Editing Tokhtamysh (section)

==First Timurid invasion into the Golden Horde and its aftermath==
{{main|Tokhtamysh–Timur war}}
[[File:Timur.jpeg|thumb|Timur and his troops gather to launch a war against Tokhtamysh.]]
Timur determined to take the initiative and strike decisively into Tokhtamysh's core territories. Gathering a large army, he set out in February 1391 from [[Tashkent]], ignored Tokhtamysh's envoys seeking peace, and struck into the territories of the former Ulus of Orda. But for four months of traveling and hunting, Timur failed to catch up with Tokhtamysh, who had seemingly retreated northwards. Only after reaching the headwaters of the [[Tobol]] did Timur discover that Tokhtamysh was regrouping to the west, across the [[Ural (river)|Ural]] and planning to defend the crossing. Timur advanced on the Ural and crossed it farther upstream, causing Tokhtamysh to retreat in the direction of the [[Volga]], where he could expect the arrival of reinforcements from the Crimea, [[Bolghar]], and even Russia. Determined to preempt this, Timur caught up with Tokhtamysh and forced him to give [[Battle of the Kondurcha River|battle at the Kondurcha river]], on 18 June 1391. The hard-fought battle ended in the rout of Tokhtamysh's forces and his flight from the battlefield; many of his soldiers, trapped between the enemy and the Volga, were captured or slaughtered. Timur and his victorious army celebrated for over a month by the banks of the Volga. Surprisingly, he did not attempt to consolidate his control over the area before heading for home.<ref>Howorth 1880: 239–248; Grousset 1970: 438–440; Seleznëv 2009: 183–184; Počekaev 2010: 170–171.</ref>

At their request, Timur left behind two princes descended from Tuqa-Timur, [[Temür Qutlugh|Tīmūr Qutluq]] (son of Qutluq Tīmūr) and Kunche Oghlan (Tīmūr Qutluq's paternal uncle), as well as the [[Manghud|Manghit]] emir [[Edigu]] (Tīmūr Qutluq's maternal uncle).<ref>Gaev 2002: 54; Vohidov 2006: 46; Počekaev 2010: 171.</ref> This is sometimes interpreted as Timur's investiture of Tīmūr Qutluq as khan,<ref>May 2018: 307.</ref> but that seems unlikely: the three were supposed to recruit additional troop for the Timurid army. Only Kunche Oghlan remained faithful to his vow, and returned to Timur with his recruits, before deserting Tokhtamysh the next year. Meanwhile, Tīmūr Qutluq and Egidu struck out on their own with a growing following and appear to have declared Tīmūr Qutluq khan in the left (eastern) wing of the Golden Horde. One of Tokhtamysh's commanders, Beg Pūlād (possibly a grandson of Urus Khan), who had escaped from the Battle of Kondurcha, had declared himself khan at Sarai in the expectation that Tokhtamysh had perished.<ref>Howorth 1880: 248–249; Grousset 1970: 440; Seleznëv 2009: 184; Počekaev 2010: 171–172.</ref>

Tokhtamysh had survived and still commanded sufficient authority and manpower to strike back. Defeating and expelling Beg Pūlād from Sarai, Tokhtamysh chased him into the Crimea and, after besieging him in [[Staryi Krym|Solkhat]], finally killed him. Another would-be challenger in the Crimea, Tokhtamysh's second cousin Tāsh Tīmūr, temporarily recognized Tokhtamysh's rule but retained some autonomy. Tokhtamysh dealt similarly with Edigu, coming to terms with him in exchange for his submission, and leaving him with autonomous authority in the east, greatly weakening the position of Tīmūr Qutluq. Tokhtamysh felt powerful enough to demand tribute from the Polish King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]] in 1393 for the lands his father, Grand Duke [[Algirdas]] of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], had taken from the Golden Horde in the past. His demands were met. Tokhtamysh sought to create an anti-Timurid coalition once more, reaching out to the Mamluk sultan Barqūq, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] sultan [[Bayezit I]], and the [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] king [[George VII of Georgia|Giorgi VII]]. Timur retaliated by invading Georgia. Although he seems to have had troubles with his own emirs in the summer of 1394, that autumn Tokhtamysh was able to raid across the Caucasus into [[Shirvan]]. The approach of Timur caused an immediate retreat.<ref>Howorth 1880: 250–251; Grousset 1970: 440–441; Seleznëv 2009: 184; Počekaev 2010: 172–173.</ref>