Haji-Cherkes: the new khan of Haji-Tarkhan
Having practically united the entire western part of the Ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde), Karachibek Mamai faced the same resistance from the main clans of the Tatar aristocracy.
This time, the center of the unification of forces against Mamai was Hadji-Tarkhan, where since 1374 a certain emir Hadji-Cherkes, apparently of Jochid descent, had ruled. Russian chronicles from 1375 contain reports about this Lower Volga ruler, named “Prince of Khazitorokan, named Salchei,” who destroyed the Novgorod ushkuyniks of Ataman Prokop, who had ravaged Kostroma and the banks of the Volga. The personality of Salchei in Russian chronicles can be correlated with Emir Khadzhi-Tarkhan, who issued copper coins here in 776 AH (year of the Hijra) (June 12, 1374 – June 11, 1375) on behalf of Cherkes-bek. According to reports by the Arab historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun, Khadzhi-Cherkes, having gathered considerable forces, “went against Mamai, defeated him, and took Sarai from him,” forcing him to retreat to Crimea. As a result of this victory, he united the entire Lower Volga region under his rule. Haji-Cherkes ruled in Sarai for several months in late 1374 and early 1375. His power was rather illusory, as he had to constantly fend off other pretenders to the throne. In the east, he fought against Ayek, with whom he alternately controlled the city of Saraychuk in 1373-1374, and in the west against Mamai. But the forces of the Tatar clans of the Volga region were already running out, and without support from the east, they could not resist Mamai’s raids.
Urus Khan enters the struggle for the throne
The end of Cherkes’ rule in Saray al-Jadid was brought about by a new invasion of a powerful army from the eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi from the Kok Orda. Recounting the further events of 776 AH, Ibn Khaldun tells that Khan Urus of the Kok Orda, from the Tuka-Timurid clan, rose up against Haji-Cherkess and, after a series of failures, managed to subjugate Saray to his power. It is likely that the well-known coins of Urus Khan, which represent the Saray mint, could have been minted in the first half of 1375. Khan Urus’s army in the Trans-Volga region was supported by one of Shiban’s descendants, known in coin legends as Alp-Khoja and in the writings of Eastern authors as Aibek/Ilbek (Ilban, Ilsan, Ilpak), who ruled in Saraychuk. Khan Urus’ stay in the Lower Volga region did not exceed several months, as his task was obviously to establish his protégés there.
Kaganbek and Arabshah: khans from the East
Already in the following year, 777 AH (June 2, 1375 – May 20, 1376), coins were minted in Saray al-Jadid in the name of Alp-Khodja’s eldest son, Kaganbek (who ruled in 1375-1376).
He did not rule for long and was replaced two years later by Khan Arabshah (who ruled from 1377 to 1380). Russian chroniclers recorded this event in 1377, when “a certain prince named Arapshah defected from the Blue Horde across the Volga.” Genealogical constructions of medieval sources name Arabshah as the son of Bulat (Pulad) from the Shiban clan, who was, in turn, the brother of the aforementioned Alp-Khoja. Known coins of this issuer were minted in Saray al-Jadid during 779-782 AH (May 10, 1377 – March 27, 1381), which allows us to conclude that Arabshah retained control over the capital of the Ulus of Jochi until Tokhtamysh ascended the Saray throne (late 1380).
Arabshah goes to Mamai.
Struggle in the Lower Volga Region
In the summer of 1377, Khan Arabshah, seeking to consolidate his power, raided the Russian borders in Zasurye, which until recently had been part of the Ulus of Mukhsh with its center in the city of Naruchad (Naruchat), and ravaged them. The princes of Nizhny Novgorod, who had seized these lands, joined forces with their Russian allies and rose up against him. But on the Pyana River, they were intercepted by the troops of Karachibek Mamai and the Mordovian princes subordinate to him. The Russian troops, moving rather carelessly, were taken by surprise and defeated. As the chronicler wrote from the words of an eyewitness, “truly, everyone was drunk on the Pyana.” Thus, the Russian principalities became increasingly involved in internecine strife between various factions and captured border territories in the Middle Volga region, often with the consent of local Tatar beks.
In the following years, the struggle between various dynastic factions in the Lower Volga region periodically intensified, but did not allow either side to establish its power. At the same time, there was no unity in Kok-Orda. Various factions from there fought for power in the Volga region and among themselves. This was reflected in a passage by the Arab author al-Jannabi, who wrote about the events of the late 1370s: «Then the turmoil and disorder between the emirs intensified, and opinions were divided in Desht-Kypchak. Some were for Urus Khan, [one] of the descendants of Genghis Khan, others for Tokhtamysh, and some for Abav-Arab-oglan (i.e., for the “prince” Arabshah).» It was apparently in this struggle that Arabshah died in 1380.