The Khans of the Golden Horde were distinguished by their harsh government and ruthlessness to even the closest people. Despite these well-known facts, the years of the reign of Janibek Khan were considered one of the calmest in the Mongolian state, and Janibek himself was a gentle person. Let's look at the facts of his biography and check the assessment of the character of the military leader and man from the point of view of modern morality.
Biography
The Khan of the Golden Horde Dzhanibek (Tatar name - ำำ) was the third son of the numerous offspring that Uzbek left behind. Like many before him, let him flood the blood of his own kin to the throne - he killed two older brothers - Tinibek and Khizra. As you can see, his act does not characterize the future khan as a kind and law-abiding person. Perhaps in the future his character will be softer?
Khanate
In 1342, he became the khan of the Golden Horde. Dzhanibek saw as his goal the strengthening of statehood and the strengthening of centralization. But the methods used by the Uzbek Khan seemed ineffective to him - what could be simpler than pouring blood on distant uluses? You wonโt get richer from this. And Khan Janibek chose a different policy.
He still brutally cracked down on enemies and did not believe friends. But Janibek changed the tactics of government radically. The Golden Horde Khan decided to win over religion. Under him, mosques and madrassas began to ascend to the sky in all territories of the Horde. He continued to preach Islam and attract on his side interpreters of Islam and sacred suras. Such Islamization, fortunately, did not affect the northern uluses and did not have the proper impact on the religion of the inhabitants of the Moscow principality.
Written information
Chroniclers call this Golden Horde Khan "the good king Janibek." This underlines his complete antithesis to his father, who in the annals was called the "formidable khan Uzbek." Indeed, the word "formidable" in ancient times meant fierce, ferocious, soulless. When compared with his own father, Khan Janibek really seemed kind.
Acquaintance of the Metropolitan with the Khan
Despite the spread of Islam, the ruler did not prevent the strengthening of Orthodoxy on Russian lands. Under him, the construction of temples and monasteries resumed, there were no persecutions of priests and desecration of Orthodox shrines. Therefore, in church literature, the period of the reign of Janibek is characterized on a positive side.
Perhaps this showed the "softness" of the ruler? Alas and ah - it was a simple foresight. The Orthodox Church coped well with the role of a peacemaker, and there was no need to change it. In addition, the worldviews of a medieval man should not be neglected - faith was more valuable to him than life. You should not take their last toys from the slaves - so Janibek reasoned and turned his gaze to the south.
Campaign in Russia
Khan Dzhanibek made his only trip to the northern lands in 1347. Villages were damaged and villages near the town of Aleksin. Compared with the avalanche of pogroms and killings, which the Uzbek โ Khanโs campaigns always turned into, Janibek acted much more modestly. A small campaign was undertaken to demonstrate their own power, and not for terror. Repression and pressure were not required โ the atrocities and murders that the Uzbek Khan and his horde were repairing on Russian soil were too fresh, the price of a new disobedience was too high.
Perhaps the only trip to the Russian lands gave the Moscow chroniclers a reason to give a โsoftโ characterization to Khan Dzhanibek. In the face of Moscow and the neighboring principalities, Janibek really looked like a soft ruler. But what will other nations say about him?
Campaign in Azerbaijan
In 1357, Dzhanibek undertook an aggressive campaign against Azerbaijan. The population of this country was dissatisfied with the domestic politicians of the tyrant Malik Ashref. The grand campaign ended with the defeat of government troops and the seizure of land. Janibek Khan leaves his son Berdibek the viceroy of the new ulus, and he returns to the Horde.
A coin of Khan Dzhanibek was discovered in a treasure found in Azerbaijan. This indirectly confirms his long hikes far to the south.
Indirect evidence is confirmed in the annals and notes of casual travelers.
The decline of the Golden Horde
A long absence in the south of the country weakened the reins of vertical rule. In the Golden Horde, fermentation began, which threatened to end in decay. But Khan Janibek returns to the Horde unhealthy and does not have the strength to stabilize the situation in the country. In Russian sources there is information about at the same time the disease that affected the khan and his mother - the Khan of Taydula. Metropolitan Alexei of Moscow arrived on a visit to the Horde and undertook to heal high-ranking patients from an unknown illness. Taydula received the Metropolitan and thanks to his prayers healed. Janibek persisted in his faith and did not accept the Metropolitan. In the end, he died of an illness in 1359. Although other sources claim that he did not pass the cup of betrayal and was killed by his own son.
Summary
Does a rich biography speak of the gentle nature of Janibek? Unfortunately not. He was no better and no worse than other rulers, except that he preferred to replace senseless cruelty with far-sighted political actions. The strengthening of the Orthodox Church, a peaceful life without raids (40 years of silence), meant for the Golden Horde Khan an increase in the influx of money and the strengthening of their own power. He achieved the same as his father - just used other methods for this.