The Girey dynasty ruled the Crimean Khanate for almost 350 years. She showed the world many famous personalities, some of whom were outstanding statesmen, while others found their calling in the service of science and culture. The latter type included the famous art critic and ethnographer Sultan Khan-Girey. The biography of this person, as well as the history of the Giree dynasty as a whole, will be the subject of our discussion.
Khan Giray Biography
Sultan Khan-Giray was born in 1808 in the territory of modern Adygea. He was the third son of the Crimean Tatar aristocrat, descended from the Khan's clan - Mehmed Khan-Girey. In addition, Circassian blood flowed in the veins of the Sultan. The best qualities of these two peoples are intertwined in it.
After reaching the age of 29, he participated in a number of wars of the Russian Empire, while having an officer rank and commanding a separate unit. But he did not take part in the Caucasian War, which was at the time tearing apart his homeland, although, of course, this tragic conflict echoed in his heart.
Khan Giray wrote a number of works on ethnography, folklore and art studies of the Circassian people, which received world fame. Among them are Notes on Circassia and Circassian Traditions. He is also the author of a number of works of art. But most of his creations were published only after death. Khan Giray is also known as the compiler of the Adyghe alphabet.
Since 1841, he carried out active agitation among the highlanders (on behalf of the Russian government) in order to reconcile them. However, his attempts ended in vain. Khan-Giray died at the age of 34, in 1842, in his small homeland.
This outstanding man left behind his son - Sultan Murat-Girey, born in the year of the death of his father. But the contribution of the Sultan of Khan Giray to the development of the Adyghe culture and literature is priceless.
According to one version, it is in honor of him that the Crimean Tatars want to rename Khan-Girey Kherson.
Let's find out who the ancestors of such an outstanding personality were.
Dynasty foundation
The founder of the dynasty of the rulers of Crimea was Hadji Giray. He came from the genus Tukatimurids - one of the branches of the descendants of Genghis Khan. According to another version, the roots of the Giree dynasty came from the Mongol clan Kireev, and they were assigned to the Genghisides later to justify their right to power.
Hadji Giray was born about 1397 in the territory of modern Belarus, at that time belonging to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (ON).
At that time, the Golden Horde was going through hard times, actually breaking up into several independent states. The power in the Crimea with the support of the Lithuanian prince managed to capture Haji Gireyeya in 1441. Thus, he became the founder of the dynasty, which ruled in Crimea for almost 350 years.
At the source of power
Mengli Giray is a khan who laid the foundation of the power of the Crimean Khanate. He was the son of Hadji Giray, after whose death (in 1466) a power struggle broke out between children.
Initially, the eldest son of Hadji Giray - Nur-Devlet became the khan. But Mengli-Giray decided to challenge this right. Several times during this internecine struggle, the ruler of the Crimean Khanate changed. Moreover, if Nur-Devlet in his claims relied on the forces of the Golden Horde and the Ottoman Empire, then Mengli relied on the local Crimean nobility. Later, another brother, Ayder, joined the fight. In 1477, the throne succeeded in capturing Janibek, who did not belong to the Giree dynasty at all.
Finally, in 1478, Mengli-Giray was able to finally defeat his rivals and establish himself in power. It was he who laid the foundations of the power of the Crimean Khanate. True, in the struggle with other applicants, he had to recognize the vassal dependence of his state on the Ottoman Empire and give the south of Crimea, which his Genoese allies colonized, to the direct control of the Turks.
The Crimean Khan Mengli-Giray entered into an alliance with the Moscow state against the Big Horde (the heiress of the Golden Horde) and Lithuania. In 1482, his troops ravaged Kiev, which at that time belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Under him, the Crimean Tatars made massive predatory raids on the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the observance of the agreement with Moscow. In 1502, Mengli Giray finally destroyed the Great Horde.
Mengli Giray died in 1515.
Further Strengthening the Khanate
Mehmed Giray, the khan who ruled after the death of Mengli Giray and was his son, strengthened the state even more. Unlike his father, he was preparing to become a ruler from his youth, having received the title - kalga, which corresponded to the title of crown prince. Mehmed Giray led many campaigns and raids organized by Mengli Giray.
By the time of his accession to the throne, he already held in his hands all the threads of government, so the attempts of his brothers to raise a rebellion were doomed to failure.
In 1519, the Crimean Khanate significantly increased, as part of the Nogai Horde moved to its territory. This was due to the fact that the Nogais were defeated by the Kazakhs, and thus had to seek refuge from Mehmed Giray.
Under Mehmed there was a change in the foreign policy of the Crimean Khanate. After the Great Horde was defeated by his father, the need for an alliance with the Principality of Moscow disappeared, so Mehmed-Girey Khan concluded an alliance with Lithuania against Russia. It was with him in 1521 that the first major campaign of the Crimean Tatars against the Moscow Principality was organized.
Mehmed-Girey managed to set his brother, Sahib-Girey, on the throne of the Kazan Khanate, thereby extending his influence to the Middle Volga. In 1522, he captures the Astrakhan Khanate. Thus, Mehmed Giray actually managed to subjugate a significant part of the former Golden Horde.
But, while in Astrakhan, the khan was so intoxicated with his power that he dismissed the army than the ill-wishers who organized a conspiracy against Mehmed Giray and killed him in 1523 took advantage.
Pinnacle of power
In the period from 1523 to 1551, brothers and sons of Mehmed Giray alternately ruled. This time was full of intense struggle within the Crimean Khanate. But in 1551 Devlet Giray came to power - the son of Mubarek, who, in turn, was the offspring of Mengli Giray. It was during his reign that the Crimean Khanate reached the peak of power.
Devlet Giray - Crimean Khan, who is particularly famous for his raids on the Russian state. His campaign in 1571 culminated in even the burning of Moscow.
Devlet Giray was in power for 26 years and died in 1577.
Weakening of the Khanate
If the son of Devlet-Giray Mehmed II still managed to maintain the prestige of the Crimean Khanate, then with his successors the importance of the Tatar state in the international arena fell significantly. Mehmed II himself was overthrown in 1584 by the Turkish Sultan, and instead of him, brother Islam-Girey was imprisoned. The following Crimean khans were not very remarkable rulers, and in the state itself the unrest became quite common.
In 1648, Islyam-Girey III tried to enter the arena of big politics, having entered into an alliance with the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks in the liberation war against the Commonwealth. But this alliance soon collapsed, and the hetman turned into citizenship of the Russian Tsar.
The last ruler
The last ruler of the Crimean Khanate was Khan Shagin-Girey. Even during the reign of his predecessor Devlet-Girey IV, in 1774, the Crimean Khanate gained independence from the Ottoman Empire and recognized the protectorate of Russia. This was one of the conditions of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiysky world, which completed the next Russian-Turkish war.
The Crimean Khan Shagin-Girey came to power in 1777 as a protege of Russia. He was enthroned instead of the pro-Turkish Devlet-Girey IV. However, even supported by Russian weapons, he sat weakly on the throne. This is evidenced by the fact that in 1782 he was removed from the throne by his brother Bahadir-Girey, who came to power in the wake of a popular uprising. With the help of Russian troops, Shagin-Girey managed to regain the throne, but his subsequent rule became a fiction, since he no longer had real power.
In 1783, this fiction was eliminated. Shagin-Girey signed the abdication, and the Crimean Khanate was annexed to the Russian Empire. So ended the period of the reign of Girey in the Crimea. Only the coins of Khan Girey, whose image can be seen above, can now serve as evidence of the reign of Shagin.
After renunciation, Shagin-Giray first lived in Russia, but then moved to Turkey, where in 1787 he was executed by order of the Sultan.
Kettlebell after losing power
Sultan Khan-Giray is not the only representative of the clan who became widely known after the dynasty lost power over Crimea. His brothers were famous - Sultan Adil-Girey and Sultan Sagat-Girey, who became famous in the military field for the benefit of the Russian Empire.
The cousin of Khan Giray, Sultan Davlet-Giray, became the founder of the Adyghe theater. The brother of the latter, Sutan Crimea-Girey, was the chairman of the committee of the equestrian division. Both were killed in 1918 by the Bolsheviks.
Currently, the title of Crimean Khan is nominally claimed by Jezzar Pamir-Giray, who lives in London.
The importance of the Gireev clan in world history
Rod Gireyev left a noticeable mark in the history of Crimea, and indeed of world history as a whole. The existence of the Crimean Khanate, a state that at one time played one of the leading roles in Eastern Europe, is almost inextricably linked with the name of this dynasty.
Gireev also remembers the current generation of Crimean Tatars, associating this genus with glorious times in the history of the people. No wonder they come from the initiative to rename Khan Giray Kherson.