The Mongol Split: Berke and Hulegu's Feud

Berke Khan of the Golden Horde and his cousin Hulegu, founder of the Ilkhanate, never met on the battlefield, yet their rivalry split the Mongol Empire along a line that still shapes Central Asia and the Middle East. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace how a succession dispute over the Mongol throne in 1260 escalated into open war between the Jochid and Toluid branches. They examine Berke's conversion to Islam and how that hardened his opposition to Hulegu's destruction of Baghdad and the Abbasid Caliphate. They follow the armies to the Caucasus, where Berke's forces clashed with Hulegu's at the Terek River in 1262, a battle that ended inconclusively but set the stage for decades of animosity. Along the way, they consider the roles of the Mamluk alliance, the shifting trade routes along the Silk Road, and the restless nomads of the steppe. The episode ends with a reflection on how a family feud among grandsons of Chinggis Khan redrew the map of Eurasia, leaving a legacy of division that paved the way for Timur's later conquests. #BerkeKhan #Hulegu #MongolEmpire #GoldenHorde #Ilkhanate #TerekRiver #BattleOfTerek #Jochid #Toluid #MamlukAlliance #Baghdad1260 #AbbasidCaliphate #SilkRoad #Caucasus #ChinggisKhan #MongolCivilWar #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo