DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_2_22

A. V. Maiorov. Khwarazm Turks and the Mongol Administration in Rus’ in the mid-13th Century:
Corenza and Sarracenus // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 2, 2025, pp. 22–32


Abstract:

Following their triumphant campaigns of conquest in the East and West of Eurasia, the Mongols
refined and methodically implemented effective mobilisation technologies. These technologies enabled the effective utilisation of the resources of the conquered regions and populations — both human and material — for the purpose of further expansion and the establishment of a global empire. The Mongols demonstrated a particular emphasis on the mobilisation of experienced specialists, encompassing not only military leaders and professionals specialising in military affairs, but also those versed in civil administration and tax collection, particularly those adept in the management of sedentary agricultural and urban populations. In the administration of conquered territories, the Mongols demonstrated a preference for the appointment of administrators from external regions and nations, ensuring their allegiance to the new authorities. The surviving sources allow for a re-definition of the ethnic composition and nature of the activities of the Mongol authorities’ main representatives in the Rus’ lands in the 1240s — early 1260s. In the mid-13 th century, the Khwarazm Turks, who had embraced Islam, assumed a prominent role in the governance of the Rus’ lands. These include representatives of the imperial administration, such as tammachi Corenza and darughachi (basqaq) Sarracenus, who are documented in Rus’ chronicles and the report of the papal envoy John of Plano Carpini.


Key words: Mongol Empire, Rus’ lands, Khwarazm Turks, tammachi of Corenza, darughachi (basqaq) of Sarracenus, Masud Beg.


Author:

Maiorov, Alexander Vyacheslavovich — Dr. in History, Professor, Head of the Department of Museology, St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: a.v.maiorov@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0001-8212-7467

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