Kiptchak

or Kipchak . A term which, in the Middle Ages, designated that vast territory stretching north of the Caspian Sea, from the Don to Turkestan, and occupied by the Kumans and Polo vises. This tract formed one of the four empires into which the huge dominion of Genghis Khan was divided, and was the portion of his eldest son Jûjy, under whose son and succe or, Batû Khan, it became the terror of Western Europe, and held Ru ia in iron subjection from 1236 till 1362. Batû also conquered Bulgaria, and invaded Hungary, Austria, and Eastern Germany, but made no permanent conquests in this direction. This extensive empire was dismembered towards the end of the 15th century, and gave rise to the khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Crim-Tartary. The Mongols of Kiptchak were also known as the Golden Horde.