The Great Khan Ögedei, at the kurultai…
October 1236 CE
The Great Khan Ögedei, at the kurultai in Mongolia after the end of the Mongol-Jin War, had ordered Batu to conquer western nations.
Batu, who earlier had directed the conquest of the Crimean Peninsula, had in 1235 been assigned an army of possibly one hundred and thirty thousand to oversee an invasion of Europe.
His relatives and cousins Güyük, Büri, Möngke, Khulgen, Kadan, Baidar and notable Mongol generals Subutai, Borolday and Mengguser join him by the order of his uncle Ögedei.
The army, actually commanded by Subutai, crosses the Volga and invades Volga Bulgaria in autumn 1236.