Tokhtamysh – Timur war The Tokhtamysh – Timur war was fought in the 1380s and early 1390s between Tokhtamysh , khan of the Golden Horde and the Mongol warlord and conqueror Timur , in the areas of the Caucasus mountains , Turkistan and Eastern Europe . The battle between the two Mongol rulers played a key role in the decline of the Mongol power over early Russian principalities . Background . In the late 1370s and early 1380s , Timur helped Tokhtamysh to assume supreme power in the White Horde against Tokhtamysh ' s uncle Urus Khan . After this he united the White and Blue Hordes , forming the Golden Horde , and launched a massive military punitive campaign against the Russian principalities between 1381 and 1382 , restoring the Turko ( tartar ) Mongol power in Russia after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo . The Golden Horde , after a period of anarchy between early 1360s and late 1370s , passed for a briefly reestablishing as a dominant regional power , defeating Lithuania in Poltava around 1383 . But Tokhtamysh had territorial ambitions in Persia and Central Asia , and on account of this he turned against his old ally , Timur . The war . After the death of Abu Sa ' id in 1335 , the last ruler of the Ilkhanid Dynasty , a power vacuum emerged in Persia . Persia ' s vulnerability led to military incursions from Persia ' s neighbours . In 1383 Timur started his military conquest of that country . In 1385 he captured Herat , Khorasan and all of eastern Persia . In the same year Tokhtamysh raided Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran . The city of Tabriz was plundered and Tokhtamysh could retire with a rich booty . Between 1389 and 1391 , Timur and Tokhtamysh started fighting , with the Battle of the Kondurcha River awarding victory to Timur . Despite the setback , Tokhtamysh recovered his position and in the spring of 1395 raided the Timurid territory of Shirvan . Timur then counter - attacked , reconquering the area and raiding the Golden Horde ' s territories . He decisively routed Tokhtamysh in the Battle of the Terek river on April 15 , 1395 . In the same year Timur also plundered Sarai , Ukek , Majar , Azaq and burnt Astrakhan . Aftermath . After his resounding defeat in the Battle of the Terek River , Tokhtamysh was deposed and replaced by Edigu , fleeing to the Ukrainian steppes and asking for help from Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania . The two combined their forces in the Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399 , but were defeated and annihilated by Khan Temur Qutlugh and Edigu , two of Timur ' s generals . Around 1406 Tokhtamysh was killed in Siberia by Edigu ' s men ; in turn , Edigu would be slain thirteen years later by one of Tokhtamysh ' s sons . The Golden Horde never recovered from this war . In the middle of the 15th century , it fragmented in smaller khanates : the Kazan khanate , Nogai Horde , Qasim Khanate , Crimean Khanate and Astrakhan Khanate . Thus Tatar - Mongol power in Russia was weakened and in 1480 the ' Tatar yoke ' over Russia , a reminder of the bloody Mongol conquest , was definitively shaken in the Great standing on the Ugra River . The last remnant of the Golden Horde was destroyed by the Crimean Khanate in 1502 , and the Khanates that arose after the Golden Horde ' s fragmentation were annexed by Muscovite Russia between the 1550s and early 17th century , except the Crimean Khanate which survived until 1783 , under Ottoman protection .