WANDERING ALONG THE ROADS «VIA TATARICA» (Problems of determining the trade routes of the Juchid era in the territory of modern Ukraine)

Abstract

The aim of the study. Determination of the geographical direction and time of existence of the «Via Tatarica» trade road. An overview of methodological approaches to the use of data from numismatics and written sources. Designation of cities from the list of trade road «Via Tatarica» on the map. For greater clarity, part of the region map was used. A brief overview of the stages of the coinage in Ulus Juchi during the reign of Toqtu khan (1290-1312). Cautions against the dating of any monuments at the end of the 13th century in the presence of unattributed coins bearing the name of this khan. Suggestions for dating the existence of the «Via Tatarica» trade road with reliable sources. Main results of the study. The geographic location of the cities listed on the «Via Tatarica» trade road illustrates the inappropriate use of this road. Identification of inconsistency between the terms «asper baricati» in the terminology of Genoese notarial documents and «juchid dirhams» among the coin denominations. A brief overview of the term system of Genoese notarial acts does not allow the sign of equality between the money-weight term “asper baricati” and the name of the coin denomination Ulus Juchi – «dirham», or any other. These are different terms that exist in different terminology systems and define different concepts. Sometimes their weight characteristics may coincide, but even under such conditions it is impossible to place an equal sign between them. The coin case of Ulus Juchi during the reign of Toqtu khan (1290-1312) has two distinct periods. They are separated by money reform, held in 1310. The essence of this reform – the replacement of a large number of money and weight systems and coin systems into a single system, based on several units of weight and the only coin denomination – dang. Silver coins – dangs with the name of Toqtu khan, which were minted in Saray in 1310, are well known among the numerous treasures. These treasures are often dated to the middle or second half of the 14th century on the coins of the third quarter of the 14th century. Most modern scientific research on archeological monuments, which is on the list of this work, in particular at Torgovytsi, does not have a clear definition of the types and time of minting silver coins with name of Toqtu khan. Therefore, such data cannot be used to date the monument from the beginning of the reign of the khan, that is, the end of the 13th century. Moreover, the presence in the finds of coins in 1310 minting at all cannot surely testify that they fell into the archaeological layer precisely during the reign of Toqtu khan. Changing the standard dating of monuments and historical events of the «end of the 13th – 14th c.». Often, in a critical approach, such a broad dating disintegrates and establishes a more realistic time that begins with 40-80 years of the 14th c. The use of knowledge in other branches of historical science, such as numismatics and cartography, requires the involvement of specialists from these fields to be attracted. For the first time, the use of the term «asper baricati» is considered in the light of a given term system, which forms the basis of monetary case in the territory of the Northern Black Sea Coast. It is clearly stated that the term «asper baricati» has no dials with any coins denomination of Juchids. Briefly and affordably, the peculiarities of the coin case in Ulus Juchi during the reign of Toqtu khan (1290-1312) are considered. It is response to the impossibility of dating events and monuments during the reign of this khan, based on insufficiently attributed or no dated coins, which are used in modern historiography.