Nogai Khan

Nogai (died 1299), also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi. His name is also spelled Nogay and Nogaj.

Pelliot wrote that Nogay meant a "dog." In fact, in the Mongolian language, "nokhoi" literally means a "dog"; however it doesn't necessarily mean a particularly negative and insulting name in its context, since people were called "dogs" among the Mongols at the time and sometimes presently as "nokhduud" as in "you dogs (guys/men/people)." Genghis Khan also called his capable generals "dogs of war" or "men of war." This probably came about because Mongols had a lot of dogs, and dogs were very useful for people's lives in hunting and warnings.

Early life under Batu and Berke

Nogai was born to Tatar (Tutar), a son of Teval who was a son of Jochi. He would rule his grandfather's appanage after his father died. After the Mongol invasion of Europe, Batu Khan left Nogai with a tumen (10,000 warriors) in modern-day Moldavia and Romania as a frontier guard. He was a nephew of Berke Khan as well as Batu Khan and Orda Khan, and under his uncle, he became a powerful and ambitious warlord.

In his later years, Berke began to delegate more and more responsibility to his promising nephew. Nogai's leading role first...
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