Definition of: Tartary

(tär′tər·ē)
A region of Asia and eastern Europe, mostly in central and western Asiatic Russian S.F.S.R., Soviet Central Asia, southern European Russian S.F.S.R., and Ukrainian S.S.R., ruled by the Tatars, under Mongol leadership, in the 13th and 14th centuries A.D. At its greatest extent, under Genghis Khan, it reached the Pacific; after his death, the Asian portion became known as Great Tartary, or Asiatic Tartary, while the European portion, ruled by the Golden Horde, became Little Tartary, or European Tartary: also Tatary.