Education and science in the Golden horde during the reign of khan Tokhtamysh (1380–1395)

Research Article

Abstract

The article examines the development of education, scientific knowledge, and the religious-intellectual life of the Golden Horde during the reign of Khan Tokhtamysh (1380–1395). Although this period was relatively brief and marked by political instability, it represents a turning point in the cultural and administrative history of the Horde. Tokhtamysh succeeded in restoring political unity after the prolonged turmoil known as the “Great Disarray,” and this stabilization created favorable conditions for the revitalization of educational and scholarly institutions. As a result, madrasahs resumed their activities, the study and dissemination of fiqh expanded, and the Golden Horde strengthened its intellectual ties with major centers of Islamic learning in Khwarazm, Transoxiana, and Khorasan. The article explores the significant role of the ulama many of whom sought refuge in Sarai following the conquests of Amir Timur in shaping legal thought, theological scholarship, and the broader educational environment. Particular attention is given to the activities of the Sufi orders Yasawiyya and Kubrawiyya, whose spiritual and pedagogical practices contributed both to the spread of Islamic knowledge and to the integration of nomadic and sedentary cultural traditions. Their influence facilitated the formation of a stable intellectual milieu in the late 14th century Golden Horde. Furthermore, the study analyzes how the intellectual and ideological climate of Tokhtamysh’s reign is reflected in Turkic-language literary works, especially in the epic The Tale of Edige. This epic serves not only as a monumental piece of oral literature but also as a historical and ideological document that preserves societal values, notions of legitimacy, and representations of political contestation. Overall, the abstract highlights Tokhtamysh’s reign as a period of cultural and intellectual renewal, during which the restoration of political cohesion was accompanied by the consolidation of Islamic legal traditions, the revival of educational institutions, and the strengthening of transregional scholarly networks developments that shaped the subsequent evolution of the Golden Horde and its successor states.