Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/775

Rh MONGOLS 747 ruler of Egypt, that he sent to demand in marriage a princess of the house of Jenghiz Khan. At first his request was refused by the proud Mongols, but the present of a million gold dinars, besides a number of horses and suits of armour, changed the refusal into an acquiescence, and in October 1319 the princess landed at Alexandria in regal state. Her reception at Cairo was accompanied with feasting and rejoicing, and the members of her escort were sent back laden with presents. With that religious tolera tion common to his race, Uzbeg Khan, having married one princess to Nasir, gave another in marriage to George the prince of Moscow, whose cause he espoused in a quarrel existing between that prince and his uncle, the grand- prince Michael. Assuming the attitude of a judge in the dispute, Uzbeg Khan summoned Michael to appear before him, and, having given his decision against him, ordered his execution. The sentence was carried out with aggravated cruelty in sight of his nephew and accuser. From this time Uzbeg s sympathies turned towards Christianity. He protected the Russian churches within his frontiers, and put his seal to his new religious views by marrying a daughter of the Greek emperor, Andronicus III. He died in 1340, after a reign of twenty-eight years. His coins were struck at Sarai, Kharezm, Mokshi, Bulgar, Azak, and Krim, and are dated from 1313 to 1340. His son and suc cessor, Tinibeg Khan, after a reign of only a few months, was murdered by his brother Janibeg Khan, who usurped his throne, and, according to the historian Ibn Haidar, proved himself to be &quot;just, God-fearing, and the patron of the meritorious.&quot; These excellent qualities did not, however, prevent his making a raid into Poland, which was conducted in the usual Mongol manner, nor did they save his country men from being decimated by the black plague, which for the first time in 1345 swept over Asia and Europe, from the confines of China to Paris and London. With all their love of war the Mongols had a keen eye to monetary advantage, and Janibeg, who was no exception to the rule, concluded treaties with the merchant-princes of Venice and Genoa, in which the minute acquaintance displayed with shipping dues and customs charges shows how great were the advances the Mongols had made in their knowledge of European commerce since the days of Jenghiz Khan. The throne Janibeg had seized by violence was, in 1357, snatched from him by violence. As he lay ill on his return from a successful expedition against Persia he was murdered by his son Berdibeg, who in his turn was, after a short reign, murdered by his son Kulpa. With the death of Berdibeg the fortunes of the Golden Horde began rapidly to decline. As the Uzbeg proverb says, &quot; The hump of the camel was cut off in the person of Berdibeg.&quot; But while the power of the Golden Horde was dwin- dling away, the White Horde or Eastern Kipchak, which wag ^ e i n } ier itance of the elder branch of the family Eastern ^ Juchi, remained prosperous and full of vitality. The Kipchak. descendants of Orda, Batu s elder brother, being far re moved from the dangerous influences of European courts, maintained much of the simplicity and vigour of their nomad ancestors, and the throne descended from father to son with undiminished authority until the reign of Urus Khan (1360), when complications arose which changed the fortunes of the tribe. Like many other opponents of the Mongol rulers. Khan Tuli Khoja paid with his life for his temerity in opposing the political schemes of his connexion Urus Khan. Toktamish, the son of the murdered man, fled at the news of his father s death and sought refuge at the court of the famous Timur-i-leng (Tamerlane), who received him with honour and at once agreed to espouse his cause. With this intention he despatched a force against Urus Khan, and gained some advantage over him, but, while fitting out another army to make a fresh attack, news reached him of the death of Urus. Only at Sighnak are coins known to have been struck during the reign of Urus, and these bear date from 1372 to 1375. He was followed on the throne by his two sons, Tuk- Tok- takia and Timur Malik, each in turn ; the first reigned but tarnish, for a few weeks, and the second was killed in a battle against Toktamish, the son of his father s enemy. Tok tamish now seized the throne, not only of Eastern Kipchak but also of the Golden Horde, over which his arms had at the same time proved victorious. His demands for trib ute from the Russian princes met with evasions from men who had grown accustomed to the diminished power of the later rulers of the Golden Horde, and Toktamish therefore at once marched an army into Russia. Having captured Serpukhoff, he advanced on Moscow. On the 23d August 1382 his troops appeared before the doomed city. For some days the inhabitants bravely withstood the constant attacks on the walls, but failed in their resistance to the stratagems which were so common a phase in Mongolian warfare. With astonishing credulity they opened the gates to the Mongols, who declared themselves the enemies of the grand-prince alone, and not of the people. The usual result followed. The Russian general, who was invited to Toktamish s tent, was there slain, and at the same time the signal was given for a general slaughter. Without dis criminating age or sex, the Mongol troops butchered the wretched inhabitants without mercy, and, having made the streets desolate and the houses tenantless, they first plundered the city and then gave it over to the flames. The same pitiless fate overtook Vladimir, Zvenigorod, Yurieff, Mozhaisk, and Dimitroff. With better fortune, the inhabitants of Pereslavl and Kolomna escaped with their lives from the troops of Toktamish, but at the expense of their cities, which were burned to the ground. Satisfied with his conquests, the khan returned homewards, travers ing and plundering the principality of Riazan on his way. Flushed with success, Toktamish demanded from his patron Timur the restoration of Kharezm, which had fallen into the hands of the latter at a period when disorder reigned in the Golden Horde. Such a request was not likely to be well received by Timur, and, in answer to his positive refusal to yield the city, Toktamish marched an army of 90,000 men against Tabriz. After a siege of eight days the city was taken by assault and ruthlessly ravaged. Meanwhile Timur was collecting forces to punish his rebellious protege. When his plans were fully matured, he advanced upon Old Urgenj and captured it. More merci ful than Toktamish, he transported the inhabitants to Samarkand, but in order to mark his anger against the rebellious city he levelled it with the ground and sowed barley on the site where it had stood. On the banks of the Oxus he encountered his enemy, and after a bloody battle completely routed the Kipchaks, who fled in confu sion. A lull followed this victory, but in 1390 Timur again took the field. To each man was given &quot; a bow, with thirty arrows, a quiver, and a buckler. Tha army was mounted, and a spare horse was supplied to every two men, while a tent was furnished for every ten, and with this were two spades, a pickaxe, a sickle, a saw, an axe, an awl, a hundred needles, 8| Ib of cord, an ox s hide, and a strong pan.&quot; Thus equipped the army set forth on its march. After a considerable delay owing to an illness which over took Timur his troops arrived at Kara Saman. Here envoys arrived from Toktamish bearing presents and a message asking pardon for his past conduct ; but Timur was inexorable, and, though he treated the messengers with consideration, he paid no attention to their prayer. In face of innumerable difficulties, as well as of cold, hunger, and weariness, Timur marched forward month after month through the Kipchak country in pursuit of Toktamish. At