the disintegration of the empire 63
source had most reason to lament the new orientation. the new khan,
Berke, was a militant muslim and as such virtually a defector, all the more
dangerous because the mongol army, including massive contingents of
Jochid troops and numerous christian units, was preparing to strike at
Baghdad, the religious centre of islam.
the toluid leaders of the campaign to conquer the muslim east,
möngke and hülegü, were apprehensive, and Berke justified their fears
with a typical episode, a notorious plot hatched with muslim merchants
who had easy access to the camps of his horde, on the road linking the
cuman steppe to iran via the derbent pass. this behaviour offended his
brother Batu so much that he felt he had to send Berke far from the volga
as a punishment, where such contacts were no longer possible.9 another
event revealed the real risk: on möngke’s death in 1259, the eastern mus-
lims hurried to recognise their coreligionist, by then himself khan of the
golden horde, as rightful lord. they clearly expected that he would rescue
them from hülegü, an enemy of their religion.10 in such a tense atmo-
sphere, a mass anti-toluid uprising in favour of Berke was entirely pos-
sible, since the overwhelming majority of the population saw him as their
patron.
these tensions probably dated back to 1256, when möngke recalled
general Baiju, the Jochids’ man in the transcaucasus, and gave the region
to hülegü to administer.11 the future ilkhan then made azerbaijan and
arran his main base of operations, a choice which was to have disastrous
consequences for relations with his kinsmen in the northern steppes.12
9 rubruck (Wyngaert, Sinica Franciscana, i, p. 209) asserts that Batu was displeased
not only with the excessive tolls which Berke imposed on merchants headed for sarai but
also for his contacts with the nuncii sarracenorum; thus the punishment imposed not only
had an economic cause and economic consequences, but also a political cause and effect
(cf. on this topic Jackson, “dissolution,” p. 225 note 166).
10 Jūzjānī/raverty, ii, p. 1292, says that once möngke “had gone to hell, the khuṭba
[= prayer on friday] was read for Berke-khan in all the cities of east and West, in iran,
transoxiana and Khorasan”—an honour awarded only to the sovereign.
11 referring to his return journey through azerbaijan in 1256, rubruck (Wyngaert,
Sinica Franciscana, i, p. 320) recalls: Transivimus per hebergiam ipsius Baachu [= Baiju]
qui est princeps illius exercitus qui ibi est juxta Araxem, et subjugavit sibi Gurginos [= geor-
gians] et Turcos et Persos. Alius est apud Taurinum [= tabriz], nomine Argon [= arghun
aqa], quos ambos revocavit Manguchan et cedant fratri suo [= hülegü] venienti ad terras
illas; cf. similar reports from rashīd al-dīn (spuler, Mongolen, pp. 53, 62–63). hülegü made
an example of the disgraced Baiju, ordering him to take his men to anatolia, where he was
killed not long after (Jackson, “dissolution,” p. 223).
12 cf. Jackson, “dissolution,” p. 217.