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Relying on written sources, the author considers the fate of two towns from the Black Sea region — Belgorod and Oleshye. In the “pre-Mongolian“ period, the two towns did not display any close relationship, because by the end of the 10th century, the town located in the mouth of the Dniester River and historically connected with the right bank of the Danube had already completed a whole stage in its history, while the town near the Dnieper, which played an important role in relations between Medieval Russia and Byzantine Crimea appeared only in the 11th century.By the end of the 13th century, under the rule of Mongolian governor Nohay, Belgorod saw a revival of Byzantine traditions and became an important obstacle on the way of the Italians spreading into this region. At the same time, Oleshye (Illiche) was in declining state. Only in the second half of the 14th century, the settlement attracted the Genoeses as a port in which it was possible to buy considerable amounts of food.In the last quarter of the 14th century, Moldova forced the Golden Horde out of the Dniester basin. In Belgorod (Asprocastro), the Greeks took leading positions. In the conditions of instability of 1432—1457, the autonomy of the city increased so much that the local community started running independent business with Italians and even Ottomans.The expansion of the Great Duchy of Lithuania towards the Lower Dnieper region broke the former tenor of life and led Illiche to decline. Only in 1440—1450 the life here became more active as the Mongols and Genoeses re-established their partner relations.The collision between Caffa and Belgorod, with the castle of Illiche just in the center of it, provoked irreparable damage to the urban life in the Lower Dnieper region. In the conditions of Ottoman rule established in the region in 1475—1484, Illiche never revived, and Belgorod (Akkerman) got an entirely new appearance.
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The author publishes all archaeological materials collected during excavations in 1927—1928 and 2006 on a fortification on Kordon-Oba Mount (Eastern Crimea, Feodosia Municipal Council’s territory). The site was attributed based on written, cartographic and archaeological sources. The castle was built by the Genoese administration of Kaffa in the second half of 14th c. and ceased to exist after the Ottoman conquest of the Genoese lands in the Crimea in 1475. The castle took its name — Kaliera — after the nearest medieval locality. The author questions why this castle was built and why it was built here.
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The author analyzes a historiographic tradition related to the so called Timur’s “Crimean campaign” (or of his protégé Edigu) in 1395, during the war with Tokhtamysh. According to this tradition, this campaign led to devastation of a significant part of the Crimea, including its most important urban centers — Chersonese, Mangup, Solghat, Caffa. A detailed comparison of written accounts and archaeological materials, however, does not prove this view. Information about Timur’s campaign in Crimea originates from a biased Egyptian source. Most of the other contemporary accounts — Greek, Latin and Armenian — “ignore” this catastrophe. The archaeological research does not yield any reliable data to prove that any of the Crimean towns were ruined in late 14 th c. Overall, it can be substantially inferred that Timur’s western campaign in 1395 did not affect the Crimean territory.
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The article represents an analysis of the political and economic development of Kazan during the Golden Horde period (second half of 13 th — first half of 15 th century). The time of Kazan subjection to Golden Horde khans could not be definitely determined — according to different data, it can be connected with the campaign of Baty-Khan of 1236 or, more likely, with Mengu-Timur’s raid on the Volga Bulgars of 1278. As part of the Golden Horde, there were in general favorable conditions for the development of the city. Kazan loses its role of a border town and by the end of the Golden Horde period turns into one of the large political and economic centres of the Central Volga area. The city had acquired its shape by the end of this period, and maintained it until the end of 18 th c. In the 14 th —15 th centuries, Kazan plays an important role in the international trade. The material culture of the town reflects existence of various ethnocultural traditions. Starting from the second half of the 14 th century, local knyazes unleashed the fight for political independence which led to the formation of the Kazan khanate.
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The article presents peculiarities of the ethnic and political development of Mordvins in the Golden Horde period. In the pre — Golden Horde time, the Mordvins divided into two smaller ethnic groups, Erzya and Moksha. After the Mongol invasion (1240), Moksha lands became part of the Golden Horde, and Erzya lands were divided by Russian knyazes from Vladimir and Murom. A part of Erzya lands were also located on the very border of the Golden Horde. Such division contributed to further separation of the two ethnic groups. Starting from 1430—1440 s, after the fall of Jochi’s Ulus and up to 1552, the lands of the Mordvins became subject of continuous struggle between Kazan khanate and Moscow principality. Thus, Mordvins still remained in the composition of two separate states. Nevertheless, it is possible that a certain part of the Mordvin population was independent at that time.
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The scope of this article is to give a short characteristic to the sites of sedentary (Slavic, Alan, Bulgar) and nomad (Turk) population from the Lower Dnieper region, poorly presented in the literature. The sites include hillforts, settlements, ground and barrow necropolises, coin hoards and various individual finds. All these materials are presented according to a certain structure: cartography, dating, history of research, short description of main complexes and categories of finds. This analysis will allow the specialists to produce in the future a much more comprehensive picture of ethnocultural processes and dimensions of urban construction in the Lower Dnieper region, as well as to ascertain the reasons behind the selection of this territory as administrative and political centre of Mamai Horde.
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The author examines political, economic and ethno-cultural developments in North-Western Pontic Area after the Mongol conquest and establishment of the Golden Horde (Jochi’s Ulus). He specially focuses on issues of urbanization of these territories in the Golden Horde Period, and first of all on the city of Akja Kerman (modern Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi). It is commonly accepted now that development of urban centers in the North-Western Pontic Area under the Golden Horde started during Nogay’s Ulus (1270—1302). It was the time when such forts as Jangi-Shekhr (Old Orhei) and Costesti appeared in the territory between the Prut and the Dniester Rivers, and Chilia and Isaccea in the Danube Region; the first account of Bilhorod dates to the same period (1290). The author reviews documents containing data on political status and economic development of this city, its ethnic and confessional groups under the Golden Horde’s rule, and its accession by Moldavia in late 14th c.
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The archaeological studies of the hillforts that are dated to the period of the Eastern Xia State existence (1215—1233) have been conducted in Primorye (Russia) for about fifty years. The study of the Nikolaevskoye and Krasnoyarovskoye hillforts made it possible to reveal certain typical features of the Jurchen style of palace architecture that developed within the general course of the Far Eastern architecture, forming its own original canons.
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The study of archaeological and epigraphic monuments of the Middle Ages in South Siberia makes it possible to identify external (state) and internal (administrative) borders of the 8—14th-century state formations of the region. Thus, the northern boundary of the Uyghur Khaganate in the mid-8th — first quarter of the 9th century is determined by a succession of 17 similar fortresses in the mountains of Western Sayan. In the territory of the 9th—10th-century Ancient Khakassian State, the analysis of the tamga marks distribution makes it possible to fix the boundaries of the fiefdoms of six nobility clans. These data find confirmation in runic inscriptions. The expansion of the Ancient Khakassian State in the mid-9th to 10th centuries is marked by the distribution of mounds with specific rites. In the era of the Mongol Empire, urban settlements with elements of administrative and cult centers were located in the territory of Tuva within two clusters, which correspond to the two districts established by the Mongols on these lands, as confirmed by written sources.
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The large Zhaiyk hillfort site recently discovered in the Lower Ural River area is one of the few Golden Horde urban settlements known in Western Kazakhstan. The urban development of Zhaiyk is characteristic of the Golden Horde cities; it consisted of homesteads with structures from adobe bricks and irregular layout. A large hammam bath with a cruciform layout was discovered. Two major mausoleums of baked bricks decorated with glazed tiles were investigated on the necropolis. A cult funerary complex consisting of a tower-shaped mausoleum with hip roof and stone stelae in front was studied. Another new site in this region is the Zhalpaktal hillfort, also with farmstead buildings. There is a mosque, which currently is the only known mosque of the Golden Horde period in Western Kazakhstan, and it was uncovered and studied.
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Archaeological studies are used to examine architectural and constructive design features of a mosque and a caravanserai at the Puljai hillfort site. In the context of available analogies from the Central Asian region, the mosque can be attributed to the category of pray kiosk-mosques with aivans (terraces). The peshtak portal, residential and household structures are typical of the caravanserai. These structures were used in the Golden Horde era.
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The peculiarities of the Golden-Horde bedding of the Bolgar hillfort in the 10th — 15th centuries are analyzed. It is proposed to consider the 1340s as the boundary between the early and the late horizons of the Golden-Horde stratum, when the administrative and financial reforms of the first decades of the 14th century resulted in further integration of the Bolgar Ulus territory in the economic system of the Golden Horde.
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The city of Bolgar (Bolgar) has been known since the 10th century. In the 10th — first third of 13th cc. it was the largest city of the Volga Bulgaria, and in the 13th — first third of 15th cc. it became the center of the Golden Horde Bolgar Ulus. On the basis of written sources, materials of numismatics and epigraphics, it is established that the name of the city of Bolgar corresponds to the Bolgar hillfort. Despite transfer of the capital of the Bolgar Ulus to Kazan in the last quarter of the 14th — early 15th cc., Bolgar was a big city and minted its own coins.
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The development dynamics of archaeological monuments (hillforts, unfortified settlements and necropolises) of the Golden Horde period in the Volga Bulgaria territory is analyzed. The history of historical geography studies of the Golden-Horde Bolgar Ulus is examined. The archaeological research of the area revealed not less than 330 settlements, both fortified and unfortified. These data made it possible to determine the territory of the Bolgar Ulus, the topography of individual sites, and the historical context of their emergence and development. Particular attention is given to the necropolises of the nomads who had inhabited the Bolgar Ulus. The necropolises and the permanent settlements founded by this population helped to define the territory of their residence. A hypothesis of administrative division of the Bolgar Ulus territory in the period from the Mongol conquest and prior to the early 15th century is considered. It is argued that there had been a few administrative areas centered on major cities — Bolgar, Juketau, and Kazan. Besides, there had been a special territory inhabited by the nomadic population.
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The author characterizes sites of the Volga estuary, related to the Saqsin domain in the 13th century. The devastation of towns and villages during the Mongol invasion and the rise of the Caspian Sea water level resulted in population redistribution: the outflow of the estuary area inhabitants to its northern regions adjacent to the first capital of the Golden Horde. The period was marked by caravan trade development, which resulted in the rise of the Moshaik settlement that was located by the Volga estuary crossing.
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The sites of the right bank of the Samara Volga region including the Samarskaya Luka (Bend) of the Volga River and the Usa River watershed constitute a special group of the Golden-Horde period sites of the Middle Volga region. An analysis of the sites topography in the context of geographical features of the area in question allowed defining its territorial structure. On the basis of settlements location features, a zonal model of regionalization is proposed. In the territory of the district, two micro-districts are distinguished: 1) the Usinsk micro-district, 2) a micro-district inside the Samara Bend. Each of them is characterized by an appropriate reference framework of settlement, which is associated with the peculiarities of functioning and settling. In the first case, the settlement occupies the dominant position (the Muranka settlement site), while the second district is characterized by the presence of several key points with the linear interconnection system (Mezhdurechensky hillfort, Malaya Ryazan 2 and Lbische — Novyi Put’ settlements, etc.).
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Written sources, numismatic finds and the stratigraphy of the site are employed to retrace the chronology of Ukek. Stages associated with the ruling khans are revealed. Principal changes in the city development are demonstrated. The chronology of the urban center is compared with the data on the adjacent settlements. The intensive development of Ukek and individual sites in its vicinity in 1260-1270s, alongside with its growing administrative influence during the rule of Tokhta, a substantial increase of the city area and that of the number of settlement monuments in the Uzbek and Jani Beg periods are specified. An assumption is made as to the devastation of Ukek and some of the adjacent areas during the last years of Abdullah’s rule and its subsequent decay in the 1370s. A brief recovery during the rule of Tokhtamysh, as well as a practically total absence of any materials related to the periods following Tamerlane’s invasion in 1395 are noted.
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Based on the comparison of recently discovered numismatic facts with the Arabic manuscript text of al-’Umari and Kazakh legends recorded in the 19th century, the names of two towns have been established — Uichik and Qutlughkent, which were located on the caravan route from Urgenj to Saray. Uichik is localized in the vicinity of modern Atyrau (Republic of Kazakhstan). “Qutlughkent” could possibly be the early name of the city of Saraijuk. A misinterpretation by V.G. Tiesenhausen in the Russian translation of al-’Umari’s text has been corrected.
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In the second half of the 14th century, the property of the Genoese Republic in the Crimea covered the whole of the Crimean coastal line and was named the Genoese Gazaria. The historical geography of the various administrative units of the Genoese Gazaria is considered: rural district of Caffa, Soldaia, Cembalo and Vosporo Consulates, domains on the Southern Coast of Crimea, and on Kerch and Tarkhankut Peninsulas. Results of historical topography studies of four fortified Genoese cities — Caffa, Soldaia, Cembalo and Vosporo — are provided.
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