This article will examine several mysterious events related to the person and actions, as well as the alleged fragments of the biography of a famous historical character. In our days and in our country, it is customary to call him Batu Khan, during his life in the Mongol Empire, in the expanse of the Juchi ulus and in the surrounding lands, he was called Batu, after his death, some began to call him Sain Khan. After many centuries, the life of Batu seems mysterious and incomprehensible.
Name
The first discrepancy is connected with the name of Batu, whom we used to call Batu. There was only one khan in the Mongol empire , it was actually the title of king - the head of state. Batu himself, as you know, was never the head of an empire. During his life, the Khan's title could rightfully belong to Temujin (Genghis Khan), Ugedei, Guyuk, as well as Munke. While the ulus of Jochi (or the Golden Horde) was part of the empire, during the life of Batu it was not an independent state. The Novgorod Chronicle (1242) Batu calls the governor, who, in essence, he was. The royal title was assigned to Batu by chroniclers of a later period, and it was fixed.
Juchi Ulus Inheritance
After the death of the eldest son of Genghis Khan, the most extensive western possessions of the Mongol Empire, called by the name of the former ruler of the Jochi ulus, was inherited by one of the many (there were about forty) sons of the deceased - Batu. Khan Temujin personally ordered the appointment of his grandson as heir to the ulus of Jochi. Meanwhile, it is known that Batu was not the eldest son of his father, did not have a reputation as a famous warrior at that time, could not be a recognized military leader - in 1227 he was only 18 years old. It is also impossible to suspect that he was the beloved grandson of his great grandfather. Only the information about the special charisma of the young Batu, his ability to act as an intermediary between people and the Higher Forces can explain the mystery of this purpose, the justice of which was never challenged even after the death of Genghis Khan.
Western Campaign Command
By order of Khan Ugedey Batu headed the westward campaign. Khan was forced to appoint his nephew Sain Khan (Batu) as a compromise candidate, since the other Genghisides (Guyuk, Buri and Munke) also had their ambitions for leadership in this campaign, they did not intend to give in to each other. Although the plan of the campaign was developed by Subaedei, the latter was an associate of Genghis Khan, but was not Genghiside. Batu’s appointment was also appropriate because he was the heir to the oldest son of Temurjin and the ruler of the Jochi ulus, the expansion of which was supposed to be primarily due to the Western campaign. Therefore, Batu was most interested in the successful completion of the mission.
Conquest of Russia
After the conquest of the Bulgarian cities in the summer of 1237, the combined forces of the Mongolian army headed north. We will not describe how Ryazan, Moscow and Vladimir were conquered. In this article, we are interested not so much in the campaign of Batu Khan himself, as in its individual, not amenable to simple explanation, and therefore individual moments available only for expressing versions. One of these nuances is the fact that after the conquest of the principalities, Sain Khan left the princes loyal to him in leading posts, moreover, the religious system and that part of the clergy that did not call for the overthrow of the khanate were left unchanged. We can assume that Batu was completely satisfied with both the state structure and the religious order of the conquered lands. This is confirmed by the regular trips of the Russian princes to the Horde for labels - symbols of power granted by the khan, as well as the liberation of the clergy from taxes.
The episode of the northern campaign, connected with the refusal to conquer Novgorod, is puzzling.
According to the generally accepted version, in March 1238, before reaching 100 versts to Novgorod, the Thumens of Batu turned south due to the beginning of a debauchery in which the horse army could get bogged down. However, it is believed that Batu Khan in Russia was afraid not so much of impassability and abysses as of a lack of provisions for troops and fodder for horses. His large army was mounted. In addition to a war horse, each warrior had other horses (from 1 to 3), which were provided with fodder due to confiscation of winter stocks in the captured villages. By early spring, these stocks were already minimal. But this, of course, is one of the versions. Like all others, it is a subject for discussion and does not claim to be the status of truth.