a single Jurchen burial ground, although individual burials are known. Settlements (mountain and lowland), numerous roads along the slopes of the hills, as well as such unique monuments as monolithic statues of officials and animals, including many turtles with steles on their backs, were studied.
The fortifications constitute the most striking archaeological sites. Mountain settlements (Shaiginskoe, Lazovskoe, Ananyevskoe, Krasnoyarovskoe, Ekaterinovskoe, Plakhotnyukovskoe and a number of others) are located on mountain capes, where artificial terraces have been created, on the sites of which there are structures for various purposes: economic, residential and public buildings. Separate areas (quarters) were allocated at the fortifications, and sometimes a citadel was located within such areas. Residents of mostly professional and social level. Defensive structures were most often erected along the crest of adjacent hills. The ramparts are usually earthen, but often they are made of carefully fitted stones (boulders and pebbles). The height of the defensive walls varies (from 0.5 to 6 m) depending on the state of preservation. Sometimes towers were built outside the walls for flanking fire. Some settlements had special areas next to the walls for installing stone-throwing machines.
Large lowland settlements (Chuguevskoye, Sainbarskoye, Gorbatkovskoye, Nikolaevskoye, Yuzhno-Ussuriyskoye, Maryanovskoye and others) are located in river valleys and surrounded by earthen ramparts and ditches. Shape - rectangular or square.
Defensive walls are still 6 - 10 m high today, ditches are up to 25 m wide and 3 - 5 m deep.
Small lowland settlements have a square shape, with one gate; along the perimeter their dimensions are up to 240 - 250 m. Such settlements gravitate towards large plain or mountain ones, so it is better to call them redoubts.
The Jurchen Udige, who formed the basis of the Jin Empire, led a sedentary lifestyle, which was reflected in the nature of their dwellings, which were above-ground wooden structures of a frame-and-post type with canals for heating. Kans were built in the form of longitudinal chimneys along the walls (one to three channels), which were covered on top with pebbles, flagstones and carefully coated with clay.
Inside the dwelling there is almost always a stone stupa with a wooden pestle. Rarely, a wooden mortar and a wooden pestle are found. Melting forges and stone footrests of a pottery table are known in some dwellings.
The residential building, together with a number of outbuildings, constituted the estate of one family. Summer pile barns were built here, in which families often lived in the summer.
In the XII - early XIII centuries. The Jurchens had a diversified economy: agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting* fishing.
Agriculture was provided with fertile lands and a variety of tools. Written sources mention watermelon, onions, rice, hemp, barley, millet, wheat, beans, leeks, pumpkin, garlic. This means that field cultivation and gardening were widely known. Flax and hemp were grown everywhere. Linen for clothing was made from flax, burlap was made from nettles for various technological production(tiles in particular). The scale of weaving production was large, which means large areas of land were allocated for industrial crops (History of the USSR Far East, pp. 270-275).
But the basis of agriculture was the production of grain crops: soft wheat, barley, chumiz, kaoliang, buckwheat, peas, soybeans, beans, cowpeas, and rice. Cultivation of arable land. Arable tools - rala and plows - draft. But plowing the land required more careful processing, which was done with hoes, shovels, picks, and pitchforks. A variety of iron sickles were used to harvest grain. The finds of straw cutter knives are interesting, which indicates a high level of feed procurement, that is, not only grass (hay), but also straw was used. The grain farming of the Jurchens is rich in tools for hulling, crushing and grinding cereals: wooden and stone mortars, foot grinders; written documents mention water pellets; and along with them - leg ones. There are numerous hand mills, and at the Shaiginsky settlement a mill was found that was driven by draft cattle.
Animal husbandry was also an important branch of the Jurchen economy. They raised cattle, horses, pigs and dogs. Jurchen cattle are well known for many advantages: strength, productivity (both meat and dairy).
Horse breeding was perhaps the most important branch of animal husbandry. The Jurchens bred three breeds of horses: small, medium and very small in height, but all very adapted to movement in the mountain taiga. The level of horse breeding is evidenced by the developed production of horse harness. In general, we can conclude that during the era of the Jin Empire in Primorye, an economic and cultural type of arable farmers with developed agriculture and livestock husbandry, highly productive for that time, corresponding to the classical types, developed feudal societies agricultural type.
The Jurchen economy was significantly supplemented by a highly developed handicraft industry, in which leading place occupied by ironworking (ore mining and iron smelting), blacksmithing, carpentry and pottery, where the main production was the production of tiles. Crafts were complemented by jewelry, weapons, leather and many other types of occupations. Special high level The weaponry industry reached development: the production of bows and arrows, spears, daggers, swords, as well as a number of defensive weapons (History of the USSR Far East, pp. 276-287).
In the life of the Jin Empire, the military class played a huge role; army units were necessary not only for conquest, but also for keeping conquered tribes and peoples in subjection. In conditions of developed class relations, the role of the army is especially important in maintaining order within the empire. To maintain the army and the bureaucracy, a system was created for collecting taxes, accounting for expenses, etc., which means a complex bureaucratic system.
Researchers believe that the Jurchens developed a guild organization in the cities based on specialization in different branches of production. The purpose of such organizations was the acquisition of raw materials, sales of products, and fair distribution of income. With such a workshop organization, it is assumed that there is domestic market, monetary system, commodity-money relations, as well as the existing system of legislative and executive authorities both in the center and locally. Of course, in these cases, the society must have its own written language. Indeed, already in 1118 Aguda ordered his official Wamyan Siin to develop a Jurchen letter, which was done in 1119. This was the so-called “big letter” of the Jurchens, created on the basis of Khitan! It contained about 3000 characters. Literacy among the Jurchens was well known: many handicraft products are marked with the names of the craftsmen, and there are credentials of thousands of troops with Jurchen inscriptions.
Literature, science and different types arts (songs, music, dances). These types of spiritual activities of the Jurchens were well known in China, as written documents from China repeatedly narrate. Archaeologically, another area of spiritual activity has been well studied - applied decorative arts: numerous cases of decoration of Buddhist temples, other buildings, as well as products of small forms (mirrors, figurines, etc.). Among the latter, bronze figurines of ancestral spirits should be especially noted (Vorobiev M.V., 1983).
The spiritual life and worldview of the Jurchen-udige represented an organic, fused system religious ideas archaic society and a number of new Buddhist components. This combination of the archaic and the new in the worldview is characteristic of societies emerging class structure and statehood. The new religion, Buddhism, was professed mainly by the new aristocracy: state and military
top.
The traditional beliefs of the Jurchen Udige included many elements in their complex: animism, magic, totemism; Anthropomorphized ancestor cults are gradually intensifying. Many of these elements were merged in shamanism. Anthropomorphic figurines expressing the ideas of the cult of ancestors are genetically related to the stone sculptures of the Eurasian steppes, as well as to the cult of patron spirits and the cult of fire. The cult of fire was widespread
spreading. It was sometimes accompanied by human sacrifices. Of course, other types of sacrifices (animals, wheat and other products) were widely known. One of essential elements The cult of fire was the sun, which found expression in a number of archaeological sites.
1925 Was born Nikolai Nikolaevich Dikov- archaeologist, doctor historical sciences, professor, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, specialist in the ancient cultures of Chukotka and Kamchatka. 1948 Was born Leonid Andreevich Belyaev- specialist in Christian antiquities of Rus', Doctor of Historical Sciences, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Creation and strengthening of an empire
After the conflict with the Khitan emperor Tian Zuo, Aguda is intensively preparing for war, since the Khitan did not forgive their vassals for such insolence. But the Khitans were in no hurry to take punitive measures. Taking advantage of this, Aguda makes several successful campaigns into Liao territory. Aguda's successes strengthened his authority among the Jurchens. More and more tribal leaders are entering into an alliance with Aguda.
By 1115, Aguda's power had increased so much that he proclaimed himself emperor of an independent Jurchen state, which he called the "Golden Empire" (Jin). Immediately after the proclamation of the empire, war broke out between the Jurchens and the Khitans. The very next year, the Eastern capital of the Khitans, Luoyang (the former Upper capital of Bohai), fell. From the very beginning, the Bohais helped the Jurchens. Before the assault on Luoyang began, the Bohais rebelled in the city and proclaimed the creation of the Great State of Bohai. Soon, the leader of the Bohais, Gao Yong-chang, demanded submission from Aguda, since the Heishui had previously submitted to Bohai. Aguda was not satisfied with this and four months later the Great State of Bohai ceased to exist.
The war with the Khitans progressed successfully. Riots broke out in Liao. The Khitan surrendered their capitals one after another, and in 1122 Tian Zuo fled to his Tangut allies. 
In 1123, Aguda dies and his younger brother Utzimai becomes the new emperor. The next year, Uqimai conquered the Tangut state of Xi Xia and in 1125 the Khitan emperor was captured byJurchens. The Liao Empire ceased to exist. True, one of the emperor’s relatives managed to escape to Eastern Kazakhstan, where he created the state of Western Liao, which lasted until the invasion of Genghis Khan.
Wars with China and Menggu
In 1125, the Jurchens began a war with the Chinese Song Empire. Before the start of the war with the Khitans, Aguda agreed with the Chinese on an alliance and refused to seize the Chinese regions conquered by the Khitans. But during the war, the Chinese not only did not help, but also threatened the Jurchens. After the defeat of Liao, the Chinese demanded that the Jurchens return their lands, which the Jurchens perceived as an insult.
The war with the Song lasted almost two years. During this time, the Chinese lost all the northern regions, the capital, and the emperor and his relatives were captured. However, the emperor's son was able to escape to the free south of the country, where in the same 1127 he proclaimed the creation of the Southern Song Empire.
The Southern Song immediately begins a war with the Jurchens, trying to regain the northern regions. The Chinese even managed to achieve some victories. The Jurchens, wanting to avoid exhausting their armies, in 1130 created the vassal Chinese state of Qi on the lands bordering the Southern Song, which was supposed to protect the Golden Empire from the war with the Southern Song. Now, in fact, the Chinese had to fight against the Chinese. 
In 1135, Utzimai died and Aguda's grandson Hela became the new emperor. He was very educated and well-mannered person, but did not have the talent of a ruler. A plot against Hal was soon discovered. The victories of the Southern Song significantly worsened matters in the south. At the same time, in the north, the Mengu tribes (Mongols) began to fight the Jurchens. In 1137, the Jurchens eliminated Qi and quickly defeated the Chinese. Hela did not want to fight and the Chinese understood that they could not return the northern lands. Both states begin to prepare a peace treaty. But Chinese provocation, with the bribery of military commander Dalai, reignited the war. The peace treaty was signed in 1141 and approved by the State Council in 1142. In essence, the peace treaty of 1141/42. was the pinnacle of the military-political power of the Jurchens. Not a single nation of East Asia has yet demonstrated its power in competition with the main standard of civilization and power in this part of the globe - China. For the first time in history chinese emperor submitted to another ruler.
In 1147, the Jurchens signed peace with Mengu, after which the Mongol ruler proclaimed himself emperor of the state of Khamag Mongol Ulus.
In domestic policy, Hal carries out a number of reforms. He establishes a branch State Council in the south of the country and introduced the Chinese system of government, since he was a fan of everything Chinese. Eliminated Chinese and Bohai military units. The whole empire got new administrative division. A new set of laws was introduced. But in recent years Hela retired from government affairs. After the death of his son, he began to drink heavily, began to suspect everyone of treason, and carried out a series of executions. His relative Digunai helped him in many ways.
Activities of Digunay
In 1149, Digunai leads a conspiracy and kills Hal. The brutal murder of the emperor caused a sharp reaction from neighbors, even vassal states recalled their ambassadors.
After seizing power, Digunai began a brutal reign of terror against the imperial family and the most noble and powerful families. In the first year of his reign, he executed the ministers and his son Hal and his entourage. Then he destroyed the families of famous commanders. Later, he executed his stepmother, members of the Khitan and Song imperial families. Executions were accompanied by confiscation of property, slavery and harem.
Fearing revenge, in 1153 Digunai left the capital, which he ordered to be destroyed and plowed up. He moved to Beijing. At the same time, he transferred the remains of all the Wanyan leaders and emperors to emphasize his hereditary right to the throne. The construction of the new capital begins with unprecedented pomp. Trying to erase the memory of the merits of the famous Jurchens, Digunai ordered the names to be removed from their burials. That is why for a long time they could not establish in whose honor the turtles were installed in Ussuriysk. Only as a result of lengthy research was it discovered that one of the turtles belongs to the burial complex of Wanyan Esikui, the famous Jurchen commander.
Digunai did not trust the Jurchens and surrounded himself with the Chinese. Started new reforms in the country: transformed the structure government agencies; revised ranks and titles; drew up a new code of laws; carried out financial activities (started issuing banknotes - these were the first paper money, and then began to cast his own coins). He demoted all the princes and stripped many of their titles.
Discontent was brewing in the country, the causes of which were terror, rising taxes (due to the construction of the capital), the dominance of the Chinese in the administration, economic problems. Uprisings break out in different parts of the empire. Wanting to quell this discontent, Digunai begins preparing a war against the Southern Song. In 1161, a 600,000-strong Jurchen army crossed the border. The Chinese began to destroy this army, burning a huge fleet on the river. Yangtze and plunged the Jurchen army into retreat.
While Digunai was at war, the military staged a coup in the capital and proclaimed him emperor cousin Digunaya – Ulý. Digunai decided to deploy the army to the capital. One morning he came out of his tent to the commanders and saw an arrow under his feet. It was a Jurchen arrow, which meant a challenge to the emperor. Before Digunai had time to take out his sword, the commanders chopped him into small pieces, then burned him, and scattered the ashes to the wind. Digunai was smart and energetic statesman, but the executions were in vain.
Reforms and the rise of the empire
Ulu faced many problems. First, he declared Digunai an outlaw and put his assistants on trial. Established relations with neighbors and defeated the Chinese army, which continued to fight. At the same time, he suppressed the Chinese and Khitan uprisings that tried to restore the Liao. 
Ulu understood that the country was greatly weakened and reforms were needed. He declared amnesty and rehabilitation, and abolished taxes for three years. He transformed agriculture and allowed free mining of metals, opened border markets and conducted a population census in the country. He carried out a large program for the revival of Jurchen culture. Expanded acquaintance with Chinese achievements. Preserved national forms of life: language, writing, first and last names, songs and dances, clothing and customs. He returned the Upper Capital to its original place and made it a reserve of the Jurchen way of life and antiquity. He opened a university and developed national literature and art. He limited the activities of Buddhists and Taoists, who were mostly Chinese. New laws are being created, schools are opening, and much attention is being paid to the combat readiness of the army. The main population of the empire was the Chinese, so Ulu did everything possible to prevent the Jurchens from settling.
Ulu did a lot for the prosperity of the country and died in 1189. His grandson Madage became the new emperor. He continued his grandfather's work. He held important state events, compiled a collection of Jurchen ceremonies, encouraged scientists, and greatly expanded the library. Began to strengthen the borders.
During his reign. In the south, the Chinese tried to regain their lands and started a war in 1204. But four years later they were completely defeated. Things were not calm in the north. In 1206, the Mongol Khan Temujin was elected as the new Supreme Khan (Genghis Khan). Two years after this, Madage died. The policy of the next emperors was different.
In 1208, Ulu's son, Yongzi, became emperor (his Jurchen name has not been preserved). Two years later, Genghis Khan refused to pay tribute to the Jurchens. In 1211, the Mongols invaded the lands of the Golden Empire and the following year captured the Western capital. In 1213, the conspirators kill Yongzi and Madage's brother Udabu becomes the new emperor.
Decline and fall of the empire
In the same year, Genghis Khan surrounded the Upper Capital and lifted the siege only after receiving a princess as his wife. After this, the Mongols began to conquer the neighbors of the Jurchens.
Some major military leaders stopped trusting the emperor. In 1215 Puxian Wannu eastern lands empire is proclaimed by the Jurchen state of Dongzhen [Eastern Jurchens], also known as Eastern Xia. The Khitan rebelled, proclaimed their own state and immediately became allies of the Mongols. The Chinese are also active. In 1217, a war with the Southern Song began. In 1224 Udabu dies and his son Ninyasu becomes his successor.
Ninyasu managed to establish peace with the Chinese. The Jurchen army achieved a number of victories over the Mongols. In 1227, Genghis Khan dies and his work is continued by his sons and comrades. From 1230 the Mongols launched their final offensive against the empire. Two years later the Upper Capital fell. The Emperor fled. The Mongols negotiate an alliance with the Southern Song. The Jurchens found themselves between two fires. In 1234, Ninyasu transferred power to his distant relative Chenglin and hanged himself. Chenglin was emperor for only a few days. Soon the rebel soldiers killed him. All other members of the imperial family were captured. There was no one to occupy the Jurchen throne. The Golden Empire has fallen.
But even after this tragic date, the Jurchens continued to resist. In 1235, the fortresses in Primorye were still resisting, and in the south of the country the Gunchan fortress was staunchly defended. It is no coincidence that the Jurchens are regarded as heroic people.
In the same year the council Mongol khans makes a decision to march to Rus' to conquer the “Rus”.
