Formation of the Capital Center of the Ulus Of Jochi in the Lower Volga During the Reign of Uzbek Khan (analysis of numismatic material)

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the events that took place in the Ulus of Jochi after the rise to power of Uzbek Khan. Based on an analysis of numismatic finds at the Golden Horde monuments of Moksha and the Lower Volga regions, a series of actions is determined, which were taken by the Uzbek in the process of combating the oppositional nomadic aristocracy and in the course of administrative and religious reforms in the state. The period from 1313 to 1321 during which the khan's headquarters stayed in the Moksha region and the related development of the new administrative Golden Horde center of Mokhsha are outlined. The time of the complete strengthening of Uzbek power and his return to the capital region in the lower reaches of the Volga (1321) is determined. The stages of the project to change the internal structure of the state are also specified. The chronological boundaries of the creation of the state Muslim sacred center (a complex of mausoleums near the village of Lapas) and the construction of the new Golden Horde capital city of Sarai (Selitrennoye settlement), which received the epithet al-Jedid (New) under Khan Janibek, are determined. Based on numismatic data, it is noted that Uzbek himself and the khans who came to power in the Golden Horde after him could not have been buried in the Khan's necropolis.

Keywords

• archaeology
• ulus of jochi
• golden horde
• uzbek khan
• janibek khan
• mohshi
• sarai
• sarai al-jedid
• selitrennoye settlement
• lapas mausoleum complex
• khan's necropolis
• numismatics