The empire of the Golden Horde, built by Batu, son of Djodji and thegrand son of Genghis Khan, around 1240, was an empire which united thewhole East-Europe under its domination. The Golden Horde empirecomprised ali of the remnants of the earlier nomadic peoples of Turkiclanguage in the steppe area which were then known under the common nameof Tatar within this new political framework. The Golden Horde ruleddirectly över the Eurasian steppe from Khwarezm to the Danube and över theRussian principalities in the forest zone indirectly as tribute-paying states.Already in the second half of the 13th century the western part of the steppefrom the Don river to the Danube tended to become a separate political entityunder the powerful emir Noghay. In the second half of the 14th century rivalbranches of the Djodjid dynasty, each supported by a group of the dissidentclans, started a long struggle for the Ulugh-Yurd, the core of the empire inthe lower itil (Volga) river, and for the title of Ulugh Khan which meantthe supreme ruler of the empire.