Golden Horde
originally the name of a powerful Mongol tribe, but afterward extended to all the followers of Genghis Khan, and of Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, who invaded Europe in the 13th century. Under Batu the Golden Horde advanced W. as far as the plain of Mosi in Hungary, and GOLDFINCH Liegnitz in Silesia, at both of which bloody battles were fought in 1241. They founded the empire of the Kiptshaks, or the Golden Horde, which extended from the banks of the Dniester to the Ural, and from the Black Sea and the Caspian to the mouth of the Kama and the sources of the Khoper. This empire lasted till toward the close of the 15th century, when it was overthrown by Ivan III.