Kolodziejczyk Dariusz. The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania (ENG)

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354 part two—chapter three

müsliminniŋ uluġ padişahı ‘azametli ve rif ‘atlı ve şevketli

uluġ han-i a‘zam ve haqan-i mu‘azzam Canibek Gėrey Han

edame`llahu ta‘ala eyyame ‘ömrihi ve devletihi ila yevmi`l-

mizan hazretlerinden

{“From his excellency, the great padishah of the Great Horde

and great country [yurt], the Kipchak Steppe, the Crimean

throne, innumerable Tatars and countless Nogays, Tats and

Tavgaches, mountain Circassians,

322

and all the faithful and

pious ones [i.e., Muslims], the majestic, eminent, mighty and

exalted khan, and the esteemed khakan, Djanibek Giray Khan

(may God—may He be exalted!—prolong the days of his [i.e.,

my] life and reign until the Day of Judgment!) [. . .]”}

1635 Wielkiej Ordy, wielkich narodów, stolice krymskiej, pól kyp-

czackich, niezliczonych Tatarów, niezmiernych Nachayców i

między górami będących Czerkiesów, i bez osiedla żyjących

Tatów, prawej i lewej strony <i> stu, dziesięci, tysięcy,

tumanów wielki car i wielki krymski chan, wywyższony,

ogromny, ozdobny, najjaśniejszy, wielmożny, miłosierdzie

nad ludem pospolitym trzymający, Inaiet Giray chan (którego

wielmożności niech Pan Bóg do dni wolej swojej szczęśliwie

dopomaga!)

{“e great tsar of the Great Horde and great nations, the

Crimean throne, the Kipchak Steppe, innumerable Tatars,

countless Nogays, mountain Circassians,

323

unsettled Tats,

324

and the hundreds, tens, thousands, and tens of thousands

[tümens] of the right and the le side, the great Crimean

khan, the elevated, great, decorous, illustrious, magnicent,

extending his grace unto the common people, Inayet Giray

Khan (may God assist his majesty with prosperity until the

day of His will [i.e., the khan’s death]!)”}

322

Lit. “Circassians [living] among mountains.”

323

Lit. “Circassians dwelling among mountains,” a literal translation of the Turkish

expression taġ ara Çerkes.

324

On the Tats, see n. 318 above. e description “unsettled” (Pol. bez osiedla

żyjących) apparently results from a misunderstanding, as the Tats were not nomads.

Since in the khan’s intitulatio the Tats were typically paired with the Tavgaches and

the latter term was unknown to Otwinowski (cf. n. 318), the Crown translator perhaps

mistook Tavgaç for Tav-göç, “wandering in the mountains,” and erroneously applied

this term to the Tats (“wandering” > “leading unsettled life” > “unsettled”).

the crimean instruments 355

1637 My, wielkich państw i Wielkiej Ordy, i stolice krym-

skiej, wielkich [pól] <gór> kipczackich i cerkieskich [gór]

<pól>, i niezliczonych wojsk tatarskich i nachayskich

na prawej i lewej stronie wielki car i chan Bahadyr

Gierey chan, syn Selamet Gierey chanów, syna Dewlet

Gierejowego

(“We, the great tsar and khan of the great states and

Great Horde, the Crimean throne, the Kipchak Steppe

and the Circassian mountains, and the innumerable

Tatar and Nogay troops of the right and the le side,

Bahadır Giray Khan, son of Selamet Giray Khan, son

of Devlet Giray”)

1637 (qalga) My, Wielkiej Hordy i wielkich państw krymskich, wiel-

kich gór i szerokich pól tackich i nachayskich, cerkies-

kich, po lewej i prawej stronie wielkich wojsk wiary

musułmańskiej wielki carowicz i kałga krymski, Islam

Gieray sołtan

(“We, the great prince [carowicz] of the Great Horde

and the great Crimean domains, the great mountains

and wide elds [i.e., steppes] of the Tats, Nogays, and

Circassians, the great Muslim troops arranged into the

le and the right side, the Crimean qalga, Islam Giray

Sultan”)

1640

325

[1] Uluġ orda uluġ yurtnıŋ taht-i Qırımnıŋ uluġ han

‘azimü`ş-şanı Bahadır Gėrey Han hazretlerindin

(“From his [i.e., my] excellency, the great and most glo-

rious khan of the Great Horde, the great country [yurt],

and the Crimean throne, Bahadır Giray Khan”)

[2] Uluġ orda uluġ yurtnıŋ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıŋ ve taht-i

Qırımnıŋ ve sansız köb çerivniŋ ve saġışsız Noġaynıŋ ve

Tat bile Tavgaçnıŋ ve tav ara Çerkeçniŋ ve ong qolnıŋ

ve sol qolnıŋ uluġ han ‘ali-şanı Bahadır Gėrey Han haz-

retlerindin

(“From his excellency, the great illustrious khan of

the Great Horde and great country [yurt], the Kip-

chak Steppe, the Crimean throne, innumerable troops

325

Strangely, the fragment referring to the sender and the addressee is repeated so

this document in fact contains two intitulatios and two inscriptios.

356 part two—chapter three

and countless Nogays, Tats and Tavgaches, moun-

tain Circassians, the [troops of the] right wing and

the le wing, Bahadır Giray Khan”)

1640 (qalga) Uluġ ordanıŋ ve uluġ yurtnıŋ ve taht-i Qırımnıŋ

ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıŋ ve sansız köb Tatarnıŋ ve

saġışsız köb Noġaynıŋ ve Tat bile Tavgaçnıŋ ve

taġ ara Çerkeçnıŋ ve oŋ qolnıŋ ve barça ümmet-i

Muhammedniŋ ve yüz on miŋ tümenniŋ uluġ

padişahı ve hem uluġ qalġa sultanı bolġan

halefü`s-selatini`l-‘uzam şerefü`l-havaqini`l-kiram

sa‘adetlü ve şeca‘atlu mėn qaġılġay İslam Gėrey

Sultan edame`llahu ta‘ala ömrehü ve devletehü ve

nasara a‘vanahu ve ansarahu hazretlerimizden

(“From our excellency, me, the prosperous and

brave qalga Islam Giray Sultan (may God—may

He be exalted!—prolong his [i.e., my] life and

reign, and may He grant victory to his [i.e., my]

allies and auxiliaries!), the successor of great sul-

tans and the glory of municent khakans, who

am the great padishah and also the great qalga

of the Great Horde and great country [yurt], the

Crimean throne, the Kipchak Steppe, innumer-

able Tatars and countless Nogays, Tats and Tav-

gaches, mountain Circassians, the [troops of the]

right wing,

326

the whole community of Muham-

mad [i.e., the Muslims], [commanding over]

hundreds, tens, thousands, and tens of thousands

[tümens]”)

1640 (nureddin)

327

[1] Uluġ yurtnıŋ ve taht-i Qırımnıŋ uluġ nured-

din Qırım Gėrey Sultan dame  hıfzı Rabbina

`l-müste‘an hazretlerimizdin

{“From our excellency, the great nureddin of

the great country [yurt] and the Crimean throne,

326

ve oŋ qolnıŋ; in the edition of Vel’jaminov-Zernov and Faizxanov this fragment

is mistakenly “corrected” by the addition of a redundant phrase ve sol qolnıŋ (“and

of the le wing”); cf. Materialy dlja istorii Krymskago xanstva, p. 260. While the khan

was ocially titled the commander of the troops “of the right wing and the le wing,”

the qalga commanded over the right wing only; see also n. 438 in Part I.

327

Like the khan’s document from the same year, this instrument contains two

intitulatios and two inscriptios; cf. n. 325 above.

the crimean instruments 357

Qırım Giray Sultan (may he last under protection of our Lord,

whose aid is implored!)”}

[2] Uluġ orda ve uluġ yurtnıŋ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıŋ ve taht-i

Qırımnıŋ ve sansız köb Tatarniŋ ve saġışsız köb Noġaynıŋ ve

Tat bile Tavgaçnıŋ ve taġ ara <Tavgaçnıŋ ve>

328

Çerkeçniŋ

oŋ qolnıŋ ve sol qolnıŋ uluġ nureddin Qırım Gėrey Sultan

hazretlerindin

(“From his excellency, the great nureddin of the Great Horde

and great country [yurt], the Kipchak Steppe, the Crimean

throne, innumerable Tatars and countless Nogays, Tats and

Tavgaches, mountain Circassians, the [troops of the] right

wing and the le wing, Qırım Giray Sultan”)

1646 Uluġ yurtnıŋ ve taht-i Qırımnıŋ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıŋ ve sansız

köp Tatarnıŋ ve saġışsız Noġaynıŋ ve taġ-ara Çerkesniŋ ve Tat

bile Tavgaçnıŋ uluġ padişahı bolġan ‘ali-hazret ma‘ali-rütbet

Hurşid-tal‘at ‘Utarid-fıtnat İslam Gėrey Han edame`llahu

eyyame devletihi mü’ebbedeten ila yevmi`l-mizan hazretlerindin

(“From his excellency of exalted dignity and great rank, of

sunny appearance and mercurial intelligence [i.e., clever], Islam

Giray Khan (may God eternally prolong the days of his reign

until the Day of Judgment!), being the great padishah of the

great country [yurt], the Crimean throne, the Kipchak Steppe,

innumerable Tatars and countless Nogays, mountain Circas-

sians, and Tats and Tavgaches”)

1649 Tengri tebareke ve ta‘ala hazretleriniŋ ruhmi ve ‘inayeti milen

uluġ orda uluġ yurtnıŋ ve taht-i Qırımnıŋ ve taġ-ara Çerkesniŋ

ve köp Tatarnıŋ ve barça Noġaynıŋ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıŋ ve bi-

hesab çerüvniŋ uluġ padişahı olan sa‘adetlü ve devletlü ve maha-

betlü ve şeca‘atlu mėn uluġ İslam Gėrey Han dame devletühü ila

yevmi`l-mizan hazretlerindin

(“From his excellency, me, the great, prosperous, illustrious,

majestic, and brave Islam Giray Khan (may his [i.e., my] reign

last till the Day of Judgment!), who am—by the compassion and

grace of His Excellency, God (may He be blessed and exalted!)—

the great padishah of the Great Horde, the great country [yurt],

the Crimean throne, mountain Circassians, numerous Tatars,

all the Nogays, the Kipchak Steppe, and countless troops”)

328

Apparently repeated by mistake; cf. the intitulatio in other documents.

358 part two—chapter three

1654 Uluġ orda ve uluġ yurtnıŋ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıŋ ve taht-i Qırımnıŋ

ve sansız köb Tatarnıŋ ve saġışsız köp Noġaynıŋ ve taġ-ara

Çerkeçniŋ ve Tat bile Tavgaçnıŋ uluġ padişahı olan ‘ali-hazret

ma‘ali-rütbet Hurşid-tal‘at ‘Utarid-fıtnat mėn uluġ Mehmed

Gėrey Han dame devletühü ila yevmi`l-mizan hazretlerindin

(“From his excellency of exalted dignity and great rank, of

sunny appearance and mercurial intelligence [i.e., clever], me,

the great Mehmed Giray Khan (may his [i.e., my] reign last

until the Day of Judgment!), being the great padishah of the

Great Horde and great country [yurt], the Kipchak Steppe, the

Crimean throne, innumerable Tatars and countless Nogays,

mountain Circassians, and Tats and Tavgaches”)

1668 Wielkich Ord, wielkiego państwa, stolice krymskiej, i ord kup-

czackich, i bez licby ordy, i Nahaiów, Tatów i Tumanów, w

górach cerkieskich wielki car, wielki Adilgierey chan

(“e great khan of the Great Horde, the great state, the

Crimean throne, the Kipchak horde and countless hordes, and

the Nogays, Tats and [Tavgaches],

329

and the mountain Circas-

sians, the great khan Adil Giray”)

1672 Sielim Giray z bożej łaski chan krymski, oczakowski, perekopski,

białogrodzki, budziacki, czerkieski, kipczacki, tumienski, basz-

kurtski, Wielkiego i Małego Nogaiu dziedziczny chan

(“Selim Giray, by the grace of God the Crimean khan, the

hereditary khan of Očakiv, Perekop, Akkerman, Budjak, Cir-

cassia, the Kipchak [Steppe], Tiumen,

330

the Bashkirs,

331

and the

Great and Little Nogay [hordes]”)

329

e Polish text reads: Tatów i Tumanów (lit. “of the Tats and Tumans”).

Although the word Tuman could make sense here and refer either to a traditional

Turco-Mongolian army unit (tümen, i.e., “ten thousand”) or the town of Tiumen in

Siberia (cf. n. 330 below), most likely the original document referred to the Tavgaches,

who were typically paired with the Tats in the ocial intitulatio of the Crimean khans.

As the term Tavgaç was probably uncommon to the Polish translator or copyist, it

was replaced by Tuman.

330

Apparently a reference to Siberia, in the instrument of Mehmed IV Giray referred

to as Tura (cf. Document 64, n. 8). Tiumen (or Tümen) was a Russian town, founded

in 1586 in the place of Chingi-Tura, the former capital of the Siberian Khanate. Admit-

tedly, there was also another Tümen in Daghestan; see Zajcev [Zaitsev], “e Khanate

of Sibir,” in: e Turks (Ankara, 2002), vol. 2, pp. 860–866, esp. p. 864.

331

is is the sole mention of the Bashkirs and Bashkortostan in the documents

published in the present volume. Nevertheless, it is known that during the Bashkir

uprising against the Russian rule in the years 1662–1664, Mehmed IV Giray envi-

sioned a broad anti-Muscovian coalition, composed of the Poles, Ukrainian Cossacks,

the crimean instruments 359

1742 Cenab-i tebareke ve ta‘ala hazretlerinin ‘avn-i ‘inayet-i ehadiye

ve lutf-i hidayet-i ezeliyesiyle ‘ali-hita-i hazra-i ġabra-i Qırım

ve Or ve Bucaq ve Quban ve Çerakise-i kuhestan ve ‘amme-i

‘aşair-i Noġayluyan-i sahra-neşinanıŋ han-i a‘zamı celadetlü

celaletlü ‘inayetlü şahametlü biz Selamet Gėrey Han hazretimizden

(“From our excellency, the brave, majestic, gracious, and val-

orous Selamet Giray Khan, [being]—by the aid of the mono-

theistic grace and by the favor of the eternal spiritual guidance

of His Majesty [God] (may He be blessed and exalted!)—the

greatest khan of the exalted sphere between the sky and earth,

of the Crimea, Or [i.e., Perekop], Budjak, Kuban,

332

the moun-

tain Circassians, and all tribes of the Nogays, dwelling in the

steppe”)

e intitulatios of the instruments from 1514, 1599, 1649, 1672, and

1742 also contain the formula devotionis, referring to the grace of God

that enabled the khan to ascend and hold his throne. Corresponding

to the Latin Dei gratia, the formula was also used by the Ottoman

chancery, apparently in result of its contacts with Christian states.

333

is hard to resolve whether the Crimean chancery adopted the formula

devotionis through the Ottoman medium

334

or rather due to direct

borrowing from the Christian neighbors. Nonetheless, the formula

had never become fully “domesticated” and is absent from the major-

ity of the khans’ documents published in the present volume.

Tatars, Nogays, Bashkirs, and even Kalmyks, although the latter had no wish to join

it; see Michael Khodarkovsky, Where Two Worlds Met. e Russian State and the

Kalmyk Nomads, 1600–1771 (Ithaca-London, 1992), p. 98.

332

e territory on the right shore of the Kuban River, inhabited mainly by the

Nogays, bordering on the south with Circassia and on the north with Cossack set-

tlements along the Don; on its place in the Crimean-Russian relations in the years

1739–1774, see Kočekaev, Nogajsko-russkie otnošenija v XV–XVIII vv., pp. 133–191;

Tamara Feolaktova, “Kubanskij vopros v russko-tureckix otnošenijax v 1768–1774

godax,” in: Voprosy istorii i lologii (Rostov-na-Donu, 1974): 69–74. For a Russian

map of Kuban from the late 18th century, see Khodarkovsky, Russia’s Steppe Frontier,

p. 219.

333

On the adoption of the formula devotionis by the Ottoman chancery, cf.

Kołodziejczyk, Ottoman-Polish Diplomatic Relations, pp. 11–14.

334

Such opinion is voiced by Inalcık in idem, “Power Relationships between Rus-

sia, the Crimea, and the Ottoman Empire as Reected in Titulature,” p. 387. Yet, the

documents invoked by Inalcık origin from the 17th century while the earliest occur-

rence of the formula devotionis attested in the present study origins from 1514; in

that period an import of chancery models from Vilnius, Moscow, or former Italian

colonies in the Crimea was no less likely than from Istanbul.

360 part two—chapter three

As by the late 16th century the role of the intitulatio in the Crimean

documents was usually played by the sözüm formula,

335

in order to

follow the changes in the khan’s ocial title one must examine both

the sözüm formulas and the intitulatios.

Mengli Giray’s victory over Sheikh Ahmed in 1502 had a great

impact on his Weltanschauung. Mengli’s envoy, sent in 1506 to Lithu-

ania, referred to his lord as the ruler of “the two hordes: the Trans-

Volgine and of Perekop” (obejux tyx ord, Zavolskoe y Perekopskoe).

336

According to Usmanov, it is aer 1502 that Mengli Giray ocially

adopted the title of “the great khan of the Great Horde.”

337

Although

this view is nuanced by Collins, who reminds that any khan could

refer to his encampment and army as the “great horde,”

338

both schol-

ars agree that the year 1502 should be regarded as the turning point

aer which Mengli Giray became the strongest Genghisid ruler in

Eastern Europe who could de facto and de iure claim his rights to the

heritage of the Golden Horde.

In the early 16th century, the most typical element of the khan’s title

was the formula: “the great khan of the Great Horde” (Ulu Ordanung

ulu hanı), whereas in Ruthenian documents the term “great khan” was

rendered as velykyj car,

339

and in the Italian one as imperatore. Less

regularly, the khans were also referred to as the rulers of the Kip-

chaks (1514) or the Kipchak Steppe (1520), the Turkomans (1514),

and the Tatars (1514, 1520). In Mehmed Giray’s şartname from 1520,

preserved in the Khwarezmian Turkic original, one nds the loy

title: “the padishah of the Kipchak Steppe and all the Mongols” (Deşt-i

Qıpçaq barça Moġul padişahı), which apparently reected this khan’s

inated ambitions, though admittedly the term “Mongols” might have

335

On the problematic identication of the sözüm formula with the intitulatio,

see n. 290 above. Even in the 15th and 16th centuries, some Crimean documents

contained intitulatios that were distinctly dierent from sözüm formulas; in the 17th

and 18th centuries the sözüm formula, incorporated into the tuġra, and the intitulatio,

were entirely separated.

336

See Document 7.

337

Usmanov, Žalovannye akty Džučieva ulusa XIV–XVI vv., p. 62.

338

Collins, “On the Alleged ‘Destruction’ of the Great Horde in 1502,” pp. 361–362,

n. 1.

339

In the East European chanceries the Turkic term han was commonly rendered

with the Slavic term car; cf. Inalcık, “Power Relationships between Russia, the Crimea,

and the Ottoman Empire as Reected in Titulature,” p. 371; see also Document 20,

published in the present volume in the Turkic original along with the contemporary

Ruthenian translation.

the crimean instruments 361

been simply a substitute of the more common term “Tatars,” found

in the analogous place in other Crimean documents from that time.

340

In Mengli Giray’s document from 1514, drawn in Italian by a former

inhabitant of Caa, we also nd the term Ghazaria, well known from

the medieval Genovese documents and referring to the territories

extending between the Black and the Caspian seas, which had once

belonged to the Khazar Kaganate (in fact roughly identical with the

Turkic Deşt-i Qıpçaq).

In Ghazi II Giray’s document from 1601, the khan is also, for the

rst time, referred to as the ruler of the Circassians and Nogays. More-

over, in Ghazi II Giray’s document from 1607, preserved in a Latin

translation, we encounter, for the rst time, the term “Crimea,” appar-

ently identical with “the Crimean throne” (Tur. taht-i Qırım) found in

the later documents preserved in Turkish.

No later than in 1624, the Crimean khans also adopted the title

of the rulers of the Tats and Tavgaches. Both terms were of ancient

Turkic origin, but in the seventeenth-century Crimean context they

referred to any non-Turkic subjects of the khans. e term Tavgaç,

which still causes scholarly discussions, was also alien to the contem-

porary translators in Warsaw and Moscow, hence it was oen le out

from their translations or mistranslated.

341

In a fully developed seventeenth-century intitulatio, the khan was

also referred to as the great padishah of the great country (yurt), of

the Muslims, and of the troops of the right and the le wing arranged

into tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands (tümens). Such

intitulatio also contained hyperbolic references that compared the

khan with the Persian legendary king Feridun and attributed him

various qualities associated with the sun and planets.

342

Interestingly,

the intitulatio of Qalga Islam Giray, contained in his instrument from

1640, was more elaborate than the intitulatio of his older brother,

the khan, contained in the latter’s instrument sent in the same year,

340

Even in the contemporary Ruthenian translation of Mehmed Giray’s şartname

from 1520, the expression Deşt-i Qıpçaq barça Moġul padişahı is simply rendered as

Dest-y Kypčak vsym zemljam tatarskym hospodar’; see Document 20: Appendix.

341

Cf. notes 318, 321, and 324 above.

342

See also the khan’s intitulatios contained in the seventeenth-century Crimean

letters sent to Transylvania and Denmark, studied by Ivanics, “Formal and linguistic

peculiarities of 17th century Crimean Tatar letters adressed to princes of Transylva-

nia,” pp. 215–216; and Matuz, Krimtatarische Urkunden im Reichsarchiv zu Kopen-

hagen, pp. 69–70.

362 part two—chapter three

though admittedly the qalga modestly titled hiself the commander of

the troops of merely the right wing of the Crimean army.

343

New and atypical elements appear in Selim Giray’s document from

1672, preserved in the original drawn in Polish. e list of the khan’s

holdings contained a number of fortresses and lands situated in the

vicinity of the Polish borders (some of them under joint Crimean-Otto-

man control), such as Perekop, Očakiv, Akkerman, and Budjak, whose

entering was understandable in a document referring to the relations

with Poland. Moreover, the document referred to Selim Giray as the

hereditary lord of the Great Nogay Horde, the Bashkirs, and Tiumen,

which suggests that the old claims to the Volgine and Siberian heritage

of the Golden Horde were not yet entirely forgotten.

Selamet II Giray’s intitulatio from 1742 was more realistic, while the

fact that Budjak and Kuban were singled out among the khan’s pos-

sessions reected the rising importance of these lands in the political

and economic making of the Khanate.

Besides the usual title of “khan,” found in the Crimean ruler’s intit-

ulatio, one encounters the title “free lord,” which reected the ancient

Mongol-Tatar notion of sovereignty. e Persian title of “padishah,”

adopted by Mehmed Giray already in 1520, enters the standard

intitulatio of the Crimean khan only in the 17th century. Although

apparently borrowed from Ottoman Turkish and imitating the loy

intitulatio of the Ottoman sultan, in the Crimean context the title

unterwent certain devaluation. While in the Ottoman chancery usage

it was jealously preserved for the sultan and only at times hesitantly

attributed to friendly foreign rulers, such as the kings of France (but

not the Habsburg emperors), in the Crimea it referred not only to the

khans, but even—in 1640—to the qalga. No wonder that the title of

padishah was also freely applied in reference to the Polish kings (see

below).

344

343

In a model combat setting, the command of the right wing belonged to the

qalga, of the le one to the nureddin, while the khan was the commander-in-chief.

In fact, such an order was rarely adopted, only in the cases when the whole Crimean

army set out for a campaign and none of the aforementioned dignitaries were le

behind to guard the Crimean homeland; see also n. 326 above.

344

According to Inalcık, in result of the multiplication and devaluation of the title

“padishah,” the Crimean chancery began to dierentiate between “the padishah of

the Genghisid lineage” (Al-i Cengiz padişahı) and “the padishah of the Ottoman lin-

eage” (Al-i Osman padişahı), or to refer to the Ottoman rulers by even more elevated

titles, such as padişah hündkar (“the sovereign padishah”) or padişah-i ‘alempenah

(“padishah, the refuge of the world,” or “ecumenical padishah”); see idem, “Power

the crimean instruments 363

In their correspondence with Christian rulers, the khans sometimes

invoked their caliphal rights, although the title of “caliph” was not

entered in their formal intitulatio. In 1640, Bahadır Giray praised

God, who had made him “the just shah in this prosperous time, the

ruler of the world and the caliph of the epoch.” In 1646, Islam III

Giray praised God, who had “placed the crown of caliphate on my

blessed head and put the robe of sultanate on my stature full of integ-

rity, adorned the Genghisid throne with my prosperous person, and

turned my great gate [i.e., Porte] into the refuge of mankind and the

shelter of Islam.” Finally, in 1654 Mehmed IV praised God, who “put

the robe of caliphate on my imperial shoulder” (hil‘at-i hilafeti duş-i

hümayunuma giyürüp).

345

An illuminating fragment, disclosing the composite nature of the

legitimizing aspirations of the Crimean khans, is contained in Mehmed

IV Giray’s instrument (although again not in the intitulatio) sent to

Poland in 1654. Envisioning a joint attack against Russia, the khan

requested the Polish king to acknowledge in advance his claims to:

1) Astrakhan, Kazan, Terek [i.e., Northeastern Caucasus], and Tura

[i.e., Siberia] (Ecderhan ve Qazan ve Terek ve Tura);

2) any [other] Muslim provinces [to be conquered from Russia] (ve

her ne qadar Müsliman vilayetleri);

3) any [other provinces] inhabited by Tatars or Nogays (ve Tatar ve

Noġay halqı var ise).

e rst category referred to the lands once belonging to the Golden

Horde, thus stressing the dynastic claims of the Giray khans to their

Genghisid (precisely Djochid) patrimony. e second criterium was

religious and expressed the khan’s will to extend his patronage over

all Muslims living under the tsar’s hand. Finally, the clan or—to use

a more modern language—ethno-social motives drove the khan to

Relationships between Russia, the Crimea, and the Ottoman Empire as Reected in

Titulature,” pp. 382–384, 387–388 and 405–407.

345

See Documents 55, 58, and 64; the latter citation is already discussed by Inalcık

in ibidem, pp. 384–385 and 408. In that period, Muslim jurists commonly agreed that

any Muslim ruler could claim the caliphal title on the condition that he defends and

supports the Islamic Law; nevertheless, the ambitions of the Ottoman sultans to lead

the Islamic world, combined with their patronage over Mecca, resulted in their con-

icts with other Muslim rulers, most notably the Shiite Safavid shahs of Persia, Zaydi

imams of Yemen, but also their Sunni brethren, the Great Moghuls of India.