Chaka ( bg, Чака) reigned as

tsar of Bulgaria The monarchs of Bulgaria ruled the country during three periods of Bulgaria's history as an independent country: from the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 to the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in 1018; from the Uprising of Asen ...

from 1299 to 1300. He was the son of the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

leader Nogai Khan by a wife named Alaka. Sometime after 1285 Chaka married a daughter of

George Terter I George Terter I ( bg, Георги Тертер I), of the Terter dynasty ruled as tsar of Bulgaria 1280–1292. He was born in Cherven. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309. Early life The antecedents of George Terter I ar ...

of Bulgaria, named Elena. In the late 1290s, Chaka supported his father Nogai in a war against the legitimate khan of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

Toqta Tokhta (Toqta, Toktu, Tokhtai, Tochtu or Tokhtogha) (died ) was a khan of the Golden Horde, son of Mengu-Timur and great-grandson of Batu Khan. His name "Tokhtokh" means "hold/holding" in the Mongolian language. Early reign under Nogai In 1 ...

. Toqta defeated and killed Nogai in 1299. Chaka had led his supporters into Bulgaria, intimidated the regency for Ivan II into fleeing the capital, and imposed himself as ruler in

Tărnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

in 1299. It is not completely certain whether he reigned as Emperor of Bulgaria or simply acted as the overlord of his brother-in-law

Theodore Svetoslav Theodore Svetoslav ( bg, Тодор Светослав, ''Todor Svetoslav'' and also Теодор Светослав, ''Teodor Svetoslav'') ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1300 to 1322. The date of his birth is unknown. He expanded the ter ...

. He is accepted as a ruler of Bulgaria by Bulgarian historiography. Chaka did not long enjoy his new position of power, as the armies of

followed him into Bulgaria and besieged Tărnovo. Theodore Svetoslav, who had been instrumental in Chaka's seizure of power, organized a plot in which Chaka was deposed and strangled in prison in 1300. His head was sent to Toqta, which in turn secured Theodore Svetoslav's position as the new emperor of Bulgaria. It seems that Theodore Svetoslav's cooperation contributed to the withdrawal of Mongol interference in Bulgaria.

Family

It is not known if Chaka had children from Elena, the daughter of

George I of Bulgaria George Terter I ( bg, Георги Тертер I), of the Terter dynasty ruled as tsar of Bulgaria 1280–1292. He was born in Cherven. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309. Early life The antecedents of George Terter I ar ...

. He had at least one son, Kara Küçük, likely from a concubine. Kara Küçük led a fragment of the Nogai Horde until sometime after 1301. After the death of Chaka, Kara Küçük fled the Horde with 3000 Tatar horsemen and offered to take service with

Shishman of Vidin Shishman ( bg, Шишман; 1270s/1280s — before 1308/1313) was a Bulgarian nobleman (boyar) who ruled a semi-independent realm based out of the Danubian fortress of Vidin in the late 13th and early 14th century. Shishman, who was bes ...

References

* John V.A. Fine, Jr., ''The Late Medieval Balkans'', Ann Arbor, 1987.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaka Of Bulgaria 13th-century births 1300 deaths 13th-century Bulgarian emperors Murdered Bulgarian monarchs Mongol khans