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Family and legacy

Batu Khan was approximately five feet and seven inches tall (1.70 m), and had at least four children:

Batu's mother Ukhaa ujin belonged to the Mongol Onggirat clan while his chief khatun Boraqchin was an Alchi- Tatar.

When Batu and his son Sartaq died, after a brief regency of Boraqchin for Ulagchi, Batu's brother Berke inherited the Golden Horde. Berke was not inclined to unity with his cousins in the Mongol family, making war on Hulagu Khan, though Berke officially recognized Möngke and the Empire of the Great Khan as his overlords. In fact, Berke was an independent ruler by then. Berke did not share Batu's interest in conquering it, however, he demanded Hungarian King Béla IV 's submission and sent his general Borolday to Lithuania and Poland.

The Kipchak Khanate was known in Rus and Europe as the Golden Horde (Zolotaya Orda) some think because of the golden colour of the Khan's tent. "Horde" comes from the Mongol word "orda/ordu" or camp. "Golden" is thought to have had a similar meaning to "royal" (Royal Camp). Of all the Khanates, the Golden Horde ruled longest. Long after the expulsion of the Yuan dynasty from China to Mongolia, and the fall of Ilkhanate in Middle East, the descendants of Batu Khan continued to rule the steppes in what is now Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Batu's line ruled the Jochid Ulus until 1360, a century after Berke's death in 1264. Descendants of his brothers, Orda and Tuqatimur, took the throne of the Golden Horde afterwards.