168 chapter four
of their state, a mostly military structure which depended for its continu-
ation on importing slaves from the Jochid lands.96
the “offence” which the Genoese had given to the khan is repeatedly
mentioned in contemporary documents, but by contrast no source men-
tions expressis verbis any complaint which Volga could have put to cairo
to justify cutting off the slave trade. Despite this absence of a specific
motive, the course of Jochid-Mamluk relations in the period immediately
preceding the break is conclusively documented, and points to the sultan
as the principle target of toqta’s action. the known stresses and strains
in the relationship in the early 1300s cannot be understood except as a
function of the Sarai-cairo-tabriz triangle.97
perhaps in an attempt to make up for time lost in the internal struggles
which had paralysed Jochid foreign initiatives in the 1290s, once toqta
was unchallenged lord in the steppelands, he promptly and enthusiasti-
cally picked up the traditional foreign policy toward his state’s old allies
and enemies.
as was to be expected, given the prime importance of the dispute, the
newly-established ruler first turned his attention to the Ilkhan Ghāzān.98
toqta took the initiative in making contact, sending envoys from his
realm on the steppe across the mountains to present a message to the
Mongol ruler in persia in May 1301, though the chronicler who records
their journey passes over the actual content of the message in silence.99
however, the chronicler reveals the Sarai khan’s motives when he men-
tions a Jochid expeditionary force that was annihilated before even join-
ing battle, at the end of the same year. the incident did not lead to war,
and the chronicler finds the whole episode worth recounting together
with its consequences for commerce: an agreement was made, and the
caucasus route was reopened for merchants trading between the Golden
horde and the Ilkhanate.100 the subsequent Ilkhanid overstretch and the
96 on this topic see ayalon, “Yasa,” passim, Labib, Handelsgeschichte, p. 583, ‛umarī/
Lech, pp. 299–300.
97 See chapter 3.3.
98 Spuler, Horde, pp. 79–80.
99 rashīd al-Dīn/tiesenhausen, Sbornik, II, p. 79, Spuler, Horde, p. 80.
100 Spuler, Mongolen, Schmid, Beziehungen, pp. 221–222. another persian chronicer,
Waṣṣāf, probably refers to the same events, though he places the resumption of trade a
decade earlier: “When toqta took the throne after Möngke temür [actually töle Bugha, in
1291], the road was opened to merchants once more [.. .] after envoys and messages had
been exchanged between the two countries. everything needed for the safety and comfort
of travellers, was done. the lands around arran were a hubbub with the great number of
tents and carriages, horses and sheep, and all kinds of goods, rare items from many lands