The Role of Nogai in the Golden Horde: A Reassessment

Abstract

This paper offers a reexamination of the role of Nogai (c.1237–1300) in the Golden Horde. Commonly portrayed as an almighty khanmaker appointing the Jochid khans at will, I argue that this is a creation of the secondary literature. Instead, based on a rereading of the relevant primary sources, I argue for a far more limited role of Nogai within the Horde’s politics. While influential as both a military commander (first as beylerbeyi and then tammachi) and as the elder member of the Jochid lineage (aqa), Nogai’s power over the Horde was never as great as the scholarship has consistently portrayed.