Orda (organization)

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. Some successful ordas gave rise to khanates. While the East Slavic term ordo and later derived term horda/horde were in origin borrowings from the Turkic term ordo for "camp, headquarters", 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"). Etymologically, the word "ordu" comes from the Turkic "ordu" which means army in Turkic and Mongolian languages, "seat of power" or "royal court". Within the Liao Empire of the Khitans, the word ordo was used to refer to a nobleman's personal entourage or court, which included servants, retainers, and bodyguards. Emperors, empresses, and high ranking princes all had ordos of their own, which they were free to manage in practically any way they chose. In modern times the term is also used to denote Kazakh tribal groupings, known as zhuz. The primary ones are the Younger Horde (junior zhuz) in western Kazakhstan, the Middle Horde (middle zhuz) in central Kazakhstan and the Older Horde (senior zhuz) in southeastern Kazakhstan. The word via Tatar passed into East Slavic as orda (орда), and by the 1550s into English as horde, probably via Polish and French or Spanish. The unetymological initial h- is found in all western European forms and was likely first attached in the Polish form horda. 'Urdu', the name of a language spoken in the Indian subcontinent, is also derived from this Turkic word. Ordu or Ordo also means the Mongolian court. In Mongolian, the Government Palace is called "Zasgiin gazriin ordon". William of Rubruck described the Mongol mobile tent as follows: The dwelling in which they sleep is based on a hoop of interlaced branches, and its supports are made of branches, converging at the top around a small hoop, from which projects a neck like a chimney.