The demographic and economic disturbances experienced by the horde contributed to mounting political tensions that erupted after Khan Berdibek was killed. During the next two decades the Sarai throne changed hands dozens of times. Some Tatar clans, furthermore, withdrew their support from the Sarai khan and recognised local leaders instead. In the most extreme cases as many as seven khans simultaneously ruled different sections of the Golden Horde. The situation was complicated as well by the appearance of powerful non-Chingisid clan leaders and notables, who placed their Chingisid proteges on the throne. The most prominent of them was Mamai, who controlled the western portion of the Golden Horde. Into this turmoil contenders from the eastern half of Juchi's ulus, the most important of whom was Tokhtamysh, entered the contest for dominance over the Golden Horde.[93]
The crisis began to subside when Tokhtamysh seized control of Sarai in 1378. In 1381, he defeated Mamai and brought temporary stability to the Golden Horde. A decade later, however, Tokhtamysh was defeated by his former patron, Timur (Tamerlane), a non-Chingisid conqueror who was fashioning his own empire around his capital Samarkand in Central Asia. Tokhtamysh lost control over the eastern portion ofJuchi's ulus, but retained his position at Sarai until 1395-6, when Timur launched a campaign during which he attacked not only Sarai, but also Astrakhan' and Azak (Tana) at the mouth of the Don River. Timur thus inflicted a destructive blow on the major towns and commercial centres of the Golden Horde.[94]
While Tokhtamysh fled to Lithuania, Edigei, another non-Chingisid, assumed the dominant role in the Golden Horde. Ruling through Khan Timur Kutlugh, he defeated Tokhtamysh, who was supported by the Lithuanian Prince Vitovt, in 1399. Edigei remained in power until 1411, when his son- in-law drove him from Sarai. Although he, like Tokhtamysh, had attempted to reunite the Golden Horde, its social and economic foundations had been seriously weakened. During the second quarter of the fifteenth century the Golden Horde fragmented into the Crimean khanate, the khanate of Kazan' and the Great Horde.
The political turmoil in the horde affected political conditions in northeastern Russia. In 1359, the same year Berdibek was removed, Grand Prince Ivan II died; his heir was his nine-year old son, Dmitrii, later known as Dmitrii Donskoi. Following Berdibek's death, the Russian princes travelled to Sarai to receive new patents for their offices. But while they were making their journey, Berdibek's successorwas also replaced. The new khan, Navruz, issued the patent for the Vladimir throne not to Dmitrii Ivanovich, but to Dmitrii Konstantinovich, the prince of Suzdal' and Nizhnii Novgorod (1360).[95] After Navruz too was overthrown and replaced by Kudyr', the Russian princes returned again for their patents. Civil strife was so intense, however, that not only was Kudyr' killed, but the princes themselves were subjected to physical abuse and robbed of their goods.[96]
In 1362, the Muscovite prince Dmitrii Ivanovich finally received a patent for the grand principality of Vladimir from one of the two khans then claiming authority over the Golden Horde.[97] The figure behind the khan and Dmitrii's patron was Mamai. A key factor that influenced the extension of Mamai's favour to Dmitrii was his ability to deliver tribute payments, which were particularly critical for Mamai as he was attempting to gain and maintain a position of dominance within the Golden Horde. As in earlier periods, commercial activity was the means by which northern Russia acquired silver. Security along the transportation routes was essential for the flow of goods that were traded to merchants of the Hanseatic League and the Order of the Teutonic Knights for silver and other European goods and for delivery of goods and tribute to the horde. But the discord within the horde had disrupted the trade routes leading southward from the Russian lands. As early as 1360, bandits or pirates, known as ushkuinniki, were raiding key centres along the Volga River. After an attack on Nizhnii Novgorod, Dmitrii Ivanovich placed pressure on Novgorod, the home base of the bandits, to control them.[98]
Dmitrii held Novgorod responsible not only for disturbances created by the pirates, but also for reduced imports derived from its trade with the Hansa and the Teutonic Order. By 1367, commercial relations were deteriorating. Novgorod became involved in hostilities against the Order, which was encroaching upon the border of Pskov. In 1369, the Hansa imposed duties on Novgorod's silver imports. In 1373, it banned the export of silver to Novgorod for two years. By 1375, when both Novgorodian and German merchants were being detained and their goods were confiscated, commercial relations had deteriorated significantly. During this period Mamai, anxious to find an agent who could gather and deliver tribute to him, transferred the patent for grand prince of Vladimir from Dmitrii to Prince Mikhail Aleksandrovich of Tver' (1370), then returned it to Dmitrii (1371). When Dmitrii ceased making tribute payments after 1373, Mamai again issued the patent to Mikhail (1375).[99]
Dmitrii, in defiance of Mamai, refused to cede his throne and the city of Vladimir to Mikhail. Mamai, whose horde had been depleted by a bout with the Black Plague, could not enforce his order. Dmitrii militarily defeated Mikhail and kept his position. In the aftermath ofthis challenge he joined Prince Dmitrii Konstantinovich of Suzdal'-Nizhnii Novgorod to restore order along the Volga River (1377). He did not resume tribute payments, however, and in 1378, his forces clashed with a band subject to Mamai.[100] In 1378, Tokhtamysh was taking control of Sarai. Mamai's position as the unofficial, yet most powerful leader of the Golden Horde was seriously challenged.
Under these circumstances the tribute from northern Russia was important not only as a symbol of his authority, but as revenue he could use to raise forces against his rival. Arranging for support from Lithuania and Riazan', Mamai demanded the tribute from Dmitrii. When it was not forthcoming, he staged a campaign against Dmitrii. But the grand prince of Vladimir raised an army with contingents from Rostov, Iaroslavl', Beloozero, Ustiug, Kolomna, Kostroma, Pereiaslavl' and other principalities across northern Russia. When the two armies engaged at the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), Dmitrii, who there earned the epithet Donskoi, defeated Mamai. The next year the Tatar leader engaged Tokhtamysh, and was again defeated.[101]
Dmitrii Donskoi's relationship with the Golden Horde was complicated. He recognised the authority of the horde and the legitimacy inherent in a patent from the khan. Yet in the context of the internal discord within the horde, he depended upon Mamai and the khan Mamai placed in power. But Dmitrii also defied Mamai. He did not accept Mamai's decisions to transfer the patent for Vladimir to Mikhail Aleksandrovich of Tver' and, particularly, when the commercial source of silver had diminished, he did not make the required and promised tribute payments to him. Ultimately, he fought against Mamai and defeated him. But when Tokhtamysh seized Sarai and also defeated Mamai, Dmitrii Donskoi, like the other north-eastern Russian princes, immediately acknowledged his suzerainty as khan of the Golden Horde by sending their messengers and costly gifts. They did not, however, attend him personally. Tokhtamysh responded with a military campaign. In contrast to the situation in 1380, Dmitrii was unable to raise an army to oppose Tokhtamysh. Instead, he fled from Moscow, which Tokhtamysh besieged and sacked. Dmitrii, who remained the grand prince of Vladimir, sent his son Vasilii to Tokhtamysh with tribute payments; Vasilii remained as a hostage at Tokhtamysh's court.[102]
93
94
95
96
98
99
100
101
102
Crummey