#record of mongol invasion

[metamorphesque]

I generally cannot think of any Azerbaijan history of them having a kingdom that was this big or even having a kingdom at all. The propaganda is so strong within the Azerbaijan education system; it is wild. I even remember getting into arguments explaining Armenians have more traces to a lot of Azerbaijan land than the Turkic Azeri groups.

did you know that in their textbooks it is stated that Columbus had discovered America thanks to azeris?

Armenians are indigenous to the Armenian Highlands (marked orange), as archaeological evidence and historical records trace our presence back thousands of years. Historically, this area is known as the cradle of Armenian civilization and has been home to the Armenian people for millennia. The Armenian Highlands were the heartland of the ancient Kingdom of Urartu and later the Armenian Kingdoms. In contrast, the turkic tribes, arrived in the region much later during the Seljuk and Mongol invasions. Thus, the turkic presence in the South Caucasus is relatively recent compared to the ancient and continuous Armenian habitation of the Armenian Highlands. This explains the traces of Armenian presence and influence in the lands that are now part of modern-day azerbaijan and turkey.

*cue the genocidal threats and remarks by turks and azeris in the replies

[writingwithcolor]

Creatures of Folklore Who Represent Cultures Preventing Wars Throughout History

Anonyomous asked:

Hi! I’m writing a story which is set in a fantasy version of our world. The main difference between our real world and my fictional version is that the spirits and fairies of each culture and folklore exist, and that the majority of them basically stop war from happening because they react very badly (and potentially violently) when invading forces etc try to start battles. 

I’m doing a lot of research into the histories of the various cultures that will be featured in the books set in this world so I can hypothesise how they might have developed without, for example, violent colonialism, and where trade and so on might have flourished in its place. However, it’s possible for colonialism to happen through more insidious ways, such as assimilation. In one of my books, I’m intending to use this as part of the plot, where Japan will try to colonise the Ryukyuan Kingdom through assimilation, but will be stopped by the Ryukyuan Kingdom making allies with other nations (amongst other tactics), but I was wondering if you had any advice for respectfully handling the colonialism that very much did happen in real life in a fantasy setting where it didn’t manage to occur, without erasing the history and ramifications etc of what actually happened?

Do fox spirits have citizenship? 

You mean well with this concept, but there are multiple key problems. 

One major issue with cordoning off spirits and folklore creatures by “patron” culture and have them fight said patrons’ battles is that there’s a lot of overlap. It’d be hard for there not to be a conflict of interest. 

For example, everyone knows about the kitsune fox spirit from Japan. But the story of the fox spirit was introduced to Japan and Korea by China, where they are called húlijīng. These foxes are remarkably similar, with their characteristics and stories almost borrowed wholesale. Are they all the same “species?” If so, when small differences emerge in the countries’ folktales, how do you resolve this? Do these spirits also morph and specialize, or does one interpretation win out? How about when kingdoms are unified, like the Korean Three Kingdoms–do separate versions of the kumiho reverse-evolve into a single variant? What side do they pick when these kingdoms and empires try to battle? If they live apart from humans or aren’t very friendly with them, why would they have a reason to care about invasions when they have no reason to be allegiant to said borders, or whatever name they’re called in whichever country whose land they live on?

Folkloric beings are never static, and are influenced over time by cultural shifts and exchanges, including shifting borders. Human history is stuffed cover-to-cover with events of what we called “conquest” then and “occupation” or “colonization” now. And through these changes, cultures diverged and came together, creating new stories. In other words: not even fairy tales are immune to colonization. 

Leigh can explain the rest. 

~ Rina

The Problem with Retconning War

A very simple question for you:

How are you going to rectify every single historical war that’s ever existed?

Like, the whole plot of the Trojan War as we know it is that the gods of the same culture were on different sides! And the gods made the war last as long as it did. Alexander the Great was a colonizer. Romans were definitely colonizers. Ottomans and Mongols, also colonizers. It wasn’t to the scale of modern colonialism, but it happened. If you look at census records from the 1800s of Indigenous populations in North America, you’ll find that the men 20+ have way lower numbers because they died in war! 

I’m not of the opinion that the basic state of humanity is war and we are barely contained by base instincts. But I’m also not so far in the other direction that I believe humans lack any sort of warring instincts. It shows up in chimps and other primates, so it shows up in humans.

In a way, it sounds like you’ve taken a very Christian-fundamentalist-centric view of things, which is: humans need religion to be “contained”. That humans are amoral without some sort of religion or folklore or spirits telling them to not do a “bad thing.”

This is ignoring how people have been using religion to justify wars since religion was invented. As Rina said, there can be overlap in groups’ beliefs and deities so there’s the side-picking issue, which as I mentioned is the whole plot of the Trojan War. Even when humans write about gods meddling in war, they have the gods not all be on the same side.

Humans have war. Humans try to take over other groups because they want the resources that group has. Alliances shift. Territories shift.

This is also treating humans as a monolith—there are populations within the colonized groups that agree with the colonizers because they get benefits. Claiming that all colonized groups hate all aspects of their colonialism all of the time is deeply ahistorical and flattened. Sometimes the benefits were only for a small group, but sometimes the benefits were far-reaching. It’s in the India tag on WWC, varying views of the Mughals. 

Also, how will you handle the Christianization of Europe? How will you handle all of this folklore that only got written down via monks and nuns making notes and modifying beliefs to fit the Bible? Will any area with only Christianity’s records written down not have folklore? 

And how will you handle folklore drift? Religions are not static. If you look at Greek myths, there are ten to thirty versions of each story and those are just the ones that survived. Each city-state had its own mythology, using the same gods, modified to fit the local needs.

And what about folklore that deals with war and thrives in war? What about the gods of war and destruction? I know Norse mythology is Christianized beyond recognition, but even in its Christianized form half of it is about war. Would the Valkyries, whose whole purpose is to find valiant soldiers slain in battle, not want war? Their whole purpose is war.

Also, on top of it—how will you handle revolution?

You say yourself, colonialism could still happen subtly. Colonialism and injustice can still happen. Will these subjugated spirits force an already disadvantaged group to exclusively use a rigged system to try and politely ask for their rights back? Or would these spirits want to be free and support the means necessary to take it back?

War has happened to upend the divine right of kings. War has happened to free slaves (Haiti). War has happened for basic workers’ rights (some union strikes have resulted in war). 

You’re basically removing a whole toolbox in the fight for a better world. Yes, not being able to colonize because of fantasy AU sounds fine, until you realize that pretty much all of human history from the Romans has been created via war to some degree.

You’re basically just saying “violence is bad and humans need fantasy babysitters to not dive into it”, which really doesn’t sound that great once you sit with it. It removes human agency, removes human nature, and ignores the entire history of the planet.

-Leigh (Lesya)

Marika interjecting here:

We had an ask (Linked here) envisioning a story set in a de-colonized Hawai’i and the socio-political issues with that. Same problem.

[sifu-kisu]

The legendary Honjo Masamune sword, regarded as a national treasure in Japan. It was forged around 1300 by the renowned swordsmith Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, who developed techniques to create superior blades capable of withstanding the toughened Mongol armor during the invasion of Japan.

Masamune's innovative methods involved folding high carbon steel over 30,000 times, creating a blade with a flexible spine and a rigid, razor-sharp cutting edge.

The broader, longer blade was designed to pierce Mongol armor, and the hardened edge allowed for easy repair. The Honjo Masamune was not just a weapon but a work of art, renowned for its beauty and discerning, honorable nature.

The sword was passed down through generations of ruling Shoguns for over 700 years, playing a significant role in Japan's rigid social structure.

The samurai, the knightly class, revered their swords as their most prized possessions, symbolizing their souls.

After World War II, the Honjo Masamune mysteriously disappeared.

Records indicate that a U.S. Sergeant took possession of the sword, with the intention of having it destroyed.

However, some believe he may have saved it and brought it back to America instead.

Today, the Honjo Masamune is estimated to be worth millions of dollars, and experts speculate that it may still exist, hidden away somewhere.

[whencyclopedia]

Sugar & the Rise of the Plantation System

From a humble beginning as a sweet treat grown in gardens, sugar cane cultivation became an economic powerhouse, and the growing demand for sugar stimulated the colonization of the New World by European powers, brought slavery to the forefront, and fostered brutal revolutions and wars.

The geographic center of sugar cane cultivation shifted gradually across the world over a span of 3,000 years from India to Persia, along the Mediterranean to the islands near the coast of Africa and then the Americas, before shifting back across the globe to Indonesia. A whole new kind of agriculture was invented to produce sugar – the so-called Plantation System. In it, colonists planted large acreages of single crops which could be shipped long distances and sold at a profit in Europe. To maximize the productivity and profitability of these plantations, slaves or indentured servants were imported to maintain and harvest the labor-intensive crops. Sugar cane was the first to be grown in this system, but many others followed including coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, tea, rubber, and most recently oil palm.

Beginnings of Sugar Cultivation

There is no archeological record of when and where humans first began growing sugar cane as a crop, but it most likely occurred about 10,000 years ago in what is now New Guinea. The species domesticated was Saccharum robustum found in dense stands along rivers. The people in New Guinea were among the most inventive agriculturalists the world has known. They domesticated a broad range of local plant species including not only sugar cane but also taro, bananas, yam, and breadfruit.

The cultivation of sugar cane moved steadily eastward across the Pacific, spreading to the adjacent Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and ultimately to Polynesia. Cultivation of sugar cane also moved westward into continental Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and then Northern India. During this advancement, S. officinarum ("nobel canes") hybridized with a local wild species called S. spontaneum to produce a hybrid, S. sinense ("thin canes"). These hybrids were less sweet and not as robust as pure S. officinarum but were hardier and could be grown much more successfully in subtropical mainlands.

Sugar cane was for eons just chewed as a sweet treat, and it was not until about 3,000 years ago that people in India first began squeezing the canes and producing sugar (Gopal, 1964). For a long time, the Indian people kept the whole process of sugar-making a closely guarded secret, resulting in rich profits through trade across the subcontinent. This all changed when Darius I (r. 522-486 BCE), ruler of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, invaded India in 510 BCE. The victors took the technology back to Persia and began producing their own sugar. By the 11th century CE, sugar constituted a significant portion of the trade between the East and Europe. Sugar manufacturing continued in Persia for nearly a thousand years, under a revolving set of rulers, until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century destroyed the industry.

Continue reading...

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

wait im kinda new the 3k fandom, is half of it actual history and the other half just… homoerotic relationships with right-hand-mans?

first of all, welcome aboard! tldr: if your historical RPF doesn't ruin a politician's reputation for the next 800 years, are you even doing it right? yes Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on actual history! it's set in the early 3rd century Han Dyansty (around 200 CE), during a bloody on-and-off civil war called the Three Kingdoms Period. The novel itself was written in the 14th century, nearly 1100 years after it all went down. if you disregard (most) of the supernatural elements, the story is fairly accurate, around 3 parts fiction and 7 parts fact. The novel was based on a compilation of historical records called the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

I must apologise on behalf of me and the mutuals for giving you a skewed impression of the homo. Sadly 3k is about 70% history, 25% socio-political allegory and only 5% Manly Love Between the Liege and His Vassal. Homoeroticism-Cao who was defeated at Red Cliffs and pines after the enemy general every sichen was an outlier and should not have been counted. that's on us.

the 3k novel was written during a time of civil unrest and a crises of national identity. during the Yuan dynasty parts of China were taken over by the Mongols, which eventually collapsed and gave way to the Ming. the author Luo Guanzhong lived during the late Yuan-early Ming period, he saw himself as an intelligent and capable man who never managed to find a worthy liege or a great cause to serve, in the end he became disillusioned and sunk to the lowest possible depths for a gentleman-scholar; writing novels (gasp!). the novel is only attributed to him because it was published anonymously, but it fits his MO. for example, Liu Bei's civil advisor/PM Zhuge Liang was changed so much he basically became the author's self-insert; he is a scholar-recluse who finds a worthy, benevolent master and then devotes his entire life to fulfilling his dreams of unifying the country. and also he's a military genius who single-handedly defeated cao cao and then everyone clapped.

This was also where a lot of revisionism became codified. Prior to this, Cao Cao was considered the real hero of the story, especially by the educated elite. His empire was also succeeded by the Jin Dynasty, so of course they needed to legitimise him. Liu Bei was seen as an opportunist and a disruptor, though he was always beloved by the common people who related to his struggles and were touched by his (seemingly genuine) kindness to them. The big change happened because after the Mongol invasion, the Yuan was split in two, the official dynasty submitted to Mongol rule. The other part saw themselves as the underdogs and righteous rebels, just like Liu Bei standing up to Big Bad Cao Cao.

Prior to this, 3k mainly existed in the form of folktales with different interpretations, and LGZ was the first person to create a single, unified narrative out of it. there's really cute accounts of contemporaries in different dynasties being all "idgi? all the kids boo when cao cao shows up, but they cheer when liu bei wins, and cries when he loses." truely a Blorbo of the people.

[centrally-unplanned]

Since you mentioned it anyway... Ghengis Khan VOR?

Ghengis Khan does require a grain of salt, given our lack of strong historical evidence for his life and inner workings. But still, given what we have, his story is one of endless setbacks before his incredible victories. He is left destitute after the death of his father, kills his half-brother over a fight over hunting spoilers, is imprisoned by rival tribes multiple times, and spends several years as a slave later on of the Jin Dynasty after his early armies are defeated. A lot of his VOR comes from the fact that he was the one to do it at all; he shouldn't have even lived, let alone come back to forge an Empire.

Past that, the Mongolian steppe was in a constant step of flux of political (dis)unification, but even when unified was never built for sustained conquest. Meanwhile the Jin Dynasty had just had a string of victories imposing tribute on the various tribes - it was not the case that the Mongolians had this inherent "nomadic cavalry" military advantage that, if unleashed, bordering nations could not compete with, they got wrecked by them all the time. Re-unifying China as a successor kingdom, for example, is something of a given at some point, its inherent dynamics lead to that - for Mongolia that was not the case. Genghis just has this miraculous ability to get coalition partners into his camp, and all the way in, ride-or-die in, over and over and over.

Finally, he is a pretty tireless-but-flexible operational commander, combined with institutional innovator. His siege of Xongjing fails due to poorly constructed earthworks on their dam attempt, then a second siege of Xijing also goes poorly? We build an entire siege corps built out of captured and defected engineers of our Jin dynasty enemy that we then integrate into force structure and fling about as far as Persia. Next stab at the Jin Dynasty runs out of steam penetrating too far into their territory, so our army starts starving? Go back, build a new logistics & supply requisition system that we have never had before to extend campaign duration, and repeat. These might sound 'obvious" but no Mongol commanders really did these before - they instead would sign a peace treaty, take some tribute, and go home. This is a huge VOR - a demonstrated track record of asset-building where others simply settled for the equilibrium.

Finally he has many moments of "consensus bucking" - in particular on peace and restraint, funnily enough! It was very common - the first siege of the Jin capital & the planned invasion of north India come to mind - where his commanders would recommend pushing forward, Genghis would go "hold up", then retreat, sign a temporary peace, then come back next year or choose a new target and win for real. These you do have to be skeptical of - classic literary tradition, to portray the Great Leader as the wise one out of a sea of idiot advisors. But still, its attested enough to be worth noting.

So yeah, tremendous VOR - one of the few leaders in history who, if absent, could result in their empire simply vanishing from the record, never occurring at all.

[uriekukistan]

omggg you're studying history!!!! that's so interesting, i love it! it was my fav subject while on high school 🥺 what's your fav period? what do you like the most about the major?

sending hugs 🫂🫂

ohhh this is actually kinda hard bc have a different fav period for different places if that makes sense. but i guess i've most consistently enjoyed classical history like since i was really young (so like ancient greece, ancient egypt, early roman empire). i even wrote fanfic abt the roman empire when i was in middle school (not historical fiction. specifically fanfic. with a self insert oc).

specifically i've always been really interested in alexander the great for some reason. like i am a one-person alexander the great fanclub, i think he was so cool. and he literally changed the entire course of history, ik that can be said for a lot of people, but considering the timing of it, it was just so impressive.....his empire was larger than the ottoman empire but like 2000 years earlier and he made it with like. way less troops and rudimentary military tech. took on a military like 6x his own and won. what a guy.

but i also really like 1300-1700 east asian history. the mongol invasion makes a really interesting dynamic. also an enjoyer of medieval europe. ugh. so so many interesting history things but im just rambling now.

honestly the history major is very different than the class was in high school, but still so fun. i get to work with a lot of documents which is cool (hence why i speak japanese, bc i work w a lot of early modern japanese documents for research purposes). probably one of my fav assignments i had was looking through old newspapers, finding Just Some Guy and using census documents, birth/death certificates, property records, etc, to write their biography. it was such an interesting experience.

thank you for the ask!! hope you're well :D

[syaal]

Celestial ramble(Spoilers for Blood of Tyrants)

When I saw the tidbit about Celestial("Divine Wind") eggs being stolen from Japan during the mongol invasions - when in actual history the conquest was mainly thwarted by typhoons called "Divine Wind" by the Japanese - I thought it was a nice bit of actual history crossed with fiction, although since the Japanese named the kamikaze attacks after it I was almost in a bout of colonized-nationalist paranoia(i figuratively break out in hives whenever westerners put "kamikaze" in cool stuff) just for a second

But also, I'm a bit confused bc the Yellow Emperor is supposed to be a Celestial, but he is a mythical god-emperor that dates like four millennia ago(or two millennia ago, according to the books where he supposedly helped found the Han dynasty) so he might be of a primordial breed that later split into several lines, one of them being Celestials? The actual Yellow Emperor might or might not have had Divine Wind, and was originally named Tien-Lung and after millennia, seeing that similar-looking breed that has cool powers one might go "ooh the mythical breed does exist" like how the Ming dynasty saw giraffes as qilin(麒麟)

Then again we only have one person's dialogue for "Celestials are from Japan," or not even that - just that the last Celestial egg was stolen from Japan, and living Celestials were all killed.

So two possibilities:

One, Celestials originated from Japan, the Yuan dynasty stole an egg and killed the rest. The description of the Yellow Emperor in the records had some similarities to Celestials, but they aren't actually related. Imperials are probably some dominant-gene mutant?

Two, Celestials of East Asia all shared the same ancestral breed, but since China took "Celestials only in royal lines where we want it" very seriously they killed the Japanese lot - which is bit unbelievable considering their near-worship of Celestials, but since the Yuan dynasty was Mongolian it might be possible that their attitude differed from the Han people or the Manchus(in this theory, Yongxing refusing Lien's egg to be sent to Mongolia gains even more context??).

Or there might be a different explanation but I don't have any ideas for now

[irithnova]

Consolidating my thoughts on the Golden Horde

Warning: This is an extremely long post (7000 words)

I've been wanting to tackle this part of the Golden Horde for a while now but the definitions of certain things bogged me down and I just didn't have the time until now (Christmas break yay) to really delve into it.

Words that are referring to the same wing of the Horde:

Right Wing/Western Wing/Golden Horde/Batuid wing/Batuids/White Horde (born to Mongolia in 1220. The OG)

Left Wing/Eastern Wing/Ordaid Wing/Ordaids/Blue Horde (born in the 1280's. A "branch" off of the OG Golden Horde)

I refer to the fusion between them later on as only "Golden Horde"

In this post I am going to be talking about the two wings of the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde was never originally called the Golden Horde, it was rather referred to as the "Ulus of Jochi" meaning Kingdom/domain of Jochi. This was because Jochi was Genghis Khan's eldest son, and before Genghis Khan died, he split his empire between his sons, electing Ogedei, the 3rd oldest, to rule as the great Khan over all of them. It is claimed that Genghis was pressured to organise his empire between his sons before the invasion of Khwarezmian empire in 1219 by Empress Yisui. The Secret History of the Mongols state that he elected Ogedei to be his heir and historians such as Christopher P Attwood agree that Ogedei was chosen as the heir in 1219, "According to the Secret History of the Mongols, Chinggis Khan passed over both Jochi and Cha'adai (Chagatai) and chose Ogedei as his successor in 1219" (Encyclopedia of the Mongol Empire, Christopher P Attwood). This is probably due to the fact that Genghis knew his time on earth was limited now that he was older, and this is around the time the whole "Genghis Khan trying to find the elixir of life" spiel took place. This is why I made Golden Horde/Chagatai Khanate and even Ilkhanate be born around this time. I have more detail here in my previous post about them.

Note: I'll also be referring to OG Golden Horde as "Ulus of Jochi" throughout this post, just so there's no confusion as to who I am talking about.

For a lot of my posts I've referred to the Golden Horde as the Golden Horde for simplicity's sake (also because it's the most well known name for him) however as stated previously, it was not originally called the Golden Horde by the rulers of the Horde. It was a later name given to the Horde. There were two wings of the overall (Golden) Horde. The Western wing (right wing) and Eastern Wing (left wing). These wings were also given colours, the White Horde and Blue Horde. However what Horde was what colour is widely debated amongst historians because historical records on which was which often contradict each other. Some historians like Marie Favereau and Christopher Attwood have argued for the idea that the Western Wing was the White Horde and the Eastern Wing was the Blue Horde. However, for my post, I really would like to emphasise not emphasising the "Blue/White" delineations as the be all end all of what Horde was which as we pretty much know that there was an Eastern and Western Wing, who ruled these wings, and how things played out. 

I know on popular sites like Wikipedia, it's shown in the reverse order, and the blue horde is the West wing instead of the East wing, and the white horde is the East wing instead of the West Wing. I'm just going to go with what Marie Favereau and Christopher Attwood are saying as they've been two of my main sources for this post.

So back to the purpose of the post which is explaining how the two wings of the Horde played out with the character of the Golden Horde. As I said before, I made Ulus of Jochi be born in 1220, one year after Genghis made a decision on how his empire would be divided between his sons. Ulus of Jochi was the representation of future Jochid lands. However, Jochi died unexpectedly around 6 months before Genghis Khan did, which meant that he never had the chance to rule these lands himself. This opportunity was given to his sons, Batu and Orda. Batu initially administered the Western Wing (or White Horde or Right Wing) of the Horde and Orda administered the Eastern Wing (or Blue Horde or Left Wing).

Golden Horde as we know him was initially supposed to be the representative of the future Jochid lands (hence why he is also called Ulus of Jochi). In fact, as Christopher Attwood states "The Golden Horde, originally the Ulus... of Jochi, emerged as a separate entity earlier than any other of the successor states of the Mongol Empire."  However these lands were split between Batu and Orda as Jochi died before Genghis Khan did. There was also the more obscure Shaybanid/Grey Horde, ruled by the descendants of Shiban, who was Jochi's fifth son. The Grey Horde acknowledged the superiority of Batu and Orda's hordes until the mid 14th century. 

Between the two superior hordes - Batu and Orda's, Batu of the Western Wing was considered the overall leader of the whole Horde, and even after Batu's death, the Ordaid lineage continued to recognise the supremacy of the Batuid lineage. This is despite the fact that Batu was younger than Orda. Mongol succession culture was ultimogeniture, meaning that the youngest sons were the ones who had succession privilege rather than the oldest sons. This was not an unusual choice. 

Orda was selected to administer the Eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi which would then become the "Blue Horde", however despite this he acknowledged that his younger brother, Batu, was the ruler of the whole of the Ulus of Jochi. Both hordes were harmonious with one another (as in,  the Eastern Wing was subordinate to the Western Wing and they did not step on each other's toes), with the Eastern Ordaid Wing acknowledging the supremacy of the Western Batuid Wing. Some may try to argue that both Wings had completely different interests almost from the get go, and imply that they pursued their own interests at the cost of the other. This is not the case. As Mary F. says in her book "The Horde", "For many years, these primary hordes were at peace with each other and ran the Ulus of Jochi in concert". 

There is one instance however where it seemed like both Hordes had differing interests, and this was with the ascension of Guyuk Khan as the Great Khan. Batu, leader of the Western Wing, wanted nothing to do with it, and did not show up to the coronation, instead choosing to continue to focus on expanding the Ulus of Jochi. Orda on the other hand, not only attended it, but actively helped in making sure it ran smoothly by aiding Guyuk in tracking down and executing his attempted usurpers. Keep this event in mind as I'll talk about this further down and how it relates to Ulus of Jochi balancing himself between the Hordes of Batu and Orda.

Because I see "Golden Horde" as embodying/being the Ulus of Jochi (as the reason of his existence was that he was the personification of future Jochid lands), I don't make a distinction between Orda and Batu's hordes by creating two separate Horde personifications until the the years after the 1260's with the death of Berke Khan and the breaking away from the greater Mongol Empire. Why I chose this date will be explained thoroughly throughout this post.

So how do I think Ulus of Jochi/Golden horde coped with initially being administered between Orda and Batu? I don't think it was a difficult feat, however I think for the most part, Ulus of Jochi was more involved in Batuid Western Wing/Right Wing affairs due to the foreign policy being expansionist, and relied on the Ordaid Eastern Wing/Left Wing for diplomacy (normalfacing) and trade. This is because, where the Eastern Wing was situated, if it adopted an expansionist foreign policy like the Western Wing, the only neighbours it would be able to expand into would be other Mongol Khanates (this is unlike the Chagatai Khanate who never really cared about that) and that would cause unnecessary trouble (the Eastern Wing was mostly peaceful, in comparison to the Western Wing). 

In addition, as talked about previously, it was Batu who was considered the overall leader of the Ulus of Jochi, and the Ordaid lineage acknowledged the supremacy of the Batuid lineage for many years (due to the fact that Batu was 1) Considered the overall leader 2) It was the Batuids who focussed mainly on expanding the Horde). Once it was revealed to Genghis that Jochi died, "Chinggis designated a new heir to the Ulus of his eldest; Jochi's son Batu would take over" (Marie F. The Horde), it was Genghis himself who gave his blessing for Batu to take over, and Orda had no problem with this. 

I headcanon that until the death of Berke Khan (of the Golden Horde) and the breaking away from the greater Mongol Empire in the latter half of the 13th century, who we know as Golden Horde (original son born to Mongolia) was the personification of the overall Ulus of Jochi. Once Berke died, the Ulus of Jochi gave rise to 3 main hordes and this was the beginning of the Hordes having more independence from one another, hence why I chose the date of Berke Khan's death as one of the foundations that gave rise to the Ulus of Jochi dividing into separate personifications. "After Berke's death, three hordes rose to dominate the Ulus of Jochi" (Marie F. The Horde).  Who we know as Golden Horde was aligned with the Western lands of the Horde alongside the Batuids who were considered the supreme rulers of the horde. 

The new personification for the Eastern Horde/Left wing materialised itself in the years after Berke Khan died and during the period in which the Horde became more independent from the greater empire. The personification of this Horde respected the supremacy of the Batuid Horde/Left Wing (Golden Horde) and all the hordes worked together and "were at peace with each other and ran the ulus of Jochi in concert" (Marie F. The Horde).

Until then however, I see who we know as the Golden Horde as the personification of the whole of the Ulus of Jochi, including the Hordes that were within the Ulus. Golden Horde was still the Ulus of Jochi even when the blue Horde/Left Wing had its own personification materialise. This is somewhat similar to what happened with his father:

Mongolia was the original personification of the whole of the Mongol Empire, he has children that are born as (initially) representations of the divided sections of the overall empire but were still one with/loyal to the Great Khan and Mongolia and Mongolia continues /as the official representative of the Mongol Empire and is aligned with the lineage of the Great Khan. These Children then eventually go their own ways/infighting occurs.

Golden Horde was born as the future/original representation of the Ulus of Jochi. Jochi unexpectedly dies and his Ulus is ruled by two of his sons and split into two wings, with Batu and the Batuid lineage being the supreme rulers of the Ulus of Jochi, appointed by Genghis himself. The Ulus of Jochi's three Hordes become more distinct in the years after Berke's death and new personifications arise. Golden Horde is aligned with the Jochid/Batuid Ulus in the West, the other two Hordes (Ordaid and Nogay Horde) acknowledge his supremacy and he is still considered the overall personification of the Ulus of Jochi by the other two Hordes. These Hordes then go on to start fighting with each other at some point. 

Here is a really badly pictured map here which sets out what the Horde looked like from the 1270s. 

Note how the Western/Batuid Wing/White horde is called "Horde of the Jochid Khan '' thereby signifying its supremacy over the other Hordes (yes that is my nail sorry).

Elaborating on why I chose the years after Berke's death to give rise to the Ordaid and Nogay Horde personifications is not only because the hordes became more distinct at this point but this was also the period when the Ulus of Jochi broke away from the greater Mongol Empire (1260s) and ruled itself with pretty much it's own autonomy. 

Once that happened, it allowed for greater autonomy within the Horde, thus, allowing for these new personifications to emerge alongside the OG Ulus of Jochi. I see Berke's rule as the foundation for the other personifications within the Horde to manifest themselves because Berke's rule was the foundation of the Ulus of Jochi becoming independent of the greater Mongol Empire/Great Khan. Berke was the first ruler of the Horde that was elected without the approval of the Great Khan - he was "installed exclusively by Jochid begs" (Marie F. The Horde). Further, when Berke died in 1267, a quriltai (political meeting) was conducted to elect a new Khan. As Berke did not have an heir, this was used as a chance to finally solidify the line of Batu as the supreme/legitimate rulers of the Ulus of Jochi. 

I'll be a bit less vague here and give the approximate date of when I believe the Left Wing had its own personification materialise. I think that the aforementioned reasons were the foundations of the Left Wing having its own personification, and that the Left Wing's personification appeared in the late 1270's/1280 when Qonichi Khan came to rule it. This was because under Qonichi, the Left Wing/Ordaid Wing truly began to become more distinct from the Right/Batuid Wing (Golden Horde). This did not mean that they fought between each other - as mentioned before, the different divisions of the Ulus of Jochi generally worked together pretty well for many years. 

However it was this time period in which the Left Wing started to distinguish itself even more from the Right Wing "During these years [Qonichi's reign], Orda's ulus became independent from Batu's ulus" (The Golden Horde in World History Sh. Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences). Representatives of Orda's family discontinued the previously agreed vassal relationship with Sarai (Capital of the Golden Horde) and Karakorum (Capital of the Mongol Empire before it was moved to Beijing). According to Rash al-Din, they considered their ruler to be the deputy of Batu, however members of Orda's family did not often go to the Khan's of Batu's family, as they were far apart and ruled independently in their own territories, "...to consider their sovereign and ruler the person who is the deputy of Batu, and their names are written at the top of the labels" but, "from the very beginning there was no case that some member of Orda's family, who took his place, went to the Khans of Batu's family, as they are distant from each other and independent sovereigns of their uluses."

The personality of this Left Wing personification? I somewhat fashion it after Qonichi Khan himself. Qonichi's reign was largely peaceful. Marco Polo himself noted "The Tsar (Qonichi) has a lot of people, but he fights no one and peacefully rules his Kingdom." So in general he was a pretty chill and outgoing guy with a love for food. It's quite funny contrasting his personality with the Right Wing who's always been a bit of an aloof edgelord.

Berke's rapid expansion of Jochid independence was not all good for the Golden Horde though when it came to relations with his family, though, I don't think he cared much about if his family were happy with him or not. First let's start with the worsening relationship with the Ilkhanate. The relationship was already pretty bad from the get go (Mongolia giving more attention to Ilkhanate as a child) however once the Ilkhanate was officially installed, Hulegu (first Khan of the Ilkhanate) was essentially hogging all the power south of the Caucasus and not only that, was hogging his wealth. He was not sending the previously agreed portioned amount of booty to Berke Khan. Not only that but he executed Jochid princes who partook in the destruction of the Caliphate, most notably Quli, under suspicion of sorcery. Ilkhanate was pretty much being a spoiled, petulant brat and was absolutely not sharing with his older brother who he detested so much. 

Berke had had enough of this and expressed his rage at Hulegu for sacking Baghdad (Berke was Muslim). Whether Golden Horde really cared about that didn't matter, he hated Ilkhanate and Berke's rage was his ticket to attacking him. He allied with the Sultan Baybars of Mamluk Egypt, allying with a non Mongol group to attack his own brother in 1262.

Further, Golden Horde becoming more ballsy with Berke around meant that the Jochid retainers alongside the Muslim elite in Bukhara tried to declare Berke sovereign there. This led to Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate to destroy the Jochid's Bukhara appanage and then invade their territory in Khorazam and Otrar. 

With Berke being the first Jochid Khan elected exclusively by Jochid begs therefore creating a new succession culture independent of the Great Khan, breaking away from the Great Khan/greater Mongol Empire, and the line of Batu being solidified as the supreme rulers of the Ulus (therefore Golden Horde would have aligned with the Batuids similar to how Mongolia aligned himself with the Great Khans), this eventually gave rise to the 3 hordes of the Jochi Ulus having their own distinct personifications during this era, with Golden Horde being the overall personification of the Jochi Ulus as 1) That's why he was born 2) Aligned with the Batuid lineage, Batu being chosen to rule the Ulus by Genghis Khan himself.

I've mentioned previously a time where it could be argued that the two hordes had different interests, therefore the Hordes should have distinct personifications earlier - the ascension of Guyuk as the Great Khan. Batu wanted nothing to do with it, however Orda actively participated in it to the point where he helped Guyuk dispose of those who wanted to usurp him. This however did not halt the cohesion/harmony between the two hordes. Orda still continued to acknowledge the supremacy of his brother's rule and the supremacy of Batuid rule was acknowledged even after the deaths of both brothers. I mentioned before how Ulus of Jochi/Golden Horde relied on the Ordaid Wing for normalfacing/diplomacy. 

I believe he continued to do this even when the Ordaid Wing got its own personification, but instead he was being relayed the tea by the Ordaid personification through letters and sometimes meetings (remember the quote from Rash al-Din, they were quite distant from one another) rather than being told by the Khans or the elite of the Ordaid Wing . I see this as sort of a funny situation. Golden Horde essentially wanted to put his middle finger up at his father by staying with Batu and not attending the coronation of Guyuk, but at the same time used Orda's attendance and aid during the coronation to maintain a somewhat stable relationship but to also let him in on the goings on with the rest of his family without unnecessarily directly involving himself (because he hates them-). 

So yeah. Even before the Ordaid Wing personification emerged in the 1280's, Golden Horde was using the Ordaid wing for diplomacy, trade, and to spy on his own family lol. The Ordaids were used to represent the Jochids during quriltais, and aligned their politics to those of the Batuids and came together to make political and military decisions. The Ordaids kept okay relations with the Great Khan/Yuan whilst the Batuids remained frosty (the spying). Rashid Al Din noted how the Ordaids "ruled their Ulus with autonomy" however still acknowledged that they "recognise Batu's successors and write their names at the top of their decrees". 

I love drawing parallels between Mongolia and the Golden Horde with this. Like Mongolia, Golden Horde created his own unique succession culture, and his Ulus was also divided and gave rise to new personifications within the Ulus. However Golden Horde was at this point in belief that he had usurped his father/had become better than him. Not only has he managed to carve out success for himself and create his own unique succession culture, but he had other personifications within him who were extremely obedient to him and acknowledged his supremacy over them with no problem. Unlike Mongolia, who's own children got tired of him pretty quickly, Golden Horde's branches were almost devoutly loyal to him, and were loyal to him for far longer than Mongolia's children ever were. I don't think I'd say they were exactly his children but I'll say they were his branches for now.

Whilst Mongolia had a separate relationship with his children because he was too busy doing his own things and only realised too late that maybe he should have been more present and it was to his detriment, Golden Horde also had a somewhat "separate" relationship from his branches but did this purposefully and for his own benefit. The Batuid Wing was both separate and intertwined with the Ordaid Wing. The Batuids (who Golden Horde aligned himself with) kept out of internal politics of the Ordaids, and never appointed a Khan for the Ordaids. However, as mentioned before, both wings came together to make joint political and military decisions. 

Whereas his father failed to maintain a harmonious - let alone good relationship with most of his sons (I mean can we really say he had a "good" relationship with Ilkhanate..."), Golden Horde found a perfect balance. He was not even half his father's age and he's already overtaken him in these aspects, which did not help with his superiority complex.

Mongolia did not appreciate Golden Horde's frosty attitude with him and found negotiating with the Ordaid Wing personification awkward. The Ordaid Wing personification emerged after the fallout of the Golden Horde and the rest of the empire and so he was unfamiliar with him personally and was unsure how to deal with him, unlike Golden Horde who he knew better because he was "born" to him. Even if the Ordaid Wing was a member of Mongolia's family, Mongolia did not like the loss of control (?) with the fact that he did not raise him personally (if you can call what Mongolia did raising) and so felt like the relationship between them was artificial.  His (usually) diplomatic nature and friendly tone just reeked fake to him (even if the Ordaid Wing was being genuine at times) and if not fake then it creeped him out but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. 

What Mongolia did not further appreciate was the Golden Horde seemingly wanting to be frosty with him but at the same time, as he would put it, meddle with his affairs. Ogedei Khan during his reign allowed the Jochids certain rights in the Middle East such as "the right to nominate the governors from their own retainers, the right to receive first tribute from the client Kings, and the right to a fifth share of all war booty" (Christopher P. Attwood Encyclopedia of the Mongol Empire). However once Guyuk Khan came into power, this changed. 

Not only did the Jochids lose their rights in the Middle East, earlier on, Guyuk publicly ridiculed Batu by laughing about his apparent lack of skill on the battlefield/reputation as a coward. Batu later got revenge when he skilfully planned the ascension of Mongke Khan to the throne as Great Khan - a Toluid, rather than continuing on with the House of Ogedei. This was due to the fact that "Batu invoked his authority of Senior Prince of Chinggis Khan's descendant.  He had decided to replace the house of Ogedei... the House of Tolui would rule the Empire" (Diane Wolff, Batu Khan of the Golden Horde).

The Ordaid Wing was very much in tune with what the Batuid Wing (Golden Horde) wanted. The amount of time that they remained in a mostly harmonious relationship with each other is quite impressive considering what usually happens when different divisions are created within empires. Golden Horde (Batuid Wing) inspired leadership and trust with the Ordaid/Left Wing and both were perfectly separate and intertwined at the same time.

The Ordaid Left Wing personification was a (usually) calm and sometimes overly friendly individual who was fiercely loyal to the Batuid Ring Wing (Golden Horde/Ulus of Jochi) and acknowledged/accepted his supremacy over him/the whole Horde and the fact that he was the rightful spearhead of the Horde with no hesitation, however both Horde's were in many respects independent from one another too. This reflects the relationship between the brothers Batu and Orda. 

I talked about how the Left/Eastern Wing became more independent from the Right/Western Wing during the reign of Qonichi and the various justifications I have for making him materialise around this period. But what happened after Qonichi died? What happened to the Horde in the 14th century onwards?

Once Qonichi died in 1302, all hell broke loose in the Eastern Wing. Civil wars broke out and it was split into different parts. Some of the contenders for the title of the Khan of the Left Wing was Bayan (Qonichi's eldest son and heir), Makuday (Qonichi's fourth and youngest son), Kubluk (Timur-Baka's son from a different branch of Ordaids, and Kushtay, who was the son of Kubluk. Rash al-Din's words indicated that Bayan was the true heir of the Left Wing, and he said that Bayan "was responsible for the bigger part of Orda's ulus). 

However this meant another contender, Kubluk, was also ruling a part of the Left Wing/Orda's ulus, albeit a smaller section. However this smaller section included the military, which itself broke away from Bayan. In addition, Kubluk was receiving support from Kaidu and Duwa, so despite the amount of fighting that Bayan participated in against them, he eventually stood defeated and had to flee to the Left Wing/Western Wing of the Horde to Toqta -- where the Batuids ruled. 

The reason why Qaidu sponsored the rebels that went against Bayan is because Qonichi himself went against Qaidu to establish friendly relations with the Yuan and Ilkhanate, so Qaidu wanted to get back at him for doing so by supporting the rebels that wanted to go against his son and rightful heir. Before 1284 when Qonichi came to rule, "Orda's successors followed the policy set by the rulers of the Golden Horde as a whole, supporting first Ariq-Boke and then Qaidu against Khublai Khan."

Bayan did attempt to seek help from Temur Khan of the Yuan (Mongolia) to defeat Kaidu and the Chagatai Khanate. However nothing came of it due to the distance between them (and in hetalia terms I'd mean that figuratively too. Remember, I said that Mongolia did not warm up to the Eastern Wing personification and was wary of dealing with him because he was not born to him like Golden Horde was, despite the fact that politics wise their relationship was fairly friendly).

It was during this period that the Right Wing of the Horde almost re-established its supremacy over the Left Wing, and the Left Wing was reminded of its dependance on the Right Wing. The Right Wing eventually helped Bayan in consolidating his rule over the Ordaid Wing, Toqta of the Batuid wing sent an army to aid Bayan in his struggle for power, "Toqta (of the Right Wing) came to his aid with a myriad bloodthirsty army and prevailed. Mumkiya fled, and his father's place was confirmed for Bayan." (Abu'l Qasim al-Kashani).

So what were the dynamics between Golden Horde and the Eastern Wing during all of this? Golden Horde certainly was not impressed by the rapid fallout of the Eastern Horde once Qonichi died, and he was definitely not happy with the fact that the recognition of his supremacy over the Eastern Horde seemed to be waning due to these internal conflicts, and that the Eastern Horde was being ruled by now someone who he considered not the rightful heir. Further, he was enraged that the Eastern Horde's inability to control itself lead to Kaidu(de facto leader of the Chagatai Khanate)/Duwa(Khan of the Chagatai Khanate)/Chagatai Khanate into meddling with internal Jochid affairs, as Kaidu was sending aid to Kubluk in order to use his help in order to fight against the Ilkhanate. As I've talked about before, Golden Horde has had a deep hatred of Chagatai Khanate since they were young. Toqta of the Golden Horde was enraged at the situation himself, and warned Kaidu to not give help to Kubluk/the rebels. In short, Golden Horde was angry. 

Qonichi, as mentioned previously, went against the previously established agreement that included the Western Horde to ally with Kaidu against Khublai/the Yuan/Mongolia. In fact, ultimately both Tode Mongke (of the Golden Horde) and Qonichi made peace with the Yuan in the 1280s and returned Numugan, Khublai's heir, from captivity.  When Qonichi died and Kaidu sponsored his heirs (Bayan) rebels, Chagatai Khanate thought that it was justified as Qonichi went against their previous alliance that was established in 1269 by Mengu-Temur (of the Golden Horde) in order to be friendly with the Ilkhanate and Yuan.

Once the Golden Horde aided Bayan in securing his rightful reign as the Khan of the Eastern Horde in the early 14th century, the Eastern Horde forever acknowledged his dependence on the Golden Horde. 

"The most likely explanation for the less of their (Left Wing) autonomy is that the descendants of Bayan, faced with continuing internal and external threats to their power, were forced to turn to Oz Beg (Right Wing) for help and protection and the payment, which was demanded by their patron for support, was the unprecedented subordination Left hand princes to the Right hand princes."

After this debacle, Golden Horde and the Eastern Horde became ever closer. Eastern Horde was already fiercely loyal to Golden Horde but this took it to a new level. Natanzi recorded that Bayan's heir, Sasi-Buka "followed the path of obedience and submission... and in all that time he never took a step off the path of service to Tugrul Khan (of the Nogay Horde) and Oz Beg Khan (Golden Horde) and never contradicted or refused Quriltai".

Now let's talk about the era of political turbulence during the 1360's. The seed of this discord was planted with the assassintation of Tini Beg of the Golden Horde. Tini Beg came into power once Ozbeg Khan died in 1341, however this did not last long. Before he ascended to becoming Khan though, his younger brother, Jani Beg, served as regent. Prior to ascending to Khan of the Western Horde, he was the governor of the Eastern Horde. His mother, Taydula, ordered for him to be killed once she heard news of him returning to court in 1342 out of fear of Jani Beg's life. Jani Beg subsequently ascended as Khan of the Golden Horde. 

It was with Jani Beg's own assassination in 1357 though, which eventually opened up the Horde to a period of political turbulence (called "the great troubles") His son Berdi Beg succeeded him. Berdi Beg took it upon himself to kill many of his closest kinsmen, and by doing so he (most likely) ended the Batuid lineage upon his own death,he himself being killed by his own brother, Qulpa, in 1359. 

Seeing all of this commotion in the West, princes of the Eastern Horde took this as an opportunity to seize power, "first in Saray (Capital of the Golden Horde) and then in Bulghar" (encyclopedia of the Mongol Empire, Christopher P. Attwood). Mamai, of the Western Wing, became a defacto ruler/kingmaker. He could never be Khan himself because he was not of Chinggisid descent. A lot happened during the great troubles, and the black death did not help because it hit both Hordes pretty hard. Further, the disintegration of the Ilkhanate and Yuan dynasty was to their detriment. Which is funny when you consider that "the demise of the Ilkhanids was supposed to be the Horde's crowning victory - the realisation of its moral right to vengeance and an opportunity to solidify the supremacy of the Northern Road." However with the Ilkhanids gone, this meant that the Jochids now had to deal with "smaller, unreliable neighbours" who weren't the "strong challenger[s] who played by the rules" from before (The Horde, Marie Favereau).

It was ultimately Toqtamysh, who was originally from the Eastern Horde, who consolidated the Horde into one polarity . Toqtamysh, however, was not of Batuid or Ordaid descent. He was not the first to become Khan who was not from either of these lineages though. The first was Qara-Nogay (also of the Eastern Horde), whose lineage was traced back to Toqa-Temur, Jochi's youngest son. This happened during the time after Berdi Beg of the Western Horde died and the Western Horde cycled through a huge number of "rulers". The Eastern Horde quickly chose Qara-Nogay after their Ordaid Khan died. Urus Khan, his cousin, took his place, and was particularly bloodthirsty. He murdered a chieftan by the name of Toy Khoja, who was also a contender for the position of Khan. 

Then comes Toqtamysh, who was Toy Khoja's son. He wanted revenge and so he sought it out with the help of Tamerlane/Timur of the Timurid Empire. In around 1378, he declared ultimate victory over Urus, and declared himself the Khan of the Jochi Ulus. Urus was later killed when he sought refuge in Caffa in 1380/81, when he was killed by the Genoese so they could prove their loyalty to Toqtamysh. The "last powerful" defenders of the "right hand leadership" were destroyed, Toqtamysh of the Left Hand Wing, a Jochid but not of Batuid or Ordaid descent, brought the Horde into one entity (Encyclopedia of the Mongol Empire, Christopher P Attwood)

During the great troubles, Golden Horde was severely weakened, both politically and physically. It was not a good time period for him. He relied on Mamai to be his Kingmaker, however as mentioned before, the Golden Horde cycled through rulers quickly. He felt somewhat humiliated that the Eastern Wing seemed to be far more stable than he was during this time seeing as he was the dominant party in their relationship. Whereas before, Golden Horde helped the Eastern Wing during a tumultuous period of his own during the rebellions against Bayan Khan, which ultimately led to the Eastern Wing depending on the Western Wing thereon after, the Eastern Wing was now the stable one who was "helping" Golden Horde become more stable, albeit at the cost of the destruction of the last defenders of the right hand leadership.

This meant that now there is only one personification for the Horde. Not only were both Hordes now under single supreme leadership under Toqtamysh, but the Horde underwent a change in leadership altogether. As Marie Favereau puts it, "The consolidation of power under Toqtamish was a creative response to the collapse of the Ordaids and Batuids." Once the Ordaids and Batuids died out, there were only two Jochi lineages left that were worthy of taking the throne, the Toqa-Temurs (Who Toqtamysh descended from) and Shaybanids. I do have a seperate OC for the Shaybanids/Grey Horde but I need to probably write another post for her lol. The Toqa-Temur line emerged as the favoured contender, as Toqa Temur was Jochi's youngest son. In Mongol culture, the youngest son was the "otchigen", meaning "keeper of the hearth", so those who were of the Toqa Temur lineage were seen as the protectors of the Jochi ulus.

So what do I think happened to the two personifications of the Horde once Toqtamysh consolidated it? The great troubles is seen as a East vs West wing thing, and while that's not entirely false, Toqtamysh did gain the loyalty from some Western begs during his rise to power, as they were not all loyal to Mamai. This might sound crazy or convoluted but I think some sort of fusion happened between the two of them? As pointed out before, Toqtamysh was a creative response to the collapse of the Ordaids and Batuids so I guess I wanted to be uh. Creative with this too. It wasn't just the Golden Horde/Western Wing who's ruling family died out, but also the Eastern Wing. Though the new ruling family (Toqa-Temurs) continued to be Jochid and had comfortable reasons to be the ruling family, this was still a major change as both the Eastern and Western wings identities were also built upon the Batuid/Ordaid lineage and the dynamic between them were shaped by the relationship between these two lineages, with the Batuids (Golden Horde) reigning supreme.

 

I don't want to get too philosophical about mind/body/consciousness arguments because this is hetalia and it's good to keep some things ~mysterious~  but yeah it's my headcanon that these changes and the consolidating of the the hordes into one polarity under Toqtamysh meant that a singular Golden Horde personification now emerged who came from the fusion of the two previous hordes, not born as a child (and I do not see this new Golden Horde as being some sort of child between the Eastern and Western Wing) but emerged as an adult. The previous two hordes did not die upon this fusion but lived on through this fusion (who I will refer to as Golden Horde for the rest of this post).

I think this fusion named itself "Altan", which means "Golden." There are many theories on why the Golden Horde was named the Golden Horde, like the fact that the Khans had golden tents or that it arose from bad translations. But I think it would be fun if it also stemmed from the fact that the Horde chose a personal name for itself that meant golden. 

In fact I believe that the original Golden horde, who accompanied the Batuid lineage in the West, changed his personal name at some point to be "Altan" to distance himself from his old name that was associated with his past/family. This is because the first known use of "Golden Horde" was in the Russian chronicle "History of Kazan" written in 1565. Then in the 19th century, the term "Golden Horde" was "assigned to designate the Jochi Ulus as a whole or (depending on the context) its Western part with its capital in Sarai" (The term Golden Horde is a mistake of the interpreter of the 16th century, Neil Maxinya). 

This is more of a fun headcanon, but seeing that Russian chroniclers began to use the term "Golden Horde" to mean the Horde as a whole or just the Batuid Wing, I think that the OG Golden Horde renamed himself "Altan", and then the fusion of the Eastern and Western Wing also named itself "Altan". This was all recorded by Russian chroniclers so uh perhaps Russia remembered the personal name the OG Golden Horde and the Golden Horde (fusion) gave to themselves, hence this is the reason why "Golden Horde" refers to either the Jochi Ulus as a whole and often just the Batuid Wing (that conquered Eastern Europe) but never the Ordaid Wing. 

Ultimately though, the Horde would fall again. Golden Horde with his newfound vitality (I mean he went and sacked Moscow in 1382 lol) got a bit too cocky and attacked the person who helped him come into existence (Timurid Empire, Timur). In 1385 the Golden Horde sought out an alliance with the Mamluks to go against his former ally, the Timurids. Toqtamysh wanted to revive the old alliance between the Horde and the Mamluks, as they came together before to go against the Ilkhanids. This is because "Tamerlane, Toqtamish's erstwhile partner, was on the Horde's caucasian doorstep, having launched military operations into Azerbaijan" (The Horde, Marie Favereau). A decade-ish conflict between the Golden Horde and the Timurids erupted with different players at hand, including Edigu of the Manghit clan. 

Contrary to popular belief it was not Tamerlane himself who destroyed the Golden Horde and the reason why Toqtamysh lost was primarily because he could not maintain the loyalty of the nomadic elite. Toqtamysh did not take the Golden Horde with him when he lost - it lived on for a while, however the political landscape became quite different. It was Edigu of the Nogays/Maghit who emerged victorious and he ruled, despite being a non-Chinggisid. It was his legacy along with the previous Hordes legacy that those in the future traced themselves back to, which in turn made them carry on Jochid tradition even after his death. He had a very influential political career, though he "only maintained something of the Horde's unity until 1411, but by 1425 independent regimes were ensconced throughout the Golden Horde territory" (Encyclopedia of the Mongol Empire, Christopher P Attwood) . 

It also formed part of the key link between the Golden Horde and the states that came from it, such as the Kazakh Khanate Uzbek Khanate, Karakalpaks, etc. which have backgrounds descending from Golden Horde (The Eastern Wing) and Manghit confederations, and this is confirmed in common clan names and folklore.

The Great Horde rump state was created after the death of Edigu which was based around the old Golden Horde capital of Sarai, and various different Khanates broke off from this state. This tiny state could have been the very last stand of the Golden Horde.

Eventually the Golden Horde became no more and lived to around 1502/3 at the very latest, as the Crimean Khanate finally destroyed what was left of the "Great Horde" state at this time. 

Closing thoughts

Anyways I spent way too much time on this and wrote way too much. There are some things that can be chalked up to the “mysterious nature of nation personifications” hence why I didn't want to mindfuck myself or anyone who reads this into trying to explain the intricacies of the “fusion” that made the new singular Golden Horde personification and I think nations can go through similar situations that the Western and Eastern wing did with no fusion involved and a different outcome for the personifications involved. Again it's all mysterious I guess and I want to keep some of the mysticism behind the nature of nation personification beings. Sorry for any spelling errors.

Anyways happy horde-posting 🐴

[orthodoxydaily]

Icon, Saints&Reading: Monday, August 5, 2024

july _august 5

ICON: POCHAEV OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

The miraculous Pochaev (Ukr. Pochaiv) Icon of the Mother of God is one of the most renowned relics in the Christian world. It holds a special place of veneration in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, as well as in Eastern Poland, Slovakia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

This sacred icon is commemorated on 5 August (23 July Old Style), 24 April (11 April Old Style), 21 September (8 September Old Style), and on the Friday of Holy Week.

For over four centuries, the Pochaev Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been enshrined at the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra, situated in the western region of modern Ukraine. Pochaev is a small town in the Ternopol region, located 22 kilometres southeast of Kremenets and 67 kilometres north of Ternopol.

Monastic life on Pochaev Mountain traces its roots back to the 13th and 14th centuries. At that time, these lands were part of the principality of Galicia-Volhynia, one of the appanage principalities of ancient Rus’.

While historical records first mention the Monastery in 1527, monastic activities on Pochaev Mountain began around 1240, according to some sources, or 1340, according to others.

According to tradition, monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, fleeing the Mongol-Tatar invasion led by Khan Batyi between 1237-1240, sought refuge in the Volyn lands. They settled in the rocky caves of an uninhabited hill covered in impenetrable forests, which would later become known as Pochaev Mountain.

Another version suggests that an hermitage was founded on Pochaev Mountain by the Athonite monk Methodius in 1228, predating the Tatar invasion.

One day, an extraordinary event occurred atop Pochaev Mountain. The Most Holy Theotokos Herself appeared to one of the two monks who were leading an ascetic life in the caves. She stood on a rock, enveloped in a pillar of flame, reminiscent of the Old Testament burning bush. Overwhelmed by this divine sight, the hermit called his companion to witness this miraculous event.

A local resident named Ivan Bosoy (Barefooted), who was tending to his sheep nearby, also witnessed this divine apparition. He saw the Most Holy Mother of God in a pillar of fire on a rock, alongside a monk in prayer. The shepherd hurried to the monks and inquired about the vision. They explained that the Mother of God had appeared at this sacred spot, and where Her right foot had touched, a spring of water had miraculously welled up.

This holy spring, stemming from the pure feet of the Holy Mother of God, flowed ceaselessly, never running dry regardless of how much water was drawn from it. In time, the Church of the Assumption was constructed at this hallowed site, giving birth to a thriving monastic community.

The miracle-working Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God made its appearance in Pochaev Monastery during the mid-16th century. This sacred icon was gifted to Anna Hojska, a local landowner, by the Greek Metropolitan Neophytos. Metropolitan Neophytos, who later became the Patriarch of Constantinople, was passing through the Volyn lands at the time. While there is indirect evidence suggesting the Metropolitan had Slavic origins, possibly Serbian or Bulgarian, his precise lineage remains uncertain.

Anna Tikhonovna Erofeyeva Hojska hailed from the esteemed Russian noble family of Kozinski. Metropolitan Neophytos, during his journey to Moscow to seek material assistance from the Russian sovereign (or on his return journey, according to some sources), paused at Anna's estate near Pochaev. In gratitude for her hospitality, he bestowed upon the devout widow a small image of the Mother of God, also known as "Eleusa" or "Tenderness" (from the Greek "Ελεούσα," meaning merciful or gracious).

For a period, this sacred relic remained within Anna's house chapel. During this time, those who prayed before the icon began to notice an extraordinary radiance emanating from it. In 1597, a miraculous event occurred: Anna's brother, Philip Kozinski, who had been blind (or, according to other sources, lame), was miraculously healed after praying before the icon. Overwhelmed by the sanctity of this image, Anna felt it improper to retain it solely for herself and decided to entrust it to the monks of the Pochaev Monastery.

It's noteworthy that this miracle transpired a year following the Brest Church Union of 1596. This union was an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, with grave consequences. The Pochaev Monastery's brethren firmly adhered to Orthodoxy and did not accept the Union...Continue reading St Elizabeth Convent

PROPHETESS HANNAH, MOTHER OF THE PROPHET SAMUEL.

The Holy Prophetess Hannah dwelt in marriage with Elkanah, but she was childless. Elkanah took to himself another wife, Phennena, who bore him children. Hannah grieved strongly over her misfortune, and every day she prayed for an end to her barrenness, and vowed to dedicate her child to God.

Once, as she prayed fervently in the Temple, the priest Heli thought that she was drunk, and he began to reproach her. But the saint poured out her grief, and after she received a blessing, she returned home. After this Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel (which means “Asked from God”).

When the child reached the age of boyhood, the mother herself presented him to the priest Heli, and Samuel remained with him to serve before the Tabernacle (1 Kings/1 Samuel 2: 1-21).

1 CORINTHIANS 5:9-6:11

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner-not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! 7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

MATTHEW 13:54-58

54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things? 57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

[athenov]

Hi!!! I'm fairly new here so I'm not sure if this has been discussed but I'd love to see your take on the relationship between BulRo during Bul's empires. Do you have headcanons for it?

anon I'm SO SORRY for this being late, life's been crazy lately

I do, I do! I haven't discussed it before though. But here is a short list, trying to potentially stave off spoilers for Rose-Hearted.

Please take in consideration that I am not a historian and my headcannons should be taken as what they are: Mere headcannons, not actual commentary on medieval history and entity dynamics.

[Also bear in mind that in my verse Romania is a woman. It's my nationverse and I get to pick my women]

● In the First Bulgarian Empire, Dimitar didn't interact a lot with Antonia [Romania]. Romanians weren't mentioned a lot in the First Empire, and there's little information available on the inter-relations of Bulgarians and Romanians. I imagine that Antonia, unhappy with her situation, would draw herself away and do her own things.

•I think that Dimitar would try to approach her though! Get to know her a bit better. He'd often bring her little gifts that he made himself — flowers from his garden, woodcarvings of small animals (My headcannon is that Dimitar enjoys wood-carving) she likes. Antonia is always polite with him, but isn't exactly sure if she trusts Dimitar fully.

•As Dimitar becomes stronger and more confident in his abilities, he also becomes more confident in communicating with others and isn't as shy or timid with Antonia. He has accepted that Antonia has her doubts of him, but he'd try to befriend her regardless.

•Unintentionally, he rubs off on her and she grows more confident as time passes. She discovers her own passions and hobbies — she develops an interest in the occult, magic and folklore, which leads her into hours of research.

•Dimitar bonds with Antonia over a shared interest in folklore; he tells her stories of the Bulgars and Slavs, and she records them. Antonia, in return, tells stories of her mother, Dacia's accomplishments and adventures, as well as Roman mythology.

•In the end, during the First Empire they don't exactly interact a lot, but when they do, they're amicable. Antonia bonds with Dimitar overtime, but still keeps a fair amount of distance.

•When the First Bulgarian Empire was conquered by the Byzantine Empire and turned into a Theme (essentially a province), Dimitar, as the representative, was captured and taken to the Byzantine court. Antonia, having fallen under the Byzantine sphere of influence, stayed behind, but had to stay subservient to the Empire, as many other nations. During that time, she continued her research on folklore while also sending letters to Dimitar, detailing her daily life and expressing disdain for "that arrogant man-child with the purple cloak".

>It was also at that time where Antonia and Miroslav (Serbia) actually befriended each other, due to being at similar situations.

•Like I said, she'd send Dimitar letters. LOTS of them. She'd also include drawings she made, of various things: Mostly scenery, but also portraits. She found herself missing Dimitar.

•The Second Bulgarian Empire was marked by more interactions between Bulgarians and Romanians (known as Wallachians or Vlachs then). Indeed, the revolution against the Byzantine Empire that resulted in the creation of the SBE was started by three Romanians (Asan, Kaloyan and Peter).

•After Dimitar returned from captivity, he and Antonia grew closer. Antonia became more assertive when it involved political matters and she often advised Dimitar. The SBE soon became the dominant entity in the Balkans, defeating the Romans multiple times.

•It was then that Antonia realized she had feelings for Dimitar, but soon pushed them away in order to focus on her own life. Mainly, getting her own state and no longer relying on anyone else for her people's existence and well-being.

•The Mongol Invasions ended Cuman influence and weakened Hungary, which gave Antonia an opportunity to call for unification and the creation of an independent state. Even when she left Dimitar's side, she never stopped sending him letters offering advice and generally talking.

•Dimitar kept all her letters. Even through Ottoman times, when he tended to his garden, he'd keep the most beautiful flowers and name them after her. Yes I headcannon him as sappy, crucify me.

[eyssant]

From the Great Wall to the Bund: Top Destinations in China

China's history is a tapestry of rich, diverse, and complex events that have shaped not only the country itself but also the world. With a recorded history spanning over 3,000 years, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. The early Chinese civilization emerged in the Yellow River Valley, known as the cradle of Chinese civilization.

The Xia Dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BCE) is often considered the first Chinese dynasty, though its existence is sometimes debated due to the lack of written records. The Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) followed, leaving behind the earliest known Chinese writing system and significant advancements in bronze work. The Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, which justified the rule of the emperor as divinely sanctioned.

China's imperial history is marked by the rise and fall of dynasties. The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) unified China for the first time under Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who also began the construction of the Great Wall. The Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) saw the expansion of the Silk Road and significant cultural and technological advancements. Subsequent dynasties, such as the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279), were periods of cultural flourishing and economic prosperity.

The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), established by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, marked a period of foreign rule. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) restored Han Chinese rule and is famous for its naval expeditions and the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), established by the Manchus, was the last imperial dynasty of China.

The 20th century brought dramatic changes with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, and the subsequent Chinese Civil War. The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 under the leadership of the Communist Party, with Mao Zedong as its first leader. Since then, China has undergone rapid economic development and transformation, emerging as a major global power.

Places to Explore

The Great Wall of China: One of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Great Wall of China stretches over 13,000 miles across northern China. Originally built to protect against invasions, the Wall is a testament to China's engineering prowess and historical determination. Popular sections to visit include Badaling, Mutianyu, and Jinshanling.

The Forbidden City: Located in the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City served as the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This sprawling complex of palaces, halls, and gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and offers a glimpse into the opulent lives of China's emperors.

Terracotta Army: Discovered in 1974 near Xi'an, the Terracotta Army is a collection of thousands of life-sized clay soldiers buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. Each figure is unique, and the site is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: Famed for its towering sandstone pillars, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan Province inspired the floating mountains in the movie "Avatar." The park offers breathtaking landscapes, glass-bottomed bridges, and the world's longest and highest glass bridge.

Li River and Yangshuo: The Li River in Guangxi Province is renowned for its picturesque karst landscape. A cruise down the river from Guilin to Yangshuo offers stunning views of limestone peaks, bamboo groves, and traditional fishing villages. Yangshuo, with its laid-back atmosphere and outdoor activities, is a popular destination for travelers.

The Bund in Shanghai: Shanghai's Bund is a waterfront promenade along the Huangpu River, offering a striking contrast between the colonial-era buildings and the futuristic skyline of Pudong across the river. The Bund is a symbol of Shanghai's historical and modern transformation.

Potala Palace: Perched atop Marpo Ri hill in Lhasa, Tibet, the Potala Palace is a stunning example of Tibetan architecture and a spiritual center for Tibetan Buddhism. Once the residence of the Dalai Lama, the palace is now a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Best Time to Visit

China's vast size and diverse climate mean that the best time to visit varies by region. However, generally speaking, spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October) are the most favorable times to explore the country.

Spring (April to June): Spring is an excellent time to visit most parts of China. The weather is mild, flowers are in bloom, and outdoor activities are enjoyable. This season is ideal for visiting the Great Wall, exploring ancient cities, and experiencing China's vibrant festivals, such as the Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) and the Dragon Boat Festival.

Autumn (September to October): Autumn is another great time to visit, with pleasant temperatures and clear skies. The fall foliage in places like Beijing, Xi'an, and Hangzhou is spectacular. Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated with mooncakes and lanterns, is a cultural highlight during this season.

Summer (July to August): Summer can be hot and humid, especially in southern China. However, it's a good time to visit the cooler mountainous regions, such as Zhangjiajie and Tibet. Coastal cities like Qingdao and Xiamen offer beach activities and seaside attractions.

Winter (December to February): Winter is cold in northern China but offers unique experiences, such as the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, where intricate ice sculptures and snow activities attract visitors from around the world. Southern China remains milder and is suitable for exploring cities like Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Conclusion

China's vast landscapes, rich history, and diverse culture make it a fascinating destination for travelers. From ancient wonders like the Great Wall and Terracotta Army to the modern marvels of Shanghai and Beijing, China offers a blend of the old and the new. Whether you explore its historical sites, natural beauty, or vibrant cities, China promises an unforgettable journey through time and space. Plan your visit during the optimal seasons of spring and autumn to fully experience the charm and along with this check holidays in China prior to travel to improve your overall experience.

[thewapolls]

While I'm poking around old secret bosses... Angolmois[アンゴルモア] is one of those weird things with a lot of popculture presence, particularly in Japan for some reason... (it gets referenced A LOT in anime and videogames and such.) It refers to an old prophetic quatrain by everyone's favorite famous 1500s French astrologer/physician/apothecary/occultist crackpot, Nostradamus;

L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois, Du ciel viendra vn grand Roy d'effrayeur: Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois, Auant apres Mars regner par bon-heur.

which people have taken to read as something like,

The year 1999, seventh month, From the sky will come a great King of Terror: To bring back to life the great King of Angolmois, Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.

over the years, although plenty of ridiculous people have tried to squeeze meaning from it in obtuse ways, not limited to trying to assume typos or pronunciation errors or irregularities. But a popular one has been to interpret the "King of Terror" "from the sky" as being some kind of comet or meteorite. I believe Wild Arms does the same, hence the distinctive porous, meteor-like textures of the abdomen in its designs.

Oh and the neuf sept mois:"Seventh Month" bit is where the boss monster gets its signature "7th Moon" attack.

there isn't like a historical or canonical image associated with that prophecy so I dunno what else to put here. Have some weird animu horseshit i guess:

Angol Fear from Soul Calibur IV

Angol Mois from the anime Keroro Gunso/Sgt.Frog (the mangaka Yoshizaki Mine was actually the guest designer behind Angol Fear in SC4)

Angolmois: Record of the Mongol Invasion of Japan, ongoing manga series by Takagi Nanahiko, which also got an anime back in 2018

Saejima Mamimi invoking the "Lord of Fear" in ep 4 of FLCL, what she thinks is a meteor is a satellite shaped like a catcher's mit throwing a baseball

The card, "Absolutely Invincible Great King of Terror," Nostradamus from Cardfight Vanguard

Chapter 112 (which is in vol14) of Chainsawman directly references the Nostradamus July 1999 prophecy as part of the ongoing plot

[all-devouring-history-hub]

Black Death: The Plague That Nearly Killed Europe.

Welcome, My to be amazing readers, to the first-ever history post on this blog. Apologies for the long wait, I had a lot of things on my shoulders, But now I'm here.

As I said, This is the first of many history essays that I will be doing on the weekends. Any topic of history, except anything current as I don't have much info about it to get that in-depth, will be discussed

I will break it down and uncover each piece into each section to function properly.

You might have thought I was going to start this off with WW2 or something, and while I would definitely like to analyze Parts of ww2, I figured we start this with a more historical approach, going back in time with the Middle Ages.

Today, People see Covid -19 as a thing that should not exist. I mean, they aren't wrong. Others see this as it is going to wipe out humanity.

So many people are concerned about covid and think it's the worst disease out there when in reality we faced something worse than that.

The black death was a disease that almost wiped out European civilization, as well as fundamentally changed European society. But what was the black death? How did it start? How did it spread to all of Europe?

Well, That's what I want to explore with this analysis. Buckle in folks, this is going to be a long one.

Where It All Started.

Now there have been a lot of questions as to how the black death started in the first place and how it spread to the extent that it did., More importantly, where did it come from?

Some sources say that it came from Asia from countries Like China or Kyrgyzstan, or even the Slik road during the Mongol invasions. Others say It came from the Middle East. We may never know where it originated.

Now while these sources have been helpful in getting info, I wouldn't call them correct in any way. Some say That the bubonic plague( the real name for the black death) Didn't have records in China until the 1640s. Yet they are still adamant about China as a source.

China's Role in the plague is still being disputed to this day. I don't believe they did it because there aren't any records that It directly came from China, What I am certain is who is the culprit who started this.

The Culprit of the Plague.

This is Xenopsylla cheopis, Or As it is commonly known as the Oriental rat flea. This isn't your typical flea, as indicated by the name alone. It spreads through rats.

This Flea is able to live on any kind of warm-blooded mammal and is able to transmit diseases such as Rickettsia typhi, Murine typhus, Or the main disease responsible for the plague, Yersinia pestis 

Yersinia pestis was without a doubt the main disease that caused the plague in the first place. And It very much still exists today. Yersinia pestis was able to be transmitted into fleas.

Basically, the bacteria build up in the gut of the flea to the absolute extent that it can barely swallow, instead, it is only able to draw the host's blood into its esophagus or food pipe, which is the part of the body that runs from its throat to its stomach.

From there the blood mingles with live plague bacteria. unable to swallow because it is full of plague, the flea regurgitates the blood and bacteria into the bloodstream of the host. In other words, It pukes.

So In short, Flea vomit was the cause of the epidemic. I'm sorry If I gave you all nightmares through this description but best to say something than to not say anything at all.

From there the flea is able to be hosted inside rats, Like this one for example.

This is Rattus Rattus Or the black rat. It was a common sight in Europe at the time, especially aboard the ships sailing across the sea. this made it a perfect host for the rat flea to get itself on there and to transmit the disease.

The Spread.

In 1347, Genoese traders were coming from the port city of Kaffa in the Crimea. During a siege of the city by the Mongols under Jani Beg, who was leading the golden horde army. Deciding to end the siege due to his troops suffering from the disease, Jani decided to catapult dead and infected bodies into the city walls.

Although it's more likely the rats were the ones who spread this, this terrified the traders to flee and sail to Constantinople in the summer of 1347. And this is where the disease begins to spread.

The plague killed the 13-year-old son of the Byzantine emperor, John VI Kantakouzenos. The outbreak lasted a year but would recur ten times before 1400.

In October of the same year, Genoese galleys arrived on the island of Sicily, which then the disease proceeded to spread rapidly across the island. By January of 1348, It had spread to the entirety of Italy including Venice and Genoa.

It soon made its way to France, Spain, Portugal, and England By June 1348. It made its way to northern Germany, Scotland, and Scandinavia from 1348 to 1350. Norway got it by 1349. Finally, Russia got it in 1351.

It wasn't just Europe as well, The middle east and North Africa got it as well. Egypt got it in 1347 as a result of slaves. Cario got infected in the late summer of 1348. The Nile River was full of corpses as the sickness spread.

By that year, The cities of what is today Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Palestine were infected. In the span of two years, the plague had spread throughout the Arab world.

Pretty big Huh?

Now as the plague was spreading in Europe, What are the symptoms of this plague that made it so deadly? Now if you guys know how plagues work then I'm not going to give you a full recap, but for those that don't, here is a list of the symptoms.

•Fever of 38-41 °C (100–106 °F)

• Headaches.

• Painful aching joints.

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Malese

• Buboes, which ooze pus and stuff.

And those are just the more notable ones. Other symptoms included blood vomiting, gangrene ( which causes the skin to rot) Purple skin patches, And many more symptoms. Of those that were left untreated, 80% died within eight days.

Yes, You read correctly, 80% of those that get the plague, if left untreated, Die within eight days. 80% Not 8%, 80%. Which means more people die as a result of this. Since this was the middle ages and nobody had a clue what proper hygiene was, you are more likely to die from that.

Because of this, The plague was such a nightmare for Europe and the Europeans did some, Well crazy things.

Society In the black death.

When the black death spread throughout the continent, Life just collapsed for the Europeans. People were dying on the streets in horrendous conditions. Carts and wagons were filled with corpses being taken to the graves.

The hysteria got so bad that people thought this was the end times for Europe. Old noble families were being wiped out, The feudal system that lasted hundreds of years was falling apart, and society in many ways was just collapsing on itself.

This was made incredibly worse by the uselessness of the doctors at the time. they believed that the plague circulated in the air. Thus their solution was to order patients to close their doors and avoid bathing, which probably didn't help the situation either.

Mass graves were being built in cities like London because the graveyards were too full of corpses. The rats were pretty much thriving in this entire chaotic mess because of their numbers.

The only animal available to stop them, The cat, was nearly wiped out due to European medieval superstition that the cats were connected to witches, thus they were killed eliminating one of the only things that could have made things better.

Other people went incredibly unhinged. The Christians believed this was the punishment sent by god himself. In Germany, people joined the Flagellants who asked for the forgiveness of god and proceeded to Whip themselves in the back bloody with iron-tipped lashes

Eventually, the flagellants were stamped out by 1350 by the orders of the pope himself, but not before turning the blame on the Jews. In those days It actually wasn't hard to get a mob against Jews. As a result across the continent, Hundreds of Jews were being hunted down.

They did this every easter, But the plague massacres were bigger and huge than anything the Jews of Europe would experience until the holocaust. between 1348 and 1349, thousands of Jews were killed, tortured, burned, and executed by Christian Europeans.

Other people instead turned to looting and stealing, even killing in some instances. Some partied to get by.

Doctors tried their best to heal the sick and wounded by treating them. Most skilled physicians had fled, so it was up to second-rate doctors to combat this challenge. They wore costumes in all black with bird masks. Yep, those are what we modern folk would call plague doctors.

These doctors were hired by city officials to cure people of the plague. And the methods that they used to do this more than likely did more harm than good. For example, they attempted to use leeches to cure the patient. Yes, you heard me, leeches. This is not a joke, This is actually real.

While I would like to go more in-depth about plague doctors, this is already long enough as it is so let's do this.

The Aftermath

By 1351, The black Death was over. In the aftermath, thousands of people were dead. The old order was gone. Medieval society had collapsed. In its place was a new society coming in with new ideas and more ways to replace the new.

Death estimates are hard, to say the least, as many who did them did it based locally. But in Europe alone, Some 75 to 200 million people died. 80% of the population was gone. Over a third of Europe's population, Now no longer existed.

Yes, this was truly one of the darkest times for Europe.

It was clear that society had to be rebuilt from the ground up. But not in the way they expected. The Plague pretty much was the death of feudalism in Europe.

What followed is what we Modern folks consider to be capitalism or at least the beginnings of the system. For the peasants, they were no longer bound to an estate, so now they could work at whatever they pleased, they dressed better, ate better, and lived better than before.

Of course, for many, this was temporary, But for some who were lucky, This gave them numerous opportunities. The Merchant class was born. Noble family's fortunes declined as disputes over their money started. What became known as real estate laws, began over this.

Socially, things have changed as well. The nobility were no longer the only high-class people here. They now have to compete with merchants for social status. Nobles were often quite hostile and gave the newly rich contempt. Eventually, over time, They would outshine the nobles as the dominant working class.

The power of the church began to decline as well. The plague had taken its toll on the church. three archbishops were dead, seven cardinals and many, many priests were gone as well. Latin, which was once the dominant language, now was in decline.

New languages, Like English, Spanish, german, and many others flourished. Art was given more expressive freedom. The most important thing was that it gave rise to new religious ideas, eventually leading to the Protestant Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment respectively.

In 1348, Pope Clement VI lifted the ban on human dissection or studying the insides of a dead body, so that people can understand what caused the Black Death. Thus was born the age of modern medicine. Let's wrap this up, shall we?

In Conclusion

The Black Death was an event that changed Europe forever. Before the plague, The nobles were still the power that they were, as was the church. Knights still existed as a force to be reckoned and peasants were still peasants. But the plague changed all of that. It was the death of the feudal system and the medieval age.

Now in its place was a new society, with more ideas, and more change economically, The middle class was now a power. New ideas in law, art, and religion flourished in this new post-black Death world.

That doesn't mean the black death is a good thing. Not at all. Millions still died in the end. It's more than likely that had things gotten worse, It could have wiped out European society as a whole. While the middle eastern and Asian societies would have survived because they weren't affected as much ( though they would still be affected).

In short, this could have been the death of European society, Luckily it never wiped every single European out, though it came close.

Today, we have modern medical procedures to prevent epidemics of the black like this from happening again. while covid is huge, I don't believe it will reach a point like what happened in Europe during the black death, thanks to medicine being far more advanced than back then.

In the end, the black death, Or bubonic plague, Changed the history of Europe and the world. by the end of this, A old generation and order were gone, But with that came a new generation that was born from the ashes, set to give birth to the systems that make up our modern generation.

[futuristicbarbie]

kind of stupid that theres this narrative that tatars are indigenous to crimea when the first recorded history of that place dates back to ancient greece as a greek colony and the tatars didnt show up until the mongol invasions lol

[nanas-45]

The Bebek Legacy: Castles, Clans, and Conflict

The Bebek family (sometimes known as Bubek) was an influential noble family with deep roots in Hungary, particularly tied to regions in present-day Slovakia, specifically the Gemer area. Their legacy spans centuries, with castles, chapels, and a rich historical presence.

A Look Into Their History 🏰

The Bebek family first appeared in historical records in 1243. After the Mongol invasion, King Béla IV of Hungary granted lands in the upper Gemer region to two brothers, Derek and Philip. Both are considered members of the powerful Ákos clan by historians in both Slovakia and Hungary.

In 1318, the family’s descendants split their inheritance, forming two branches: Bebek de Pelsőc and Bebek de Csetnek, named after their main estates (modern-day Plešivec and Štítnik).

Plešivec soon became the family’s stronghold. Dominic Bebek decided to make his mark by constructing a castle there, along with the Gothic Church of St. George, first mentioned in 1314. Only one Bebek family member, Ladislaus Bebek, was ever buried in the church's funeral chapel, built in the early 15th century.

Castles and Conflicts ⚔️

In the 14th century, the Bebek family oversaw the construction of Krásna Hôrka Castle (Krasznahorka in Hungarian). The family held onto the castle until 1566, except for a brief period when the Máriássy family took control.

After falling out with the Emperor, their Plešivec castle was destroyed, and Krásna Hôrka was confiscated. The last Bebek, George Bebek, fled to Transylvania and died childless in 1567, marking the end of the Bebek family line.

What’s in a Name? ✍️

You’ll find both Bubek and Bebek used when referring to this noble family. Today, Slovak historians use both, but Bebek is more common in Hungarian records. Interestingly, medieval documents favored the Bubek spelling, which can even be found on family tombstones, including those of George Bebek (1390) and Ladislaus Bebek (1401).

Their Coat of Arms ⚜️

The Bebek family coat of arms is striking: a silver patriarchal cross on a red Gothic shield, topped with golden bird feathers. Different versions of the coat of arms exist, with variations in the length of the cross’s bars. This symbol, reminiscent of the ruling Árpád dynasty, reflects the Bebek family's close ties to the royal family. Their crest? A crowned girl with two fish, a figure often identified as Melusine, a legendary water spirit.