Tokta

(also Togtu). Date of birth unknown; died circa 1312. Khan of the Golden Horde. Son of Möngke-Temür; great-grandson of Batu.

After being exiled by his cousins in 1288, Tokta returned in 1291 to assume the throne with the aid of Nogai. A struggle soon ensued between Tokta and Nogai. In 1293, seeking to eliminate Nogai’s influence in the Russian principalities, Tokta dispatched an army to Rus’; these troops, known as the Diudenev host, destroyed 14 cities. In 1300, Tokta won a decisive victory over Nogai and gained control of all the territory from the Volga to the Don. He died while preparing for another incursion into Russian domains.