Ulugh III : Part 2
A banquet was held in Volgograd to mark the three year anniversary of Ulugh's ascension to the throne. It was overall an enjoyable time but for Lord Bunkada of Uralsk it was to be the beginning of a nightmare.
He was overheard by Ulugh remarking that he particularly enjoyed the sport of
'hair-baiting'. Despite his protests that he had been misheard and was referring to bear baiting Ulugh would have none of it. Ulugh conceded that tar and hairing was beneath the dignity of a Lord. Instead he exiled Bunkada. He was sent to the depths of the dark continent to serve as an ambassador to Benin.
Bunkada's new home
Hair-baiting, the cause of the whole fuss
The move caused some commotion amongst aristocratic circles. Bunkada had been a popular lord and his exile was an unwelcome move. Many saw it as the beginning of a megalomaniacal ruler.
The Holy Golden Alliance was still in force with the Black Horde firmly at the helm. But with half of it's members now Christian some were claiming it could no longer call itself Holy at all. Their claims were to be strengthened as Ulugh made his next diplomatic move.
He invited the pagan rulers of the homeland into the alliance and they accepted. It was a shocking move. Mongolia surely could not be worthy of being aligned to the Horde. Those with understanding of international affairs failed to even see a single advantage in it for the Horde.
The original Horde joins the Holy Golden Alliance
But Ulugh claimed he had plans for Mongolia, though he refused to divulge them. The first came to fruition shortly. Maps of each nations known lands were exchanged. It seemed that even the Mongolians had little knowledge of what lay beyond them. So Ulugh took the matter upon himself and dispatched a brave explorer to find what lay within the off-white of the far east.
Ghazi and his men bravely face the off-white armed with swords, horses, shields and blankies
What lay there though would never become known to Ulugh. In a manner unbefitting a Khan he passed away without a single sharp object embedded in him. Instead he died of an illness that struck hard and fast in the summer of 1699 and unresponsive to any medical treatment.
The Horde's top doctors were baffled by the disease