Chekre

Chekre (Turki/Kypchak and ) was the khan of the Golden Horde in 1414–1416. His name is found in several renditions, including Chinggis Oghlan (Čingīz Uġlān) and possibly Berke. Information on his life and reign is very limited.

Ancestry
According to the Tawārīḫ-i guzīdah-i nuṣrat-nāmah, Chekre was the son of Āqmīl, the son of Mīnkāsar, the son of Abāy, the son of Uz-Tīmūr (Kay-Tīmūr), the son of Tuqa-Timur, the son of Jochi, the son of Chinggis Khan. He was probably a nephew of Mamai's khan ʿAbdallāh.

Reign
Chekre is first mentioned as a Jochid prince living in exile at the court of Timur (Tamerlane) in 1404. He subsequently stayed with Timur's grandson Abū-Bakr b. Mīrān Shāh, where he was witnessed by the Bavarian captive Johann Schiltberger. Losing his control over the court of the Golden Horde, the beglerbeg Edigu apparently looked for a candidate to set up as puppet khan, and requested Chekre's return from the Timurid court. Abū-Bakr granted this request and allowed Chekre to recruit a unit of cavalry, with which he joined Edigu in Khwarazm in 1412. He then participated in Edigu's campaign in Sibir. Edigu had secured Chekre's friendship, apparently intending to make him his puppet khan, but refrained from doing so while negotiating with the sons of Tokhtamysh, the khans Jalāl ad-Dīn and Karīm Berdi. After the latter was overthrown by his brother Kebek, however, Edigu declared Chekre khan in 1414. Edigu and Chekre defeated Kebek, which allowed Karīm Berdi to briefly recover his throne in 1414, before losing it to another of his brothers, Jabbār Berdi. Meanwhile, Edigu and Chekre had extended their control to Bolghar. They temporarily displaced Jabbār Berdi in 1415, but in 1416 he was able to defeat Chekre, who is not heard from again and is presumed to have perished in the struggle, or to have lost Edigu's support and survived into the 1420s. Edigu's next protégé khan was Darwīsh, probably the son of Chekre's nephew. Unlike Jabbār Berdi, whose reign he had interrupted, Chekre issued coins from several mints, including Bolghar, Orda, Sarai, and (old) Astrakhan.

Descendants
According to the Tawārīḫ-i guzīdah-i nuṣrat-nāmah, Chekre had two sons and a daughter: Bāysunghur, Laʿl, and Tūlūnchak.

Genealogy

 * Genghis Khan
 * Jochi
 * Tuqa-Timur
 * Kay Timur
 * Abay
 * Minkasar
 * Aqmil
 * Chekre