BATU KHAN (1247)

A grandson of Genghis Khan and founder of the Khanate of Kipchak or the Golden Horde.

Batu conquered most of Russia and invaded central Europe.

In 1235 he was elected commander in chief of the western part of the Mongol Empire and was given responsability for the invasion of Europe.

By 1240 he had conquered all of Russia. In the campaign in central Europe one Mongol army defeated Henry II, duke of Silesia (now in Poland), on April 9, 1241; another army led by Batu himself defeated the Hungarians two days later.

With Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, and the Danuve Valley under his control, Batu was poised for the invasion of western Europe when he received news of the death of the head of the Mongol Empire, the great Khan Ogadai (december 1241). In order to participate in the choice of a successor, Batu withdrew his army, saving Europe from probable devastation.

He established the state of the Golden Horde in southern Russia, which was ruled by his successors for the next 200 years. In 1240 Batu had sacked and burned Kiev, then the major city in Russia. Under the Golden Horde the centre of Russian national life gradually moved from Kiev to Moscow.