New Sarai (called Sarai-al-Jadid on coins) was at modern Kolobovka, formerly Tsarev, an archeological site also on the Akhtuba channel 85 km east of Volgograd, and about 180 km northwest of Old Sarai or, maybe on the site of Saqsin (which may have itself been built on the site of the Khazar capital, Atil). The bishops of Krutitsy resided in Tsarev from 1261 to 1454. It had probably succeeded Sarai Batu as the capital of the Golden Horde by the mid 1300s.
Both cities were sacked several times. Timur sacked New Sarai around 1395, and Meñli I Giray of the Crimean Khanate sacked New Sarai around 1502. Sarai was finally destroyed after 1556 when Ivan IV of Russia conquered the Astrakhan Khanate.
In 1623-1624, a Russian merchant, Fyodor Kotov, travelled to Persia via the lower Volga. He described the site of Sarai: Here by the river Akhtuba stands the Golden Horde. The khan's court, palaces, and courts, and mosques are all made of stone. But now all these buildings are being dismantled and the stone is being taken to Astrakhan. Since Old Sarai lies at 120 km from Astrakhan and New Sarai at 300 km, it is difficult to decide to which of these two cities this description applies.
After the destruction of New Sarai, Russia established the fortress city of Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd) to control the area.
Read more about this topic: Sarai (city)