23 Facts About Crimean Khanate

Crimean Khanate, officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of the Turkic khanates that succeeded the empire of the Golden Horde.

Crimean Khanate khans, considering their state as the heir and legal successor of the Golden Horde and Desht-i Kipchak, called themselves khans of "the Great Horde, the Great State and the Throne of the Crimea".

The full title of the Crimean khans, used in official documents and correspondence with foreign rulers, varying slightly from document to document during the three centuries of the khanate's existence, was as follows: "By the Grace and help of the blessed and highest Lord, the great padishah of the Great Horde, and the Great State, and the Throne of the Crimea, and all the Nogai, and the mountain Circassians, and the tats and tavgachs, and The Kipchak steppe and all the Tatars" .

The territory controlled by the Crimean Khanate shifted throughout its existence due to the constant incursions by the Cossacks, who had lived along the Don since the disintegration of the Golden Horde in the 15th century.

The Crimean Khanate nobility was mostly of both Kipchak and Horden origin.

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Crimean Khanate originated in the early 15th century when certain clans of the Golden Horde Empire ceased their nomadic life in the Desht-i Kipchak and decided to make Crimea their yurt .

Crimean Khanate warred for independence against the Horde from 1420 to 1441, in the end achieving success.

Crimean Khanate died that year and beginning with his successor, from 1524 on, Crimean khans were appointed by the Sultan.

The Crimean Khanate cavalry became indispensable for the Ottomans' campaigns against Poland, Hungary, and Persia.

The Crimean Khanate initially chose as its capital Salaciq near the Qirq Yer fortress.

However, a modern historian is of the opinion that the role of the slave trade in the economy of the Crimean Khanate is greatly exaggerated by modern historians, and the raiding economy is nothing but a historical myth.

Caffa, an Ottoman city on Crimean peninsula, was one of the best known and significant trading ports and slave markets.

At times Crimean Khanate made alliances with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Zaporizhian Sich.

The following year the Crimean Khanate lost access to the Volga once and for all due to its catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Molodi.

Decline of the Crimean Khanate was a consequence of the weakening of the Ottoman Empire and a change in Eastern Europe's balance of power favouring its neighbours.

Crimean Khanate law was based on Tatar law, Islamic law, and, in limited matters, Ottoman law.

Crimean Khanate law granted them special financial and political rights as a reward, according to local folklore, for historic services rendered to an uluhane .

Crimean Khanate had many large cities such as the capital Bahceseray, Gozleve, Karasu Bazaar and Aqmescit having numerous hans, tanners, and mills.

Many monuments constructed under the Crimean Khanate were destroyed or left in ruins after the Russian invasion.

The settled Crimean Khanate Tatars were engaged in trade, agriculture, and artisanry.

The last recorded major Crimean Khanate raid, before those in the Russo-Turkish War took place during the reign of Peter I .

Crimean Khanate commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever.

Crimean Khanate usually administered the eastern portion of the peninsula.