254 chapter four
given situation: it would have saved the appearances of legality and at the
same time reserved actual power in the ulus of Jochi to himself.
having reached the peak of his power in the last years of the century,
and of his life, Noghai abandoned all pretence and proclaimed himself
khan441 in the regions where—according to pachymeres—he held sway
unchallenged. pachymeres specifies that he held and ruled the regions of
the ‘upper euxine’, resisting pressure from the centre with diplomacy and
force of arms.442
Muslim authors give more specific details, saying that Noghai’s resi-
dences were “from Sakjī [= Isaccea] along the Danube river as far as the
Bāb al-Ḥadīd [the Iron Gates]”443 with the eastern boundary of his lands
fixed either by the pruth or—more likely—by the Dniester.444 toward the
end of his life Noghai ruled an area which extended into ruthenia445 and
the Severin Banate, a vast semicircle enclosed by the carpathians and the
two great rivers of the Danube and the Dniester, forming natural borders
for the mountain chain. the command centre, chosen for its optimal posi-
tion between the two wings, was at Isaccea.
among Noghai’s most important auxiliaries were the Seljuks of
Dobruja,446 and the alans stationed in the North, in Moldavia and ruthe-
nia, with contingents of tartar cavalry between these two ethnic groups
on the Bujak steppe.447 among the Danube khan’s other subjects we find
mentioned the ‘russians,’ probably ruthenians, and ulakh, ‘romanians.ʼ448
Some idea of the solid economic basis of the Danube khanate is given
by the extraordinary wealth of Vicina, the commercial capital; although
441 Money was minted at Isaccea in the name of Noghai and his son chaka between
1296 and 1300, and this has rightly been taken as an incontrovertible sign of the status of
khan, albeit self-confirmed; issuing coin is the expression of sovereignty par excellence; cf.
oberländer-târnoveanu, Atelier, pp. 296–299, idem, “contributions,” idem, “Documente;”
with Gh. Mănucu-adameşteanu idem, “Monede;” with Irina oberländer-târnoveanu,
“Descoperiri.”
442 pachymeres/Bekker, II, pp. 263–264.
443 tiesenhausen, Sbornik, I, pp. 93 (Baybars), 139 (al-Nuwayrī); cf. Decei, “horde,”
pp. 62–63, Spinei, Moldova, pp. 62–63, ciocîltan, “alanii,” p. 936 note 16.
444 the arguments and opinions favouring the Dniester frontier are given in ciocîltan,
“alanii,” pp. 936 ff., and Iliescu, “contribution,” p. 162, recording a coin struck with Noghai’s
tamga at akkerman; Sakjï [= Isaccea] was the ‘capital’ and sheltered the principal mint.
445 cf. ciocîltan, “alanii,” pp. 936 ff.
446 cf. Decei, “problema,” passim.
447 romanian Bugeac; for more detail, cf. ciocîltan, “alanii,” pp. 936–951.
448 rashīd al-Dīn/Boyle, p. 125, tiesenhausen, Sbornik, II, p. 295, pavlov, “B”lgariya,”
pp. 30–31.