Jani Beg (? — 1357) was a khan of the Golden Horde from 1342-1357, succeeding his father Uzbeg Khan.
After putting two of his brothers to death, Jani Beg crowned himself in Saray-Jük. He is known to have actively interfered in the affairs of Russian principalities and of Lithuania. The Grand Princes of Moscow, Simeon Gordiy, and Ivan II, were under constant political and military pressure from Jani Beg.
Jani Beg commanded a massive Crimean Tatar force that attacked the Crimean port city of Kaffa in 1343. The siege was lifted by an Italian relief force in February, 1344, resulting in 15,000 Mongol deaths and the flight of survivors. In 1345 Jani Beg again besieged Kaffa, however, his assault was again unsuccessful due to an outbreak of the Black Plague among his troops.
In 1356 Jani Beg conducted a military campaign in Azerbaijan and conquered the city of Tabriz, installing his own governor there. He also asserted Jochid dominance over the Chagatai Khanate, attempting to unite the three khanates of the Mongol Empire. Soon after this, Jani Beg faced an uprising in Tabriz resulting in the rise to power of the Jalayirid dynasty, an offshoot of Ilkhanate and, ultimately, in the death of the Khan.
Russia's Chudov Monastery, founded at about the time of Jani Beg's fall by Metropolitan Aleksii and Sergei of Radonezh was built on land that, according to legend, the Khan had granted to Aleksii as thanks for the miraculous curing of his wife, Taidula, by the latter.
The reign of Jani Beg was marked by the first signs of the feudal strife which would eventually contribute to the demise of the Golden Horde. Jani Beg's assassination in 1357 opened a quarter-century of political turmoil within the Golden Horde. Twenty-five khans succeeded each other between 1357 and 1378.
See also
References
- David Morgan, The Mongols
- Rosemary Horrox, The Black Death
| Preceded by Tini Beg |
Khan of Blue Horde and Golden Horde 1341 – 1357 |
Succeeded by Berdi Beg |
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