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The Golden Horde (also known as Kipchak Khanate) was a Tatar state established in present day Russia by Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. It was one of the four Mongol successor kingdoms in the wake of the Mongol empire, the others being the Ilkhanate Dynasty of Persia, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, and the Yuan Dynasty of China.

At his death, Genghis Khan divided his empire amongst his four sons. Jochi was the eldest, but he was already dead and his paternity was in doubt, so the most distant lands trodden by the Mongol hoof, then southern Ruthenia, were divided among his sons, Batu leader of the Blue Horde , and Orda , leader of the White Horde . Chagatai was next eldest son of Genghis, but he was considered a hothead, and so was given central Asia and northern Iran. Ogedei, third oldest was made Great Khan and given China. Tolui, the youngest, was given the Mongol homeland.

Batu conquered the Volga Bulgaria in 1236.

Batu commenced the Mongol invasion of RussiaThe Mongol Invasion of Russia was an invasion of the medieval state of Kievan Rus' by a large army of nomadic Mongols, starting in 1223. The invasion precipitated the breakup of Kievan Rus' and influenced development of Russian history, including rise of in 1237Events Thomas II of Savoy becomes count of Flanders. Elblag, Poland is founded. The Mongols invade Russia. Gualdo Tadino, Italy, is destroyed by fire. The County of Artois is founded in France. Baldwin II becomes Latin Emperor of Constantinople. Conrad IV. The Mongols quickly gained control of the steppeIn physical geography, steppe (from Russian , step is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes); it is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is generally reckoned as being dominated by tall grasses, while short grasses are said to regions incorporating the local Turkic people into their army. There he overran much of Kievan Rus', the Ruthenian state. He sacked its capital Kyiv in 1240Events Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kyiv Births Pope Benedict XI Deaths April 11 Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn "The Great" Prince of Gwynedd Monarchs/Presidents Aragon James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelo, ending its prosperity. All of Kievan Rus except NovgorodFor other cities named Novgorod see Novgorod (disambiguation). Novgorod is a city in North-Western Russia. Since 1998 the official name of the city is Velikiy Novgorod Great Novgorod . It is the capital of Novgorod Oblast. The city lies along the Volkhov was captured, and even Novgorod under Alexander Nevsky acknowledged the Khan's supremacy. Unlike the central Asian steppe Ruthenia was not incorporated into the Golden Horde, but was an independent vassal state paying tribute to the Khan. The Horde regarded Ruthenia as a peripheral area of little interest as long as it continued to pay tribute.

In 1242, Batu established his capital at Sarai. In 1255 Batu died and passed the Horde on to his heir Sartak . The Horde quickly lost its Mongol identity. Most of its population were Turks, Uzbeks and other indigenous nomads. It became a settled rather than nomadic culture, with Sarai becoming a large and prosperous metropolis. The Horde also quickly adopted Islam, abandoning the animist Mongol beliefs.

The Horde's Ruthenian policy was one of constantly switching alliances in an attempt to keep Ruthenia weak and divided. In the 14th century the rise of Lithuania in North East Europe posed a challenge to Tatar control over Ruthenia. Thus the Khan began backing Moscow as the leading Ruthenian state. Ivan I Kalita was granted the title of grand prince and given the right to collect taxes from the other Ruthenian princes.

In 1357, the Khan Jani Beg was assassinated and the empire fell into a long civil war, averaging one new Khan per annum for the next few decades. During this time Dmitri Donskoy of Moscow attempted to break free of the Horde's power. Mamai, the Tatar general who held the throne, attempted to reassert Tatar authority over Ruthenia. His army was defeated by Dmitri at the Battle of Kulikovo in the first Ruthenian victory over the Tatars. Mamai soon fell from power, and in 1378, Tokhtamysh, a descendant of Orda Khan and ruler of the White Horde, invaded and annexed the territory of the Blue Horde, establishing the Golden Horde. He sacked Moscow as punishment for its insubordination in 1382.

In the 1440s, the Horde was again racked by civil war. This time it broke up into five separate Khanates, the Siberia Khanante, the Khanate of Kazan, the Khanate of Astrakhan and the Khanate of the Crimea all seceding from what remained of the Golden Horde.

None of these new Khanates were stronger than Muscovy, which finally broke free of Tatar control about 1480 (see Great standing on the Ugra river). Each Khanate was eventually annexed by it. Both Kazan and Astrakhan were annexed by Ivan the Terrible, who renamed the state Russia, in the 1550s. By the end of the century the Siberia Khanate was also part of Russia. The Khanate of the Crimea became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire in 1475 and in 1502 conquered and annexed what remained of the Golden Horde. Under the protection of the Ottomans, the Khans of the Crimea remained were not conquered by Russia until 1783 under the reign of Catherine the Great. They were by far the longest-lived of the successor states to the Mongol Empire.