Fall of the Crimean Khanate. Prepare a message about the Crimean Khanate. Splinter of a great empire

Self-name - Crimean yurt (Crimea. QIrIm Yurtu, قريم يورتى ‎). In addition to the steppe and foothill part of the Crimea proper, it occupied the land between the Danube and the Dnieper, the Sea of Azov, and most of the present-day Krasnodar Territory of Russia. In 1478, the Crimean Khanate officially became an ally of the Ottoman state and remained in this capacity until the 1774 Peace of Kyuchuk-Kaynarji. It was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783. At present, most of the lands of the Khanate (territories west of the Don) belong to Ukraine, and the rest (lands east of the Don) belong to Russia.

Capitals of the Khanate

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

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

Story

background

In the Horde period, the supreme rulers of Crimea were the khans of the Golden Horde, but their governors, emirs, were directly in control. The first formally recognized ruler in the Crimea is Aran-Timur, Batu's nephew, who received this region from Mengu-Timur. This name then gradually spread to the entire peninsula. The valley adjacent to Kyrk-Eru and Bakhchisaray became the second center of Crimea.

The multinational population of Crimea at that time consisted mainly of the Kypchaks (Polovtsy) who lived in the steppe and foothill part of the peninsula, whose state was defeated by the Mongols, Greeks, Goths, Alans, and Armenians, who lived mainly in cities and mountain villages, as well as Rusyns who lived in some trading cities. The Crimean nobility was mostly of mixed Kypchak-Mongol origin.

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

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

gaining independence

Vassalage to the Ottoman Empire

Wars with the Russian Empire and the Commonwealth in the early period

From the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian Tsardom and Poland. The Crimean Tatars and Nogai mastered the tactics of raids to perfection, choosing the path along the watersheds. The main of their routes to Moscow was the Muravsky Way, which ran from Perekop to Tula between the upper reaches of the rivers of two basins, the Dnieper and the Seversky Donets. Deepening into the border area for 100-200 kilometers, the Tatars turned back and, deploying wide wings from the main detachment, were engaged in robbery and capture of slaves. The capture of captives - the yasyr - and the trade in slaves were an important item in the economy of the khanate. The captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and even European countries. The Crimean city of Kafa was the main slave market. According to some researchers, more than three million people, mostly Ukrainians, Poles and Russians, were sold in the Crimean slave markets over two centuries. Every year, in the spring, Moscow gathered up to 65,000 warriors to carry out border guard duty on the banks of the Oka until late autumn. Fortified defensive lines were used to protect the country, consisting of a chain of forts and cities, fences and blockages. In the southeast, the oldest of these lines ran along the Oka from Nizhny Novgorod to Serpukhov, from here it turned south to Tula and continued to Kozelsk. The second line, built under Ivan the Terrible, went from the city of Alatyr through Shatsk to Orel, continued to Novgorod-Seversky and turned to Putivl. Under Tsar Fyodor, a third line arose, passing through the cities of Livny, Yelets, Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod. The initial population of these cities consisted of Cossacks, archers and other service people. A large number of Cossacks and service people were part of the guard and stanitsa services, which watched the movement of Crimeans and Nogays in the steppe.

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

17th - early 18th century

On January 6-12, 1711, the Crimean army went beyond Perekop. Mehmed Gerai went to Kyiv with 40 thousand Crimeans, accompanied by 7-8 thousand Orlik and Cossacks, 3-5 thousand Poles, 400 Janissaries and 700 Swedes of Colonel Zülich.

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

In the summer of 1711, when Peter I with an army of 80,000 went on the Prut campaign, the Crimean cavalry, numbering 70,000 sabers, together with the Turkish army, surrounded Peter's troops, who found themselves in a hopeless situation. Peter I himself was almost taken prisoner and was forced to sign a peace treaty on conditions that were extremely unfavorable for Russia. As a result of the Treaty of Prut, Russia lost access to the Sea of Azov and its fleet in the Azov-Black Sea area. As a result of the Prut victory of the united Turkish-Crimean wars, Russian expansion in the Black Sea region was stopped for a quarter of a century.

Russian-Turkish war of 1735-39 and the complete devastation of the Crimea

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

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

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

Only now Shahin turned to the Sultan as a caliph, for a blessing letter, and the Port recognized him as a khan, subject to the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Crimea. Meanwhile, in 1782, a new uprising began in the Crimea, and Shakhin was forced to flee to Yenikale, and from there to the Kuban. Bahadir II Giray was elected to the khanate, but was not recognized by Russia. In 1783, Russian troops entered the Crimea without warning. Soon Shahin Gerai abdicated the throne. He was asked to choose a city in Russia for residence and released the amount 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 Port, he was released to Turkey and settled on the island of Rhodes, where he was deprived of his life.

There were "small" and "large" sofas, which played a very serious role in the life of the state.

The "small sofa" was called the council, if a narrow circle of the nobility took part in it, solving issues that required urgent and specific decisions.

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

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

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

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

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

In addition to the above, there were two important women's positions: ana-beim (analogous to the Ottoman post of valide), which was occupied by the mother or sister of the khan, and ulu-beim (ulu-sultani), the eldest wife of the ruling khan. In terms of importance and role in the state, they had a rank following Nureddin.

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

Public life

The state religion of Crimea was Islam, and in the customs of the Nogai tribes there were separate remnants of shamanism. Along with the Crimean Tatars and Nogais, Turks and Circassians living in Crimea also professed Islam.

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

Notes

Budagov. Comparative dictionary of Turkish-Tatar dialects, V.2, p.51
O. Gaivoronsky. Masters of two continents. Vol. 1. Kiev-Bakhchisaray. Oranta.2007
Tunmann. "Crimean Khanate"
Sigismund Herberstein, Notes on Muscovy, Moscow 1988, p. 175
Yavornitsky D. I. History of the Zaporizhian Cossacks. Kyiv, 1990.
V. E. Syroechkovsky, Mohammed-Gerai and his vassals, “Scientific Notes of the Moscow state university", vol. 61, 1940, p. 16.
Vozgrin V. E. Historical fate of the Crimean Tatars. Moscow, 1992.
Faizov S.F. Wake-"tysh" in the context of relations between Russia-Russia with the Golden Horde and the Crimean yurt
Evliya Celebi. Travel Book, pp. 46-47.
Evliya Celebi. Travel Book, p. 104.

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

From Kuban to Budzhak

Part 1

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

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

Eastern Nogai

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There were many wild animals in the Nogai steppes: wolves, foxes, marmots, martens, wild boars and goats, hares, hazel grouses, partridges, and also wild horses. It is about this unusual breed of horses that you can read in the writings of many travelers who visited the Crimean Khanate. One of the earliest references is found in 1574 by the Polish chronicler Jan Krasinsky.

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

It is impossible to ignore one more feature of the Nogai steppes. These are mounds over the graves of noble Turks once buried in the Northern Black Sea region. Many of these burial mounds date back to Scythian times. Many travelers who visited here during the Khan period could still observe stone statues on the tops of mounds with a face always turned to the east.

Yedisan, or Western Nogai

The borders between the Khan's regions on the continent were mainly rivers. So, the lands of the Yedisans - Edisan or Western Nogai - stretched between the Ak-Su (Bug) and Turla (Dniester) rivers, bordering Badzhak in the west. In the south of the land of Edisan was washed by the Black Sea, and in the north-west they bordered on Poland (later on the Hetmanate) in the area of the river and the locality Kodyma.

All this territory was originally under the rule of the Crimean khans. In 1492, on the Black Sea coast, near the mouth of the Dnieper, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray founded the Kara-Kermen fortress. But in 1526 the fortress passed into the possession of the Ottomans and from that year it became known as Achi-Kale. But the rest of the territory of Edisan still remained with the Crimean rulers, and it was inhabited by the Nogais of the Edisan horde.

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

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

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

The historical centers of the region were the Tatar cities: Balta, a border town on the Kadyma River, Dubassary, a town on the Turla (Dniester) River; Yeni-Dunya - a city on the Black Sea coast with a harbor and a fortress; Vozia is a coastal city and Khadzhibey by the Black Sea, not far from the mouth of the Turla. The inhabitants of the cities of Yedisan, as a rule, were engaged in trade. The main objects of trade were grain and salt.

To be continued…

Prepared by Gulnara Abdulaeva

As a result of the Mongol-Tatar conquests in the 13th century. a huge feudal state arose Golden Horde(ulus of Jochi), founded by Batu Khan.

In 1239, during the Mongol-Tatar expansion to the west, the Crimean peninsula with the peoples living there - the Kipchaks (Polovtsians), Slavs, Armenians, Greeks, etc. - turned out to be occupied by the troops of the Genghisids. 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), Cembalo (Balaklava), Chersonese, etc.) of Italian (Genoese and Venetian) merchants arose massively on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. In the 70s of the 13th century. with the permission of the Great Mongol Khan himself, a large Genoese colony of Kafa (modern Feodosia) was founded. Between the Genoese and the Venetian merchants there was a constant struggle for control and influence over the Italian colonies of the 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 the Crimea were in vassal dependence on the Tatar feudal lords and paid tribute to them, being subjected 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 (the founder of the dynasties of the Crimean and later Kazan khans) seized power in the Crimea and declared himself a khan. It actually did not depend on the Golden Horde, in which, due to the dynastic civil strife between the Genghisids, the process of disintegration had already begun. In historiography, 1443 is considered the year of foundation of the independent Crimean Khanate. The Lower Dnieper region also became part of the Khanate. The largest and most influential Crimean uluses were the uluses of the Kipchak, Argyn, Shirin, Baryn and other families. The main activities of the Crimean feudal lords were horse breeding, cattle breeding and slave trade.

Vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire.

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Turks occupied the Balkan Peninsula and captured the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. 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 the Crimea were under the threat of occupation by the Ottomans.

In 1454 Turkish fleet approached the Crimean peninsula, fired on the Genoese colony of Akkerman and laid siege to Kafa from the sea. The Crimean Khan immediately met with the admiral of the Sultan's fleet; he makes an agreement with the Ottomans and announces joint action against the Italians.

In 1475 the Turkish fleet again laid siege to Kafa, bombarded it and forced the Genoese to surrender the city. After that, the Turks captured the entire coastal strip of Crimea, including part of the Azov coast, declared it the possession of the Turkish Sultan, transferred power to the Turkish Pasha and transferred significant military forces to the newly proclaimed by the Turks on the Crimean coast sanjak (military administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire) with a center in Cafe .

The northern part of the steppe Crimea and the territories in the lower reaches of the Dnieper passed into the possession of the Crimean Khan Mengli Girey (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. 15th 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 hostile relations between the Crimean Khanate and the White Horde, Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III made an alliance with Mengli Giray. The latter in 1480 sent his army to the possessions 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 Grand Duchy of Moscow. As a result of the successful allied actions of Mengli Giray, the Moscow principality was finally freed from Tatar yoke and began to create a centralized state.

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

The capture of the southern coast of Crimea by the Ottoman Empire 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 addition, the Kazan Khanate became the backbone of 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 Khan dynasty, who were the conductors of Turkey's foreign policy conquest plans. In this regard, the subsequent relations of Russia (subsequently Russian Empire) with the Crimean Khanate were openly hostile.

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

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

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

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

In the second half of the 17th century, during Russian-Turkish war 1676–1681 and the Chigirin campaigns of the Turkish Sultan in 1677–1678 against the 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 in 1689, during the reign of Queen Sophia, two unsuccessful campaigns of Russian troops in the 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.

After the accession to the throne of Peter I, Russian troops made a number 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 field of foreign policy was significantly limited - the Crimean Khan was forbidden by agreement to make any raids on the territories controlled by the Russian Empire.

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

Devlet Giray II was succeeded by Khan Kaplan Girey, appointed by the Sultan. However, in view of the serious successes of Russia in the Northern War, the Ottoman Sultan Ahmad III again puts Devlet Giray II on the Crimean throne; arming the Crimean army modern artillery and allows you to start negotiations with the Swedish king about a military alliance against Russia.

Despite the betrayal of the Zaporizhzhya Sich led by Hetman Mazepa, and the latter's request to accept Right-Bank Ukraine into the citizenship of the Crimean Khan, Russian diplomacy worked perfectly: by persuading and bribing the Turkish ambassadors, they managed to persuade the Sultan not to go to war with Russia and refuse to accept the Zaporizhzhya Sich into the Crimean Khanate .

Tension between the Ottoman and Russian empires continued to grow. After the victorious Battle of Poltava in 1709, Peter I demanded that the Sultan extradite the Swedish king who had fled to Turkey. Charles XII, threatening, otherwise, to build a series 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 the Russian troops. In the war against the Russian tsar, on the side of the Turks, the Crimean Khan took part with his 70,000th army. The fortified fortress of Azov and the coast of the Sea of Azov were returned to Turkey. However, already in 1736 the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Minich 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. In the following year, 1737, the Russian army of Field Marshal Lassi crossed the Sivash and recaptured the peninsula. However, the Russian troops failed to gain a foothold in the Crimea this time either.

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

During the next Russo-Turkish war of 1768–1774, in 1771 the Russian army under the command of Prince Dolgorukov again occupied the entire Crimea. Sahib Giray II was appointed Khan instead of Maksud Girey Khan, who had fled to Istanbul. In 1774, the Kyuchuk-Kaynarji 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 formal independence, the Crimean Khanate turned from a vassal of the Turkish sultan into a state association dependent on the Russian empress.

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

In 1797, the 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).

The Crimean Khanate is a state entity that existed from 1441 to 1783.

The Crimean Khanate was formed as a result of the crushing of the Golden Horde. As a state completely independent of anyone, the Crimean Khanate did not last long.

Already in 1478, the great neighbor of the khanate, the Ottoman Empire, made a military campaign on the territory of Crimea. Its result was the establishment of the vassal dependence of the Crimean Khan on the Ottoman Emperor.

Crimean Khanate on the map

The history of the formation of the Crimean Khanate

The Golden Horde in the 15th century was on the verge of collapse and the Crimean Khanate had already settled quite firmly on the territory of the peninsula. In 1420, the khanate had already practically separated from the Golden Horde and became almost an independent state.

After the death of the khan of the Golden Horde in 1420, a struggle for power began in the khanate and its future founder of the dynasty, Haji I Giray, won it. Already in 1427, Giray declared himself the ruler of the khanate. And only in 1441 the people declared him khan, after which Haji Giray sat on the throne.

The Golden Horde was so weakened that it was no longer able to put up troops against the rebellious Crimean Khanate. 1441 is considered the beginning of the existence of a new state, when the full-fledged Crimean Khan began to rule.

Rise of the Crimean Khanate

In 1480, the Tatars captured Kyiv, severely destroyed the city and plundered it, which earned the satisfaction of the Moscow prince Ivan III. Diplomatic and trade relations are established between the Moscow kingdom and the khanate. In the late 70s, the Tatars attacked the Byzantine principality of Theodoro, the last stronghold of the empire. Under their onslaught, the principality was destroyed, and the lands were included in the khanate.

In the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate reached the peak of its power. The khans are actively foreign policy, focused on aggressive wars and numerical predatory raids, mainly on Poland and the Russian kingdom. The main goal of the raids was not just booty, but living people who were turned into slaves. The khans took the slaves to the slave city of Kafu, from where they were sold in most cases to the Ottoman Empire.

soldiers of the Crimean Khanate photo

The extraction of slaves was an important economic activity for any Tatar warrior. In the Crimean Khanate itself, slavery was severely limited, they were released six years later according to custom.

In 1571, the khanate gained military power and, despite the agreement with Muscovy, made a daring campaign, the capital of the state, Moscow, was the reward. The Tatars captured Moscow, after which they robbed and burned it. In addition, the Tatars killed about a hundred thousand inhabitants, took fifty thousand prisoners. For Moscow, this was a serious blow. A year later, the kingdom took revenge, but still annually paid a large tribute to the Tatars, up to accession to the throne. young Peter I.

In the middle of the XVII century, the Tatars help Bogdan Khmelnitsky in the war against the Commonwealth. During campaigns, they capture large booty and prisoners. However, at the decisive moment, the Tatars betray the Cossacks and return home, which caused the defeat of the national liberation war of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Until the end of the century, the Tatars, together with the Ottomans, participated in a series of wars against the Commonwealth (successfully) and the Moscow kingdom (less successfully).

Crimean Khanate and Russia

During Northern war between Moscow and Sweden, the Tatars take the side of Sweden and the Cossacks, who were allies of the Swedish king. During the Battle of Poltava, the Tatars were forbidden to go to war against Moscow, but already in 1711 they set out with a large army to plunder Russian cities.

The young tsar Peter I tried to defeat the army of the Tatars, but they surround the tsar, and Peter almost gets captured. The Muscovite tsar was forced to pay a large ransom and conclude a peace unfavorable for his state with the Tatars. This was the last rise of the Crimean Khanate - in subsequent years, Peter I would prepare a new type of army and create a powerful dynasty that would destroy the Khanate.

Undermining the power of the khanate

In 1735-1738, the Crimean Khan was absent along with the army, and the Russian army took advantage of this situation - the Crimea was completely plundered, and the Khan returned to the ashes. In 1736, the Russian army attacks Bakhchisaray and burns it, and all the inhabitants who do not have time to escape are killed. After the first campaign, famine and disease reigned in the Crimea, and only they became the reasons that Russian army refused to go on another trip.

In the period from 1736 to 1738, the economy of the khanate was almost completely destroyed - a huge part of the population was exterminated, and the rest was in danger of death from cholera. The most important cities for the state also lay in ruins.

Crimean Khanate. captured photos

In 1768, the Crimean Khanate, together with the Ottoman Porte, waged war against the Russian Empire, which at that moment was already ruled by the ambitious Catherine II. During the fighting, the Tatars suffer a crushing defeat, which calls into question the existence of the state in general. However, Catherine, for a number of reasons, did not want to completely eliminate the Khanate, but only demanded that the Ottoman Empire renounce vassalage over the Crimean Khan.

During the war, the territory of the khanate was once again plundered, and the cities were burned. In addition, the southern part of the peninsula came under the possession of the Ottoman Empire, which was no longer an ally of the Khanate.

Rulers

The most famous khans were:

Haji I Gerai - the founder of the Crimean Khanate and the ancestor of the dynasty, managed to create a strong state;
Mengli I Giray - during his reign, the khanate established close relations with the Ottoman Empire, was the grandfather of Suleiman the Magnificent;
Sahib I Gerai - during his reign built the future capital of the state - Bakhchisarai;
Islyam III Giray - participated in the national liberation war of Bogdan Khmelnitsky and the independence of the Zaporozhye liberties against the Commonwealth.

culture

From the very beginning of existence Crimean Tatars were believers in Islam. However, in most of the Nogai tribes, which were also part of the khanate, there were still old pagan traditions, including shamanism. Despite the fact that the Tatars were considered exclusively nomadic people, they still built cities and defensive fortresses.

Crimean Khanate. embroidered belt photo

Although the Tatars liked to live in the middle of an open field, where they were engaged in cattle breeding, many still preferred to live in cities where they were protected by walls. The Tatars were actively engaged in winemaking, smelting iron and making high-quality sabers. Women weaved, embroidered, sewed.

Being deeply religious, the khans built a huge number of mosques. Until the 18th century, more than one and a half thousand mosques were built on the territory of Crimea alone.

Wars

In the Crimean Khanate, war was a way of survival, so absolutely all males were liable for military service: from small to large feudal lords. For a long period of time, the Crimean Khanate did not create regular troops. During the hostilities, the Crimean Khan called to war the entire male population of the Khanate and went to war with a huge militia army.

Every boy had to learn military craft from an early age. The most important point of his training was horse riding, because the Tatars fought on horseback. Crimean Tatars rarely attacked regular armies first, but only raided neighboring territories and only if they were sure that the raid would end successfully.

Poor people willingly sought to go on a campaign, because the booty that they would get during the hostilities went to them themselves, with the exception of a fifth of the loot - it was taken by the khan. The Tatars loved to fight in light armor and weapons. The horse was put on a light saddle or just a skin. They defended themselves either with ordinary clothes, or they wore light armor.

The favorite weapon of the Tatars is a saber. Also, each Tatar warrior had a bow with arrows. Indispensable in the campaign were ropes, with which the Tatars tied the prisoners. Noble Tatar warriors could afford chain mail. In military campaigns, the Tatars did not even take tents with them. Sources say that they slept right under the open sky.

The Tatars could fight only in the open field, where they could use their advantage in cavalry and numerical advantage. If the horde did not have a numerical advantage, they tried to avoid battle. The Tatars did not like to besiege fortresses, because they did not have siege weapons for this.

Accession to Russia

The last Crimean Khan, Shahin Giray, tried to save his state and completely reform it, making the khanate a European-style state. The reforms did not gain popularity among the common people, and the khan was expelled from his own country. Ordinary Tatars began to again raid Russian territories, regardless of the agreements.

At the beginning of the 1780s, the khanate no longer had any financial means for existence, no economy, no army that could, if necessary, protect the few Crimean people. Catherine II in April 1783 issues a decree stating that the Crimean Khanate is liquidated as a state unit and becomes part of the Russian Empire. In 1784, Catherine proclaims herself empress of these lands. And in 1791, the Ottoman Empire officially recognized that the Crimea is a Russian possession.

There is evidence that the ancestors of the Tatars in the 7th century AD reached the shores of Japan and there they taught the local population the art of forging swords from first-class steel. Later, the Japanese improved the technology somewhat and began to forge legendary swords- "katana". It is likely that it was the Tatars who contributed to this process;
The population of the Crimean Khanate was highly educated - almost all Tatars could speak and write fluently in the Tatar language.

Golden Horde. Genoa

In the XIV century, the Horde experienced a crisis caused by Islamization. The Horde lost a significant part of its offensive power, and its forces were directed to the internal squabble, which ultimately destroyed the great power.

After another internecine massacre in the sixties of the XIV century, the Golden Horde was divided into two parts - eastern and western (in Russia this civil strife was called "great more noticeable"). In the western part - in the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimea - the power was seized by the temnik Mamai, who relied on the Polovtsy, who at that time were called "Tatars", Yasses and Kasogs. Mamai was married to the daughter of the Golden Horde Khan Berdibek, and although he was not from the clan of Genghis Khan, he claimed the khan's power. His ally was Genoa, which created colonies along the entire southern coast of the Crimean peninsula. Transit trade and control over communications turned Mamai into the richest nobleman, who could maintain a huge army and put his puppets on the khan's throne.

The Republic of Genoa acquired great importance in this period in the Crimea. Genoa, a commercial port city on the coast of the Ligurian Sea in Northern Italy, beginning of XII century has become a major maritime power. Having defeated its rival Venice, Genoa became the monopoly owner of the sea trade routes that ran along the Crimea. Byzantium in the second half of the XII century granted Genoa exclusive rights in the Black Sea. Venice lost its possessions in the Crimea. In the middle of the 13th century, the Horde gave the small coastal village of Feodosia into the possession of the Genoese. The Genoese named the city Kafa and turned it into their main stronghold in the Crimea. Then the Genoese concluded an agreement with Constantinople, which previously owned the southern part of the Crimea. The Byzantines at that time needed help and were constantly losing Genoa and Venice, so the Genoese received the district with Kafa in possession, and the right of monopoly trade in the Black Sea region was confirmed.

At the end of the 13th century, Venice and Genoa again entered the war for spheres of influence. The Venetian Republic was defeated. In 1299, the Italian city-states signed the "perpetual peace". Genoa remained the sole mistress of the trade communications of the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimea. The Horde tried several times to survive the impudent "guests", but they were already well fortified and resisted. As a result, the Horde had to come to terms with the presence of Genoese lands in the Crimea. The Venetians in the middle of the XIV century were able to penetrate the Crimea, but did not achieve much influence. During the "hush" in the Horde, the Genoese expanded their possessions in the Crimea. They captured Balaklava and Sudak. In the future, the entire Crimean coast from Kerch to Balaklava Bay near Sevastopol turned out to be in the hands of enterprising Italians. On the southern coast of the peninsula, the Genoese also founded new fortified points, including Vosporo, based on the site of the former Korchev. In 1380, the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh recognized all the territorial seizures of the Genoese.

Genoa received a large profit from intermediary trade. Many overland caravan routes from Europe, Russian principalities, the Urals, Central Asia, Persia, India and China passed through the Crimean peninsula. Sea routes connected Crimea with Byzantium, Italy, and the Middle East region. The Genoese bought and resold the captured people, all the goods stolen by the nomads, various fabrics, jewelry, furs, leather, honey, wax, salt, grain, fish, caviar, olive oil, wine, etc.

From time to time, the Horde captured and destroyed the strongholds of the Genoese. In 1299, Nogai's troops ravaged Kafa, Sudak, Kerch and Chersonese. Khan Tokhta smashed the Italian possessions. In 1395, the Iron Lame defeated Kafa and Tana (modern Azov). In 1399, the commander-in-chief of its troops, Emir Yedigey, became the ruler of the Golden Horde, in the same year he made a campaign against the Crimea, during which he defeated and burned many of its cities. Chersonesos never recovered after this pogrom and ceased to exist after a few years. However, the huge profits from intermediary trade allowed the Genoese to rebuild their strongholds again and again. Kafa at the end of the XIV century was a large city and numbered about 70 thousand people.

The Genoese supported Mamai in the campaign against Russia, putting up hired infantry. However, in the Battle of Kulikovo, Mamai's army suffered a crushing defeat. After that, Mamai was defeated by the troops of Tokhtamysh. He fled to Kafu to join his allies. However, they betrayed him. Mom was killed.

At the beginning of the 15th century, there was a struggle between Tokhtamysh and Edigei. After the death of Tokhtamysh, the struggle was continued by his son Jalal ad-Din. Crimea has become the scene of fierce battles more than once. Various applicants for the throne of the Horde considered the Crimea, due to its isolated position, the most reliable refuge in case of defeat. They willingly distributed the lands on the peninsula to their supporters and associates. The remnants of the defeated troops, detachments of various khans, contenders for the throne, military leaders flocked here. Therefore, the Turkic element gradually occupied a dominant position in the Crimea and mastered not only the steppe part of the peninsula, but also penetrated further to the mountainous coast.

Genoese fortress Kafa

Crimean Khanate

In the first half of the 15th century, the Golden Horde ceased to exist as a single power. Several state formations with their dynasties. The biggest fragment was the Great Horde, which occupied the steppes between the Volga and the Dnieper. In the interfluve of the Irtysh and Tobol formed Siberian Khanate. On the middle Volga, the Kazan kingdom arose, occupying the lands of the former Volga Bulgaria. The Nogai, who roamed along the shores of the Azov and Black Seas, fell away from the Great Horde. The Crimean ulus also became independent.

The ancestor of the Crimean dynasty was Hadji I Girey (Gerai). Hadji Giray was from the clan of Genghis and lived in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. In 1428, Hadji Giray, with the support of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt, captured the Crimean ulus. It was beneficial for Lithuania to support part of the Horde elite, sowing confusion in the Horde and taking over its regions in the former South Russia. In addition, Crimea had an important economic importance. However, Ulu-Mohammed's troops drove him out. In 1431, at the head of a new army gathered in the Principality of Lithuania, Hadji Giray undertook a new campaign in the Crimea and occupied the city of Solkhat (Kyrym, Old Crimea).

In 1433, the Khan made an alliance with the Principality of Theodoro against the Genoese. The Gothic prince Alexei captured the Genoese fortress Cembalo (Balaklava). Genoa struck back. The Genoese recaptured Cembalo, then stormed and destroyed the Feodorian fortress of Kalamita (Inkerman), which guarded the only port of the Christian principality. The Genoese continued their offensive, but the Tatars defeated them near Solkhat. Hadji Giray laid siege to Kafa. The Genoese recognized him as the Crimean Khan and paid tribute.

In 1434, the Khan of the Golden Horde, Ulu-Muhammed, again defeated Haji Giray, who fled to Lithuania. Meanwhile, the strife of the khans continued in the Black Sea steppes. Tatar troops devastated the peninsula several times. Around 1440, the Crimean Tatar nobility, led by the noble clans Shirin and Baryn, asked the Grand Duke Casimir to let Hadji Giray go to the Crimea. Hadji Giray was put on the throne by the Lithuanian marshal Radziwill. From 1441 Hadji Giray ruled in the Crimea. After several years of struggle with the Khan of the Great Horde, Seid-Ahmed, the Crimean Khanate finally became independent. Hadji Giray entered into an alliance with Theodoro, directed against the Genoese Kafa, helped to recapture Kalamita. In addition, the Crimean Khanate was in alliance with Lithuania in opposition to the Great Horde. Haji Giray inflicted a series of heavy defeats on the khans of the Great Horde Seid-Ahmed and Mahmud, a large number of soldiers fled to him, which seriously increased the military power of the new khanate. The actions of Hadji Giray contributed to the final collapse of the Horde.

The capital of the khanate was the city of Crimea-Solkhat. Not far from Chufut-Kale, on the banks of the Churuksu River, Hadji Giray founded the "Palace in the Gardens" - the city of Bakhchisaray, which became the new capital of the Khanate under his son Mengli Giray. The majority of the population of the Khanate were Crimean Tatars. The first mention of this ethnonym - "Crimean Tatars" - was noted at the beginning of the 16th century in the works of S. Herberstein and M. Bronevsky. Prior to this, the nomadic population of the Crimea was called "Tatars". The Crimean Tatars were formed as a nationality in the Crimea in the XV-XVII centuries, that is, they are a very young people.

The basis of the "Crimean Tatars" were assimilated and from ancient times living here the descendants of the Aryans - Cimmerians, Taurians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Goths, Slavs, as well as fragments of the Khazar, Pecheneg, Polovtsian tribes who fled to the peninsula. The waves of migration of the Turks from Asia Minor also played their role. Horde-"Tatars" united everyone politically, and Islam - ideologically. As a result, Turkization and Islamization led to the emergence of the Crimean Tatar people.

Recent genetic studies confirm this. On the basis of Y-chromosome inheritance, most Crimean Tatars belong to the haplogroup R1a1 (Aryan haplogroup formed in Southern Russia). Then, a significant proportion among the Crimean Tatars are carriers of haplogroups J1 (Middle Eastern group characteristic of Jews) and G (West Caucasian). The haplogroup J2 (Middle Eastern group) also has a significant percentage, haplogroup C, characteristic of Central Asia, is inferior to it. Thus, the ethnographic basis of the Crimean Tatars is Aryan. However, there is a large percentage of "Khazars", "Circassians" and Turks. Turkization and Islamization over the course of several centuries turned everyone into "Crimean Tatars". This should not be surprising. All processes are controlled. Literally before our eyes, a separate ethnic group - "Ukrainians" - is successfully created from a part of the Russian people. And also design "Pomors", "Cossacks" and "Siberians".

In the southern part of the Crimea, assimilation was slower. Christians dominated the countryside here. Therefore, Greeks, Armenians, Goths, Italians, Slavs, people from the Caucasus, etc. lived there for quite a long time. However, by the time the Crimean peninsula was annexed to the Russian Empire, almost everyone was assimilated, only the communities of Greeks and Armenians survived, but they were also doomed, if only not entering the composition of Russia. So the last Goths disappeared in the 18th century.

On the territory of the Crimean Khanate, several forms of land distribution arose: khan land ownership, the possessions of the nobility (beyliks) and Murzin lands, lands Ottoman Sultan, waqf lands belonging to the clergy and communal lands. The Crimean nobility - the families of Shirin, Baryn, Argyn, Sejeut, Mangit and others - owned rather large land holdings. Their owners, the beks, were rich and had the opportunity to maintain large detachments. They stood at the head of the leading clans that united the tribes. The Beks owned the land, which ensured their power over the pastoralists, the so-called. "black people", they had the right to judge, set the size of taxes and corvee. The military nobles also depended on the beks. It was the beks who determined the policy of the khanate, often deciding the fate of the Crimean khans. In addition, the Crimean elite included oglans - Chingizid princes, military nobles (murzas), Muslim clergy (mullahs) and ulema theologians.

Officially, all power belonged to the khan and the khan's council (sofa), which included the khan himself, the kalga-sultan - the second most important person in the khanate (the heir, he was appointed by the khan from among his brothers, sons or nephews), the eldest wife or mother of the khan, the mufti - head of the Muslim clergy, chief beks and oglans. The third most important person after the Khan and Kalga in the hierarchy of the Crimean Khanate, the second heir to the throne, was called Nurradin Sultan (Nureddin).

The territory of the Khanate during its heyday included not only the Crimean peninsula, but also the Azov and northern Black Sea steppes, up to the Danube and the North Caucasus. The main centers of the Crimean trade were Perekop, Kafa and Gyozlev. Skins, furs, fabrics, iron, weapons, grain and other food were brought to the Crimea. In Crimea, morocco (treated goat skin), morocco shoes, smushki (skins taken from newborn lambs) were produced. Silk, wine brought from other countries, and salt were also brought from the Crimea. A special export item was camels, which were bought in Poland and Russia. But historically Crimea became famous as largest center slave trade. He inherited the sad glory of Khazaria.

It should be noted that the Genoese merchants and descendants of the Khazars at first played a leading role in the development of the slave trade on the peninsula. Crimean ports for many centuries turned into the leading suppliers of living goods - Russian, Polish, Circassian (Caucasian), Tatar (there were constant strife in the steppe) girls and children. Men were sold much less: healthy men resisted to the last, cost less, and were a source of rebellion and all sorts of disobedience. Women and children were much easier to "train". Living goods basically did not stay in the Crimea, but were exported to the Ottoman Empire, Southern Europe, Persia and Africa.

It was beneficial for Constantinople to encourage the aggression of the Crimean Khanate against the Russian state and Poland. The blows of the Crimean Tatars mainly fell on the southern and western Russian lands that were part of the Commonwealth, although it happened that the invaders broke through the Polish lands proper. The Crimean Khanate was supposed to help the Brilliant Porte move further east during its heyday. In addition, the slave trade brought great profits to the Ottoman merchants. Later, when the Ottoman Empire lost most of its offensive potential, the Crimean Khanate made it possible to maintain control over the Northern Black Sea region. On the other hand, military garrisons, shock detachments of the Janissaries, Ottoman artillery strengthened the military power of the Crimean Khanate, which allowed it to hold back the pressure of the Russian state for a long time.

Agricultural labor in the Crimea was carried out mainly by the dependent population, which was subjected to assimilation, Islamization and gradually turned into "Tatars". The Crimean Tatars themselves preferred the occupation of "noble people" - robbery raids in order to capture the full, which was a very profitable business. It is clear that almost all the profits went into the pockets of the nobility, the "black people" could barely make ends meet. In the steppe regions of the Crimea, animal husbandry was developed, primarily the breeding of sheep and horses, but poor shepherds were engaged in this. The basis of the economy of the khanate for a long period of time was the trade in live goods. From the end of the 15th century, Crimean detachments began to make regular raids and large-scale campaigns against their neighbors - the Caucasus, Russian state, lands subject to Poland. People were also driven away during conflicts with other steppe dwellers.

The envoy of the King of Poland, Martin Bronevsky, who lived in the Crimea for several months in 1578, noted: “This predatory and hungry people do not value any oaths, alliances, or friendship, but have in mind only their own benefits and live by robberies and constant treacherous war” .

The Crimean Khanate did not have a regular army. During large campaigns and raids, the Crimean khans and murzas recruited volunteers, people dependent on them. From 20 to 100 thousand horsemen could participate in the campaign. Almost the entire free Tatar population of the peninsula could participate in a major campaign. The raid involved from several hundred to several thousand soldiers. They did not take the convoy with them, they ate cakes made from barley or millet flour and horse meat during the raids, fed on the loot. Artillery was rarely taken, only in very large campaigns when the Ottomans participated. They moved quickly, replacing tired horses with fresh ones. They were armed with sabers, knives, bows, and later firearms appeared. Armor was mostly only among the nobility.

The raids were usually organized in the summer, when the bulk of the people (peasants) participated in field work and could not quickly hide in cities or forests. Reconnaissance was sent ahead, if the path was clear, the main forces of the horde or the raiding detachment came out. Usually the horde did not go on a campaign to conduct hostilities. If the enemy found out about the enemy and managed to bring significant forces to the border, the Tatars usually did not accept the battle and left, or tried to outwit the enemy, bypass him, break through to the rear, quickly rob the villages, capture prisoners and escape from a retaliatory strike. Lightly armed horsemen usually successfully evaded the blows of heavy squads and regiments.

Having broken into the Russian lands, the riders arranged a driven hunt (raid). Cities and fortresses bypassed. Villages were taken on the move or set on fire, and then those who resisted were cut down, robbed and taken captive. Adult captives and young people were driven like cattle, placed in rows of several people, their hands were tied back with rawhide belts, wooden poles were threaded through these belts, and ropes were thrown around their necks. Then, holding the ends of the ropes, they surrounded all the unfortunate horsemen with a chain and drove them across the steppe, whipping them with whips. Such a painful path "weeded out" the weak, the sick. They were killed. The most valuable "goods" (children, young girls) were carried. Having reached relatively safe lands, where they no longer waited for the chase, they sorted and divided the "goods". The sick, the elderly were immediately killed or given to the youth - for "training" predatory skills.

He was in the Polish-Tatar army during the campaign of King Jan Casimir to the Left-Bank Ukraine in 1663-1664. Duke Antoine de Gramont left a description of this process. The robbers killed all the old men who were not capable of hard work, healthy men were left for the Turkish galleys (they used slaves as rowers). Young boys were left for "pleasures", girls and women - for violence and sale. The section of the prisoners was held by lot.

The English envoy to the Russian state, D. Fletcher, wrote: “The main booty that the Tatars seek in all their wars is a large number of prisoners, especially boys and girls, whom they sell to the Turks and other neighbors.” To transport children, the Crimean Tatars took large baskets, weakened or fell ill on the road, captives were mercilessly killed so as not to linger.

On the peninsula, it was full sold in slave markets. There were large markets in Cafe, Karasubazar, Bakhchisaray and Gyozlev. Merchants-dealers - Turks, Jews, Arabs, Greeks, etc., bought people at the lowest price. Some of the people were left in the Crimea. Men were used in hard and dirty work: extracting salt, digging wells, collecting manure, etc. Women became servants, including sex slaves. Most of the full was transported to other countries and regions - to Porto, its numerous provinces - from the Balkans and Asia Minor to North Africa, Persia. Slavic slaves fell into Central Asia, India. During transportation by sea with the "goods" they did not stand on ceremony, more or less normal conditions were created only for the most precious "goods". Big number slaves and an "inexhaustible" source of "goods", as in the trade of blacks from Africa, paid off all costs. Therefore, the death rate was terrible.

After being transported, the men were sent to the galleys, where meager food, illness, exhausting labor and beatings quickly killed them. Some were sent to agricultural and other hard work. Some were turned into eunuchs, servants. Girls and children were bought up as servants and for carnal pleasures. A small number of beauties had a chance to become a legal wife. So, until now, many have heard the name of Roksolana. Anastasia-Roksolana became the concubine and then the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the mother of Sultan Selim II. She had a great influence on her husband's policy. However, this was a rare exception to the rule. There were so many Slavic slave women in the Ottoman Empire that many Turks became their children and grandchildren, including prominent military and statesmen.