15. Batu Khan’s Ambition and Lust for Power Saved Europe
After their twin victories in Eastern Europe, Batu Khan and Subutai crossed the Carpathian Mountains. They concentrated in the Hungarian Plain for a campaign against Central and Western Europe, when news arrived of the Great Khan Ogedei’s death. Subutai wanted to continue the invasion of Europe, but Batu had ambitions of becoming the next Great Khan. As a member of the royal family, Batu outranked Subutai, and he insisted that all return to Mongolia to participate in the selection of the new Mongol ruler.
Thus in 1242, with all of Europe within their reach and at their mercy, the Mongols decamped from Hungary and rode back to Mongolia. Batu failed in his bid to get selected as the next Great Khan and returned to administer his own domain from his new capital, Sarai, on the Volga River. In 1251, the Great Khan in Mongolia recognized the independence and complete autonomy of Batu’s domain, which was known thereafter as the Golden Horde. It lasted into the sixteenth century before breaking up, and its last fragment survived until 1847.
