Having drunk to the fullest extent of cosmopolitanism and liberal-subject disbelief in their own strengths, suppressing, just in case, all attempts to pronounce, read, write, publish the word “Russian”, the political elite came to the need, no, ran into the need to resuscitate such an archaic, such an uncomfortable and rough, such a dangerous and unpredictable social trend as patriotism.

But, since the word “ideology” has been completely erased from state legal circulation, the actions and volitional decisions of the top are not correlated with the concept of “ideology,” just as it is impossible to correlate the philosophical debate “Which comes first: the chicken or the egg” with a bluish chicken carcass on a market counter .

And since the scientific and ideological approach to solving the problem of strengthening patriotic sentiments in society is not available to the elite, a wide variety of, sometimes exotic, ways of raising the patriotic spirit are used. For example, the creation of the Ministry of Patriotism. Well, maybe not ministries, but certainly the departmental structure “Rospatriotism”.

Actually, this method of solving almost any Russian problem has ceased to be exotic. Somehow he has become so familiar that it does not cause bewilderment among most Russians. The authorities, it seems, do not know any other ways to solve pressing government problems other than creating another budget-absorbing state structure.

However, since the Ministry of Stupidity has already been created, it needs to be occupied with something. So that at least a little justifies the investment of budget funds. The Soviet game “Zarnitsa” is good, but it makes sense when it makes sense, that is, it is filled with meaning and content. Otherwise, it will certainly turn into a scout movement, but this is no longer patriotism, but another round of liberal servility and loyal love for a foreign homeland and culture.

So I propose to occupy the Russian state agency “Rospatriotism”, and with it the “young, unfamiliar tribe”, with the important and necessary task of clearing the rubble native history, restoring her true face, real facts and historical justice, true exploits and glory, forgotten and deliberately hidden heroes. And this is where the truly Russian patriotic game “Zarnitsa” can find new life and new, lively and interesting development.

And to spark interest, I’ll tell you about a small episode of our native history, which, at the whim of several generations of the elite, remains known only to a small circle of specialists and lovers of Russian history.

The year was 1572. For several years in a row, the Russian land has been torn by plague and famine. The plague was brought from Europe by “Aglitsky” trading people, but Russia, with its bathhouses and habit of cleanliness, quite successfully resisted it. But four consecutive lean years of famine took their toll - the plague wiped out almost three-quarters of the population. Almost everyone seemed to have died out. The Tatars drove young women and children into slavery, and killed everyone else. The south of the country was so deserted that, according to a contemporary, a Jewish money changer and slave buyer sitting on Perekop, observing the endless lines of captives, asked in amazement: “Are there still people left in that country?”

Those who still had the strength and means to move, by the spring of 1571, were drawn closer to Moscow, hoping to find bread, shelter and protection there from the endless raids of the Crimean Tatars, who were insolent before their eyes. But in May 1571, the Crimean Khan with 40 thousand troops, taking advantage of the betrayal of the boyars and the conspiracy with Poland, approached Moscow and did not take it by storm, but set it on fire. Sovereign Ivan IV Vasilyevich (not Grozny, he became Terrible no earlier than the 18th century) barely managed to carry off his legs and the remains of the treasury to Novgorod.

Moscow burned completely, tens of thousands of people died in the fire. There was no one left to protect her. On way back The Tatar army massacred 36 Russian cities, destroyed hundreds of thousands of Russian people, drove tens of thousands into captivity, where Jewish resellers sold them into slavery in Istanbul.

It seemed that nothing could save Rus' from dismemberment and ruin. It seemed as if the state no longer existed. The sovereign was forced to enter into humiliating negotiations with the Crimean Khan and promise him the Astrakhan Khanate in exchange for a respite from the raids. However, Khan Devlet I Giray no longer wanted the Astrakhan or Kazan Khanates; he boldly and boastfully wrote to the king that he was now only interested in his head and his throne. To top it off, the khan sent the king a dagger so that “Ivan would stab himself.”

In the summer of 1572, the khan again gathered an army of 120 thousand mounted warriors - Tatars and Nogais, 33 thousand Turks with artillery and 7 thousand Turkish Janissaries. The Khan was so confident of an easy and quick victory that even before the start of the campaign he gave away Russian lands and cities to his relatives, in-laws and close Murzas.
For the defense of Moscow, which had not yet been restored after last year’s fire, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich was able to gather the oprichnina and zemstvo troops numbering just over 20 thousand people, which in itself was a miracle. Exact lists of those who stood up under the command of Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky to defend the capital in the summer of 1572, numbering 20,034 people, and an unknown number of those who arrived from the Don to help the Cossacks of Mikhail Cherkashin (from two to three thousand people) have been preserved.

All this “border” army, armed with cannons and arquebuses, and the zemstvo with pitchforks, scythes and axes, stood on the Oka River in the area of ​​​​Kolomna and Serpukhov, 50 versts from Moscow.

On July 27, the Crimean-Turkish army approached the Oka and began crossing it in two places - near the village of Drakino (upstream of Serpukhov) and at the confluence of the Lopasni River into the Oka, at Senka Ford.

Here the enemy’s road was blocked by a detachment of 200 “children of the boyars” under the command of Ivan Shuisky. They were attacked by a 20,000-strong vanguard of the Crimean-Turkish army under the command of Murza Teberdei Bey. The enemies outnumbered the defenders of the crossing a hundredfold, despite this, none of the Russians ran. The waters of the Oka turned red from the spilled blood.

All 200 young warriors, the flower and hope of the Russian boyars, laid down their heads in battle at the crossing, holding back the onslaught of the enemy; many enemies fell under their blows.

The surviving remnant of Teberdei-Murza's detachment reached the Pakhra River (not far from modern Podolsk) and stood in anticipation of the main forces, cutting off all roads leading to Moscow. He was no longer capable of more, being pretty battered in the battle at Senka Ford.
In the battle of Drakin, the detachment of commander Divey-Murza defeated the regiment of governor Nikita Odoevsky, thereby opening a direct road to Moscow. Khan rushed to the capital. Prince Vorotynsky did not wait for the enemy to burn the city; he withdrew his troops from coastline and moved in pursuit.

The Crimean army was pretty stretched out. If its advanced units stood on the Pakhra River, then the rearguard was just approaching the village of Molodi (15 kilometers away), where on July 29 it was overtaken by an advanced detachment of Russian troops under the leadership of the young and brave oprichnina governor Dmitry Ivanovich Khvorostinin. A fierce battle broke out, as a result of which the Crimean rearguard was completely defeated.

Having learned about the defeat of his rearguard and fearing an attack from the rear, Khan Devlet Giray was forced to stop his breakthrough to Moscow and deploy his entire army. Khan decided to first defeat Vorotynsky’s army, which became an unexpected obstacle to the Crimean plans. Without its defeat, the Crimean ruler could not achieve his goal of destroying Rus'.

Dmitry Khvorostinin's detachment found himself face to face with the entire Crimean army. But, correctly assessing the situation, the young prince was not at a loss and with an imaginary retreat lured the enemy to the line of defensive structures, the so-called Walk-city, which by that time had already been deployed on the banks of the Rozhai River (now Rozhai), in which there was a large regiment under the command of Vorotynsky himself . A protracted battle began, for which the Tatars were not prepared.
For a couple of days, maneuver skirmishes took place in the area from Pakhra to Molodi. In them, Devlet Giray probed Vorotynsky’s positions, fearing the approach of troops from Moscow.

When it became clear that the Russian army had nowhere to wait for help, the khan attacked Gulyai-Gorod on July 31. The assault was repulsed; the Tatars, having suffered significant losses, were forced to retreat. Among others, the adviser was killed Crimean Khan Divey-Murza.
The next day, August 1, the attacks stopped, but the situation in the besieged camp was critical - many were wounded, supplies and water were almost gone.

On August 2, Devlet Giray again led his army to storm, regardless of losses, he decided to capture Gulyai-city at any cost, but the attack was again repulsed - the Crimean cavalry could not take the fortified position located on the hill. For this it was necessary to have a large number of infantry. And then the Crimean Khan made a decision that was unexpected for the steppe inhabitants - he ordered the cavalry to dismount and attack the Gulyai-city on foot together with the Janissaries. Having waited until the main forces of the Crimeans (including the Janissaries) were drawn into a bloody battle for Gulyai-Gorod, Voivode Vorotynsky quietly led out a large regiment, led it through a ravine and struck in the rear of the Tatar army. At the same time, Khvorostinin’s guardsmen also went on the attack from behind the walls of Gulyai-Gorod. Unable to withstand the double blow, the Crimeans and Turks, who were not used to fighting on foot, ran. Panic turned the formidable warriors into an uncontrollable, frightened herd. The battle turned into a regular massacre. The Russians pursued the remnants of the Tatars to the crossing of the Oka River, where their 5,000-strong rearguard guarding the crossing was completely destroyed.
By nightfall the carnage died down.

The losses among the Tatar army were enormous: all seven thousand Janissaries, most of the Tatar Murzas, as well as the son, grandson and son-in-law of Devlet Giray himself were killed. Many high Crimean dignitaries were captured. The remnants of the army were “accompanied” to the very border, mercilessly destroyed.

Of the 120 thousand army, no more than 10 thousand soldiers reached Crimea...
This is how Khan Devlet I Giray’s campaign against Rus' ended ingloriously.

As for the results of this battle, it was the last major battle between Russia and the Steppe. Crimea, having received a powerful blow at Molodi, was unable to recover from the defeat - the entire combat-ready male population of Crimea was destroyed.
Also, the Ottoman Murzas and Janissaries were almost completely destroyed.
The victory was hard won by the 5,000-strong oprichnina army under the command of Dmitry Khvorostinin. Almost no one was left alive.

In the fall of 1572, the oprichnina was officially abolished - all the oprichnina were killed in that unequal battle in the summer of 1572.

According to their own historical consequences, scale, and heroism of the victors, the Battle of Molodi is not only not inferior, but also significantly superior to many historical battles known to us, be it the Battle of Kulikovo or Borodino.

However, this battle has fallen out of our memory, and it is not in history books. But we must remember those to whom we owe our lives, what we are. The names of Vorotynsky, Khvorostinin, Shuisky, Cherkashin are not known to almost anyone in our country, except for a narrow circle of specialists. Low bow to you, our ancestors, for this greatest victory Russian spirit and Russian weapons!
In 2012, the 440th anniversary of that great battle and that great victory.
Also in 2012, the Rospatriotism Agency was created.

Tatiana Lukashonok,
Stavropol Territory, Pyatigorsk

On June 3, 1571, during the Great Crimean raid on Russian lands, the army of Khan Devlet-Girey broke through to Moscow. The Tatars plundered and burned the capital of the kingdom of Moscow, which burned out almost completely; only the Kremlin survived. Having taken large booty and the great army, the khan returned to Crimea.

In the spring of 1571, Devlet-Girey gathered a large army for a campaign against Rus'. The number of Tatar armies at that time could only be approximately indicated, since the steppe units were not particularly disciplined and could join or leave the main horde at any time. According to various estimates, from 60 to 120 thousand took part in this campaign, although the last figure indicated in the chronicle is considered exaggerated by historians.

The moment for the campaign was chosen very well - the main forces of the Russian kingdom at that moment were tied up by the Livonian War. As a result, the “coastal governors” on the Oka had at their disposal no more than 6 thousand warriors.

Initially, the Crimean Khan did not intend to go to Moscow at all, intending to limit himself to a raid on the Kozelsky places for plunder and capture. However, having received messages from defectors about the small number of Russian troops, Devlet-Girey changed his plans. His army bypassed the Serpukhov Oka fortifications from the west and, having forded the Ugra, flanked the small Russian border troops. After the defeat of the Russian vanguard, the Tatars rushed to Moscow, threatening to cut off the retreat routes to the north for the small Russian troops. Unable to stop the enemy’s advance, the governors retreated to the capital, where the surrounding population also fled. Meanwhile, Tsar Ivan IV himself left for Rostov.

Moving quickly, the khan approached Moscow on the shoulders of the retreating commanders, destroying the camp they had abandoned in a hurry near Kolomenskoye. On June 3, 1571, Crimean troops ravaged unprotected settlements and villages around Moscow, after which they set fire to the outskirts of the capital. Thanks to strong winds, the fire quickly spread throughout the city. Driven by the fire, citizens and refugees rushed to the northern gates of the capital. A crush arose at the gates and narrow streets, people “walked in three rows over each other’s heads, and the top ones crushed those who were under them.”

The Zemstvo army, instead of giving battle to the Tatars in the field or on the outskirts of the city, began to retreat to the center of Moscow and, mingling with the refugees, lost order; Voivode Prince Belsky died in a fire, suffocating in the cellar of his house. Within three hours, Moscow burned to the ground. The fire was so strong that even the Tatars themselves were prevented from plundering in the outskirts.

The regiment of governor Mikhail Vorotynsky, who settled in the Kremlin, managed to repulse all the Tatar attacks, and besieged stone fortress The khan did not dare when he heard about the approach of a large Russian army. The next day, the Tatars and Nogais with huge booty left along the Ryazan road to the steppe.

It is difficult for historians to accurately determine the number of dead and captured: figures range from 60 to 150 thousand taken into slavery and from 10 to 80 thousand killed during the Tatar attack on Moscow. The terrible devastation of Moscow is evidenced by the papal legate Possevino, who in 1580 numbered no more than 30 thousand people, although back in 1520 there were 41,500 houses and at least 100 thousand inhabitants in Moscow.

Having won such an impressive victory, Devlet-Girey demanded that the Russian Tsar give up Astrakhan and Kazan, otherwise threatening a new campaign. Stunned by the defeat, Ivan the Terrible replied in a reply message that he agreed to transfer Astrakhan under Crimean control, but refused to return Kazan to the Gireys. Confident in his military superiority, the khan did not make this “half-hearted” decision, which ultimately saved the Russian state from territorial losses.

Inspired by his success, Devlet-Girey put forward a plan for the complete defeat and subjugation of the Russian state, which found support from the Ottoman administration in Istanbul. And the very next year, a huge one hundred thousand Crimean-Turkish army again moved towards Moscow. However, this time he faced a stunning defeat at the Battle of Molodi from the 25,000-strong Russian army under the command of governor Mikhail Vorotynsky. This defeat negated all the previous successes of the Crimean Khan.

The Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey did not forget the slap in the face that he received from Tsar Ivan during Danila Adashev’s campaign against the Crimea. Khan prepared for a long time to strike back, but when he struck, the blow turned out to be irresistible. Having secured the support of the Turkish Sultan Selim II and the neutrality of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Devlet-Girey invaded Russian borders. The khan's main hope was, first of all, speed and surprise. Khan's intelligence played a big role here, since through traitors and defectors, Devlet-Girey was well aware of the difficulties that he faced at that moment. Russian state.

The Khan knew that famine had come to the country and an ulcer was raging, that Tsar Ivan was mercilessly dealing with the most intelligent commanders. A clear example here was the fate of Danila Adashev, since the storm of the Crimean Tatars laid his head on the chopping block. And the foreign policy situation was developing very well for Devlet-Girey. The Livonian War was in full swing, the best Russian regiments were fighting in the west, and the Crimean military leaders understood that there might not be a better moment for an invasion. In the spring of 1571, the khan led the Tumen to Moscow.

Having learned about the invasion, Russian governors I. D. Belsky, I. F. Mstislavsky and M. I. Vorotynsky began to withdraw their regiments to the Oka River in order to block the horde’s path to the capital at the natural water line, but did not have time to do this. With the help of traitors, Devlet-Girey bypassed the abatis line and crossed the Oka River near Kromy, where he was not expected. At this time, Ivan IV was in Serpukhov with the oprichnina army. The most reasonable action on his part was to rush to Moscow and organize the defense of the capital, but the sovereign did not do this. Either he did not believe in the combat effectiveness of his guardsmen, or he was simply frightened and panicked when he learned about the breakthrough of the horde.

Abandoning Moscow to the mercy of fate, the tsar ran to Alexandrov Sloboda, and from there to Yaroslavl. The capital found itself without an army, without a governor and without any protection at all, and Devlet-Girey was already only thirty miles away. But the governors managed to deploy the regiments from Kolomna and bring them to Moscow on May 23, before the horde arrived. Advance detachments of the Krymchaks appeared in the vicinity of the capital the next morning, and then the khan himself arrived and settled in the village of Kolomenskoye. In Moscow they were preparing for battle, but the governors made a grave tactical mistake - instead of meeting the enemy on the outskirts of the capital, they drove the troops into the Moscow outskirts, where there were full of refugees.

Ivan Belsky with the Great Regiment stood on Varlamovskaya Street, and Ivan Mstislavsky on Yakimovskaya. Mikhail Vorotynsky positioned his regiment on Tagansky Meadow, and Vasily Temkin and the guardsmen stood behind the Neglinnaya River. Devlet-Girey carefully studied the location of the Russian troops and drew the appropriate conclusions. He did not storm Moscow, but simply ordered the suburbs where the Russian troops were stationed to be set on fire, fortunately all the houses there were wooden. It flared so much that even the Crimeans were surprised. And then a whirlwind arose and the whole city turned into a huge bonfire.

The Russian army, with the exception of the Vorotynsky regiment, found itself in a fire trap. There was no talk of resisting the enemy; everyone, from the commanders to the simple warriors, thought only about their own salvation. The soldiers mixed with the residents of the settlement, the crowd poured into the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod to escape the fire. Prince Belsky lost command over the troops, galloped off to his courtyard and hid in the basement. Only on Tagansky Meadow, where the regiment of Prince Vorotynsky was stationed, cannon and squeak fire thundered, there the sovereign’s people repulsed the attacks of the Krymchaks. In other places, the Tatars tried to penetrate Moscow, but fire blocked their path. Three hours later, with the exception of the Kremlin, the city burned completely.

Seeing the scale of the disaster and the huge ashes instead of a prosperous city, Devlet-Girey did not even begin to storm the last stronghold of the Muscovites, realizing that his soldiers had nothing left to profit from. Khan led the horde to Crimea. An ambassador was sent to Ivan IV, who humiliated the tsar in every possible way and demanded that Astrakhan and Kazan be given back. The Emperor had already moved to Rostov, but was so frightened that he agreed to transfer Astrakhan to Devlet-Girey. Subsequently, Tsar Ivan began to look for the culprits of such a monstrous defeat, and since the governor Belsky suffocated from smoke in his own basement, the tsar placed all the blame on Mstislavsky and sent the boyar into disgrace.

(today is the 448th anniversary)

Detailed description:

The Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey (1551-1577) was known for his numerous military campaigns, mainly wars with the Russian state. He sought to restore the independence of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, conquered by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1552 and 1556. In the spring of 1571, Khan Devlet-Girey gathered a large army. According to various sources, it numbered from 40,000 to 120,000 thousand Crimean Horde and Nogai. The main forces of the Russian kingdom at that moment were tied up by the Livonian War, so the governors on the Oka had at their disposal no more than 6 thousand warriors. The Crimean Horde crossed the Oka, bypassing Serpukhov, where Ivan the Terrible stood with the oprichnina army, and rushed towards Moscow. On May 24, the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray himself with his main forces approached the outskirts of Moscow and set up a camp in the village of Kolomenskoye. Khan sent a 20,000-strong army to Moscow, ordering the city's outskirts to be set on fire. In three hours, the Russian capital was almost completely burned out. Devlet-Girey never entered the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, surrounded by stone walls. The regiment of governor Mikhail Vorotynsky repelled all attacks of the Crimeans. On May 25, Devlet Geray with the Tatar horde retreated from near the capital to the south in the direction of Kashira and Ryazan, disbanding part of his troops along the way to capture prisoners. As a result of the Moscow campaign, the Crimean Khan Devlet I received the nickname “Took the Throne”. Khan's people killed 60 thousand people in Russia and more than 150 thousand were taken into slavery. In subsequent years, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey did not personally raid Russian possessions. Only his sons, individual Crimean and Nogai Murzas with small forces attacked the Moscow outskirts.

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 serving science and culture. The last type included the famous art critic and ethnographer Sultan Khan Giray. The biography of this man, as well as the history of the Girey dynasty as a whole, will be the subject of our discussion.

Biography of Khan-Girey

Sultan Khan-Girey was born in 1808 on the territory of modern Adygea. He was the third son of a Crimean Tatar aristocrat who came from the khan's family - Mehmed Khan-Girey. In addition, Circassian blood flowed in the Sultan’s veins. Best qualities these two peoples are intertwined in it.

After reaching the age of 29, he participated in a number of wars Russian Empire, while holding an officer rank and commanding a separate unit. But in Caucasian War, which was tearing his homeland apart at that time, did not take part, although, of course, this tragic conflict resonated in his heart.

Khan-Girey wrote a number of works on ethnography, folklore and art history of the Circassian people, which gained worldwide fame. Among them are “Notes about Circassia” and “Circassian legends”. He is also the author of a series works of art. But most of his creations were published only after his death. Khan-Girey is also known as the compiler of the Adyghe alphabet.

Since 1841, he carried out active campaigning among the mountaineers (on behalf of Russian government) with the aim of reconciling them. However, his attempts ended in vain. Khan-Girey died at the age of 34, in 1842, in his small homeland.

This outstanding man left behind a son - Sultan Murat-Girey, born in the year of his father's death. But the contribution of Sultan Khan-Girey to the development of Adyghe culture and literature is priceless.

According to one version, it is in his honor that the Crimean Tatars want to rename Kherson Khan-Girey.

Let's find out who the ancestors of such an outstanding personality were.

Founding of a dynasty

The founder of the dynasty of rulers of Crimea was Hadji Giray. He came from the Tukatimurid family - one of the branches of the descendants of Genghis Khan. According to another version, the roots of the Girey dynasty came from the Mongolian Kirey family, and they were attributed to the Genghisids later in order to justify their right to power.

Hadji Giray was born around 1397 on the territory of modern Belarus, which at that time belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL).

During that period Golden Horde I wasn't worried better times, actually breaking up into several independent states. The power in Crimea, with the support of the Lithuanian prince, managed to capture Hadji Gireya in 1441. Thus, he became the founder of a dynasty that ruled in Crimea for almost 350 years.

At the origins of power

Mengli-Girey is the khan who laid the foundation for the power of the Crimean Khanate. He was the son of Hadji Giray, after whose death (in 1466) a power struggle broke out between the children.

Initially, the eldest son of Hadji-Girey, Nur-Devlet, became the khan. But Mengli-Girey decided to challenge this right. Several times during this internecine struggle, the Crimean Khanate changed its ruler. Moreover, if Nur-Devlet in its claims relied on the forces of the Golden Horde and Ottoman Empire, then Mengli relied on the local Crimean nobility. Later, another brother, Aider, joined the fight. In 1477, the throne was captured by Dzhanibek, who did not belong to the Girey dynasty at all.

Finally, in 1478, Mengli-Girey was able to finally defeat his rivals and establish himself in power. It was he who laid the foundations for the power of the Crimean Khanate. True, in the course of the struggle with other contenders, he had to recognize his state from the Ottoman Empire and give the south of Crimea, which his allies, the Genoese, colonized, to the direct control of the Turks.

The Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey entered into an alliance with the Moscow state against the Great Horde (heir to the Golden Horde) and Lithuania. In 1482, his troops ravaged Kyiv, which at that time belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Under him, the Crimean Tatars carried out massive predatory raids on the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of compliance with the treaty with Moscow. In 1502, Mengli-Girey finally destroyed the Great Horde.

Mengli-Girey died in 1515.

Further strengthening of the khan's power

The state was further strengthened by Mehmed-Girey, the khan who ruled after the death of Mengli-Girey and was his son. Unlike his father, from his youth he prepared to become a ruler, receiving the title - kalga, which corresponded to the title of crown prince. Mehmed-Girey led many campaigns and raids organized by Mengli-Girey.

By the time of his accession to the throne, he already held in his hands all the threads of government, so that his brothers’ attempts to rebel were doomed to failure.

In 1519, the Crimean Khanate strengthened significantly, as part of the Nogai Horde moved to its territory. This was caused by the fact that the Nogais were defeated by the Kazakhs, and they had to ask for asylum from Mehmed-Girey.

Under Mehmed there was a change of course foreign policy Crimean Khanate. After the Great Horde was defeated by his father, the need for an alliance with the Principality of Moscow disappeared, so Mehmed Giray Khan entered into an alliance with Lithuania against Rus'. It was under him that in 1521 the first major campaign of the Crimean Tatars against the Moscow Principality was organized.

Mehmed-Girey managed to place his brother Sahib-Girey on the throne of the Kazan Khanate, thereby extending his influence to the Middle Volga region. In 1522 he captured the Astrakhan Khanate. Thus, Mehmed-Girey 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 disbanded the army, which was taken advantage of by ill-wishers who organized a conspiracy against Mehmed-Girey and killed him in 1523.

The pinnacle of power

In the period from 1523 to 1551, the brothers and sons of Mehmed Giray ruled alternately. This time was full of intense struggle within the Crimean Khanate. But in 1551, Devlet-Girey, the son of Mubarek, who, in turn, was the offspring of Mengli-Girey, came to power. It was during his reign that the Crimean Khanate reached the peak of power.

Devlet-Girey is a Crimean Khan who became especially famous for his raids on the Russian state. His campaign of 1571 even culminated in the burning of Moscow.

Devlet-Girey was in power for 26 years and died in 1577.

Weakening of the Khanate

If the son of Devlet-Girey still managed to maintain the prestige of the Crimean Khanate, then under his successors the importance of the Tatar state in the international arena dropped significantly. Mehmed II himself was overthrown by the Turkish Sultan in 1584, and his brother Islyam-Girey was installed in his place. The following Crimean khans were unremarkable rulers, and in the state itself, unrest became a fairly common occurrence.

In 1648, Islyam-Girey III tried to enter the arena of big politics by concluding an alliance with the Zaporozhye Cossacks in the liberation war against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But this union soon fell apart, and the hetmanate became subject to 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-Kainardzhi peace, which ended 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 did not sit firmly on the throne. This is evidenced by the fact that in 1782 he was removed from the throne by his brother Bakhadyr-Girey, who came to power on the wave of a popular uprising. With the help of Russian troops, Shagin-Girey managed to regain the throne, but his further reign became a fiction, since he no longer had real power.

In 1783 this fiction was eliminated. Shagin-Girey signed the abdication of the throne, and the Crimean Khanate was annexed to the Russian Empire. Thus ended the period of Gireyev’s rule in Crimea. The only evidence of Shagin’s reign can now be the coins of Khan Girey, the image of which can be seen above.

After his abdication, Shagin-Girey first lived in Russia, but then moved to Turkey, where in 1787 he was executed by order of the Sultan.

Girey after losing power

Sultan Khan-Girey is not the only representative of the family who became widely known after the loss of the dynasty’s power over the 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.

Khan-Girey's cousin Sultan Davlet-Girey became the founder of the Adyghe theater. The latter’s brother, Sutan Krym-Girey, was the chairman of the cavalry division committee. Both were killed in 1918 by the Bolsheviks.

Currently, the title of Crimean Khan is nominally claimed by Jezzar Pamir-Girey, who lives in London.

The significance of the Girey family in world history

The Gireyev family left a noticeable mark on the history of Crimea, and world history in general. 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 is also remembered by the current generation of Crimean Tatars, associating this family with glorious times in the history of the people. No wonder they came up with the initiative to rename Kherson Khan-Girey.