Postal organisation (yam) in the Golden Horde

Research objectives: To determine the structure, activities, staff, and fiscal sources of the postal organization in the Golden Horde, and to demonstrate the connections and differences between the centre and other Chingisid khanates. Research materials: The sources used for this research include the yarlıqs and payzas given by the khans of the Golden Horde and the Chingisid Empire, the sources of Chingisname that shed light on the history of the Golden Horde, travellers’ notes, and other relevant sources. Results and novelty of the research: The postal organization of the Golden Horde existed since the time of Chingis Khan’s first conquests, but it reached its full development only with the postal reforms of Ögedei. The Yam, the Mongol postal organization, spread through the lands of the Golden Horde with the Mongol conquests. The administrative hierarchy of the postal organization in the Golden Horde was similar to that of the Chingisid Khanate. There were darughas and basqaqs, chiefs of the tümen, the minngan, and the jaun, and under them, the station masters. Postal couriers, called ula’achin in the state of Chingis Khan, were sometimes called yam and sometimes yamchi in the Golden Horde. Decrees (yarlıqs) from the period after Möngke show that a different postal system operated in the territory of the Golden Horde from the reforms of Ögedei. Under this system, postal couriers still received their supplies from and were housed by the subject, although a station system existed. Postal organizations had to adapt to geographical conditions, and in the Golden Horde postal organization, sledges could be found, which were not present in other Mongolian postal organizations.