Jochi in the context of "White Horde"

The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus (lit. 'Great State' in Turkic), was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century, originating from the northwestern part of the Mongol Empire. After the division of the Mongol Empire in 1259, it became a functionally independent khanate. It is also known as the Kipchak Khanate or the Ulus of Jochi, and replaced the earlier, less organized Cuman–Kipchak confederation.

It originally consisted of the lands bequeathed to Jochi (d. 1225). It greatly grew in size under Batu Khan, the founder of the Blue Horde. After Batu's death in 1255, his dynasty flourished for a full century, until 1359, though the intrigues of Nogai instigated a partial civil war in the late 1290s. The Horde's military power peaked during the reign of Özbeg Khan (1312–1341), who adopted Islam. The territory of the Golden Horde at its peak extended from Siberia and Central Asia to parts of Eastern Europe from the Urals to the Danube in the west, and from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea in the south, while bordering the Caucasus Mountains and the territories of the Mongol dynasty known as the Ilkhanate.

Batu Khan (c. 1205–1255) was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, a constituent of the Mongol Empire established after Genghis Khan's demise. Batu was a son of Jochi, thus a grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus ruled over the Kievan Rus', Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, and the Caucasus for around 250 years.
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Nogai, or Noğay (Kypchak and Turki: نوغای; also spelled Nogay, Nogaj, Nohai, Nokhai, Noqai, Ngoche, Noche, Kara Nokhai, and Isa Nogai; died 1299/1300) was a general and kingmaker of the Golden Horde. His great grandfather was Jochi, son of Genghis Khan.

Though he never formally ruled the Golden Horde himself, he was effectively the co-ruler of the state alongside whatever khan was in power at the time and had unrestricted control over the portions west of the Dnieper. At his height, Nogai was one of the most powerful men in Europe and widely thought of as the Horde's true head. The Russian chroniclers gave him the title of tsar, and the Franciscan missionaries in the Crimea spoke of him as a co-emperor. Nogai was also a notable convert to Islam.

The Nogai Horde was a confederation founded by the Nogais that occupied the Pontic–Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by the Kalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called the Manghuds constituted a core of the Nogai Horde.

From the 1250s to about 1300, the Golden Horde's kingmaker Nogai Khan (a direct descendant of Genghis Khan through Jochi) formed an army of the Manghits joined by numerous Turkic tribes. Around a century later in the 1390s, the Nogays were led by Edigu, a commander of Manghit paternal origin and Jochid maternal origin, who founded the Nogai dynasty.

The Khanate of Sibir (Siberian Tatar: Себер Ҡаннығы, romanized: Seber Qannïq; Russian: Сибирское царство, Сибирский юрт, romanized: Sibirskoye tsarstvo, Sibirsky yurt) was a Tatar state in western Siberia. It was founded at the end of the 15th century, following the break-up of the Golden Horde. Throughout its history, members of the Shaybanid and Taibugid dynasties often contested the rulership over the Khanate between each other; both of these competing tribes were direct patrilineal descendants of Genghis Khan through his eldest son Jochi and Jochi's fifth son Shayban (Shiban) (died 1266). The area of the Khanate had once formed an integral part of the Mongol Empire, and later came under the control of the White Horde, and under the Golden Horde from 1242 to 1468.

The Khanate of Sibir had an ethnically diverse population of Turkic peoples – Siberian Tatars and various Uralic peoples – including the Khanty, the Mansi, and the Selkup. The Sibir Khanate was the northernmost Muslim state in recorded history. Its defeat by Yermak Timofeyevich in 1582 marked the beginning of the Russian conquest of Siberia.

The Shibanids or Shaybanids, more accurately known as the Abul-Khayrid-Shibanids, were a Culturally Persianate Dynasty of Uzbek (Turko-Mongol) origin who ruled over the Khanate of Bukhara (from 1505 to 1598), the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) (from 1511 to 1695), and the Khanate of Sibir (from 1563 until 1598). Their territory included most of modern-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and parts of Russia (including West Siberia) in the 15-16th century (1428-1599). They were succeeded by the Janid dynasty (1599 to 1785).

They were the patrilineal descendants of Shiban, the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Until the mid-14th century, they acknowledged the authority of the descendants of Shiban's brothers Batu Khan and Orda Khan, such as Öz Beg Khan. The Shaybanids originally led the Gray Horde southeast of the Urals (also known as the Uzbegs, after the Uzbeks), and converted to Islam in 1282. At its height, the Khanate included parts of modern-day Afghanistan and other parts of Central Asia.

The siege of Gurganj occurred during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. The siege's length is variable, with historians such as Rashid al-Din Hamadani stating that it lasted for seven months, but it is largely agreed that it ended with the defeat and annihilation of the city in April 1221. Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged assault on the Khwarazmian Empire, ruled by Shah Muhammad II. Through a combination of efficient planning and excellent manoeuvering, the Khan's army managed to take the border town of Otrar swiftly, followed by the large cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. The siege, among others, was witnessed by the Persian biographer Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi, who recorded an account in Arabic c. 1241.

Genghis sent a detachment, led by his sons Jochi and Chagatai, northwest to lay siege to the former capital of Gurganj. Immensely wealthy, the city lay on marshy grounds on the delta of the Amu Darya, making it difficult to assault. Adapting to the lack of stones to use as projectiles, the Mongols cut down huge groves of mulberry trees, soaked the trunks in water to harden them, and used them as battering rams and catapult projectiles.

Tolui (c. 1191 – 1232) was the youngest son of Genghis Khan and Börte. A prominent general during the early Mongol conquests, Tolui was a leading candidate to succeed his father after his death in 1227 and ultimately served as regent of the Mongol Empire until the accession of his brother Ögedei two years later. Tolui's wife was Sorghaghtani Beki; their sons included Möngke and Kublai, the fourth and fifth khans of the empire, and Hulagu, the founder of the Ilkhanate.

Tolui was less active than his elder brothers Jochi, Chagatai, and Ögedei during their father's rise to power, but once he reached adulthood he was considered the finest warrior of the four. He commanded armies under his father during the first invasion of Jin China (1211–1215), and his distinguished service during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire secured his reputation. After the fall of the cities of Transoxiana in 1220, Genghis dispatched Tolui early the following year to subjugate the region of Khorasan, which had begun to cause trouble for the Mongol armies. Tolui executed his orders with ruthless efficiency, assaulting the major cities of Merv, Nishapur, and Herat, and subjugating numerous others. Medieval chroniclers attributed more than three million deaths to the massacres he ordered at Nishapur and Merv; while these figures are considered exaggerated by modern historians, they are evidence of the abnormal brutality of Tolui's campaign.

Ögedei Khan (also Ögedei Khagan or Ogodei; c. 1186  – 11 December 1241) was the second khan of the Mongol Empire. The third son of Genghis Khan, he continued the expansion of the empire that his father had begun.

Born in c. 1186 AD, Ögedei fought in numerous battles during his father's rise to power. After being granted a large appanage and taking a number of wives, including Töregene, he played a prominent role in the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. When his older brothers Jochi and Chagatai quarrelled over strategies when besieging Gurganj, Genghis appointed Ögedei sole commander; his successful capture of the city in 1221 ensured his military reputation. He was confirmed as heir after further infighting between his elder brothers led to both being excluded from succession plans. Genghis died in 1227, and Ögedei was elected as khan in 1229, after a two-year regency led by his younger brother Tolui.