When is the White Horde shown on the map?

The border data draws the White Horde 1363–1384. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the White Horde?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the White Horde covered about 2.6 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Central Asia · The Mongol uluses

White Horde

drawn on the map 1363–1384

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: 1363–1384
Peak area: 2.6M km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview and identity

The White Horde (Kazakh: Aq Orda), more precisely the left (eastern) wing of the Jochid ulus, was one of the uluses of the Mongol Empire, formed around 1225–1227 when, after Jochi's death, his eldest son Orda inherited his father's appanage along the Jaxartes (Syr Darya). It was the eastern constituent part of the Golden Horde, paired with the Blue (western) Horde — though, as noted in the Blue Horde profile, medieval and modern sources apply the color names inconsistently (Timurid sources call the left wing "White," while Russian chronicles call it "Blue"). The project's peak figure is 2.6 million km². Its rulers were styled "Princes of the Left Hand." The horde's history runs from c. 1225 until Orda's ulus was extinguished by Abu'l-Khayr Khan in 1446.

Origins and ethnolinguistic background

Orda and Batu agreed not to claim each other's territories, with Batu's descendants taking precedence. The horde's people were Jochid Mongols ruling Kipchak and other Turkic nomads of the Kazakh steppe; Marco Polo, describing Köchü's realm (late 13th century), portrays a purely pastoral society of immense herds living "in great tranquility" with neither cities nor castles.

Chronology and major rulers

The capital lay first near Lake Balkhash and later at Sygnaq on the Syr Darya. Orda's son Kuli died suspiciously on Hulagu's Middle East campaign (c. 1259), angering the Jochids; during the Toluid Civil War (1260–1264) the White Horde elites backed Ariq Böke, and later supported the Ögedeid Kaidu. From 1280 Orda's successor Köchü allied with the Yuan and the Ilkhanate; per Rashid al-Din he held Ghazna and Bamiyan under Chagatai or Ilkhan suzerainty, and he warned Abaqa of Baraq's invasion in 1268. In 1299 Khan Bayan was deposed by his cousin Köbelek with Kaidu's and Duwa's help, but by 1304 Bayan had reoccupied his ancestral lands and began herding around the Syr Darya, displacing the Shaybanids. During the Golden Horde's "Great Troubles" (1359–1380), White Horde princes Khizr and Arab Shaykh briefly seized the Sarai throne. Urus Khan, eighth khan of the White Horde, contested both wings from 1375; after his death (1377) his nephew Tokhtamysh wrested the White Horde from Urus's son Timur-Malik (1378) with Timur's backing, then took the Blue Horde too, reuniting the Golden Horde by 1379–1380.

Government, economy, religion

A nomadic khanate of appanage uluses under the left-hand princes; the economy was overwhelmingly pastoral, supplemented by Syr Darya caravan trade through Sygnaq and Otrar. Islamization proceeded more slowly than in the west.

Decline, fall and legacy

After Tokhtamysh's defeat by Timur (1395–1396), Timur appointed Kuruichik head of the White Horde, and the families of Jochi's sons Tuqa-Timur, Shiban and Orda began merging — the matrix of the Uzbek and Kazakh hordes. After Khan Baraq's murder the horde split between Mohammed and Mustafa; in 1446 Abu'l-Khayr Khan defeated Mustafa, ending Orda's ulus as an independent entity. The White Horde is the direct institutional ancestor of the Kazakh Khanate (1465) and of the Kazakh Great Zhuz; "Aq Orda" remains a potent national symbol in modern Kazakhstan — the presidential palace in Astana bears the name.

Common questions

What was the White Horde?: The White Horde (Kazakh: Aq Orda), more precisely the left (eastern) wing of the Jochid ulus, was one of the uluses of the Mongol Empire, formed around 1225–1227 when, after Jochi's death, his eldest son Orda inherited his father's appanage along the Jaxartes (Syr Darya).
When is the White Horde shown on the map?: The border data draws the White Horde 1363–1384. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the White Horde?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the White Horde covered about 2.6 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the White Horde?: The capital lay first near Lake Balkhash and later at Sygnaq on the Syr Darya. Orda's son Kuli died suspiciously on Hulagu's Middle East campaign (c. 1259), angering the Jochids; during the Toluid Civil War (1260–1264) the White Horde elites backed Ariq Böke, and later supported the Ögedeid Kaidu.
How did the White Horde end?: After Tokhtamysh's defeat by Timur (1395–1396), Timur appointed Kuruichik head of the White Horde, and the families of Jochi's sons Tuqa-Timur, Shiban and Orda began merging — the matrix of the Uzbek and Kazakh hordes. After Khan Baraq's murder the horde split between Mohammed and Mustafa; in 1446 Abu'l-Khayr Khan defeated Mustafa, ending Orda's ulus as an independent entity.
How was the White Horde governed?: A nomadic khanate of appanage uluses under the left-hand princes; the economy was overwhelmingly pastoral, supplemented by Syr Darya caravan trade through Sygnaq and Otrar.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: White Horde en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Horde
Wikipedia: Golden Horde (wings of the Golden Horde) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde
Wikipedia: History of Kazakhstan (White Horde / Tokhtamysh era) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kazakhstan

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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