In early January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined several important events to be commemorated in Kazakhstan this year. Among them was the intriguing decision to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Jochi Ulus. This was justified as a «significant date, indicating the centuries-old roots of our statehood.»
Undoubtedly, this move from the head of state is quite unexpected. It is understood that the Kazakh Khanate emerged from the Jochi Ulus, specifically from its left wing, and the first Kazakh khans belonged to the ruling dynasty of this state. The political crisis in the Jochi Ulus essentially paved the way for the emergence of new identities among the nomads of the steppe Eurasia, including Kazakhs, nomadic Uzbeks, Nogais, Crimean Tatars, and others.
Therefore, the interest in the Jochi Ulus in Kazakhstan is quite understandable. In 1269, the 750th anniversary of the Talas Kurultai was celebrated here, where representatives of competing families descended from Genghis Khan divided the western part of the Mongol Empire among themselves. This event led to the establishment of the Jochi Ulus, which, within a hundred years, became one of the most powerful states among the nomads.
For state ideology, it is quite logical to seek the foundations of statehood in the past. This is called historical politics, or more accurately, historical ideology. This is common to many states, especially in the East.
However, when a state moves into the past, it may encounter its neighbors who also show the same interest. The most typical example is modern Russia and Ukraine, which share a common historical past in Ancient Rus. Yet, today they dispute this history with each other.
In this sense, Kazakhstan has it somewhat easier. No one particularly disputes the Jochi Ulus in our historical politics. For example, modern Uzbekistan seeks its historical foundations in the Timurid Empire. In this context, nomadic Uzbeks who came from the steppes of Kazakhstan in the early 16th century and gave their name to the modern Uzbek people are not considered. Under the Timurids, the Uzbeks were their opponents.
Speaking of the Nogais, there are very few of them left. Moreover, they reside in the territory of Russia. Here, everything related to the Golden Horde, as the Jochi Ulus was called in later historical writings, is not particularly popular. Russia has its own historical politics and state ideology.
For the Crimean Tatars, their history within the Jochi Ulus remains in the shadow of the history of the powerful Crimean Khanate, which for a couple of centuries was the main adversary of the Moscow State and the Russian Empire. Moreover, there are very few of them as well.
Есть еще казанские (поволжские) татары. Здесь сегодня находится один из наиболее эффективных центров изучения истории Золотой Орды (улуса Джучи). Но история этого государства и идентичность его основного населения все-таки скорее про кочевников, а население Верхнего Поволжья было оседлым и земледельческим.
So, Kazakhstan faces no significant competitors regarding the historical heritage of this powerful state. Indeed, the modern territory almost entirely constituted its composition, with the exception of the current Almaty region, which was part of another influential Mongol state – the Chagatai Ulus, later known as Moghulistan. The ruling dynasty of this region originated from the corresponding dynasty of the Jochi Ulus. The last representative of this dynasty in power in Kazakh society, albeit conditionally and for a very short time, was the Chingizid Ali Khan Bukeykhanov from 1917 to 1919.
Therefore, it is quite logical that Kazakhstan incorporates the Jochi Ulus into its own historical ideology. There is clear continuity here. For example, in Soviet historical ideology, it was largely ignored, primarily because of the role played by the Golden Horde in the Russian-centric version of history.
In this case, there is another important aspect. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that «the Kazakhs never had statehood.» Although the Kazakh Khanate existed, at the very least, since the late 15th century. Moreover, the authorities of the Moscow State and later the Russian Empire initially maintained relations with it at what could be described today as the interstate level. Even in the early 19th century, Russia’s interactions with the Kazakhs were conducted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It is clear that the Jochi Ulus was indeed a state. Moreover, the eastern part of Ancient Rus was dependent on it and paid taxes according to the population census.
So, including the Jochi Ulus in the history of Kazakhstan was, in a sense, a revolutionary event from the perspective of state ideology. Moreover, Russia’s attitude towards the Golden Horde is becoming somewhat more positive in ideological terms. In November 2023, President Putin stated that «Alexander Nevsky traveled to the Horde, bowed to the Horde khans, received a patent for princely rule, primarily to effectively resist the invasion from the West.»
In this sense, the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the Talas Kurultai somewhat exhausted the ideological agenda with the Jochi Ulus. The next step should have been the ongoing but very extensive work of historians on various aspects of its rich history, aiming to approach the recognized center of Golden Horde studies in Kazan. However, President Tokayev proposed to delve even deeper into history.
Although in 1224, there could not have been talk of an independent state of the Jochi Ulus, the 800th anniversary brings us precisely to that time. Moreover, Chinggis Khan’s eldest son, Jochi, was still alive. He died either in 1225 or 1227. However, it likely occurred before 1227, as that is when Chinggis Khan himself passed away.
Jochi had his own ulus, to which his father assigned 4,000 warriors out of the total 129,000 Mongol cavalry. His headquarters were located near the Irtysh River somewhere in Eastern Kazakhstan. However, the Jochi Ulus did not yet control Western Kazakhstan. Later, around 1230, after a kurultai where Ugedei was chosen as the new khan, the renowned general Subotai was sent to conquer the Kipchaks and Saksins in the Volga region. This decision was made by the Mongol khan, not the Jochi Ulus, especially considering that Jochi’s son, Batu Khan, who later led the Mongol invasion of Europe, was only 15 years old in 1224.
During this period, the ulus did not exhibit signs of statehood. They were essentially provinces of the Mongol Empire, separate structural formations formally under the rule of various Chinggisids – not only Chinggis Khan’s sons but also his brothers and nephews. The imperial administration, not the Chinggisids, directed the population and warriors residing in these ulus, dictating where they should go, with or without their families. Ulus could be disbanded and reformed.
It is clear that in 1224, Batu Khan and all his underage brothers were nominal holders of ulus. They were certainly not states; rather, they could be called proto-states, and their future was by no means guaranteed. After 1230, the political landscape in the Mongol Empire changed so frequently that nothing could be assured for any Chinggisid family. For example, Ugedei’s descendants eventually lost their ulus. The same fate befell relatives of Chinggis Khan in Manchuria. The fact that Jochi’s descendants managed to retain their power was a stroke of luck, but it was not guaranteed.
So, the year 1224 seems somewhat illogical as a choice to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Jochi Ulus. The question arises: why are the authorities in Kazakhstan planning to commemorate this particular date unless it is for its roundness and antiquity?
One could speculate that it is somehow related to Kazakhstan’s relationship with Russia in the realm of historical ideology. Because in 1224, the famous Western campaign of the Mongol army into the West had not yet occurred, during which Ancient Rus was conquered. It began in 1236. In essence, we are suggesting that the Jochi Ulus state itself was established even before this epochal conquest.
Why might this be important? Because by 1269, during the Talas Kurultai, the Jochi Ulus already tightly controlled the Ancient Rus lands, collecting heavy taxes from them. By this time, Alexander Nevsky had already visited the capital of the Jochi Ulus, the city of Sarai in the Lower Volga region, to seek approval. Since 1261, the Sarai Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church had been located there.
However, in 1224, none of this existed. There was only Jochi Khan’s headquarters near the Irtysh River. The Mongol forces led by Subotai and Jebe had just returned from their campaign in the Black Sea region, where in 1223 they defeated a coalition of southern Rus princes and Kipchaks near the Kalka River. However, on their way back, they suffered a defeat from the Volga Bulgars, considered ancestors of the modern Volga Tatars.
Indeed, both of these Mongol commanders, Subotai and Jebe, did not answer to the 15-year-old Batu and his brothers at that time, including the elder Orda and the younger Shiban and Tuka-Timur. They didn’t even answer to Jochi himself, who was still alive in 1224. Jochi and his sons did not yet have their own army, which is essential for statehood along with the administration. The army included Chinese, Koreans, Tanguts, Arabs, and settled populations of Central Asia.
In the subsequent years, the administration of the Jochi Ulus was primarily composed of people from Khwarazm. They laid the foundations of governance when the Jochi Ulus expanded to the Volga and the Black Sea regions. Meanwhile, the army mainly consisted of Kipchaks with Mongol commanders. However, this occurred after 1224, around the 1240s.
Therefore, it’s unclear why the authorities decided to celebrate the 800th anniversary, counting the history of the Jochi Ulus from 1224. We’ll have to wait for the upcoming seven-volume history of Kazakhstan, mentioned by President Tokayev in his interview. Presumably, it will offer some justification for this decision.