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Khanate of Astrakhan³ Xacitarxan¹ Xanlığı Хаҗитархан² Ханлыгы
← 30px 1466–1556 →
Astrakhan Khanate in 1466-1556
Capital	Xacitarxan
Language(s)	Tatar4, Nogay
Government	Khanate
Astrakhan Khan
- First	Makhmud Astrakhan
- Last	Darwish Ghali
History
- Established	1466
- Disestablished	1556
¹ Ästerxan ² Әстерхан ³ Xacitarxan (Khajitarkhan) 4 Astrakhan dialect

The Khanate of Astrakhan (Xacitarxan Khanate) was a Tatar feudal state that appeared after the collapse of the Golden Horde. The Khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, where the contemporary city of Astrakhan/Hajji Tarkhan is now located. Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan.

The Khanate was established in the 1460s by Mäxmüd of Astrakhan. The capital was the city of Xacítarxan, also known Astrakhan in Russian chronicles. Its territory included the Lower Volga valley and the Volga Delta, including most of what is now Astrakhan Oblast and the steppeland on the right bank of Volga in what is now Kalmykia. The North-Western Caspian seaside was a southern boundary and the Crimean Khanate bounded Astrakhan on the west.

Before the Khanate[link]

The area surrounding the lower Volga was populated by various Turkic tribes since the 6th century AD. There were, for example, the Khazars. Following the invasion of Mongol tribes from the east and the splintering of their empire, the area came under the rule of the Golden Horde. This empire, too, was wracked by civil war, and the semi-independent Astrakhan Khanate was established by Qasim I around 1466. Its location at the mouth of the Volga, straddling important trade routes, allowed it to accumulate significant wealth, but also attracted the attention of neighbouring states and nomadic tribes, subjecting the khanate to numerous invasions. Meñli I Giray, the khan of the Crimea who had destroyed the Big Horde's capital of Sarai-al-Jadid caused significant destruction to the khanate.

Demography and society[link]

Most of the population of the Astrakhan khanate were Astrakhan Tatars and Nogays. Merchants carried on a transit trade between Muscovy, Kazan, Crimea Central Asia, and the Transcaucasus region.

The nobility consisted of feudal ranks, which were, from highest to lowest: the khan, sultans, begs and morzalar. The rest of the population were known as qara xalıq, black people (or more accurately in Old Turkic, "great creation" implying 'the creatures at large" or common folks, when "qara" stood for "big" and "great" not just black, and "aq" (white), stood also for delicate, small, dainty etc.)- the standard Turkic designation for commoners. The state religion was Islam.

History[link]

In the 1530s Astrakhan cooperated with the Crimean Khanate and the Nogay Horde in a campaign against Russia. Later, Astrakhan was involved in conflicts against its erstwhile Tatar allies. In 1552 Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, better known as Ivan the Terrible, captured Kazan; shortly thereafter a pro-Muscovite party took power in Astrakhan.

Ivan dispatched soldiers to Astrakhan, establishing Darwish Khan as a vassal ruler of the Astrakhan Khanate in 1554. Pro-muscovite nobles and Nogay tribesmen supported Russian forces occupying Astrakhan. After the threat of Crimean raid against Astrakhan had subsided, Darwish Khan conspired with the Crimean Khanate to drive the Russians out of the region. Ivan IV sent Russian Strelets and Cossack armies, who conquered and annexed the region in 1556. Xacitarxan was besieged, burned; the khanate was adsorbed by Russians and abolished. Darwish Khan escaped to the castle of Azov. After the fall of khanate, Tatars were attacked by Kalmyks, that displaced Nogai nomads.

Many Nogay were transplanted in Kazakhstan and Daghestan. However, approximately 70,000 Astrakhan Tatars still live in Astrakhan Oblast.

The capital of the khanate was Xacitarxan (or Khadjitarkhan), located about 12 km from modern Astrakhan.

Merchants and subjects of Mughal rule are known to have traded in Astrakhan.^[1]

See also[link]

• List of Khans of Astrakhan
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

External links[link]

• Brief History of Astrakhan

Reference[link]

Astrakhan (English) Астрахань (Russian)
-  City[citation needed]  -
The Volga embankment in downtown Astrakhan
Astrakhan Location of Astrakhan in Astrakhan Oblast
Coordinates: 46°19′25″N 48°02′12″E / 46.32361°N 48.03667°E / 46.32361; 48.03667Coordinates: 46°19′25″N 48°02′12″E / 46.32361°N 48.03667°E / 46.32361; 48.03667
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status (as of December 2010)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Astrakhan Oblast
Administratively subordinated to	city of oblast significance of Astrakhan[1]
Administrative center of	Astrakhan Oblast, city of oblast significance of Astrakhan[1]
Municipal status (as of December 2010)
Urban okrug	Astrakhan Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of	Astrakhan Urban Okrug[2]
City Head[citation needed]	Mikhail Stolyarov[3]
Representative body	City Duma[citation needed]
Statistics
Area	500 km2 (190 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2010 Census, preliminary)	520,662 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2010	33rd
Population (2002 Census)	504,501 inhabitants[5]
- Rank in 2002	33rd
Density	1,041 /km2 (2,700 /sq mi)[6]
Time zone	MSK (UTC+04:00)[7]
Founded	1558[8]
City status since	1717[9][10]
Postal code(s)	414000..414057[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 8512[citation needed]
Official website
Astrakhan on WikiCommons

Astrakhan (Russian: Астрахань, tr. Astrakhanʹ; IPA: [ˈastrəxənʲ]) is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. Population: 520,662 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[4] 504,501 (2002 Census);^[11] 509,210 (1989 Census).^[12]

History[link]

Medieval history[link]

Astrakhan is situated in the Volga Delta, rich in sturgeon and exotic plants. The fertile area formerly contained the capitals of Khazaria and the Golden Horde. Astrakhan' itself was first mentioned by travellers in the early 13th century as Xacitarxan. Tamerlane burnt it to the ground in 1395. From 1459 to 1556, Xacitarxan was the capital of Astrakhan Khanate. The ruins of this medieval settlement were found by archaeologists 12 km upstream from the modern-day city.

In 1556, the khanate was conquered by Ivan the Terrible, who had a new fortress, or kremlin, built on a steep hill overlooking the Volga. In 1569, Astrakhan was besieged by the Cossack Ottoman army, which had to retreat in disarray. A year later, the Sultan renounced his claims to Astrakhan, thus opening the entire Volga River to Russian traffic. In the 17th century, the city was developed as a Russian gate to the Orient. Many merchants from Armenia, Persia, India and Khiva settled in the town, giving it a multinational and variegated character.

Modern history[link]

Astrakhan in the 17th century

For seventeen months in 1670–1671 Astrakhan was held by Stenka Razin and his Cossacks. Early in the following century, Peter the Great constructed a shipyard here and made Astrakhan the base for his hostilities against Persia, and later in the same century Catherine the Great accorded the city important industrial privileges.

The city rebelled against the Tsar once again in 1705, when it was held by the Cossacks under Kondraty Bulavin. A Kalmuck khan laid an abortive siege to the kremlin several years prior to that.

In 1711, it became the administrative center of a governorate, whose first governors included Artemy Petrovich Volynsky and Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev. Six years later, Astrakhan served as a base for the first Russian venture into Central Asia. It was granted town status in 1717.^{[citation needed]} In 1702, 1718, and 1767, it suffered severely from fires; in 1719 it was plundered by the Persians; and in 1830 the cholera swept away a large number of its people.

Astrakhan's kremlin was built from the 1580s to the 1620s from bricks pillaged at the site of Sarai Berke. Its two impressive cathedrals were consecrated in 1700 and 1710, respectively. Built by masters from Yaroslavl, they retain many traditional features of Russian church architecture, while their exterior decoration is definitely baroque.

In March 1919 after a failed workers revolt against Bolshevik rule thousands of people were executed by the Cheka under orders from Sergey Kirov. Some victims had stones tied around their necks and thrown into the Volga.^[13]

During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Astrakhan was one of two cities (the other being Arkhangelsk) selected to mark the envisaged eastern limit of Nazi control. The military operation was to be halted at this A-A line, but never reached it in reality as the German forces failed to capture either of the two cities as well as Moscow. In the autumn of 1942, the region to the west of Astrakhan became one of the easternmost points in the Soviet Union reached by the invading German Wehrmacht, during Case Blue, the offensive which led to the Battle of Stalingrad. Light armoured forces of German Army Group A made brief scouting missions as close as 100 km to the city before withdrawing. In the same period, the Luftwaffe flew several air raids on the oil terminals and harbour installations of the city.

Mayoral election of 2012[link]

After fraud was alleged in the mayoral election of 2012 and the United Russia candidate was declared the winner, organizers of the 2011–2012 Russian protests supported the defeated candidate, Oleg V. Shein of Just Russia, in a hunger strike. Substantial evidence of fraud was cited by the protesters but an official investigation failed to find significant violations.^[3] The activists from Moscow found it difficult to gain traction over the issue with local residents who, like most Russians, accept political corruption as a given that is useless to protest.^[14] The emissaries from Moscow persisted, buoyed by celebrities who support the reform movement, drawing 5,000 to a rally on April 14.^[15]

• 

  Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin (1700–1710)

• 

  Monument to Peter the Great in Astrakhan (2007)

• 

  Our Lady of Assumption (Notre-Dame de L'Assomption) is a Roman Catholic church located in the city (1778)

• 

  The new Musical State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Astrakhan, built 2007-2011

Administrative and municipal status[link]

Administratively, it is incorporated as the city of oblast significance of Astrakhan—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] Municipally, the city of oblast significance of Astrakhan is incorporated as Astrakhan Urban Okrug.^[2]

Climate[link]

Astrakhan features a steppe climate with cold winters and hot summers. Astrakhan is one of the driest cities in Europe. Rainfall is scarce but relatively evenly distributed throughout the course of the year. It's this even distribution of rainfall and the relatively low annual temperature that causes the city to fall under this climate category as opposed to an arid climate. Winters tend to be cold in the city, though by Russian standards, Astrakhan features relatively balmy winters. Summers in the city can be hot with high temperatures in excess of 40°C. Spring and fall are basically transitional seasons between summer and winter.

Education[link]

Main building of the Astrakhan State University

Astrakhan has five institutions of higher education. Most prominent among these are Astrakhan State Technical University and Astrakhan State University.

Notable people[link]

• Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter
• Joseph Deniker, French naturalist and anthropologist
• Ilya Ulyanov, father of Aleksandr Ulyanov and Vladimir Lenin.
• Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet
• Rinat Dasaev, Soviet association football player
• Marziyya Davudova, Azerbaijani actress
• Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet
• Emiliya Turey, Afro-Russian handball player
• Andrei Belyanin, science fiction writer
• Dmitri Dyuzhev, actor
• Vasily Trediakovsky, Russian academician, poet, translator
• Valeria Barsova, Russian soprano
• Maria Maksakova, Russian Oper singer

Transportation[link]

Airport Narimanovo[link]

The city is served by Narimanovo Airport. It is managed by OAO Aeroport Astrakhan. After its reconstruction and the building of the international sector - opened in February 2011 - Narimanovo Airport is one of the most modern regional airports in Russia. There are direct flights from Astrakhan to and from Aktau, Baku, Yerevan and Moscow.

Train connections[link]

Astrakhan is linked by rail to the north - Volgograd, Moscow, east - Kazakhstan, Atyrau; south - Makhachkala, Baku. There are direct trains to Moscow, Volgograd, Saint Petersburg, Baku, Kiev, Brest and other towns.

Local transport[link]

Astrakhan has no tramway system anymore. Public local transport is mainly organized by trolleybusses and marshrutkas.

International relations[link]

Sister cities[link]

Astrakhan is twinned with:

• Rasht, Gilan, Iran
• Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
• Atyrau, Kazakhstan
• Brest, Belarus
• Grand-Popo, Benin
• Ljubljana, Slovenia

References[link]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Государственная Дума Астраханской области. Закон №67/2006-ОЗ от 4 октября 2006 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Астраханской области», в ред. Закона №78/2010-ОЗ от 14 декабря 2010 г «О преобразовании муниципальных образований и административно-территориальных единиц "Раздорский сельсовет" и "Каспийский сельсовет" и внесении изменений в Закон Астраханской области "Об установлении границ муниципальных образований и наделении их статусом сельского, городского поселения, городского округа, муниципального района" и Закон Астраханской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Астраханской области"». Вступил в силу по истечении 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Сборник законов и нормативных правовых актов Астраханской области", №47, 19 октября 2006 г. (State Duma of Astrakhan Oblast. Law #67/2006-OZ of October 4, 2006 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Astrakhan Oblast, as amended by the Law #78/2010-OZ of December 14, 2010 On the Transformation of the Municipal Formations and the Administrative-Territorial Units "Razdorsky Selsoviet" and "Kaspiysky Selsoviet" and on Amending the Law of Astrakhan Oblast "On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations and on Granting Them the Status of Rural, Urban Settlement, Urban Okrug, Municipal District" and the Law of Astrakhan Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Astrakhan Oblast". Effective as of after ten days from the day of the official publication have passed.).
• Государственная Дума Астраханской области. Закон №43/2004-ОЗ от 6 августа 2004 г. «Об установлении границ муниципальных образований и наделении их статусом сельского, городского поселения, городского округа, муниципального района», в ред. Закона №78/2010-ОЗ от 14 декабря 2010 г «О преобразовании муниципальных образований и административно-территориальных единиц "Раздорский сельсовет" и "Каспийский сельсовет" и внесении изменений в Закон Астраханской области "Об установлении границ муниципальных образований и наделении их статусом сельского, городского поселения, городского округа, муниципального района" и Закон Астраханской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Астраханской области"». Вступил в силу через 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Астраханские известия", №34, 12 августа 2004 г. (State Duma of Astrakhan Oblast. Law #43/2004-OZ of August 6, 2004 On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations and on Granting Them the Status of Rural, Urban Settlement, Urban Okrug, Municipal District, as amended by the Law #78/2010-OZ of December 14, 2010 On the Transformation of the Municipal Formations and the Administrative-Territorial Units "Razdorsky Selsoviet" and "Kaspiysky Selsoviet" and on Amending the Law of Astrakhan Oblast "On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations and on Granting Them the Status of Rural, Urban Settlement, Urban Okrug, Municipal District" and the Law of Astrakhan Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Astrakhan Oblast". Effective as of the day which is 10 days after the official publication.).

External links[link]

• Photos and sights of Astrakhan
• Geographical .ru domain of Astrakhan region
• Astrakhan city streets photos
• Old photos of Astrakhan
• Astrakhan Social Network
• Astrakhan Wedding Portal

v t e Administrative divisions of Astrakhan Oblast Administrative center: Astrakhan Cities and towns Akhtubinsk Kamyzyak Kharabali Narimanov Znamensk Districts Akhtubinsky Chernoyarsky Ikryaninsky Kamyzyaksky Kharabalinsky Krasnoyarsky Limansky Narimanovsky Privolzhsky Volodarsky Yenotayevsky

vep:Astrahan'

Batu Khan (/ˈbɑːtuː ˈkɑːn/; Mongolian: Бат хан, Russian: хан Батый; c. 1207–1255) was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi (or Golden Horde), the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde (or Kipchak Khanate), which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies of Poland and Hungary. "Batu" or "Bat" literally means "firm" in the Mongolian language. After the deaths of Genghis Khan's sons, he became the most respected prince called agha (elder brother) in the Mongol Empire.

Early years[link]

After his son Jochi's death, Genghis assigned the latter's appanages to his sons. But the Great Khan installed Batu as Khan of the Ulus of Jochi. He had an elder brother Orda Khan who agreed that Batu should succeed his father. Genghis Khan's youngest brother Temuge attended the coronation ceremony as an official representative of Genghis.^[3] When Genghis Khan died in 1227, he left 4,000 Mongol men to Jochi's family. Jochi's lands were divided between Batu and his older brother Orda. Orda's White Horde ruled the lands roughly between the Volga river and Lake Balkhash, while Batu's Horde ruled the lands west of the Volga.

In 1229, Ogedei dispatched 3 tumens under Kukhdei and Sundei to conquer the tribes on the lower Ural. According to Abulghazi, Batu joined Ogedei's military campaign against the Jin Dynasty in North China while his younger brother was fighting the Bashkirs, the Cumans, the Bulghars and the Alans in the west. Despite heavy resistance of their enemies, the Mongols conquered major cities of the Jurchens and made the Bashkirs their ally. In 1230's Ogedei distributed lands in Shanxi, China to Batu and the family of Jochi, but they appointed their officials under the supervision of the Imperial governor likewise in Khorasan, Persia.^[4]

Conquest of Rus[link]

Main articles: Mongol invasion of Rus, Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria.

After the end of the Mongol-Jin War, the Great Khan Ogedei ordered Batu to conquer western nations at the kurultai in Mongolia. In 1235 Batu, who earlier had directed the conquest of the Crimea, was assigned an army of possibly 130,000 to oversee an invasion of Europe. His relatives and cousins Guyuk, Büri, Mongke, Khulgen, Khadan, Baidar and notable Mongol generals Subutai (Subeedei), Borolday and Mengguser joined him by the order of his uncle Ogedei. The army, actually commanded by Subutai, crossed the Volga and invaded Volga Bulgaria in 1236. It took them a year to extinguish the resistance of the Volga Bulgarians, Kypchaks, and Alani.

Destruction of Suzdal by the Mongol armies. From the medieval Russian annals

In November 1237 Batu Khan sent his envoys to the court of Yuri II of Vladimir and demanded his allegiance. When Yuri refused to surrender the Mongols besieged Ryazan. After six days of the bloody battle, the city was totally annihilated, and never restored its former glory. Alarmed by the news, Yuri II sent his sons to detain the horde, but these were soundly defeated. Having burnt Kolomna and Moscow, the horde laid siege to Vladimir on February 4, 1238. Three days later the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal was taken and burnt to the ground. The royal family perished in the fire, while the grand prince hastily retreated northward. Crossing the Volga, he mustered a new army, which was totally exterminated by the Mongols on the Sit' River on March 4.

Thereupon Batu Khan divided his army into smaller units, which ransacked fourteen Rus' cities: Rostov, Uglich, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Kashin, Ksnyatin, Gorodets, Galich, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yuriev-Polsky, Dmitrov, Volokolamsk, Tver, and Torzhok. The most difficult to take was the small town of Kozelsk, whose boy-prince Titus and inhabitants resisted the Mongols for seven weeks. As the story goes, at the news of Mongol approach, a city of Kitezh was submerged into a lake with all its inhabitants, where it may be seen to this day. Khadan and Buri stormed the city in three days after they joined Batu. The only major cities to escape destruction was Smolensk, who submitted to the Mongols and agreed to pay tribute, and Novgorod with Pskov, which could not be reached by the Mongols on account of considerable distance and marshlands.

When Batu drank a cup of wine before the others at the victory banquet, Buri complained of the unfairness of Batu receiving such a vast and fertile steppe and the Mongol army, and, along with Guyuk and others, ridiculed Batu as an old woman with beard. Then they left the banquet. Batu sent an envoy to his uncle Ogedei to complain of his cousins' rude behavior. Ogedei, who got angry on hearing the news, recalled Buri and Guyuk. According to some sources, Buri, who was sent to his grandfather Chagatai, never returned to join the Mongol conquest of Europe. But Guyuk came to Russian steppe again after his father Ogedei harshly criticized him.

In the summer of 1238, Batu Khan devastated the Crimea and pacified Mordovia and Kipchak controlled steppe. In the winter of 1239, he sacked Chernigov and Pereyaslav. After several days of siege, the Mongols stormed Kiev in December 1240. Despite fierce resistance of Danylo of Halych, Batu Khan managed to take two principal capitals of his land, Halych and Volodymyr-Volyns'kyi. Ruthenian principalities became vassals of the Mongol Empire.

Invasion of Central Europe[link]

The Cuman refugees took shelter in the Kingdom of Hungary. Batu sent more than 5 messengers to Bela IV, the king of Hungary but they all died. For the last time Batu demanded that Bela have the Cumans returned and warned "It is much easier for the Cumans to escape than it is for you...you dwell in houses and have fixed towns and fortresses, so how will you escape me".^[5] Batu Khan then decided to "reach the ultimate sea", where the Mongols could proceed no further. Some modern historians speculate that Batu intended primarily to assure his flanks were safe for the future from possible interference from the Europeans, and partially as a precursor to further conquest. Most believe he intended the conquest of all Europe, as soon as his flanks were safe, and his forces ready.

Having devastated the various Rus principalities, Subutai and Batu sent spies into Poland, Hungary, and as far as Austria, in preparation for an attack into the heartland of Europe. Having gotten a clear picture of the European kingdoms, they brilliantly prepared an attack. Batu Khan was the overall leader, but Subutai was the actual commander in the field, and as such was present in both the northern and southern campaigns against Rus. The Mongols invaded central Europe in three groups. One group conquered Poland, defeating a combined force under Henry II the Pious, Duke of Silesia and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order at Legnica. A second crossed the Carpathians and a third followed the Danube. The armies swept the plains of Hungary over the summer and in the spring of 1242 regained impetus and extended their control into Austria and Dalmatia as well as invading Bohemia. While the northern force under Ogedei's son Khadan and Baidar, the son of Chagatai, won the Battle of Legnica and another army of Guyuk or Büri triumphed in Transylvania, Subutai was waiting for another victory over the Magyars, the Croats and the Templars on the Hungarian plain. In 1241, a Tatar (Mongol) army led by Bujek crossed the mountains of the Kara Ulagh ("Black Vlachs"); Bujek defeated the Vlachs and one of their leader named Mišlav.^[6] After the siege of Pest Batu's army withdrew to the Sajo River where they inflicted the tremendous defeat on King Béla IV and his allies at the Battle of Mohi on April 11. Khadan, Baidar and Orda came to Hungary, devastating Moravia en route. The Mongols appointed a darughachi in Hungary and minted coins in the name of Khagan.^[7] According to Michael Prawdin, the country of Bela was assigned to Orda by Batu as an appanage. Batu sent Khadan in pursuit of Bela who fled to Croatia.

The Mongol battalions checked the forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Babenberg Austria.^[8] During his campaign in Central Europe, Batu demanded that Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor dethrone himself, and said "I am coming to usurp your throne instead of you". The latter only replied that he would make a good falconer, for he understood birds very well.^[9] The Emperor and Pope Gregory IX called crusade against the Mongol Empire, but Europe was plagued by internal strife. Subutai achieved perhaps his most lasting fame with his victories in Europe as did he in Eastern Persia.

By late 1241, Batu and Subeedei were finishing plans to invade Austria, Italy and Germany, when the news came of the death of Ögedei Khan (died in December, 1241). Batu wanted to continue the war, but Subeedei reminded him the law of Yassa (Их Засаг). The Mongols withdrew in the late spring of 1242, as the Princes of the blood, and Subutai, were recalled to Karakorum where the kurultai was held. The Second Bulgarian Empire was forced to acknowledge Batu's supremacy. Batu was a potential Great Khan. When he failed to win this he would turn to consolidate his conquests in Asia and the Urals.

Viceroy and struggle with Guyuk[link]

Withdrawing from Hungary, Batu made his camps along the banks of the Volga. When the Great Khatun Toregene invited him to elect the next Emperor of the Mongol Empire, Batu announced his inability to attend any immediate kurultai, thus delaying the succession for several years. Eventually, Guyuk was elected Khagan in 1246, with Batu's brothers representing the Jochid lineage.

As one of the oldest members of Chingisid Borjigin, Batu became a viceroy over all the western parts of the empire, controlling routine affairs among the Russian princes, nominating Jochid retainers as governors of Iran, and receiving in audience grandees from the Caucasus. At no point, however, did he openly challenge the authority of the Great Khan.

Medieval Chinese drawing of young Batu Khan (XIV c.).

Prince Michael of Chernigov was passed between fires in accordance with ancient Turco-Mongol tradition. Batu Khan stabbed him to death for his refusal to do obeisance to Chingis Khaan's shrine in the pagan ritual.

During the absence of Batu, the Mongols who were left behind put to death Mstislav, the prince of Rylsk, in the Ukraine. On his return Batu summoned the Grand prince Yaroslav II of Vladimir to meet him. Yaroslav was well received by Batu, who confirmed him as suzerain over the other Russian princes, and gave him authority of Kiev. The princes of Suzdal followed Yaroslav's example. Batu sent Yaroslav to the imperial court of Karakorum and to assist at the inauguration of Guyuk Khan in 1246. Plano Carpini, who got approval from Batu to go further, noted that the Great Khan's aunt was executed. At the same time Yaroslav was poisoned in Mongolia.

Batu had commissaries in the various towns where the dependent Russian princes and other princes held their courts. The princes from Russian states such as Vladimir Constantine, Boris, Gleb, Vasili, Constatantine, Vladimir Constantinovich, Vasil'ko and Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich of Vladimir, went to the court of Batu in person. When Michael of Chernigov, who had murdered the Mongol envoy in Kiev earlier, arrived the Mongol overseers were engaged in taking a census of the inhabitants for the poll tax. Michael was ordered to repair to Batu. When summoned before Batu, he was made to pass between two fires and ordered to prostrate himself before the tablets of Chingis Khan. Michael replied that he did not object to do obeisance to Batu himself but to adore images of dead man was repugnant. As he persisted in his refusal, Batu ordered him to death.

Danylo from Galich summoned to Batu and diplomatically made obeisance to the Mongols. Batu, addressing him, said "You have for a long time refused to come, but have effaced your ill conduct by your obedience" and saluted him with a draught of airag. After the defeat of the Sultanate of Rum, Baiju freed David VII Ulu from Turkish imprisonment and sent him to Batu and Guyuk. Fearing Baiju's aggressive policy, Queen Rusudan of Georgia sent her son David VI Narin to Batu's court to get official recognition as heir apparent. Batu supported David VI and granted him the rights above the Georgian and Armenian nobles and the Mongol tammachis. But Guyuk made David Ulu the senior king of Georgia and ordered Batu's protege David Narin to be subordinate to David Ulu.

Suspicion between Batu and Guyuk increased, however, and Guyuk replaced the officials in Iran and the Caucasus with his own men,including Eljigidei. Guyuk gave a good reception to Alexander Nevsky and Andrey II. Andrey was assigned the throne of Vladimir-Suzdal while Alexander was given southern Russia. When Guyuk began moving west, Sorghaghtani Beki, the widow of Tolui, warned Batu that he was actually the Great Khan's target. When Guyuk summoned Batu to appear before him, Batu moved slowly. Before meeting Batu, Guyuk died suddenly. According to William of Rubruck and a Muslim chronicle, Batu then killed the imperial envoy, and one of his brothers murdered or poisoned the Great Khan Guyuk. But this account is not completely confirmed by other major sources.

Mongke and Batu[link]

An opportunity had arrived for deposing the House of Ogedei from the overlordship of the Mongols, and Batu was determined to avail himself of it. But Batu seems to allow Oghul Ghaimish to serve as regent. He also suggested unruly princes listen to her words. When Batu was ill, Mongke went to the Ulus of Jochi to greet him as his mother Sorghagtani advised. Batu was much delighted on seeing him.

At last, Batu called a kurultai on his own territory in 1250. Members of the Ogedeid and Chagataid families refused to attend the kurultai that was held beyond the Mongolian heartland. The kurultai offered the throne to Batu Khan who had no interest in promoting himself as the new Grand Khan. Rejecting it, he instead nominated Mongke who led a Mongol army in Russia, Northern Caucasus and Hungary. The pro-Tolui faction rose up and supported his choice. Given its limited attendance and location, this kurultai was of questionable validity. Batu sent Mongke under the protection of his brothers, Berke and Tukhtemur, and his son Sartaq to assemble a formal kurultai at Kodoe Aral in the heartland. The supporters of Mongke invited Oghul Ghaimish and other main Ogedeid and Chagataid princes to attend the kurultai but they refused each time, demanding descendants of Ogedei must be khan. In response to it, Batu accused them of killing his aunt Altalaun and defying Ogedei's nominee, Shiremun. After the assembled throng proclaimed Mongke Great Khan of the Mongol Empire in 1251, he punished the Ogedeid and Chagataid families for the organized plot against him. Mongke sent Buri to Batu who had him executed by Buri's opponent general. Eljigidei was ordered to be executed.

The Grand prince Andrey II allied with the rebellious minded princes of western Rus, giving umbrage to the Mongols. Batu sent a punitive expedition under Nevrui. On their approach, Andrey fled to Pskov, and thence to Sweden. The Mongols spread over Vladimir and harshly punished the people there. The Livonian Knights stopped their advance to Novgorod and Pskov on hearing the news about the Mongols. Thanks to his friendship with Sartaq, Alexander was installed as the Grand Prince of Vladimir (i.e., the supreme Russian ruler) by Batu in 1252. In 1256 Andrey travelled to Sarai to ask pardon for his former infidelity and was shown mercy.

During the reign of Mongke, Batu's prestige as kingmaker and the great khans' viceroy in the west reached its height. Even so, Batu allowed Mongke's census takers to operate freely in his realm. According to a Muslim chronicle and the history of Yuan dynasty, Batu had free access to the imperial treasury.^[10] Of all the grandsons of Chinggis Khaan, he and Mongke seemed most capable and the most dedicated to following the spirit of Mongolian law.^[11]

He dispatched a large Jochid delegation to participate in Hulegu's expedition in the Middle East. However, Berke's persuasion might force him to delay to strengthen Hulegu's force, little suspecting that it would result in eliminating the Jochid predominance there, for few years.

Batu, Mongke and other princely lines shared rule over the area from Afghanistan to Turkey. He left state affairs to his son Sartaq before Batu died in 1256.

Family and Legacy[link]

Statue of Batu Khan in Turkey

Mongol imperial war banners.

Batu had at least four children:

• Sartaq, khan of the Golden Horde from 1255–1256
• Toqoqan^[12]
• Andewan
• Ulagchi - probably the son of Sartaq often named Ju Lai (Dzhulaibek)

Batu's mother Ukhaa ujin belonged to the Mongol Onggirat clan^[13] while his chief khatun Borakchin was an Alchi-Tatar.

When Batu and his son Sartak died, Batu's brother Berke inherited the Golden Horde. Berke was not inclined to unity with his cousins in the Mongol family, making war on Hulagu Khan, though Berke officially recognized Mongke and the Empire of the Great Khan as his overlords. In fact, Berke was an independent ruler by then. Fortunately for Europe, Berke did not share Batu's interest in conquering it, however, he demanded Hungarian King Bela IV's submission and sent his general Borolday to Lithuania and Poland.

The Kipchak Khanate was known in Rus and Europe as the Golden Horde (Zolotaya Orda) some think because of the Golden colour of the Khan's tent. "Horde" comes from the Mongol word "orda/ordu" or camp. "Golden" is thought to have had a similar meaning to "royal" (Royal Camp). Of all the Khanates, the Golden Horde ruled longest. Long after the expulsion of the Yuan Dynasty from China to Mongolia, and the fall of Ilkhanate in Middle East, the descendants of Batu Khan continued to rule the Russian steppes. However, Batu's line had ruled the Jochid Ulus until 1360, a century after Berke's death in 1264. Descendants of his brothers, Orda and Tuqatimur, took the throne of the Golden Horde afterwards.

In 2011 only one family in Far East Russia, Vladivostok is often considered to be the relatives of Bat Khan, the grand son of Genghis Khan.

See also[link]

• Mongol Empire
• Golden Horde
• Mongol invasion of Europe
• List of Khans of the Golden Horde
• Batuhan

References[link]

1. ^ Jaroslaw Pelensk-Russia and Kazan: conquest and imperial ideology (1438-1560s), p.121
2. ^ Jack Weatherford-Genghis Khan, p.150
3. ^ H.H.Howorth-The history of the Mongols, p.II, d.II, p.37
4. ^ Thomas T. Allsen - Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia, p.45
5. ^ Michael Prawdin, Gerard (INT) Chaliand-The Mongol empire , p.262
6. ^ Curta, Florin. Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages - 500-1250.
7. ^ Michael Prawdin, Gerard (INT) Chaliand, The Mongol empire, p.268
8. ^ H.H.Howorth-The history of the Mongols, p.II, d.II, p.48-50
9. ^ Albericus Trium Fontium, Monumenta, scriptores, xxiii. 943.
10. ^ René Grousset - The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, p.596
11. ^ Jack Weatherford - The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire, p.109
12. ^ David Morgan, The Mongols, p. 224.
13. ^ Rashid al-Din - Universal History, Jochids' tale

• Morgan, David. The Mongols. ISBN 0-631-17563-6. 
• Nicolle, David (1998). The Mongol Warlords. Brockhampton Press. 
• Ronay, Gabriel (1978). The Tartar Khan's Englishman. Cassell. 
• Saunders, J.J. (1971). The History of the Mongol Conquests. Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-8122-1766-7. 
• Sicker, Martin (2000). The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna. Praeger Publishers. 
• Soucek, Svatopluk (2000). A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge. 

External links[link]

• The Islamic World to 1600: The Golden Horde

Crimean Tatars
(Qırımtatarlar)

80px
Mamai • Taras Triasylo • Ayşe Hafsa Sultan I. Gasprinski • N. Çelebicihan • Aziz Nesin
Total population
unknown[citation needed]
Regions with significant populations
Crimea: 243,400[1] (out of 248,200[2] in  Ukraine)
Turkey unknown[citation needed]  Uzbekistan 10,046[3], 90,000[4], 188,772[5]  Romania 24,137[6]  Russia 4,131[7]  Bulgaria 1,803[8]  Kazakhstan 1,532[9]
Languages
Crimean Tatar, Russian, Turkish, Urum
Religion
Islam, Orthodox Christianity[10]
Related ethnic groups
other Turkic peoples

Crimean Tatars (sg. Qırımtatar, pl. Qırımtatarlar) or Crimeans (sg. Qırım, Qırımlı, pl. Qırımlar, Qırımlılar) are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language. They are not to be confused with the Volga Tatars.

In modern times, in addition to living in Crimea, Ukraine, there is a large diaspora of Crimean Tatars in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Western Europe, the Middle East and North America, as well as small communities in Finland, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Poland. (See Crimean Tatar diaspora)

Distribution[link]

Today, more than 240,000 Crimean Tatars live in Crimea and about 150,000 remain in exile in Central Asia, mainly in Uzbekistan. There is an unspecified number of people of Crimean Tatar origin living in Turkey, descendants of those who emigrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the Dobruja region straddling Romania and Bulgaria, there are more than 27,000 Crimean Tatars: 24,000 on the Romanian side, and 3,000 on the Bulgarian side^{[citation needed]}.

Subethnic groups[link]

The Crimean Tatars are subdivided into three sub-ethnic groups:

• the Tats (not to be confused with Tat people, living in the Caucasus region) who used to inhabit the mountainous Crimea before 1944 (about 55%),
• the Yalıboyu who lived on the southern coast of the peninsula (about 30%),
• the Noğay (not to be confused with Nogai people, living now in Southern Russia) – former inhabitants of the Crimean steppe (about 15%).

The Tats and Yalıboyus have a Caucasoid physical appearance, while the Noğays retain some Mongoloid physical appearance.

Historians suggest that the inhabitants of the mountainous parts of Crimea lying to the central and southern parts (the Tats), and those of the Southern coast of Crimea (the Yalıboyu) were the direct descendants of the Pontic Greeks, Armenians, Scythians, Ostrogoths (Crimean Goths) and Kipchaks along with the Cumans while the latest inhabitants of the northern steppe represent the descendants of the Nogai Horde of the Black Sea nominally subjects of the Crimean Khan.^[11][12] It is largely assumed that the Tatarization process that mostly took place in the 16th century brought a sense of cultural unity through the blending of the Greeks, Armenians, Italians and the newly arrived Ottoman Turks of the southern coast, Goths of the central mountains, and Kipchak Tatars and Cumans of the plains and forming of the Crimean Tatar ethnic.^[13] However, the Cuman language is considered the direct ancestor of the current language of the Crimean Tatars with possible incorporations of the other languages like Crimean Gothic.^{[14][15][16][17]}

History[link]

Crimean Khanate[link]

The Crimean Tatars emerged as a nation at the time of the Crimean Khanate. The Crimean Khanate was a Turkic-speaking Muslim state which was among the strongest powers in Eastern Europe until the beginning of the 18th century.^[18] The nobles and rulers of the Crimean Tatars were the progeny of Hacı I Girai a Jochid descendant of Genghis Khan, and thus of Batu Khan of the Golden Horde. The Crimean Tatars mostly adopted Islam in the 14th century and thereafter Crimea became one of the centers of Islamic civilization. This was signified by Uzbeg Khan erecting the first mosque and medrese in Eski Qırım in 1314.^[19] According to Baron Iosif Igelström, in 1783 there were close to 1600 mosques and religious schools in Crimea. In Bakhchisaray, the khan Meñli I Giray built Zıncırlı Medrese (literally "Chain Madrassah"), an Islamic seminary where one has to bow while entering from its door because of the chain hanging over. This symbolized the Crimean society's respect for learning. Meñli I Giray also constructed a large mosque on the model of Hagia Sophia (which was ruined in 1850s). Later, the khans built a greater palace, Hansaray in Bakhchisaray, which survives to this day. Sahib I Giray patronized many scholars and artists in this palace. During the reign of Devlet I Giray the architect Mimar Sinan built a mosque, Juma-Jami, in Yevpatoria. The Crimean Khanate became a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire in 1475, when the Ottoman general Gedik Ahmed Pasha conquered the southern coast of Crimea. The alliance with the Ottomans became an important factor in the survival of the khanate until the 18th century.

Slave trade[link]

Until the beginning of the 18th century, Crimean Tatars were known for frequent, at some periods almost annual, devastating raids into Ukraine and Russia.^[20] For a long time, until the early 18th century, the Crimean Khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East which was the most important basis of its economy.^[20] One of the most important trading ports and slave markets was Kefe.^[20] Some researchers estimate that altogether more than 3 million people, predominantly Ukrainians but also Russians, Belarusians and Poles, were captured and enslaved during the time of the Crimean Khanate in what was called "the harvest of the steppe".^[21][22] On the other hand, lands of Crimean Tatars were also being raided by Cossacks.^[23] Cossacks, armed Slavic horsemen, who often savagely attacks and plunders the land of Crimean Tatars.^{[citation needed]} The Don and Zaporozhian Cossacks also managed to raid Crimean Tatars land.^{[citation needed]} The last recorded major Crimean raid, before those in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) took place during the reign of Peter I (1682–1725)^[23] However, Cossack raids continued during that time, Ottoman Grand Vizier complained to the Russian consul about raids to Crimea and Özi in 1761.^[23]

In the Russian Empire[link]

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 resulted in the defeat of the Ottomans by the Russians, and according to the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) signed after the war, Crimea became independent and Ottomans renounced their political right to protect the Crimean Khanate. After a period of political unrest in Crimea Russia violated the treaty and annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783. After the annexation, many Crimean Tatars were massacred and exiled into Siberia and under pressure of Slavic colonization, Crimean Tatars began to abandon their homes and move to the Ottoman Empire in continuing waves of emigration. Particularly, the Crimean War of 1853–1856, the laws of 1860–63 The Tsarist delebarete policy of annihilating Crimean Tatar existence in Crimea and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 caused an exodus of the Crimean Tatars. Of total Tatar population 300,000 of the Tauride Province about 200,000 Crimean Tatars emigrated.^[24] Many Crimean Tatars perished in the process of emigration, including those who drowned while crossing the Black Sea. Today the descendants of these Crimeans form the Crimean Tatar diaspora in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

Ismail Gasprinski (1851–1914) was a renowned Crimean Tatar intellectual, whose efforts laid the foundation for the modernization of Muslim culture and the emergence of the Crimean Tatar national identity^{[citation needed]}. The bilingual Crimean Tatar-Russian newspaper Terciman-Perevodchik he published in 1883–1914, functioned as an educational tool through which a national consciousness and modern thinking emerged among the entire Turkic-speaking population of the Russian Empire^{[citation needed]}. His New Method (Usul-i Cedid) schools, numbered 350 across the Crimean peninsula helped create a new Crimean Tatar elite^{[citation needed]}. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 this new elite, which included Noman Çelebicihan and Cafer Seydamet proclaimed the first democratic republic in the Islamic world, named the Crimean People's Republic on 26 December 1917. However, this republic was short-lived and destroyed by the Bolshevik uprising in January 1918^{[citation needed]}.

In the Soviet Union: 1917–1991[link]

Percentage of Crimean Tatars by region in Crimea (according to 1939 Soviet census)

During Stalin's Great Purge, statesmen and intellectuals such as Veli Ibraimov and Bekir Çoban-zade (1893–1937), were imprisoned or executed on various charges.

Soviet collectivization of the peninsula led to widespread starvation in 1921^{[citation needed]}. Food was confiscated for shipment to central Russia, while more than 100,000 Tatars starved to death, and tens of thousands fled to Turkey or Romania.^[25] Thousands more were deported or slaughtered during the collectivization in 1928–29.^[25] The government campaign led to another famine in 1931–33. No other Soviet nationality suffered the decline imposed on the Crimean Tatars; between 1917 and 1933 half the Crimean Tatar population had been killed or deported.^[25]

During World War II, the entire Crimean Tatar population in Crimea fell victim to Soviet policies. Although a great number of Crimean Tatar men served in the Red Army and took part in the partisan movement in Crimea during the war, the existence of the Tatar Legion in the Nazi army and the collaboration of Crimean Tatar religious and political leaders with Hitler during the German occupation of Crimea provided the Soviets with a pretext for accusing the whole Crimean Tatar population of being Nazi collaborators. Modern researchers also point to the fact that a further reason was the geopolitical position of Crimea where Crimean Tatars were perceived as a threat^[26]. This belief is based in part on an analogy with numerous other cases of deportations of non-Russians from boundary territories (see, e.g., Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union), as well as the fact that other non-Russian populations, such as Greeks, Armenians and Bulgarians were also removed from Crimea^{[citation needed]}.

All Crimean Tatars were deported en masse, in a form of collective punishment, on 18 May 1944 as special settlers to Uzbek SSR and other distant parts of the Soviet Union.^[27] The decree "On Crimean Tatars" describes the resettlement as a very humane procedure. The reality described by the victims in their memoirs was different. 46.3% of the resettled population died of diseases and malnutrition.^{[citation needed]} This event is called Sürgün in the Crimean Tatar language. Many of them were re-located to toil as indentured workers in the Soviet GULAG system.^[28]

Although a 1967 Soviet decree removed the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for lost lives and confiscated property. Crimean Tatars, differing from other Soviet nations like Ukrainians, having definite tradition of non-communist political dissent, succeeded in creating a truly independent network of activists, values and political experience.^[29] Crimean Tatars, led by Crimean Tatar National Movement Organization,^[30] were not allowed to return to Crimea from exile until the beginning of the Perestroika in the mid 1980s.

After Ukrainian independence[link]

Percentage of Crimean Tatars by region in Crimea (according to 2001 Ukrainian census)

Today, more than 250,000 Crimean Tatars have returned to their homeland, struggling to re-establish their lives and reclaim their national and cultural rights against many social and economic obstacles. In 1991, the Crimean Tatar leadership founded the Qurultay, or Parliament, to act as a representative body for the Crimean Tatars which could address grievances to the Ukrainian central government, the Crimean government, and international bodies.^[31] Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People is the executive body of the Qurultay.

Since the 1990s, the political leader of the Crimean Tatars and the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People is a former Soviet dissident Mustafa Abdülcemil Qırımoğlu.

See also[link]

Part of a series on
Crimean Tatars
By region or country
Bulgaria · Romania · Turkey United States · Uzbekistan
Religion
Sunni Islam
Languages and dialects
Crimean Tatar
History
Khanate (1441–1783) Taurida Oblast (1783–1796) Taurida Governorate (1802–1917) People's Republic (1917–1918) Crimean ASSR (1921–1945) Sürgün (1944) Crimean Oblast (1945–1991) Autonomous Republic (since 1992)
People and groups
Famous Crimean Tatars Khans · Mejlis · Milliy Firqa
v t e

• Index of Crimean Tatars related articles
• Crimean Karaites
• Giray dynasty
• Baibars
• Taras Fedorovych
• Krymchaks
• Lipka Tatars
• Mustafa Edige Kirimal
• Nogay
• Tatars
• Volga Tatars

References[link]

Literature[link]

External links[link]