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Tinto Maps #20 - 27th of September 2024 - The Steppes

Hello, and welcome one more week to the weekly encounter for map lovers! This week it’s also directed at horse lovers because we will be looking at the Eurasian Steppes, plus the Urals! So let’s start with the maps without further ado.

Countries:
Countries.jpg

Colored Wastelands.jpg

A glorious, Golden Horde! It is at its power peak, under the reign of Uzbeg Khan, so it's a much more menacing presence for its neighbors. However, it has its some internal issues that need to be managed, as you’ll notice in some of the maps, and in the future when we talk about the content for Hordes. The Golden Horde also heads its own IO, the Tatar Yoke, as shown in a previous Tinto Maps:

Tatar Yoke.jpg

We have already corrected the Ruthenian countries that are under the Horde’s Yoke, although we still have to correct the Russian principalities, which will be done in the corresponding Tinto Maps review. We’re also aware that we need to improve a bit the coloring of the IO, to mark not only the Golden Horde as the overlord of these countries, but also that Muscovy holds the title of the Grand Principality of Vladimir, which makes it the ‘enforcer’ of the Yoke. These fixes are also planned to be done in a few weeks.

Societies of Pops:
Societies of Pops.jpg

Societies of Pops 2.jpg .jpg

A bit up to the north, we have some Societies of Pops! This means that the territory of Western Siberia won’t be empty land, but will be populated by these people, which can be interacted with.

BTW, I’m not showing this week a dynasty map because, well, only the Borgijin dynasty rules over the lands of the Golden Horde, of course!


Locations:
Locations.jpg

Locations Western Siberia.jpg

Locations 3.jpg

Locations 4.jpg

Locations 5.jpg

Tons of locations today… You might notice that the density location is in a progression from west to east, from the most densely settled areas to the less settled ones. You may also notice that we’ve followed a design of ‘settler corridors’ in Western Siberia, setting those parts of the land that were habitable, usually on river valleys.

Provinces:
Provinces.jpg

Provinces 2.jpg


Areas:
Areas.jpg


Terrain:
Climate.jpg

Topography.jpg

Vegetation.jpg

The terrain is interesting here, as there are two main ecological areas. The first is the Steppes, Flatlands with Sparse and Grasslands vegetation, with either Cold Arid or Continental climates. And then we have the Siberian Arctics Forests, which are completely different, of course. On a note, the Urals were set as Hills, as they’re a quite settleable area, but we’ll probably make a review with your feedback, and add some mountains there.

Development:
Development.jpg

The whole region is not very developed, you might notice the difference with India, from last week’s Tinto Maps.

Harbors:
Harbors.jpg

There are some harbors in the Steppe region… In the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, of course! As usual, we’re open to feedback on this matter.

Cultures:
Cultures.jpg

Plenty of cultures! One note: Although we planned to work on the religious and cultural minorities of the region during the summer, we ended up not having enough time to add them. So what we’ll be doing today is showing the rough outline of ‘cultural spheres’, and then we’ll add the minorities during the review of the region. In that sense, feedback is very well received.

With that said the only note that needs to be made in terms of the cultural design is that we divided the Tatar cultural group into some differentiated regional cultures, being Crimean, Mishary, Kazani, and Astrakhani. We’re also aware that some of the cultures, as Mari and Chuvash, might be a bit displaced, as noted in the Russian Tinto Maps, so we’ll review and correct that with your feedback.


Religions:
Religions.jpg

Regarding Religions, the matter is a bit worse, as the big Sunni blob is just because the main religion of the Golden Horde is Islam, after the conversion of Uzbeg Khan, but that’s obviously incorrect. Also, as we have been able to forecast development time on how Pagan divisions will be during this autumn, we will make a comprehensive review of the region as well, to get a good distribution of ‘Shamanist’ Paganism, Tengrism, and Sunni Islam.

Raw Materials:
Raw Materials.jpg

Raw Materials 2.jpg

Raw Materials 3.jpg

Regarding the raw materials, the Steppes have plenty of Livestock and Horses, quite logically, although there are regions with some other goods. And up to the north, the main materials are Lumber and Fur. Apart from that, I want to mention the mineral hub in the Ural Mountains, with plenty of Copper, Iron, Gold, Lead, and Coal. That makes it a very mid and late-game interesting spot, and playing as Muscovy/Russia, I’ll tell you that you definitely want to expand into that region, as it will fulfill some of your material needs by that time.

Markets:
Markets.jpg

Markets! Big region, with lots of markets, although you may noticed that we changed the coloring of the locations that have 0% market access, which is the case in several areas. In any case, the market centers are Kaffa, Astrakhan, Saray-Jük, Kunya Urgench, Samarkand, Almaty, and Chimgi Tura. BTW, these names are much easier to notice in the game’s UI, as they’re beside the market centers:

Markets 2.jpg


Population:
Population.jpg

This week we’re showing only the country population mapmode, as there are some location numbers here and there which are failing, due to the already known issue with our pop editor (and which are on the way to be fixed). In any case, the whole population of the region is around 6.5-7M, of which around 6.3M are part of the Golden Horde. As I said, it’s a menacing country…

And that’s all for today! This is going to be my last Tinto Maps in a while, as I’ll be on vacation for 3 weeks during October (you might have noticed that I didn’t have any during summer), so one of the Content Designers in the team, @Roger Corominas , will step in and be in charge of the next 4 Tinto Maps. It’s in good hands, as Roger is an Experienced CD, who has been working and focused on Project Caesar for more than 3 years, at this point (this is why you might not know him from EU4, as other CDs in our team). In any case, he will be starting with the regions of Xinjiang, mostly ruled by the Chagatai Khanate, and Tibet.

I’ll keep reading and answering you during next week, and then I’ll be back in a month from now. See you!
 
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Правители.png

Table of Rulers. The margin of error is ~30 years, so far there are errors, а lot of mistakes, the work is in progress (sorry that today there is no English version and no map). The rulers are surprisingly well-settled in the uluses and have a clear inheritance (they did not roam, but captured the uluses of distant relatives or neighboring ones).

There is a problem. According to the legends, there seem to have been three Khwaja Mubaraks. In the 1320s, 1340s and 1360s. Of the descendants of Ordu-Yezhen, Tuk-Timurids and Jochi-Khasar. They fought against the sons of Uzbek Khan: Timurbek, Tinibek, Janibek. In Ordu Bazaar, Sygnak, Desht-i-Kipchak. Scientists gave them the name Mubarak-Khwaja, Murad-Khwaja, "behind the mountain" Ourdak. It seems wikipedia wasn't lying, it was just wrong about the details.

If you are a proponent of simplification, then how do you look at this problem? Let's say the player is defeated. Which dynasty will Mubarak-Khwaja acquire? Where will its capital be? How much territory should he get? Who will be his heir? Chimtai, who has a son, Urus, or Kutlug-Khwaja, who has a son, Tui-Khwaja?

In the main source (Sbornik_Kurgan2) there is only a small mention of this problem. I use the rest of the sources to correct the information I have received from it, I have not studied them in depth, so I cannot yet say in more detail about this problem.

WIP.png
 
If you are a proponent of simplification, then how do you look at this problem? Let's say the player is defeated. Which dynasty will Mubarak-Khwaja acquire? Where will its capital be? How much territory should he get? Who will be his heir? Chimtai, who has a son, Urus, or Kutlug-Khwaja, who has a son, Tui-Khwaja?
If you are a proponent of simplification, then Mubarak-Khwaja won't feature in the game. Simple.
 
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Chervlenyi Yar clarifications. I laid out a river map on top of the map and adjusted the borders a bit. The previous map with Mordvins and Chuvash still applies in the area not shown.
1742992244048.png


1742991865376.png

1742991860282.png

1742992039503.png


1742992258289.png

1742992271146.png
 
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Chervlenyi Yar clarifications. I laid out a river map on top of the map and adjusted the borders a bit. The previous map with Mordvins and Chuvash still applies in the area not shown.
View attachment 1271827

View attachment 1271823
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View attachment 1271828
View attachment 1271829
Sorry if I missed it, what are the sources for Alans in Kharkiv?


also to add, I think it is important to add descriptions of marking on images, for the first one it is
1742993204936.png

а – settlement with Russian ceramics (in some cases – also with Golden Horde ceramics);
б – group of settlements with Old Russian ceramics;
в – areas of concentration of Old Russian settlements in the Upper Don region (based on works by M.I. Gonyany and N.A. Tropin, and research results from the Voronezh State University expedition);
г – settlement with Old Russian ceramics ("Old Russian style") and Golden Horde ceramics at previously existing fortified sites;
д – nomadic burial under a mound;
е – nomadic burial mound cemetery;
ж – settlement of the Golden Horde circle;
з – flat grave cemetery of the Golden Horde circle;
и – Golden Horde mausoleum;
к – Golden Horde settlement with brick buildings;
л – hoard of Golden Horde coins;
м – chronicle towns of the 14th century;

So from "а" to "г" marks correlate with Russian culture
And the rest - with the Golden Horde (Cumans)
 
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Sorry if I missed it, what are the sources for Alans in Kharkiv?


also to add, I think it is important to add descriptions of marking on images, for the first one it is
View attachment 1271833
а – settlement with Russian ceramics (in some cases – also with Golden Horde ceramics);
б – group of settlements with Old Russian ceramics;
в – areas of concentration of Old Russian settlements in the Upper Don region (based on works by M.I. Gonyany and N.A. Tropin, and research results from the Voronezh State University expedition);
г – settlement with Old Russian ceramics ("Old Russian style") and Golden Horde ceramics at previously existing fortified sites;
д – nomadic burial under a mound;
е – nomadic burial mound cemetery;
ж – settlement of the Golden Horde circle;
з – flat grave cemetery of the Golden Horde circle;
и – Golden Horde mausoleum;
к – Golden Horde settlement with brick buildings;
л – hoard of Golden Horde coins;
м – chronicle towns of the 14th century;

So from "а" to "г" marks correlate with Russian culture
And the rest - with the Golden Horde (Cumans)
I think this article best explains the situation with Upper Donets Alans
 
I think this article best explains the situation with Upper Donets Alans
1742995348392.png

can't find more than in the 10th century, there were Alans. However, it does not indicate anything about the 13th century. The entire text refers to the people "половцы" - cumans.


btw, did an overlay of two maps, I may not be fully correct here (reprojection), but perhaps the area should be a bit more to the east? Rossosh location also fell fully into Cuman territory

1742995895734.png


btw, I believe the population estimations can also be done based on this map - certainly there is much more population where all the dots are located (Don - Bityug connection)
 
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View attachment 1271845
can't find more than in the 10th century, there were Alans. However, it does not indicate anything about the 13th century. The entire text refers to the people "половцы" - cumans.


btw, did an overlay of two maps, I may not be fully correct here (reprojection), but perhaps the area should be a bit more to the east? Rossosh location also fell fully into Cuman territory

View attachment 1271853

btw, I believe the population estimations can also be done based on this map - certainly there is much more population where all the dots are located (Don - Bityug connection)
Tsarino Settlement
Situated between the villages of Mayaki and Donetsk. It is a large archaeological complex consisting of a settlement, two settlements and at least four burial grounds, with a total area of over 70 hectares. In archaeological literature, the site is usually referred to as "the settlement near the village of Mayaki".
A ditch with a rampart separates a triangular section of land, the settlement itself, from a vast plateau on which the settlement was located. According to V.K. Mikheyev, the area of the site, limited by a line of fortifications, is 17.78 hectares.
Initially, the terrace section along the bank of the Seversky Donets River was inhabited. People lived on this site both before the settlement emerged (since the Neolithic) and after its abandonment.
In the 5th-8th centuries, on the bank of the river there was a small settlement of the Penkovskaya, and then Saltovo-Mayak cultures, next to which, on a hill, in the Khazar period a fortified part was built. Moreover, judging by the finds on the monument, as well as early numismatic material, the settlement already existed in the 8th century.
During the Khazar period, the settlement was repeatedly subjected to destruction. According to V.K. Mikheev, one of them occurred at the end of the 9th century, after which the settlement "as a major economic center of the Saltovskaya culture ceased to exist."
Apparently, the population from this monument also moved to a nearby settlement at the end of the 9th century, giving impetus to the flourishing of the Sidorovsky archaeological complex.
In the 11th-13th centuries, on the bank of the Seversky Donets there was an unfortified settlement (Kravchenko, 2000). The materials of its excavations testify that direct descendants of the Bulgar-Alan population of the Khazar period lived in this settlement.
The last stage of the site's existence dates back to the 13th-14th centuries. At this time, the monument again turned into a major economic center. Its greatest flourishing occurred during the "Time of Troubles" in the Golden Horde in the 60-80s of the 14th century. Without a doubt, at this time the entire site of the settlement, the settlement on the bank of the Seversky Donets, the settlement located to the west of the ramparts were functioning, and the slopes bordering the settlement from the south were used as a cemetery. In general, the area of the Golden Horde monument was about 70 hectares.
 
Oh, yes, thank you. Thanks to you, I found some additional information, and then some more and more. In general, I added princely titles, information about which was within 100 years and which did not contradict historicity. Scientists call them principalities, but in my opinion, some of them are places of some kind of sieges, and others are the names of groups of people. I'm not sure if it's worth presenting the golden Horde in such detail.

Behold the "Uzbek's nightmare." not worldwide, not a Mongolian, not a nomadic, not an empire.
Золотая Орда.png

A typical medieval pattern of fragmentation. But now it is possible to determine the location of the 23 main uluses quite accurately. The white letters indicate the centers of power that are directly subordinate to the capital. Outside of the Golden Horde, independent and semi-independent countries are marked in white letters. Well, in black letters, there are completely dependent territories, joint management zones and volosts.
Улусы 23.png

Division into hordes. To be honest, now I don't understand what exactly they mean and how they should work. In 1312, there really were only two of them: Ak-Orda (white) and Kok-orda (blue). Sarai belonged to the Kok Horde (blue). This is unequivocal, and I say it with 100% certainty.
1312.png

Wings, as you might guess, mean the side in which one or the other side of these hordes is located. The right wings are in the west. The left wings are in the east. Many scientists confuse them and indicate them incorrectly, keep this in mind. In the course of Uzbek Khan's reforms, lands are beginning to be redistributed. One of the Mubaraks Khwaja, raises an uprising.
1337.png

The reforms should be completed by 1340, after another Mubarak Khwaja rises up in rebellion and is defeated. Judging by the ages of the rulers, the Tuka-Timurid branch will rebel before the descendants of Orda-Ezhen. After the reforms, Sary Horde (yellow) will indeed become much more centralized.
1340.png

During great troubles, the whole system breaks down. In the west, Mamai occupies the horde. In the east, the blue Horde seeks to unite its former territories (a couple of Shibanids suddenly die without leaving heirs, uluses are inherited by the exiled descendants of Shibanid Badagul). Mamai is not legitimate, and the question of power arises. All the parties involved soon begin to support Tokhtamysh.
1370.png

Tokhtamysh wins. During this time, Mamai had too much influence on the horde, the term Ak-Horde has firmly entered history. And the union of the descendants of Shiban and Horde-Ezhen is falling apart and the hordes in the Golden Horde are starting to look quite familiar in their structure.
1391.png

The issue of localization of hordes and uluses has been resolved. Given the enormity of the contradictions in the sources, based mostly on oral reports, I can say that I am 80% confident in this picture of the world. At least this map will definitely make it easier to find the rest of the information about the horde.
Now, of course, I will not list the hundreds of sources that I have compared. I will cite some of them when I consider each ulus for areas of settlement and religion.

Important notes: The city of Vyatka has not yet been founded. The Principality of Kazan and the Principality of Iski-Kazan are one and the same. According to legend, the Chuvash "Sakat" are Tuaregs from Africa (scientists do not confirm this). The Mari principality of Shang is called by the Mari name of Shanza. Russian volosts are mainly colonization areas where there is a population of a different culture. Settlements usually have a postscript "Pogost" on the territory of volosts.
 
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So, recently picked up a lovely book on the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church and it had this rather pertinent snippet:
1743551424743.png

So, perhaps a strong Armenian minority in Genoese-owned Crimea?
 
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And generally speaking I think a good principle for an ulus or any given administrative unit is sources describing it as such. Things that help is political actions taken by that entity such as warfare, feuding, breaking off on it's own, not sending tribute etc. And most importantly at least one person who is known to have ruled this area at some point.
 
I think your research is worthwhile and can yield something better for the setup of the Golden Horde, but I think clear focus is needed. Not every geographic term, ethnic group or settlement has to have it's own Ulus.
 
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Oh, yes, thank you. Thanks to you, I found some additional information, and then some more and more. In general, I added princely titles, information about which was within 100 years and which did not contradict historicity. Scientists call them principalities, but in my opinion, some of them are places of some kind of sieges, and others are the names of groups of people. I'm not sure if it's worth presenting the golden Horde in such detail.

Behold the "Uzbek's nightmare." not worldwide, not a Mongolian, not a nomadic, not an empire.

A typical medieval pattern of fragmentation. But now it is possible to determine the location of the 23 main uluses quite accurately. The white letters indicate the centers of power that are directly subordinate to the capital. Outside of the Golden Horde, independent and semi-independent countries are marked in white letters. Well, in black letters, there are completely dependent territories, joint management zones and volosts.

Division into hordes. To be honest, now I don't understand what exactly they mean and how they should work. In 1312, there really were only two of them: Ak-Orda (white) and Kok-orda (blue). Sarai belonged to the Kok Horde (blue). This is unequivocal, and I say it with 100% certainty.

Wings, as you might guess, mean the side in which one or the other side of these hordes is located. The right wings are in the west. The left wings are in the east. Many scientists confuse them and indicate them incorrectly, keep this in mind. In the course of Uzbek Khan's reforms, lands are beginning to be redistributed. One of the Mubaraks Khwaja, raises an uprising.

The reforms should be completed by 1340, after another Mubarak Khwaja rises up in rebellion and is defeated. Judging by the ages of the rulers, the Tuka-Timurid branch will rebel before the descendants of Orda-Ezhen. After the reforms, Sary Horde (yellow) will indeed become much more centralized.

During great troubles, the whole system breaks down. In the west, Mamai occupies the horde. In the east, the blue Horde seeks to unite its former territories (a couple of Shibanids suddenly die without leaving heirs, uluses are inherited by the exiled descendants of Shibanid Badagul). Mamai is not legitimate, and the question of power arises. All the parties involved soon begin to support Tokhtamysh.

Tokhtamysh wins. During this time, Mamai had too much influence on the horde, the term Ak-Horde has firmly entered history. And the union of the descendants of Shiban and Horde-Ezhen is falling apart and the hordes in the Golden Horde are starting to look quite familiar in their structure.

The issue of localization of hordes and uluses has been resolved. Given the enormity of the contradictions in the sources, based mostly on oral reports, I can say that I am 80% confident in this picture of the world. At least this map will definitely make it easier to find the rest of the information about the horde.
Now, of course, I will not list the hundreds of sources that I have compared. I will cite some of them when I consider each ulus for areas of settlement and religion.

Important notes: The city of Vyatka has not yet been founded. The Principality of Kazan and the Principality of Iski-Kazan are one and the same. According to legend, the Chuvash "Sakat" are Tuaregs from Africa (scientists do not confirm this). The Mari principality of Shang is called by the Mari name of Shanza. Russian volosts are mainly colonization areas where there is a population of a different culture. Settlements usually have a postscript "Pogost" on the territory of volosts.
For serious: NO

You are mixing cultures „Chuvash, Erzya, Brodniki“, with area names „Chervleny yar“, dead people uluses „Burundai, Berke“, definitely not real places „Dikoje pole t‘ma“, „Pole t‘ma“, „Western desht-I-kipchak“, states with different name spelling „Paskadir“ and „Baskardia“, „Sibir“, „Shibir“ and „Ibir“, „Korel“ and „Kural“. All of that is not correct. Sartaq was a ruler of the Jochi ulus; he did not have his own ulus, as I am aware. "Khoper Kazak t'ma" - do I understand it correctly as Khoper Cossacks? They lived in Chervleny Yar! It is not a separate entity.

It’s just a collection of every mention of everything put on the map with disregard for any credibility. This is no serious research. Areas intersect, collide, but you select what is beneficial to you. And even create new ones to "fill the gaps".

Half of those t‘ma tags never existed; it is just adding "t‘ma" to the city name or even to the Russian area names. This is not real. @Kotyk-durkotyk can you verify me?
IMG_4748.jpeg


As it has been said to you: to make a new (even vassal) nation and portray it in the game, you need to PROOVE that it was independent. Independent tax collection, independent army, independent rule. Just finding a random ruler name and drawing areas around them does not make it real. He might have been a normal Noble. And names that were relevant for other centuries make it less credible.

Currently majority of the real divisions you shown is just nobles. Nobles in Kazan, for example, do not need to be represented as new tags. This mechanic is handled by estates and does not need to create a million vassals.

In general, your approach is flawed. You prioritise the number over anything else at all. Even territorial integrity. Chervleny Yar was an entire area between the Don and the Khoper rivers, but you make it as small as possible to fit even more tags.
 
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This is not real. @Kotyk-durkotyk can you verify me?
Yes, I just did not have energy to repeat the same things again and again.
Totally made up division that even contradicts those very few recorded facts from the early XIV century, like Putyvl being a part of Kyiv (and obviously, some lands between them).

Also, T'ma was a Slavic adaptation of Tumen – a Turkic term for a unit of 10 thousands of horsemen and respective administrative territory that could raise 10k horsemen in the Golden Horde. Temnik (Tumen-bashi) was the head of a t'ma.

Have anyone ever heard of Oster, Pereyaslav temniks? Only some occasional mentions about baskaks who collected tribute in that lands from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kursk.
Or can you imagine those lands could provide or even feed dozens of thousands of horsemen?
 
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I'd like you to elaborate on some of these
View attachment 1275301
Thanks for the adequate criticism. I will focus on them in more detail when I talk about cities and religion.

The Uluses acted on behalf of the horde. And they didn't actually have proper names. But it would be strange if I wrote the word "Jochi ulus" everywhere, in the sense that they were part of the Golden Horde. Scientists do this, but they study a specific region and it's generally clear what they're talking about. We have information about the appointment of the rulers or reports from the rulers of the region. They really committed political actions. Information is scarce and there may not be any between the great-grandfather and the grandson. But if there was one and the other, then probably someone from their family ruled between them. I cannot say with certainty whether it was the father or the grandfather regarding 1337, so I do not give the names of the current rulers to the uluses and take older names or the name of the city or the name of the region, the localization of which is known. As with princely territories, scholars describe them as different groups (separated by a river, for example), but do not give names or they name them after a modern city. I cannot mark them as part of the ulus, because they do not directly relate to it. Leaving a gray spot on the map is stupid, because we can find information based on this name. The Mari Principalities belong to just such, these are their officially accepted names. Their problem is compounded by the fact that they do not have a date of formation, there is only a date of opening (the year when the ushkuyniki besieged their settlement). Therefore, they have black letters because they are dependent territories.
For serious: NO

You are mixing cultures „Chuvash, Erzya, Brodniki“, with area names „Chervleny yar“, dead people uluses „Burundai, Berke“, definitely not real places „Dikoje pole t‘ma“, „Pole t‘ma“, „Western desht-I-kipchak“, states with different name spelling „Paskadir“ and „Baskardia“, „Sibir“, „Shibir“ and „Ibir“, „Korel“ and „Kural“. All of that is not correct. Sartaq was a ruler of the Jochi ulus; he did not have his own ulus, as I am aware. "Khoper Kazak t'ma" - do I understand it correctly as Khoper Cossacks? They lived in Chervleny Yar! It is not a separate entity.

It’s just a collection of every mention of everything put on the map with disregard for any credibility. This is no serious research. Areas intersect, collide, but you select what is beneficial to you. And even create new ones to "fill the gaps".

Half of those t‘ma tags never existed; it is just adding "t‘ma" to the city name or even to the Russian area names. This is not real. @Kotyk-durkotyk can you verify me?
View attachment 1275411

As it has been said to you: to make a new (even vassal) nation and portray it in the game, you need to PROOVE that it was independent. Independent tax collection, independent army, independent rule. Just finding a random ruler name and drawing areas around them does not make it real. He might have been a normal Noble. And names that were relevant for other centuries make it less credible.

Currently majority of the real divisions you shown is just nobles. Nobles in Kazan, for example, do not need to be represented as new tags. This mechanic is handled by estates and does not need to create a million vassals.

In general, your approach is flawed. You prioritise the number over anything else at all. Even territorial integrity. Chervleny Yar was an entire area between the Don and the Khoper rivers, but you make it as small as possible to fit even more tags.

The vassal nations in the horde are highlighted in white letters. I repeat once again, COMPLETELY dependent territories, joint management zones and volosts are highlighted in black letters. I do not know, maybe I am translating this phrase into English somehow wrong? This is not the first time you have ignored my explanations to the map. This phrase means that these territories are part of another tag, but do not belong directly, that is, they are autonomous to a greater or lesser extent. They can be represented in various ways: by vassal relationships, in-game mechanics, or simply by a dedicated core.
Chervlyonyi Yar is the name of the river system, as well as the trade running along it. This is not a subject region. That is why it is highlighted in black letters. These are essentially merchants carrying goods to the Mokhshi ulus, they fit the mechanics of managing estates.
Regarding Russian cities, these are precisely the zones of joint management. Taxes fall into the coffers of the Russian principalities or local nobles, and the territory is assigned to the horde. The Golden Horde does not receive taxes directly from these places. It is historically incorrect to represent them as part of a particular ulus. So I gave them black letters. How should I have marked them???

In this case, it is a dependent tax collection, because these are the constituent parts of the country. In Chervlyonyi Yar, taxes from the Russian population were collected by the Ryazan principality, and from the Tatar eventually everything went to the treasury of the golden Horde. We have information that there were negotiations on this issue in the Golden Horde. There could well have been an independent army, there is evidence of security lines and gatehouses on the part of the Russian population. And the most problematic part is the ruling administration. If the tag is dependent, what kind of independent administration can we talk about? The Khopersk Cossacks will achieve independence in the future. Does this mean that they had some kind of administration at the start of the game? They were well known in Novgorod, so they committed political acts. It turns out that they really had taxes, an army, and a ruling administration. But they did not control another river with a Russian population, also belonging to the Chervlyonyi Yar. Paradoxically, according to your logic, the Khopersk Cossacks can be a tag, but the Chervlyonyi Yar and Butyug cannot be. And how can this situation be displayed on the map??? It's just not possible!
I have already described my approach, I will not repeat it. It is not wrong, but it can be very incorrect in disputed regions. That's why we're having a discussion here. I really try to put as much information on the map as possible, and I give explanations. But when explanations are ignored, I just don't know what to say to that. I see how people react and I understand that this is a massive problem. I'm shocked.
You said "NO" to non-subject tags. So you think there was some kind of subject tag. Which has taxes, an army, and power. Then maybe you can tell us what was there? Because I can't find any information about it.
Yes, I just did not have energy to repeat the same things again and again.
Totally made up division that even contradicts those very few recorded facts from the early XIV century, like Putyvl being a part of Kyiv (and obviously, some lands between them).

Also, T'ma was a Slavic adaptation of Tumen – a Turkic term for a unit of 10 thousands of horsemen and respective administrative territory that could raise 10k horsemen in the Golden Horde. Temnik (Tumen-bashi) was the head of a t'ma.

Have anyone ever heard of Oster, Pereyaslav temniks? Only some occasional mentions about baskaks who collected tribute in that lands from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kursk.
Or can you imagine those lands could provide or even feed dozens of thousands of horsemen?

Well, then I repeat to you once again that Novgorod-Seversky ruled Pereyaslavl.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Переяславское_княжество
Переяславль.png

The part that is not included in Novgorod-Severskaya. There is a mention about it from the 13th century that this part was ruled by Tatars, not Russians.

And Putivl ruled Kiev (although Fyodor himself preferred to rule from Kiev).
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Фёдор_(князь_киевский)
Фёдр.png
 
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I repeat once again, COMPLETELY dependent territories, joint management zones and volosts are highlighted in black letters. I do not know, maybe I am translating this phrase into English somehow wrong?
If they are completely dependent in capital letters, then they count as visual noise and they shouldn't be depicted on the country map at all.

What do you show them for? Why do you show them?
 
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