Qāghān Beg (
Turki
Chagatai (, ), also known as Turki, Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (), is an extinct Turkic language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia. It remained the shared literary language in the region until the early 20th century. It was ...
/
Kypchak: قاغان بک; ) was
Khan
Khan may refer to:
* Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities
Art and entertainment
* Khan (band), an English progressiv ...
of the
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
from 1375 to 1377. He held the traditional capital
Sarai during a period of civil war among rival contenders for the throne. Throughout his reign, the westernmost portion of the Golden Horde was under the control of the
beglerbeg
''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the Il ...
Mamai
Mamai (Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, Mongolian Cyrillic: Мамай, ; 1325?–1380/1381) was a powerful Turco-Mongol tradition, Turko-Mongol military commander in Beylerbey rank of the Golden Horde from Kiyat clan. Contrary to popular misconcep ...
and his puppet khan
Muḥammad-Sulṭān, while the easternmost portion was under the control of
Urus Khan
Urus Khan ( Kypchak: اوروس خان; also known as ''Muḥammad-Urūs'' Turki/ Persian: محمد اروس, ''Orys'', ''Arys'', ''Yrys'', ''Orys Khan''; ; died 1377) was the eighth Khan of the White Horde and a disputed Khan of the Blue Hord ...
and then his sons.
Ancestry
Qāghān Beg was a descendant of
Jochi
Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the ...
's son
Shiban
Shiban (; ), Siban () or Shayban (; ) was a prince of the early Golden Horde, a division of the Mongol Empire. He was a grandson of Genghis Khan, the fifth son of Jochi and a younger brother of Batu Khan who founded the Golden Horde. His des ...
. The ''Muʿizz al-ansāb'' and the ''Tawārīḫ-i guzīdah-i nuṣrat-nāmah'' give his descent as follows:
Chinggis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
-
Jochi
Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the ...
-
Shiban
Shiban (; ), Siban () or Shayban (; ) was a prince of the early Golden Horde, a division of the Mongol Empire. He was a grandson of Genghis Khan, the fifth son of Jochi and a younger brother of Batu Khan who founded the Golden Horde. His des ...
- Bahadur - Jochi-Buqa - Bādāqūl - Ming-Tīmūr - Īl-Bīk - Qāghān-Bīk.
Biography
Qāghān Beg's uncle
Khayr Pūlād (or Mīr Pūlād) had reigned briefly in parts of the Golden Horde in 1362–1365, as had a cousin, Ḥasan Beg, in 1368–1369. Qāghān Beg's father
Īl Beg ruled from
Saray-Jük
Saray-Jük ( Turki/ Kypchak and Persian: سرایجوق, ''Sarāyjūq''; , ''Kışı Sarai''; , ''Sarayçıq''), was a medieval city on the border between Europe and Asia. It was located 50 km north Atyrau on the lower Ural River, near the ...
on the lower
Ural in 1373–1374, and briefly seized the Golden Horde's traditional capital Sarai in 1374, before perishing in the struggle to hold it against the
beglerbeg
''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the Il ...
Mamai
Mamai (Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, Mongolian Cyrillic: Мамай, ; 1325?–1380/1381) was a powerful Turco-Mongol tradition, Turko-Mongol military commander in Beylerbey rank of the Golden Horde from Kiyat clan. Contrary to popular misconcep ...
. According to
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...
, Qāghān Beg (whom he calls Karī Khān), who may have been present with his father at Sarai, fled to his family lands east of the Ural. During his sojourn at Sarai, Īl Beg had left Saray-Jük in the hands of his nephew, Khayr Pūlād's son
ʿArab Shāh. The cousins cooperated and, having regrouped, Qāghān Beg seized control of Sarai late in 1375, expelling from it yet another rival, the
Tuqa-Timur
Tuqa-Temür (also ''Toqa-Temür'' and ''Toghai-Temür'', in the Perso-Arabic orthography of the sources rendered ''Tūqā-Tīmūr'' or ''Tūqāy-Tīmūr'') was the thirteenth and youngest or penultimate son of Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan ...
id
Urus Khan
Urus Khan ( Kypchak: اوروس خان; also known as ''Muḥammad-Urūs'' Turki/ Persian: محمد اروس, ''Orys'', ''Arys'', ''Yrys'', ''Orys Khan''; ; died 1377) was the eighth Khan of the White Horde and a disputed Khan of the Blue Hord ...
, who was ruler of the former
Ulus
Ulus may refer to:
Places
* Ulus, Bartın, a district in Bartin Province, Turkey
* Ulus, Beşiktaş, neighborhood in Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey
*Ulus, Ankara, an important quarter in central Ankara, Turkey
** Ulus (Ankara Metro), an und ...
of
Orda and had taken Sarai in 1374. Unlike several of his predecessors, Qāghān Beg maintained himself at Sarai long enough to mint coins there.
Qāghān Beg was also able to intervene in the affairs of the Russian principalities, vassals of the Golden Horde. In this endeavor, he was competing with Mamai and his puppet khan
Muḥammad-Sulṭān. The grand princes
Dmitrij Ivanovič of
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and
Dmitrij Konstantinovič of
Nižnij Novgorod, having recently broken with Mamai, recognized Qāghān Beg as their suzerain, perhaps seeking favors from a ruler they perceived to be more amenable and less dangerous than Mamai. Accordingly, when Qāghān Beg instructed the two grand princes to make the governor of
Bolghar
Bolghar (; Tatar language, Tatar: Болгар, بلغار, ''Bolğar''; Chuvash language, Chuvash: Аслă Пăлхар, ''Aslă Pălhar'') was intermittently the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 10th to the 13th centuries, along with Bilär, ...
, Asan (Ḥasan), submit to his authority in 1376, they readily set out on a campaign. This was successful, but the Russian rulers offended Qāghān Beg by extorting additional large sums for themselves from the vanquished. The enraged khan, lacking sufficient forces of his own, asked his cousin ʿArab Shāh to punish the Russian grand princes. ʿArab Shāh obliged, and set out against the two Dmitrijs, who joined forces to defend themselves. However, before the army of ʿArab Shāh could engage with them, and in the temporary absence of the Muscovites, Mamai succeeded in surprising and routing the Nižegorodians at the
P'jana river, and proceeded to sack and burn Nižnij Novgorod in 1377. Unwilling to miss the opportunity to inflict his intended vengeance on the Russians and plunder them, or to allow Mamai to reassert his suzerainty over them,ʿArab Shāh proceeded with his campaign. Taking advantage of the confused and weakened state of the Russian princes, he successfully raided and plundered the territories of Nižnij Novgorod and
Rjazan', even capturing the latter's
capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
in the autumn of 1377. Qāghān Beg did not, however, enjoy his triumph long. In late 1377, he was induced to abdicated in favor of his victorious and effective cousin ʿArab Shāh. With ʿArab Shāh on the throne of Sarai, Qāghān Beg was not only left alive, but appears to have been given rule over the Shibanid homelands to the east.
According to the ''Čingīz-Nāmah'', the Tuqa-Timurid prince
Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh ( Turki/ Kypchak and Persian: توقتمش; ; ; – 1406) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1380 to 1395. He briefly succeeded in consolidating the Blue and White Hordes into a single polity.
Tokhtamysh belonged to the House of Bo ...
sought refuge with Qāghān Beg from his cousin, the aggressive Urus Khan, a common enemy. Neither realizing that Urus had just died (in 1377), Qāghān Beg granted Tokhtamysh lands at the estuary of the Tana (
Don). Tokhtamysh attempted to incite Qāghān Beg to a common campaign against Mamai, but after initially inclining to action, Qāghān Beg decided against it. Disappointed by Qāghān Beg, Tokhtamysh left, but not before receiving generous presents and many horses from ʿArab Shāh. Subsequently, assisted by his protector
Timur
Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...
(Tamerlane), Tokhtamysh overthrew Urus Khan's heirs and made himself ruler of the former Ulus of Orda in 1379. He then demanded the submission of Qāghān Beg, who cautiously responded that he had to receive instructions to do so from his overlord, ʿArab Shāh. Tokhtamysh accordingly advanced on Sarai, demanding ʿArab Shāh's submission, which he received. Recognized as khan at Sarai and eliminating Mamai, Tokhtamysh showed generosity to both Qāghān Beg and ʿArab Shāh, rewarding Qāghān Beg with the same lands at the Tana estuary that he had previously given Tokhtamysh, and allowing ʿArab Shāh to rule the Ulus of Shiban. Qāghān Beg died, therefore, some time after 1380.
Descendants
According to the ''Tawārīḫ-i guzīdah-i nuṣrat-nāmah'', Qāghān Beg had a son, Maḥmūd Khwāja, who later ruled in
Sibir and the Golden Horde in 1428–1430.
[Tizengauzen 2006: 428.]
Genealogy
*
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
*
Jochi
Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the ...
*
Shiban
Shiban (; ), Siban () or Shayban (; ) was a prince of the early Golden Horde, a division of the Mongol Empire. He was a grandson of Genghis Khan, the fifth son of Jochi and a younger brother of Batu Khan who founded the Golden Horde. His des ...
*Bahadur
*Jochi-Buqa
*Bādāqūl
*Ming-Tīmūr
*
Īl Beg
*Qāghān Beg
See also
*
List of khans of the Golden Horde
This is a complete list of khans of the Orda (organization), Ulus of Jochi, better known by its later Russian designation as the Golden Horde, in its right (west) wing and left (east) wing divisions known problematically as the Blue Horde and Whit ...
References
Bibliography
* Desmaisons, P. I. (transl.), ''Histoire des Mongols et des Tatares par Aboul-Ghâzi Béhâdour Khân'', St Petersburg, 1871–1874.
* Gaev, A. G., "Genealogija i hronologija Džučidov," ''Numizmatičeskij sbornik'' 3 (2002) 9-55.
* Howorth, H. H., ''History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century''. Part II.1. London, 1880.
* Judin, V. P., ''Utemiš-hadži, Čingiz-name'', Alma-Ata, 1992.
*
*
* Sabitov, Ž. M., ''Genealogija "Tore"'', Astana, 2008.
* Safargaliev, M. G., ''Raspad Zolotoj Ordy.'' Saransk, 1960.
* Sagdeeva, R. Z., ''Serebrjannye monety hanov Zolotoj Ordy'', Moscow, 2005.
* Seleznëv, J. V., ''Èlita Zolotoj Ordy'', Kazan', 2009.
* Sidorenko, V. A., "Hronologija pravlenii zolotoordynskih hanov 1357-1380 gg.," ''Materialov po arheologii, istorii i ètnografii Tavrii'' 7 (2000) 267–288.
* Tizengauzen, V. G. (trans.), ''Sbornik materialov, otnosjaščihsja k istorii Zolotoj Ordy. Izvlečenija iz arabskih sočinenii'', republished as ''Istorija Kazahstana v arabskih istočnikah''. 1. Almaty, 2005.
* Tizengauzen, V. G. (trans.), ''Sbornik materialov otnosjaščihsja k istorii Zolotoj Ordy. Izvlečenija iz persidskih sočinenii'', republished as ''Istorija Kazahstana v persidskih istočnikah''. 4. Almaty, 2006.
* Vernadsky, G., ''The Mongols and Russia'', New Haven, 1953.
* Vohidov, Š. H. (trans.), ''Istorija Kazahstana v persidskih istočnikah''. 3. ''Muʿizz al-ansāb''. Almaty, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qaghan Beg
14th-century Mongol khans
Year of birth unknown
Khans of the Golden Horde
Khans of the White Horde