Abdallāh (Golden Horde)

ʿAbdallāh (Turki/Kypchak and Persian: عبدالله; also Avdulja, modern Abdulla and Avdulla in Russian texts; died 1370) was Khan of the Golden Horde in 1361–1370, as a protégé of the beglerbeg Mamai.

While ʿAbdallāh was recognized as khan throughout the territories dominated by his patron Mamai, he was in possession of the traditional capital Sarai only intermittently, in 1362, 1367–1368, and 1369–1370.

When Kildi Beg was defeated and killed by Murād in September 1362, Mamai succeeded in taking over the capital Sarai, and installing his khan, ʿAbdallāh, there.

In 1367, Mamai took advantage of (and possibly engineered) the murder of Khan ʿAzīz Shaykh to recover Sarai and reinstall ʿAbdallāh there.

[9] A Russian chronicle relates that Mamai murdered his own khan, fearing the people's attachment to him; this is often considered a reference to the end of ʿAbdallāh, but whether he is meant here and whether the allegation is true, remains unclear.