Mamai
| Khan Mamai or Khan Mamatsu Tatar: Мамай, Mamay, Khan ,Princes Mamatsou |
|
|---|---|
| Beylerbey | |
| Predecessor | ? |
| Successor | Edigu |
| Born | 1335 |
| Died | 1380 Caffa, Gazaria, Crimea |
| Burial | Şeyh Mamay (today Aivazovske, Kirovske Raion, Crimea) |
| Spouse | Berdi Beg's daughter (name unknown) |
| Issue | Khan Mamatsios, or Khan Mamatsu |
| Dynasty | Kiyat |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Mamai (Tatar: Мамай, Mamay, 1335 - 1380), of Kiyat descent, was a powerful military commander of the Golden Horde in the 1370s. The Horde controlled the lands in what is now the southern Ukrainian/southern Russia and the Crimean Peninsula.
Mamai became governor, sometime in the second half of the 1350s, of a territory that later would become the Crimean Khanate. During the rule of Berdi Beg (1357–59) Mamai was appointed as beqlar beg (beylerbey), a position simultaneously combining the duties of general of the army, minister of foreign affairs, and the head of the supreme court.
Upon the assassination of Berdi Beg by Qulpa in 1359, Mamai associated himself with one of the coalitions formed to depose Qulpa. During that period of time the Golden Horde was in relative chaos; numerous regional governors were striving to become the Khan. Qulpa eventually was killed by Nawruz Beg who was himself assassinated less than six months later. Mamai, who was not a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, played a key role in promoting and supporting rival khans of the White Horde (western part of Golden Horde). In 1361 he supported Ğabdullah, son of Uzbeg Khan, who became Khan in Crimea. Upon the death of Ğabdullah in 1370, Mamai supported Bulak under regency of Tulun Beg Khanum, who only briefly enjoyed power before being replaced by his main opponent Urus in 1372.
After being badly defeated by Russians under Dmitri Donskoi first in 1378 at the Battle of the Vozha River and then at the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), Mamai began to assemble a large force to punish Dmitri. But he was defeated by Tokhtamysh on the banks of the Kalka River and was either executed by Tokhtamysh or assassinated by the Genoese after fleeing to Caffa. The death of Mamai paved the way for the next khan to reunify the Golden Horde.
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Wikipedia