Alright so the basic premise o fthis POD is that after Nogai son of Berke becomes the mongol overlord of Romania and Moldavia he decides to convert to orthodox Christianity rather than like in otl. Once that happens he invades Thrace like otl and defeats the emperors forces thereby causing the ERE to sue for peace and he marries an imperial princess. Now here is where things get interesting...
1259 Sandomierz Poland
On the outskirts of the city of Sandomierz a large mongol force had encamped itself. In the main tent among this encampment lay an imposing figure.
Nogai was his name son of Berke the Khan of the Western Horde.
A mongol officer came into the tent with a solemm look on his face.
"Commander I bring you some terrible news."
Heairng thos words Nogai frowned "tell me what news you bring. Arent we winning the siege."
The officer nodded " This isn't about the siege. Its about your... father Berke."
When Nogai heard those words he grew annoye at the messenger "Out with it what happened to my father"
the officer stuttered " apparently A Couple weeks ago your father had visited the city of Samarkand to oversee its rebuilding after we had sacked it previously. Well while in the city a fanatic attacked him and somehow got past the guards and well killed him. Of course the perpetrator was brought to justice but your father im afraid was not so lucky."
Nogai fell to his knees and wept. Then after collecting himself he snarled "Officer relay these orders to Burundai my father's close friend and a brilliant commander. Take a Tyumen, march for Samarkand. The city will suffer for what occurred within its walls.
The officer stuttered some more "What about our raiding of these Poles"
Nogai smiled "Oh the raid wil continue and im sure we can accomplish our objectives with two tyumens. After all these Europeans are very incompetent on the battlefield.
Hearing those words the officer snorted and left the tent.
A few days later Sandomierz fell to the mongol attackers. It was a pity Nogai ahd received the news then, he was in a very foul mood and the mongols ravaged the city. Thousands of its inhabitants were dragged out and killed on the streets. Torches burned down all the major buildings and soon the city was for all intents and purposes razed.
The stench of death in the city was so bad that travelers and merchants would find alternate routes to pass through the city. At the same time the rest of the populace htat survived the ransacking was enslaved under Nogai's orders.
Meanwhile on the outskirts of Krakow Burundai was busy besieging the city when he received the news from a messenger.
Understanding what needed to be done Burundai sent envoys to the King of Lesser Poland.
In the offer of peace the city would pay heavy reparations for the mongols and disband its armies. If it were to rebuild its border guard it would be razed.
With the Poles taken care of Burundai ordered his Tyumen to march for Samarkand.
What followed was a butchery on a scale unsen for years. Because of Berke being killed the entire city was burned to the ground. Samarkand once the jewel of the central Asian trading world lay utterly despoiled and would take years to rebuild and such was the wrath of the mongols.
Meanwhile in Poland Boleslaw the Bold surrendered to the mongols under Nogai after hearing about the ravaging of Sandomierz.
In return for paying tribute the hordes would leave lesser Poland
It was after this successful raid of Poland that as Nogai was returning to his base of operations in Bucharest he was approached by envoys form the distant east.
Bucharest 1260
In the governor's quarters where Nogai resided envoys had arried from Anatolia.
They came as he heard from a place known as the empire of Nicaea at the behest of its emperor Michael VIII Paleologos
" Now why would I be interested in helping your emperor retake his city. I have enough troubles as it is within the Western horde Nogai asked the envoy.
The envoy then replied " Well myemepror has heard that you have become a part of the fold and as a fellow member wishes for your aid to retake Constantinople from the Latins.
"Well what do I get in return" Asked Nogai.
The envoy nodded his head and many bags of gold were brought before Nogais eyes by the envoys attendants. "All of this and more plus marriage to an imperial princess in return for aiding us in retaking the city and later on the Balkans from the Latins.
Nogai noded his head " Now we are talking business my friends."
However Nogai had other plans for the city.
In 1260 A.D the Empire of Nicaea allyied itself with the western horde under its new Khan Nogai and declared war upon the latin empire of Constantinople.
Realizing the threat posed to him the Latin Emperor Baldwin II sent emmisieries to ask for aid from his allies.
The various latin princes in the Balkans answered to his call and a force of some 20000 Latin soldiers arrived near the city. However the Nogai attack was swift. Lead by Burundai who had returned from Samarkand at the behest of Nogai The mongols engaged the Latins within the Thrace outside the walls of the city and defeated them.
using superior tactics the Latns were unable to counter the mongols who lead by Burundai decimated the enemy force. Thousands of casualties were suffered by Baldwins men and those captured were then enslave as was the custom.
In Constantinople when news reached Baldwin of the loss of the army it was said that he wept and realized the only thing standing between him and the horde were the walls of the city.
However by that point Nicaean troops lead by Alexius Strateopulous arrived and after sneaking into the city through a secret underground passageway they surprised the defenders, opened the gates of the city and the Nicaean-Mongol Armies poured into the city. For days it was plundered though given his beliefs Nogai spared the various monastries and Baldwin was caught and executed. With Baldwin dead Michael was proclaimed emperor and on that same day more bags of gold were given to Nogai and Nogai married Michaels daughter Irene Paleoloigina.
After the ceremonies Nogai returned to Bucharest which by that point had become his base of operations for the european theater along with his tuymans.
It was then that fate would take a turn for better or worse. Up till then the Bulgarian czar who was nominally under mongol vassalage decided to make a go at ending the mongol occupation. On his return with his tired forces Asen raised his armies n Bulgaria and cut of access to the Khan on his return to Bucharest. At the same time seizing the opportunity the Hungarians too provided their own men and support to Asen though covertly. This would prove to be a fatal mistake.
Enraged at being betrayed Nogai vowed to sack Sofia the Bulgarian capital and the mongol tyumen he commanded that had besieged Constantinople he turned on Asen and the Bulgarians. Like before the mongols advanced use of tactics and skilled generals destroyed the Bulgarian armies near Sofia and soon besieged the city which fell later on. Asen was captured and executed for his insolence and his son was put in charge of the city albeit with greatly reduced powers and a mongol governor was appointed to the region.
With Bulgaria pacified Nogai knew he had an even more pressing matter to attend. You see unlike his father Berke who had adopted the religion of the turks he had adopted the religion of his base of support among the ruthenian, moldavian, and romanian princes.
This in turn met that in the eastern parts of his Khanate their were generals who were loyal to Berke but in turn were not very loyal to him due to differences and they could revolt in the near future. Not to mention the Hordes populace in the Crimea and Samarkand were not the same as the ones in the balkans. To be honest he never thought his father would die so soon and so was for the most part unprepared or so it seemed. But unlike before thanks to the vast sums of gold bequeathed to him by the rhomans, he could continue funding his campaigns.
In Constantinople however things were very different. The Mongol pillaging had greatly destroyed the cities buildings and the rebuilding projects coupled with the loss of vast sums of gold to the mongols meant financially the empire was in dire straits. it was then that disaster struck.
Believing his western border secure thanks to the aid of his mongol allies, Michael turned his attention to Anatolia and a byzantine army invaded the Seiljuk lands. Though weakeaned on the outskirts of Pahpaloginia the Seiljuks delivered a crushing defeat to imperial troops and Michael himself had died. To make matters worse in the imperial palace a group of nobles launched a coup to overthrow the boy emperor Andronikos and end the paleologinian line had they succeeded. But things would not go their way.
When Irene Khatun heard of the death of her father and the imprisonment of her brother she convinced Nogai to once more turn to the south. It was then that Nogai agreed with her statements, but rather than help restore Andronikos to the throne. he declared himself the Khagan of the rhomans and with two full tumens marched into Thrace. Once more the mongols besieged the city.
THe populace who had already suffered froim the mongol looting earlier because they did not surrender immediatly disagreed with the nobles who had overthrown Andronikos. Indeed f only to save the city many of the denizens rioted. These riots soon spread across the city and the coup by the nobles was ended and its perpetrators killed in the riots that followed.
Once the perpetrators were dead or imprisoned the Patriarch of Constantinople sent his envoys to Nogai and in return for sparing the city he would be willing to crown Nogai emperor. It also helped that since he was married to Irene he did in fact have a proper claim.
Thus in 1261 Nogai entered the city of Constantinople and was crowned by the Patriarch as the new Emperor Nogai I Jochid. However in the rest of the khanate he was simply known as the great Khagan of the west.
With Constantinople and in the process the Anatolian coast under his thumb. Nogais empire stretched from the Bosphorous to Samarkand to Russia. It truly was a vast state. But such a state would be bound to have issues. The most pressing one that of the Great Khan in Karakorum the mongol capital, the western latin states, and internal unrest in the predominantly turkish provinces of the empire.
The Khan and the Emperor
1259 Sandomierz Poland
On the outskirts of the city of Sandomierz a large mongol force had encamped itself. In the main tent among this encampment lay an imposing figure.
Nogai was his name son of Berke the Khan of the Western Horde.
A mongol officer came into the tent with a solemm look on his face.
"Commander I bring you some terrible news."
Heairng thos words Nogai frowned "tell me what news you bring. Arent we winning the siege."
The officer nodded " This isn't about the siege. Its about your... father Berke."
When Nogai heard those words he grew annoye at the messenger "Out with it what happened to my father"
the officer stuttered " apparently A Couple weeks ago your father had visited the city of Samarkand to oversee its rebuilding after we had sacked it previously. Well while in the city a fanatic attacked him and somehow got past the guards and well killed him. Of course the perpetrator was brought to justice but your father im afraid was not so lucky."
Nogai fell to his knees and wept. Then after collecting himself he snarled "Officer relay these orders to Burundai my father's close friend and a brilliant commander. Take a Tyumen, march for Samarkand. The city will suffer for what occurred within its walls.
The officer stuttered some more "What about our raiding of these Poles"
Nogai smiled "Oh the raid wil continue and im sure we can accomplish our objectives with two tyumens. After all these Europeans are very incompetent on the battlefield.
Hearing those words the officer snorted and left the tent.
A few days later Sandomierz fell to the mongol attackers. It was a pity Nogai ahd received the news then, he was in a very foul mood and the mongols ravaged the city. Thousands of its inhabitants were dragged out and killed on the streets. Torches burned down all the major buildings and soon the city was for all intents and purposes razed.
The stench of death in the city was so bad that travelers and merchants would find alternate routes to pass through the city. At the same time the rest of the populace htat survived the ransacking was enslaved under Nogai's orders.
Meanwhile on the outskirts of Krakow Burundai was busy besieging the city when he received the news from a messenger.
Understanding what needed to be done Burundai sent envoys to the King of Lesser Poland.
In the offer of peace the city would pay heavy reparations for the mongols and disband its armies. If it were to rebuild its border guard it would be razed.
With the Poles taken care of Burundai ordered his Tyumen to march for Samarkand.
What followed was a butchery on a scale unsen for years. Because of Berke being killed the entire city was burned to the ground. Samarkand once the jewel of the central Asian trading world lay utterly despoiled and would take years to rebuild and such was the wrath of the mongols.
Meanwhile in Poland Boleslaw the Bold surrendered to the mongols under Nogai after hearing about the ravaging of Sandomierz.
In return for paying tribute the hordes would leave lesser Poland
It was after this successful raid of Poland that as Nogai was returning to his base of operations in Bucharest he was approached by envoys form the distant east.
Bucharest 1260
In the governor's quarters where Nogai resided envoys had arried from Anatolia.
They came as he heard from a place known as the empire of Nicaea at the behest of its emperor Michael VIII Paleologos
" Now why would I be interested in helping your emperor retake his city. I have enough troubles as it is within the Western horde Nogai asked the envoy.
The envoy then replied " Well myemepror has heard that you have become a part of the fold and as a fellow member wishes for your aid to retake Constantinople from the Latins.
"Well what do I get in return" Asked Nogai.
The envoy nodded his head and many bags of gold were brought before Nogais eyes by the envoys attendants. "All of this and more plus marriage to an imperial princess in return for aiding us in retaking the city and later on the Balkans from the Latins.
Nogai noded his head " Now we are talking business my friends."
However Nogai had other plans for the city.
In 1260 A.D the Empire of Nicaea allyied itself with the western horde under its new Khan Nogai and declared war upon the latin empire of Constantinople.
Realizing the threat posed to him the Latin Emperor Baldwin II sent emmisieries to ask for aid from his allies.
The various latin princes in the Balkans answered to his call and a force of some 20000 Latin soldiers arrived near the city. However the Nogai attack was swift. Lead by Burundai who had returned from Samarkand at the behest of Nogai The mongols engaged the Latins within the Thrace outside the walls of the city and defeated them.
using superior tactics the Latns were unable to counter the mongols who lead by Burundai decimated the enemy force. Thousands of casualties were suffered by Baldwins men and those captured were then enslave as was the custom.
In Constantinople when news reached Baldwin of the loss of the army it was said that he wept and realized the only thing standing between him and the horde were the walls of the city.
However by that point Nicaean troops lead by Alexius Strateopulous arrived and after sneaking into the city through a secret underground passageway they surprised the defenders, opened the gates of the city and the Nicaean-Mongol Armies poured into the city. For days it was plundered though given his beliefs Nogai spared the various monastries and Baldwin was caught and executed. With Baldwin dead Michael was proclaimed emperor and on that same day more bags of gold were given to Nogai and Nogai married Michaels daughter Irene Paleoloigina.
After the ceremonies Nogai returned to Bucharest which by that point had become his base of operations for the european theater along with his tuymans.
It was then that fate would take a turn for better or worse. Up till then the Bulgarian czar who was nominally under mongol vassalage decided to make a go at ending the mongol occupation. On his return with his tired forces Asen raised his armies n Bulgaria and cut of access to the Khan on his return to Bucharest. At the same time seizing the opportunity the Hungarians too provided their own men and support to Asen though covertly. This would prove to be a fatal mistake.
Enraged at being betrayed Nogai vowed to sack Sofia the Bulgarian capital and the mongol tyumen he commanded that had besieged Constantinople he turned on Asen and the Bulgarians. Like before the mongols advanced use of tactics and skilled generals destroyed the Bulgarian armies near Sofia and soon besieged the city which fell later on. Asen was captured and executed for his insolence and his son was put in charge of the city albeit with greatly reduced powers and a mongol governor was appointed to the region.
With Bulgaria pacified Nogai knew he had an even more pressing matter to attend. You see unlike his father Berke who had adopted the religion of the turks he had adopted the religion of his base of support among the ruthenian, moldavian, and romanian princes.
This in turn met that in the eastern parts of his Khanate their were generals who were loyal to Berke but in turn were not very loyal to him due to differences and they could revolt in the near future. Not to mention the Hordes populace in the Crimea and Samarkand were not the same as the ones in the balkans. To be honest he never thought his father would die so soon and so was for the most part unprepared or so it seemed. But unlike before thanks to the vast sums of gold bequeathed to him by the rhomans, he could continue funding his campaigns.
In Constantinople however things were very different. The Mongol pillaging had greatly destroyed the cities buildings and the rebuilding projects coupled with the loss of vast sums of gold to the mongols meant financially the empire was in dire straits. it was then that disaster struck.
Believing his western border secure thanks to the aid of his mongol allies, Michael turned his attention to Anatolia and a byzantine army invaded the Seiljuk lands. Though weakeaned on the outskirts of Pahpaloginia the Seiljuks delivered a crushing defeat to imperial troops and Michael himself had died. To make matters worse in the imperial palace a group of nobles launched a coup to overthrow the boy emperor Andronikos and end the paleologinian line had they succeeded. But things would not go their way.
When Irene Khatun heard of the death of her father and the imprisonment of her brother she convinced Nogai to once more turn to the south. It was then that Nogai agreed with her statements, but rather than help restore Andronikos to the throne. he declared himself the Khagan of the rhomans and with two full tumens marched into Thrace. Once more the mongols besieged the city.
THe populace who had already suffered froim the mongol looting earlier because they did not surrender immediatly disagreed with the nobles who had overthrown Andronikos. Indeed f only to save the city many of the denizens rioted. These riots soon spread across the city and the coup by the nobles was ended and its perpetrators killed in the riots that followed.
Once the perpetrators were dead or imprisoned the Patriarch of Constantinople sent his envoys to Nogai and in return for sparing the city he would be willing to crown Nogai emperor. It also helped that since he was married to Irene he did in fact have a proper claim.
Thus in 1261 Nogai entered the city of Constantinople and was crowned by the Patriarch as the new Emperor Nogai I Jochid. However in the rest of the khanate he was simply known as the great Khagan of the west.
With Constantinople and in the process the Anatolian coast under his thumb. Nogais empire stretched from the Bosphorous to Samarkand to Russia. It truly was a vast state. But such a state would be bound to have issues. The most pressing one that of the Great Khan in Karakorum the mongol capital, the western latin states, and internal unrest in the predominantly turkish provinces of the empire.