The Horde's Black Death: How Plague Broke Mongol Russia

In the 1340s, the Black Death swept across Eurasia, and the Golden Horde was ground zero. This episode traces the pandemic's arrival in the Horde's heartland—the lower Volga and Sarai—and its devastating consequences for the Mongol administration of Russia. We explore how the plague disrupted trade routes, triggered a succession crisis after Khan Janibeg's death, and killed off tax collectors and census-takers, effectively loosening the Horde's grip on its Russian principalities. The episode draws on the Nikon Chronicle's accounts of pestilence in Novgorod and Pskov, archaeological evidence from cemeteries along the Volga, and the theories of historian Ole J. Benedictow about the plague's spread via the Mongol trade network. We also examine the role of the Genoese trading colony of Caffa—and the infamous story of plague corpses being catapulted over its walls. The pandemic didn't end Mongol rule overnight, but it created the conditions for Moscow's rise by weakening the Horde at a critical moment. #BlackDeath #GoldenHorde #MongolRussia #Caffa #KhanJanibeg #Sarai #VolgaRiver #NikonChronicle #Plague #Moscow #Novgorod #Genoese #Epidemiology #MedievalHistory #CentralAsia #History #FexingoHistory #MongolEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo