the golden horde and the black sea 229
of caffan autonomy341 but also conceded to Genoa full rule over a number
of settlements which had hitherto been Golden horde territory. the pres-
ence of a tudun and customs officers does not even begin to make up for
the immense advantages the Genoese had won. the suspicion that this
unequal treaty was matched by some compensating arrangement is an
obvious one. certain events in the horde in the run-up to the negotiations
of autumn 1380 supply the clarification we need.
a russian chronicler reports that after the defeat at Kulikovo, “a tsar
of the east,” named toqtamïsh deposed Mamai. the source records that
toqtamïsh triumphed and Mamai fled, betrayed by his emirs and hunted
by his enemies’ men, and sought refuge in caffa. the city authorities
granted him shelter, but then seeing that he had arrived “with uncounted
wealth, with much gold and silver, gems and pearls” they killed him and
took his riches. the chronicler concludes that “this is how tsar toqtamïsh
took Mamai’s horde and all its dependencies.”342
these are the only events that the chronicler records between 8th Sep-
tember 1380, the date of the battle of Kulikovo, and 27th November the
same year, when the first Genoese-tartar treaty was signed. It is obvious
that the author knows nothing of any agreement between toqtamïsh and
the caffan authorities. Working only with what information he had, he
concluded that Mamai was killed for strictly material motives. once we
add other information, however, we may reach different conclusions.
however tempting Mamai’s treasure may have been for the Genoese,
under the circumstances his head was worth even more: the colonists
relieved toqtamïsh of a political rival by assassination, which was their
service in exchange for the unprecedented concession.343 When we read
the treaty text alongside the chronicler’s account, we realise that this was
a mutually advantageous bargain: in return for recognising caffan auton-
omy and transferring Gothia to Genoese possession, toqtamïsh was rid
of a threatening enemy and was left sole lord of the lands this side of
the Volga, including the crimea. the unity of the Golden horde was thus
restored, at the cost of important Genoese gains at the khan’s expense.
there was a surprisingly short interval between the first treaty of 27th
November 1380 and the second, of 24th february the following year. Some
341 that caffa did not issue its own coin does not contradict this finding (cf. Schlum-
berger, Numismatique, pp. 463–464, and more detailed in Iliescu, “contribution,”
pp. 31–38).
342 Nikonovskaya Letopis’, XI, p. 69.
343 cf. here Lopez, Storia, p. 356.