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.
Getting out of the hard stuff economic condition Crimean feudal lords preferred to search in beshbash - predatory raids on neighboring countries to capture booty and full. 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, a serious obstacle to raids not only on Ukrainian, but also on Moscow and Polish lands became the Zaporozhye Sich.
The heyday of the Crimean Khanate occurred at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. 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 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.
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 was exported sheep's wool, morocco (dyed goatskin), sheep fur coats, livestock, jewelry, weapons. The sabers made in Bakhchisarai were 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. Capture Ottoman Empire 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.
CRIMEAN KHANATE, a state on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula (from 1475 - on most of its territory) and adjacent lands in the 15-18th centuries [until the mid-15th century, these territories constituted the Crimean yurt (ulus) of the Golden Horde]. The capital is Crimea (Kirim; now Old Crimea), from about 1532 - Bakhchisarai, from 1777 - Kefe (Kaffa).
Most Russian historians attribute the emergence of the Crimean Khanate to the early 1440s, when the founder of the Girey dynasty, Khan Hadji Giray I, became the ruler of the Crimean peninsula with the support of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellonczyk. Turkish historiography denies the existence of Crimean statehood until the 1470s.
The main population of the Crimean Khanate were Crimean Tatars; along with them, significant communities of Karaites, Italians, Armenians, Greeks, Circassians and Gypsies lived in the Crimean Khanate. At the beginning of the 16th century, part of the Nogais (Mangyts), who wandered outside the Crimean Peninsula, moving there during periods of drought and lack of food, came under the rule of the Crimean khans. The majority of the population professed Hanafi Islam; part of the population - Orthodoxy, Monothelitism, Judaism; there were small Catholic communities in the 16th century. The Tatar population of the Crimean Peninsula was partially exempt from paying taxes. The Greeks paid jizya, the Italians were in a more privileged position thanks to partial tax breaks made during the reign of Mengli-Girey I. By the mid-18th century, the population of the Crimean Khanate was about 500 thousand people. The territory of the Crimean Khanate was divided into kaymakans (vicerarchates), which consisted of kadylyks, covering a number of settlements. The boundaries of large beyliks, as a rule, did not coincide with the boundaries of kaymakans and kadylyks.
In the mid-1470s, the Ottoman Empire began to exert a decisive influence on the internal and foreign political situation of the Crimean Khanate, whose troops captured the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula with the fortress of Kaffa (Kefe, taken in June 1475). From the beginning of the 16th century, the Crimean Khanate acted as a kind of instrument of Ottoman policy in the Eastern European region, and its military forces began to take regular part in the military campaigns of the sultans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a cooling of relations between the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire several times, which was associated both with internal political instability in the Crimean Khanate itself (which entailed the refusal of the khans to participate in the military campaigns of the sultans, etc.) and the foreign policy failures of the khans ( for example, with the failure of the Turkish-Crimean campaign against Astrakhan in 1569), and with the political struggle in the Ottoman Empire. In the 18th century, there were no military confrontations between the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, but increased political instability in the center and regions of the Ottoman Empire led to more frequent changes of khans on the Crimean throne than in the 17th century.
The state structure of the Crimean Khanate finally took shape at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century. Supreme power belonged to the khan, a representative of the Giray dynasty, who was a vassal of the Turkish Sultan (officially consolidated in the 1580s, when the name of the Sultan began to be pronounced before the name of the khan during Friday prayers, which in the Muslim world served as a sign of vassalage).
The suzerainty of the Sultan consisted in the right to confirm the khans on the throne with a special berat, the obligation of the Crimean khans, at the request of the Sultan, to send troops to participate in the wars of the Ottoman Empire, and the refusal of the Crimean Khanate to form allied relations with states hostile to the Ottoman Empire. In addition, one of the sons of the Crimean Khan was supposed to be in Constantinople (Istanbul) as a hostage. The sultans paid the khans and members of their families a salary and provided military support in campaigns when they met the interests of the Ottoman Empire. To control the khans, the sultans, since 1475, had at their disposal the fortress of Kefe with a strong garrison (under Mengli-Girey I, its governors were the sons and grandsons of the sultans, in particular the grandson of Sultan Bayazid II, the future Sultan Suleiman I Kanun), Ozyu-Kale (Ochakov ), Azov, etc.
The heir to the Crimean throne (kalga) was appointed khan. The new khan had to be approved by the heads of 4 clans of the Crimean Khanate (Karachi Beks) - Argynov, Barynov, Kipchakov and Shirinov. In addition, he had to receive an act (berat) from Istanbul about his approval.
Under the khan, there was a council of nobility - a divan, which decided mainly on foreign policy issues. Initially, the main role in the diwan, in addition to members of the khan’s family, was played by the Karachi beks of 4 (from the mid-16th century - 5) clans - Argynov, Barynov, Kipchakov, Shirinov, Sejiutov. Then representatives of the nobility, nominated by the khans, began to play an important role. The divan included heads of families who were hereditary “amiyat”, that is, intermediaries in the diplomatic relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Russian state (the Appak-Murza clan, later beks, in the Russian service - the Suleshev princes), as well as Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( ON) (since 1569 they united into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) [the family of the Kulyuk-Murzas, later the beks of the Kulikovs (Kulyukovs)]. Representatives of these clans and their relatives, as a rule, were appointed ambassadors to Moscow, Krakow and Vilna. In addition, the divan included the Karachi beks of the Crimean Mangyts (Nogais who recognized the power of the Crimean Khan) - the Diveev beks (the family of one of the descendants of Edigei - Murza Timur bin Mansur). During the reign of Mengli-Girey I, the greatest influence in the diwan was possessed by the Karachi beys Shirinov Eminek and his son Devletek. The predominance of the Shirins (who claimed descent from the Chinggisids) in the Divan generally remained until the end of the 18th century. From the end of the 16th century, the bash-aga (vizier), appointed by the khan, began to play an important role in the divan.
The basis of the military forces of the Crimean Khanate was the cavalry (up to 120-130 thousand horsemen), fielded for the period of military campaigns by the khan himself, other Gireys, the Crimean nobility and Crimean legs, as well as garrisons of fortresses. A distinctive feature of the Crimean Tatar cavalry was the absence of a convoy and the presence of a spare horse for each rider, which ensured speed of movement on the campaign and maneuverability on the battlefield. If the army was led by a khan, as a rule, a kalga remained in the Crimean Khanate to ensure stability.
The economic situation of the Crimean Khanate throughout the entire period of its existence was unstable, as regularly recurring droughts led to massive loss of livestock and famine. Until the mid-17th century, one of the main sources of income for the Crimean Khanate was booty (mainly prisoners) captured during the Crimean Khans' raids. The Khan was considered the supreme owner of the land of the Crimean Khanate. The Gireys had their own domain (erz mirie), which was based on fertile lands in the Alma River valley. The khans also owned everything salt lakes. The khan distributed the land to his vassals as inalienable possession (beyliks). The owners of most of the cultivated land and livestock were, along with the khan, large feudal lords - the families of beys, medium and small feudal lords - the Murzas and Oglans. Land was provided for rent on the terms of payment of a 10th share of the harvest and working 7-8 days of corvee per year. The key role in the use of land by free rural residents was played by the community (jamaat), in which collective land ownership was combined with private one. There were also waqf lands owned by various Islamic institutions.
Livestock farming occupied a leading position in the economy of the Crimean Khanate. Agriculture was practiced only in part of the peninsula (the main crops were millet and wheat). The Crimean Khanate was one of the main suppliers of wheat to the Ottoman Empire. Viticulture and winemaking, horticulture and gardening were also developed. The extraction of salt brought great income to the khan's court. Craft production, largely regulated by guild associations, was dominated by leather processing, woolen products (mainly carpets), blacksmithing, jewelry and saddlery. In the steppe territories, nomadic animal husbandry was combined with agriculture, handicraft production, and local and transit trade. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century, traditions of trade exchange with neighboring countries developed, the practice of simultaneous circulation of Turkish, Russian, Lithuanian and Polish money was established when the Crimean khans minted their coins, the procedure for collecting duties by the khans, etc. In the 16th century, Christians formed the basis of the merchants of the Crimean Khanate. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the economy of the Crimean Khanate experienced a gradual reduction in the share of income from military spoils, and from the 2nd half of the 18th century the use of slave labor in agriculture and handicraft production sharply decreased.
Domestic policy. After the death of Hadji-Girey I in 1466, the throne was inherited by his eldest son, Nur-Devlet-Girey. His power was disputed by his brother Mengli-Girey I, who around 1468 managed to take the Crimean throne. Nur-Devlet-Girey managed to escape from the Crimean Khanate, and in the subsequent struggle for the throne, both contenders actively sought allies. Nur-Devlet-Girey tried to enlist the support of the khans of the Great Horde and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV, and Mengli-Girey I in the early 1470s began negotiations on an anti-Horde alliance with the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III Vasilyevich. By 1476, Nur-Devlet-Girey took possession of the entire Crimean Khanate, but in 1478/79 Mengli-Girey I, sent from Istanbul by Sultan Mehmed II with Ottoman troops, re-established himself on the throne.
The second reign of Mengli-Girey I (1478/79 - January 1515) and the reign of his son Muhammad-Girey I (1515-23) was a period of strengthening of the Crimean Khanate. In April 1524, the throne of the Crimean Khanate, with the support of Ottoman troops, was taken by Muhammad-Girey's brother I Saadet-Girey, who lived in Istanbul. At the same time, the Sultan appointed Gazi-Girey I as kalga under his uncle, but at the moment he took the oath of allegiance, Saadet-Girey I ordered the death of his nephew, which marked the beginning of the tradition of physically eliminating contenders for the throne, which persisted throughout the subsequent history of the Crimean Khanate. During the reign of Saadet-Girey I (1524-32), the military-political activity of the Crimean Khanate decreased, and large fortification construction began on Perekop in order to protect the Crimean peninsula from Nogai attacks. The Khan's dependence on the Ottoman Empire sharply increased, and the most characteristic signs of the weakness of the Khan's power in Crimea appeared: a split in the Giray family and uncertainty in the succession to the throne (5 kalg changed). In May 1532, the khan abdicated the throne in favor of his nephew Islam Giray, supported by the majority of the nobility, and left the Crimean Khanate (died around 1539 in Istanbul).
The active position of the new khan Islam-Girey I aroused the discontent of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman I Kanuni, who in September 1532 appointed Sahib-Girey I, who had previously ruled in Kazan, as khan (September 1532 - early 1551). By the summer of 1537, he managed to defeat the forces of the deposed Islam Girey I, north of Perekop, who died in the process. Despite the victory, the position of the new khan did not become stable, since he had opponents among members of the Girey dynasty, and among the Crimean nobility, and among the Nogai nobility, who organized a conspiracy against him. In the summer of 1538, during a campaign against Moldavia, Sahib-Girey I almost died in a skirmish with the Nogai, who were “led” to him by conspirators from among the nobility of the Crimean Nogai. In the 1540s, the Khan carried out a radical reform in the Crimean Khanate: residents of the Crimean Peninsula were forbidden to lead a nomadic lifestyle, they were ordered to break up their tents and live sedentary lives in villages. Innovations contributed to the establishment of a sedentary agricultural system in the Crimean Khanate, but caused discontent among a significant part of the Crimean Tatars.
The contender for the throne was the grandson of Mengli-Girey I, Devlet-Girey I, who fled from the Crimean Khanate to the Ottoman Empire, who arrived in Kefe and proclaimed himself khan. Most of the nobility instantly went over to his side. Sahib-Girey I, who was at that time on another campaign against Kabarda, hastily returned to the Crimean Khanate, but was captured and died along with his sons. In the spring of 1551, the Sultan recognized Devlet-Girey I as khan (ruled until June 1577). During his reign, the Crimean Khanate flourished. The new khan exterminated the entire family of the overthrown khan, gradually eliminating all representatives of the dynasty, except for his own children. He skillfully played on the contradictions between various clans of the Crimean nobility: the Shirins (represented by his son-in-law, Karachi-bek Azi), the Crimean Nogais (represented by Karachi-bek Diveya-Murza) and the Appak clan (represented by Bek Sulesh) were loyal to him. The Khan also provided refuge to emigrants from the former Kazan Khanate and Circassian princes from Zhania.
After the death of Devlet-Girey I, his son Muhammad-Girey II (1577-84) ascended the throne, whose reign was marked by an acute internal political crisis. Part of the nobility supported his brothers - Adil-Girey and Alp-Girey, and the Sultan supported his uncle Muhammad-Girey II Islam-Girey. The khan's attempt to strengthen his position by establishing the position of a second heir (nuradin) further aggravated the situation. As a result of an unsuccessful attempt to suppress the performance of the Kalga Alp-Girey, Mohammed-Girey II was killed.
The position of the new khan Islam Giray II (1584-88) was also precarious. In the summer of 1584, the sons of Muhammad-Girey II Saadet-Girey, Safa-Girey and Murad-Girey with detachments of Crimean Nogais invaded the Crimean peninsula and occupied Bakhchisarai; Saadet Giray was proclaimed khan. Islam Giray II, with the military support of Sultan Murad III, retained nominal power. The rebellious princes of Giray asked for the “arm” of the Russian Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who recognized Saadet-Girey (died in 1587) as the Crimean Khan, and his brother Murad-Girey received Astrakhan. The decline in the prestige of the khan's power increased the discontent of the Crimean nobility, which was subjected to repression after the rebellion of 1584. Her flight began to the rebellious princes and to Istanbul to the Sultan. Of the nobility, only individual representatives of the Shirin and Suleshev clans remained loyal to the khan. The military potential of the Crimean Khanate, which was subjected to attacks by the Dnieper Cossacks, fell sharply.
The internal political situation of the Crimean Khanate stabilized during the first reign of Muhammad-Girey II's brother - Gazi-Girey II (May 1588 - end of 1596). Under him, his brother Fetkh-Girey became Kalga, and Safa-Girey became Nuradin, who returned to Crimea along with part of the Murzas who had previously emigrated. Upon arrival in the Crimean Khanate, Gazi-Girey II immediately reached an agreement with the majority of representatives of the Crimean nobility. The khan's entourage consisted of supporters of the children of Muhammad-Girey II - beks Kutlu-Girey Shirinsky, Debysh Kulikov and Arsanay Diveev. Some supporters of Islam Girey II were forced to flee to Kefa and then to Istanbul. By the mid-1590s, Gazi-Girey II faced a new threat of destabilization of the situation in Crimea: his main support in the Girey family - Safa-Girey - died, Arsanay Diveev died, and relations with Kalga Feth-Girey worsened. As a result, representatives of the ruling elite of the Ottoman Empire, dissatisfied with the khan, persuaded Sultan Mehmed III to appoint Feth-Girey khan.
Feth-Girey I (1596-97), upon arriving in the Crimean Khanate, sought to protect himself from his brother’s revenge by appointing his nephews Bakht-Girey and Selyamet-Girey, the sons of Adil-Girey, as kalga and nuradin, but his position remained unstable. Soon, as a result of the political struggle in Istanbul, the Sultan issued a berat (decree) to restore Ghazi-Girey II to the Crimean throne and provided him with military support. After the trial, Feth-Girey was captured and killed along with his family.
During his second reign (1597-1608), Gazi-Girey II dealt with the rebellious members of the Girey family and the Murzas who supported them. Nuradin Devlet-Girey (son of Saadet-Girey) and Bek Kutlu-Girey Shirinsky were executed. The khan's nephew Kalga Selyamet-Girey managed to escape from the Crimean Khanate. After this, Gazi-Girey II appointed his sons, Tokhtamysh-Girey and Sefer-Girey, as kalga and nuradin.
Since the beginning of the 17th century, changes of khans on the Crimean throne became more frequent; only individual representatives of the Girey dynasty tried to put up real resistance to the comprehensive control of the Ottoman government over the Crimean Khanate. Thus, Muhammad-Girey III (1623-24, 1624-28) and his brother Kalga Shagin-Girey in 1624 refused to obey the decree of Sultan Murad IV on the removal of the khan and by force defended their right to power and the autonomous status of the Crimean Khanate within the Ottoman Empire . Khan refused to participate in the Turkish-Persian War of 1623-39, became closer to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which opposed the Ottomans, and in December 1624 concluded an agreement with the Zaporozhye Sich, directed against the Ottoman Empire. However, in 1628, a new armed conflict between the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire ended in the defeat of the united Crimean-Zaporozhian troops and led to the expulsion of Muhammad-Girey III and Shagin-Girey from the Crimean Khanate. Separatist tendencies in the relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Ottoman Empire also manifested themselves under Muhammad-Girey IV (1641-44, 1654-66) and Adil-Girey (1666-71). In the 18th century, the authority and power of the khans decreased, the influence of the beys and heads of the nomadic Nogai hordes increased, and centrifugal tendencies on the part of the Nogais developed.
Foreign policy. The main foreign policy opponent of the Crimean Khanate at the beginning of its existence was the Great Horde, which was defeated by the Crimeans in the 1490s - 1502. As a result, part of the Nogai tribes came under the power of the Crimean khans. The Crimean khans positioned themselves as successors to the khans of the Golden Horde. In 1521, Muhammad-Girey I managed to place his brother Sahib-Girey on the Kazan throne, and in 1523, after a successful campaign against the Astrakhan Khanate, he placed Kalga Bahadur-Girey on the Astrakhan throne. In 1523, Sahib-Girey was forced to leave for the Crimean Khanate, and the Kazan throne was taken by his nephew, Safa-Girey (1524-31). In 1535, with the support of his uncle, Safa-Girey managed to regain the Kazan throne (ruled until 1546 and in 1546-49). The military-political activity of the Crimean Khanate in this direction sharply decreased after the annexation of the Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556) khanates to the Russian state.
The active actions of Mengli-Girey I in the Volga region led to conflicts with the Nogai Horde that was being formed at that time. Nogai played an important role in the history of the Crimean Khanate throughout the 16th-18th centuries, in particular, some of them were part of the army of the Crimean Khanate. In 1523, the Nogais killed Khan Muhammad-Girey I and Bahadur-Girey, and then, having defeated the Crimean troops near Perekop, invaded the Crimean peninsula and devastated it. From the mid-16th century, the Little Nogai Horde (Kaziyev Ulus) came into the orbit of influence of the Crimean Khanate.
Another important direction of the Crimean Khanate’s foreign policy was relations with the Circassians, both “near” and “distant”, that is, with Western Circassia (Zhaniya) and Eastern Circassia (Kabarda). Zhaniya already under Mengli-Girey I firmly entered the zone of Crimean influence. Under Mengli-Girey I, regular campaigns against Kabarda began, led either by the khan himself or his sons (the largest took place in 1518). This direction of the foreign policy of the Crimean Khanate retained its significance until the end of its existence.
During the reign of Mengli-Girey I, the important role of the Crimean Khanate in international relations in Eastern Europe. Diplomatic relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Russian state, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Mengli-Girey I were intensive and regular. The practice of concluding alliance treaties with them (bringing the so-called sherti) and the tradition of receiving “remembrances” (“mentions”; in cash and in the form of gifts) were established, which were considered by the khans as a symbol of the former rule of the Genghisids over Eastern Europe. In the 1480s - early 1490s, the foreign policy of Mengli-Girey I was characterized by a consistent course towards rapprochement with the Russian state in order to create a coalition against the Great Horde and the Jagiellons. At the beginning of the 16th century, after the collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian-Horde alliance, there was a slow but steady increase in the hostility of the Crimean Khanate towards the Russian state. In the 1510s, the union of the Crimean Khanate and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was formed. The beginning of the raids of the Crimean khans on the Russian state also dates back to this period. Relations between the Crimean Khanate and the Russian state sharply worsened under Devlet-Girey I, the reason for which was the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates to the Russian state, as well as the strengthening of its positions in the North Caucasus (the construction of the Terki fortress in 1567 at the confluence of the Sunzha River with the Terek). In 1555-58, under the influence of A.F. Adashev, a plan for coordinated offensive actions against the Crimean Khanate was developed; in 1559, Russian troops under the command of D.F. Adashev for the first time acted directly on the territory of the Khanate. However, the need to concentrate military forces in the theater Livonian War 1558-83 forced Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible to abandon further implementation of Adashev’s plan, which opened up the possibility of revenge for Devlet-Girey I. Attempts by the government of Tsar Ivan IV to solve the problem by diplomatic methods (the embassy of A.F. Nagogo in 1563-64) were unsuccessful, although on January 2, 1564, a Russian-Crimean peace treaty was concluded in Bakhchisarai, which was violated by the khan just six months later. The intensity of the Crimean raids decreased only after the defeat of the troops of the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Molodin in 1572. Moreover, from the 1550s, raids were carried out on the southern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was associated with the participation of the Dnieper Cossacks in the military operations of the Russian governors. Despite the allied obligations of Devlet-Girey I to Sigismund II Augustus, the raids of the Crimean khans on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland continued in the 1560s (the largest in 1566). Muhammad Giray II, in conditions of an acute internal political crisis in the Crimean Khanate, refrained from intervening in the Livonian War of 1558-83. In 1578, through the mediation of the Turkish Sultan Murad III, an alliance treaty between the Crimean Khanate and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was concluded, but at the same time diplomatic relations with Moscow were resumed. At the beginning of 1588, Islam Giray II, on the orders of Murad III, undertook a campaign against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (as a response to Cossack attacks). In 1589, the Crimeans made a major raid on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, against the background of the strengthening of Moscow’s position in the Caucasus (due, among other things, to the fact that Astrakhan was given to Murad-Girey) and the Ottoman Empire’s dissatisfaction with the friendly relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Russian state, the aggressiveness of the Crimean Khanate towards the Russian state intensified in the early 1590s. x years. In 1593-98, Russian-Crimean relations stabilized and became peaceful; at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries they became complicated again, but after 1601 they were resolved. With the beginning of the Time of Troubles, the Polish king Sigismund III unsuccessfully tried to secure support for the actions of False Dmitry I from the Crimean Khan, but Gazi-Girey II, with the approval of the Sultan, took a hostile position towards the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, considering it as an ally of the Habsburgs. In 1606-07, the Crimeans attacked the southern lands of Poland.
The gradual weakening of the Crimean Khanate led to the fact that in the 17th and 18th centuries it pursued a less active foreign policy. Relations between the Crimean Khanate and the Russian state throughout the 17th century developed in line with the already established forms and traditions of diplomatic relations. The practice of annual exchange of embassies continued; until 1685 inclusive, the Russian government paid the Crimean khans an annual tribute (“commemoration”), the amount of which reached 14,715 rubles (finally abolished by a special clause of the Peace of Constantinople of 1700). Correspondence with the king in the Tatar language was carried out by the khan, kalga and nuradin.
In the 1st half of the 18th century, the Crimean khans were generally on friendly terms with Russia. However, individual raids in the 1730s and the 1735 campaign of Khan Kaplan-Girey I to Persia through the territories of the Russian Empire led to military operations of the Russian army in the Crimean Khanate during the Russian-Turkish War of 1735-39.
Annexation of the Crimean Khanate to Russia. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, after the first victories of the Russian army, the Yedisan Horde and the Budzhak (Belgorod) Horde in 1770 recognized the suzerainty of Russia over themselves. The Russian government unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Crimean Khan Selim-Girey III (1765-1767; 1770-71) to accept Russian citizenship. 14(25).6.1771 Russian troops under the command of General-in-Chief Prince V.M. Dolgorukov (from 1775 Dolgorukov-Krymsky) began an assault on the Perekop fortifications, and by the beginning of July they took the main strategically important fortresses of the Crimean Peninsula. Khan Selim Giray III fled to the Ottoman Empire. In November 1772, the new Khan Sahib-Girey II (1771-75) concluded an agreement with Russia recognizing the Crimean Khanate as an independent state under the patronage of the Russian Empress. According to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774, which fixed the independent status of the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Sultan reserved the right of the spiritual guardian (caliph) of the Crimean Muslims. Despite the attraction of part of the Tatar elite to Russia, pro-Turkish sentiments dominated in Crimean society. The Ottoman Empire, for its part, tried to maintain political influence in the Crimean Khanate, the northwestern Black Sea region, the Azov region and the North Caucasus, including the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea. 24.4 (5.5). 1777 Shagin-Girey, loyal to Russia, was elected Crimean Khan with the right to transfer the throne by inheritance. The tax policy of the new khan, the abuse of taxation and the attempt to create a court guard on the Russian model provoked popular unrest throughout the Crimean Khanate in October 1777 - February 1778. After suppressing the unrest due to the continued threat of a Turkish landing on the peninsula, the Russian military administration withdrew all Christians (about 31 thousand people) from Crimea. This measure had a negative impact on the economy of the Crimean Khanate and caused, in particular, a reduction in tax revenues to the Khan's treasury. The unpopularity of Shagin-Girey led to the fact that the Crimean nobility elected the protege of the Ottoman Empire Bahadur-Girey II (1782-83) as khan. In 1783, Shagin-Girey was returned to the Crimean throne with the help of Russian troops, but this did not lead to the desired stabilization of the situation in the Crimean Khanate. As a result, on April 8 (19), 1783, Empress Catherine II issued a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea, the Taman Peninsula and the lands up to the Kuban River to Russia.
The annexation of the Crimean Khanate to Russia significantly strengthened the position of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea: prospects for the economic development of the Northern Black Sea region, the development of trade on the Black Sea and the construction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet appeared.
Lit.: Matériaux pour servir à l’histoire du Khanate de Crimée - Materials for the history of the Crimean Khanate. St. Petersburg, 1864 (text in Tatar); Kurat A. N. Topkapi Sarayi Мüzesi arsivindeki Altin ordu, Kinm ve Türkistan hanlarma ait yarlikl ve bitikler. Ist., 1940; Le Khanat de Crimée dans les archives du Musée du palais de Topkapi. R., 1978; Grekov I. B. Ottoman Empire, Crimea and the countries of Eastern Europe in the 50-70s of the 16th century. // Ottoman Empire and the countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the XV-XVI centuries. M., 1984; From the history of regions: Crimea in the geopolitical fault lines of Eastern Europe. Legacy of the Golden Horde // National history. 1999. No. 2; Trepavlov V.V. History of the Nogai Horde. M., 2001; Khoroshkevich A.L. Rus' and Crimea. From alliance to confrontation. M., 2001; Faizov S. F. Letters of the khans Islam-Girey III and Muhammad-Girey IV to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and King Jan Casimir: 1654-1658: Crimean Tatar diplomacy in the political context of the post-Pereyaslav time. M., 2003; Smirnov V.D. The Crimean Khanate under the supremacy of the Ottoman Porte. M., 2005. T. 1: Until the beginning of the 18th century.
A. V. Vinogradov, S. F. Faizov.
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 Turkish fleet approached the Crimean peninsula, shelled the Genoese colony of Ackerman 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 to 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. Besides, Khanate of Kazan 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, two unsuccessful campaigns of Russian troops to Crimea were carried out 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 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 anger of the Sultan, was removed from the khan's throne, and the Crimean army was disbanded.
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 with the Swedish king on a military alliance against Russia to begin.
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).
First appearance of Tatars in Crimea
In the 12th century. a new cultural force appears on the Black Sea - the Italians; Venetians and Genoese also establish trade on the northern coast of this sea. Emperor Manuel Komnenos in 1169 allowed the Genoese to enter all the ports of this coast, except Tamarakha (Taman) and Russia (undoubtedly the Bosphorus), probably saving the fishing trade here for the Greeks. The trade of Chersonesus began to fall again. The capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the crusaders and the formation of the Latin Empire dealt a huge blow to it.
The Black Sea coast was now completely open to the Italians without any conditions or restrictions. The Kherson theme became part of the Trebizond Empire, where the Comneni transferred their throne. Chersonese and Klimaty did not lose their connection with Byzantium and paid an annual tribute to the emperor; but the Iconian sultans carried out devastating raids with impunity on the coast of Tauris and in particular on Chersonesos. The Turks have already begun to sail in the Black Sea.
At this time, the southern Russian steppes became the scene of new events of world significance. The invasion of the Tatars took place in 1223, who, having crushed the Alans and Polovtsians and defeated the Russians, penetrated into Taurida. The winner on Kalka, Subetai (Subudai), brought the tired hordes here to rest, devastated Sudak and its valley, but did not wait for the arrival of Khan Jochi and went back to Asia to help him in the fight against the Mongols. But soon (in 1239) the Tatars again appeared in Taurida and took its steppes into lasting possession, and subjected its coastal cities (Sudak, Kafa, Chersonesus) to new devastation. Little by little, however, the population of Taurida adapted to new strength and the authorities, especially since the Tatars, then still pagans, turned out to be tolerant and themselves accepted Christianity. The Alans (Ases) held in the steppe and western parts of the peninsula and owned Kyrkor (Chufut-Kale). Trade relations between Taurida and Russia continued, and its main point was Sugdeya (Sudak, Surozh), the trade significance of which now even increased. In 1261, the Tatars, wandering beyond Perekop, separated from the Kramsky Tatars under the command of Nogai and formed an independent Nogai horde, divided into four tribes: Budzhak, Edisan, Yedishkul and Dzhambayluk.
Greek trade fell in Constantinople itself and passed into the hands of the Italians. It was also forbidden for Russians to travel to Constantinople, and Russian merchants brought goods only to the mouths of the Dnieper and to Kyiv, where the Italians bought them and took them to the capital. The Venetians gained dominance over the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, went deep into the Sea of Azov and founded the colony of Tanu on the site of ancient Tanais, and on the Black Sea the main point of their trade was Sudak, where Turkish, Armenian and Russian merchants came. A stubborn struggle began between the Genoese and Venetians in Tauris, in which the Genoese were the winners.
Meanwhile, in 1261, Michael Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople from the Latins and restored the Greek empire. For the services rendered by the Genoese, they received the right to exclusive trade along the shores of the Black Sea, and in 1269 they firmly settled in Cafe, as Feodosia was now called. True, in 1298 Nogai plundered Kafa, but it soon recovered. At the same time, Kherson, Kyrkor, Kerch, Sugdeya and others were destroyed. Now only the Genoese were allowed to import goods from the west to their colonies in Taurida and exchange them for native products. The Genoese fortified Cafa, supposedly against their possible rivals, the Venetians, and surrounded it first with a ditch and rampart, and then with walls and towers.
With the strengthening of Kafa, Chersonese fell more and more, and the Genoese made every effort to prevent it from rising, and forced the emperor to promise not to send ships to Chersonese, and blocked the way for Chersonese merchants to the salt lakes of the peninsula and the fishermen of the Azov Sea. Chersonese lost all commercial significance, which passed to the Genoese, who finally defeated the Venetians. The Genoese began cultural work in Tavrida. They were engaged in viticulture and gardening on a large scale, especially in the Sudak Valley, after they defeated Sudak, set up fish factories, taught the population how to extract and purify water, and opened new sources of income; They founded a school and a library in the Café. The population of Crimea then increased from several hundred to a million people. The welfare of Kafa increased, its influence spread to the entire Azov region, the Caucasus and reached the Caspian Sea, along which the Genoese traded on their ships. Large trade relations developed with Egypt. Then the Genoese captured Balaclava, where they founded their port, which became a significant trading point, took possession of Tana after a stubborn struggle with the Venetians and forced the empire to close the harbors on the Black and Seas of Azov. The population of Kafa increased with the influx of Armenians to Crimea, with the consent of the Genoese, but they had been in Crimea before at the end of the 12th century. In 1338, the Armenian monastery of St. was built near Solkhat (Old Crimea). Cross. Many Armenian churches appeared in the area of Kafa and Sudak. In 1438, some of the Armenians in the Caucasus and Tauris accepted the patronage of the pope and joined the Catholic Church. In the XIV century. A Catholic diocese was established in Cafe.
The cafe received from the republic a special charter, which strictly and down to the smallest detail determined its life, received a tariff, a coin, a coat of arms and self-government. The administration was headed by a council and a consul, appointed annually by Genoa. After him the highest officials there were two councilors, a notary, four judges, two treasurers, the chief of the city police, the chief of troops, the commandant of the fortress, the ruler of the mountainous region (Khazaria) and the rural ruler. The highest positions were given to the Genoese, the others half to the Genoese and Cafinians. All of them were selective for a short time - a year, six months, even three months. This charter of the Genoese colonies in Crimea in 1449 was replaced by a new, more detailed one.
In 1357 - 1836, Kafa was fortified with new walls, and according to treaties with the Tatars of 1380 and subsequent ones, it received possession of the coast with 18 villages between Alushta and Kafa. The Genoese received the right to travel around the Khan's possessions for trade purposes, but they pledged to be loyal allies of the Tatars and allow the Khan's official to stay in Kafa to collect duties on imported goods. In Sudak, the Genoese built an extensive castle with walls and towers, completed in 1414. This is the most remarkable monument of Genoese rule in Crimea.
The Bosporus was revived at this time and was a large and rich city. The governor of the Golden Horde Khan in Crimea lived in Solkhat (Old Crimea). It was a large and rich city with mosques, madrassas, caravanserais, palaces, baths, etc. The mosque built by Uzbek Khan in 1314 has still been preserved there. At that time, the Crimean ulus was constantly striving for separation from the Golden Horde.
The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd, an ally of Khan Akhmat, defeated the Crimean Tatar hordes in 1363 near the mouth of the Dnieper, invaded Crimea, devastated Chersonesus and captured all valuable church objects here. His successor Vytautas went to the Crimea in 1397, reached Kafa, destroyed Chersonesos and took him to Lithuania significant amount Tatars, whose descendants now live in the Vilna and Grodno provinces. In 1399, he was defeated by Emir Timur-Kutluk on the banks of the Vorskla and made peace with Edigei.
It was said above that the first invasions of the Tatars into Crimea date back to 1223 and 1239, and then the entire Crimea with the southern part of the peninsula became their possession. But their devastating invasions continued afterwards. In 1298, Emir Nogai defeated Kafa and Sudak for the Genoese murder of his grandson, sent to collect tribute, and in 1308 for the Genoese selling Tatar children into captivity. During the reign of Uzbek Khan, invasions of his emirs took place in 1322, 1327 and 1338. Relations between the Tatars and Italians were uncertain: sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile. Agreements gave way to quarrels. The Genoese paid import and export duties to the Tatars, for the collection of which Tatar bailiffs were stationed in the main cities, who were also in charge of the affairs of the khan’s subjects. The relationship of the Tatars to the Greek population of Crimea at that time was also vague and therefore unclear to us.
The rulers of the Crimean peninsula or Deshti-Kipchak were the khans of the Golden Horde, and their governors or emirs (beys, tuduns) ruled in Crimea. Such rulers were: Nogai, who unsuccessfully tried to found his own dynasty in Crimea, Mamai, Edigei. The first formally recognized ruler in Crimea is considered to be Oran-Timur, Batu's nephew, who received this region from Mengu-Timur. The main city of Crimea was Solkhat, renamed in the 15th century. to Crimea, and this name, which, according to V.D., meant Smirnov, a large and deep ditch, located near the city of Solkhat, gradually spread to the entire peninsula. BUT it was not the capital of an independent state, but the main city of the region. The valley adjacent to Chufut-Kale and Bakhchisarai became the second center of Crimea. The first Tatar settlement here was Eski-Yurt, where the graves of the Crimean khans and governors until the 17th century are located.
The Golden Horde khans rarely visited Crimea, and then only as fugitives from their opponents during civil strife. Only Khan Uzbek, who was especially favorable towards Crimea, the patron and instiller of Islam here in the 14th century, lived in Crimea for quite a long time. But the power and importance of the emirs were great. The political history of Crimea was entirely part of the historical destinies of the Golden Horde and was their reflection.
Weakening of the Golden Horde, growing independence of Crimea
The gradual weakening of the Golden Horde gave rise to a desire for independence in Crimea, especially with the death of Khan Birdibek. Neither Mamai, nor Tokhtamysh, who was defeated by Tamerlane and found refuge with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas, nor Pulakh Timur, nor Edigei, nor Shadibek, nor Tashtimur, the ancestor of Hadji-Girey, who also went to Lithuania after the defeat of Tokhtamysh by Tamerlane, could raise it. The Crimean ulus has already become very isolated from the Golden Horde and has become noticeably stronger. It included almost the entire mountainous region of Crimea and the southern coast. Edigei's death in 1420 ended the Golden Horde period of Crimea. In the Golden Horde and Crimea, unrest began and parties fought for power. The Crimean beys became stronger and sought to create their own state out of Crimea. The title of khan began to designate the supreme ruler. The tamga (coat of arms) of the Crimean ulus (trident or crest) separated from the Kipchak (stirrup). Crimea became increasingly important in the course of general Tatar affairs.
The contender for the khan's throne was Hadji Giray, who put great pressure on the Kafinians, whom he imposed tribute on. He clearly sought to take possession of the entire Crimea and, very likely, concluded a formal agreement with the Turks, according to which he ceded Kafa and Gothia to them. Both in the Golden Horde period and at that time, during the era of the formation of the independent Crimean Khanate, the events of the history of Crimea are unclear. The history of the Crimean Khanate becomes reliable only from the beginning of close relations with Turkey. The identity of the founder of the dynasty, even his origin, is also unclear. It is only clear that power did not come to him easily, after a stubborn struggle with opponents, in which he discovered a subtle political mind, energy and cunning. Having spent his youth in Lithuania as a fugitive, he received the throne, thanks to the support of the Polish-Lithuanian state in 1428, but soon lost it and seized power for the second time in 1434 and reigned until his death in 1466. His own national name was Devlet, Muslim Birdi, and he adopted the nicknames Haji and Giray during the second occupation of the throne due to the circumstances of his childhood. The nickname Girey was subsequently adopted by his son Mengli and became the dynastic nickname of the Crimean khans. Hadji Devlet Giray pursued an ambivalent policy towards the Moscow State and the Genoese and helped the Lithuanians and Poles in their fight against the Golden Horde.
With the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Turks became complete owners of the Black Sea. The possessions of Genoa on its coast passed to the Bank of St. George. The Pope declared a crusade against the Turks, but Mohammed II with incredible energy captured the southern coast of the Black Sea with Trebizond, Sinop and other cities, then Kerch and rushed to Cafu. Genoa could not provide her with significant help; the Kafinians at this time started troubles and squabbles, and the Tatars found themselves on the side of the Turks. On June 1, 1475, the Turkish fleet appeared in sight of Kafa, and the Tatars approached it from land. The walls of Kafa could not withstand the artillery, panic developed in the city, and on the fourth day Kafa surrendered to the Turks, who imposed a huge ransom on it. The Italian population was killed in huge numbers, and the Greek population suffered greatly; noble and rich people were sent to Constantinople. Then the Turks captured other Italian colonies in Taurida. The last to surrender was Sudak, taken by hunger. In 1492, Mangup fell, previously hostile, and then allied with the Kafinians, the possession of independent Greek princes related to the Komnenos, who had recently established relations with Ivan III of Moscow. With the fall of Kafa, the flourishing cultural center in Tauris perished, and with the fall of Mangup, the last political support of the Greek population in it.
The beginning of the Crimean Khanate. Crimea in the XVI-XVII centuries.
The Crimean Khanate, as Professor V.D. rightly says. Smirnov, never fully lived independent life, which would be an expression of some of the fundamental features of the national character of the dominant population of Crimea. At first, the Khanate depended on the Golden Horde and was ruled by the governors of the Golden Horde khans, then it became a vassal state of Turkey, and political life Khanate was almost exclusively a reflection of the policy of the Ottoman Porte, its interests and plans. The Turks captured the Crimea, defeating the Genoese, and the entire country that was once ceded by the Tatars to the Genoese - the southern coast and part of the mountainous Crimea to the river. Kachi - were annexed to their power as victors. These possessions were divided into three Kadylyks (districts) - Mangupsky, Sugdeysky and Kefaisky. The Tatars retained the steppe space and foothills in their power and recognized the supremacy of the Sultan, who undertook to appoint khans from the Girey clan, descendants of Genghis. Turkey surrounded Crimea with an iron ring of its fortresses, restricting any manifestation of political initiative in it; its own style of state life could not be developed in it. The strong influence of Turkey had a strong effect even on internal, domestic life, the structure of internal institutions, religion, language, literature, art and taste, although here, of course, national features were also manifested to some extent. Turkish fortresses in Crimea were: Kafa, Gezlev (Evpatoria), Or (Perekop), Rabat (Arabat), Yagud-Kalesi (Mangup). Beyler Bey (Pasha) lived in Kafa and there was a strong Turkish garrison. The northern border of Crimea was uncertain. The steppes beyond Perekop were occupied by restless Nogai hordes, who did not recognize dependence on the khans, although, if necessary and beneficial, they helped them on campaigns.
As for the Greek population of Crimea, despite the difficulty of relations with Constantinople after its capture by the Turks and the formation of the Crimean Khanate, it remained religiously dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople, retained its language, faith and national identity, but was very poor. There were still four dioceses governed by metropolitans, who often quarreled among themselves over borders and villages. With the transfer of the capital to Bakhchisarai in 1428, the Tatars became direct neighbors of the Greeks in Gothia. At this time, they probably captured Kirkor, which became a fortress and sometimes the seat of the khans. This city was given over to the Karaites, who began to appear in Crimea in the 7th century, and in the 13th century they moved from Transcaucasia en masse and settled in Mangup and Chufut-Kale.
The Christian Greek population still led a peaceful life in Crimea under the rule of the Turkish pashas and in direct relations with the Tatars. This cohabitation was peaceful. The Tatars, imposing increased taxes on non-believers and not giving them the rights enjoyed by Muslims, were tolerant and allowed the repair of old, dilapidated churches and the construction of new ones. But gradually the Greeks learned Tatar language, And native language became with them only the language of religion and church. In the 15th century Chersonesos and Sugdea were already in ruins, cave settlements, and in the 16th century. the fortresses of Inkerman and Mangup looked like abandoned and uninhabited places. Gradually, the dioceses of Bosporus, Sugdea and Chersonesos fell, and the Gothic metropolitan became the head of all Orthodox Christians in Tauris.
After the death of Haji Devlet Giray, strife occurred between his sons. He defeated the fourth of them, Mengli, and became khan with the help of the Kafinians, and two years later he firmly sat on the throne after the capture of Kafa by the Turks and his captivity, when he was confirmed by the Turkish Sultan. Opposition to the independence of the Crimean Khanate by the khans of the Golden Horde was unsuccessful, and in 1479 Crimea was recognized as an independent state. Mengli was friends with V. book Ivan III and acted with him in concert against Lithuania, wanting, with his help, to take possession of the lands of the Golden Horde. Thus, he contributed to the liberation of Rus' from the Mongol yoke. But at the end of the life of Ivan III, Mengli changed his policy regarding the Moscow state and began to be friends with Lithuania, and with Vasily III and Mengli's successor, Muhammed Giray I, began a long and continuous struggle between the Crimean Khanate and Moscow and Lithuania, depending on when one or the other was more profitable for him. The devastating raids of the Tatars on Russian borders were especially frequent in the 16th century. There were more than 20 of them, with an average of one every five years, not counting small, almost annual invasions, “hunts for people,” as Prof. calls them. M.N. Berezhkov. Both Russians and Poles had to pay off the Tatars with money and other “wake”, in essence, tribute. Usually the Crimeans on these campaigns reached the river. Oka, but sometimes they reached Moscow itself and returned home with rich booty and a huge number of prisoners. The Russian state, for its part, defended itself by building fortresses and gradually moving south, and sometimes by retaliatory campaigns against the Crimea. To ensure direct succession to the throne for Crimea, Mengli Giray established the rank of kalgi, deputy khan, but in essence it was only an honorary title, and the throne was replaced by the choice of the Turkish Sultan and the Porte and with the possible observance of family seniority.
The khan's power in Crimea became a reflection of the power of the sultan, although the conditions of the khans' dependence on the sultans were never formulated by any act or written treaty and were based more on custom. Under Mengli, the sultan's investiture was also determined, consisting of vestments (robe), honorary saber and sultan (sealing wax) with a turban. The newly named khan was always accompanied to the Crimea by an honorary convoy of Turkish troops, who usually behaved rudely and impudently. More energetic khans tried, if possible, to weaken their dependence on Turkey, did not submit to the demands of the Porte, but they rarely succeeded: at the slightest disobedience there was always a threat of removal from the throne and replacement by another person from among the several dozen representatives of the Girey family, usually located in Istanbul as if in the form of hostages. Hence the duality of the Crimean policy - on the one hand, national-Tatar aspirations, on the other - extraneous, external demands - and in inner life and in international politics. The Sultan styled himself “padishah of Deshti-Kipchak, Kafa, Crimea and Dagestan,” and on the part of the khan, in response to external honor and favor, servility and unconditional execution of the Sultan’s orders were required. The khans called themselves “slaves of the throne of His Majesty the Lord of the Age,” his humble servants, etc. During the Friday khutba (prayer), first a prayer was said for the Sultan, and then for the Khan. The power of the khan was weakened by the beys (karacheis), descendants of the ancient ancestors, who had enormous influence on the internal affairs of the khanate and the rule of the khan. These were the Shirins, Baryns, Argins, Yashlavs (Suleshevs) and Mansurs.
The successor of Muhammad I, Saadet I (1523-32), wanted to make the Crimean Tatars a settled people, but they reacted to this with obvious insympathy and even contempt. He ruled benevolently and fairly, but not for long. After him, Khan Sakhyb I (1532-50) conceived some transformations - the development of agriculture and sedentary life. He also established a staff of kapas - kullu (kapas - halkas), in the likeness of the Turkish Janissaries, and seimens - mercenary troops, as opposed to the Tatar militia, which went to war “out of love for God.” He treated his neighbors with arrogance and self-confidence, but his campaign against Moscow was unsuccessful. He is credited with digging a ditch across the Perekop Isthmus. He also increased the number of noble families in Crimea by joining them with the Sijuets and Mansurs. The next khan Devlet I (1551-77) dreamed on our own restore the greatness of the Tatars and waged constant wars with Ivan the Terrible, vainly seeking the return of Kazan and Astrakhan. To achieve this goal, he readily accepted Turkey's proposal to connect the Volga and Don with a canal. He did not achieve his goal, but with the invasion of Russia and the capture of Moscow, which killed up to 800,000 people and captured 50,000, he forced Ivan IV to give an obligation, following the example of Poland, to pay tribute (funerals, duties, salaries) annually at a certain time. To the Crimean Khan with money, furs, fur coats, etc., according to a list of members of the Khan’s family and his nobles sent in advance. But after him, the power of Crimea began to decline. These khans took care of attracting new nomads to the Crimea and settling them here, thus the Sivash region and the steppes north of the isthmus were populated.
After Muhammad II the Fat (Semiz), who established the title of nureddin, as if the second heir of the khanate, and Islam II, who ordered, for the sake of the Turks, to pronounce his name at the khutba (Friday prayer) after the name of the sultan, which had not happened before and which humiliated the dignity of the khan from of the following khans, Gazi II, nicknamed Bora (Storm) (1588 - 1608), stood out as an intelligent, talented man, poet and musician. What remains from him is a collection of poems “Gel-ve-bul-bul” (Rose and Nightingale). He also sang in poetry about wine and coffee. But all this did not prevent him from being a very cruel person, which was reflected in the murder of Khan Feth-Girey and the extermination of his entire family. And he tried to support the independence of the Khanate by introducing direct succession to the throne, which the Porte did not agree to and established the position of bash-aga, like a grand vizier or a nearby boyar.
At the beginning of the 17th century. The reign of Dzhanybek (1610-22, 27-35), a capable but lazy man, completely devoted to the will of Turkey and a submissive fulfiller of the desires of the Karachi, was colorless and sad. All of this took place in wars with Russia and the Cossacks, who devastated Crimea under the leadership of Hetman Sagaidachny. His rival was Mohammed II (1577-84), this khan elevated Choban-Girey, the son of Feth-Girey from a captured Polish woman, allegedly Pototskaya, to nureddyn, but she did not recognize her as her son. From him came the line of Choban-Gireys or Girey-shepherds, one of whose representatives Aadil was on the khan’s throne (1665-70).
In the half of the 17th century. The Crimeans had great difficulties and struggle with the Nogais, whose leader Kantemir sought to strengthen his influence in the Crimea and did not obey the khan. Of the khans at this time, Islam III (1644 - 1654) stood out, whose reign was one of the best. He behaved independently in relation to Turkey, during foreign policy was decisive and persistent. But this khan also followed the principle of “giving the people remedies against the infidels.”
At this time, the Little Russian question came to the fore in full force. Before the annexation of Little Russia to the Moscow state, Bogdan Khmelnitsky turned to the Crimean Khan and the Ottoman Porte for help against the Poles, was with his son Timothy in Bakhchisarai and at an audience with the khan, made a speech in Tatar in which he promised the alliance and friendship of the Cossacks for help against Poland. Islam agreed to this help, but his friendship with Bogdan was short-lived; The Tatars raided the Moscow Ukraine, and the Cossacks also suffered, and the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks descended into the sea and devastated the Tatar and Turkish lands. Finally, the khan got ready to march on Poland. Turkey was weak, and the Sultan could not prevent the Khan from making campaigns against Poland, with which he was in an alliance. The war with Poland was at first happy, and then unhappy for Bogdan Khmelnitsky, forcing him to turn to Moscow. The Tatars, helping him, caused great devastation in Poland and Little Russia, and Islyam, in the interests of Crimea, maintained political balance and did not allow either the Poles or the Russians to gain strength. After the annexation of Little Russia to the Moscow state, he became an ally of Poland, as did his successor Muhammad IV (1642-44, 54-65), who treated Russia rudely and caused her many troubles. This hostile attitude towards Russia is explained (to a large extent) by Khmelnitsky’s crafty policies, the attacks on the Crimea by the Cossacks, and the struggle between Moscow and Poland.
Khmelnitsky's successor, Vygovsky, was a supporter of Poland and started relations with the khan, directed against Moscow and ending in open betrayal of him and Yuri Khmelnitsky, Bogdan's son. In the battles of Konotop and Chudnov there was a terrible defeat for the Russians. Voivode V.B. Sheremetyev was captured by the Tatars, where he remained for 20 years, languishing in Chufut-Kale. In 1667, the Truce of Andrusovo was concluded for 13.5 years. In 1675, Ataman Serko attacked Crimea and brought 7,000 Christians out of it.
Subsequently, the fourfold reign of Khan Selim I (1670-77, 84-98, 1702, 1703-4) in Crimea aroused great interest. He was the most remarkable of the Crimean khans, an intelligent ruler, a good, not power-hungry, lenient and practical person. In 1677, the war between Russia and Turkey began, glorious for Russia and very confusing to Selim, who was afraid of its power. Hetman Doroshenko, despite the help of Turkey and Crimea, was defeated and surrendered the Chigirin fortress, but Selim's successor, Khan Murad (1677-83) notified the Porte that the Russians were planning new war, which began in 1682 and led to the defeat of the Turks near Vienna by the Polish king Jan Sobieski. Khan Murad was recognized as the culprit of this defeat, and he was overthrown. He was a good khan, who did not like military affairs and did a lot of internal affairs Khanate, among other things, the development of agriculture in Crimea. He maintained peaceful relations with Russia and behaved independently in relation to Turkey.
Selim sat on the khan's throne for the second time. A difficult time has come for Crimea. Russia was becoming stronger and its sense of national dignity and honor was growing. Western Europe encouraged her to take her away from the Port of Crimea, her right hand and Selim reported to Turkey that Russia was striving for Crimea. Jan Sobieski gave Kyiv to her, but reprimanded for this an alliance in the war against the Turks and Tatars, in fulfillment of which two campaigns to the Crimea took place. V.V. Golitsyn, in 1687 and 1689 Both of them were unsuccessful, but they distracted the Tatars from helping the Turks in Hungary. Only after happily getting rid of the Russians and receiving the good booty they left at Perekop, Selim went to the aid of the Turks, defeated the Austrians, took a lot of booty and prisoners, for which he received great honors from the Porte and was at the height of his glory. The Tatars demanded his return to Crimea for protection from the Russians and Poles, but Selim asked the Porte to relieve him of the throne due to his old age. His request was respected, but not for long. Having visited Mecca during the second break of his reign and received the nickname Elhadj, he again sat on the throne in 1692, but was not seduced by this honor, knowing well the situation of Turkey, which itself needed the support of the Crimea. Having taken part in the war with Austria, Selim arrived in Crimea, but was ordered to go back to the theater of military operations. The Crimeans protested against the Khan's departure, fearing a new Russian attack, and sent only a ten-thousandth auxiliary detachment.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1695, Peter the Great moved to Azov; Russian ships appeared on the Sea of Azov, and the Tatars were afraid of the Russian invasion of Crimea. The siege of Azov by the Russians began, and the Crimeans began to strengthen Perekop. The entire population of Crimea has risen to its feet. At the request of the Crimeans, Selim returned from the Turkish theater of military operations, and sent his sons, who had returned from Azov, in the defense of which the Tatars took part, to the Turkish camp. The Tatars begged for help to the Port and asked for it in Persia as well. Finally, Azov fell, the khan and his sons returned to Crimea, which at that time began to be attacked by Kalmyks and Nogais. The war with Turkey ended in peace in Karlovitsy in 1698, at the conclusion of which the Russians, who had already stopped paying funerals to the khan, demanded that the Tatars undertake to stop raids on Russian lands, for which they themselves undertook not to restore the fortresses of Azov (lost by Russia after the unsuccessful Prut campaign of Peter V.) and not to build new fortresses near it. But the Tatars did not comply with the agreement, which is why the Russians considered themselves entitled to strengthen Azov and established a fleet here, which was a big blow to Turkish dominance in the Black Sea. Selim asked for resignation and received it. But immediately after this, civil strife began between his sons and after the short reign of one of them (Devlet II), Selim sat on the throne for the fourth time in 1703 and, with the help of the Turks, built the Yenikale fortress to protect the Kerch Strait. This was his last work for Crimea. In 1704 he died at the age of 73.
Crimea in the 18th century. Annexation of Crimea to Russia
With the death of Selim, the 200-year period of the life of Crimea ended, which, as V.D. says, passed. Smirnov, in continuous wars for the sake of Turkey and raids for himself, but without benefit for the cultural development of the country. The oblivion of the policies of Mengli Giray and friendship with Poland, whose political life was declining, did not bring benefits to the Crimean Khanate. And when the increasingly stronger Russia reached a degree of power, neither Poland nor Crimea were able to resist it. The financial situation in Crimea was also very poor. The Girays also did nothing for their country in this regard. The dominant population was not inclined towards a peaceful life, and the lack of unity with the Nogais weakened its strength and significance. The personal properties of almost all representatives of the Girey dynasty were insignificant.
In the 18th century The Crimean Khanate lost its terrifying significance, the patronage of the Porte became imaginary, the time had come to act not with weapons, but with peaceful negotiations and agreements. The political independence of Crimea was supported only by Russia's wait-and-see policy. Despite Peter V.'s failures in the war with Turkey, the alliance of Crimea with Mazepa and Sweden did not bring him any benefits, and the restless nature of the Nogais reached complete unbridledness.
Khan Mengli II (1724 - 1730), an adherent of peaceful politics, did something for the internal well-being of Crimea, eased taxes and duties, established a postal service, assigned monetary salaries to the ulema - but he could not stay on the throne. His successor Kaplan (1707, 13-16, 30-36) was forced to take part in the war between Turkey and Persia. Promoting the installation of Stanislav Leszczynski on the Polish throne, he led Tatar troops through the Russian steppes, despite the protest of the Russian authorities, which caused a war with Russia and campaigns against the Crimea by Minikh and Lassi (1735-38), which led to the defeat and devastation of the entire Crimea with its capital Bakhchisarai. The Tatars responded to these invasions with raids on Russian lands, but their successes were small. The Tatars, unfortunately, did not even appreciate khans who pursued a peaceful policy, such as, for example, Arsalan (1748-56, 67), a reasonable man who cared about the internal well-being of the country. His brother Crimea (1758-64, 68-69) was elected in his place, who dreamed of forcing the Russians to continue paying tribute to the Tatars and threatened to hang his whip on the walls of St. Petersburg. He interfered in issues of international politics, in relations between Russia and Poland, even in seven years war, and offered his alliance and assistance to Frederick the Great. But, despite excessive self-confidence and major mistakes, he was still an outstanding khan. However, he was rejected by the Porte for his independent policies, heavy taxes that burdened the population and cruelty. During his second reign (1768-69), he attacked the Russian lands, new Serbia - this was the last invasion of the Crimean Tatars, devastating, but fruitless. He died soon after. Monuments in Bakhchisarai are associated with his name - the turbe (mausoleum) of his favorite Georgian Dilyara Bikech and the semi-collapsed Eshil-Jami mosque. His grave monument is the best in the Khan's cemetery.
Crimea Giray dragged Turkey into a war with Russia, which led to the fall of the Crimean Khanate. It was very successful for Russia. The victories of Rumyantsev at Larga and Kagul, and A. Orlov at Chesma glorified Catherine throughout Europe. Russia received reason to bring to the fore the question of the existence of the Crimean Khanate, which Rumyantsev, an astute man who understood the state of affairs better than others, insisted on, but, at the request of Catherine, the fate of Crimea was so far expressed in the form of its rejection of direct dependence on the Porte. Unrest began in Crimea, negotiations with the khan did not lead to anything definite, but the Nogais and Kalmyks came under Russian rule. Prince V.M., who commanded the second Russian army. Dolgorukov entered Crimea, defeated Khan Selim II (1764-67, 70-71) in two battles and within a month captured the entire Crimea, and captured a Turkish seraskir in Kafe. Khan Selim fled to Constantinople. The Tatars surrendered their weapons, bowed to the side of Russia and presented Dolgorukov with a sworn letter with signatures of the Crimean nobility and notification of the election of Sakhyb Girey to khan, and his brother Shagin to kalgi.
The last period of the existence of the Crimean Khanate began - under the tutelage of Russia. In fact, Crimea was already in its power; it still lacked formal recognition of this fact, which took 10 years. Russia needed Turkey to recognize the independence of Crimea and the freedom of navigation of Russian ships in the Black Sea. But Turkey did not give this recognition, and the Russians did not withdraw their troops from the Crimean fortresses and from the coast, which they protected from the Turkish landings. The Tatars did not clearly understand the state of affairs and sought independence from the Russians. Sakhyb (1772-75) did not want to ask for and accept Russian guards for Tatar liberties. Negotiations between Russia and Turkey were sluggish and indecisive. Finally, Russia’s patronage was recognized, but in Crimea the Turkish party led by former khan Devlet III (1769-70, 75-83), who negotiated the landing of Turkish troops in Crimea.
Finally, on July 10, 1774, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty was concluded, very beneficial for Russia, but also saving for Turkey. Crimea was not annexed to Russia and was recognized as independent from any outside power. In addition, the Sultan was recognized as the Supreme Caliph, and this circumstance caused difficulties and bickering between Russia and Turkey, since among Muslims, religious-ceremonial and civil-legal life are interconnected, which is why the Sultan was given the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Crimea, for example, by appointing Qadians . Turkey, according to the agreement, recognized Kinburn, Kerch and Yenikale as Russian possessions, as well as its freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, the Crimean Tatars expressed a persistent desire to remain under Turkish rule, and the Russian pretender to the khan's throne, Shagin, turned out to be a limited man, a troublemaker and unusually ambitious. While the Russian troops were stationed in the Crimea, the state of affairs was, in general, although tense, but not threatening complications; but when, according to the agreement, Dolgorukov withdrew his troops too hastily and carelessly, leaving small detachments here and there on the coast, things changed. In Crimea there was a widespread uprising of the Tatars, clearly prepared by the Turks. Turkish troops landed in Alushta; The Russian resident in Crimea, Veselitsky, was captured by Khan Sakhyb and handed over to the Turkish commander-in-chief, and the security convoy that was with him was killed. There were attacks on Russian troops in Alushta, Yalta and other places. But Sakhyb’s treacherous actions led him to abandon the throne - the Tatars elected Devlet as khan. At this time, the text of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty was received from Constantinople. The Tatars were embarrassed, Veselitsky was released, the Turks were defeated at the Great Patriotic War. Shuma and Demerdzhi, near Alushta, the Turkish fleet left, with the consent of Dolgorukov, to Feodosia. But the Tatars even now did not want to accept independence and cede the above-mentioned cities in Crimea to the Russians, and the Porte considered it necessary to enter into new negotiations with Russia. Devlet behaved duplicitously towards Russia, started troubles in the Kuban in order to complicate its ruler and the chief of the Nogais, Shagin, who was committed to Russia and aspired to the throne. Türkiye also raised its head in view of Russia's difficulties with Poland and Sweden and plotted to return Crimea. Dolgorukov's successor, Prince. Prozorovsky negotiated with the khan in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Tatars did not hide their sympathies for Turkey. Shagin had no supporters. The Russian party in Crimea was small. But in the Kuban he was proclaimed khan, and in 1776 he finally became khan of the Crimea and entered Bakhchisarai. The Tatars swore allegiance to him.
It was difficult for Russia to force the Porte to accept Shagin as khan and establish hereditary succession to the throne in Crimea; she stood on Devlet and Sakhyb. In addition, Shagin behaved extremely tactlessly and frivolously. He imagined himself as a sovereign European sovereign, was inaccessible, extremely despotic and cruel, imposed a tithe tax on grain, livestock and other items on the population, started an unnecessary pomp, built a palace, etc. In Bakhchisarai, a rebellion finally broke out against him, the reason for which was the establishment of a permanent army with European uniforms. The uprising also turned against the Russians; the Tatars fiercely attacked Russian troops, killing up to 900 people. Russians, and plundered the palace. Shagin was embarrassed and made various promises, but the Tatars made Selim III khan. Türkiye was preparing to send a fleet to the shores of Crimea and start a new war. The Tatar uprising was pacified, but, not accepting Prozorovsky’s advice to be generous, Shagin mercilessly punished his opponents. Suvorov was appointed Prozorovsky's successor due to his mistakes, but Shagin treated him coldly, and the resident Konstantinov was completely disdainful, especially after the eviction of Christians (30,000 people) to the Azov region, Greeks to Mariupol, and Armenians to Nakhichevan in 1779 .
Suvorov's energy overcame all obstacles, the Turkish landing did not take place. Foreign powers, who were intriguing against Russia, now advised the Porte not to break the peace with her. Russia, on the other hand, pursued a wait-and-see policy, not allowing aggressive actions itself. Only now Shagin 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, Shagin caused a new revolt of the population and had to flee to Yenikale, and from there to Kuban. Bogadyr-Girey, who was not recognized by Russia, was elected khan. This and Turkey’s actions in the Caucasus prompted new Russian intervention, which, thanks to Potemkin’s restraint, led to the bloodless annexation of Crimea to Russia. At the beginning of 1783, Shagin abdicated the throne, and he was asked to choose a city in Russia to live in, and a sum was allocated 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.
On April 8, 1783, Catherine issued a manifesto according to which Crimea, Taman and Kuban became Russian regions. The population retained its former rights and was ensured a peaceful life and justice. It has begun for Crimea new era- an era of peaceful cultural development of economic well-being, and it became “the paradise of Russia,” as one of the travelers described it. But this period of the history of Crimea is not included in the scope of this essay.
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