Essay from the year 2006 in the subject History of Europe - Middle Ages, Early Modern Age, Brigham Young University, language: English, abstract: The Golden Horde, which included much of modern-day Kazakhstan and the surrounding areas, has received the most detailed study of the plague in Asia, mostly because it was the point from which the Black Death was brought to Europe by Italian Merchants. It was struck by the plague in its major cities, starting with Khorazm in 1345 and Saray in1346. During this time the Golden Horde was ending a long war with the Il-Khanate to the south, and was eventually divided by civil war between the Blue Horde and the Princes of the Right Hand. The latter eventually lost the civil war, probably due to the fact that it had a more urbanized population, and thus was more susceptible to the plague. Yet, despite their victory, the Blue Horde was never able to fully revive the kingdom's former prosperity and the era of large cities and long distance trade on the western steppe came to an end.
