Kivshenko Ivan III tears off the khans missive letter

Ahmed Khan bin Küchük ( Turki and Persian: احمد خان) was Khan of the Great Horde from 1465 to 1481.

Life

In 1465, Ahmed Khan seized power in the Horde by rising against his brother Mahmud bin Küchük, who had been its ruler since 1459. In 1472, Ahmed Khan entered into

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

with the Polish king Casimir IV against

Ivan III of Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich (; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was Grand Prince of Moscow and Sovereign of all Russia, all Russia from 1462 until his death in 1505. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his bli ...

. In 1476, Ahmed Khan suggested to Ivan III that he should recognize him as his overlord. However, the balance of forces was not in the Horde's favour. In 1480, Ahmed Khan organized another military campaign against Muscovy, which would result in the Great Stand on the Ugra River, 150 miles from Moscow. They stood off shouting at one another on opposite banks for weeks before a conflict became inevitable. Panic set in, as both sides suddenly turned, deciding to flee rather than fight in the tradition of Genghis Khan. The Horde's retreat meant that the last of the conflict between Eurasians was over. The Mongols' last possessions were in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

, and

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. Ivan III, Russia's ruler, finally freed it from Tatar-

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

overlords. On 6 January 1481, Ahmed Khan and his men were killed by Siberian Khan, Ibak Khan of

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...

and Nogays at the mouth of the

Donets River The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...

Personal life

Ahmed Khan's wife was the Timurid princess Badi' al-Jamal, a sister of

Sultan Husayn Bayqara Sultan Husayn Bayqara Mirza ( ''Husayn Bāyqarā''; June/July 1438 – 4 May 1506) was the Timurid dynasty, Timurid ruler of Herat from 1469 until May 4, 1506, with a brief interruption in 1470. A skilled statesman, Sultan Husayn Bayqara was ...

of Khorasan. Through this marriage he had two sons, Mahmud Khan and Bahadur Khan, as well as a daughter, Khanzada Khanum. However, Badi' al-Jamal eventually left the Golden Horde and returned with her children to her brother's court in

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

.Zahir ud-din Muhammad Babur, Annette Susannah Beveridge, ''The Babur-Nama in English (Memoirs of Babur)'' (1921), p. 258.

Genealogy

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

Jochi Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the ...

Orda Khan Orda Ichen ( Mongolian: – 1251) was a Mongol Khan and military strategist who ruled the eastern part of the Golden Horde (division of the Mongol Empire) during the 13th century. First Khan of the White Horde Orda Ichen ( – 1251) is cr ...

*Sartaqtay * Köchü * Bayan * Sasibuqa * Ilbasan * Chimtay * Urus * Temur-Malik * Temür Qutlugh *Temur ibn Temur Qutlugh * Küchük Muhammad *Ahmed Khan bin Küchük

References

Bibliography

* 1481 deaths Khans of the Golden Horde 15th-century monarchs in Europe Year of birth unknown {{CAsia-hist-stub