ABSTRACT
The Jochid Ulus was established in 1224/5 when Chinggis Khan decided to reward his eldest son for a successful campaign (1218–22) against the eastern Qipchaqs and the Qangli and the conquest of Urgench. As a result of twenty-five years of military conquest, the Jochid Ulus became the largest part of the Mongol Empire, with lands extending from the upper reaches of the Irtysh River to the Lower Danube, which were divided into three parts. The eastern part (often referred to as the Blue Horde, although a number of researchers question the validity of using this term) of the Ulus stretched from the Yaik River to the upper Irtysh. Its western part, stretching from the Yaik River to the north of the Aral Sea, was governed by the descendants of the fifth son of Jochi, Shiban (d. 1266).
