horde
Sign in to saveAlso known as otok, orda, hordes, ordas, otoks, zhuz, ordon, ordons
nomad tribal confederation, particularly those of the Mongols and Turks
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
An orda (also ordu, ordo, or ordon) or horde was a historical sociopolitical and military structure found on the Eurasian Steppe, usually associated with the Turkic and Mongol peoples. This form of entity can be seen as the regional equivalent of a clan or a tribe of nomads. Some successful ordas gave rise to khanates. The original term did not carry the meaning of a large khanate such as the Golden Horde. These structures were contemporarily referred to as ulus ("nation" or "tribe").
Etymology
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “horde” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.