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124-588: Giray may refer to: ‘Giray’ was used as a surname by all male members of the Crimean ruling house. Every ruler of the Crimean Khanate had the surname “Giray” except for Nur Devlet and possibly Hayder of Crimea . See Crimean Khanate In 1783, violating the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (which had guaranteed non-interference of both Russia and the Ottoman Empire in the affairs of

248-915: A Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language . They are referred to as Polovtsy in Rus', Cumans in Western and Kipchaks in Eastern sources. Related to the Pecheneg , they inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea and along the Volga River known as Cumania , from which the Cuman–Kipchaks meddled in

372-685: A Turkic "Qun" people came from the northern Chinese borders—"the land of Qitay" (possibly during a part of a migration from further east). After leaving the lands of the Khitans (possibly due to the Khitans' expansion ), the Qun entered the territory of the Śari people, whom the Quns expelled. Marwazi wrote that the Qun were Nestorian Christians . Golden surmised that these Quns might have sprung "from that same conglomeration of Mongolic peoples from which

496-662: A Cuman army under Togortok/Tugorkan and Boniak. Attacked again in 1094 by the Cumans, many Pechenegs were again slain. Some of the Pechenegs fled to Hungary, as the Cumans themselves would do a few decades later. In 1091/1092 the Cumans, under Kopulch, raided Transylvania and Hungary, moving to Bihor and getting as far as the Tisza and Timiș rivers. Loaded with goods and prisoners they then split into three groups, after which they were attacked and defeated by King Ladislaus I. In 1092,

620-485: A bey was called a beylik . Beys in the khanate were as important as the Polish Magnats . Directly to the khan belonged Cufut-Qale , Bakhchisaray , and Staryi Krym (Eski Qirim). The khan also possessed all the salt lakes and the villages around them, as well as the woods around the rivers Alma , Kacha, and Salgir . Part of his own estate included the wastelands with their newly created settlements. Part of

744-699: A claim to be the successor to the Golden Horde, which entailed asserting the right of rule over the Tatar khanates of the Caspian-Volga region, particularly the Kazan Khanate and Astrakhan Khanate . This claim pitted it against Muscovy for dominance in the region. A successful campaign by Devlet I Giray upon the Russian capital in 1571 culminated in the burning of Moscow , and he thereby gained

868-591: A complex relationship with Zaporozhian Cossacks who lived to the north of the khanate in modern Ukraine. The Cossacks provided a measure of protection against Tatar raids for Poland–Lithuania and received subsidies for their service. They also raided Crimean and Ottoman possessions in the region. At times Crimean Khanate made alliances with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Zaporizhian Sich . The assistance of İslâm III Giray during

992-533: A disastrous defeat in 1180; Elrut, Konchek's brother died in battle. In 1177, a Cuman army that was allied with Ryazan sacked six cities that belonged to the Berendei and Torkil . In 1183, the Rus' defeated a large Cuman army and captured Khan Kobiak (Kobek) as well as his sons and other notables. Subsequently, Khan Konchek concluded negotiations. Like his son Khan Köten , preceding the Mongol invasion, Khan Konchek

1116-400: A few Arab sources), while the name used in Rus' tended to be "Polovtsian". In Turkic languages qu , qun , qūn , quman or qoman means "pale, sallow, cream coloured", "pale yellow", or "yellowish grey". While it is normally assumed that the name referred to the Cumans' hair, Imre Baski—a prominent Turkologist —has suggested that it may have other origins, including: Observing that

1240-518: A joint expedition with the Pechenegs against Adrianople in 1078. During that same year the Cumans were also fighting the Rus' . The Russian Primary Chronicle mentions Yemek Cumans who were active in the region of Volga Bulgaria . The vast territory of the Cuman–Kipchak realm consisted of loosely connected tribal units that represented a dominant military force but were never politically united by

1364-585: A resistance against the relentlessly advancing Mongols led by Jebe and Subutai . The Mongols crossed the Caucasus mountains in pursuit of Muhammad II , the shah of the Khwarezmid Empire , and met and defeated the Cumans in Subcaucasia in 1220. The Cuman khans Danylo Kobiakovych and Yurii Konchakovych died in battle, while the other Cumans, commanded by Khan Köten , managed to get aid from

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1488-718: A reward, according to local folklore, for historic services rendered to an uluhane (first wife of a Khan). The capitation tax on Jews in Crimea was levied by the office of the uluhane in Bahçeseray. Much like the Christian population of Crimea, the Jews were actively involved in the slave trade. Both Christians and Jews also often redeemed Christian and Jewish captives of Tatar raids in Eastern Europe. The nomadic part of

1612-460: A strong central power; the khans acted on their own initiative. The Cuman–Kipchaks never established a state, instead forming a Cuman–Kipchak confederation ( Cumania /Desht-i Qipchaq/Zemlja Poloveckaja (Polovcian Land)/Pole Poloveckoe (Polovcian Plain)), which stretched from the Danube in the west to Taraz , Kazakhstan in the east. This was possibly due to their facing no prolonged threat before

1736-640: A war that would go on for 175 years. In 1068 at the Battle of the Alta River , the Cumans defeated the armies of the three sons of Yaroslav the Wise , Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev , Prince Sviatoslav of Chernigov , and Prince Vsevolod of Pereyaslavl . After the Cuman victory, they repeatedly invaded Kievan Rus', devastating the land and taking captives, who became either their slaves or were sold at markets in

1860-608: A year, however, as the Rus' had suffered from their raids for decades. But when news reached Kiev that the Mongols were marching along the Dniester River, the Rus' responded. Mstislav of Galich then arranged a council of war in Kiev, which was attended by Mstislav Romanovich , Prince Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal and Mstislav Svyatoslavich of Chernigov . The princes promised support to Khan Koten's Cumans and an alliance between

1984-705: Is a description of the land of Inner Cumania and parts of the land of Bulgaria." According to the 12th-century Jewish traveler Petachiah of Regensburg "they have no king, only princes and royal families". Cumans interacted with the Rus' principalities, Bulgaria , the Byzantine Empire , and the Wallachian states in the Balkans ; with Armenia and the Kingdom of Georgia (see Kipchaks in Georgia ) in

2108-451: Is attested in some medieval documents and is the best-known of the early Turkic languages . The Codex Cumanicus was a linguistic manual written to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cuman people. Cuman appears in ancient Roman texts as the name of a fortress or gate. The Roman natural philosopher Pliny the Elder (who lived in the 1st century AD), mentions "a fortress,

2232-400: Is green and grassy with no trees, nor hills, high or low ... there is no means of travelling in this desert except in wagons." The Persian historian Hamdallah Mustawfi (1281–1349) wrote that Cumania has a cold climate and that it has excellent pasturage and numerous cattle and horses. The 14th-century Travels of Sir John Mandeville , note that Cumania is one of the great kingdoms in

2356-581: Is the oldest memorial in the Crimean Tatar language and of great importance for the history of Kypchak and Oghuz dialects – as directly related to the Kipchaks of the Black Sea steppes and Crimea . There are legends that, in the 14th century, the Crimea was repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas broke the Tatar army in 1363 near

2480-637: The Polovtsy , derived from the Slavic root *polvъ "pale; light yellow; blonde". Polovtsy or Polovec is often said to be derived from the Old East Slavic polovŭ (половъ) "yellow; pale" by the Russians—all meaning "blond". The old Ukrainian word polovtsy (Пóловці), derived from polovo "straw"—means "blond, pale yellow". The western Cumans, or Polovtsy, were also called Sorochinetses by

2604-583: The Asen dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, or who were in Byzantine service. Cumans at that time also resettled in the Kingdom of Georgia and were Christianized. There they achieved prominent positions , helped Georgians to stop the advance of Seljuk Turks , and helped make Georgia the most powerful kingdom of the region (they were referred to as naqivchaqari). After the death of

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2728-810: The Balkans , the Cumans were in contact with all the statal entities. They fought with the Kingdom of Hungary, allied with the Bulgarians of the Second Bulgarian Empire (they were the empire's most effective military component) and with the Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire . A variant of the oldest Turkic chronicle, Oghuzname (The Oghuz Khan's Tale), mentions the Cumans fighting the Magyars, Rus', Romanians (Ulak), and Bashkirs , who had refused to submit to their authority. In alliance with

2852-547: The Black Sea and Constantinople , in turn leading Rus' to again attempt action. Offenses were halted during 1166–1169, when Grand prince Andrey Bogolyubsky , son of Khan Ayepa's daughter, took control of Kiev in 1169 and installed Gleb as his puppet. Gleb brought in "wild" Cumans as well as Oghuz and Berendei units. Later, the princes of the Principality of Chernigov attempted to use Khan Konchek's army against Kievan Rus' and Suzdal . This Chernigov-Cuman alliance suffered

2976-734: The Black Sea were nominally subject to the Crimean Khan. They were divided into the following groups: Budjak (from the Danube to the Dniester), Yedisan (from the Dniester to the Bug), Cemboylıq  [ crh ] (Bug to Crimea), Yedickul (north of Crimea) and Kuban . Internally, the khanate territory was divided among the beys, and beneath the beys were mirzas from noble families. The relationship of peasants or herdsmen to their mirzas

3100-556: The Bulgarians and Vlachs , the Cumans are believed to have played a significant role in the uprising led by brothers Asen and Peter of Tarnovo , resulting in victory over Byzantium and the restoration of Bulgaria's independence in 1185. István Vásáry states that without the active participation of the Cumans, the Vlakho-Bulgarian rebels could never have gained the upper hand over the Byzantines, and ultimately without

3224-631: The Carpathian Mountains and laid siege on Przemyśl, which prompted David Igorevich, an ally of Volodar Rostislavich, to persuade the Cumans, under Khan Boniak and Altunopa, to attack the Hungarians. The Hungarian army was soundly crushed by the Cumans; the Illuminated Chronicle mentions that "rarely did Hungarians suffer such slaughter as in this battle." In 1104 the Cumans were allied with Prince Volodar. In 1106,

3348-708: The Caucasus ; and with the Khwarezm Empire in Central Asia. The Cumans– Kipchaks constituted an important element and were closely associated with the Khwarazmian royal house via marital alliances. The Cumans were also active in commerce with traders from Central Asia to Venice . The Cumans had a commercial interest in Crimea , where they also took tribute from Crimean cities. A major area of commerce

3472-643: The Desht-i Kipchak (Kypchak Steppes of today's Ukraine and southern Russia) and decided to make Crimea their yurt (homeland). At that time, the Golden Horde of the Mongol empire had governed the Crimean peninsula as an ulus since 1239, with its capital at Qirim ( Staryi Krym ). The local separatists invited a Genghisid contender for the Golden Horde throne, Hacı Giray , to become their khan . Hacı Giray accepted their invitation and travelled from exile in Lithuania . He warred for independence against

3596-518: The Giray clan, which traced its right to rule to its descent from Genghis Khan . According to the tradition of the steppes, the ruler was legitimate only if he was of Genghisid royal descent (i.e. "ak süyek"). Although the Giray dynasty was the symbol of government, the khan actually governed with the participation of Qaraçı Beys , the leaders of the noble clans such as Şirin, Barın, Arğın, Qıpçaq, and in

3720-618: The Golden Horde Khanate, the Second Bulgarian Empire , the Kingdom of Serbia , the Kingdom of Hungary , Moldavia , the Kingdom of Georgia , the Byzantine Empire , the Empire of Nicaea , the Latin Empire , and Wallachia , with Cuman immigrants becoming integrated into each country's elite. The Cumans played a role in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Cuman and Kipchak tribes joined politically to create

3844-587: The Hypatian Codex , a certain individual is called Kuman , while in the parallel account of the Laurentian Codex he is called Kun (" Polovčinu menem Kunui" , Vásáry considers this a corruption of Kunu , Russian dative of Kun ). Even after the Cumans were no longer the dominant power in their territory, people still referred to the area as Cumania. The Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta (1304 – c. 1369), said of Cumania: "This wilderness

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3968-791: The Khmelnytsky Uprising in 1648 contributed greatly to the initial momentum of military successes for the Cossacks. The relationship with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was also exclusive, as it was the home dynasty of the Girays, who sought sanctuary in Lithuania in the 15th century before establishing themselves on the Crimean peninsula. In the middle of the 16th century, the Crimean Khanate asserted

4092-533: The Latin Crusaders . Cuman troops continued to be hired throughout the 13th and 14th century by both the Bulgarians and Byzantines. The Cumans who remained east and south of the Carpathian Mountains established a county named Cumania, which was a strong military base in an area consisting of parts of Moldavia and Wallachia . Like most other peoples of medieval Eastern Europe, the Cumans put up

4216-410: The Rus' —apparently derived from the Turkic sary chechle "yellow-haired". A similar etymology may have been at work in the name of the Śārī , who also migrated westward ahead of the Qun. However, according to O. Suleymenov polovtsy may come from a Slavic word for "blue-eyed", i.e. the Serbo-Croatian plȃv (пла̑в) means "blue", but this word also means "fair, blonde" and is a cognate of

4340-418: The Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) took place during the reign of Peter I (1682–1725). The Selim II Giray fountain, built in 1747, is considered one of the masterpieces of Crimean Khanate's hydraulic engineering designs and is still marveled in modern times. It consists of small ceramic pipes, boxed in an underground stone tunnel, stretching back to the spring source more than 20 metres (66 feet) away. It

4464-517: The Siberian Sağay dialect . Klyashtorny links Kipchak to qovï , qovuq "unfortunate, unlucky"; yet Golden sees a better match in qïv "good fortune" and adjectival suffix -čāq . Regardless, Golden notes that the ethnonym's original form and etymology "remain a matter of contention and speculation". Kievan Rus' , Mamluk , Hungarian , and Chinese sources preserved the names of many Cuman-Kupchak tribal groupings: Seven Cuman tribes eventually settled in Hungary, namely: Baskakov thought that

4588-426: The Temes river. King Ladislaus offered the Christianity for the Cuman survivors, the majority of them accepted, thus the king settled them in Jászság . The rumor of the losing battle reached the Cuman camp, the Cumans threatened King Ladislaus with revenge and demanded to free the Cuman prisoners. King Ladislaus marched to the Hungarian border to prevent the next invasion. The two armies clashed near Severin ,

4712-408: The endonym Cuman is unknown. It is also often unclear whether a particular name refers to the Cumans alone, or to both the Cumans and the Kipchaks , as the two tribes often lived side by side. Most other Turkic-speaking people (as well as most Muslim sources) called the Cumans some variant of "Qipchaqs", while Armenians called them "Xartesk'ns". Qumans were primarily used by Byzantine authors (and

4836-405: The vakif lands and their enormous revenues. Another Muslim official, appointed not by the clergy but the Ottoman sultan, was the kadıasker , the overseer of the khanate's judicial districts, each under jurisdiction of a kadi . In theory, kadis answered to the kadiaskers, but in practice they answered to the clan leaders and the khan. The kadis determined the day to day legal behavior of Muslims in

4960-417: The Armenian alphabet ), where it was preserved for centuries up to the modern day. The Cumans first encountered the Rus' in 1055, when they advanced towards the Rus' Pereyaslavl principality , but Prince Vsevolod reached an agreement with them thus avoiding a military confrontation. In 1061, however, the Cumans, under the chieftain Sokal, invaded and devastated the Pereyaslavl principality; this began

5084-427: The Crimea and probably saw him as her heir to the Crimean throne. In the sources of the 16th–18th centuries, the opinion according to which the separation of the Crimean Tatar state was raised to Tokhtamysh, and Canike was the most important figure in this process, completely prevailed. The Crimean Khanate originated in the early 15th century when certain clans of the Golden Horde Empire ceased their nomadic life in

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5208-433: The Crimea is considered Aran-Timur , the nephew of Batu Khan of the Golden Horde, who received this area from Mengu-Timur , and the first center of the Crimea was the ancient city Qırım (Solhat). This name then gradually spread to the entire Peninsula. The second center of Crimea was the valley adjacent to Qırq Yer and Bağçasaray . The multi-ethnic population of Crimea then consisted mainly of those who lived in

5332-447: The Crimea when the local population refused to pay tribute. An example is the well-known campaign of the Nogai Khan in 1299, which resulted in a number of Crimean cities suffering. As in other regions of the Horde, separatist tendencies soon began to manifest themselves in Crimea. In 1303, in Crimea, the most famous written monument of the Kypchak or Cuman language was created (named in Kypchak "tatar tili") – " Codex Cumanicus ", which

5456-399: 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

5580-463: The Crimea, inhabited mainly by Turkic peoples ( Cumans ), became the possession of Ulus Juchi , known as the Golden Horde or Ulu Ulus. In this era, the role of Turkic peoples increased. Around this time, the local Kipchaks took the name of Tatars ( tatarlar ). In the Horde period, the khans of the Golden Horde were the Supreme rulers of the Crimea, but their governors – Emirs – exercised direct control. The first formally recognized ruler in

5704-409: The Crimean Khanate did not decrease. These politico-economic losses led in turn to erosion of the khan's support among noble clans, and internal conflicts for power ensued. The Nogays, who provided a significant portion of the Crimean military forces, also took back their support from the khans towards the end of the empire. In the first half of the 17th century, Kalmyks formed the Kalmyk Khanate in

5828-428: The Crimean Khanate during the Chigirin Campaigns and the Crimean Campaigns . It was during the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739) that the Russians, under the command of Field-Marshal Münnich , penetrated the Crimean Peninsula itself, burning and destroying everything in it. More warfare ensued during the reign of Catherine II . The Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) resulted in the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji , which made

5952-428: The Crimean Khanate independent from the Ottoman Empire and aligned it with the Russian Empire . The rule of the last Crimean khan Şahin Giray was marked with increasing Russian influence and outbursts of violence from the khan administration towards internal opposition. On 8 April 1783, in violation of the treaty (after some parts of treaty had been already violated by Crimeans and Ottomans), Catherine II intervened in

6076-407: 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 London-based cartographer Herman Moll in a map of c. 1729 shows "Little Tartary" as including the Crimean peninsula and the steppe between Dnieper and Mius River as far north as the Dnieper bend and

6200-412: The Crimean Khanate were destroyed or left in ruins after the Russian invasion. Mosques, in particular were demolished or remade into Orthodox churches. The settled Crimean Tatars were engaged in trade, agriculture, and artisanry. Crimea was a center of wine, tobacco, and fruit cultivation. Bahçeseray kilims ( oriental rugs ) were exported to Poland , and knives made by Crimean Tatar artisans were deemed

6324-403: The Crimean Khanate), the Russian Empire annexed the khanate . Among the European powers, only France came out with an open protest against this act, due to the longstanding Franco-Ottoman alliance . The Crimean 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

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6448-465: The Crimean Tatars and all the Nogays were cattle breeders. Crimea had important trading ports where the goods arrived via the Silk Road were exported to the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Crimean Khanate had many large cities such as the capital Bahçeseray, Kezlev (Yevpatoria), Qarasu Bazar (Market on black water) and Aqmescit (White-mosque) having numerous hans ( caravansarais and merchant quarters), tanners, and mills. Many monuments constructed under

6572-409: The Crimean Tatars and the Ottomans was comparable to the Polish–Lithuanian union in its importance and durability. The Crimean cavalry became indispensable for the Ottomans' campaigns against Poland , Hungary , and Persia . In 1502, Meñli I Giray defeated the last khan of the Great Horde , which put an end to the Horde's claims on Crimea. The Khanate initially chose as its capital Salaçıq near

6696-599: The Crimean Tatars in the course of their raids: It seems that the position and everyday conditions of a slave depended largely on his/her owner. Some slaves indeed could spend the rest of their days doing exhausting labor: as the Crimean vizir (minister) Sefer Gazi Aga mentions in one of his letters, the slaves were often "a plough and a scythe" of their owners. Most terrible, perhaps, was the fate of those who became galley -slaves, whose sufferings were poeticized in many Ukrainian dumas (songs). ... Both female and male slaves were often used for sexual purposes. The Crimeans had

6820-430: The Cumans advanced into the Principality of Volhynia , but were repelled by Sviatopolk II . In 1114, the Cumans launched an invasion, from the western Romanian Plain, into the Byzantine Balkans once more. This was followed up by another incursion in 1123/1124. In 1135, the Cumans again invaded the Kingdom of Poland. During the second and third crusades, in 1147 and 1189, crusaders were attacked by Cumans, who were allied to

6944-433: The Cumans and incorporated into the Rus' border-guard system. Khan Boniak launched invasions on Kiev in 1096, 1097, 1105, and 1107. In 1096, Boniak attacked Kiev and burned down the princely palace in Berestove; he also plundered the Kievan Cave Monastery. Boniak was defeated near Lubny in 1107 by the forces of the Kievan Rus' princes. The Cumans led by Boniak crushed the Hungarian army led by Coloman in 1099 and seized

7068-469: The Cumans resumed their raids against the Rus' and also attacked the Kingdom of Poland : and reportedly reached northern cities located in Lithuania . In 1094-1095 the Cumans, led by Tugorkan, in support of the exiled Byzantine pretender Constantine Diogenes (as a pretext to plundering), invaded the Balkans and conquered the Byzantine province of Paristrion . The Cumans then advanced all the way to Adrianople and Anchialos but could not conquer them. In

7192-485: The Cumans were referred to as the "Blond Ones". As stated above, it is unknown whether the name Kipchak referred only to the Kipchaks proper, or to the Cumans as well. The two tribes eventually fused, lived together and probably exchanged weaponry, culture and languages; the Cumans encompassed the western half of the confederation, while the Kipchaks and (presumably) the Kangli/ Kankalis (possibly connected to three Pecheneg tribes known collectively as Kangars) encompassed

7316-406: The Cumans, it is 25 miles; this city is called Black Cumania. From the city of Black Cumania to the city of Tmutorakan (MaTlUqa), which is called White Cumania, it is 50 miles. White Cumania is a large inhabited city ... Indeed, in this fifth part of the seventh section there is the northern part of the land of Russia and the northern part of the land of Cumania ... In this sixth part there

7440-425: The Cumans, using the name χarteš , meaning "blond", "pale", "fair". It cannot be established whether the Cumans conquered the Kipchaks , if the Śari whom the Quns had defeated were to be identified as Kipchaks, or whether they simply represent the western mass of largely Kipchak-Turkic speaking tribes. The Quns and Śari (whom Czeglédy (1949:47-48,50) identifies with Yellow Uyghurs ) were possibly induced into

7564-413: The Cuman– Kipchaks as Yimek ~ Yemek. Potapov writes that: ... during the period from the end of the 800s to 1230 AD [the Cumans] spread their political influence in the broad steppes from Altai to Crimea and Danube . Irtysh with its adjoining steppes (at least below the lake Zaisan ) was in the sphere of that confederation. Members of the confederation undoubtedly also were the ancestors of

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7688-438: The Cuman–Kipchak confederation. ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) After the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237, many Cumans sought asylum in the Kingdom of Hungary , as many of them had already settled there in the previous decades. The Cumans also played an important role in the Second Bulgarian Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Nicaea Empire 's Anatolia . The Cuman language

7812-462: The Derbend. The other way is for to go from the city of Turkestan by Persia, and by that way be many journeys by desert. And the third way is that cometh from Comania and then to go by the Great Sea and by the kingdom of Abchaz ... After that, the Comanians that were in servage in Egypt, felt themselves that they were of great power, they chose them a soldan [sultan] amongst them, the which made him to be clept Melechsalan. And in his time entered into

7936-453: The Genoese colonies at Cembalo , Soldaia , and Caffa (modern Feodosiya). Thenceforth the khanate was a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultan enjoyed veto power over the selection of new Crimean khans. The Empire annexed the Crimean coast but recognized the legitimacy of the khanate rule of the steppes, as the khans were descendants of Genghis Khan . In 1475, the Ottomans imprisoned Meñli I Giray for three years for resisting

8060-416: The Horde from 1420 to 1441, in the end achieving success. But Hacı Giray then had to fight off internal rivals before he could ascend the throne of the khanate in 1449, after which he moved its capital to Qırq Yer (today part of Bahçeseray ). The khanate included the Crimean Peninsula (except the south and southwest coast and ports, controlled by the Republic of Genoa & Trebizond Empire ) as well as

8184-446: The Hungarian army was victorious, King Ladislaus killed Ákos, the Cuman chieftain. The Cumans initially managed to defeat the Grand Prince Vladimir II Monomakh of Kievan Rus' in 1093 at the Battle of the Stugna River , but they were defeated later by the combined forces of Rus principalities led by Monomakh and were forced out of the Rus' borders to the Caucasus. In these battles some Pecheneg and Oghuz groups were liberated from

8308-433: The Hungarian exonym for Cumans—i.e. Kun , Kunok —appeared as Cunus , Cuni in the chronicles and was applied to earlier nomads such as Pechenegs or Oghuzes , György Györffy derived Kun from Huns , instead of Qun , which he kept separate from Kun . However, István Vásáry rejected Györffy's hypothesis and contended that "the Hungarian name of the Cumans must go back to one of their self-appellations, i.e. to Qun ." In

8432-449: The Kayala river in 1185 but was defeated; this battle was immortalized in the Rus' epic poem The Tale of Igor's Campaign , and Alexander Borodin 's opera, Prince Igor . The dynamic pattern of attacks and counterattacks between the Rus' and the Cumans indicates that both rarely, if ever, were able to attain the unity needed to deal a fatal blow. The Cuman attacks on the Rus' often had Caucasian and Danubian European implications. In

8556-412: The Kimek union or took over said union and absorbed the Kimek. As a result, the Kipchaks presumably replaced the Kimeks as the union's dominant group, while the Quns gained ascendancy over the westernmost tribes and became Quman (though difficulties remain with the Qun-Cuman link and how Qun became Cuman, e.g. qun + man "the real Quns"? > * qumman > quman ?). Kimeks were still represented amongst

8680-438: The Lower Volga and under Ayuka Khan conducted many military expeditions against the Crimean Khanate and Nogays . By becoming an important ally and later part of the Russian Empire and taking an oath to protect its southeastern borders, the Kalmyk Khanate took an active part in all Russian war campaigns in the 17th and 18th centuries, providing up to 40,000 fully equipped horsemen. The united Russian and Ukrainian forces attacked

8804-428: The Moguty, Tatrany, Revugy, Shelьbiry, and Topchaki belonged to the Chorni Klobuky . The original homeland of the Cumans is unknown before their eventual settlement in the Eurasian steppe's western part. Chinese authors mentioned a Tiele tribe named 渾 ( Mand. Hún (< MC * ɦuon ), possibly a transcription of underlying * Qun ) located north of the Tuul River . The writings of al-Marwazi (c. 1120) state that

8928-422: The Mongol invasion, and it may have either prolonged their existence or quickened their destruction. Robert Wolff states that it was discipline and cohesion that permitted the Cuman–Kipchaks to conquer such a vast territory. Al-Idrīsī states that Cumania got its name from the city of Cumania; he wrote, "From the city of Khazaria to the city of Kirait is 25 miles. From there to Cumanie, which has given its name to

9052-594: The Ottoman Empire; instead the Ottomans paid them in return for their services of providing skilled outriders and frontline cavalry in their campaigns. Later on, Crimea lost power in this relationship as the result of a crisis in 1523, during the reign of Meñli's successor, Mehmed I Giray . He died that year and beginning with his successor, from 1524 on, Crimean khans were appointed by the Sultan. The alliance of

9176-485: The Qitañ sprang"; however, Golden later suggested that the Quns were Turkic . Despite this, it is possible that certain tribes forming a part of the Cuman–Kipchak conglomerate were of Mongolic origin. Golden considers the Ölberli to have originally been Mongolic-speaking and argues that they were pushed westwards as a result of socio-political changes among the Khitans. The Syrian historian Yaqut (1179–1229) also mentions

9300-691: The Qun in The Dictionary of Countries , where he notes that "(the sixth iqlim) begins where the meridian shadow of the equinox is seven, six-tenths, and one-sixth of one-tenth of a foot. Its end exceeds its beginning by only one foot. It begins in the homeland of the Qayi , Qun , Khirkhiz , Kimak , at- Tagazgaz , the lands of the Turkomans , Fārāb, and the country of the Khazars ." The Armenian historian, Matthew of Edessa (died 1144), also mentioned

9424-566: The Qırq Yer fortress. Later, the capital was moved a short distance to Bahçeseray , founded in 1532 by Sahib I Giray . Both Salaçıq and the Qırq Yer fortress today are part of the expanded city of Bahçeseray. The slave trade was the backbone of the economy of the Crimean Khanate. The Crimeans frequently mounted raids into the Danubian principalities , Poland–Lithuania , and Muscovy to enslave people whom they could capture; for each captive,

9548-423: The Rus' and Cumans was formed. It was decided that the Rus' and Cumans would move east to seek and destroy any Mongols they found. The Rus' princes then began mustering their armies and moved towards the rendezvous point. The army of the alliance of the Rus' and Cumans numbered around 80,000. When the alliance reached Pereyaslavl, they were met by a Mongol envoy that tried to persuade them not to fight. This as well as

9672-512: The Rus' princes. As the Mongols were approaching Russia , Khan Köten fled to the court of his son-in-law, Prince Mstislav the Bold of Galich , where he gave "numerous presents: horses, camels, buffaloes and girls. And he presented these gifts to them, and said the following, 'Today the Mongols took away our land and tomorrow they will come and take away yours'." The Cumans were ignored for almost

9796-599: The Slavic root *pȍlje "field" (cf. Polish, Russian pole ), which would therefore imply that Polovtsy were "men of the field" or "men of the steppe" in contrast to the Lipovtsi . In Germanic languages , the Cumans were called Folban , Vallani or Valwe —all derivatives of Proto-Germanic root * falwa- meaning "pale" (> English "fallow"). In the German account by Adam of Bremen , and in Matthaios of Edessa ,

9920-508: The Tatar cavalry suffered a significant loss against European and Russian armies with modern equipment. By the late 17th century, Russia became too strong for Crimean Khan to pillage and the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) outlawed further raids. The era of great slave raids in Russia and Ukraine was over, although brigands and Nogay raiders continued their attacks, and consequently Russian hatred of

10044-579: The Tatars seldom cultivated the soil themselves, with most of their land tilled by the Polish, Ruthenian, Russian, and Walachian (Moldavian) slaves." The Jewish population was concentrated in Çufut Kale ('Jewish Fortress'), a separate town near Bahçeseray that was the Khan's original capital. As with other minorities, they spoke a Turkic language. Crimean law granted them special financial and political rights as

10168-590: The Turkish pattern: the nobles' landholdings were proclaimed the domain of the khan and reorganized into qadılıqs (provinces governed by representatives of the khan). Crimean law was based on Tatar law, Islamic law, and, in limited matters, Ottoman law . The leader of the Muslim establishment was the mufti , who was selected from among the local Muslim clergy. His major duty was neither judicial nor theological, but financial. The mufti's administration controlled all of

10292-401: The above; cf. West Slavic Polish płowy , Eastern Slavic polovŭ , Russian polóvyj (поло́вый), Ukrainian polovýj (полови́й). Blonde individuals likely existed among the Kipchaks, yet anthropologically speaking the majority of Turkic peoples had East Asian admixture and generally Kimeks –Kipchaks were dark-haired and brown-eyed. An alternative etymology of Polovtsy is also possible:

10416-529: The adjacent steppe. The sons of Hacı I Giray contended against each other to succeed him. The Ottomans intervened and installed one of the sons, Meñli I Giray , on the throne. Menli I Giray, took the imperial title "Sovereign of Two Continents and Khan of Khans of Two Seas." In 1475 the Ottoman forces, under the command of Gedik Ahmet Pasha , conquered the Greek Principality of Theodoro and

10540-741: The aid of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh , was defeated on the banks of the Vorskla River by Tokhtamysh's rival Timur-Kutluk , on whose behalf the Horde was ruled by the Emir Edigei , and made peace. During the reign of Canike Hanım, Tokhtamysh's daughter, in Qırq-Or, she supported Hacı I Giray in the struggle against the descendants of Tokhtamysh , Kichi-Muhammada and Sayid Ahmad , who as well as Hacı Giray claimed full power in

10664-662: The area from (Great) Tartary – those areas of central and northern Asia inhabited by Turkic peoples or Tatars . The Khanate included the Crimean peninsula and the adjacent steppes, mostly corresponding to parts of South Ukraine between the Dnieper and the Donets rivers (i.e. including most of present-day Zaporizhzhia Oblast , left-Dnipro parts of Kherson Oblast , besides minor parts of southeastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and western Donetsk Oblast ). The territory controlled by

10788-672: The area pressed the Oghuz Turks to shift west, which in turn caused the Pechenegs to move to the west of the Dnieper River . Cuman and Rus' attacks contributed to the departure of the Oghuz from the steppes north of the Black Sea . Mahmud al-Kashgari , writing in 1076, says that in the east Cuman territory bordered a town near Talas . The Cumans first entered the Bugeac ( Bessarabia ) at some point around 1068–1078. They launched

10912-445: The art of warfare. Several conflicts occurred between Circassians and Crimean Tatars in the 18th century, with the former defeating an army of Khan Kaplan Giray and Ottoman auxiliaries in the battle of Kanzhal . The Turkish traveler writer Evliya Çelebi mentions the impact of Cossack raids from Azak upon the territories of the Crimean Khanate. These raids ruined trade routes and severely depopulated many important regions. By

11036-483: The best by the Caucasian tribes. Crimea was also renowned for manufacture of silk and honey. The slave trade (15th–17th century) of captured Ukrainians and Russians was one of the major sources of income for Crimean Tartar and Nogai nobility. In this process, known as harvesting the steppe , raiding parties would go out and capture, and then enslave the local Christian peasants living in the countryside. In spite of

11160-432: The capture of 20,000 Russian and Ruthenian slaves. Author and historian Brian Glyn Williams writes: Fisher estimates that in the sixteenth century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost around 20,000 individuals a year and that from 1474 to 1694, as many as a million Commonwealth citizens were carried off into Crimean slavery. Early modern sources are full of descriptions of sufferings of Christian slaves captured by

11284-634: The civil war, de facto annexing the whole peninsula as the Taurida Oblast . In 1787, Şahin Giray took refuge in the Ottoman Empire and was eventually executed, on Rhodes , by the Ottoman authorities for betrayal. The royal Giray family survives to this day. Through the 1792 Treaty of Jassy (Iaşi), the Russian frontier was extended to the Dniester River and the takeover of Yedisan was complete. The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest transferred Bessarabia to Russian control. All Khans were from

11408-506: The country of the kings of France Saint Louis, and fought with him; and [the soldan] took him and imprisoned him; and this [soldan] was slain by his own servants. And after, they chose another to be soldan, that they clept Tympieman; and he let deliver Saint Louis out of prison for a certain ransom. And after, one of these Comanians reigned, that hight [was called] Cachas, and slew Tympieman, for to be soldan; and made him be clept Melechmenes. In East Slavic languages and Polish, they are known as

11532-536: The dangers, Polish and Russian serfs were attracted to the freedom offered by the empty steppes of Ukraine . The slave raids entered Russian and Cossack folklore and many dumy were written elegising the victims' fates. This contributed to a hatred for the Khanate that transcended political or military concerns. But in fact, there were always small raids committed by both Tatars and Cossacks , in both directions. The last recorded major Crimean raid , before those in

11656-459: The eastern half. This confederation and their living together may have made it difficult for historians to write exclusively about either nation. The Kipchaks' folk-etymology posited that their name meant 'hollow tree'; according to them, inside a hollow tree, their original human ancestress gave birth to her son. Németh points to the Siberian qıpčaq "angry, quick-tempered" attested only in

11780-492: The following years, when knights of the First Crusade were passing through the empire, Byzantium offered the Cumans prestige titles and gifts in order to appease them; subsequently good relations ensued. From 1097 to 1099, Sviatopolk II of Kiev requested help from the Cumans against Coloman, King of Hungary , who was involved in a feud with Volodar of Peremyshl , Prince of Przemyśl . King Coloman and his army crossed

11904-647: The inhabitants of the Crimean Khanate in Crimean Tatar usually referred to their state as "Qırım yurtu, Crimean Yurt", which can be translated into English as "the country of Crimea" or "Crimean country". English-speaking writers during the 18th and early 19th centuries often called the territory of the Crimean Khanate and of the Lesser Nogai Horde Little Tartary (or subdivided it as Crim Tartary (also Krim Tartary ) and Kuban Tartary ). The name "Little Tartary" distinguished

12028-560: The invasion. After returning from captivity in Constantinople , he accepted the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, Ottoman sultans treated the khans more as allies than subjects. The khans continued to have a foreign policy independent from the Ottomans in the steppes of Little Tartary . The khans continued to mint coins and use their names in Friday prayers, two important signs of sovereignty. They did not pay tribute to

12152-415: The khan received a fixed share (savğa) of 10% or 20%. These campaigns by Crimean forces were either sefers ("sojourns"), officially declared military operations led by the khans themselves, or çapuls ("despoiling"), raids undertaken by groups of noblemen, sometimes illegally because they contravened treaties concluded by the khans with neighbouring rulers. For a long time, until the early 18th century,

12276-532: The khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, exporting about 2 million slaves from Russia and Poland–Lithuania over the period 1500–1700, mainly into Ottoman Empire, Caffa , an Ottoman city on Crimean peninsula (and thus not part of the Khanate), was one of the best known and significant trading ports and slave markets. In 1769, a last major Tatar raid resulted in

12400-614: The khanate. Substantial non-Muslim minorities – Greeks , Armenians , Crimean Goths , Adyghe (Circassians), Venetians , Genoese , Crimean Karaites and Qırımçaq Jews – lived principally in the cities, mostly in separate districts or suburbs. Under the millet system, they had their own religious and judicial institutions. They were subject to extra taxes in exchange for exemption from military service, living like Crimean Tatars and speaking dialects of Crimean Tatar. Mikhail Kizilov writes: "According to Marcin Broniewski (1578),

12524-535: The later period, Mansuroğlu and Sicavut. After the collapse of the Astrakhan Khanate in 1556, an important element of the Crimean Khanate were the Nogays , most of whom transferred their allegiance from Astrakhan to Crimea. Circassians (Atteghei) and Cossacks also occasionally played roles in Crimean politics, alternating their allegiance between the khan and the beys. The Nogay pastoral nomads north of

12648-529: The main khan's estates were the lands of the Kalga who was next in the line of succession of the khan's family. He usually administered the eastern portion of the peninsula. The Kalga was also Chief Commander of the Crimean Army in the absence of the Khan. The next administrative position, called Nureddin, was also assigned to the khan's family. He administered the western region of the peninsula. There also

12772-624: The military support of the Cumans, the process of Bulgarian restoration could never have been realized. The Cuman participation in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185 and thereafter brought about basic changes in the political and ethnic sphere of Bulgaria and the Balkans. The Cumans were allies in the Bulgarian–Latin Wars with emperor Kaloyan of Bulgaria . In 1205, at the Battle of Adrianople (1205) , 14,000 Cuman light cavalry contributed to Kaloyan's crushing victory over

12896-613: The mountain Circassians, and the tats and tavgachs, and The Kipchak steppe and all the Tatars" ( Crimean Tatar : Tañrı Tebareke ve Ta'alânıñ rahimi ve inayeti milen Uluğ Orda ve Uluğ Yurtnıñ ve taht-ı Qırım ve barça Noğaynıñ ve tağ ara Çerkaçnıñ ve Tat imilen Tavğaçnıñ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıñ ve barça Tatarnıñ uluğ padişahı , تنكرى تبرك و تعالينيڭ رحمى و عنايتى ميلان اولوغ اوردا و اولوغ يورتنيڭ و تخت قريم و بارچا نوغاينيڭ و طاغ ارا چركاچنيڭ و تاد يميلان طوگاچنيڭ و دشت قپچاقنيڭ و بارچا تاتارنيڭ يولوغ پادشاهى ). According to Oleksa Hayvoronsky,

13020-604: The mouth of the Dnieper, and then invaded the Crimea, devastated Chersonesos and seized valuable church objects there. There is a similar legend about his successor Vytautas , who in 1397 went on a Crimean campaign to Caffa and again destroyed Chersonesos. Vytautas is also known in Crimean history for giving refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and Belarus . In 1399 Vytautas, who came to

13144-590: The name of which is Cumania, erected for the purpose of preventing the passage of the innumerable tribes that lay beyond" while describing the "Gates of Caucasus" ( Derbent , or Darial Gorge ),. The Greek philosopher Strabo (died c. 24 AD) refers to the Darial Gorge (also known as the Iberian Gates or the Caucasian Gates) as Porta Caucasica and Porta Cumana . The original meaning of

13268-457: The other princes; all of them died." In 1089, Ladislaus I of Hungary defeated the Cumans after they attacked the Kingdom of Hungary . In 1091, the Pechenegs , a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the prairies of southwestern Eurasia , were decisively defeated as an independent force at the Battle of Levounion by the combined forces of a Byzantine army under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and

13392-668: The politics of the Caucasus and the Khwarazmian Empire . The Cumans were fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe who exerted an enduring influence on the medieval Balkans . They were numerous, culturally sophisticated, and militarily powerful. Many eventually settled west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Kievan Rus' , the Galicia–Volhynia Principality ,

13516-657: The present Kumandy [in Altai] and Teleuts, which is evidenced by their language that like the language of the Tobol-Irtysh and Baraba Tatars belongs to the Kypchak group . The Cumans entered the grasslands of the present-day southern Russian steppe in the 11th century AD and went on to assault the Byzantine Empire , the Kingdom of Hungary , the Principality of Pereyaslavl and Kievan Rus' . The Cumans' entry into

13640-544: The royal treasury. In 1109, Monomakh launched another raid against the Cumans and captured "1000 tents". In 1111, 1113, and 1116, further raids were launched against the Cumans and resulted in the liberation and incorporation of more Pecheneg and Oghuz tribes. During this time, the Cumans raided the Byzantine Empire and Volga Bulgaria . Volga Bulgaria was attacked again at a later stage, by Khan Ayepa, father-in-law of Grand Prince of Kiev Yuri Dolgorukiy , perhaps at his instigation. The Volga Bulgars in turn poisoned Ayepa "and

13764-529: The sobriquet, That Alğan (seizer of the throne). The following year, however, the Crimean Khanate lost access to the Volga once and for all due to its catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Molodi . Don Cossacks reached lower Don, Donets and Azov by the 1580s and thus became the north-eastern neighbours of the khanate. They attracted peasants, serfs and gentry fleeing internal conflicts, over-population and intensifying exploitation. Just as Zaporozhians protected

13888-645: The south. The most vulnerable regions were the Principality of Pereyaslavl, the Principality of Novgorod-Seversk and the Principality of Chernigov . The Cumans invaded and plundered the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1091. The invading Cumans were leading by chieftain Kapolcs, they broke first in Transylvania , then the territory between the Danube and Tisza rivers. The Cumans tried to leave Hungary with their huge booty and prisoners, but King Ladislaus I of Hungary reached and defeated them near

14012-648: The southern borders of the Commonwealth, Don Cossacks protected Muscovy and themselves attacked the khanate and Ottoman fortresses. Under the influence of the Crimean Tatars and of the Ottoman Empire , large numbers of Circassians converted to Islam . Circassian mercenaries and recruits played an important role in the khan's armies, khans often married Circassian women and it was a custom for young Crimean princes to spend time in Circassia training in

14136-547: The steppe and foothills of the Peninsula: Kipchaks (Cumans), Crimean Greeks , Crimean Goths , Alans , and Armenians , who lived mainly in cities and mountain villages. The Crimean nobility was mostly of both Kipchak and Horden origin. Horde rule for the peoples who inhabited the Crimean Peninsula was, in general, painful. The rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly organized punitive campaigns in

14260-653: The time Evliya Çelebi had arrived almost all the towns he visited were affected by the Cossack raids. In fact, the only place Evliya Çelebi considered safe from the Cossacks was the Ottoman fortress at Arabat . The 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 Tatars often returned from Ottoman campaigns without loot, and Ottoman subsidies were less likely for unsuccessful campaigns. Without sufficient guns,

14384-414: The upper Tor River (a tributary of the Donets ). The first known Turkic peoples appeared in Crimea in the 6th century, during the conquest of the Crimea by The Turkic Kaganate . In the 11th century, Cumans (Kipchaks) appeared in Crimea; they later became the ruling and state-forming people of the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate. In the middle of the 13th century, the northern steppe lands of

14508-566: The warlike Monomakh in 1125, Cumans returned to the steppe along the Rus' borders. Fighting resumed in 1128; Rus' sources mention that Sevinch, son of Khan Boniak , expressed the desire to plant his sword "in the Golden gate of Kiev", as his father had done before him. On 20 March 1155, Prince Gleb Yuryevich took Kiev with the help of a Cuman army under the Cuman prince Chemgura. By 1160 Cuman raids into Rus' had become an annual event. These attacks put pressure on Rus' and affected trade routes to

14632-426: The world, but it is not all inhabited. For at one of the parts there is so great cold that no man may dwell there; and in another part there is so great heat that no man may endure it ... And the principal city of Comania is clept [called] Sarak [Serai], that is one of the three ways for to go into India. But by that way, he may not pass no great multitude of people, but if it be in winter. And that passage men clepe

14756-486: Was a specifically assigned position for the khan's mother or sister — Ana-beim — which was similar to the Ottomans' valide sultan . The senior wife of the Khan carried a rank of Ulu-beim and was next in importance to the Nureddin. By the end of the khanate regional offices of the kaimakans , who administered smaller regions of the Crimean Khanate, were created. Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were

14880-466: Was not feudal . They were free and the Islamic law protected them from losing their rights. Apportioned by village, the land was worked in common and taxes were assigned to the whole village. The tax was one tenth of an agricultural product, one twentieth of a herd animal, and a variable amount of unpaid labor. During the reforms by the last khan Şahin Giray , the internal structure was changed following

15004-684: Was one of the finest sources of water in Bakhchisaray . One of the notable constructors of Crimean art and architecture was Qırım Giray , who in 1764 commissioned the fountain master Omer the Persian to construct the Bakhchisaray Fountain. The Bakhchisaray Fountain or Fountain of Tears is a real case of life imitating art. The fountain is known as the embodiment of love of one of the last Crimean Khans, Khan Qırım Giray for his young wife, and his grief after her early death. The Khan

15128-443: Was said to have fallen in love with a Polish girl in his harem . Despite his battle-hardened harshness, he was grievous and wept when she died, astonishing all those who knew him. He commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever. The nine regions outside of Qirim yurt (the peninsula) were: The peninsula itself was divided by the khan's family and several beys . An estate controlled by

15252-404: Was successful in creating a more cohesive force out of the many Cuman groups—he united the western and eastern Cuman–Kipchak tribes. Khan Konchek also changed the old Cuman system of government whereby rulership went to the most senior tribal leader; he instead passed it on to his son Koten. Igor Svyatoslavich , prince of the Principality of Novgorod-Seversk, attacked the Cumans in the vicinity of

15376-729: Was the ancient city of Sudak , which Ibn al-Air viewed as the "city of the Qifjaq from which (flow) their material possessions. It is on the Khazar Sea. Ships come to it bearing clothes. The Qifjiqs buy from them and sell them slaves. Burtas furs, beaver, squirrels..." Due to their political dominance, the Cuman language became Crimea's lingua franca . Thus the language was adopted by the Karaite Jewish and Crimean Armenian communities (who produced many documents written in Kipchak with

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