Mamai

Died 1380. Tartar temnik (military leader) under Khan Berdibek (1357-61).

Mamai, who was married to Khan Berdibek’s daughter, was the actual ruler of the Golden Horde. In an attempt to restore the horde’s power, Mamai undertook a number of campaigns in the Russian land. He was able to inflict major losses on the principalities of Riazan’ (1373 and 1378) and Nizhny Novgorod (1378), but when he attempted to invade the Principality of Moscow, his detachment was beaten on the Vozha River (1378); in 1380 at the battle of Kulikovo, Mamai suffered complete defeat. Forced to concede power in the Golden Horde to Timur’s (Tamerlane’s) protege Tiktamysh, Mamai fled with his treasures and a few followers to Kafu (now Feodosiia), where he was killed.