Sarai (city)

Sarai (Turki/Kypchak and Persian: سرای; also transcribed as Saraj or Saray; "mansion" or "court") was the name of possibly two cities near the lower Volga, that served successively as the effective capitals of the Cuman–Kipchak Confederation and the Golden Horde, a Turco-Mongol kingdom which ruled much of Northwestern Asia and Eastern Europe, from the 10th through the 14th century. There is considerable disagreement among scholars about the correspondence between specific archaeological sites.