into spring and retaining the bulk of his army, but still suffered several serious reverses at the hands of local Hungarian troops (primary Szekelys, Saxons, and Vlachs). He also failed to capture any major fortifications, with the exception of the Saxon castle of Ban Mikod. Nogai's column never came into contact with the royal army, as his losses to the local Hungarian forces in the areas he operated in were sufficiently serious to convince him to retreat prematurely. His column was also ambushed by the Szekelys on the return. Overall the campaign was a severe defeat for the Golden Horde and one of Nogai's biggest setbacks; there would be no major incursions into Hungary after it, only raiding along the frontier. Ascension of Talabuga Upon returning from their disastrous campaign in Hungary to the Horde's heartland in 1287, they found Tuda-Mengu Khan sunk in religious torpor. Later in the year, he relinquished the throne to his nephew, Talabuga. Eager to prove himself as a capable ruler and not a puppet of Nogai, and probably wanting to make up for his part of the loss in Hungary, Talabuga immediately launched an invasion against the Ilkhanate, attempting to seize the disputed territory of Azerbaijan. He failed, discrediting him and playing into the hands of his rival Nogai, who was still respected despite his own defeats in Transylvania. Nogai would remain a powerful ruler during Talabuga's brief term as khan of the Golden Horde. Third Mongol invasion of Poland Nogai and Talabuga made a third raid against Poland in 1287/1288 but were defeated by a contingency of Eastern European armies. Raid on Circassia Following the unsuccessful raid on Poland, Nogai and Talabuga made another expedition, this time into Circassia. There they pillaged and killed at will. However, on their return to their winter quarters, heavy snows caused Talabuga's army to get lost on the return and suffer greatly. Nogai's army made their way to winter quarters safe and sound. Talabuga blamed this on Nogai. Conflict with Talabuga Nogai and Talabuga had never gotten along, and their quarrelling during the invasions of Poland and Circassia is held by 19th-century Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin to be major reasons for the heavy losses taken in those expeditions. In autumn of 1290 Talabuga, thinking Nogai was conspiring against him, decided to muster an army and march against his general. Nogai decided to feign ignorance, though he knew