Sarai (city)

Sarai (Turki/Kypchak and Persian: سرای‎; also transcribed as Saraj or Saray; "mansion" or "court")^[1] was the name of possibly two cities near the lower Volga, that served successively as the effective capitals of the Golden Horde, a Turco-Mongol^[2] kingdom which ruled much of Northwestern Asia and Eastern Europe, in the 13th and 14th centuries. There is considerable disagreement among scholars about the correspondence between specific archaeological sites and the various references to سرای‎, (Sarāy); سرای باتو‎ (Sarāy-i Bātū ,"the Sarai of Batu"); سرای برکه‎, (Sarāy-i Barka, "the Sarai of Berke"); سرای الجدید‎, (Sarāy al-Jadīd, "New Sarai"); and سرای المحروسه‎ (Sarāy al-Maḥrūsah, "Sarai Blessed [by God]") in the historical sources.^[3]