The Mongols and the Black Sea Trade in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450)

The inclusion of the Black Sea basin into the long-distance trade network – with its two axes of the Silk Road through the Golden Horde (Urgench-Sarai-Tana/Caffa) and the Spice Road through the Ilkhanate (Ormuz-Tabriz-Trebizond) – was the two Mongol states’ most important contribution to making the sea a “crossroads of international commerce”. The closest recorded working relationship between European and Asian powers in the medieval period, achieved by the joint efforts of the Chinggisid rulers and the Italian merchant republics, was not realised via the usual geographic channels of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Fertile Crescent, but rather by roundabout routes to the Black Sea. Thus at the same time as the sea fulfilled its function as a crossroads of long-distance Eurasian trade, it was also a bypass. Contents 5 Acknowledgements 7 List of Maps 9 1 Preliminary Remarks 11 1.1 The Mongols and Trade 12 1.1.1 Sources and Historiographical Concepts 13 1.1.2 The Khan and the Merchants: A Symbiotic Relationship 18 1.1.3 The Silk Road as the Spine of Eurasian Commerce 30 1.1.4 The Nomads and the Silk Road 33 1.2 The Mongols and the Black Sea 40 1.2.1 Continental Possessions, Maritime Horizons 40 1.2.2 Expansion and Blockade 42 1.2.3 The Black Sea—A Crossroads of Eurasian Trade 44 2 The Mongol Expansion and the Eurasian Commercial Axes 47 2.1 The Silk Road as a Channel for Expansion 47 2.1.1 Chinggis Khan and the Silk Road 47 2.1.2 The Silk Road Under the Protectorate of the Golden Horde 52 2.2 The Spice Road: Assault on the Fertile Crescent 65 2.2.1 The Last Pan-Mongol Campaign to the West: Half a Victory 65 2.2.2 The Ilkhanate—Chief Beneficiary of Western Asian Expansion 68 3 The Disintegration of the Empire: Intra- and Extra-Mongol Commercial Rivalries 71 3.1 The Jochid-Ilkhanid Struggle for Tabriz 71 3.2 Cilician Armenia in the Ilkhanid-Mamluk Struggle for the Fertile Crescent 78 3.3 Political Consequences: The Sarai-Cairo-Tabriz Triangle 98 3.3.1 The Sarai-Cairo Axis and its Allies 99 3.3.2 The Ilkhanid-Genoese Alliance 105 3.4 The Commercial Implications: Connecting the Black Sea to the Eurasian Trade Network 105 3.4.1 The Jochid Branch: Urgench-Sarai-Tana/Caffa 106 3.4.2 The Ilkhanid Branch: Tabriz-Trebizond 124 4 The Golden Horde and the Black Sea 151 4.1 The Origin of the Golden Horde’s Black Sea Policy 151 4.1.1 The Cumans and the Black Sea Trade 151 4.1.2 Batu: Black Sea Trade in the Shadow of Tabriz 154 4.1.3 Berke and the Loss of Tabriz: The Basis of the Golden Horde’s Black Sea Policy 158 4.2 Cooperation and Confrontation with the Italian Merchant Republics 160 4.2.1 The Beginnings 162 4.2.2 Noghai and Toqta, the Genoese and Venetians: The Battle for the Black Sea Trade 167 4.2.3 Toqta: Cooperation and Rupture 173 4.2.4 Özbek: Cooperation Reaches Its Peak 183 4.2.5 Janibek: The Great Rupture 209 4.2.6 Berdibek and Mamai: The Low Point 229 4.2.7 Toqtamïsh: A Brief Revival 235 4.3 The Problem of the Straits and the Tartar Solution 251 4.3.1 The Battle for the Straits and for the Seljuk Sultanate 251 4.3.2 A Guardian of the Straits: The Khanate of the Lower Danube 258 4.3.3 Tartar Policy Between the Carpathians and the Straits After the End of Noghai’s Khanate 269 5 Conclusion: The Black Sea, Crossroads and Bypass of Eurasian Trade 291 The Main Chinggisid Rulers 293 Bibliography 295 Index 311 Preliminary Remarks -- The Mongol Expansion And The Eurasian Commercial Axes -- The Disintegration Of The Empire : Intra- And Extra-mongol Commercial Rivalries -- The Commercial Implications : Connecting The Black Sea To The Eurasian Trade Network -- The Golden Horde And The Black Sea -- Cooperation And Confrontation With The Italian Merchant Republics -- The Problem Of The Straits And The Tartar Solution -- Conclusion: The Black Sea, Crossroads And Bypass Of Eurasian Trade. By Virgil Ciocîltan ; Translated By Samuel Willcocks. Translation Of: Mongolii și Marea Neagră în Secolele Xiii-xiv. Originally Presented As Author's Thesis (doctoral)--1998. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [285]-300) And Index.