Sarai (city)
Sarai (Turki/Kypchak and Persian: سرای; also transcribed as Saraj or Saray; "mansion" or "court")[1] was the name of possibly two cities near the lower Volga, that served successively as the effective capitals of the Cuman–Kipchak Confederation and the Golden Horde, a Turco-Mongol[2] kingdom which ruled much of Northwestern Asia and Eastern Europe, from the 10th through the 14th century.
[5] The slightly later Persian historian ʿAṭā Malik Juwaynī describes this settlement as both "camp" (muḫayyam) and "city" (šahr), reflecting its dual function, gradual development, and perhaps the lifestyle preferences of its various inhabitants.
[6] As the principal seat of Batu, Berke, and their successors, Sarai was effectively the capital of a great empire, although the khan and his court occasionally resided at other sites as well.
It also served, at least occasionally, as the burial site of khans: when he died in 1266, Berke was buried at the "Sarai of Batu", according to the Ilkhanid vizier Rashīd ad-Dīn Faḍlullāh.
[11] "New Sarai" (سرای الجدید, Sarāy al-Jadīd) is said to have been founded or formally inaugurated by Öz Beg Khan in the first half of the 14th century.
The earliest explicit reference to a city bearing this name is the notice of the death of Öz Beg in "New Sarai" in March–April 1341 by a nearly contemporary Mamluk author.
[14] Sarai and the other major centers of the Golden Horde (like Gülistan, preferred by Jani Beg) along the lower Volga benefited from trade and exhibited a significant degree of cultural prosperity.
[17] This prosperity was rapidly threatened by the onset of chronic political and military instability alongside competition for the throne of the Golden Horde after 1361.
Intervening in the internal conflicts within the Golden Horde, the Central Asian conqueror Timur sacked, leveled, and set on fire Sarai in the winter of 1395–1396.
Since the foundation of "New Saray" is estimated to have taken place about this time, it is not entirely clear which Sarai was described by Ibn Baṭṭūṭa;[19] the stated distance of 3 days upstream from Astrakhan (al-Ḥājj Tarkhān) is possibly consistent with the site at Selitrennoe Gorodišče, traditionally identified as "Old Sarai", but the archaeological excavations of that site might not support this identification.
In this palace are their winter lodgings ... Sarai is a grand city accommodating markets, baths and religious institutions, and storages for many goods and commodities ...
In the middle of it, there is a pond, the water for which comes from this river ... Uzbek Khan has built here a madrassah for religious studies, as he is very devoted to knowledge and scholars.
Some scholars suppose that it was a less impressive settlement whose ruins are yet unnoticed or obscured under those of "New Sarai" at Selitrennoe gorodishche, or were destroyed by changing water courses and levels.
The account of William of Rubruck (1254) ensures a location for the Sarai of Batu at or slightly above the apex of the Volga Delta, on the left edge of the Volga-Akhtuba river sistem.
[46] Located just under 5 km northwest of the border of the archaeological site of Selitrennoe gorodishche (the medieval "New Sarai") is the "Sarai-Batu" open air museum and tourist center.
The sets represent several spaces within the Golden Horde city, combining both attention to reproducing genuine details uncovered by archaeologists and an element of fantasy inspired by medieval and pre-modern settlements in the Eurasian Steppes.
The center serves as an educational immersive environment, as a location for historical festivals and reenactor events, camel rides, souvenir shopping, and visits to the archaeological site of Selitrennoe gorodishche.
