Khayr Pà «lÃÂd (; Turki/Kypchak: îÃÂñ èÃÂÃÂçï) or Mër Pà «lÃÂd was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1362 to 1364. He held the traditional capital Sarai during a period of civil war among rival contenders for the throne. Throughout his reign, the westernmost portion of the Golden Hode was under the control of the beglerbeg Mamai and his puppet khan ÿAbdallÃÂh, while the easternmost portion was under the control of the heirs of Qara Nogai.
Khayr Pà «lÃÂd or Mër Pà «lÃÂd has been identified with Pà «lÃÂd, a descendant of Jochi's son Shiban. The Muÿizz al-ansÃÂb and the TawÃÂrëḫ-i guzëdah-i nuá¹£rat-nÃÂmah give his descent as follows: Chinggis Khan - Jochi - Shiban - Bahadur - Jochi-Buqa - BÃÂdÃÂqà «l - Ming-Tëmà «r - Pà «lÃÂd. The identification is plausible; more tentative are the proposed identifications with Pà «lÃÂd KhwÃÂja, who coined at Gülistan in 1365, and Pà «lÃÂd Tëmà «r or rather à ªljÃÂy Tëmà «r, who coined at Gülistan in 1368. Yet another Pà «lÃÂd Tëmà «r was the non-Jochid emir of Bolghar, who governed autonomously and at times issued coins in the name of the long-dead khan Jani Beg. à ªljÃÂy Tëmà «r appears to have been a Tuqa-Timurid and therefore a distinct individual.
If Khayr Pà «lÃÂd's ancestry is correctly identified, he was the first member of his branch of the Shibanids to take the throne of Sarai; the earlier khans Khiá¸Âr, Tëmà «r KhwÃÂja, and MurÃÂd belonged to a different branch of the same family. Khayr Pà «lÃÂd appears to have headed the Ulus of Shiban, which may have provided him with the manpower and resources to stake his own claim on the throne of the Golden Horde, disputed among several contenders. Khayr Pà «lÃÂd may have exploited the struggle between his distant cousin MurÃÂd and first Kildi Beg, then Mamai, to seize Sarai in late 1362. Whether he took the city from Mamai's protégé ÿAbdallÃÂh or from MurÃÂd remains unclear. While MurÃÂd, ensconced at Gülistan, and Mamai continued to fight each other, Khayr Pà «lÃÂd attempted to suborn some of Mamai's emirs in the Crimea, for example issuing tax exemptions for a certain emir ḤÃÂjjë Beg and his clan, the Shuraqul. This caused Mamai to prioritize fighting Khayr Pà «lÃÂd rather than MurÃÂd. Mamai advanced on Sarai. He either defeated or weakened Khayr Pà «lÃÂd, who lost possession of Sarai, apparently to another Shibanid, ÿAzëz Shaykh, in the autumn of 1364. Khayr Pà «lÃÂd replaced MurÃÂd as ruler of Gülistan, although whether he is identical with the Pà «lÃÂd KhwÃÂja who issued coins there in 1365 remains unclear. Eventually, Gülistan also found itself under the rule of ÿAzëz Shaykh, by the fall of 1365. Whether Khayr Pà «lÃÂd perished during these changes of fortune or returned to the Ulus of Shiban is unknown.
Khayr Pà «lÃÂd was eventually followed on the throne of Sarai by several members of his family, including a nephew, Ḥasan Beg (1368âÂÂ1369), a brother, êl Beg (1374), and another nephew, QÃÂghÃÂn Beg (1375âÂÂ1377). The last gave way to Khayr Pà «lÃÂd's son ÿArab ShÃÂh, who reigned in 1377âÂÂ1380; he was an ancestor of the Shibanid khans of Khwarazm, later Khiva.