The Horde's Steppe Capital: Life Inside Sarai

This episode of Fexingo History takes you inside Sarai, the magnificent but now-vanished capital of the Golden Horde. Lucas and Luna explore the city's founding by Batu Khan on the lower Volga, its sprawling layout of tents and brick buildings, and its role as a hub of trade, craftsmanship, and multicultural coexistence. They discuss archaeological finds—Chinese silk, Persian ceramics, Russian armor—that reveal Sarai's reach across Eurasia. The episode also covers Sarai Berke, the second capital built by Khan Berke further upstream, and the city's decline during the Great Troubles. Listeners learn about the paiza system of administration, the city's water supply via clay pipes, and the everyday life of its diverse inhabitants: Mongols, Kipchaks, Alans, Russians, and Italians. Lucas recounts the account of the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited Sarai in the 1330s and described its bustling markets and religious tolerance. The episode ends with the city's destruction by Tamerlane in 1395 and its slow disappearance under the steppe grass. #Sarai #GoldenHorde #BatuKhan #KhanBerke #IbnBattuta #MongolEmpire #VolgaRiver #MedievalCity #SteppeCapital #Jochi #PaxMongolica #Tamerlane #GreatTroubles #Archaeology #SilkRoad #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo