Diplomatic Relations between the Jochid Ulus and the Mamluks in the Late Thirteenth Century

The Purpose of Dispatching Envoys

Abstract

The Jochid Ulus (the Golden Horde) and the Mamluks were dispatching envoys to each other in the Black Sea-Eastern Mediterranean region in the late 13th century. Diplomatic relations between the Jochid Ulus and the Mamluks have been well studied by modern scholars, but in these previous studies, it was often stated that the relationship between them originated in their mutual understanding that they shared a common enemy in the Ilkhanids. However, considering the importance of the Byzantine Empire through which the envoys had to pass, it is impossible to dispense with a discussion on the role of the Byzantine Empire in this relationship.
This article aims at a reexamination of the dispatch of envoys between the Jochid Ulus and the Mamluks by analyzing the Mamluk chronicles. In addition, in order to understand the purpose of the envoys between the Jochid Ulus and the Mamluks the Mamluk-Byzantine envoys will also be examined.
My conclusions are that the Jochid Ulus and the Mamluks were sending envoys not just because of mutual hostility towards the Ilkhanids, but also for trading mamluks between their two countries. In other words, these envoys had commercial purposes, such as trading mamluks, as well as political ones, such as cooperating against the Ilkhanids. For these two countries, dispatching envoys was important policy affecting the basis of their existence.