Radik Temirgaliev and Zhaksylyk Sabitov: We are the Heirs of the Golden Horde (The Radik Chronicles)

Departure looms with no tickets in hand, prompting a last-minute search on Aves.kz. Destinations range from Kazakhstan’s southern capital, where a meeting awaits, to Oslo or New York, with the option to go anywhere from Sri Lanka to Casablanca. A May 2 return is chosen, and the cheapest fare is found but left unspoken. In an hour the airport awaits, suitcase ready and mood steady, while the guests will manage without them.

An experimental project launches with the host stepping in as presenter, and a link in the video description directs viewers to the Khroniki Radika channel for future videos. The first guest, Zhomart Arsen, joins as interviewee, with thanks to supporters who responded immediately. An informal tone sets the stage. Focus: the Golden Horde—from dawn to dusk—with room for a few additional questions.

Smears About "Sart-Kalmak" and the Reality of Argin Ancestry Rumors branded the subject a "Sart-Kalmak from Kyrgyzstan" who supposedly received Kazakh citizenship personally from Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1997 for unclear reasons. In reality, the paternal line is Argin—Atigai, then Basan—and the maternal line is also Kazakh Argin. A maternal uncle, Rahimbek Sabataev, has a street named after him. The smear likely fused several dislikes—toward Kalmyks, toward the person, and toward neighbors—amplified by positive remarks about Kyrgyz, producing the "Sart-Kalmak" label. There is no "1997" story.

Fabricated Attacks, Appointment Timing, and Leadership Strain Two years ago, Telegram channels and websites pushed an information campaign alleging detentions in Hungary, government-level rescues, a bogus surname, and other fabrications. Complaints reached state bodies, stitching fragments of truth to piles of falsehood, including the claim that he had “proved” Nazarbayev descends from Genghis Khan, though he explicitly wrote the opposite. The surge coincided with an appointment as director of the Institute for the Study of the Ulus of Jochi. The hardest part of that role is time: personal research shrank as management meant assigning tasks, getting no results, and hearing polished excuses that echo past self-justifications.

A Scientific Revolution in Golden Horde Studies In the 1990s and 2000s, a vast body of primary sources and historiography on the Golden Horde accumulated, leading by the late 2000s to a qualitative leap. Previously scattered lines of inquiry coalesced into a real scholarly community where vigorous debate generated new knowledge. Unlike the long silence that often greets work on the Kazakh Khanate, Golden Horde research elicits immediate, constructive criticism and reveals like‑minded peers, enabling lively discussion without damaging relationships.

Laying the Groundwork for Kazakh Khanate Research The institute is completing a project on the history of the Chagatai Ulus/Moghulistan—with monographs, translations, and an encyclopedia—while launching a major program on the Kazakh Khanate. The Khanate’s history is still weakly studied: many khans are not yet in the canon and numerous sources remain untranslated. Unlike the Golden Horde’s multilingual record, materials for the Khanate up to the sixteenth century are overwhelmingly Persian (about 90–95%), requiring extensive translation. Few specialists can both translate these texts and perform internal source criticism, so current efforts are only an initial attempt to reconstruct the Khanate’s early history.

Regional Elites, Not the Center, Shape Historical Memory Work on historical memory and nation-building in the Nazarbayev era challenges the myth of a centralized policy that imposes a single narrative, showing that regional forces decide street renamings and monuments. Each region elevates its own heroes through local elites who set their own agenda. The politics of commemoration often depends on persistence, patronage, and money, illustrated by a five‑year effort to rename a street without paying an informal $50,000 demand. Even familiar names coexist with unclear toponyms, reflecting uneven influence, possible corruption, and whether heirs or foundations are willing and able to sustain a commemoration.

From Soviet Ruin Narrative to National Historiographies The USSR framed the Mongol-Tatar era as civilizational collapse, echoing Karl Marx’s image of mosques and libraries plunged into ruin and people exterminated. That destruction script persists today; for instance, Tajik historiography recounts episodes like Mongols killing 20,000 Tajiks in a city. Such accounts endure and evolve because they serve national historiographies that enrich an old Soviet stamp. The real task is to assess the period beyond these ideologically charged depictions.

Chinggis Khan Between Demonization and Nation-Building Claims Debate splits into two poles: absolute villain versus Kazakh hero and founder of statehood. The balanced view places truth in the middle: neither final scoundrel nor direct founder of Kazakh statehood. Language offers no anchor—Kazakh or Turkic were not his native speech, and focusing on language doesn’t bring him closer. Old myths persist while newer narratives seek to appropriate elements that may not fully belong to national history, even as his influence touched many states.

Jochi as the Founder of Kazakh Statehood Jochi and the Jochids are framed as the founders of statehood, likened to a Kazakh Rurik and to Viking founders in Europe. This positioning elevates Jochi as the foundational figure whose role defines the origins of political order on the steppe. Against this backdrop, attention turns to his parentage and authority.

Paternity Uncertain: Sources and Political Legitimacy Whether Jochi was Genghis Khan’s biological son remains unresolved, with arguments on both sides. The Secret History of the Mongols contains archaic motifs and politicized claims that question his legitimacy, complicating a straightforward reading. His mausoleum seems to have been built shortly after his death by descendants, yet this does not settle his parentage and calls for cautious, multi-source evaluation.

Genetics Can Clarify, But Context Is Crucial Forthcoming genetic studies of burials attributed to Jochi and other Chinggisids may offer clarity, yet genetic results can mislead, as shown by misattributed elite burials like Tavan Tolgoi. Robust conclusions demand correlating radiocarbon dates, construction histories of mausoleums, genetics of descendants (including full Y-chromosome sequences and proposed clusters), and cross-checked textual analysis. Burial contexts are often layered—Oghuz-era tombs reused by Naimans and Tashkent structures later repurposed as mausoleums show how later interments can redefine ancestral memory, a risk also relevant to the remains attributed to Jochi.

Co-Ruler of the Right Wing and an Unsettled End Jochi was assigned to the Kipchak steppe, initially objecting to being granted already-conquered lands, then choosing to remain after being captivated by the region. His status aligns with the Turkic yabghu/jabghu model: effectively second in the state, head of the right wing, a junior co-ruler and potential successor. Succession remains debated, and the circumstances of his death are unresolved—scenarios range from rivalry with Chagatai to accident, with insufficient evidence to close the case.

Reassessing the Golden Horde as a Kipchak Khanate The long-standing thesis, especially in Soviet-era scholarship, cast the Golden Horde as a Kipchak khanate. New analyses disrupted this consensus by contrasting the old conception with data such as the modest share of Kipchak ancestry among modern Kazakhs. The central question shifted to how extensive the Kipchak element actually was in the Golden Horde. The discussion then quieted for lack of sufficiently clear data to deliver a definitive answer.

Elite Expansion, Mass Admixture, and a Dual Genetic Outcome The incoming groups comprised Eastern Turks and Mongols, initially perhaps 25–33% of the whole, yet occupying high social positions. Their status promoted rapid lineage growth through many wives and children, mostly via marriages with local women, producing broad mixing. Both perspectives hold: numerous Kipchaks strongly shaped the autosomal makeup, while elite lineages expanded in number and, through admixture, became autosomally similar to Kipchaks. Autosomes are the 44 non-sex chromosomes that capture this overall genetic portrait.

Early Muslim Presence and Urban Foundations in the Ulus of Jochi Islam was present early around Jochi: one wife was a Khwarazm Shah’s daughter, a son was named Muhammad, and some even say Jochi or Batu were Muslims. Across the Golden Horde, regions like Khwarazm, Bulgar, and Crimea were already strongly Islamic, with cities hosting large Muslim populations; anthropological data tied those urban dwellers to Bulgars and Central Asian populations. This urban base fused with the steppe element, marking the epoch when the region’s ancestors became Muslims.

Trade, Power, and the Muslim Alliance Reshape the Steppe After Uzbek defeated his rivals, he effectively concluded an alliance with the Islamic party. That party sought a strong khanal power and urban infrastructure to support trade from Crimea to China so the Great Silk Road would flourish. Earlier, Buddhists had prevailed, but later the Islamic side took revenge as the political elite’s aims matched Muslim circles’ desire for a strong state, strong cities, and robust commerce. Pragmatic politicians aligned with the dominant ideology, formally adopting Islam, and this conformity became a lasting trend.

No Unified Tengrianism and Berke’s Timed Conversion Secure Islam’s Triumph Multiple religious parties operated in and around the Golden Horde—strong Christian currents (Catholics founded centers, Orthodox had the Sarai eparchy) and Buddhists—while claims of a single Tengrian religion are rejected, with Saka-era origins deemed unlikely. The Mongols had a native, natural belief system with few recorded specifics and no strong institutions or codified ideology, so across the uluses it quickly yielded to Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam. Berke, acquainted with the Quran since youth yet concealing his faith, declared Islam when the empire’s breakup became apparent, wrote to Baybars to ally against the khan, and showed that had the Golden Horde remained within the Mongol Empire, Islam might not have prevailed. With geopolitical isolation around 1263–1264, Mongol religion receded, and even newcomers from Mongolia—whose only recorded advantage was ‘calling rain with a stone’—rapidly embraced Islam upon reaching Khwarazm and then Iran.

Peak Power and Urban Flourishing under Uzbek Khan At the start of the 14th century, under Uzbek Khan, the Golden Horde reached its height. The economy prospered and a vast urban network took shape, with more than a hundred cities and Sarai counting about 75,000 inhabitants. European towns of the time typically held only 10–15 thousand, making this scale exceptional. A powerful army underpinned this civilization, and neighboring states trembled.

Plague and Succession Chaos Break the Horde The Black Death of the 1340s devastated the urban core, annihilating places like Almaty and sharply weakening central authority. A succession crisis followed: after Berdi Bek eliminated his brothers and died, Taidula cycled candidates, a false pretender appeared, and even a Christian with two sons—Mikhail and Ivan—sat on the Golden Horde’s throne. With no clear direct heirs and an overabundance of collateral branches, civil wars erupted. Polygamy multiplied contenders, unlike European primogeniture that reinforced continuity, so by the third generation struggles for power became routine in realms such as the Nogai Horde and the Kazakh Khanate. Reforms like Mehmed II’s fratricide law or abolishing polygamy were absent or untenable, and contemporaries failed to see the causal link.

Timur’s Devastation and the Triumph of the Steppe Timur’s campaigns smashed the Golden Horde’s cities and finished the work of destruction. Afterward, the nomadic element became dominant, and the steppe’s sea swallowed the state’s remaining structures. In the late fourteenth century, across the uluses of the former Mongol Empire—Chagatai and Jochi—a broader rise unfolded.

Tribal Elites Rise to Power, Turning Khans into Puppets Across the steppe, emirs and beks from powerful tribes seized real authority, reducing khans to puppets. In January 1313, Uzbek’s state revolution in the Golden Horde swept away ulus governors and installed tribal nobility, abruptly strengthening the Kipchaks and other nearby clans. Amid the ensuing turmoil, Kiyat figures like Mamai, Taidula of the Kipchak, and Kungrad descendants such as Khusein Aufi in Khwarazm emerged as decisive actors.

Cohesive Clans Beat Dynastic Rivalry In the Chagatai realm under Timur, a tightly knit Barlas network—half his commanders—pulled in one direction, unlike the Jochid sphere where two Jochids meant two rival pretenders. Tribal coalitions functioned as political parties, unburdened by dynastic legitimacy and focused on elevating their own. Had the Jochids stayed dominant, the Golden Horde would likely have remained a confederation where figures like Nogai could stage “legitimate” rebellions against the khan. The notion that Chinggis Khan endlessly reshuffled tribes is overstated: he combined tribal thousands with composite thousands, letting the loyal keep their own units—even tens of thousands—while assigning the unreliable to mixed formations. Later petitions restored uluses with his permission, reassembling the administrative matrix.

From Kiyat Privilege to a New Power Quartet In the Jochi Ulus, the Kiyat—Genghis Khan’s own tribe and kin of the Chinggisids—held early privilege and elevated power. By the early 15th century, dominance shifts to a quartet: Argyn, Barlas, Kipchak, and Shirin, with Manti also noted. The Kiyat do not disappear: the Glinski princes, descendants of Mamai (the Cossack Mamai), moved to Moscow and through the female line became ancestors of Ivan the Terrible. Modern Kiyat persist among Karakalpaks and Shashk, and possibly among Tortkara Alshyns, though this needs study and genetic evidence is still lacking.

She(m)-Linked Ascendancy and the Narrowing of ‘Kipchak’ Kiyat influence is later edged out by tribes closely connected with Shem, whose rise under a khan enlarged their power. Within the broad ‘Kipchak’ label, the account narrows to two specific lineages: Ulme Kipchak and Kulan Kipchak. Manti have their own trajectory, moving from the Jochi Ulus to Asia Minor, then Egypt, and back again. Each tribe carries a distinct story, yet out of roughly 92 tribes only about ten are well understood, with the rest scarcely studied.

From Künget/Khungtov Exogamy to Endogamy in the Kazakh Khanate Sources record Genghis Khan’s directive that his descendants take wives from the Künget/Khungtov, famed for beauty, whose rank could stand above his own sons and grandsons. Over time this covenant fades by the third or fourth generation, and Genghisids continue instead to marry daughters of powerful beks to secure tribal backing. With the rise of the Kazakh Khanate, a new pattern emerges: marriages are concluded within their own circle. As Darkhan argues, this shift avoids granting legitimacy to tribal leaders and reflects the enduring “sons‑in‑law problem,” though no single rule applies and each case must be judged on its own.

Choose Scholarly Articles Over Fiction To expand understanding of the Golden Horde, prioritize scholarly articles rather than novels. Kochevniki is praised yet remains artistic literature, and the Altyn Orda novel is judged harshly despite respect for its author’s memory. Zhestokii vek offers a strong retelling of the Secret History and of Temujin’s drive to change the world. Amid these choices, Chanov stands out as a capable, underrated historian.

A Field in Flux: New Sources, Shifting Narratives, and Cautious Recommendations Popular-science books on the Golden Horde age quickly because new scholarship appears faster than authors can keep up. A planned monograph based on a dissertation stalled for years as fresh articles forced constant revisions, and an ongoing influx of sources—especially numismatics—keeps reshaping the field. Broader syntheses prove risky, while narrower studies, such as on individual khanates, are easier to manage. For advanced readers, Safargaliev remains valuable despite Soviet-era ideology, having laid much groundwork; earlier work by Farli in 1960 drew censure for challenging Grekov, revealing how politics and ideology shaped the struggle over the Golden Horde’s legacy.

The Golden Horde’s Legacy Is Common, Not Exclusive Competing narratives frame Horde descent as either a source of pride or a burden that stifles development, but the Golden Horde was a vast state with many heirs. No single nation is the main or sole successor; every people once within it inherited its own share. Dividing this heritage or fighting for primogeniture makes no sense.

Disputed Heroes Need Real Research, Not Primacy Claims Golden Horde and Kazakh histories hold many figures that different nations may claim—or reject—as their own. Mukhamed Shaibani is unwanted by both Kazakhs and Uzbeks, yet remains a figure worth studying. Before declaring admired heroes “only ours,” proper biographies and translations are needed; for some there are no books at all, and about Zhalan Tos only a couple of articles exist. Their lives were far richer than what limited, poorly translated sources currently reveal.

Imperfect, Contradictory Heroes Bring Truth and Interest Zhalan Tos’s real life included major intrigue—deposing someone and wielding strong influence—closer to Petyr Baelish or Varys than to a spotless patriot likely to appear on screen. The era of all-white heroes is dull; modern audiences need characters with strengths and flaws, like Peter Parker or Iron Man. A gripping contrast can pit an immoral policeman against a devout, family man mafioso who still sells drugs, exposing complexity beyond black-and-white pictures. Scholars must lay the groundwork so filmmakers can base realistic scripts on solid study; until a person is properly researched, writing one is difficult.

Write Story-Driven Textbooks That Emotionally Engage History of Kazakhstan often becomes a least‑liked, boring subject because it is reduced to test drilling. Textbooks are written to avoid contradicting the state standard rather than to captivate. Pages should open like stories that emotionally hook a child: a protagonist emerges, faces conflict, rises to power, and resolves it. Even arcs like an unloved elder son’s rise and wars with China stick better than dates when each ruler’s journey is clearly mapped.

Use Games and Accurate Comics to Animate the Golden Horde Beyond dry pages, applied games can turn history into lived choices. A Golden Horde board game can plunge players into a time of great turmoil with eight dynasties and eight tribes—six later among the Kazakhs—letting them fight for their tribe while learning ancestors, allegiances, and each khan’s traits. Historically faithful comics can storyboard future films and short videos, and simple formats like “10 facts about a khan” add quick entry points.

Create Infographics and an Organization to Update Public Knowledge Compressed visuals matter: about 350 infographics—roughly 50 per volume—can deliver core knowledge fast. A dedicated organization should popularize research by updating Wikipedia, where pages on khans and batyrs still echo 1980s data used by students. Patrons or the state can fund it, but past state-backed articles, often copied from the Encyclopedia of Kazakhstan, were timely then and now lag, demanding renewal.

Restoring Historical Justice by Reclaiming the Golden Horde Legacy Modern scholarship makes restoring historical justice urgent, renewing focus on the Golden Horde. A long-ignored “white spot” hid the prehistory of the Kazakhs and the Kazakh Khanate, which are closely bound to that era. Pre-revolutionary historians consistently recognized the Kazakhs as among the heirs of the Golden Horde, a historically reliable view. The period wrongly depicted as a centuries-long freeze was in fact dense with events that should not be ignored.

Rejecting Imperial Speculation and Soviet-Era Bias Speculations about empire and the older generation’s negative image of the Golden Horde reflect ideological residues rather than historical reality. The notion that empire is inherently evil stems from Soviet-era paradigms, underscored by a Tatar quip contrasting a 10% “yoke” tax with Moscow taking 75% of a region’s taxes today. Recognizing the Kazakhs as heirs among others—without claiming exclusivity—avoids such distortions. The task is to leave old paradigms behind and simply restore the history that was once crossed out, without building a new grand ideology.

Golden Horde Onscreen Requires Rigorous, Cinematic Storytelling A prime minister announced a slate of projects on the Golden Horde, including a feature film and a TV series. The key is to see not just activity but crafted storytelling, because history works onscreen only when shaped by the rules of a screenplay. The narrative must be cinematic rather than left as undramatized chronicle.

Berke’s Arc: A Muslim Khan Who Saved the Golden Horde Berke offers the strongest feature-film spine: a Muslim among Mongols and a Mongol among Muslims, hiding his faith until he took power. He tried to preserve the Mongol Empire, then, recognizing the danger, chose independence for the Golden Horde. Amid Arik-Buga and Algu’s strife, he stopped Algu before the Volga, faced Hulagu at the Terek without promised support, executed Burak’s betrayal, and quickly calmed unrest in the Russian principalities. Taking up the staff and organizing resistance, he kept the Horde from being swallowed. The arc can close with victory over Hulagu and his bitter line about infighting, with threads to Baybars, Qutuz (linked through their mothers), and Jalal al-Din.

Serializing the Horde by Periods, Not Myths A series works best by dedicating each season to a distinct period: Jochi; then Batu and Berke; then the newer generation; and so on. Spanning roughly eight periods, the whole saga can be shown. Scholarship already holds ample material to adapt—use it and avoid inventing what isn’t needed.

Taboos, Target Audience, and a Game‑of‑Thrones Tone Cultural taboos and past backlash—such as outrage over portraying a revered ancestress as a woman of easy virtue—restrain directors. Everything hinges on the primary audience: a diverse domestic public or the global arena. For worldwide reach, a layered, ruthless tone in the spirit of Game of Thrones fits the material; if executed well, local critics fade to the periphery. Global formulas may also demand a white male lead who arrives, marries a Kazakh woman, and assumes a major role—a slot a Bavarian adventurer could fill among many wanderers.

Script First: Clear Arcs and a Tragic Woman’s Story The outcome depends on a finished script; writing during shooting is a mistake. A protagonist must travel from point A to B through a visible inner conflict, not drown in pompous speeches by faceless khans. A potent option is Dku: a woman whose mother was killed by her father, whose husband slew that father and many brothers, who outlived her son Sultan Mahmud, and even went on Hajj in 1386. Her plea to spare captive younger brothers proved tragically wrong when, grown, they and her husband died in battle. She later became a senior matron to Crimean rulers, remembered as Dyur Janki Khatun—a universal, deeply tragic arc.

Shallow Opportunism Breeds Myths in Golden Horde Studies Projects and budgets lure opportunists into Golden Horde research, spawning superficial narratives and myth-making. Without deep immersion, their work looks shallow, and specialists in this crowded field quickly dismantle errors. Dashing into earlier medieval topics or the Kazakh Khanate may face less resistance due to fewer experts, but that only hides a lack of rigor. Either commit fully to the science or stay out.

Specialization, Not Uniformity, Creates Competitive Advantage The Soviet boxing model sought uniform technique, while the American school prized specialization. A boxer with one perfected punch, like Wilder, became champion and defended his title many times by honing that single strength. Advantage grows by deepening what you do best, not by trying to do everything. Generalists without a clear edge fall behind.

Meticulous Detail and Open Critique Make Stronger History A cohort of young researchers is making progress by writing and learning to trace facts precisely to their origins. A true historian dives into the “puddles” of detail, reconstructing where each claim comes from and how events actually unfolded. When a colleague warned others not to criticize Sabitov, the response was the opposite: please critique, and even earn a reward if it becomes a scholarly article. The critique appeared and a rebuttal is being prepared, affirming that answering reasoned criticism strengthens science, while ignoring it is mere canon-building.

Ceremonial conferences stifle science Scientific discussion and polemics belong at conferences, where learning comes from presenting, hearing criticism, and engaging with leading scholars in a free atmosphere. Instead, many gatherings devolve into parades of “wedding generals” and venerable figures speaking off topic or unprepared. Sessions often lack criticism, disputes, or discussion—just a graveyard silence as papers are read one after another. This culture drains value from conferences and undermines the development of researchers.

Deliberate confrontation of viewpoints creates new knowledge Invite participants who will criticize and argue, even if it feels uncomfortable, and force competing positions to meet where contradictions become visible. In fields like numismatics, extended discussions after reports have literally generated new knowledge by exposing overlooked facts and recombining evidence. Selectively gather people who want to debate the topic, not those chasing appearances, and make conferences narrower and more specialized. The more such collisions, the better for science.

Normalize criticism and build a productive legacy through work A toxic norm turns scholarly critique into personal enmity, scaring younger colleagues; the antidote is to show that criticism is normal and should be answered scientifically, not met with silence. Without this, science calcifies into mummified routines where the same talks repeat for decades under new titles. A forthcoming first independent conference of the Institute for the Study of the History of the Ulus of Jochi aims to embody these standards and become a school for young researchers. Legacy should be measured by output, not self-proclamation: write more articles and books, press the keys faster, and let others evaluate the work.