2.68 History of the Mongols: Golden Horde #9

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our previous episode took you through important transformations of the Golden Horde during the long-reign of Özbeg Khan; the islamization, and urbanization, of the khanate. Today we share the first part of our coverage of the political dimensions of Özbeg’s nearly thirty year reign, focusing on Özbeg’s interactions with the Ilkhanate and the Mamluk Sultanate, an area in which Özbeg suffered almost continual defeats.  I’m your host David, and this is Kings and Generals: Ages of Conquest.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As we covered previously, upon becoming khan of the Golden Horde in 1313, Özbeg ordered a wide purge of the Jochid princes, a two-pronged assault to both remove potential rivals and promote Islam among the elite, for those who refused to convert were punished mortally. After his first year in power Özbeg would be remarkably tolerant to other religions within his empire, but he made it abundantly clear that the religion of the Khan and the court was Islam. One of Özbeg’s earliest actions was the construction of a mosque in the Crimean city of Solkhat, or as it’s known for Turkic speakers, Eski Qırım, or Staryi Krym after the Russian annexation. [note for David: Qırım=Crimea, hard K sound]. Built in 1314, parts of the mosque are still extant, though in the sixteenth century parts of it were moved into a new building some distance away.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Özbeg was no idle khan. With the assistance of the powerful</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">bey</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">Qutlugh-Temür, Özbeg further weakened the power of the remaining Jochid princes with the establishment of the</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">qarachi beys</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">as the lead ministers of the empire, putting greater administrative power into the non-Chinggisid elite. The</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">qarachi beys</span></em> <span style= "font-weigh