The Foreign Policies of Janibeg, Khan of the Golden Horde (1342-1357)

This work, submitted as the author's diploma thesis for the M.A. degree, explores the foreign policies of Janibeg, who was khan of the Golden Horde (or the Ulus of Jochi) in a very turbulent period of the mid-14th century. He was an eminent ruler indeed, the last great ruler before the period of "Great Troubles". His political and military actions in the time, characterized by the disintegration of Pax Mongolica and a global plague pandemic, are very informative for the history of the Golden Horde of that epoch. The concentration on Janibeg's foreign policies was also very much induced by the fact that the Ulus of Jochi has virtually no surviving narrative sources of its own, while the foreign sources, mentioned it, were naturally more interested in the relations of their realms with the Horde than in purely describing this nomadic power. However, as detailed as possible investigation of the declared subject, while using the vast majority of the relevant narrative sources, has enabled to elucidate most events and processes relating to Janibeg and his rule. As a result, it allows building a certain factual framework for future researches of the khanate in that period.