The first khans of Crimea. Crimean Khanate: Muslim history of Crimea

1. The Crimean Khanate was formed in 1443.

2. The Crimean peninsula, as well as the lands from the Danube in the west to the Don and Kuban in the east. A combination of fertile lands, steppes and forests. The capital is Salachik, then Bakhchisarai.

3. The Crimean Khanate is a multinational state. It was inhabited by Turkic-speaking peoples (Tatars, Karaites, Turks, Nogais), Greeks, Armenians, Jews.

4. At the head of the khanate was the ruling dynasty - Girey. Since 1478, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of the Ottoman state. Legislative body - large and small sofas. The head of the Muslim clergy is the mufti, who had the right to remove qadi judges if complaints were received against them.

5. The main activity of the Crimean feudal lords was horse breeding, cattle breeding and slave trading. The population of coastal cities was engaged in fishing. The lands were cultivated by dependent peasants who paid tithes to the khan. Captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and Europe. The Khan received a fifth of the war booty. The main slave market was the city of Kefe. According to historians, more than 3 million inhabitants, mainly Russians, Ukrainians and Poles, were sold on the Crimean slave markets over 200 years.

The army is irregular. In the event of a military threat, universal conscription was announced, from which residents of mountainous regions and cities could buy off by paying a tax to the treasury.

At the entrance to the peninsula, there was the main fortress of the Crimean Tatars - Or (Perekop), which carried out the task of preventing opponents from land from entering Crimea. For protection from the sea, the fortresses of Kerch and Arabat were built. Military garrisons were also located in Balaklava and Sudak. A well-thought-out defense system allowed the Crimean khans to do without a regular army for a long time, which saved a lot of money.

The raids of the Crimean Tatars for their neighbors, as a rule, were unexpected and lightning fast. The Crimean Tatars entered into open battle with the enemy only if they were numerically superior. They fought battles only in open space, without undertaking siege or capturing fortresses.

6. Crafts are developed (jewelry making, making clothes, copper utensils, edged weapons, carpets and felt products, wood carving and inlay). Mosques and durbes, the tombs of rulers, occupied a large place in architecture. The architects combined the architectural styles of the East and Byzantium, but used local building materials.

7. One of the largest shopping centers in Europe. Trade was carried out through the cities of Kezlev (Evpatoria) and Kefe (Feodosia). Raw leather, sheep's wool, morocco (dyed goatskin), sheep's fur coats, livestock, jewelry, and weapons were exported. The sabers made in Bakhchisarai were of very high quality, knives - pichaks, which were very popular in the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Europe, were made of magnificent steel and were richly decorated with patterns and images from pieces of marble, ceramics, metal, mother-of-pearl, etc. .

8. The Ottoman Empire's seizure of the southern coast of Crimea created a serious danger for Russia from the Crimean Tatar khans, who carried out predatory raids, capturing slaves for the huge Turkish slave market. In 1521 the Crimeans besieged Moscow, and in 1552 - Tula.

Glossary of terms

Vesh-bash - small military detachments that carried out raids for prisoners and booty.

Qadi is a Muslim judge-official appointed by the ruler and administers justice based on Sharia law.

Mufti is the highest cleric, head of the Muslim clergy.

Pichaki are handmade knives, richly inlaid and engraved.

Sauga is a fifth of the war booty transferred to the khan.

In the middle of the 15th century, when the Golden Horde, weakened by civil strife, began to disintegrate, the Crimean yurt turned into an independent khanate. It was formed after a long struggle with the Golden Horde by Hadji Giray, the first Crimean Khan, founder of the famous Giray dynasty, which ruled Crimea for more than three hundred years. The Crimean Khanate, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula, included the Dnieper and Azov regions.

Under the second Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey (1466-1515), the city of Bakhchisarai, the capital of the Crimean Khanate, was founded. Khan Adil-Sahib-Girey in the middle of the 16th century finally moved the khan’s residence to Bakhchisarai, where the khan’s palace was built. The name of the city Bakhchisarai translates as “palace in the garden”. In total, in the entire history of the Crimean Khanate there were 44 khans.

Having freed itself from the Golden Horde, the Khanate already in 1478 fell into vassal dependence on Ottoman Turkey.

Taking advantage of the internecine struggle for power between the sons of Hadji Giray, the Turkish Sultan invaded Crimea in 1475. The Turks captured Kafa, Sogdaya (Sudak), all Genoese settlements and fortifications of the southeastern and southern coasts.

The peninsula was surrounded by a chain of Turkish fortresses: Inkerman (formerly Kalamita), Gezlev (Evpatoria), Perekop, Arabat, Yeni-Kale. The cafe, renamed Keffe, became the residence of the Sultan's governor in Crimea.

Since 1478, the Crimean Khanate officially became a vassal of the Ottoman Porte and remained in this capacity until the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774. Turkish sultans confirmed or appointed and removed Crimean khans.

And yet the Khanate did not lose its statehood, and the khans sometimes pursued a policy independent of the Porte and actively participated in the events taking place in Eastern Europe.

After the Turks captured Constantinople and the Genoese possessions in the Crimea, the peninsula lost its former importance in the trade of Western Europe with the countries of the East. The position of a vassal of Turkey aggravated the economic and political backwardness of the Crimean Khanate.

The Crimean feudal lords preferred to look for a way out of the difficult economic situation in beshbash - predatory raids on neighboring countries to seize booty and wealth. The slave trade in the Khanate, which began with Mengli Giray, turned into a trade, and Crimea became the largest international slave market. True, starting from the fifteenth century, the Zaporozhye Sich became a serious obstacle to raids not only on Ukrainian, but also on Moscow and Polish lands.

The heyday of the Crimean Khanate occurred at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. At this time, culture and art noticeably developed in the Khanate. Architecture has reached a high level. Beautiful mosques, fountains, and water pipelines were built, for which many European, especially Italian, architects were involved.

The main fortress at the entrance to the peninsula was Perekopskaya, which was the gateway to Crimea. The functions of protecting Crimea were performed by the fortress cities of Arabat and Kerch. The trading ports were Gezlev and Kafa. Military garrisons (mostly Turkish, partly local Greeks) were also maintained in Balaklava, Sudak, Kerch, and Cafe.

The state religion on the territory of Crimea was Islam, and shamanism dominated among the Nogai tribes. According to Sharia, every Muslim must participate in wars with infidels. Military activity was mandatory for both large and small feudal lords.

The entire period of the 15th - 18th centuries was a time of almost continuous border conflicts and wars. Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and other countries were constantly in a state of great tension, since not only the border lands, but also the deep territories of the states were threatened by the possibility of a Tatar invasion. The Turkish government often sent janissary troops and artillery to strengthen the military power of the Tatar army.

The devastating Tatar-Turkish attacks increased from year to year. So, for example, if from 1450 to 1586 there were 84 Tatar attacks on Ukrainian lands, then from 1600 to 1647 - over 70. The objects of Turkish-Tatar attacks were, first of all, cities and towns on the territory of Ukraine.

In the summer of 1571, all Crimean forces led by Khan Davlet-Girey marched on Moscow. Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his corps of guardsmen barely escaped capture. Khan positioned himself near the walls of Moscow and set fire to settlements. Within a few hours, a huge fire destroyed the city. Losses among residents were enormous. On the way back, the Tatars plundered 30 cities and districts, and more than 60 thousand Russian captives were taken into slavery.

Relations with Crimea were extremely difficult for European countries, since in addition to military methods - raids, wars, the rulers of Crimea often resorted to the Golden Horde practice of collecting tribute from nearby territories. (In the first half of the 17th century, the Russian state alone spent up to 1 million rubles for these purposes. (With this money, four cities could be built annually.)

After the annexation of Crimea to Russia (1783), the entire Muslim population of the peninsula began to be called “Tatars.” By the 80s of the 18th century, there were about 500 thousand Crimean Tatars.

Self-name - Crimean yurt (Crimea. Qırım Yurtu, قريم يورتى ‎). In addition to the steppe and foothills of the Crimea proper, it occupied the lands between the Danube and the Dnieper, the Azov region and most of the modern Krasnodar region of Russia. In 1478, the Crimean Khanate officially became an ally of the Ottoman state and remained in this capacity until the 1774 Peace of Küçük-Kainardzhi. It was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783. Currently, most of the lands of the Khanate (the territories west of the Don) belong to Ukraine, and the remaining part (the lands east of the Don) belongs to Russia.

Capitals of the Khanate

The main city of the Crimean Yurt was the city of Kyrym, also known as Solkhat (modern Old Crimea), which became the capital of Khan Oran-Timur in 1266. According to the most common version, the name Kyrym comes from Chagatai qırım- pit, trench, there is also an opinion that it comes from the Western Kipchak qırım- “my hill” ( qır- hill, hill, -ım- affix of belonging to the first person singular).

When a state independent from the Horde was formed in Crimea, the capital was moved to the fortified mountain fortress of Kyrk-Era, then to Salachik, located in the valley at the foot of Kyrk-Era, and finally, in 1532, to the newly built city of Bakhchisarai.

Story

Background

During the Horde period, the supreme rulers of Crimea were the khans of the Golden Horde, but direct control was exercised by their governors - emirs. The first formally recognized ruler in Crimea is considered to be Aran-Timur, the nephew of Batu, who received this region from Mengu-Timur. This name then gradually spread to the entire peninsula. The second center of Crimea was the valley adjacent to Kyrk-Eru and Bakhchisarai.

The multinational population of Crimea then consisted mainly of the Kipchaks (Cumans) who lived in the steppe and foothills of the peninsula, whose state was defeated by the Mongols, Greeks, Goths, Alans, and Armenians, who lived mainly in cities and mountain villages, as well as Rusyns who lived in some trading cities. The Crimean nobility was mainly of mixed Kipchak-Mongol origin.

Horde rule, although it had positive aspects, was generally burdensome for the Crimean population. In particular, the rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly organized punitive campaigns in Crimea when the local population refused to pay tribute. Nogai's campaign in 1299 is known, as a result of which a number of Crimean cities suffered. As in other regions of the Horde, separatist tendencies soon began to appear in Crimea.

There are legends, unconfirmed by Crimean sources, that in the 14th century Crimea was allegedly repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd defeated the Tatar army in 1363 near the mouth of the Dnieper, and then allegedly invaded Crimea, devastated Chersonesus and captured all valuable church objects there. A similar legend exists about his successor named Vytautas, who in 1397 allegedly reached Kaffa itself in the Crimean campaign and again destroyed Chersonesos. Vytautas is also known in Crimean history for the fact that during the Horde unrest at the end of the 14th century, he provided refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and the Grodno region of Belarus. In 1399, Vitovt, who came to the aid of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, was defeated on the banks of the Vorskla by Tokhtamysh’s rival Timur-Kutluk, on whose behalf the Horde was ruled by Emir Edigei, and made peace.

Gaining independence

Vassalage to the Ottoman Empire

Wars with the Russian Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early period

Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian Kingdom and Poland. The Crimean Tatars and Nogais were fluent in raid tactics, choosing a path along watersheds. The main route to Moscow was the Muravsky Way, which ran from Perekop to Tula between the upper reaches of the rivers of two basins, the Dnieper and the Seversky Donets. Having gone 100-200 kilometers into the border region, the Tatars turned back and, spreading wide wings from the main detachment, engaged in robbery and the capture of slaves. The capture of captives - yasyr - and the trade in slaves were an important part of the economy of the Khanate. Captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and even European countries. The Crimean city of Kafa was the main slave market. According to some researchers, more than three million people, mostly Ukrainians, Poles and Russians, were sold in the Crimean slave markets over two centuries. Every year, Moscow gathered up to 65 thousand warriors in the spring to carry out border service on the banks of the Oka until late autumn. To protect the country, fortified defensive lines were used, consisting of a chain of forts and cities, ambushes and rubble. In the southeast, the oldest of these lines ran along the Oka from Nizhny Novgorod to Serpukhov, from here it turned south to Tula and continued to Kozelsk. The second line, built under Ivan the Terrible, ran from the city of Alatyr through Shatsk to Orel, continued to Novgorod-Seversky and turned to Putivl. Under Tsar Fedor, a third line arose, passing through the cities of Livny, Yelets, Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod. The initial population of these cities consisted of Cossacks, Streltsy and other service people. A large number of Cossacks and service people were part of the guard and village services, which monitored the movement of the Crimeans and Nogais in the steppe.

In Crimea itself, the Tatars left little yasyr. According to the ancient Crimean custom, slaves were released as freedmen after 5-6 years of captivity - there is a number of evidence from Russian and Ukrainian documents about returnees from Perekop who “worked out”. Some of those released preferred to remain in Crimea. There is a well-known case, described by the Ukrainian historian Dmitry Yavornitsky, when the ataman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ivan Sirko, who attacked Crimea in 1675, captured huge booty, including about seven thousand Christian captives and freedmen. The ataman asked them whether they wanted to go with the Cossacks to their homeland or return to Crimea. Three thousand expressed a desire to stay and Sirko ordered to kill them. Those who changed their faith while in slavery were released immediately, since Sharia law prohibits holding a Muslim in captivity. According to Russian historian Valery Vozgrin, slavery in Crimea itself almost completely disappeared already in the 16th-17th centuries. Most of the prisoners captured during attacks on their northern neighbors (their peak intensity occurred in the 16th century) were sold to Turkey, where slave labor was widely used, mainly in galleys and in construction work.

XVII - early XVIII centuries

On January 6-12, 1711, the Crimean army left Perekop. Mehmed Giray with 40 thousand Crimeans, accompanied by 7-8 thousand Orlik and Cossacks, 3-5 thousand Poles, 400 Janissaries and 700 Swedes of Colonel Zulich, headed to Kiev.

During the first half of February 1711, the Crimeans easily captured Bratslav, Boguslav, Nemirov, the few garrisons of which offered virtually no resistance.

In the summer of 1711, when Peter I set off on the Prut Campaign with an army of 80 thousand, the Crimean cavalry numbering 70 thousand sabers, together with the Turkish army, surrounded Peter’s troops, which found themselves in a hopeless situation. Peter I himself was almost captured and was forced to sign a peace treaty on conditions that were extremely unfavorable for Russia. As a result of the Treaty of Prut, Russia lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov and its fleet in the Azov-Black Sea waters. As a result of the Prut victory of the united Turkish-Crimean wars, Russian expansion in the Black Sea region was stopped for a quarter of a century.

The Russian-Turkish War of 1735-39 and the complete devastation of Crimea

The last khans and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire

After the withdrawal of Russian troops, a widespread uprising occurred in Crimea. Turkish troops landed in Alushta; the Russian resident in Crimea, Veselitsky, was captured by Khan Shahin and handed over to the Turkish commander-in-chief. There were attacks on Russian troops in Alushta, Yalta and other places. The Crimeans elected Devlet IV as khan. At this time, the text of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty was received from Constantinople. But the Crimeans even now did not want to accept independence and cede the indicated cities in Crimea to the Russians, and the Porte considered it necessary to enter into new negotiations with Russia. Dolgorukov's successor, Prince Prozorovsky, negotiated with the khan in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Crimeans did not hide their sympathies for the Ottoman Empire. Shahin Geray had few supporters. The Russian party in Crimea was small. But in Kuban he was proclaimed khan, and in 1776 he finally became khan of Crimea and entered Bakhchisarai. The people swore allegiance to him.

Shahin Giray became the last Khan of Crimea. He tried to carry out reforms in the state and reorganize governance along European lines, but these measures were extremely late. Soon after his accession, an uprising against the Russian presence began. The Crimeans attacked Russian troops everywhere, killing up to 900 Russians, and plundered the palace. Shahin was embarrassed, made various promises, but was overthrown, and Bahadir II Giray was elected khan. Türkiye was preparing to send a fleet to the shores of Crimea and start a new war. The uprising was decisively suppressed by Russian troops, Shahin Giray mercilessly punished his opponents. A.V. Suvorov was appointed Prozorovsky’s successor as commander of the Russian troops in Crimea, but the khan was very wary of the new Russian adviser, especially after he deported all Crimean Christians (about 30,000 people) to the Azov region in 1778: Greeks - to Mariupol, Armenians - to Nor-Nakhichevan.

Only now Shahin turned to the Sultan as the caliph for a letter of blessing, and the Porte recognized him as khan, subject to the withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea. Meanwhile, in 1782, a new uprising began in Crimea, and Shahin was forced to flee to Yenikale, and from there to Kuban. Bahadir II Giray, who was not recognized by Russia, was elected khan. In 1783, Russian troops entered Crimea without warning. Soon Shahin Giray abdicated the throne. He was asked to choose a city in Russia to live in and was given a sum for his relocation with a small retinue and maintenance. He lived first in Voronezh, and then in Kaluga, from where, at his request and with the consent of the Porte, he was released to Turkey and settled on the island of Rhodes, where he was deprived of his life.

There were “small” and “large” divans, which played a very serious role in the life of the state.

A council was called a “small divan” if a narrow circle of nobility took part in it, resolving issues that required urgent and specific decisions.

The “Big Divan” is a meeting of “the whole earth”, when all the Murzas and representatives of the “best” black people took part in it. By tradition, the Karaches retained the right to sanction the appointment of khans from the Geray clan as sultan, which was expressed in the ritual of placing them on the throne in Bakhchisarai.

The state structure of Crimea largely used the Golden Horde and Ottoman structures of state power. Most often, the highest government positions were occupied by the sons, brothers of the khan or other persons of noble origin.

The first official after the khan was the Kalga Sultan. The khan's younger brother or another relative was appointed to this position. Kalga ruled the eastern part of the peninsula, the left wing of the khan's army and administered the state in the event of the death of the khan until a new one was appointed to the throne. He was also the commander-in-chief if the khan did not personally go to war. The second position - nureddin - was also occupied by a member of the khan's family. He was the governor of the western part of the peninsula, chairman of small and local courts, and commanded smaller corps of the right wing on campaigns.

The mufti is the head of the Muslim clergy of Crimea, an interpreter of laws, who has the right to remove judges - qadis, if they judged incorrectly.

Kaymakans - in the late period (end of the 18th century) governing the regions of the Khanate. Or-bey is the head of the Or-Kapy (Perekop) fortress. Most often, this position was occupied by members of the khan family, or a member of the Shirin family. He guarded the borders and watched over the Nogai hordes outside the Crimea. The positions of qadi, vizier and other ministers are similar to the same positions in the Ottoman state.

In addition to the above, there were two important female positions: ana-beim (analogous to the Ottoman post of valide), which was held by the mother or sister of the khan, and ulu-beim (ulu-sultani), the senior wife of the ruling khan. In terms of importance and role in the state, they had the rank next to nureddin.

An important phenomenon in the state life of Crimea was the very strong independence of noble bey families, which in some way brought Crimea closer to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The beys ruled their possessions (beyliks) as semi-independent states, administered justice themselves and had their own militia. The beys regularly took part in riots and conspiracies, both against the khan and among themselves, and often wrote denunciations against the khans they did not please the Ottoman government in Istanbul.

Public life

The state religion of Crimea was Islam, and in the customs of the Nogai tribes there were some vestiges of shamanism. Along with the Crimean Tatars and Nogais, Islam was also practiced by the Turks and Circassians living in Crimea.

The permanent non-Muslim population of Crimea was represented by Christians of various denominations: Orthodox (Hellenic-speaking and Turkic-speaking Greeks), Gregorians (Armenians), Armenian Catholics, Roman Catholics (descendants of the Genoese), as well as Jews and Karaites.

Notes

1. Budagov. Comparative dictionary of Turkish-Tatar dialects, T.2, p.51
2. O. Gaivoronsky. Lords of two continents.t.1.Kiev-Bakhchisarai. Oranta.2007
3. Thunmann. "Crimean Khanate"
4. Sigismund Herberstein, Notes on Muscovy, Moscow 1988, p. 175
5. Yavornitsky D.I. History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. Kyiv, 1990.
6. V. E. Syroechkovsky, Muhammad-Gerai and his vassals, “Scientific Notes of Moscow State University,” vol. 61, 1940, p. 16.
7. Vozgrin V. E. Historical destinies of the Crimean Tatars. Moscow, 1992.
8. Faizov S. F. Funeral “tysh” in the context of the relationship between Rus' and Russia with the Golden Horde and the Crimean yurt
9. Evliya Celebi. Travel Book, pp. 46-47.
10. Evliya Celebi. Travel Book, page 104.

Map published in Vienna around 1790 showing the boundaries of the Yedisan Horde

From Kuban to Budjak

Part 1

The Crimean Khanate was one of the most powerful states in Eastern Europe. Its borders covered a fairly vast territory. In addition to the Crimean peninsula itself as the center of the country, the Khanate included lands on the continent: in the north, immediately beyond Or-Kapy, there was Eastern Nogai, in the northwest - Edisan, in the west - Budzhak, and in the east - Kuban.

The boundaries of the Khanate are recorded in many written sources of the 15th – 18th centuries. In other words, if you look at a modern map and compare the available maps of past centuries, you can see that the borders of the independent Crimean Tatar state included the modern Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, partly Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine and most of the modern Krasnodar region of Russia.

Eastern Nogai

Immediately behind the fortress city of Or-Kapy, endless steppes began. This was the historical region, called Eastern Nogai. In the southwest it was washed by the Black Sea, and in the southeast by the Azov Sea. In the north, the Nogai lands bordered on the Wild Field, and later on the lands of the Zaporozhye Sich. Its natural border was the Shilki-Su (Horse Waters) and Ozyu-Su (Dnieper) rivers. The inhabitants of this steppe were two large Nogai hordes. The south belonged to the Dzhambuluks, and the north to the Edichkulians. Each of them was divided into separate clans. The Swedish historian Johann Erich Thunmann, who visited the Khanate in the second half of the 18th century, named the names of the most noble families: Chazlu, Kangli-Argakli, Ivak, Kazai-Murza, Iguri, Ismail-Murza, Irkhan-Kangli, Badraki, Dzhegal-Boldi, Boyatash and Bayutai. And another traveler, the German Ernst Kleeman, who visited Crimea in 1768-1770, reported no less important information about the number of inhabitants of Eastern Nogai, namely about 500,000 Nogai families.

Each clan was headed by a Murza, who, in turn, was under the rule of the Crimean Khan. As is known, there was no regular army in the Crimean Khanate. But the Crimean Khan could always rely on his faithful Nogais. At the first notification from Bakhchisarai about a military campaign, askers gathered in the steppes and joined the Khan’s army marching from Or. As a rule, over each of the five largest Nogai hordes there was one of the princes of the Giray dynasty in a high position - a seraskir, in other words, a military leader, or minister of war. It was the seraskir who could command the Nogai askers during the military campaign.

According to established tradition, the heads of noble Nogai clans were obliged to send four Murzas with gifts and wishes for happiness and a long reign to Bakhchisarai, to the court of the Crimean Khan, on the eve of major Muslim holidays.

Otherwise, the Nogais were free people. The steppe people had their own way of life, convenient for them in their usual area of ​​​​residence. It cannot be said that there were no cities, fortresses and large settlements in the steppe. Of course they were. It’s just difficult to say now what the population was in the cities. However, they prospered and grew rich thanks to commodity-market relations. In Eastern Nogai, such cities are known as Aleshki (today it is a small city in the Kherson region, renamed Tsyurupinsk), Aslan - a city on the Dnieper, about which very little information has been preserved, Yenich - the modern city of Genichesk on the shores of the Azov Sea and Kinburun or Kyl- Burun, which can no longer be found on a modern map. Of the fortified fortified cities, information has been preserved about Kyzy-Kermen on the Dnieper, Islam-Kermen (now the city of Kakhovka), and the fishing settlement of Ali-Agok (now the city of Skadovsk).

In addition, there were settlements and fortifications throughout the Eastern Nogai steppe. As a rule, they were of the same type in plan: solid houses, large courtyards, between which there were always empty spaces of 50 or 60 steps. In the middle of each village there was a vast space - a square where young Tatars could practice martial arts, and on another square, in the center of the village, there was always a mosque. Despite the fact that the Nogais were Muslims, they retained customs for a long time, dating back to the times when the Turks professed Tengrism.

Travelers in their descriptions of Tataria spoke of the Nogais of the steppe as friendly and hospitable people, calling them brave warriors. During the hostilities, the Nogais were the best archers. In addition to the bow, most of them were armed with a saber, a long dart called sungu, a dagger and leather ropes. And only a few carried firearms.

In peacetime, the Edichkuls and Dzhambuluks were engaged in transhumance cattle breeding and agriculture. Since the soil in the steppe was fertile, wheat, red and yellow millet, barley, buckwheat, asparagus, garlic and onions were grown here. The surplus was exported; the Nogais, as a rule, took it to Crimean port cities. The main objects of sale were cereals, meat, oil, honey, wax, wool, skins, etc.

Eastern Nogai is geographically quite extensive and was a plain with rare hills. There was a shortage of fresh water due to the small number of rivers, especially in the central part of this region. However, they were saved by the wells that the Nogais built everywhere. True, in the south there was still the only lake Sut-Su (Milk Waters) with fresh water. Shrubs grew everywhere; there were no forests here either.

As Thunmann notes, fragrant herbs grew in the steppe, and the air here was saturated with a very pleasant, intoxicating, strong smell. And tulips were the most common flowers here.

The climate in the steppe is harsh and damp. The cold began at the end of September. Summer is hot, but due to the winds constantly blowing in the steppes, the heat was tolerated quite tolerably.

In the Nogai steppes there were many wild animals: wolves, foxes, marmots, martens, wild boars and goats, hares, hazel grouse, partridges, and also wild horses. It is about this unusual breed of horses that one can read in the works of many travelers who visited the Crimean Khanate. One of the earliest mentions occurs in 1574 by the Polish chronicler Jan Krasinski.

These wild horses were distinguished by the fact that they were born with reddish hair, which over the years became gray, mouse-colored, while the mane, tail and stripe along the rump remained black. They were famous for their temper and endurance, they were difficult to catch and very difficult to tame. As a rule, these wild “Mustangs” walked in herds led by the strongest stallions.

One cannot ignore another feature of the Nogai steppes. These are mounds over the graves of noble Turks who were once buried in the Northern Black Sea region. Many of these mounds date back to Scythian times. Many travelers who visited here during the Khan period could still observe stone statues on the tops of the mounds with their faces always facing the east.

Yedisan, or Western Nogai

The borders between the khan's regions on the continent were mainly rivers. Thus, the lands of the Edisans - Edisan or Western Nogai - stretched between the Ak-Su (Bug) and Turla (Dniester) rivers, bordering Badjak in the west. In the south, the lands of Yedisan were washed by the Black Sea, and in the north-west they bordered Poland (later the Hetmanate) in the area of ​​the river and the settlement of the same name Kodyma.

This entire territory was initially under the rule of the Crimean khans. In 1492, on the Black Sea coast, near the mouth of the Dnieper, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray founded the Kara-Kermen fortress. But in 1526 the fortress came into the possession of the Ottomans and from that year began to be called Achi-Kale. But the rest of the territory of Edisan still remained with the Crimean rulers, and it was inhabited by the Nogais of the Edisan Horde.

The historian and traveler Thunmann wrote that the Yedisan Horde formed as part of the Great Nogai Horde in the steppes between the Volga and Yaik (now the Ural River). But after the 16th century, they migrated to Kuban, and from there to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region under the protection of the Crimean Khan, who assigned them lands for residence, which became known as Edisan. These lands were already part of the Crimean Khanate and were inhabited by the Nogais, with whom the Yedisans may have subsequently mixed. Thunmann notes that this horde was quite strong; it was they who rebelled against the Crimean Khan Halim Giray in 1758 and brought Khan Giray of the Crimea to power.

In their social system and way of life, the Yedisans differed little from the eastern Nogais. And the historical fate of this country was similar to Eastern Nogai and Crimea.

The nature and climatic conditions here are quite similar to Eastern Nogai. However, in the northern and eastern parts there are mountains and valleys. But in the south, by the sea, there are plains and rare sandy hills. The vegetation in these places was sparse, only tall grass, where herds of sheep, cattle, horses and camels grazed. Game was found here in abundance. The soil was as fertile as in neighboring Eastern Nogai. Good varieties of wheat grew here, which brought considerable income to local residents. Several salt lakes in the south of Yedisan were also profitable. And if in the internal regions of Eastern Nogai there was a shortage of water, then the rivers Ak-Su, Turla, Kodyma, Chapchakly, Bolshaya and Malaya Berezan, Ulu, Kuchuk-Deligel and many small rivers flowed through Western Nogai.

The historical centers of the region were Tatar cities: Balta, a border city on the Kadyma River, Dubassary - a city on the Turle (Dniester) River; Yeni Dunya is a city on the Black Sea coast with a harbor and a fortress; Voziya is a coastal city and Khadzhibey near the Black Sea, near the mouth of Turla. Residents of the cities of Yedisan, as a rule, were engaged in trade. The main objects of trade were grain and salt.

To be continued…

Prepared by Gulnara Abdulaeva

As a result of the Mongol-Tatar conquests in the 13th century. A huge feudal state of the Golden Horde (Ulus Juchi) arose, the founder of which was Batu Khan.

In 1239, during the Mongol-Tatar expansion to the west, the Crimean Peninsula with the peoples living there - Kipchaks (Cumans), Slavs, Armenians, Greeks, etc. - found itself occupied by the Genghisid troops. From the end of the 13th century. Feudal rule was established in Crimea, dependent on the Golden Horde.

At the same time, in the 13th century, with the participation of the crusaders, colony-cities (Kerch, Sugdeya (Sudak), Chembalo (Balaclava), Chersonese, etc.) of Italian (Genoese and Venetian) merchants arose en masse on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. In the 70s of the 13th century. with the permission of the Great Mongol Khan himself, the large Genoese colony of Kafa (modern Feodosia) was founded. There was a constant struggle between the Genoese and Venetian merchants for control and influence over the Italian colonies of Crimea. Timber, grain, salt, furs, grapes, etc. were exported from the colonies. The Tatar feudal nobility conducted an active trade in slaves through the Italian colonies. The Italian cities in Crimea were in vassal dependence on the Tatar feudal lords and paid them tribute, being subject to repression by the latter in case of resistance.

At the beginning of the 15th century, with the support of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Hadji Giray (founder of the dynasties of the Crimean and later Kazan khans) seized power in Crimea and declared himself khan. He was virtually independent of the Golden Horde, in which, due to dynastic feuds between the Chinggisids, the process of disintegration had already begun. The year of foundation of the independent Crimean Khanate in historiography is considered to be 1443. The Lower Dnieper region also became part of the Khanate. The largest and most influential Crimean uluses were the uluses of the families Kipchak, Argyn, Shirin, Baryn and others. The main activity of the Crimean feudal lords was horse breeding, cattle breeding and slave trading.

Vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire.

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Turks occupied the Balkan Peninsula and captured the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits. The Republic of Genoa was bound by allied obligations with Byzantium. After the fall of the main citadel of the once powerful Byzantine Empire, all Italian colonies in Crimea were under the threat of occupation by the Ottomans.

In 1454, the Turkish fleet approached the Crimean Peninsula, bombarded the Genoese colony of Akkerman and besieged Cafa from the sea. The Crimean Khan immediately met with the admiral of the Sultan's fleet; he concludes an agreement with the Ottomans and announces joint actions against the Italians.

In 1475, the Turkish fleet again besieged Cafa, bombarded it and forced the Genoese to surrender the city. After this, the Turks captured the entire coastal strip of Crimea, including part of the Azov coast, declared it the possessions of the Turkish Sultan, transferred power to the Turkish Pasha and transferred significant military forces to the sanjak (military-administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire) newly proclaimed by the Turks on the coast of Crimea with its center in Kafe .

The northern part of the steppe Crimea and the territories in the lower reaches of the Dnieper came into the possession of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray (1468–1515), who became a vassal of the Turkish Sultan. The capital of the Crimean Khanate was moved to Bakhchisarai.

Union with the Grand Duchy of Moscow. XV century

This period in the history of the Crimean Khanate during the reign of Mengli Giray is associated with the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Taking advantage of the hostile relations between the Crimean Khanate and the White Horde, the Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III entered into an alliance with Mengli Giray. The latter in 1480 sent his army to the possessions of the Polish king Casimir IV, who was an ally of the White Horde Khan Akhmat, who marched with an army against Moscow, thereby preventing the coalition of the Polish-Lithuanian state and the White Horde in the war with the Great Moscow Principality. As a result of the successful allied actions of Mengli Giray, the Moscow principality was finally freed from the Tatar yoke and began to create a centralized state.

Confrontation with the Russian kingdom. 16th – first half of the 17th centuries.

The Ottoman Empire's capture of the southern coast of Crimea created a serious threat to Rus' from the Crimean Tatar khans, who carried out predatory raids, capturing slaves for the huge Turkish slave market. In addition, the Kazan Khanate became a support for Turkey and the Crimean Khanate in their further expansion against the Russian principalities, especially after the accession to the Kazan throne of a representative of the Girey dynasty of khans, who were the conductors of Turkey’s foreign policy aggressive plans. In this regard, subsequent relations between Rus' (later the Russian Empire) and the Crimean Khanate were openly hostile.

The territories of Russia and Ukraine were constantly attacked by the Crimean Khanate. In 1521 the Krymchaks besieged Moscow, and in 1552 - Tula. Attacks by the Crimean Khan on the young Russian Empire became more frequent during the Livonian War (1558–1583). In 1571, the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray I besieged and then burned Moscow.

After the death of the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, the outbreak of long-term unrest and Polish intervention, the Crimean khans aggravated the situation with constant raids on Russian territories, devastation and the kidnapping of a huge number of people for subsequent sale into slavery in the Ottoman Empire.

In 1591, Russian Tsar Boris Godunov repelled another attack on Moscow by the Crimean Khan Gazi Giray II.

During the Russian-Polish War of 1654–1667, the Crimean Khan took the side of the Ukrainian Hetman Vygovsky, who went over with part of the Cossacks to the side of the Polish-Lithuanian state. In 1659, at the Battle of Konotop, the combined troops of Vygovsky and the Crimean Khan defeated the advanced elite detachments of the Russian cavalry of princes Lvov and Pozharsky.

In the second half of the 17th century, during the Russian-Turkish War of 1676–1681 and the Chigirin campaigns of the Turkish Sultan of 1677–1678 in Right Bank and Left Bank Ukraine, the Crimean Khanate took an active part in the war with Russia on the side of the Ottoman Empire.

Expansion of Russia in the Crimean direction in the second half of the 17th - first half of the 18th centuries.

In 1687 and 1689, during the reign of Queen Sophia, there were two unsuccessful campaigns of Russian troops in Crimea under the leadership of Prince V. Golitsyn. Golitsyn's army approached Perekop along the steppe previously scorched by the Tatars, and was forced to return back.

After the accession of Peter I to the throne, Russian troops carried out a series of Azov campaigns and in 1696 stormed the Turkish, well-fortified fortress of Azov. Peace was concluded between Russia and Turkey. The independence of the Crimean Khanate in the sphere of foreign policy was significantly limited - the Crimean Khan was prohibited by agreement from making any raids on territories controlled by the Russian Empire.

Khan Devlet Giray II, finding himself in a difficult situation, tried to provoke the Turkish Sultan, inciting him to war with Russia, which was busy solving its northern problem in the war with the Kingdom of Sweden, but aroused the Sultan’s anger, was removed from the Khan’s throne, and the Crimean army was dissolved.

The successor of Devlet Giray II was Khan Kaplan Giray, appointed by the Sultan. However, in view of Russia's serious successes in the Northern War, the Ottoman Sultan Ahmad III again places Devlet Giray II on the Crimean throne; arms the Crimean army with modern artillery and allows negotiations to begin with the Swedish king on a military alliance against Russia.

Despite the betrayal of the Zaporozhye Sich under the leadership of Hetman Mazepa, and the latter’s request to accept Right Bank Ukraine as the citizenship of the Crimean Khan, Russian diplomacy worked perfectly: through persuasion and bribery of Turkish ambassadors, they managed to persuade the Sultan not to go to war with Russia and refuse to accept the Zaporozhye Sich into the Crimean Khanate .

Tensions continued to rise between the Ottoman and Russian empires. After the victorious Battle of Poltava in 1709, Peter I demanded that the Sultan hand over the Swedish king Charles XII, who had fled to Turkey, threatening, otherwise, to build a number of fortified fortresses along the border with the Ottoman Empire. In response to this ultimatum of the Russian Tsar, in 1710 the Turkish Sultan declared war on Peter I; This was followed in 1711 by the very unsuccessful Prut campaign of Russian troops. The Crimean Khan with his 70 thousand army took part in the war against the Russian Tsar on the side of the Turks. The fortified fortress of Azov and the coast of the Azov Sea were returned to Turkey. However, already in 1736, the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Minikh invaded the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and captured the capital of the Khanate, Bakhchisarai. An epidemic that broke out in Crimea forced the Russian army to leave the peninsula. The following year, 1737, the Russian army of Field Marshal Lassi crossed Sivash and again captured the peninsula. However, Russian troops failed to gain a foothold in Crimea this time either.

Conquest of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire in the second half of the 18th century.

During the next Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774, in 1771 the Russian army under the command of Prince Dolgorukov again occupied the entire Crimea. Sahib Giray II is appointed Khan instead of Maksud Giray Khan, who fled to Istanbul. In 1774, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty was concluded between Russia and Turkey, according to which the Crimean Khanate was freed from vassal dependence on the Turkish Sultan, and Russia received the right to retain the fortresses of Yenikale, Kerch, Azov and Kinburn. Despite its formal independence, the Crimean Khanate turned from a vassal of the Turkish Sultan into a state association dependent on the Russian Empress.

In 1777, the commander of the Russian army, Field Marshal Rumyantsev, elevated Shagin Giray to the khan's throne. However, in 1783, the last khan of the Crimean Girey dynasty abdicated the throne, and the once powerful Crimean Khanate ceased to exist, finally becoming part of the Russian Empire. Shagin Giray flees to Istanbul, but is soon executed by order of the Turkish Sultan.

In 1797, Russian Emperor Paul I established the Novorossiysk province, which included the Crimean peninsula.

Thus, the Crimean Khanate is the last major state formation that arose after the Great Mongol-Tatar conquest of Eastern Europe by the Genghisids in the 13th century. and the collapse of the Golden Horde. The Crimean Khanate lasted for 340 years (1443–1783).