Qulpa Kulpa and Askulpa in Russian chronicles;[1] Colbadinus Cam in a contemporary Venetian document;[2] died 1360) was Khan of the Golden Horde from August 1359 to February 1360. He came to the throne four days after the murder of his predecessor Berdi Beg.[3] It has been supposed that Qulpa might have begun his reign as a rival khan at Azov, but that cannot be verified and seems unlikely.[4] His short reign is not recorded in most of the Perso-Arabic narratives treating the khans of the Golden Horde, but it is briefly treated in the Russian chronicles, which report that Qulpa reigned for 6 months and 5 days, did a lot of evil, and in the end was killed, together with his sons Mihail and Ivan.[5] The names of Qulpa's sons and the absence of a traditional Muslim name on his coins suggest that he was Christian, but that is not certain. The publication of a contemporary Venetian notary act by Benedetto Bianco confirms Qulpa's favor towards Christians and that at least his eldest, 12-year-old son was a Christian; it also dates the murders of Qulpa, his two sons, and two emirs, and the accession of the next khan, Nawruz Beg, to 28 February 1360.[6] Qulpa's control over the Golden Horde may have been challenged from the start, by Berdi Beg's son-in-law Mamai in the west, and by the reassertion of autonomy in the former subordinate Ulus of Orda in the east, under Qara Noqai, a descendant of Jochi's son Toqai Temür.
Qulpa Askulpa | |
---|---|
![]() Murder of Qulpa, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible | |
Khan of the Golden Horde Western Half (Blue Horde) | |
Reign | August 1359–February 1360 |
Predecessor | Berdi Beg |
Successor | Nawruz Beg |
Died | 28 February 1360 |
Dynasty | Borjigin |
Religion | Christian |
The antecedents of Qulpa are unclear. He may have been among those claiming descent from Jani Beg (like Nawruz Beg and Kildi Beg), and some modern authorities treat him as a son of Jani Beg and brother of his predecessor Berdi Beg and successor Nawruz Beg.[7] The most accurate collections of Jochid genealogies (like the Muʿizz al-ansāb) do not include Qulpa/Qulna among Jani Beg's offspring, or anywhere else. Jani Beg's son Berdi Beg is said to have slaughtered no less than 12 of his closest kinsmen, including an 8-month-old brother, making it unlikely that Qulpa/Qulna could have been another son of Jani Beg. To some scholars,[8] the evidence of eastern sources (mostly enumerations of the khans) implies that Qulpa was identical to Kildi Beg, who pretended to be a son of Jani Beg (but was actually his nephew, according to the Muʿizz al-ansāb); the chronological implications of such an identification are problematic, but the more detailed treatment in Ötemiš-Ḥājjī's Čingīz-Nāmah makes it likely that Qulpa was at least confounded with Kildi Beg in an influential tradition.[9]
Genealogy
edit- Genghis Khan
- Jochi
- Batu Khan
- Toqoqan
- Mengu-Timur
- Toghrilcha
- Uzbeg Khan
- Iran Beg
- Qulpa
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Grigor'ev 1983: 23-25.
- ^ Karpov 2018: 531-532.
- ^ Karpov 2018: 531-532, citing contemporary Venetian notary.
- ^ Sidorenko 2000: 282.
- ^ Howorth 1880: 181; Safargaliev 1960: 113.
- ^ Karpov 2018: 531-532.
- ^ E.g., Grekov & Jakubovskij 1950: 271; Vernadsky 1953: 245; May 2018: 302.
- ^ E.g., Howorth 1880: 181
- ^ Judin 1992: 112-113.
Sources
edit- Grekov, B. D., and A. J. Jakubovskij, Zolotaja orda i eë padenie. Moscow, 1950.
- Grigor'ev, A. P., "Zolotoordynskie hany 60-70-h godov XIV v.: hronologija pravlenii," Istriografija i istočnikovedenie stran Azii i Afriki 7 (1983) 9-54.
- 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.
- Karpov, S. P., "Načalo smuty v Zolotoj Orde i perevorot Navruza," Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie 6 (2018) 528-536.
- May, T., The Mongol Empire. Edinburgh, 2018.
- Počekaev, R. J., Cari ordynskie: Biografii hanov i pravitelej Zolotoj Ordy. Saint Petersburg, 2010.
- Safargaliev, M. G., Raspad Zolotoj Ordy. Saransk, 1960.
- Sidorenko, V. A., "Hronologija pravlenii zolotoordynskih hanov 1357-1380 gg.," Materialov po arheologii, istorii i ètnografii Tavrii 7 (2000) 267-288.
- Thackston, W. M. (trans.), Khwandamir, Habibu's-siyar. Tome Three. Cambridge, MA, 1994.
- Vernadsky, G., The Mongols and Russia, New Haven, 1953.