Great Horde
The Great Horde, also called the Big Horde, was the steppe remnant of the Golden Horde from about 1466 until 1502.
Dissolution of the Golden Horde
The peripheral regions of the Golden Horde broke off as follows: 1438: Kazan Khanate, 1441: Crimean Khanate, 1466: Astrakhan Khanate. The remnant, which became known as the Great Horde, was left with the steppe between the Dnieper and Yaik, the capital Sarai and a claim to represent the tradition of the Golden Horde. By the 1470s the Nogais north of the Caspian were hostile to the Great Horde and, in the west, and Poland-Lithuania was expanding along the Dnieper.
In 1480 Muscovy and Crimea formed an alliance against the Great Horde which in turn allied with Kingdom of Poland under the Casimir IV Jagiellon. In 1480 the Great Horde's attempt to invade Muscovy failed. In 1480 Akhmat Khan was killed by the Nogais. He was succeeded by his son Shaikh Akhmat. After this, the Horde was weakened by conflicts among Akhmat's sons.
In the spring of 1491 the Crimean Khan suggested that Moscow send troops to finish off the Great Horde since he had ‘seized all the Horde's horses'. Moscow sent some Tatar and Russian cavalry and the Ottomans sent 2,000 Janissaries. By November part of the Horde had seceded and the remainder had been routed by the Nogais. By 1500 it was reported near the Kuban and in very bad shape after having been beaten by the Kabardinians. In 1501 Shaikh Akhmat Khan and 20,000 of his people moved north of the Don. Many of his people deserted.
Great Heart
This world is full of strange behavior
Every man has to be his own savior
I know I can make it on my own if I try
But I'm searchin' for a great heart
To stand me by
Underneath the African sky
A great heart to stand me by
I'm searching for the spirit of the great heart
To hold and keep me by
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
Under African sky
Sometimes I feel that you barely know me
Sometimes there's so much you can show me
There's a highway of stars across the heavens
There's a whispering song of the wind in the grass
There's a rolling thunder across the savannah
A hope and a dream at the edge of the sky
And your life is the story of the wind
Your life is a story like the wind
I'm searching for the spirit of the great heart
To hold and stand me by
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
Under African sky
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
I see the fire in your eyes
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
That beats my name inside
sometimes I feel that you really know me
Sometimes there's so much you can show me
I'm searching for the spirit of the great heart
To hold and stand me by
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
Under African sky
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
I see the fire in your eyes
I'm searchin' for the spirit of the great heart
That beats my name inside
Sometimes I feel you really know me
Sometimes there's so much you can show me
Guk a 'mzimba (body grow old)
Sala 'nhliziyo (but heart remain behind)