
the crimean instruments of peace and their typology 293
on the battleeld and its contents stemmed from bilateral negotiations,
whose results were mutually accepted by the plenipotentiaries of the
two sides (although in fact the nal instruments of the two sides con-
tained substantial dierences as well; cf. Part I). e mutual agreement
is recalled in the khan’s instrument, whose contents are referred to as
“the conditions agreed upon between [us]” (mabeyinde mün‘aqıd olan
şurut).
185
By the way, the plural term şurut derives from the singular
term şart, the component of the term şartname, though in the given
context it is used in its primary meaning and refers to a “condition”
(or “stipulation”) rather than “oath.” Notwithstanding all its peculari-
ties, we will nevertheless regard Islam III Giray’s instrument from
1649 as an ‘ahdname.
e instrument of Mehmed IV Giray, sent to John Casimir in
1654, is again referred to as ‘ahdname, while the terms şartname and
yarlıq are missing, just like in Islam III Giray’s instrument from 1646.
Interestingly, in the Crimean instrument from 1654 also the royal
instrument of peace, brought to the khan by a Polish envoy, Mariusz
Jaskólski, is referred to as ‘ahdname.
186
By referring to the royal instru-
ment with the same term as to the khan’s one, the Crimean chancery
apparently departed from the concept of unequal relations, embodied
by the Genghisid term yarlıq. is development ran counter to the
development in the Ottoman chancery, witnessed in the same peri-
od.
187
Hence, one may conclude that the process of unilateralization,
typical for the seventeenth-century Ottoman chancery, ran in parallel
with the bilateralization in the Crimean chancery, which adopted a
more realistic and less megalomaniac attitude towards its Christian
neighbors.
185
See Document 60.
186
See Document 64. For the text of the royal instrument, brought to the Crimea
by Jaskólski and extant today in a copy; see Document 61.
187
In the 16th century, the Ottoman agreements with Poland-Lithuania used to
be conrmed with royal instruments, to which the Ottoman chancery referred to as
‘ahdnames, using the very same term that applied to the instruments issued by the
sultans. On the contrary, in the 17th century the Porte no longer expected that the
peace “granted” to indels by the omnipotent padishah be conrmed by indel rulers;
if the former insisted on sending their instruments to Istanbul, they were no lon-
ger referred to as ‘ahdnames. Simultaneously, Ottoman instruments of peace sent to
Warsaw, Venice, and other European capitals assumed the form of nişans—diplomas
granted unilaterally by the sultan. On the term nişanization, coined by Hans eunis-
sen in reference to the development in Ottoman-Venetian relations, and adopted in
the context of Ottoman-Polish relations, see Kołodziejczyk, Ottoman-Polish Diplo-
matic Relations, pp. 75–78.