the golden horde and the black sea 203
entirely, Janibek decided to expel all Italian merchants from every part of
the Black Sea coast under his control.243
Most accounts of the events present the khan’s action as the result of
a fit of rage, and a desire to see justice done.244 the scale of Janibek’s
military operations shows, however, that the killing of Acamar 245 must
be seen as an incident which merely provided the pretext for a campaign
which had been long planned, and which by no means aimed to restore
the Pax Mongolica on the Northern Black Sea coast. Quite the opposite,
since disputes between Venetians and locals at the mouth of the Don
were none of the khan’s business, but rather were under the purview of
the town council and the Mongol governor, who according to the treaty
of 1342 were to discuss these matters simul sedentes.
Shortly after the Westerners were easily removed from tana246 and
from Soldaia,247 Venetian envoys shrewdly guessed the principal target of
the action, since they had to work out the khan’s true intent in order to be
able to offer acceptable peace terms. the Serenissima’s agents learnt from
trustworthy sources that Janibek’s original goal had been the destruction
of caffa all along.248
243 as might be expected, the event was much-noticed, and recorded by several
chroniclers: Stella, de Monacis, Sanudo, Gregoras, Kantakouzenos (extracts from Venetian
sources can be found in DVL, I, p. 268); the most detailed description of events based on
these sources is in heyd, Histoire, II, pp. 187 ff.; cf. also Nystazopoulou-pélékidis, Venise,
p. 31, Balard, Romanie, I, p. 154, papacostea, “tana,” p. 206.
244 heyd, Histoire, II, pp. 187 ff., adopts this view uncritically: “Geanibek-khan, outré du
meurtre commis sur un de ses sujets dans son propre pays, résolut d’en finir une foi pour
toutes avec les colonies d’occidentaux;” Balard, Romanie, I, p. 154, considers that the khan
took the murder as a pretext to put a stop to customs fraud by the Venetians and Genoese
which was harming the Golden horde.
245 Morozzo della rocca, “Notizie,” p. 283; this was probably a corruption of ‘Khodja
omar,’ as heyd, Histoire, II, p. 187, suggests.
246 heyd, Histoire, II, p. 187.
247 the Venetians lost most, having a consulate here; despite their attempts to regain
the position, it was lost permanently (for the twists and turns of Soldaia’s fate in the four-
teenth century, see thiriet, Régestes, I, 77, 82, Nystazopoulou-pélékidis, Venise, pp. 26–27,
Balard, Romanie, I, p. 158, ciocîltan, “restauraţia,” pp. 590 note 32, 591 note 68).
248 they sent a report to the Senate in Venice about caffa: Per illud quod apparet omni-
modo Imperator intendit habere terram Gaffe et ista fuit sua intencio principalis primitus
quando ipse disposuit se transire flumen Til [= Volga] pro destruendo Gaffa et ad dapnum et
destructionem omnium Christianorum. Et non credat vestra dominacio quod novitates quam
fecit dominus Imperator fecisset pro morte Acamar qui mortuus fuit in Tana [.. .] sed prin-
cipaliter propter destructionem Gaffe movit se dominus Imperator, ut dictum est, et hoc nos
scimus per fratres minores et predicatores et multos gentilles homines Ianuenses et isti IIIIor
qui hic sunt pro communi Ianue habent pro certo quod ita sit veritas (Morozzo della rocca,
“Notizie,” p. 283; cf. papacostea, “tana,” p. 211).