the golden horde and the black sea 225
Many historians studying this epoch-making event have seen the battle
as valuable evidence for russia’s continuing liberation struggle and the
unification process.326 By contrast, it was not very significant in terms of
its immediate practical results either for the victors or the defeated, para-
doxical though this may seem.
Mamai, the main actor on the legitimist side in two decades of struggle
against the rival khans of the White horde, did not have enough military
strength to expel the invaders from the east and to reunite the ulus of
Jochi, but he did at least have the strength to prevent his enemies from
doing the same from their side. his defeat at Kulikovo created a power
vacuum in the territories West of the Volga. for the first time a khan
of the White horde, toqtamïsh, entered these lands and in 1380 easily
scattered Mamai’s remaining forces at Kalka.327 With one blow, the new
arrival ended the disintegration of the steppeland state and restored a
central power that could act in both internal and external affairs just as it
had in the period before the civil wars.328 thus the victory of the russian
knyazate at Kulikovo in September 1380 had an unexpected effect in the
short term: by allowing toqtamïsh’s victory over Mamai at Kalka a few
weeks later, it contributed decisively to restoring the ulus of Jochi to its
former unity and strength.
4.2.7 Toqtamïsh: A Brief Revival
although the new khan’s rule was recognised throughout the empire after
1380 and his triumphant march across the Volga, the work of rebuilding
the state and of imposing himself as the central power was nevertheless a
fairly long-drawn-out process, with distinct stages.
toqtamïsh was driven by the idea of restoring the Golden horde to its
former glory, and each step he took was directed toward this great goal.
his long-term strategic goal was based on the principle of dealing with his
enemies one by one. the plan was consistently applied and gives tartar
actions during the first decade of toqtamïsh’s reign remarkable coherence
in a context as vast as it was clearly demarcated.
toqtamïsh’s Black Sea policy was anchored in as a basic component of
the Sarai strategic plan, and made itself felt throughout all phases of state
reconstruction. circumstances changed from one stage to the next, but
326 on the battle’s consequences on many levels, see Grekov, “Mesto,” pp. 113–141.
327 Grekov, Yakubovskiy, Orda, pp. 320–321.
328 Ibid., DeWeese, “toḳtamïsh,” pp. 560–563, fedorov-Davïdov, Stroy, pp. 150–151.
