Pages: 207-214

The author considers evidences of the Halych-Volhynia chronicles about the progress of the Horde’s khan Tula-Buga through the territories of Volhynia and Halych. The Horde’s khan plays the supreme governor and the commander-in-chief roles in this campaign. In this context, the author addresses features of the khan’s stay in Russian principalities (i.e., in his vassals’ demesnes) and rules of conduct of the Russian princes in this situation. He points out that maintenance of the governor, his retinue and army required substantial costs; that princes were obliged to meet the khan in person and show their loyalty by offering him suitable gifts (the author offers a reconstruction of a set of such gifts). It is possible that the khan as the commander-in-chief would demand a review of troops, and as the land’s owner he inspected his vassal cities and villages. For a respective reception, the Horde’s ruler would present his loyal citizens with status markers. A comparison of sequence of actions connected with meeting of the khan by princes allows to assume, that the identified ritual of meeting and accompanying the khan through the vassals’ lands is comparable to behavior of noble persons during the Kurultai — an assembly of the elite, one of the goals being to demonstrate the indestructible nature of the order in the empire.

Keywords: Horde, Ulus Juchi, Volhynia Principality, principality of Halych, Poland, Talabuga, Sandomierz, Krakow

Information about author:

Yuriy Seleznev (Voronezh, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Voronezh State University. Universitetskaya Sq., 1, Voronezh, 394006, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]