Tokhtamysh II : Part 5
As the capital of the Golden Horde the city of Astrakhan had understandably expanded with the success of the Horde over the years. People from all over the empire and abroad could be found there. Catholics from Spain looking to take back fine steel, for which the Horde was famous, to supplement their inferior products from Toledo. Arabs from the southernmost parts of the empire buying up bulk wool with which to make their desert tents from. Even pagans from Siberia trading their furs for salt. All these products had long been staples of the markets and fairs as the Golden Horde had been the chief supplier for a long time. However in recent years other goods too were becoming increasingly common, such as Italian wines, to which a blind eye was turned by religious authorities and somewhat ironically for the land based Horde naval supplies were, for some unknown reason, remained popular with other countries.
The Horde adds several other goods to the list it dominates already on the world scene
The expanding Horde now contained a great number of non-Muslims. This worried Tokhtamysh who was keen for an orderly empire. To achieve this he had begun efforts several years earlier to convert the heathens. It was an effort met with mixed success.
And of course the usual rebels obliged when failure resulted.
Despite tough crackdowns the Shi'ites of Basrah remain an ugly thorn in the side of the Horde
Tokhtamysh began to wonder if Allah might be looking unfavourably upon the Horde due to the high number of heathens in the lands. Surely there was something he could do to gain favour? A brief look at the international relations of the Horde provided just the excuse and possibilty. Aden, the owner of Mekkah was still refusing the Horde merchants access to her markets. It certainly was something that could not be tolerated.
The Horde armies began to march south in the Arabian peninsula once again. Once over the border the war was a short one as city after city fell to assault by the Horde troops.
First the holy city of Mekkah
Then Yemen and Aden
The Sultan of Aden seeing that the situation was quite hopeless gave up his lands as soon as they were asked for.
Allah must smile upon the Horde now