SOME REMARKS ON THE ULUS (PEOPLE) OF JOCHIAS SEEN BY THEIR CONTEMPORIES

Abstract

Abstract. The Ulus of Jochi, better known as the Golden Horde, was a western Mongol state founded in the middle of the thirteenth century following the Mongol conquest of the Qipchaq Steppe and the Rus’ principalities. It was named “Ulus of Jochi” because it was ruled by the heirs of Jochi (d. 1225), Chinggis Khan (r. 1206–27)’s eldest son.

This paper will examine how the Jochid ulus (in the sense of people) were identified in the sources composed in the Turko-Mongol states of the Mongol and post-Mongol periods. More specifically, it will conduct a brief but broad-range examination of Ilkhanid, Timurid, Shibanid Uzbek, Crimean Tatar, Ottoman, and “Kazakh” sources in order to investigate the nature of Jochid ulus identity as understood by their contemporaries. The thesis that this paper will defend is that the Jochid people, who were identified as Jochi eli as well as Uzbek, Tatar, and Toqmaq in various sources, were viewed as one and the same people by their contemporaries, and that the modern Kazakhs, whose ancestors were identified with these group identities in the sources, are the most representative descendants of the Jochid ulus. As a result of the study, the author focused on different opinions regarding the history of the development of the Zhoshi ulus and unified historical data relating to the period of existence of the ulus.