He was a grandson of Genghis Khan (c. 1207 to 1255) who led the Mongol invasion of Europe and founded the Golden Horde on the western steppe.

What is Batu Khan famous for?

For conquering the Rus principalities, sacking Kiev in 1240, invading Poland and Hungary in 1241, and founding the Golden Horde.

What was the Golden Horde?

The Mongol khanate of the western steppe, founded by Batu with its capital at Sarai, which dominated the Russian lands for over two centuries.

Did Batu Khan conquer Russia?

He conquered the divided Rus principalities and made their princes his tributaries; their long subjection is remembered as the Mongol or Tatar yoke.

Legnica in 1241 was fought by a wing of his invasion under other princes; Batu himself commanded the main army that crushed Hungary at Mohi.

Why did the Mongols withdraw from Europe?

In 1242 news arrived that the Great Khan Ogedei had died, and Batu led his forces back east, sparing western Europe a deeper invasion.

Batu Khan: conqueror of the Rus, founder of the Golden Horde

Batu Khan carried the Mongol storm further west than any other, into the heart of Europe. A grandson of Genghis Khan, he was the prince who led the great western campaign, and the founder of the state that would rule Russia for more than two centuries.

The western campaign

Batu was given command of the invasion of the west¹, with the veteran Subutai at his side as strategist. From 1236 his armies conquered the Volga Bulgars² and then the divided Rus principalities one by one, storming their cities and sacking Kiev in 1240³.

Russian manuscript miniature of soldiers setting fire to a domed church in a walled city — Batu's army burns Vladimir in 1238, a miniature from the 16th-century Russian Illustrated Chronicle. Public domain

Poland and Hungary

In 1241 Batu's host drove into central Europe. A northern wing crushed a Polish and German army³ at Legnica, while the main force under Batu and Subutai destroyed the Hungarians at Mohi⁴ and raided as far as the Adriatic². The kingdoms of Europe had no answer, but in 1242, on news of the Great Khan Ogedei's death, Batu turned back east³.

Black and white map of Eastern Europe with dotted lines marking Mongol campaign routes — Map of Batu's campaigns against Rus in 1236 to 1240 and Hungary in 1240 to 1241, with Tamerlane's march of 1391, from Sytin's Military Encyclopedia (1914). Public domain

The Golden Horde

Rather than return to Mongolia, Batu settled on the lower Volga and founded the Golden Horde, the Mongol khanate of the western steppe, ruling from his capital at Sarai⁵. For generations the Rus princes paid it tribute⁵, a domination remembered in Russian history as the Mongol, or Tatar, yoke⁶. Batu died around 1255.

Persian miniature of a crowned khan seated on a throne with attendants before him — Batu Khan on the throne of the Golden Horde, a Persian miniature from a 15th-century copy of Rashid al-Din's history. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Public domain

Meet the other great commanders of the Mongol Empire.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

Peter Jackson, The Mongols and the West, 1221-1410 (Pearson Longman, 2005). ↩
World History Encyclopedia, “Batu Khan” ↩ a b
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Batu” ↩ a b c
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Mohi” ↩
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Golden Horde” ↩ a b
Stephen Turnbull, Genghis Khan and the Mongol Conquests 1190-1400 (Osprey Publishing (Essential Histories), 2003). ↩
Wikipedia, “Batu Khan, Wikipedia”

Batu Khan: conqueror of the Rus and founder of the Golden Horde

At a glance

The western campaign

Poland and Hungary

The Golden Horde

Sources and notes

Frequently asked questions

Lead the invasion of the west