| 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 | Islam or Christian |
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.
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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]
