(4.) “and he fought with Machmet and was killed.”—It is not determined when and where Tchekre’s career terminated, because Eastern and other authors are silent on the disastrous attempt made by this prince to recover the throne from which he had been overthrown by Oulou Mohammed, the great Mohammed, whose origin is uncertain. The author informs us that the death of Tchekre occurred subsequently to the struggle Mohammed had to sustain, first, in his conflict with “Waroch”, and afterwards with “Doblabardi”. It is evident that in the latter name we have Devlett byrdy, son of Timour Tash, and grandson of Oulou Mohammed, whilst “Waroch” stands for Borrak, son of Ourous Khan, who fled to Oulouk Bek, the son of Shah Rokh in 1424, the same year in which he expelled Oulou Mohammed, that is to say about three years before Schiltberger’s return to his own country. It is certain that all the author relates, having reference to the Golden Horde, took place during his captivity, so that the proof of Tchekre’s death having taken place between the years 1424 and 1427 is unquestionable; and it is not in the last, but in one of the two preceding years that Devlett byrdy’s reign of three days should be determined, notwithstanding that coins of this prince, struck in 1427, have been recovered, for there is little enough likelihood of the opportunity having been afforded him for issuing a fresh coinage during a three days’ reign, especially as anarchy pervaded the Horde. There would have been nothing extraordinary in his again dethroning his grandfather after the death of Tchekre, and retaining the sovereignty for a longer period.
The author’s relation of his own lot, after Tchekre’s first defeat by Oulou Mohammed, is by no means clear, for it is not easy to determine whether he accompanied Tchekre on his flight, or followed the fortunes of Ydegou, upon his being made a prisoner. As to the ultimate fate of this king-maker, opinions are divided. Hammer (_Gesch. d. G. H._, 382) writes that in 1423 he was still the sovereign of an independent state on the shores of the Black Sea, and must have perished either in the war with Kadyr byrdy, son of Toktamish, or he may have been drowned in the Jaxartes. According to another source (Berezin, _Yarlik Toktamysha_, 61), he was killed by a Tatar of the Barin tribe, from whom his head was stolen by a friend, who, having presented it to Oulou Mohammed, received in recompense that prince’s daughter in marriage.