Kyrym city in the Crimean Khanate. Socio-political structure of the Crimean Khanate - stories on the history of the Crimea. Chechen line Gireev

But most of all, the khan, of course, cared about his own benefits. The Circassians, seeing the weakening of the power of the Crimean khans, began to refuse to pay them the "error tribute" by slaves. Meanwhile, another source of the khan's income - robberies and raids on Christian neighbors - was drying up due to the changed circumstances. Kaplan-Gerai, we have seen, has already paid for his excessively predatory plans against the Circassians; but that did not stop his successor from continuing what his predecessor had begun. At the beginning of 1132 (1720), he asked Porte for permission to raid the Circassians, which was given to him. The khan, together with a permit, was granted 8000 gurus from the sultan under the name of "expendable" - "kharjlyk", and an order was given to join the Tatar khan army with auxiliary forces from the Ottoman troops located within the Crimea. Khan, having received the authority to manage all Circassian affairs at his discretion, with a large army invaded Kabarda and spent about two years there. In a short Turkish essay on the "Crimean History" and Govordz it is said that Seadet-Geray was captured during this campaign and after his return from captivity was deposed; while in other sources there is not a word about the captivity of the khan. A comparatively more detailed story about this campaign of Seadet-Giray Khan is found in “ Brief history”, Although not quite agreeing with other sources. Sayyid-Muhammad-Riza, for example, says that the khan, upon his return to the capital, sent his son Salikh-Geray to save the rebellious Bakhty-Geray from his refuge and to place him in the Rumelian regions. But Salih's campaign was unsuccessful, and then the khan decided to move on his own; but also without any success and only in vain lost precious time: this was followed by unrest and turmoil in the Crimea itself, which entailed the overthrow of the khan, which Riza talks about in a flowery, verbose manner. In the end, the khan, seeing the total treason around him, left everything to the will of God, and he went to Porto, where he was renounced; the khanate was offered "with certain conditions" to Kaplan-Gerai, brought to Port, but he refused, and in 1137 (1724 - 1725) he was made Khan Mengly-Gerai-khan II.

Seyid-Muhammad-Riza calls the letter sent by the rebels to Seadet-Giray-khan "uncommon", and the slander they sent with the deputation in Porto "obscene and illiterate." In fact, this slander of the Crimeans can rather serve as a proof of their audacious arbitrariness than an exposure of the khan's abuse of power. The motives of their dissatisfaction with Seadet-Giray are seemingly too weak to serve as a sufficient basis for his overthrow. But every century and every nation has its own views on the moral obligations of a person in general and a ruler in particular. The historian Halim-Giray characterizes Seadet-Giray as follows: “He was famous for his generosity and mercy, but he was censured for his lack of courage and bravery. He was addicted to hunting and spent most of his time traveling through the steppes and meadows, doing, under the pretext of hunting, catching in the arms of gazelle-eyed beauties. V early years In his youth, he stood out from among his peers for his beautiful appearance and statuesque figure and, like a tsar's standard, stood tall among the people, and in the end, due to the obesity and massiveness of the body, as rumor was running, he could neither walk nor move. " This means that Seadet-Gerai-khan was a sybarite, which only teased the carnivorous appetite of the Tatar nobles, without giving them, however, the means to satisfy this appetite. This was his whole guilt before them.

The dignitaries of the Sublime Port have often secretly conferred on what to do in this case. Crimea needed a khan who, according to Seyid-Muhammad-Riza, could "extinguish the flames of turmoil that had flared up with the power of power and justice." There were two suitable candidates for the khanate - the retired Khan Kaplan-Gerai and his younger brother Mengly Geray-Sultan, who at one time was a kalga. At the beginning of 1137 (October 1724), the supreme vizier Ibrahim Pasha summoned them both to a council in the vicinity of Istanbul about measures to end the Crimean troubles. The great vizier and capudan Mustafa Pasha himself came to this council secretly, under the pretext of hunting. The Gerai brothers also kept strict incognito. Mengly-Giray captivated the great vizier with his sweet speech and was recommended to the padishah as a khans. At the end of Muharrem (mid-October), he was solemnly brought into the capital and, with the observance of well-known ceremonies, was promoted to khans. Other historians say that Kaplan-Gerai himself refused the khanate offered to him now, because he was already old, and he did not want to "stain the clothes of his integrity in the blood of the faithful." As for the secrecy with which the negotiations on the appointment of the new khan were conducted, then, presumably, it was necessary in view of the presence of the Crimean deputation in Istanbul, from which for the time being it was necessary to hide the considerations of the Porta.

Mengly Giray Khan II (1137 - 1143; 1724 - 1730), indeed, had, as it turned out, a whole plan in his head about bringing obstinate rebels into obedience: it was not for nothing that the great vizier liked his speeches. Seeing that nothing could be done with them either with the help of his khan's authority or open military force, the new khan took the path of cunning and deceit. In order to divert at first the eyes of the main leaders of the rioters, he approved them as if nothing had happened in their previous posts - Abdu-s-Samad in the post of kada-esker, Kemal-agu in the rank of first minister and Safa-Gerai in the rank of kalgi , having sent letters about this in front of himself to the Crimea, and then he appeared himself. Pretending to be affectionate to his opponents and indifferent to the people to whom he was disposed in his soul, Mengly-Gerai Khan scouted and recognized enemies and waited for an opportune moment to deal with them. Such a moment soon came in the form of a war that began at Porta with Persia. According to the sultan's firman, the khan had to send an army of ten thousand on a campaign against Persia. The khan sent a detachment of six thousand Tatars under the command of the Kalga Safa-Gerai, assigning such persons as Pursuk-Ali and Sultan-Ali-Murza to him, and in this way removed the troublemakers and instigators of unrest from the Crimea. He sent another equally dangerous person - Mustafa, who was in the position of sylyakhdar (squire) at Kemal-aga, to Circassia. With this dexterous maneuver, the khan managed to separate the rallied rebels and deal with them piece by piece. In the month of Zi-l-kade of 1137 (July - August 1725), the entire Tatar mob crossed the Bosphorus to the Anatolian side, received the usual gifts from the Turks and moved on to their destination.

In this case, attention is drawn to the fact that Porta, who had always been angry with the Crimean khans, if they did not personally lead their army, and looked askance at such a deviation from their primordial duty, did not even notice the khan's deviation from the established order. Changing circumstances forced her to provide more freedom of action to her vassal, if only he could keep the restless horde, which now often became a burden for her, in obedience. Moreover, this freedom should have been given to Mengly-Geray, because he entered the khanate with an independent program to pacify the region, and not at all as a simple executor of the instructions given to him by the Sultan, as reported by some historians.

Following the principle of divide et impera, Mengly-Giray II, having sent one part of the restless heads abroad, began to consider ways to finally tame those who remained at home. Mainly he wanted to tackle Hadji-Jan Timur-murza, who, according to the Ottoman historian Chelebi-zade-effendi, had been headstrong for forty years already, disobeying either the khan's authority or the orders of Porte and inflicting all kinds of oppression on his compatriots. To this end, the khan made a council of Kara-Kadir-Shah-murza, Murtaz-murza, Abu-s-Suud-effendi and other emirs and ulems who belonged to a party hostile to the formidable Jan-Timur. They decided that it was necessary to put an end to him, and even threatened that if the khan did not commit the proposed punishment, they would have to leave the Crimea and from there already fight their enemy. Dzhan-Timur, having learned through his detainees about the danger that threatened him, wrote a denunciation, accusing Kadir Shah and Murtaza Murza of rebellious plans. Khan sent him a shortcut, inviting him to Bakche-Saray and asking him to be pacified. At the same time, he invited the Kharatuk, Salgyr ayans and other nobles, called kapy-kulu, to the capital. At the meeting that took place in the khan's palace, Merdan-Hadji-Ali-aga, the sworn enemy of Dzhan-Timur, made a speech in which he proved all the incongruity of the actions of the Shirin murzas and the need to decisively curb them by force of arms, for which he proposed to the venerable members of the meeting, especially those who were among the kapa-khalkas (life guards), to demonstrate loyalty to the khan. The eloquence of the old minister had such a convincing effect on those present that they immediately swore an oath to follow his proposal. The meeting was also attended by the adherents and comrades of Dzhan-Timur - Kemal-aga, Er-murza, son of Porsuk-Aliagi Osman, brother of Kemal Osman and others from among the kapa-kulu. Foreseeing the possibility of their escape, the khan began to think about how to block their path. In the month of Zi-l-kade of 1138 (July 1726), Kadir-Shah and Jan-Timur with their armed adherents stood on both sides of Bakche-Saray. Khan ordered an ambush of selected archers so that they would capture and immediately kill the rebels when they arrived at the sofa by invitation. But Dzhan Timur, through spies and frivolous people, privy to the secret, found out about the trap that was being prepared for him and immediately fled; other like-minded people followed him. Kadir-Shah-murza with his accomplices rushed in pursuit. The Khan, counting on the possibility of capturing them at the Dnieper or Azov crossing, did not give his consent to an open battle in the narrow Bakche-Sarai valley, so that innocent people would not get it in this dump; but then, nevertheless, nourishing the desire to exterminate the opponents, he sent Merdan-Hadji-Ali-aga and Salih-murza, but they delayed. Dzhan-Timur crossed the Kazandib ferry and passed under the Azov fortress thanks to the assistance of the Azov janissaries.

P. SHUBINSKY

SKETCHES OF BUKHARA

Origin and lineage of the Mangyt dynasty. - Emir Mozafar-Eddin and his family. - The position of the Bukhara Khanate before the installation of Seid-Abdul-Akhat on its throne. - He is made emir. - Ceremony of accession to the throne. - The first reforms and transformations. - Emir's childhood and adolescence. - His life in Kermine and management of the bekstvo. - The exterior of Seid-Abdul-Akhat Khan. - His character, habits, lifestyle. - Family and harem. - The state of the emir. - The highest administration of the khanate. - Representatives of the clergy and the army. - Court staff. - The significance of the Russian political agency for Bukhara. - External relations of the emir.

Emir Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan - the seventh sovereign from the Mangyt dynasty ( The first ruler of Bukhara from the Mangyt house was Shah-Murad (1784-1802). He was succeeded by: Mir-Gaider (1802-1825); Hussein Khan and Omar Khan (1825-1826); Nasr-Ullah (1826-1860); Mozafar-Eddin (1860-1885)), established on the Bukhara throne after the death of Abul-Gazi, the last emir from the house of Ashtarkhanids, in 1795-1796 ( Vambery: "History of Bukhara", translated by Pavlovsky, St. Petersburg, 1873, vol. II), p. 120. Mirza-Shamsi-Bukhari: "Notes", Kazan, 1861, pr. I, pp. 41-42).

The Uzbek clan Mangyt and, in particular, its branch Tuk, have long been close to the supreme power and have actually ruled the country since the beginning of the 18th century ( The literal meaning of the word "Uzbek" is independent. Vambery: "History of Bukhara", vol. II, pr. II, p. 2. The word "mangyt" means a dense forest. Abul-Gazi: "Genealogy of the Turkic tribes", translated by Sablukov, Kazan, 1854, p. 27. The word "tuk" - a detachment of soldiers of 100 people. Marco Polo, translated by Shemyakin, Moscow, 1863, p. 184). In 1784, the energetic and talented representative of this clan, Shah-Murad, removes the weak and incapable Abul-Gazi from power and becomes the supreme ruler of the khanate. His son, Mir-Gaider, upon the death of Shah-Murad in 1802, takes the title of Emir. Emir Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan, now reigning in Bukhara, is the great-grandson of this sovereign.

The Mangyt dynasty traces its lineage along the male line from Uzbek, the ninth sovereign from the house of Juji, along the female line from Genghis Khan.

The Mangyts were brought to the shores of the Oxus by Chinggis Khan from the northeast of Mongolia at the beginning of the 13th century and, along with the Kungrats, were considered the bravest and most famous family of all Uzbek tribes that roamed within the Khiva Khanate. In the 16th century, Sheibani-Mohammed-khan summoned some of them to Bukhara, where he provided them with the Karshi steppes ( Vambery: "History of Bukhara", vol. II, p. 116). Currently, they roam partly in the vicinity of this city, partly in the Bukhara district ( Khanykov: "Description of the Bukhara Khanate", St. Petersburg, 1843, pp. 58-66). The Mangyt tribes remaining in Khiva inhabit the upper reaches of the left bank of the Syr Darya and are subject to the Khiva Khan.

Bukhara Uzbeks were originally a military-service class. Their political influence grew as the internal structure of the khanate weakened under the scepter of the weak and incompetent Ashtarkhanids. In the second half of the 18th century, it reaches its climax, and Shah-Murad already freely takes possession of the ancient throne of Transoxania; having married, then, the granddaughter of the emir Abul-Feiz-khan ( Abul-Feiz-khan reigned in Bukhara from 1705-1747. He was killed by his rebellious minister Rakhim-Bi, who seized the supreme power and exterminated all direct descendants of Abul-Feiz. Mirza-Shamsi-Bukhari, ave. VIII, pp. 55-58. The last emir from the house of Ashtarkhanids, Abul-Gazi, was a great-nephew of Abul-Feiz), Shems-Banu-Aim ( Malcolm and Izetullah consider her the daughter of Abul-Feiz, and the former gives her the name Yelduz-Begum. We give preference to the information about it in the article Grebenkina: "Genealogy of the Mangyt dynasty" ("Yearbook of the Turkestan Territory", issue III, pp. 338-339)), the last representative of the Ashtarkhanid clan, he legitimizes the supreme power seized by him and the rights of the dynasty he founded to the throne of the Genghisids ( The Ashtarkhanids were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. At the same time, they came from the Astrakhan khans expelled from Russia. Vambery: "History of Bukhara", vol. II, pp. 67-69).

Emir Seyid-Abdul-Akhat-khan was born in Kermin in 1857. He was the fourth son of Emir Seyid-Mozafar-Eddin, who died in Bukhara on October 31st, 1885. The mother of the emir, a Persian woman of slaves, named Shamshat, was distinguished by a rare mind and was the beloved wife of Mozafar-Eddin. She died in Kermin in 1879, living with her son, whom she almost did not leave since his appointment as a bek in this city. In addition to her son, she had one daughter, Saliha, whom Mozafar-Eddin married off to his nephew Amand-Ullah.

It is known that the late Mozafar-Eddin was a great admirer of female beauty. Enjoying the dual rights of a Muslim and a Central Asian ruler, he had, in addition to four legitimate wives, an extensive harem of 150-200 women. His eldest wife was the daughter of the Shakhrisabz bey, Daniar-atalyk, but he had no children from her. From other wives, he had the following offspring ( Information about the family of Emir Mozafar-Eddin was necessarily communicated to us by the cousin of the Emir of Bukhara living in Tashkent, Mir-Seid-Akhat-khan): Katy-Tyura-Abdul-Malik, born of one of the four legal wives of the emir, a Persian woman named Hasa-Zumrat, born in 1848; Seid-Nur-Eddin, a former bek of Chardzhuysky, was born in 1851, died in the late seventies; Seyid-Abdul-Mummin, born in 1852, was appointed Gissor bek during the life of Mozafar-Eddin; Seid-Abdul-Akhat, dissatisfied with his management of the bekstvo, transferred him in 1886, first to Boysun, and then recalled him to Bukhara, where he now lives with his family; Seyid-Abdul-Fettah, born in 1857, died shortly after his trip to Petersburg, to present to the late Emperor, in 1869; Seid-Abdul-Sammad, bey Chirakchinsky; Seyid-Sadyk, the late emir was appointed bek of the Charjui after the death of Nur-Eddin; upon accession to the throne, Abdul-Akhata was recalled to Bukhara, where he now resides; Seid-Akram, Bek of Guzar; Seid-Mir-Mansur, born in 1863, lieutenant of the 3rd Dragoon Sumy regiment, serves and lives in Moscow. In addition, the late emir had several sons who died during his lifetime and did not leave historical memories of themselves in the Bukhara people.

The order of succession to the throne is not exactly established by the Bukharian laws. Each ruler of Bukhara can bequeath his throne to the "most worthy", but usually the emirs passed it on to their eldest sons, who, even during their lifetime, bear the title of kati-tyur, which is equivalent to the title of heir.

The circumstances that caused the expulsion of Abdul-Malik from the country of the katy-tyur are well known, and we will not reproduce them in full detail, reminding only the reader that this Bukhara prince was striving to seize the throne during his father's lifetime. In 1868, when the troops of Mozafar-Eddin were finally defeated by the Russians in the battle of Zera-Bulak and the whole country rebelled against him, Abdul-Malik, incited by the fanatical clergy and the British, who promised him help with arms and money, openly became the head of the rebellion and with the troops remaining in Bukhara, he opposes his father, who at this critical moment turns for help to his recent enemies, the Russians, with whom he has just made peace. This help was immediately given to him, and General Abramov, having scattered the troops of the katy-tyur in clashes at Jama and Karshi, forced him to flee first to Khiva, and then to India, where he still lives in Peshaver, retired from the British government ( Vamberi for some reason considers him dead ("History of Bukhara", vol. II, p. 195). Meanwhile, Abdul-Malik, according to official and private information, is in full health, living luxuriously in Peshaver, on a large subsidy given to him by the British.).

The offended and angry father forever deprives Abdul-Malik of the rights to the Bukhara throne and proposes to appoint his third son, Nur-Eddin, the Charjui Bek, as heir, but this clever and talented prince soon dies. The same fate befell the young Abdul-Fettakh, whom Mozafar-Eddin predicted to be his heir, sending him to Russia in 1869 to present to Emperor Alexander II, whom he intended to ask for Abdul-Fettakh's approval in the title of kati-tyur during his lifetime. ("Russian Invalid", 1869, No. 116, 125 and 128).

Having lost these two sons, the emir transfers the rights to the Bukhara throne to his fifth and beloved son, Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan. In 1883 he sent him to Russia to be presented to Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich and to attend the sacred coronation. At the same time, the emir asks for the approval of Seid-Abdul-Akhat by Russia as the heir to the Bukhara Khanate. The sovereign emperor was pleased to fulfill the request of the emir, and the young prince takes to Bukhara strong guarantees of his future power, leaving pleasant memories everywhere in Russian society, created by his simplicity, intelligence and beautiful appearance. ("New Time", 1883, No. 2637; "Government Bulletin", 1887, No. 89, etc.).

In the summer of 1885, Mozafar-Eddin was in Karshi, where he fell ill with an epidemic paint fever. In the autumn of the same year, he moved to Bukhara, where the disease intensified, and on October 31, at dawn, he died at the age of 62. Mozafar-Eddin spent the last days of his life in his favorite country palace Shire-Badan. But the emir's close associates, and at the head of their 72-year-old kush-bei Mulla-Mehmed-Biy, foreseeing the imminent death of their ruler and fearing popular unrest, at night transported him to the palace, to the citadel of Bukhara, where he actually died.

In the same form, the death of Mozafar-Eddin was hidden from the people until the arrival of Seyid-Abdul-Akhat-khan from Kermine, for whom one of the most devoted to him Mirahurs was immediately sent.

Until the arrival of the new emir, no one entered the room where the body of the late Mozafar-Eddin was located, except for Kush-Begi and his son Mukhamet-Sherif-Divan-Begi, who from time to time gave various orders on behalf of the Emir, as if still alive ...

Having received the news of the death of his father, Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan immediately left Kermine, accompanied by 1,000 nukers, and on the morning of November 1 he was already in the village of Bogaeddin, the resting place of the famous Central Asian saint Bogaeddin-Khodja, located at a distance from Bukhara by distance of 8 versts. After performing a prayer service at the saint's grave and distributing alms, he, accompanied by a huge retinue of Bukhara dignitaries, an army, accompanied by a huge crowd of people, solemnly entered Bukhara.

On the same day, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the body of Mozafar-Eddin was buried in the Khazret-Imla cemetery, where the entire clan of the Mangyt dynasty was buried.

On November 4, Seid-Abdul-Akhat ascended the Bukhara throne. This ceremony, which combines in itself, at the same time, the coronation, consists in the fact that in the throne room of the ancient Bukhara castle on the Registan, with the meeting of all the courtiers, military, spiritual and civil officials in Bukhara, the highest representatives of the Uzbek families, government and the clergy solemnly sit the new emir on a white felt, spread at the foot of the throne, and, raising the felt, they lower it, together with the emir, onto the throne, which is a large, smoothly polished, gray-bluish marble stone, with three steps leading to it, covered with seven covers of expensive Bukhara and Indian fabrics ( This ceremony has been established since the time of Rahim-Bi, who forcibly seized power after the assassination of Abul-Feiz. Former emirs of Bukhara performed their coronation in Samarkand, ascending the famous throne of Timur-kok-tash. Residents of Samarkand refused to let Rakhim-Bi into the city. To complete the coronation, he, on the advice of those close to him and as a well-born Uzbek himself, adopted a purely Uzbek work as the symbol of coronation, which constitutes the most necessary item in their everyday life - a mat, and to indicate the purity of his intentions, origin and wealth of the clan, a white mat was chosen. The coronation ceremony was performed by Uzbeks, similar to the one just described. Grebenkin: "Genealogy of the Mangyt dynasty" ("Yearbook of the Turkestan Territory", issue III, p. 337). Mirza-Shamsi-Bukhari("Notes", p. 2) says that Mir-Haider, upon accession to the throne, placed a crown on his head, decorated with precious stones, but this was not fulfilled when Seid-Abdul-Akhat Khan was crowned).

Then greetings are pronounced, after which those present swear allegiance to the emir, alternately kissing his hand, which, as a sign of humility and eternal obedience, they apply to their forehead and eyes. The first is the Khoja-kalyan (head of the clergy), the second is the nakib (the next spiritual rank), the third is the kush-bei, the fourth is the sofa-bei, etc. This rite of oath is called dastbeigat.

After that, the emir retires to the inner chambers, and sugar is distributed to those present, and they go home. ("Government Gazette", 1887, No. 89).

The accession to the throne of the new emir was accompanied by a number of festivities arranged for the people, and the usual distribution of gifts, consisting of expensive robes, horses, etc., to the emir's close associates, clergy, troops and officials.

Emir Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan entered the Bukhara throne with the broadest plans for reforms and transformations that he intended to introduce in the country of his ancestors. He was still, apparently, at that time under the influence of the impressions he made from his trip to Russia, and could not help but realize that the state and social structure of his fatherland was a complete anachronism among the European civilization that had swept over him from all sides.

The state of affairs in the khanate, at the time of the establishment of Seid-Abdul-Akhat on its throne, seemed really serious. The late Emir Mozafar-Eddin, despite his peculiar intelligence and rare insight, was a representative of the old, obsolete, Islamic hierarchical regime that stubbornly defended the country from any innovations in the spirit of the times. The spiritual life of the people was entirely guided by the fanatical clergy, who also took over the upbringing and education of youth and the judiciary, deciding all cases on the basis of the decrees of the Alkoran and Sharia. Carrying out any reforms through legislation was extremely difficult, since any new law, even the most insignificant, was at odds with the holy books of Islam, causing a heated protest from the clergy and the conservative party in solidarity with him.

Along with this, the theft and covetousness of the administration were carried to the highest degree. Only those officials who did not want to take from the people did not take. There was almost no actual control over the actions of the administration, and it could not be successfully applied in practice, since the emir would have to choose controlling persons from the same class of sepoys, closely united and inspired by one common idea, which was a properly organized and created a historically strong system of bribery, extortion and embezzlement.

Meanwhile, a number of wars waged during the first period of the reign of Mozafar-Eddin significantly undermined the economic well-being of the country. The Bukhara people became poorer every day, trade fell, and whole regions were emptied, being abandoned by residents who emigrated to the borders of Russian Turkestan, to Kashgaria, Avganistan, or simply abandoned their lands, moving to cities where they were the first pioneers of the people's proletariat emerging in the country. ...

Along with this, Bukhara became a stronghold for the emigration from Russian Turkestan of all harmful elements of society, in the form of fanatical clergy and dervism, who did not want to come to terms with the new order of things, as well as the remnants of the Bukhara and Kokand army and khan officials, who new order left no room. All this rabble, having cleansed Russian Turkestan, reached out to the sacred Bukhara, which hospitably opened its gates for him, at the same time depressing the country with the maintenance of thousands of unproductive and restless parasites.

The slave trade flourished in Bukhara, along with a system of all kinds of administrative and judicial abuses, arbitrariness, denunciations, torture and brutal executions.

The family of the late emir was at odds with each other, expecting only his death in order to start a whole series of intrigues and civil strife, which could only be prevented by the powerful influence of Russia, and the pearl of the Bukhara possessions, Shakhrisyabz, threatened with deposition, openly expressing a desire to better transfer to Russian citizenship than to be subjected to ruinous and oppressive regime.

Crushed, robbed and turned into some kind of beast of burden, the people murmured dully. Agriculture, industry and trade, which once brought colossal benefits, fell every day. Everyone was in a hurry to hide their wealth from the predatory gaze of the khan's officials, or moved to other countries, taking with them their wealth. Only the clergy and the administration in solidarity with him triumphed everywhere, being quite sure that in the person of Emir Mozafar-Eddin they have a powerful bulwark against the hated innovations imposed by Russian civilization.

This was the state of affairs in the country when the 28-year-old Seid-Abdul-Akhat Khan ascended the throne.

Undoubtedly, the position of the young emir, like that of the whole country, was extremely serious. Seid-Abdul-Akhat could not help but realize that Russia's powerful support was provided to him not with a platonic goal, and that, pursuing its civilizing task in the Far East, the northern colossus would require from him a number of broad reforms and transformations in favor of the people and ordering economic and administrative situation of the country.

At the point diametrically opposed to these requirements were the fanatical clergy and the conservative old Bukhara Uzbek party, which sought to consolidate the existing order of things and even dreamed of restoring the khanate within its former borders.

Numerous relatives of the emir, almost without exception, were hostile to him, dissatisfied with his rise in addition to his older brothers. The Hissar and Chardzhu beks secretly worried the people, spreading sensational rumors, and the former katy-tyur Abdul-Malik was expecting only an opportunity to invade the country and raise the banner of rebellion against his younger brother, whom he considered a kidnapper of power.

For all that, the young emir with a firm hand takes the helm of the government and in a short time manages to restore relative order and tranquility in the country.

The first law that he issues after his accession to the throne was the law on the emancipation of slaves and on the abolition of slavery in the Bukhara dominions forever.

Without a doubt, this law, which returned freedom and human rights to tens of thousands of slaves, mainly from Persians, was an extremely bold measure in relation to the privileged classes of the khanate, who saw in it an act of constraining their age-old, Islamic rights and undermining economic well-being ( Slavery has existed in Transoxania since ancient times. It especially intensified since the beginning of the 17th century, when the slavery of the Shiites was officially sanctioned by the fatwa of Mullah Shemsetdin-Mahomet in Herat, during the reign of Sultan Hussein-Baikero, in 1611. ( Vambery: "Travel in Central Asia", St. Petersburg, 1865, p. 213; Veselovsky: "Russian slaves in the Central Asian khanates", Materials for the description of the Khiva campaign of 1873, vol. III, pp. 1-4)).

By this measure, Seid-Abdul-Akhat created very important difficulties for himself, for a significant part of the Bukhara army and almost the entire staff of small court officials and palace servants consisted of slaves. Having received freedom, all these people hastened to return to their homeland, and in their place it was necessary to recruit unknown hired people, the maintenance of which caused new significant costs.

The next reform of the emir was the reduction of the staff of the Bukhara army, which he brought to 13 thousand ( The staff of the Bukhara army currently consists of 13 infantry battalions of 1,000 people each, 800 artillerymen with 155 guns, 2,000 irregular cavalry and one cavalry 4-hundredth regiment. The infantry is kept in a reduced composition, as a result of which the total number of the army does not exceed 13,000 people).

In 1886, Seid-Abdul-Akhat issued a decree on the destruction of zindans (underground bug prisons) throughout the khanate.

This was followed by the abolition of torture, and the use of the death penalty was limited to cases of extreme necessity.

In the fall of 1886, at the request and request of the emir, a Russian political agency was established in the city of Bukhara. Seid-Abdul-Akhat placed at the disposal of the agency one of the best state buildings in the city of Bukhara, and at his insistence, all the maintenance of the agency house, servants and the Cossack convoy before our mission moved to the embassy house rebuilt in 1891 was made from the khan's treasury. Apparently, the emir was extremely pleased with the settlement in his capital of a representative of the imperial government, which greatly facilitated relations between Bukhara and Russia on political, commercial and other matters. The entry of our agent Mr. Charykov into the capital of the khanate was furnished with extraordinary pomp, and soon the best relations were established between him and the emir.

Seid-Abdul-Akhat, highly appreciating the patronage given to him by the sovereign emperor, has repeatedly stated that he considers the sovereign father of the Russian people his second father, and Russia his second fatherland. These words became the slogan of his domestic and foreign policy towards Russia, apparently quite sincere and cordial.

Soon after his accession to the throne, the emir issued a number of decrees with the aim of raising public morality. Opium use, ours and kunara ( The use of these narcotic-hypnotic substances is in great use in Central Asia and especially in Bukhara. The effects of opium are well known. As for ours and kunar, they produce the same sensation as hashish. These harmful substances found distribution in Central Asia since ancient times. Already in 1091, the famous Old Man of the Mountain (Ghassan-ben-Ali), the founder of the Assassin dynasty in the Rudbar mountains, Lebanon and Syria, used them as an auxiliary means to achieve his political goals. Subsequently, the dervishty spread these substances throughout Turkestan. ( Marco Polo, pp. 97-100)) was strictly prohibited, as well as public dances of bachey, obscene pantomimes, and so on. The severity of laws punishing the sale of wives, bribery, extortion, and so on was doubled. The emir tried with all his might to wean officials and other officials from extortion from the people and extortion, mercilessly replacing them from their posts and punishing the guilty.

In pursuit of this latter task, he changed the system of the zaket collection, and in order to encourage trade, he significantly lowered customs duties on the import and export of goods.

At the same time, the emir makes an attempt to emancipate a woman in his country, setting an example for this by arranging several holidays in his palace, to which senior officers and officials of the capital were invited along with their wives. At the same time, he simplifies the shy court etiquette, trying to change it in relation to what he saw in St. Petersburg and Moscow during his coronation trip. Both of these measures, however, are met with a heated protest from the clergy and courtiers surrounding the emir, causing sensational rumors among the people, which force Seid-Abdul-Akhat to abandon further attempts in this direction.

At present, as we have heard, the emir is busy with the project of constructing a grandiose irrigation canal from the Amu Darya, in order to irrigate the barren steppes of the northwestern part of the khanate. These works, according to the estimates of the engineers who carried out the survey, will cost up to 6,000,000 rubles, but their benefits for the people will be colossal, since water in Central Asia is everything. The emir makes the opening of these works dependent on his trip to Petersburg, which, according to rumors, he intends to undertake in a short time.

We are far from thinking of writing a laudatory eulogy on the activities of Seyid-Abdul-Akhat. The period of his khanate rule is still so short that it is difficult to compile any general characteristics... We leave this task to time, expressing only the hope that the young emir will not stop in his further activities at the first steps towards improving the economic, social and administrative system of the vast and rich nature of the country entrusted to his care.

But, along with this, we cannot but pay tribute to those good seeds that, under the given circumstances, have already been thrown by the hand of Seid-Abdul-Akhat Khan into the stalled soil of the country.

The vast majority of our society is convinced that the Bukhara emirs, like all Central Asian rulers in general, are the personification of omnipotence relative to the peoples subordinate to their power, that they only need to want everything to be done by their subjects immediately, unquestioningly, as if by beckon magic wand. In fact, this is far from the case. There is hardly any other constitution in the world that would hinder the legislative activity of sovereigns so much as the constitution that is represented by the Koran and Sharia. Being free in life, death, property of individuals, in their foreign policy and in all private events, the eastern rulers are sometimes completely powerless to change by legislative means the most insignificant condition of the social and state mechanism, the existence of which is due to the Koran and Sharia. These two books constitute the whole essence of life, the entire code of Central Asian Islam. They exhaust the rules of public and private life, public education, the main features of the financial system, legal proceedings, rules of property ownership, in a word, the whole life of a Muslim, which in fact consists of endless repetition, from generation to generation, from century to century, of millennial rules, bequeathed to him by the Arabian prophet. The history of the East presents us with numerous examples of the fall of not only individual rulers, but also of entire dynasties who decided to start an open struggle against the established Islamic hierarchical regime.

Mighty clergy stand fully armed to defend folk life from any innovations outside this legislative circle, and the power of any Muslim ruler is only as long as it is in solidarity with this estate and does not contradict canonical Muslim law.

Apparently, we also adhere to this idea, granting in our Central Asian possessions to the indigenous population the autonomy of public education, the people's court, and creating legislation adapted to the Sharia and the folk customs following from it.

Another no less powerful engine of folk life in Central Asia and especially in Bukhara is custom. He is almost as strong as the law. The people themselves stand guard over him. Undoubtedly, all this has outlived its time and does not fit at all with the modern situation surrounding the Bukhara possessions. But the dark masses are far from being aware of the real state of affairs, and the emir, despite his seeming unlimited power, not only has to reckon with all this in his activities as the ruler of the country, but also subordinate his personal life to the situation and those conditions that command him Koran, dictates Sharia and indicates folk custom.

Seyid-Abdul-Akhat-khan was born in Kermin in 1857, when his late father Mozafar-Eddin ruled the bekstvo as heir to the throne.

The emir spent his childhood and the first years of his youth at his father's court. He received the usual upbringing that is given to the Bukharian princes: in addition to literacy, he was taught the Persian and Arabic languages, forced to memorize the Koran and Sharia, introduced to some samples of oriental literature, on which the course of study was completed. At the age of thirteen, his father had already married him to one of his nieces, who to this day is considered the eldest wife of Seyid-Abdul-Akhat. However, the prince's tutor, Khamet-Maksul, managed to instill in his pet an inclination to scientific pursuits. The Emir is extremely fond of literature and especially poetry. He is considered a great connoisseur of oriental poets and is said to be a good poet himself. He knows only a few words in Russian, but from newspapers and magazines he usually translates everything that concerns politics, news from the highest court, the Bukhara Khanate, and in particular himself.

At the age of 18, Mozafar-Eddin appointed him bek in Kermine ( The city and district of Kermine are located 80 miles from Bukhara by railroad. The Nur-Atta Mountains begin a few versts further. This district has long been the lot of the Bukhara heirs), where the emir lived until his father's death, away from business and politics, using only the rights of an ordinary bek. Controlling the bekstvo, he managed to declare himself as a capable, active, just and kind ruler. The population loved him for his simplicity, piety, availability and friendly treatment. Living in Kermin, the emir led the simplest way of life: he usually got up at sunrise, did business all day, and in his free time he trained the troops, read, or worked on palace or city buildings, sometimes not hesitating to take an ax and a crowbar with his own hands, so that take a direct part in the construction being carried out. His favorite pastime was trips to the neighboring Nur-Attinsky mountains, from where he usually returned at the head of a whole carriage of arb loaded with stone for city buildings.

The emir's predominant passion was love for sports and horses. He was considered and is still considered one of the best riders in the khanate. Living in Kermine, he always took a direct part in all kok-storms ( Kok-buri, like baiga, consists of an equestrian game, during which the riders taking part in it at full gallop snatch a killed goat from each other's hands. The winner is the one who has time to gallop away from his comrades and take away the remnants of the torn prey from the competition field) arranged by Uzbeks in the vicinity of this city.

It is known with what ardor the Central Asians indulge in this favorite game, sometimes leading them to complete frenzy and oblivion of everything around them. It quite often comes to murder, but the custom, which turns into law, does not allow the relatives of the murdered person to demand retribution if the victim found death in a kok-storm. Even the emirs themselves, taking part in this game, do not take offense if someone pushes them, or even knocks them off their horses in the heat of a fight.

Seid-Abdul-Akhat was considered at one time one of the most dexterous and courageous lovers of kok-storm, but this did not save him from a dangerous fall from his horse, the consequences of which he, as they say, is still experiencing, as a result of which he does not allow himself any more. to take a direct part in the equestrian lists, limited only by the role of an observer.

The home life of Abdul-Akhat, when he was a bek in Kermin, was distinguished by its modesty and simplicity. He did not drink wine at all, did not smoke, and was content with the usual modest food. His harem consisted of only two of his legal wives.

The trip of the young prince to St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1883 made a deep impression on him.

The merciful treatment of the emperor and the august family with him deeply sunk into the soul of the young Uzbek, and the cultural life of Russian society inspired him with an ardent desire to transfer everything he saw to the soil of his native country.

Seid-Abdul-Akhat still recalls his stay in Russia as the best time of his life, and loves to talk about it at every opportunity.

All this created immense popularity for him, and the people were looking forward to the moment when the reins of government would pass from the elderly Mozafar Eddin into the hands of his young heir, who had promised so much in the future. The sensational rumors about harem and other excesses that Seyid-Abdul-Akhat allegedly permits himself in his private life, which had become the subject of public talk and popular displeasure, seemed all the more incredible that soon after the accession of the emir into society and even the press.

We will allow ourselves to doubt, however, the fairness of most of this kind of news and explain them, on the one hand, by the intrigues of conservative elements hostile to the emir, who are trying with all their might to undermine his charm among the people, and on the other hand, by the inclination of the Bukharian people themselves to politicking, all kinds of gossip, courts and gossip, the subject of which is always their emir, and then the people closest to him. This trait in the Tajik people is so strong that even the bloody terror, through which the emir's ancestors ruled the country, could not keep the talkative inhabitants of sacred Bukhara from interfering in the family and private life of their rulers. The suspicious and ferocious Nasr-Ullah, who brought the police system of espionage in the country to the highest degree, chopped off the heads of his subjects by dozens, caught in hostile and disapproving comments about his personality. But this only fanned the flames, which he tried to extinguish, and the extremely cowardly and timid in all other cases of life, the Tajik boldly appeared at the place of the execution that had just been committed in order to loudly express his censure to the emir for his actions.

Without a doubt, the relatively mild and humane way of action of Seyid-Abdul-Akhat, completely ignoring the sensational rumors about his personality, left wide scope for all kinds of hostile rumors about him spread by those interested in cooling popular sympathy for him, why such sort of rumors, and we treat with extreme caution.

Another unsympathetic character trait of the emir is considered to be his extreme stinginess and the extraordinary extortions he allows from the people. But in this respect, too, the center of gravity lies, in our opinion, mainly in the people themselves. The general statistical figures of government fees in the khanate, in proportion to the number of people in the population, are striking in their insignificance ( The total amount collected from the population for the maintenance of the central administration, the courtyard of the emir, the army and the higher clergy does not exceed 3,500,000 rubles a year. The population figure of the khanate is not exactly determined, but it is in any case at least one and a half million souls). If, in fact, these fees reach large amounts, then this is mainly due to the extortion of the administration, which is a properly organized gang of bribe-takers. This administration comes from the same people. It is a product of his selfish motives, and in this respect, all the measures of the emir, which tend to eliminate bribery and extortion in the country, are still palliatives.

Emir Seyid-Abdul-Akhat-khan is slightly above average height, strong and strong constitution. He is unquestionably one of the most handsome men in the khanate. Correct, proportionally thin features of the face, framed by a pitch-black beard, matte-transparent skin color, the correct oval of deep eyes with a touch of dreaminess, black as agate, do not resemble anything Uzbek in it and are an ancient example of the aristocratic Tajik type ... Beautiful white teeth, small hand and foot, soft and pleasant timbre of voice and graceful simplicity of manners complement the pretty portrait of the ruler of sacred Bukhara.

Currently, the emir is 35 years old, but he looks much younger.

The Emir, apparently, realizes that nature did not offend him with her gifts. He is busy with his appearance, always tries to dress to his face, and in a conversation with new faces, he is apparently interested in the impression that his appearance will make on the visitor.

The usual clothing of Seid-Abdul-Akhat consists of the national Tajik costume, that is, of beshmet, a silk robe and the same chambras tucked into soft leather ichigi. A silk-embroidered skullcap is worn on the head, and when exiting the palace and during prayer, a white turban is also worn over the skullcap. On ceremonial occasions, the emir wears a military uniform consisting of a gold-embroidered cloth double-breasted uniform up to the knees, the same leggings, with sockets at the bottom, covered with short fur, and boots with European-style spurs. Over the ceremonial uniform, thick epaulettes and a wide belt showered with precious stones are put on, to which a crooked Khorosan saber in an expensive sheath is fastened.

With this attire, which makes up the full dress uniform of the emir, he wears all his insignia, namely: a ribbon and the Order of the White Eagle showered with diamonds, bestowed upon him by the Emperor in 1886, the same Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree, received by him earlier, while at the coronation. The "Rising Star of Sacred Bukhara" sprinkled with huge diamonds, constituting the order of his house ( The Order of the "Rising Star of Sacred Bukhara" was established by Emir Mozafar-Eddin in 1881-1882. It has five degrees and is only complained by the Emir to the military and foreigners. In addition, on the officers and soldiers of the Bukhara army, we saw some order insignia of a different type, issued by the emir for special merits.), the emir usually wears next to the White Eagle and then some order signs decorated with precious stones, apparently Turkish or Persian. The headdress of the emir, with this form, is a white cashmere, or Indian muslin, a lush turban ( The turban depicts a shroud, or cover, which every Muslim should have on his head, as a reminder of death. The Koran defines the length of the turban at 7 arshins, but Muslim piety increases it to 14, 28 and even 42).

In this European-Asian attire, sitting on his usual throne, consisting of a carved wooden chair with a low back of native work, among carpets and all kinds of oriental ornaments, Seid-Abdul-Akhat Khan is a type of Central Asian ruler of the modern, transitional, formation.

On less solemn official occasions, the emir puts on a colored velvet uniform, with Russian general's shoulder straps, with orders, but without a ribbon.

According to general reviews, Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan is by nature just, kind and kind-hearted, but suspicious, quick-tempered and stubborn. Regarding the administration officials around him, he sometimes shows extreme exactingness, reaching pedantry: he interferes in everything, enters into all the little things of governing the country and, in the words of the Bukharians, wants to command and dispose of everyone, from kush-run to the last nuker. In particular, the displeasure of lazy and immobile Asians is that the emir, waking up usually at sunrise, immediately gets down to business and demands that all officials of the administration be by that time already in the places designated for them. Noticing some kind of abuse or omission, he harshly disposes of the guilty and, in fits of hot temper, sometimes with his own hand dealt with the violators of the decrees issued by him. With all this, the emir is by no means cruel, not vindictive, friendly and affectionate with the people and in general with those whom he considers to be impeccably fulfilling their duties.

Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan spends no more than six months in his capital. In winter, he usually leaves for several months, to Shakhrizabz and Karshi, where the climate is much milder than in Bukhara, and he spends June and July in Kermin ( These annual trips of Bukhara emirs around their country have acquired traditional significance over time. In all likelihood, they borrow their historical origin from the era of the Genghisids, who used to spend different periods of the year in different provinces of their empire. ( Marco Polo, p. 208)), who especially loves both his homeland and his former destiny. On these trips, he is usually accompanied by a large retinue and a significant convoy, but the emir's family and the highest officials of the administration remain in Bukhara. Returning to the capital, the emir rarely occupies a large palace on the Registan, and lives, for the most part, in the country castle of Shir-Badan, equipped with all the amenities and comforts of European life.

But wherever the emir lives, the mode of his life remains always the same. Getting up at sunrise, he devotes a few minutes to his toilet, then makes a short prayer and goes into the reception room, where breakfast awaits him and the dignitaries and courtiers who have already gathered by that time, with reports.

Seated on a sofa, in front of which a small table is placed, the emir listens in turn to the reports of the assembled officials. During this time, he is served breakfast, which has an eight-course menu daily. Having chosen one or two dishes, he orders to serve the rest to those present. After that, tea is served. After listening to the reports, the emir receives petitioners and deals with court cases. He rests from 11 to 2 hours; at 2 o'clock he dines, after which he again accepts petitioners and examines grave cases. Having finished this, he looks through the reports of the beks and, in general, all the papers received during the day. Before sunset, he performs namaz and for the third time accepts everyone who has something to do with him. At 8-9 pm, he retires to the inner chambers of the palace, where he dines and indulges in harem entertainment.

Once a week, on Fridays, at about 12 noon, the emir goes, with great solemnity, to pray at the main cathedral mosque of the city where he is. He is usually accompanied by all the high dignitaries and a brilliant retinue. Udai are riding ahead, with long wands in their hands, which invoke the blessing of God on the head of their master. The treasurers of the emir, who distribute alms to the beggars, go right there.

The Emir always makes these trips on horseback.

In general, Seid-Abdul-Ahat does not like carriages and rarely uses them.

Incidentally, riding in Bukhara court carriages is done in a completely different way than we do. The goats are usually left unoccupied, and the coachmen are placed on horseback, harnessed in pairs in 1, 2 and 3 pairs. On each pair one rider is placed, controlling his own and handy horse with the help of a bridle.

In warm and dry weather, the emir makes more or less long horseback walks through the streets, visits baiga, kok-buri and horse races.

Occasionally this monotonous passing of time is disturbed by the emir's trips to visit the highest dignitaries of the khanate, always made with great pomp. This honor, highly valued by the Bukharians, usually costs them very dearly, for, according to the established custom since ancient times, a dignitary who has been honored with such an honor must present to the emir at least 9 bakchi robes, 9 full-dress horses and 9 bags of silver coins of different values ​​( It has long been rooted in the Turkic people to bring any business to the number 9. This use of the number 9 originated from the first 9 Mongol khans, from Mongol Khan to Il-Khan (Abul-Gazi, p. 12)); in addition, to present and treat the entire retinue of the emir, and sprinkle his path from the palace to the gate of the visited dwelling with silver coins (tenga 20 kopecks), and from the gate to the entrance to the house with gold tills (a golden Bukhara tilla costs 6 rubles) ( This ancient custom has been established in Bukhara since the time of the Chinggisids. Without a doubt, in the present state of affairs, he represents one of the evils that Seid-Abdul-Akhat should have done away with long ago.).

The rich double these gifts, sometimes triple, ripping off the money spent from the people at the opportunity.

A visit to the emir, in addition to refreshments, is associated with the device of a tomashi, on which bachi dance to the sounds of native music, acrobats and magicians show their art, and wandering poets and writers read their works.

The cuisine of Seyid Abdul Ahat Khan consists exclusively of Asian dishes, among which the first place belongs to Palau. He does not consume wine at all and does not smoke. In food he observes great moderation, adhering to the belief that this is the best way to maintain health.

Having fallen ill, the emir uses the advice of native doctors, and we have not heard that he ever turned to the advice of a Russian doctor living in Bukhara.

The harem life of the emir is a secret even for people close to him, and it can only be judged by rumors. In the east, it is generally indecent to talk about women, about the family life of this or that person, so it is absolutely impossible to thoroughly investigate the family life of the ruler of Bukhara even by talking about it with the close associates of Seid-Abdul-Akhat Khan ( According to the rules of Islam, it is indecent to talk about someone's wife, and therefore metaphors are used in the East to express the idea of ​​marriage. So, a Turk in society calls his wife a harem, a Persian - an expression that means a house, economy, a Turkmen - a tent, and a resident of Central Asia - balashak (children). Vambery: A Journey Through Central Asia, Appendix I, p. 51). As for the so-called "bazaar" rumors, they should not at all be given serious importance.

Nevertheless, it is known that the new emir, during his seven-year reign, managed to acquire a significant harem. From time to time, he arranges holidays for his wives in it, allows them to walk in the vicinity of the capital and in the mountains, in closed native carriages, visit relatives, and several times a year opens markets inside the palace where they can buy the items they need.

Seyid-Abdul-Akhat had only five sons, of whom only two survived at the present time: Seid-Mir-Alem - 13 years old and Seid-Mir-Hussein - 9 years old. The eldest son of the emir, Seid-Mir-Abdullah, was to become the heir to the Bukhara Khanate. The emir had already intended to send him to Russia in order to give him a European education, but in 1889 he lost this son, along with two younger ones who died from diphtheria or epidemic paint fever.

Now the 13-year-old Seid-Mir-Alem is considered the heir of Abdul-Akhat, whom the emir intends to take to Russia, where he will leave until the end of the course in one of the higher educational institutions.

Bukharians tell miracles about the emir's colossal riches, which are in cash, jewelry, gold and silver utensils, and so on.

According to them, the cash capital of the emir alone reaches 100 million rubles. But this is no doubt fiction. The Emir's fortune hardly exceeds 12-15 million. As for his treasures, they are hardly as significant as they think. Bukhara is a country of gifts and, without a doubt, if the emirs of only one Mangyt dynasty decided to preserve all the precious objects sent to them at the same time as a gift by the Russian sovereigns, Turkish sultans, Persian and other neighboring rulers, and over the past 25 years - by the Turkestan governor-generals, then this, together with the offerings of their subjects and crown jewels, would amount to a huge figure when translated into money. Meanwhile, we know that the ancestors of the emir up to and including Mozafar-Eddin used to preserve from these values ​​only those items that were of historical importance or were needed in their household use. The rest, not wanting to sell and at the same time finding it unnecessary to store in their basement storerooms, they poured into coin. This kind of praiseworthy scrupulousness was, however, the reason for the barbaric extermination of the mass of precious silver and gold items, which were brought in and sent as gifts to emirs from Russia and other countries. The stock of precious stones in the treasury of the emir is also hardly significant. We know that Seid-Abdul-Akhat quite often buys diamonds and pearls for gifts to his wives, which he probably would not have done if the Bukharians' assurances that whole boxes of both are stored in the storerooms of the Registan Palace were true ...

For all that, the personal state of Seid-Abdul-Akhat, consisting in the lands, capital and valuables belonging to him, is, of course, relatively huge. And since, according to the general opinion, the emir is extremely calculating and far from living out all his income, then, no doubt, over time his wealth will reach a truly colossal figure.

Having mentioned the gifts above, we consider it necessary to find out their historical origin in the Bukhara Khanate and in the east in general.

The law of Mohammed commands every Muslim to receive a guest with honor, whoever he is, to treat him, to give him the opportunity to rest if he is a traveler, and when he lets go, take care of his clothes and horse. As a result, since the time of the establishment of Islam, it has become a custom in the country that the emirs of Bukhara generously endowed all travelers and, in general, all visitors visiting them. The subject of the gift was usually a horse in full dress, a complete set of clothes and several pieces of various fabrics of native work. More significant persons received several horses, several sets of clothes, etc.

In turn, the emirs did not disdain the gifts that foreign and visiting visitors brought them and accepted them.

In the course of time, this custom of mutual gifting became, on the one hand, a synonym for the emir's friendship and disposition towards the visitor, and on the other, a sign of attention and respect for him.

Subsequently, it became a custom, when ambassadors were sent from Bukhara to allied and friendly sovereigns, to also send gifts with them. This, of course, caused reciprocity.

Seyid-Abdul-Akhat adheres to this ancient custom, generously gifting all those newly introduced to his court.

We have already mentioned above that the emir is the head of the khanate, but limited by canonical Muslim law, that is, the Koran and Sharia.

Atalik should be his closest assistant in managing the khanate. This post, however, has not been replaced since the time of Nasr-Ullah, who for the last time appointed Daniar, the ruler of Shahrizabz, as atalik.

The Emir's closest assistant is currently 40-year-old kush-begi Sha-Mirza. The position of kush-begi, in terms of its internal significance in the Bukhara Khanate, can be equated with the position of vice-chancellor. In addition, she is associated with the posts of commandant of the arch, the palace on the Registan, the governor of the city of Bukhara, the keeper of the state seal and the treasury of the emir. Seid-Abdul-Akhat-khan transferred this last duty, however, to another person, entrusting, in return, Sha-Mirza with managing the customs duties in the capital.

Sha-Mirza is a Persian by birth. As a child, he was captured by the Turkmens, who sold him into slavery to Mozafar-Eddin, under whom he was a servant. When Seid-Abdul-Akhat was resettled in Kermin, the late emir appointed Sha-Mirza to him as treasurer, and then as a bek in Khatyrchi. Abdul-Akhat transferred him from there as a bek to Shakhrizabz, and after the death of Mulla-Mehmed-Biya, in 1889, he appointed him to the post of kush-bei.

Sha-Mirza has the handsome appearance of a typical Persian, is extremely talkative, simple and cheerful. The era of his life is a trip to St. Petersburg in 1888 at the head of the embassy, ​​who was instructed to lay down before the emperor the emir's gratitude for leading the Trans-Caspian railway through his possession. To this minute, he recalls with the liveliest enthusiasm everything he saw in Russia, about the gracious reception of the emperor, reverently showing all his new acquaintances the rich saber and order insignia of St. Stanislav 1st degree, which he is extremely proud of.

Kush-bei always lives in the Registan Palace, where there is a separate house and courtyard to accommodate this dignitary with all his family, children and household members. The peculiarity of his position is that, according to the laws of the country, during the absence of the emir from Bukhara, he has no right to leave the palace and lives there without a break until he returns to the capital of his sovereign.

The Emir values ​​Sha-Mirza for his honesty and loyalty, being completely at peace for the management of the capital during his absences from there.

The second dignitary in the khanate after Sha-Mirza is the young Astanakul-parvanachi, acting as the chief zyaketchiy (something like a minister of finance) in the Bukhara khanate. This young and capable dignitary is an emerging type of Bukharian of the modern formation, formed under the influence of attitudes towards Russian civilization.

He does not enjoy, as they say, the personal sympathies of the emir, but Seyid-Abdul-Akhat, appreciating the service of his aged grandfather and father, and also under the influence of the sympathies of the Russian authorities towards him, justly gives him a significant share of influence in the affairs of the khanate.

The next most influential persons at the Emir's court are: the head of the artillery of the Bukhara army Topchi-Bashi-Mulla-Mahmud, the adviser to the Emir Durbin-biy and the head of the Shir-Badan garrison Khal-Murad-Bek.

All these persons have, so to speak, only local significance, for the emir himself is at the head of the army and administration, directing everything directly through direct communications with the beks (governors of the provinces), with the heads of individual units of the troops, and for foreign policy - with the Turkestan general - the governor, with a political agent in Bukhara and with neighboring rulers.

Only in relation to church affairs, the emir does nothing besides Sheikh-ul-Islam and Khoja-Kalyan, who are representatives of the highest spiritual authority in the country.

Under the person of the emir, there is a council of clergy, civilians and military officials, which he gathers to discuss any proposed important reform. According to the custom of the country, he cannot do anything decisive without a preliminary discussion by this council of the proposed reform.

We will not tire the reader's attention with a detailed listing of all the ranks and positions of the complex Bukhara administration and will point out only the most outstanding ones.

Of these, in terms of the spiritual aspect, the most important are: sheikh-ul-islam, khoja-kalyan, nakib and rais.

All these persons necessarily come from the class of Seids and Khoja ( All the descendants of the first four caliphs, the successors of Mohammed: Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali, married to the beloved daughter of the Prophet Fatima, are called Seyids. The title of Khodja is borne by the descendants of Mohammed from his other daughters. In the Turkestan Territory, it is also customary to call all those Muslims who made a pilgrimage to Mecca to worship the tomb of Muhammad as Khoja. The rest of the Bukhara people are divided into two classes: sepoys - employees and fukara - non-employees). They are the closest advisers and assistants to the emir in court matters, are in charge of church affairs, sit on the khan's council, and generally enjoy broad rights and great influence. Khoja-kalyan is the only person, upon meeting with which the emir kisses and who has the right to enter him unbelted. Rais is the guardian of public morality and the observance by the faithful of the external rules of Muslim rituals.

The highest representatives of the civil administration are considered to be kush-begi, the main zyaketchy and beks are the governors of the regions. For special merits, they are sometimes given the title of sofa-run (something like the title of state secretary), parvanachi, inaks and biys.

There are also such persons who bear only these titles, without occupying certain positions and only being at the court and under the person of the emir.

Topchi-bashi is considered the senior person in the army of the emir, followed by chin-datha (Bukhara general) and toxaba (colonel); the rank of mirahur is equal to the rank of captain.

The Emir's court staff consists of civilians and military personnel. Among the former, the most important are the udays (masters of ceremonies) and mehrem (chamberlains). Adjutants of the Emir are listed in the ranks of Mirahurs and sometimes Biys.

Among this last category of persons, the most favored by the emir is the respectable and representative elder of the Udaygi Yakhshi-bek, who descended from the Arab conquerors; Nasr-Ullah-biy, Uzbek, former educator and mentor of the Emir's brother Seid-Mir-Mansur; the young and beautiful mirahur-bashi Yunus-Mohammed, in charge of the stables and carriages of the emir; Mirahur Mirza-Jalal and the Persian toxaba Abdul-Kadyr, commander of the khan's horse convoy. The latter two are usually appointed by the emir as envoys to deliver especially important letters and gifts to the Turkestan governor-generals.

Seyid-Abdul-Akhat is extremely firm in his sympathies and attitudes towards people. Opal at his court is generally a rare thing, and in this respect he by no means imitates his capricious, cruel and despotic ancestors, each individual outburst of anger which brought on the guilty complete disgrace, confiscation of property, and sometimes death. Until now, it was not heard that Seyid-Abdul-Ahat removed from office or imposed a penalty on employees and courtiers for anything other than abuse of service, bribery or general crimes provided for by the Muslim code.

For all that, the force of habit of outward servility and servility in the Bukhara people is so great that we can hardly find another court in the east, except perhaps the Persian one, where the personality of the ruler would enjoy outward worship to the extent that the personality of the emir uses in Bukhara. ... At the sight of his master, every Bukharanian, no matter how high he may be in the public or official hierarchy, literally turns into nothing. This trait of servility is most inherent in the highest court and administrative spheres, while the clergy and common people express, in relation to the emir, more independence and self-esteem.

Bukhara lives almost exclusively with its own inner, original life. Therefore, her external relations are by no means difficult. They consist mainly of relations with the Turkestan Governor-General, who, in international, commercial and political affairs, is the main mediator between the Emir and our central government. The political agency in Bukhara aims to protect on the spot our political and commercial interests in the khanate, and is also an observer body in relation to the Russian citizens living in Bukhara.

Seid-Abdul-Akhat, realizing the importance of such local representation for the country, uses it as an advisory resource in all the most important issues of not only foreign but also domestic policy. Of course, this does not constitute a mistake in the rule of the young emir, for in the person of our political agent in Bukhara, P.M. Lessar, he finds not only the personification of a direct, honest and open way of Russia's actions towards the small state it patronizes, but also a highly educated person. having the opportunity to bring significant benefits to the country with his extensive scientific and practical knowledge, specialized in the soil of Central Asia.

Twice a year, in winter and early summer, greetings are exchanged between the emir and the governor-general of Turkestan through small embassies. This exchange of embassies is coupled with the usual exchange of gifts in the east.

In emergency cases, the emir sends embassies to the highest court, as was the last time in 1888, on the occasion of the opening of the Trans-Caspian railway.

P. Shubinsky.

(Continued in the next book).

The text is reproduced from the edition: Essays of Bukhara // Historical Bulletin, No. 7. 1892

In the framework of the work of guides and tour guides, political issues are far from the main, but still an important place. Against the background of the very banal questions "is Crimea Russian or Ukrainian?" we have to answer more serious questions about the history of national relations in Crimea and very serious questions about the possibility of re-creating an independent state in Crimea. As a subject Russian Federation Crimea has become next to the republics of the Volga region and the North Caucasus, with which it has much in common.

Without going into particularly controversial details, we will try to present in this review the main materials on the history of statehood in Crimea associated with the dynasty Geray (Geray, Geray).

1. House of Gireev in the 20th and 21st centuries

2. Speech of Dzhezar-Girey (a descendant of the Crimean Khans (Gireyev-Chingizids) dynasty) at the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatars (Simferopol, 1993)

3. Addressed to the Majestic Tatar people, which is the Famous Golden Horde. Jezzar Girai (2000)

4. Addressed to the Girei clan (dynasty). Jezzar Girai (2000)

5. Briefly about the Crimean dynasty Giray, origin and genealogy. Crimean khans and the territorial heritage of the Golden Horde

7. The hierarchy of power in the Crimean Khanate

10. Chechen line of Gireev.

11. Kettlebells in the Russian Tavricheskaya province and Soviet Russia

1. House of Gireev in the 20-21 centuries

Let's start with very relevant materials about a real contender for the Khan's throne in Crimea.

The living descendants of the Gireys:
The famous figure of that time, Prince Sultan Kadyr Girey(1891-1953) was a colonel in the tsarist army, wounded during the civil war on 01/05/1920. He emigrated from the Caucasus in 1921 to Turkey, and from there to the United States, founded the "Circassian-Georgian Society" in the United States.

His son Chingiz Girey(1921-) became even more famous than his father.
Chingiz studied at the prestigious Yale University in the same year as future President George W. Bush.

During the Second World War, Chingiz served in American intelligence... Chingiz Girey was also a writer and poet, author of the book “ In the shadow of power» (« The shadow of power"), Which at one time became a bestseller.
As a very young officer in the American Army during the Second World War, he had to play a responsible role - Chief of the Russian section of the Department of Liaison between American and Soviet Commands in Austria ... After the war he participated in the American delegation to Peace Conference in Moscow in 1947 .

Azamat Girey(08/14/1924-08.08.2001), the youngest son of Sultan Kadyr Giray. He declared himself the head of the Gireiev house. He was married twice: the first wife - Sylvia Obolenskaya(1931-1997). From this marriage (1957-1963) were born the daughter of Selim (born January 15, 1960), a son Kadir Devlet Girey(born 03/29/1961) and son Adil Sagat Girey(genus. 03/06/1964). The second wife is Federica Anna Sigrist. From this marriage was born Caspian Giray(born 03/09/1972).

Selima married Derek Godard in 1996 and gave birth to daughter Alice Leila Godard in 1998.

Kadir Devlet Girey married Sarah Wentworth-Stanley in 1990. He has a son Chingiz Karim Sultan-Girey(born 1992) and daughter Tazha Sofia (born 1994).

Adil Sagat Girey married in 2001 to Maria Sarah Peto. In 2002 he had a son Temujin Serj Girey.

Kadir Devlet Girey and Adil Sagat Girey are professional musicians who played in the group Funkapolitan ... Adil Sagat Girey is a composer, writes soundtracks and melodies in various genres. (www. sagatguirey.com)
Sunshower played by Sagat Guirey: Guitar. Arden Hart: Keyboard.Winston Blisset: Bass.Louie Palmer: Drums. 28.2.08 At The Island 123 College Road Nw10 5HA London. www.islandpubco.com bass and keys from Massive Attack.

After the death of Azamat Girey in the Bahamas, the head of the Gireyev house became Jezzar Raji Pamir Girey... He graduated from Oxford. On July 28, 1993, he came to the kurultai of the Crimean Tatars in Simferopol and performed before them as the prince of the Gireev house. Jezzar Girey is the owner of Giray Design Company... There was no response to requests asking for your genealogy and (anonymously) DNA test.

skurlatov.livejournal.com

The very origin of Jezzar Girey makes us perceive the idea of ​​restoring the monarchy (in the cultural and historical ceremonial aspect - as a memory of the monarchy!) In Crimea not at all in a primitive nationalist channel.

Their Highness Crown Prince of Crimea and the Golden Horde Jezzar Raji Pamir Girai is the grandson of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova, and also a relative of many mountain princes of Kabarda and Chechnya.

2. Speech of Jezar-Girey (a descendant of the Crimean Khans (Gireyev-Chingizids) dynasty) at the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatars ( Simferopol, 1993)

“NOBLE Crimean Tatars, ladies and gentlemen, participants of the Kurultai, honorable friends of the Tatar people and heroic leader Mustafa Dzhemil-Ogly!

For me, as a member of the Girey clan and the son of the Tatar people, it is a great honor to stand here, on the Crimean land, in front of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatars in Ak-Mechet (...) The world should know that not by chance and by the grace of fate, today we can get together ...

The annexation, repression and horrors of 1944 did not tame the unshakable spirit of the noble Tatar people. Your tireless hard work, determination, unity and self-sacrifice have made it possible for this day to come. I am here to pay tribute to the heroic achievements of a great nation.

I can assure Kurultay that it is not only the Tatar diaspora with trembling, with bated breath, following the rapid course of events in Crimea. The eyes of the whole world are looking at you You, the noble Tatar people, are a source of inspiration for all repressed peoples of the world.

The inalienable right of the Crimean Tatar people, the noble sons of the Golden Horde, is the peaceful and unhindered return to the land of their ancestors. This is our just and honorable cause.

The Diaspora watched with horror and pain your suffering, and in particular, the injustice that befell you in that terrible 1944. These events became the honor of the tragic catechism: one cannot recall without tears the knock on the door in the middle of the night, the floods of women and children torn from their homes and immersed in overcrowded and dirty cattle wagons. Half of our people died, the rest were exiled

Our tragedy lies in the fact that of all the exiled peoples, only the Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return, of all the people who suffered injustice, only the Crimean Tatar people were not apologized.

The main merit of the Crimean Tatars is that they, despite all the horror of the inhumanity of some people towards others, the violation of justice, managed to rise above their oppressors and tragic circumstances. The beauty and nobility of our soul about the people is that they forgave their oppressor and began peaceful labor in accordance with the existing legislation, even if the law is not on their side.

Our great and heroic leader Mustafa Cemil-Oglu was imprisoned for 15 years and now he has forgiven his executioner and, as always, is making efforts to work peacefully within the law for our cause. His leadership is a glimpse of light for all repressed people on the planet.

In our tense and unstable world, especially in the lands of the former Soviet Union, this is a lesson that all people should pay attention to. We are all originally children of God, brothers and sisters.

(…) I would like to extend a hand of friendship to our Russian and Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude to the Russian and Ukrainian governments for allowing us to return. I would like to greet Crimeans of Russian and Ukrainian nationality. Together we will work to build a healthy and happy community as an example to the world.

The time has come for the Crimean people to regain their national identity. We must do this by exploring our rich history, heritage and traditions (...)

Our once brilliant intellectual and cultural traditions and heritage, which were buried in the Tsarist era and then in the Communist era, must now be pulled out of oblivion. The truth lies buried under the stones. But stones also have voices, and we must listen.

We all know that an attempt was made to destroy all traces of the Crimean Tatars: monuments were leveled to the ground, mosques were turned to dust, cemeteries were destroyed and filled with cement. Tatar names were removed from maps, our history was distorted, and our people were forcibly expelled into disgusting exile.

Our former statehood was based on three fundamental and unchanging pillars (...)

The first and most important was our hereditary succession of the Genghisids. Communist propaganda tried to separate the Tatars from their Great Father, Mr. Genghis Khan, through his grandson Batu and eldest son Juche. The same propaganda tried to hide the fact that we are the sons of the Golden Horde (! ...)

I am proud to declare that a prominent academician University of London, who has been studying the origin of the Crimean Tatars all his life, has published the results of his research, which give us back our rightful rich heritage.

The second pillar of our statehood was the Ottoman Empire (...) We are all part of a large Turkic nation, with which we have strong and deep ties in the sphere of language, history and culture.

The third pillar was Islam. This is our faith. We must now develop a new identity based on the careful preservation of our past, which we should always be proud of, in honesty on these three fundamental pillars, as well as absorbing new demands and modern world trends.

Examples of our past greatness and our contribution to human civilization are innumerable. The Crimean Tatar people were once (and not so long ago) a superpower in the region. We must remember that until the reign of Peter the Great, known as Peter the Great, at the end of the 17th century, the Romanovs continued to pay tribute to the Khanate. The military heroism and courage of our soldiers and horsemen have become legends all over the world. Tatars, Russians, Ukrainians, Ottoman Turks, Poles and others - all showed themselves both in the cultural and military spheres during those turbulent romantic times.

At the very beginning of the century, the Crimean Tatar people led the Muslim and Turkic world in their philosophical search. We will bring back this thought leadership. I want to assure Kurultay that in our search for what should be a proud and noble Crimean Tatar people, in creating a prosperous Crimean community and, most importantly, in our honorable cause, which is our divine right to return home, in all these undertakings the Crimean - the Tatar people have many friends both abroad and in the "near abroad" who strive to help us achieve these lofty goals.

I would like to express my love and recognition to the noble Crimean Tatar people, my loyalty to our heroic leader Mustafa Dzhemil-Ogly, my friendship to our Russian and Ukrainian brothers and wish the very best for the successful holding of the Kurultay session. "

Translation from English,

3. Addressed to the Majestic Tatar people, which is the Famous Golden Horde

There are several nations in the world that can claim as much of a legacy as you can. There are also several peoples who have endured such tragic suffering with such dignity. Everyone who has witnessed the events of the last few years since Perestroika feels admiration and reverence for your characteristic hard work and emotional self-control.

Presented before your magnificent example, I am equally overwhelmed with feelings of sadness and joy. But as we enter the new millennium, we have no room for sorrow.

Our great history was born on the threshold of the last millennium with the glorious life of our ancestor, the ruler of Genghis Khan. But not only did our majestic Sovereign conquer the world and create the largest empire in world history, stretching from the heart of Europe to the shores of Korea, but also he was the founder of the greatest civilizations in human history, which included the Yuan dynasty in China, the Mughals in India, the Hulagids in Persia. and of course our own Golden Horde.

We must look to the future and we have a lot to strive for. Undoubtedly, the blood of the Lord Genghis Khan flows in our veins. The rebirth of all Tatars will begin from the new millennium!

Your humble servant, Jezzar Girai

4. Addressed to the Girei clan (dynasty):

(2000, translated from English)

As you know, King Arthur saw two dragons fighting in mortal combat, and realized that the mythical city of Camelot would be founded on this place. Seeing the same amazing omen, our majestic progenitor understood where Bakhchisarai would be erected. As you know, the rotunda with two fire-breathing dragons meets the visitor at the gates of Bakhchisarai.

However, King Arthur and Camelot are pure mythical fiction. The victorious Golden Horde, the descendants of the most majestic Lord Genghis Khan, and the beautiful city of Bakhchisarai are historical realities. Years of distortion of the facts of our history convinced the Kazan Tatars to think that they were not Tatars in everything but Bulgars, and the same propagandists successfully convinced the world that the Golden Horde was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible when the end of its existence was put in Bakhchisarai in 1783.

The world believes that Bakhchisarai, like Camelot, is a figment of a rich imagination. Only by a clear and unambiguous understanding of our own identity can we truly believe in the success of re-emerging in the world from the haze of myth and folklore. There is a lot of work to be done! - this is our duty and the duty of every Tatar, wherever and whoever he is.

Your faithful son Jezzar Girai

Their Highness Jezzar Raji Pamir Girai, Crown Prince of Crimea and the Golden Horde, currently resides in London.

5. Briefly about the Crimean dynasty Girey, origin and genealogy. Crimean khans and the territorial heritage of the Golden Horde

Giray (Gerai, Girai; Crimean Geraylar, گرايلر; singular - Geray, گراى) a dynasty of khans (Genghisids, descendants of the khans Jochi and Batu), ruled the Crimean Khanate from the beginning of the 15th century until its annexation to Russian Empire in 1783.

The founder of the dynasty was the first Khan of Crimea Haji I Giray, as a result of military and political assistance from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who achieved the independence of the Crimea from the Golden Horde. Probably, the help of the daughter of Khan Tokhtamysh Nenke-jan Khanum, as well as military assistance and close economic cooperation from the Orthodox principality of Theodoro, played an important role in the creation of the independent Crimean Khanate.

1. WITH 1428 Years of attempts to rule the Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde are repeatedly made by Khadzhi Girey and his father Giyas-ad-din Tash Timur.
2. XIV - mid. XV century - the war of the Genoese with the principality of Theodoro for the lands of the southern coast of Crimea. On the mountain passes of the Main ridge, numerous fortifications appear - Isars, the fortresses of Kamara, Funa. V 1433 year, the Orthodox population of Chembalo (Balaklava) raised an uprising with the support of the Theodorites. Prince Theodoro Alexei II rules the city. V 1434 the military expedition of Carlo Lomellino of 6 thousand mercenaries knocks him out of the city, then Avlita and Kalamita (Inkerman) and move to Solhat together with 2,000 Genoese from Kafa. In the tract, which is now called Frank Mezar (Grave of Catholics), the Tatar cavalry of Haji Davlet Giray defeats the Italians' troops completely. In this or another battle, prince Alexei I perishes. Soon two hundred Tatars set off for Chembalo and liberate the new prince Alexei II.
3. 1441 (1443) year - the formation of an independent Crimean Khanate based on the military forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (commanded by Marshal Radziwill). In alliance with Alexei II, the prince of the Orthodox principality Theodoro Hadzhi Davlet Girey successfully oppresses the Genoese, gets access to the sea (the port of the Theodorites Avlit near Inkerman) and the city of Gezlev (Evpatoria). At the court of Davlet Giray, Ulubey-Greek is brought up - the heir to the Mangup prince, Prince Isaac, then the khan's son-in-law and Prince Theodoro from 1456 to 1475.
4. 1467 — 1515 years - Mengli Girey I (the third son of Haji Davlet Girey) spent his childhood as an honorary hostage (amanat) in the Cafe and there he received a comprehensive education, with the support of his wife's father, a powerful bek, Shirin was established on the Crimean throne for a long time.
5. 1475 year - The Ottoman fleet and army (commanded by Gedik Ahmed Pasha) conquers the Genoese possessions and the principality of Theodoro (in the defense of Theodoro the cavalry of Mengli Giray is fighting against the Turks). Then the Crimean Khanate falls into vassal dependence on Ottoman Empire... After some time, Mengli Girey receives the support of the Ottomans, regains the khan throne, founds a new capital - the city of Bakhchisarai between several former cities (Kyrk-or, Eski-Sala, Salachik, Kyrk-er), the palaces of Ashlama-Saray are being built under his sons Mengli Gireya - Khan-sarai (1519). In a military alliance with the Moscow kingdom, Mengli Girey expands his influence to the north and east of the Crimea. The main rival of Mengli Giray is the khan of the Golden Horde Akhmat, he is supported by the king of the Commonwealth Casimir IV. V 1482 Mengli Giray's troops, at the request of Ivan III, expel Polish-Lithuanian troops from Kiev. V 1502 year, the troops of the Crimean Khanate and the Moscow Kingdom finally destroy the Golden Horde, which subsequently leads to a series of wars for the right to control the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, the end of which was put only by Tsar Ivan the Terrible (great-grandson of Emir Mamai), capturing Kazan in 1552 and Astrakhan in 1556 .

About the origin of the name Kettlebell there is no exact information... Only the third Crimean khan Mengli Girey, the founder of Bakhchisarai, began to use it as a dynastic name.

There are several versions of the genealogy of Khadzhi Girey, causing controversy both among the Gireys themselves and among historians. According to the most widespread version, the Gireis come from the Tugatimurids from Janak-oglan, the younger brother of Tui Khoja oglan, the father of Tokhtamysh. The eldest son of Janak oglan, Ichkile Hasan oglan, father of Ulu Mohammed, the founder of the dynasty of Kazan khans.

Some representatives of the dynasty also occupied the throne of the Kazan, Astrakhan and Kasimov khanates. Moreover, the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates were captured by the Crimean princes (sultans) by military force. And Ivan the Terrible appointed Chingizids from the Girey clan to the throne of the Kasimov Khanate, dependent on Moscow, and then after the conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan and to the highest positions in these cities.

Devlet I Girey is famous for his wars with Ivan the Terrible. The last Giray on the Crimean throne was Shahin Giray, who abdicated the throne, moved to Russia, and then to Turkey, where he was executed. There was a side line of Choban Gireyev, one of whose representatives - Adil Girey - occupied the Crimean throne.

Many representatives of the dynasty moved to the Western Caucasus and joined the Adyghe aristocracy. This was facilitated by the long tradition of educating the heirs of the Crimean throne among the atalyks (educator, literally “father”) from the Kabardian military (Circassian) aristocracy, as well as the fact that most of the Crimean khans were married to daughters from the princely families of Kabarda.

Crimean khans and the territorial heritage of the Golden Horde

“Finally, after the fall of the Golden Horde in 1502, a number of independent states arose on its territory, each of which was headed by a khan. However, the alignment of forces in them is fundamentally different than it was in Ulus Jochi during the period of polyarchy. If all the khans of the disintegrating Golden Horde were considered equal and claimed the status of "emperors" in relations with Europe, now relations are established between the rulers of various Tatar khanates as between senior and junior, which is immediately reflected in official documents, and in the testimonies of contemporaries.
The Crimean Khan became the actual successor of the khans of the Golden Horde. It was the Crimean ruler Mengli-Girey in 1502 who finally defeated Sheikh-Ahmad Khan, which marked the fall of the Golden Horde. Nevertheless, the formal termination of the existence of Ulus Jochi or Ulug Ulus (this is how the Golden Horde was called in the official documentation) was not recorded. On the contrary, back in 1657 the Crimean Khan Muhammad-Girey IV called himself in a letter to the Polish king Jan-Casimir “ Of the Great Horde and the Great Kingdom, and the Desht-Kipchak, and the throne Crimea, and all the Tatars, and many Nogai, and the Tats with the Tavgachs, and the Circassians living in the mountains, the great padishah I, the great khan Muhammad-Girey". The inclusion of elements of the “Great Horde” and “Desht-Kipchak” in the khan's title unambiguously testifies to the claims of the Crimean khans to full-fledged succession from the khans of the Golden Horde.
And Western monarchs perceived them as such. In particular, the Polish kings continued to recognize their vassalage from the Crimean khans to the southern Russian lands, receive labels from them and pay tribute to the Crimea for them - despite the fact that the Moscow sovereigns at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. conquered these territories and did not intend to cede them to either the Crimean khans or the Polish kings. Polish historian of the early 16th century. Matvey Mekhovsky calls the Crimean Khan Muhammad-Girey “the sovereign of Perekop” and “the Crimean emperor”; another Polish-Lithuanian historian of the mid-16th century. Michalon Lytvyn also calls the Crimean Khan caesar (Caesar, that is, again - the emperor).
Undoubtedly, both the Crimean monarchs and their Western European diplomatic partners had reason to consider the Crimean Khan as the main successor to the khans of the Golden Horde: in the first half of the 16th century. Crimean khans began to pursue an active policy of "collecting lands" of Ulus Jochi under their rule: in the first half of the 1520s. Muhammad-Girey I captured Astrakhan and imprisoned his son Bahadur-Girey there as a khan (albeit for a very short time), and in Kazan - his brother Safa-Girey. Thus, practically all the possessions of the Golden Horde from the Volga region to the Black Sea region were in the hands of one Jochid family. However, with the death of Muhammad-Girey (1523), his ambitious plans collapsed, and the unification of Ulus Jochi in the same hands did not take place. Nevertheless, Crimea, as we had the opportunity to see, for centuries retained the right of succession from the Golden Horde khans, which is also recognized in Europe ... "

Pochekaev Roman Yulianovich , j. y. D., Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and History of Law and State, St. Petersburg Branch of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (St. Petersburg). Work "The status of the khans of the Golden Horde and their successors in relations with the states of Europe"

6. STATE AND PUBLIC SYSTEM OF THE CRIMEAN KHANATE

The form of government of the Crimean Khanate can be defined as estate-representative, limited monarchy , although during the Middle Ages, most of the states, especially Muslim ones, were absolute monarchies. In this respect, the Crimean Khanate was more reminiscent of the European monarchy of the English model. The Crimean Khan concentrated a great deal of power in his hands, but it was limited to such a collegial body as Sofa (state council), having control and observation functions, as well as noble and powerful beys. The khan could not change the privileges of the nobility. Representatives of different estates had a certain independence in front of the khan and the beys.

In order to strengthen the newly created khanate, Haji Giray clearly defines the place, meaning and rights of each group of its population. So, label(by decree) in 1447, he defines 2 categories of "rulers" - military and civil. The first group included (by seniority) beys and oglans (princes), temniks, thousanders and centurions; to the second - judicial ranks: kadi and kadiaskers. All the rest, except for the clergy, belonged to the taxable estate. They paid yasak (natural tax), as well as taxes for pastures, for a trading place, from city crafts, merchants paid a duty for the import and export of goods both to the khan and the bey. The subjects of the khanate were free people. There has never been serfdom in Crimea.

Already under Haji Gerai, the foundations of the state structure of the Crimean Khanate, which has the features of a decentralized state, were laid. Its territory was divided into administrative-territorial districts - bailey, which covered a significant part of the territory of the former ulus and were feudal principalities. The Beylik was headed by a senior representative of the Bey clan. Beylik was arranged according to the model of the khan's possession: there were Divan, kalga, nureddin, mufti, justice was administered. Beys had their own banner, coat of arms (tamga), seal, commanded military formations that were subordinate to the khan as the supreme commander in chief. Some influential beys could enter into relations with neighboring states on their own behalf, but the Khan's ambassadors had the prerogative to represent the interests of the state. Sometimes foreign missions did not recognize the statements of the khan, if it was not supported by exactly the same statements of the beys - and on behalf of the beys themselves.

The most famous families representing the tribal aristocracy were Shirin, Baryn, Yashlav, Argyn, Kypchak, Mansur, Mangyt, Sidjeut ... Crimean beys had a great influence on the election of khans from the ruling dynasty. There were cases when the khan was elected without waiting for the sultan's approval of the candidate, but by raising him, according to the Horde custom, on a felt mat. Then the Turkish sultan, by his decision, approved the choice of the Crimean aristocracy.

In addition to the clan aristocracy - the beys - under Sahib Gerai (1532-1551), a service nobility appeared - mouthguards-kulu , who received hereditary privileges for her diligence and personal loyalty to the khan. Kapy-kulu were part of the khan's own guard, created by him on the model of the Turkish janissaries.

7. The hierarchy of power in the Crimean Khanate

Khan... The Gerais were descended from Genghis Khan, and the Chinggisid principle of the succession of power was preserved throughout the history of the Crimean Khanate. Khan determined the first (kalga) and second (nureddin) heirs. Khan enjoyed the right of supreme ownership of the land. But the khan also had his own domain, located in the valleys of Alma, Kachi and Salgir. The khan also owned all the salt lakes and uncultivated lands - mevat. Some of these possessions he could only distribute to his vassals. The Crimean Khan had personal guards and horse bodyguards, many servants, maintained a magnificent courtyard, was the commander-in-chief of all the troops of the khanate, and had the exclusive right to mint coins. The khan's income consisted of taxes: the khan's raising tax, tithe from the harvest of grain and offspring of livestock, tax from the sedentary population, levied for cultivated land. Christians also paid a special haraj tax.

The khan's powers were wide enough. He drew up international treaties, declared a state of war or peace, submitting his decisions to the Divan, and provided military assistance to neighboring states. The khan issued labels, which he used to regulate the circulation of the national currency and taxation, and gave land to his subjects. The Khan appointed Qadiyev judges, had the right to pardon, but he could only be sentenced to death in accordance with the Divan's decision. The khan had the right to appoint and dismiss senior officials: kalgi, nureddin, op-bey, serasker, vizier, mufti, etc.

Khan signed the documents as “ Great Khan of the Great Horde and the Throne of Crimea and Kypchak Steppes". Some khans pursued an independent policy, disregarding the will of the sultan. Thus, Islam III Giray, when he was elected khan, told the vizier of the Sultan: “ Do not besiege me with warning letters that you should not frown with such-and-such a giaur, show someone a kind of location, not get along with such-and-such, not upset such-and-such, do this with such and such, giving orders from here behind the scenes on matters there; do not confuse me so that I know how I need to act". The Crimean khans were highly respected in Istanbul. Their influence especially increased at the court of the Sultan during the wars of the Ottoman Empire, in which the Crimean Khan and his army participated.

From the second half of the 15th century. the order of succession to the khan's throne began to be influenced by the Turkish sultan, who had political (according to the treaty of 1454) and religious (as the caliph is the head of the world's Muslims) foundations.

Khans approval procedure was as follows: the sultan, through his courtier, sent the future khan an honorary fur coat, a saber and a sable hat decorated with precious stones, as well as a personally signed order (khattisheriff), which was read out to the Crimean beys collected in the Divan. The khan who ascended the throne was awarded a special banner and a khan's bunchuk.

Calga... Kalga Sultan is the heir from the Gerai clan officially announced by the khan. This dignity was first introduced by Mengli I Geray. Turkish sultan usually respected the will of the khan and almost always appointed the one to whom the Crimean ruler indicated.

Calga- the first dignitary after the khan. Kalga underwent a kind of practice of government under the ruling khan. If the khan could not or did not want to take part in a military campaign, the command of the troops was taken over by the kalga, and in his absence, by the nureddin. His permanent residence and administration were in Akmesjit (modern Simferopol). Kalga had his own vizier, a defterdar treasurer, and a kadi judge. Kalga chaired the sessions of his Divan, in which various court cases were considered. Protocols litigation went to the khan's Divan, where they passed the final verdict. Kalga's orders to bring someone to trial, his military orders, passes and all orders had the force of the khan.

Kalga had no right to mint a coin. He received in possession a significant inheritance (kalgalyk), which included land in the upper reaches of the Alma up to Chatyrdag, as well as the northern slope of the mountain and the Salgir valley. Kalgalyk was state property and could not be inherited. Kalga could only welcome his associate to the land for temporary use. Kalga received part of his income in the form of a salary from the Turkish sultan.

Nureddin... The kalga in the Crimean hierarchy was followed by the nureddin-sultan, usually the khan's brother. He was also considered the heir to the throne after kalgi. In the absence of the khan and kalga, he assumed command of the army. His official residence was in the Kachi-Saray palace in the Kachi valley. He, like the kalga, had his own vizier, treasurer - defterdar, judge - qadi and could not mint coins. Nureddin also received a salary from the Sultan.

Great Bey- a representative of one of the famous and influential Beys clans, endowed by them with the status of the most authoritative bey. After determining the status, the great bey was appointed by the khan to a high state position. The tasks of the great bey were to be “the eye and ear of the khan,” that is, to fulfill the duties of his active vizier, performing the functions of the first minister of the state. He is the supreme keeper of the khan's property, all state affairs were in his hands. Bey received a third of the annual commemoration (tribute) - this was his old privilege, as well as the duty to command the khan's personal guard. Bey monitored public order in the capital and its surroundings. Sometimes the power of the great bey exceeded in practice the competence of the nureddin.

Mufti- the highest cleric, the supreme interpreter of Sharia. The judges in their decisions proceeded from the explanation by the mufti of certain provisions of Muslim law. The mufti interpreted laws and passed fatwas (decisions, conclusions), being a kind of supervisory body. If the decisions made by the khan did not comply with the norms of the Koran, the mufti issued a resolution on their invalidity and declared them illegal, thus limiting the power of the Crimean khan.

If gifts from foreign rulers came to Crimea, then the mufti received them on a par with the khan. He corresponded on his own. He and his closest assistants and other significant clergy owned possessions in different parts Crimea, which were part of their spiritual domain (Khojalyk). The number of villages in Khojalyk reached twenty. Another form of spiritual real estate was the wakuf lands, that is, lands transferred to the Muslim community by a devout Muslim. The income from the vakuf lands went to the maintenance of a certain mosque, madrasah, mekteb, a shelter for lonely old people, sometimes even a secular structure - a road, a bridge, a fountain-cheshme. The mufti exercised supreme supervision over the strictly intended use of the vakuf lands, the size of which reached 90,000 dessiatines.

Op bey... The op-bey's duties included maintaining the external security of the state, monitoring the safety of its borders. He also supervised all the hordes of the khanate that lived outside the Crimean peninsula. His residence was in the fortress of Op-Kapy (Perekop), located on the isthmus that connected the peninsula with the mainland. Op-Kapy defended the Crimea from the invasion of enemy troops, therefore, Shirinsky beys were usually appointed to the post of op-bey for their proximity to the Geraev dynasty. French diplomat of the 18th century. Peysonel writes that, in terms of value, this position was considered one of the most important in the khanate. Op-bey had income from the salt industry.

Seraskers... The princes of the Nogai hordes - Edisan, Budzhak, Edichkul (or Edishkul), Dzhamboiluk and Kuban - who roamed outside the peninsula, were called Seraskers. They were both the rulers of these territories and the commanders of the troops under the control of the commander-in-chief - the khan. Submitting to the khan, they often got out of his control, going on unauthorized campaigns, entering into separative relations with neighbors, especially with the North Caucasian rulers. Quite often it came to a direct armed struggle against the khans. Despite the sometimes unpredictable policy of the Seraskers, the khans valued the military prowess and strength of the Black Sea hordes too much. Therefore, they, taking care of the economic condition of the hordes and the development of religious and public institutions in them, protecting the hordes from the attacks of neighboring peoples and using a wide range of diplomacy, kept the Seraskers in line with the state policy. After all, the seraskers could bring out almost more horsemen into the field than the khan himself.

Width and other famous Beysky births. The chapters of the four Bey clans: Shirin, Yashlav, Baryn, Argyn - made up advice Karachi (karaji). In fact, it was they who elected the khan. As a rule, not a single important state issue could be resolved by the khan without their consent. Shirin Bey did not always defend the interests of this highest aristocracy, but often adhered to the clan policy. Shirin Bey maintained personal correspondence with foreign state rulers, had its own administrative apparatus, as well as its own kalgu and nureddin.

Beyliki - specific possessions of the beys of the main Crimean clans

Yashlav supervised diplomatic relations with Moscow. Any Murza or Agha was ready to support his bey, counting on land and other awards. The aristocracy, relying on their murzas, sometimes opposed the khan if he violated their rights and interests. Istanbul tried to support the opposition to the khans and defended the ancient equality of the Karachi and the khan - after all, the beys restrained the khan's aspirations to strengthen the central power and independence from the empire. The possessions of the Karachi were called beyliks, and the beys administered justice here. Beylik Shirin included lands from the city of Karasubazar (Qarasubazar) to the city of Eski-Crimea (Eski-Kyryma) and from the Sivash to the northern slopes of the Middle Ridge. To the west of Shirin's possessions were the beyliks of his allies Baryn and Argyn. V beylik Yashlav included lands between the rivers Alma and Belbek. Each of the beys had their own army.

To strengthen his independence from the aristocracy, Sahib I Giray (1532-1551) decided to make the Mangyt Bey clan, who had recently come to the peninsula, as a support for himself. Mansour , who had tens of thousands of nomads behind him. Since that time and until now, the Crimean Tatars call the territory between Dzhankoy and Tarkhankut, where the nomads settled, Mangyt eri... A fierce struggle for primacy in the khanate began between the clans of Mansur and the four Karachi. As a result of this struggle, the power and influence of the Mansur clan actually equaled the powerful Shirin clan. But even during periods of weakening of the Shirin clan, its official status remained higher than that of the Mansur clan.

Ana-beyim, ulu-hani... The position of ana-beyim ( valid) was occupied by the mother or sister of the ruling Gerai. The post of ulu-hani was usually given by the khan to one of his older sisters or his daughters. These two dignitaries were quite influential at the khan's court, had a narrow circle of courtiers, income from subordinate villages, as well as deductions from the khan's treasury.

Cadisker- the supreme judge, he transferred all court verdicts to the Divan for a final decision and was in charge of all litigations arising among the Murzas. Kaznadar-bashy- the great treasurer - kept records of all the income of the khan. Defterdar Bashy- Chief Controller - kept records of all government expenditures. Sofa effendi- Secretary of the Divan, keeper of all lists and letters. During the meeting of the Divan, he read out the letters and documents appointed by the khan for the announcement.

Sofa
Divan - the state council, the supreme body of power, performing the combined functions of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It included: khan, mufti, kalga, nureddin, beys (seraskers of three hordes, or-bey, karachi), vizier, kadiasker, kaznadar-bashy, defterdar-bashy and other senior officials.

It was in the Divan that the final responsible decisions were made on such issues as the declaration of war and peace, the provision of military assistance. foreign states... Foreign ambassadors presented themselves in the Divan, letters of foreign states were read out.

Divan was also a court of higher jurisdiction, which finally considered civil and criminal cases, as well as cases of disputes between Murzas. Only Divan could pass a death sentence. In Divan, the procedure for the entry into office or removal from office of the Crimean Khan most often took place. Kadiasker pronounced the verdict by the decision of the mufti, and the khan issued an order in conclusion.

The sofa determined the size of the content allocated to the khan's court and palace. A sofa in a narrower composition (Kuchuk Divan): khan, kalga, nureddin, or-bey, seraskers, vizier, kadiasker, five beys - decided the fate of the next military campaign and the number of troops required. Decisions of the Divan were obligatory for all Crimean Tatars, regardless of the composition in which he was going. But there were times when the khan could not assemble the Divan: its members did not appear in order to paralyze the implementation of this or that initiative of Gerai.

Elvedin CHUBAROV

8. Sultan Khan-Girey is a researcher of the culture of the Adyghe peoples, the author of "Notes on Circassia"

Born into the family of a pro-Russian-minded Bzhedug prince (1808), at an early age, after the death of his father, he was placed at the disposal of the commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps, General A.P. Ermolov, who "took up young Giray", entrusting him to the director of the local gymnasium.

A graduate of the cadet corps Khan-Girey participated in the Russian-Iranian (1826-1828) and Russian-Turkish wars (1828-1829), where he was awarded a silver medal. After serving in the Life Guards Black Sea Squadron, Khan-Girey was transferred to the Life Guards Kavkaz-Gorsky half-squadron, where Sh.B. Nogmov, S. Kazy-Girey, M. Kodzokov (father of D. M. Kodzokov) and others. short life was associated with this half-squadron, where he rose to the rank of colonel, became an aide-de-camp and commander of the Caucasian Mountain half-squadron.

Having shown himself not only as a brave officer on the battlefield, but also as a broad-minded public and political figure, a patriot of the Caucasus and Russia, he ponders how to ensure this annexation by peaceful means. For this purpose, he writes on the instructions of Emperor Nicholas I his historical and ethnographic work “ Notes about Circassia».

For seven years of scientific and literary activity, he wrote several more works, including “ Circassian legends», « Mythology of the Circassian tribes», « Hit Kunchuk" and etc.

But the economic problems and economic prospects of the Adyghe peoples are in the focus of S. Khan-Giray's main work "Notes on Circassia", where the second part of the second part of the book is called "Industry". In this part of the book, Khan-Girey covers various aspects of the "people's industry" - agriculture, cattle breeding, traditional crafts, trade, etc.

The transition of the people from nomadism to settled life, the skills of agriculture among the Circassians go, according to Khan-Girey, to deep antiquity. Finding it difficult to determine "when this people passed from a shepherd's state to the state of a farmer," he only notes that arable farming has been introduced in Circassia since ancient times. " This is also indicated by folklore and ethnographic data: “In the descriptions of the deities of the mythology of this people, we saw that in Circassia a certain Sozeresh, the patron saint of arable farming, was honored. known time brought thanksgiving prayers. "

More details: S.A. Aylarova, L.T. Tebiev. Sultan Khan-Girey about the economic culture of the Adyghe peoples http://svarkhipov.narod.ru/pup/tebi.htm

9. Sultan Girey Klych - the commander of the highlanders in the Cossack corps of General P. N. Krasnov as part of the Nazi troops

Kelich-Sultan-Girey ( Sultan-Girey Klych, tour. Sultan Kılıç Girey - Colonel, Head of the Circassian Cavalry Division

Born in 1880 in the aul Uyala (leg. Nests), according to other sources in Maikop). Graduated cadet corps and a military school. Participant in the suppression of the 1905 revolution.

Fang started the First world war captain and commander of the 3rd hundred of the Circassian Cavalry Regiment, and in this position he ended the war as a colonel and commander of this regiment, having received all the awards possible in his position, including Order of St. George and Arms.

In the summer of 1917 - a colonel, a participant in the Kornilov speech. On March 25, 1918, on the recommendation of the commander of the troops of the Kuban Territory, he was promoted to major general for military distinction. V Volunteer Army by the fall he was appointed commander of the 2nd brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, and on December 21 - chief of the Circassian Cavalry Division (" Wild Division»). In 1920, after the defeat and evacuation of the ARSUR to the Crimea, together with the remnants of his division, with the permission of the Georgian government, he crossed the border of the Georgian Republic, where he was interned. Then he left for Crimea, and from there, on the orders of General Pyotr Wrangel, to the Karachay region of the North Caucasus, to organize "white-green" detachments. Commanding the formed detachments, in battles with the Red Army, he was defeated and again fled to Georgia. In the spring of 1921 he emigrated abroad.

In emigration, he became one of the leaders of the nationalist " People's Party of the Highlanders of the North Caucasus", Who fought for the severing of the North Caucasus from the USSR and the creation of the North Caucasian republic. He was a member of its Central Committee, was a member of " Caucasus Independence Committee”, Which consisted of the leaders of the Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani and mountain nationalists.

During World War II, he, together with other Caucasian and Transcaucasian nationalists, organized a number of “ National Committees"And took an active part in the formation of military mountain units and commanded the mountaineers in the Cossack corps, gen. P.N. Krasnova. At the beginning of 1943, he created Caucasian division was transferred to Italy, where in May 1945 she was interned by the British in Oberdrauburg. May 29, among 125 Caucasian officers, he was taken to Judenburg, transferred to the NKVD and convoyed to Moscow... Together with General Krasnov and other Cossacks, by the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was sentenced to be hanged and executed in Moscow on January 16, 1947 .

10. Chechen line of Gireev

Denikin ruler of Chechnya Aliyev Eris Khan Sultan Girey

During the civil war in the North Caucasus in 1919, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the South of Russia, Anton Denikin, appointed General Iriskhan Aliyev as the “ruler of Chechnya”.

By origin, Aliyev is a native of the village of Ersenoy and was married to the daughter of a Chechen General Artsu Chermoev, Princess Salima.

At that time, the highest ranks in the military hierarchy were considered general from cavalry, general from artillery and general from infantry (infantry). Having a very high military rank of general from artillery, Eris-Khan Aliyev became famous as the commander of an artillery brigade in the Russian-Turkish war of 1904. In addition, he participated in the Russian-Japanese and in the First World War, commanding at one time even the Russian corps (a huge formation consisting of several divisions). Highlander as the commander of the corps of the Russian army is a huge rarity for that time.

General of artillery Aliyev Eris-Khan Sultan-Girey born on April 20, 1855, graduated from the military Konstantinovskoye and Mikhailovskoye artillery schools, promoted to second lieutenant of the Caucasian Grenadier Artillery Brigade.

After graduating from the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy, Aliyev consistently commanded the 7th Guard Battery of the 3rd Artillery Brigade, a battalion and the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division. The first company in which Aliyev participated was the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, and here he is awarded the Order of Stanislav and St. 3 degrees with swords and bow. For participation in the Russian-Japanese war, the war of 1904-05, during the Mukden battles, Aliyev was awarded a golden weapon. At one time, during the battles for Mukden, he was even appointed (instead of General Litsevich who was out of action) temporarily acting commander-in-chief of the Russian front. For participation in this war, Aliyev was awarded golden weapons and orders: St. George 4th class, Stanislav and Anna 1st degree with swords.

In his book "Notes of a Russian Officer" Denikin describes the defeat of the Russian army in one of the battles in the Russian-Japanese war of 1904. As the author writes, the army wavered and began to retreat. It was on the way to flight. And there were no large reserves to stop the Japanese offensive. The Russian army, according to Denikin's description, "is about to run" ... When suddenly the belligerents heard the sounds of music in amazement. And we saw Aliyev's brigade, which rolled out onto the hillock with their guns. Everyone thought he was crazy. The brigade is, of course, more than a regiment, but it cannot stop the retreat of such a colossus as the army! Nevertheless, Aliyev gave the order for the artillery to move forward. The gunners began to cheekily shoot the advancing Japanese. Confusion ensued in the enemy ranks. Brave warriors, the Japanese, apparently did not expect such a turn of events. They decided, most likely, that some more large-scale action would soon follow, that the reserve forces of the Russian army were going to counterattack. It did not occur to them that audacious artillery fire was nothing more than a psychological attack. And she achieved her goal: the Japanese wavered. These few hours were sufficient to organize the retreat of individual military units. " Even then, Eris-Khan Aliyev came into the field of view of Anton Denikin.

Aliyev was one of two generals during the abdication of Emperor Romanov (the second general is Hussein-Khan Nakhichevan, Azerbaijani by origin.). Both of them remained true to their oath to the end.

In May 1918, Aliyev left Petrograd, where he was at the disposal Supreme Commander-in-Chief, to Chechnya. In the Caucasus, he offered his services to the government of the Caucasian mountaineers and in November 1918 was placed at the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the Volunteer Army. In March 1919, after the occupation of Chechnya by units of General V.P. Lyakhova, Aliyev arrived in Grozny and was elected the Supreme Ruler of Chechnya at the Congress of Chechen Peoples. As the general believed, the Bolsheviks bring destruction and death to small peoples. Therefore, he responded by agreeing to Anton Denikin's offer to become the White Guard ruler of Chechnya.

Denikin came to the Caucasus in January-February 1919, when the Bolsheviks had already established power in the region. As you know, Chechnya became the epicenter of military conflicts with the White Guards. Ingushetia and later Dagestan. And here, in Chechnya, he faced fierce resistance, which had its own background. The point is not that the Chechens and Ingush shared the views of the Bolsheviks, were their supporters by conviction. The point is different, participating in hostilities against Denikin, the Vainakhs fought against the Cossacks, on whom the White Guard general relied. The land issue was the cause of the confrontation. Among other things, during the reign of Denikin, Chechen auls were defeated, which did not recognize the authority of the Volunteer Army. In protest against the brutality and violence against the highlanders by General Erdeli, as well as the volunteers 'condemnation of the highlanders' retaliatory actions, General Aliyev announced his resignation.

Majority ordinary people believing the Bolsheviks, he joined them. Therefore, the fate of supporters of the independence of the North Caucasian republics such as Tapa Chermoeva and those who hoped for the restoration of great-power Russia in the person of Ibrahim Chulikov and General Eris-Khan Aliyev was predetermined.

After the resignation, General Aliyev left Denikin, and precisely because of the sharp disagreement with the actions of the volunteer army on the territory not only of Chechnya, but of the entire North Caucasus. According to a number of researchers, Denikin's defeat in the fight against Bolshevism was to some extent due to the fierce resistance that the inhabitants of the republics of the North Caucasus put up to the White Army. After the retreat of the Volunteer Army from the Terek region, the artillery general, an outstanding personality - Eris Khan Sultan Girey Aliyev was arrested by the Bolsheviks and placed in the Grozny prison and shortly after that he was shot by the verdict of the Revolutionary Tribunal along with his sons Eglar Khan and Exan Khan. Read more on the website Chechen Republic http://info.checheninfo.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18:aliev&catid=56:gzl&Itemid=110

In the history, or rather in the culture of the Russian Crimea, an outstanding role belongs to the nephew of the last Crimean Khan Shagin Girey, his name Alexander Ivanovich Sultan of Crimea Girey went down in the history of the Crimean charity. But he became famous, first of all, as the discoverer of Scythian Naples.

Alexander Ivanovich grew up in London, where he received a Protestant education and upbringing, and then, together with his English wife, came to Simferopol. Having received significant hereditary land, this married couple carried out extensive charitable work. In it, the most famous are Alexander Ivanovich Sultan of Crimea Girey and his son, also a major public figure - Nikolai Aleksandrovich Sultan of Crimea Girey. Two events in the history of Simferopol are associated with these glorious names.

V 1827 year Alexander Ivanovich became the discoverer of the state capital late Scythians — Naples. He sent to the Odessa Museum of Antiquities two plates with bas-reliefs of horsemen, which were found among the ruins of an old fortress on the plateau of the Petrovsky rocks near the town of Ak-Mechet (present-day Simferopol). At the end of the 19th century Nikolay Sultan Crimea Girey free of charge transferred into the ownership of Simferopol the Sultansky meadow belonging to him. For a long time, the best part of Simferopol is Boulevard Crimea Gireya bore this glorious name, but with the annexation of Crimea to Ukraine, the boulevard, unfortunately, was renamed into Ivan Franko Boulevard.

Vasily Dmitrievich Simov-Girey (1879 — 1978)
One of the brightest descendants of the Crimean khans, naval engineer Vasily Dmitrievich Simov-Girey, son of Dmitry (Devlet) Simovkhan Selim-Girey.

Vasily studied at the Norfolk, Berne, Zurich universities, worked on the construction of the Panama Canal, then in Egypt, Germany, Central America, and Japan. He is a holder of the orders of Stanislav, Anna, Vladimir. As a famous engineer, V.D. Simov-Girey was assigned to the Headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the First World War. For participation and speech at a rally in Mogilev after the February Revolution, he was expelled from the army and sent to work on the Kola Peninsula. He took part in the construction of the Kashirskaya power plant and the Belomor-canal. He came to Stepnyak (Kazakhstan) on an urgent business on a business trip, and lived here for 25 years until his death. Unfortunately, he has no descendants left.

Engineer Giray left behind biographical notes of great historical interest. His correspondence with the artist from Bakhchisarai Elena Nagaevskaya, which was published as a separate book, has also survived.

On pages 13 to 16 V. D. Simov-Girey gives the following description of his biography (the style of the author of the letter is preserved): “... My father Dmitry Vasilyevich is a naval sailor, captain of the 1st rank. He sailed first in the Caspian Sea and then in the Black Sea. Since my father was not a monarchist and was hostile to the policy of the Russian Government, he was removed from command of the ship and appointed to the post of Naval Agent in England (now such agents are called attachés). While serving on the Caspian Sea, and often visiting Astrakhan, his father fell in love with a Russian girl - the daughter of a rich Astrakhan nobleman Andrei Ignatievich Koprov, Tatyana Andreevna. She fell in love with him too. My father, not being a devout Muslim, was critical of religion and, yielding to the Koprovs, converted to Orthodoxy and married Tatyana Andreevna.

Before baptism, the father's name was Devlet, and after baptism, Dmitry. At baptism, the recipient was the commander of the Astrakhan Admiralty, Rear Admiral Vasily Alexandrovich Iretskoy - his name was assigned to my father as a patronymic. I don't remember the year of my parents' marriage. Parents died in Libava (now Liepaja), father in 1904, and mother in 1911. Buried at the Lazarevskoye cemetery.

I was born in 1879 year in g. Old Crimea(1st residence of Gireev in Crimea until 1519). I received my education not in Russia, but in England, Germany and German Switzerland. He began his studies at Norfolk College in London (simultaneously with Churchill).

After transferring his father from England to Germany, he graduated from high school in Berlin and entered the University there. He studied there for 2 years (together with Goebbels and Crown Prince Heinrich - the eldest son of Wilhelm II).

I did not like studying at the University, because I was convinced there that the University prepares mainly future officials, and not the creators of a new, more humane and just life, which I considered exclusively industrial and agricultural. workers. Therefore, I moved to Zurich at the Polytechnic Institute, where I graduated from the Engineering and Construction and Mechanical Engineering Faculties at the age of 21, that is, in 1900 and, being very wealthy, plunged into the field of studying life and work in different countries Sveta.

In 1911 he returned to Russia and no longer went abroad, except for visits to Poland, Austria and Germany during the 1st Imperialist War. "
Answering the questions: “ Why didn't I run abroad? Why did I accept the Soviet system? " given to him in a letter to E. Nagaevskaya, V. Simov-Girey writes the following:

“… By my rank and origin, I was very close to the court. I especially had friendly, kind-hearted relations with Nikolai's mother, Maria Fedorovna, which allowed me to closely observe the life of the entire Romanov family. It should be noted that the state of education was very low for all family members. The only enlightened and highly educated person in the family was Maria Feodorovna, the daughter of the late Danish King Christian XII by education as a doctor, an enlightened person.

As for the education of the rest of the family, headed by Nicholas, according to the deep conviction of the former government, special education was not required for the imperial family. It was enough to be able to write your name effectively.

The state of literacy is not more than 4 grade school. School attendance was considered unacceptable. Therefore, an educator from among the elderly officials was appointed to each future emperor. Nicholas II was educated by the evil genius of Russia, a terrifying hater of enlightenment Pobedonostsev (chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod), who implored Nicholas not to allow the formation of the people in order to preserve the dynasty. This attitude towards education was also in previous times. The basis of education was considered to be good at chatting in French, a little in German, dancing well and maintaining a good, patronizing tone and graceful demeanor. The Russian language was neglected. Nikolai perfectly mastered "education" and turned out to be a spectacular drunkard and high-grade bully, which his quality was appreciated in the highest degree in Tokyo by a police saber strike on the head. This was caused by a drunken Nikolai, who impudently pestered the passing women.

This episode, Elena Varnavovna, if you do not know it, I can describe it in detail in the next letter, if you wish.

When talking (in a sober state) Nikolai was usually polite, correct, but it was impossible to believe him, since he was very hypocritical and, moreover, not smart.

It should be noted that all the members of the Romanov family were rude, uneducated to the point of surprise, and for the most part mediocre, incapable of a working life. Nicholas' nephew, Prince Dmitry Pavlovich, after the abdication of Nicholas, went to the priesthood. And before that he was fond of singing at divine services in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Observing all this aristocratic and mediocre life and observing the life of the people and seeing the glaring injustices in relation to the people, I set out to study closer the people and their life.”

Of course, taking into account the country of residence and taking into account the time of writing the author of the letters, one can objectively understand the reasons for such a negative assessment of the royal family. It seems that in reality the judgments of Simov-Girey, a man who lived in England, Germany, Switzerland, in Russia of the tsarist period, were hardly such.

Let what he wrote about royal family will remain on his conscience, and future researchers, having studied his "Memoirs" (1000 pages), about the preparation of which he writes in his letters, will be able to draw objective conclusions. His "Memoirs" in 2 volumes, as Vasily Dmitrievich Simov-Girey writes in a letter dated February 19, 1968, he passed on to the literary critic N.S. Reshetninov.

V 1966 year in the newspaper "Izvestia" was published an article by I. M. Buzylev " Odyssey of Engineer Giray”. It was after the publication of this material that the name of V.D.Simov-Girey became widely known in the Soviet Union. In this regard, a very curious fact is described in a letter dated February 19, 1966: one night, two men burst into his house, introducing themselves as engineers, but in fact, as Simov-Girey writes, “they were monarchists in full bloom”. They accused him of friendship with FF Yusupov, the killer of G. Rasputin, “the guardian angel of the Russian Empire,” as his visitors described it. It is not known how this story would have ended if the neighbors had not come running to the noise. According to the author of the letter, "the uninvited guests had to urgently retreat."

Unfortunately, it is impossible to understand from the correspondence of V.D.Simov-Girey to what extent he was related to the last Crimean Khan Shagin Girey. But, apparently, he had information that shed light on both the family secrets of the Russian ruling Romanov dynasty and the Crimean court. So, in a letter dated January 1, 1968, he speaks of the marriage of the last Crimean Khan Shagin Gireya on a relative of the Russian poet M. Yu. Lermontov Princess Maria Tarkhanova ... Characterizing this fact, a descendant of the Chingizids writes that the marriage was cleverly arranged by a court gang led by Catherine II with the aim of further annexing Crimea.

Another point worthy of attention is given in a letter dated April 24, 1967. Simov-Girey writes: "... I bought a map of Moscow, but although it is new, it turned out to be incorrect."

Apparently, an elderly person who was educated in the best European educational institutions that maps in the era of the Soviet Union belonged to the category of strategic information material, they were deliberately distorted, just in case, in order to confuse the enemy.

In a letter dated March 7, 1968, answering E.V. Nagaevskaya about her admiration for the former architecture, he writes: “You are delighted with Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, with the beauty of its ancient architecture. I also really love to roam the ancients settlements and remember the past life of past centuries.

In modern populated areas I do not meet much of that beauty that would attract with its beauty of architecture, planning and combination of beauty of the surrounding area.

When I drive through the streets of Moscow and see the rapid destruction, instead of repair, of old buildings, old architectural ensembles, I strongly awaken a feeling of annoyance that this former beauty is being replaced by modern, ridiculous box-shaped skyscraper architecture. Is it possible that the primordial Russian architectural thought has become so impoverished that its work has lost and was carried away by the feeling of imitation of Europe and especially America, which are carried away not by beauty, but by profit. Admire Moscow, a former beauty. What modern architects turn it into, who, apparently, have lost their heads in the fascination with their box houses and their exotic character.

I will undoubtedly be declared a conservative and I will not be surprised at this, because I think it is better to be a conservative in architecture than a progressive in absurd and even harmful imitation. "

Vasily Dmitrievich Simov-Girey lived a long and multifaceted life. He died in 1976 year at the 98th year of life in Moscow. The famous Crimean journalist Timur Dagdzhi told the author of these lines that after the death of Simov-Girey, he found his son. From his words, it became known about the posthumous desire: scatter his ashes on the territory of Crimea ... Apparently, he was awakened by the “call of the ancestors” on the paternal side, who had long been formidable rulers of this ancient land.

Weave historical destinies Russia and Crimea was symbolically reflected in the difficult fate of Vasily Simov-Girey. It is interesting that currently living in London direct descendants of Genghis Khan and the Crimean khans in the male line - brothers Jezzar and Guven Giray are both grandchildren Ksenia Alexandrovna Romanova, the sister of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II.

It seems that further study of the rich epistolary heritage of Vasily Dmitrievich Simov - Girey would allow future historians to clarify new details of Russian and Soviet history.

Ebubekir Server

12. Russian princes Chinggis - Siberian (Kyrgyz) line of Gireev

The Kyrgyz khan Abul-Khair took Russian citizenship in 1717, and died in 1748, leaving three sons: Nur-Ali-khan, Air-Ali-khan and Aichuvak. Nur-Ali-khan ruled under Elizabeth and Catherine II, 1790, leaving three sons: Ishim, Buke and Shigai.

Upon the death of Nur-Ali-khan, his eldest son Ishim ruled until his death in 1797, and then Nur-Ali's younger brother Aichuvak until 1800, when the administration was entrusted to Bukey-khan, who on May 1, 1812 received a letter of approval of the khan's dignity. Russian government.

The letter says, among other things: “We judged for the good, satisfying the common desire of the Kirghiz-Kaisak Lesser Horde of sultans, beys, elders, tarkhans and the people to establish in this Horde by their voluntary election and naming of two khans: one over the Kirghiz-Kaisaks roaming in Trans-Ural steppes and belonging to the Ural line, as well as among the Astrakhan steppes, and the other - for the control of the same Horde by the Kirghiz, who are nomadic from the Upper Orenburg line to the Syr-Darya river and throughout the steppes to Khiva and Bukhara. And as the sultans of the Astrakhan country named Khan Bokey, in respect of the voluntary election, We, the great sovereign, in rendering him our royal pleasure, deigned to approve in this position and commanded to give the established signs of his dignity. " These signs are: a saber with a scabbard, a sable fur coat and a hat made of a black-and-brown fox. (since ancient times in the Steppe, only direct descendants of Genghis Khan in the male line had the right to wear a hat made of black-brown fox, note from Zverotooth)

Approved by Khan Bukey in 1825, leaving three sons - kettlebells: Janger (12 years old), Adil and Mengli (even younger). Therefore, until the age of majority Dzhanger ruled the Horde by his uncle, Bukei's brother, Shigai, and on June 22, 1823, when Dzhanger turned 20, his government approved the khan's dignity by giving and giving gifts. Dzhanger, having the rank of Major General of Russian Service, 42 years old, on August 11, 1845 on a summer nomad at the Torgun River, within the Saratov province, leaving two daughters Khoja and Zyuleika (after Colonel Tevkelekh) and sons from marriage with the daughter of the Orenburg mufti - Gireyev-Chingisov: Sahib, Ibragim, Akhmet and Gubodula Sahib-girei, chamber-page, was elevated to the rank of khan on June 25, 1847, and two years later (1849) the place of the khan was taken by the second brother of the deceased, Khan Ibrahim (23 February 1853), from the cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. The younger brother of Ibrahim (third) Sultan Akhmet-girei Chingis, colonel of the Russian service, released from Corps of Pages(1852), b. 1834, in 1870, on August 30, he was elevated to the princely dignity of the Russian Empire and lives in the Samara province on his estate Torgu, in the Novouzensky district, and in 1873 he was given the coat of arms that we placed.

The shield is divided into three parts by a lowered perpendicular. In the first part (in the upper half of the shield), in a black field, a bow and arrows are common weapons among the Kirghiz; in the second part (bottom right), in the azure field, there is a silver sign (x) tamga of Genghis Khan, indicating the origin of the princely family from this conqueror; and in the third part (bottom left) in a red field there is a tamga of the Bukeev clan (t) in gold. Shield-holders are warriors in eastern armament.

“Take history away from the people - and in a generation it will turn into a crowd, and in another generation it can be ruled like a herd”

Paul J. Goebbels.

Bukhara city, its gates, neighborhoods, mosques, schools. The school founded by Tsarina Catherine. Their purpose is to be a breeding ground for fanaticism, not scholarship. Bazaars. The police system is stricter than anywhere else in Asia. Bukhara Khanate. Residents: Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Arabs, Mervtsy, Persians, Indians, Jews. Control. Various officials. Political division. Army. Essay on the history of Bukhara.

As I was told, in order to go around Bukhara, it will take a whole day, but in fact it turned out that in the circumference of Bukhara it takes no more than four miles. Although its surroundings are well cultivated, in this respect Khiva is far superior to Bukhara.
There are 11 gates in the city: Darvaza-Imam, Darvaza-Mazar, Darvaza-Samarkand, Darvaza-Oglan, Darvaza-Talipach, Darvaza-Shirgiran, Darvaza-Karakol, Darvaza-Sheikh-Jelal, Darvaza-Namazgakh, Darvaza-Salakhan, Darvaza-Karshi ...
It is divided into two main parts: Deruni-Shahr (inner city) and Beruni-Shahr (outer city) and into various quarters, of which the most significant are the mahalla Juybar, Khiaban, Mirekan, Malkushan, Sabungiran.
The reader has already formed an idea of ​​the public buildings and squares of the city from the previous chapter, but nevertheless we will try to present our notes on this matter.

Bukhara history.

The founder of Bukhara is Afrasiab, the great Turanian warrior. Early history replace various fables, and we can only conclude that the Turkic hordes from ancient times were a thunderstorm in those places, the Persian population of which was separated from their Iranian brothers already in the time of the Pishdadids.
First thread real history begins with the Arab occupation, and we can only regret that the brave adventurers did not leave any information other than those that are scattered in "Tarihi Tabari" and some other Arab sources. Islam could not take root so easily in Maverannahr (the country between the Oxus and Yaxart rivers) as in other countries, and the Arabs had to constantly repeat the conversion as soon as they returned to the cities after a long absence.

Before the conquest of Bukhara and Samarkand by Genghis Khan (1220), as well as the significant cities of Merv (Merv-i Shah-i Jikhan, i.e. Merv, the king of the world), Karshi (Nakhsheb) and Balkh (Umm-ul-Bilad, i.e. the mother of the board, and Timur, the lame conqueror of the world from Shakhrisabz (Green City), wished to make Samarkgorodov) belonged to Persia, despite the fact that the province of Khorasan, as it was then called, was issued from Baghdad with a special firmman about investiture.
With the invasion of the Mongols, the Persian element was completely supplanted by the Turkic, the Uzbeks everywhere seized the reins and the capital of all Asia. But his plans also died with him, and the history of the khanate itself begins with the house of Sheibani, whose founder Abulkhair Khan broke the power of the Timurids in their own states. His grandson Sheibani Muhammad Khan expanded the borders of Bukhara from Khujand to Herat, but when he wanted to seize Mashhad, he was defeated by Shah Ismail and died in battle in 916 (1510).
One of his most capable successors was Abdullah Khan (born in 1544). He re-conquered Badakhshan, Herat and Mashhad, and due to his concern for the development of culture and trade, he deserves to be placed next to the great ruler of Persia, Shah Abbas II. During his reign, there were caravanserais and beautiful bridges on the roads of Bukhara, and cisterns in the deserts; all the ruins of this kind of structures bear his name.
His son Abd al-Mumin did not stay on the throne for long, he was killed (1004 (1595)). After the invasion of the Persian leader Tyokol, who devastated everything in his path, the last descendants of the Sheibanids soon died. the main contenders who contested the throne were Wali Muhammad Khan, a distant relative of Sheibani on the sideline, and Baki Muhammad.
After Baki Muhammad fell in a battle near Samarkand in 1025 (1616), Vali Muhammad Khan founded his dynasty, which, as they say, existed before Abu-l-Faiz Khan, who pleaded with Nadir Shah for peace (1740 .). During this period, Imam Quli Khan and Nasir Muhammad Khan (1650) stood out more than other rulers. Their generous support for the Ishan class largely contributed to the fact that religious fanaticism in Bukhara and even throughout Turkestan has risen to a level that it has not reached anywhere and never in the entire history of Islam.
Abu-l-Faiz-khan and his son were treacherously killed by their vizier Rahim-khan. After the death of the assassin, who continued to independently govern the state as a vizier, Daniyal-biy seized power, followed by the emirs Shah Murad, Said Khan and Nasrullah Khan.
Since the history of the last three rulers has already been told by Malcolm, Burns and Khanykov, and we could add little new, we will no longer follow the events of this era, but rather talk better in the next chapter about the wars waged by Bukhara and Kokand in the last three decades.

Mosques of Bukhara.

Bukhara residents say that there are 360 ​​large and small mosques in their hometown, so that a pious Muslim can go to a new mosque every day for entertainment. I was able to find barely half of the named number, of which only deserve mention:
1) Masjidi-Kalyan, built by Timur and restored by Abdullah Khan. Here the emir, in front of a large crowd of people, performs Friday prayer,
2) Masjidi-Divanbegi, which was ordered to be built in 1029 (1629) by a certain Nasr, divanbegi (state secretary) of the Emir Imam Kuli-khan, together with a pond of the same name and a madrasah,
3) Mirekan,
4) Masjidi-Mogak, underground, where, according to legend, some say, the first Muslims gathered, according to others - the last fire worshipers. The first version seems to me more correct, because, firstly, fire worshipers could find a suitable place outside the city in the open air, and secondly, many Kufic writings testify to their Islamic origin.

Madrasah (school) of Bukhara.

Bukhara residents also like to boast of a variety of madrasahs and, again, call their favorite number - 360, although there are no more than 80 of them. The most famous are:
1) the Kukeltash madrasah, built in 1426, has 150 hujras, and each costs 100 - 120 tills. (After the madrasah is built, the khujras are distributed free of charge, but in the future they can be purchased only for a certain price.) Students of the first grade have an annual income of 5 tills;
2) Mirarab madrasah, built in 1529, it has 100 hujras, each cost 80-90 tills and gives 7 tills of income;
3) Kosh-madrasah of Abdullah-khan, built in 1572, there are also about 100 hujras in it, but they are cheaper than in previous madrasahs;
4) Madrasah Juybar, built in 1582 by the grandson of the great scientist and ascetic of the same name. It receives the richest content, since each hujra gives 25 tillas of income, but there are few people in it, because it stands on the outskirts of the city;
5) Tursinjan madrasah, where each hujra has 5 tills of income annually;
6) Madrasah Ernazar, which Empress Catherine ordered to establish through her envoy, there are 60 hujras in it, and each gives an income of 3 tills.
In general, it was the schools of Bukhara and Samarkand that were the reason for the prevailing idea of ​​the extraordinary scholarship of the higher schools of Central Asia, which for a long time existed not only in the countries of Islam, but even here, in Europe. A superficial observer could easily see the willingness to donate in the construction of this kind of institution as a sign of high motivation.
Unfortunately, blind fanaticism is at the heart of all these incentives; both in the Middle Ages, and now in these schools, in addition to the principles of logic (mantics) and philosophy (hikmet), only the Koran and questions of religion are studied. (Sometimes it happens that some people want to do poetry or history, but they have to do it in secret, because it is considered shameful to waste time on such trifles.)
I was told that the total number of students is five thousand. They flock here not only from all parts of Central Asia, but also from India, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Russia and China. The poorest receive an annual stipend from the emir, because thanks to madrassas and strict observance of Islam, Bukhara has such a powerful influence on all neighboring countries.

Bazaars of Bukhara.

You will not find such bazaars as in the main cities of Persia. Only a few of them have vaults and are built of stone, the largest covered with wood or reed mats placed on long poles.
There are several bazaars:
Tim-i Abdullah Khan, built on the Persian model by the ruler bearing the same name after his return from Mashhad (1582);
Restei-suzengeran, which sells sewing supplies; Restei-Sarrafan, where the money changers and booksellers are stationed;
Restei-Sergeran - goldsmiths; Restei-Chilingeran - the place of locksmiths;
Restei-Attari - spice merchants;
Restei-Kannadi-sugar and sweets merchants;
Restei-Chai-furushi-tea traders;
Restei-Chitfurushi, Bazari-Latta, where the linen merchants are located;
Timche-Daraifurushi, where grocers stand, etc. Each bazaar has its own headman, who is responsible to the emir for order and prices. In addition to the bazaars, there are about 30 small caravanserais, which partly serve as warehouses for storing goods, partly are used as housing for visitors.

Bukhara police.

Bukhara has the strictest police of all Asian cities known to us. During the day, the rais in person goes round the bazaars and public places or he sends numerous police officers and spies there, and about two hours after sunset, no one else dares to appear on the street.
A neighbor cannot visit a neighbor, and the patient is forced to die because there is no medicine, since the emir gave permission to arrest even himself if the mirshab (night watchmen) meet him on the street at a prohibited time.

Bukhara Khanate.

Residents of the Bukhara Khanate. At present, the Khanate borders in the east with the Kokand Khanate and the cities of Badakhshan, in the south, along the Oxus, with the Kerki and Chardzhou districts lying on its other bank, in the west and in the north, the border is formed by the Great Desert.
The boundaries cannot be considered established, and it is impossible to determine the number of inhabitants. It is no exaggeration to name the figure of 2.5 million. The inhabitants are divided into sedentary and nomads, and by nationality - into Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kirghiz, Arabs, Mervtsy, Persians, Indians and Jews.
1. Uzbeks. They consist of the same 32 tribes that we listed in the section about Khiva, but they differ markedly from their fellow tribesmen in Khorezm both in face and character. Bukhara Uzbeks lived in closer contact with Tajiks than Khivans with Sarts, and at the same time lost many features of the national type and modest innocence characteristic of Uzbeks. The Uzbeks are the dominant people in the khanate, since the emir himself is also an Uzbek from the Mangyt tribe, and therefore they constitute the country's armed forces, although senior officers very rarely leave their ranks.
2. Tajiks, indigenous people of all cities of Central Asia; there are most of them here, so Bukhara is the only place where a Tajik is proud of his nationality. He considers the borders of his former homeland, ancient Khorasan, (Chor in ancient Persian means "sun", son - "region", Chorasan means, thus, "sunny country", i.e. East.) In the east of Khotan (in China ), in the west - the Caspian Sea, in the north - Khujand, in the south - India.
3. Kyrgyz,(Kir means "field", giz or ges - the root of the verb gismek, ie "to wander", "to wander." and is applied as a general name to all peoples living in a similar way.
The word "Kirghiz", of course, is also used as a designation for a tribe, but only for a subgroup of Kazakhs living in Kokand in the vicinity of Khazreti-Turkestan.) Or Kazakhs, as they call themselves.
There are very few of them in the Bukhara Khanate, nevertheless, taking this opportunity, we will present our modest notes about this people, the largest in numbers and the most remarkable in Central Asia for the originality of nomadic life.
During my travels I have often met separate groups Kyrgyz wagons, but when I tried to find out from the residents about their number, they always laughed at my question and answered: "First, count the grains of sand in the desert, then you can count us, the Kyrgyz."
It is also impossible to determine the boundaries of their residence. We know that they live in the Great Desert, lying between Siberia, China, Turkestan and the Caspian Sea, and this area, as well as their social conditions, sufficiently prove how wrong it is to transfer the Kirghiz to either Russian or Chinese domination. Russia, China, Kokand, Bukhara or Khiva give orders from the Kirghiz only as long as their officers, expelled to collect taxes, live among the nomads. The Kyrgyz view tax collection as a gigantic foray to which they should be grateful that collectors are content with a tenth or some other part.
Since the revolutions that have taken place in the world for centuries, and maybe even millennia, had a very insignificant effect on the Kyrgyz, this people, which we met only in small groups, one can find a true picture of those mores and customs that characterized the Turanian peoples in ancient times and which are a bizarre mixture of virtue and cruelty.
The strong craving of all these peoples for music and poetry is striking, but the greatest impression is made by their aristocratic pride. If two Kirghiz meet, then the first question they ask each other is: "Eti atang kimdir?" "Who are your seven fathers (ancestors)?" The one who is asked, even a child over the age of eight, always knows the exact answer, otherwise he will be considered extremely ill-mannered and undeveloped.
In terms of courage, the Kyrgyz are far behind the Uzbeks, and especially the Turkmens; and their Islam has a more shaky foundation than that of the last two peoples. Usually, only wealthy bai hire a mullah in the cities, who, for a certain salary, paid by sheep, horses and camels, takes the place of a teacher, priest and secretary.

For us Europeans, the Kyrgyz, even if contacts with them were frequent, are always an amazing phenomenon. Before us appear people who every day, in the scorching heat or in deep snow, wander for several hours with all their belongings, looking for a new refuge, again for only a few hours; these are people who have never heard of the existence of bread, all their food consists only of milk and meat.
Kirghiz considers the inhabitants of cities and all other people living in the same place, sick or crazy, and pity all those who are not Mongolian type of face. According to his aesthetic concepts, the Mongolian race is the highest manifestation of beauty, since God, pushing forward the facial bones, made its representatives look like a horse, and the horse in the eyes of the Kirghiz is the crown of creation.
4. Arabs... These are the descendants of those soldiers who, under Kuteiba, during the third caliph, participated in the conquest of Turkestan and subsequently settled there. However, apart from their facial features, they have retained little from their brothers living in the Hejaz and Iraq. Only a few, I have found, speak Arabic. Their number, according to rumors, reaches 60 thousand. Most of them are residents of the vicinity of Vardanzi and Wafkend.
5. Mervtsy... These are the descendants of those 40 thousand Persians whom Emir Saidkhan about 1810, after the conquest of Merv with the help of the Saryks, resettled to Bukhara. By their origin, in fact, these are the Turks from Azerbaijan and Karabakh, whom Nadir Shah brought from their old homeland to Merv.
6. Persians. Some of them are slaves, and some are those who, having redeemed themselves, remained to live in Bukhara, where, despite all sorts of religious oppression, since they can only secretly perform the rituals of the Shiite sect, they willingly engage in trade or crafts, because life here is cheaper. and it is easier to make money than in their homeland.
Persians, far superior in intelligence to the inhabitants of Central Asia, usually ascend from their slave position to the highest officials; there is almost not a single provincial governor, in whom certain positions would not be occupied by the Persians, who were previously his slaves and remained loyal to him; The Persians are also teeming with the emir's entourage, and the first dignitaries of the khanate belong to this nation.
In Bukhara, Persians are considered people who communicated more with frangi and better comprehended their devilish mindset. However, Emir Muzaffar al-Din would have had a hard time if Persia decided to threaten him with an invasion, as it has already happened, because he would hardly have achieved much with the army, where the commandants of the garrisons were Shakhurkh Khan and Muhammad Hasan Khan, and the topchubashi (chiefs of artillery) - Beinel-bek, Mehdi-bek and Leshker-bek; all five are Persians.
7. Hindus... True, there are only about 500 of them; they live scattered, without families, in the capital and in the provinces, and in some amazing way control the entire money turnover in their hands.
There is not a single bazaar in any village, wherever a Hindu usurer appears with his sack. Showing the deepest obedience, like an Armenian in Turkey, he terribly robbed an Uzbek, and since the pious Qadi mostly has common affairs with a Vishnu worshiper, he often becomes his victim.
8. Jews. There are about 10 thousand of them in the khanate. Basically they live in Bukhara, Samarkand and Karshi and are more engaged in crafts than trade. By their origin, these are Persian Jews, namely from the first captivity.
They moved here 150 years ago from Qazvin and Merv and live in the greatest oppression, despised by all. They dare not go beyond the threshold when they come to the faithful, but if he comes to see a Jew, then the Jew hastily leaves his own home and stands at the door. In the city of Bukhara, they annually pay 2 thousand tillya jizya (tribute).
This amount is provided by the head of the community; at the same time, he receives two light slaps in the face for the entire community, prescribed by the Koran as a sign of obedience. Having heard about the privileges granted to Jews in Turkey, some of them left for Damascus and other parts of Syria, but this happened in deep secrecy, since in the usual case, the desire to emigrate is punishable by confiscation of property or death.
Surprisingly, they maintain a postal link through the hajj who leave Turkestan for Mecca every year; my companions also brought several letters and all of them were delivered to the addressees.

Administration of the Bukhara Khanate.

The form of government in Bukhara has retained very few ancient Persian or Arab features, since the Turkic-Mongolian element predominates. The state structure based on a hierarchical system is of a military nature; the emir is at the pinnacle of power as generalissimo, ruler and religious head.
The military and civilian authorities are subdivided into the following groups: a) katta-sipahi, i.e. senior officials, b) orta-sipakhi, i.e. middle officials and c) ashagi-sipahs (sabits).
In the first two groups, in accordance with the rules, only Urukdars should be accepted, i.e. representatives of noble families, since they enter their office by label, i.e. written order, and billigu, (Label and billig are ancient Türkic words. The first means "letter", "scripture"; root jer, Hungarian ir, Turkish jas.
The second means "sign", in Hungarian belyeg.) I.e. sign; but for a long time these positions have also been conferred on the Persians, who were formerly slaves. The following list lists all the ranks, in the order they follow from the emir and down.
kapa-sipahi ...
1) Atalik
2) divanbegi (secretary of state)
3) parvanachi, more correctly farmanachi or farmanchi, bearer of the khan's decree orta-sipakhi ...
4) tokhsaba, actually tugsahibi, i.e. "carrying, like a banner, tug" (ponytail)
5) different
6) mirahur (equestrian) ashagi-sipahi (sabits) ...
7) chukhragasi, actually chekhreagasi, i.e. "face", because during public audiences he stands opposite the emir
8) mirza-bashi (senior clerk)
9) yasaulbegi and karagulbegi
10) yuzbashi
11) Punjabashi
12) onbashi
In addition to those listed, we should also mention those who are part of the court staff of the emir. Here the top is made up of kushbegi (vizier), mehter, dostorkhonchi (head waiter) and zekatchi (tax collector). Zakatchi acts simultaneously as the Minister of Finance and the Emir's major domo.
Then comes the mehrem (personal servants), whose number increases or decreases depending on the circumstances; they are also sent as emergency commissioners in the provinces. Any subject who is dissatisfied with the governor's decision can turn to the emir, after which a mehrem is appointed to him, who becomes, as it were, his lawyer and travels with him to his province; he investigates the matter and presents it to the emir for a final decision.
In addition, there are also odachi (gatekeeper or master of ceremonies), bakaul (food master) and salamgazi, who, during public processions, replies to the greeting instead of the emir: "Be aleikum es selam".
however, these posts and ranks exist only nominally under the current emir, since he is an enemy of pomp and left many posts unoccupied.

Political division of the Bukhara Khanate.

The political division of the khanate, as in Khiva, corresponds to the number major cities... Currently Bukhara consists of the following districts (the order of their listing depends on their size and number of inhabitants):
1) Karakel,
2) Bukhara,
3) Karshi,
4) Samarkand,
5) Kerki,
6) Hisar,
7) Miyancal or Kermine,
8) Katta-Kurgan,
9) Chardzhou,
10) Jizzakh,
11) Ura-Tyube,
12) Shakhrisyabz;
the latter is equal in size to Samarkand, but due to its constant enmity with the emir, it can only partially be ranked among the khanate. Governors, who are divanbegi or parvanachi by their rank, receive a certain share of the income of the province they govern, but in exceptional cases must give it up. Tohsaba, mirza-bashi, yasaulbegi and several mirahurs and chokhragasis are directly subordinate to each governor.

Armed Forces of the Bukhara Khanate.

The permanent army of the khanate consists of 40 thousand horsemen, but it can be increased to 60 thousand. The largest contingent is supplied by Karshi and Bukhara; people from Karshi are especially famous for their bravery, they told me * * in Bukhara.
However, I found these data to be very exaggerated, because the emir, during the campaign against Kokand, when his army consisted of at most 30 thousand people, had to support auxiliary troops, paying them a considerable salary, which the avaricious Muzaffar ad-Din, of course, did not would do if the above number was correct. The salary paid only in wartime is 20 tenge (16 shillings) per month, for which the rider is obliged to support himself and the horse.
Besides, half of the booty belongs to the warriors. However, it is in fact incomprehensible why, with such a significant number of subjects, the emir would not collect a larger army, and it is also strange why he does not take auxiliary troops from 50 thousand Ersari, but prefers to go to the Teke and even keeps the saryks in service, paying them 4 thousand till annually.

Roads in the Bukhara Khanate and its environs.

1. From Bukhara to Herat.
Bukhara - Khoshrabat 3 tasha, Meimene - Kaysar 4 tasha, Khoshrabat - Tekender 5, Kaisar Naryn 6, Tekender - Church 5, Naryn - Chichaktu 6, Churchi - Karakhindi 5, Chichaktu - Kale-Veli 6, Karakhindi - Kerki 7, Kale- Veli - Murghab 4, Kerki - Seyid (well) 8, Murghab - Derbend 3, Derbend - Kalayi-Nau 8, Seyid-Andkhoy 10, Kalayi-Nau-Sarcheshme 9, Andkhoy - Batkak 5, Sarcheshme - Herat 6, Batkak - Meimene 8. A total of 08 tashes. This distance can be traveled on horseback in 20 - 25 days.
2. From Bukhara to Merv.
You need to get through Chardzhou, from this city through the desert there are three different roads
a) through Rafatak, on the way there is a well, the length of the road is 45 farsahs;
b) through Uchaji; on the way there are 2 wells, the length is 40 farsakhs;
c) through Yolkuyu, this is an eastern road with a length of 50 farsakhs.
3. From Bukhara to Samarkand (regular road).
Bukhara - Mazar 5 tashey, Mir - Katta-Kurgan 5, Mazar - Kermiye 6, Katta-Kurgan - Daula 6, Kermine - Mir 6, Daula - Samarkand 4, 32 tasha in total.
On carriages, usually loaded, it is necessary to travel along this road for 6 days; on a good horse, this distance can be covered in 3 days, and couriers travel in only 2 days.
4. From Samarkand to Kerki.
Samarkand - Robati-hauz 3 tasha, Karshi - Faizabad 2 tasha, Robati-hauz - Nayman 6, Faizabad - Sangzulak 6, Naiman - Shurkutuk 4, Sangzulak - Kerki 6, Shurkutuk - Karshi 5. There are 32 tasha in total.
5. From Samarkand to Kokand via Khujand.
Samarkand - Yangi-Kurgan 3 tasha, Hay - Khojent 4 tasha, Yangi-Kurgan - Jizzak 4, Khojent - Karakchikum 4, Jizzak - Zamin 5, Karakchikum - Mehrem 2, Zamin-Jam 4, Mehrem - Besharyk 5, Jam - Sabat 4 , Besharyk Kokand 5, Sabat - Oratepe 2. A total of 46 tashey. Oratepe - Hay 4.
It takes 8 days to travel along this road in a carriage, but you can also shorten the path, as is usually the case for the most part, getting from Oratepe directly to Mehrem in 8 hours and winning 6 tashes.
6. From Samarkand to Tashkent and the Russian border:
Samarkand - Yangi-Kurgan 3 tasha, Chinaz - Zengi-Ata 4 tasha, Yangi-Kurgan - Jizzak 4, Zengi-Ata - Tashkent 6, Jizzak - Chinaz 16. There are 33 tasha in total.
From here, another 5 days drive to Kale-Rakhim, where the first Russian fort and the extreme Cossack outpost are located.

History

Background

In the Horde period supreme rulers Crimea was the khans of the Golden Horde, but the direct control was carried out by their governors emir. The first formally recognized ruler in the Crimea is considered Oran-Timur, Batu's nephew, who received this region from Mengu-Timur. The main city of the Crimean Yurt was the city of Kyrym (modern Old Crimea), also known as Solkhat. This name then spread gradually to the entire peninsula. The second center of Crimea was the valley adjacent to the Kyrk-Er and Bakhchisarai.

The multinational population of Crimea then consisted mainly of the Kypchaks who lived in the steppe and foothill part of the peninsula, whose state was defeated by the Mongols, Greeks, Goths, Alans and Armenians, who lived mainly in cities and mountain villages. The Crimean nobility was mainly of mixed Kypchak-Horde origin.

The Horde rule, although it had positive aspects, was generally burdensome for the Crimean population. In particular, the rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly staged punitive campaigns in the Crimea, when the local population refused to pay tribute. Nogai's campaign in 1299 is known, as a result of which a number of Crimean cities suffered. Therefore, separatist tendencies began to manifest themselves soon after the establishment of the Horde power.

There are legends, unconfirmed by Crimean sources, that in the XIV century Crimea was allegedly repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd defeated the Crimean Tatar army in 1363 near the mouth of the Dnieper, and then allegedly invaded the Crimea, devastated Chersonesos and seized all the valuable church items here. A similar legend exists about his successor named Vitovt, who in 1397 allegedly reached Kaffa in the Crimean campaign and again destroyed Chersonesos. Vitovt in Crimean history is also known for the fact that during the Horde Troubles at the end of the 14th century he granted refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and the Grodno region of Belarus. In 1399, Vitovt, who came to the aid of Tokhtamysh, was defeated by Emir Timur-Kutluk on the banks of the Vorskla and made peace with Edigey.

Gaining independence

Establishment of dependence on the Ottoman state

In the spring of 1482, the Tsar of Moscow Ivan III, through his ambassador to the Crimea, appealed to the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray with a request to arrange a campaign in the Polish lands "to the places of Kiev." Mengli Giray took Kiev by storm, ravaged and severely destroyed the city. From the rich booty, the khan sent Ivan III in gratitude gold chalice and discos from Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral. In 1474, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III concluded an alliance with this khan, which lasted until his death. Ivan III patronized trade, for this purpose he maintained especially relations with Kaffa and Azov.

Wars with Muscovy and the Commonwealth in the early period

Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on Moscow state and Poland. Crimean Tatars and Nogai mastered the tactics of raids to perfection, choosing the path along the watersheds. The main of their routes to Moscow was the Muravsky Shlyakh, which went from Perekop to Tula between the upper reaches of the rivers of two basins, the Dnieper and the Northern Donets. Deeper into the border area for 100-200 kilometers, the Tatars turned back and, deploying wide wings from the main detachment, were engaged in robbery and capture of slaves. The capture of captives - the yasyr - and the slave trade were an important part of the khanate's economy. The captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and even European countries. The Crimean city of Kafa was the main slave market. According to some researchers, more than three million people, mostly Ukrainians, Poles and Russians, have been sold in the Crimean slave markets in two centuries. Every year Moscow gathered up to 65 thousand warriors in the spring so that they would carry the border service on the banks of the Oka until late autumn. To defend the country, fortified defensive lines were used, consisting of a chain of forts and cities, notches and rubble. In the southeast, the oldest of these lines ran along the Oka from Nizhny Novgorod to Serpukhov, from here it turned south to Tula and continued to Kozelsk. The second line, built under Ivan the Terrible, ran from the city of Alatyr through Shatsk to Oryol, continued to Novgorod-Seversky and turned to Putivl. Under Tsar Fyodor, a third line arose, passing through the cities of Livny, Yelets, Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod. The initial population of these cities consisted of Cossacks, Streltsy and others. service people. A large number of Cossacks and service people were part of the sentry and village services, which watched the movement of the Crimeans and Nogai in the steppe.

In the Crimea itself, the Tatars left a little yasyr. According to the old Crimean custom, slaves were released into freedmen after 5-6 years of captivity - there is a number of evidences from Russian and Ukrainian documents about returnees from behind Perekop, who “worked out”. Some of those released into the wild preferred to stay in the Crimea. There is a well-known case described by the Ukrainian historian Dmitry Yavornytsky when the ataman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ivan Sirko, who attacked the Crimea in 1675, seized a huge booty, including about seven thousand Christian prisoners and freedmen. The ataman asked them whether they would like to go with the Cossacks to their homeland or return to the Crimea. Three thousand expressed a desire to stay and Sirko ordered to interrupt them. Those who changed their faith in slavery were released immediately, since Sharia prohibits keeping a Muslim in captivity. According to the Russian historian Valery Vozgrin, slavery in Crimea almost completely disappeared already in the 16th-17th centuries. Most of the captives captured during attacks on northern neighbors (the peak of their intensity occurred in the 16th century) were sold to Turkey, where slave labor was widely used mainly in galleys and construction work.

The last khans and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire

After the withdrawal of Russian troops, a widespread uprising took place in the Crimea. A Turkish landing has landed in Alushta; Russian resident in Crimea Veselitsky was captured by Khan Shahin and handed over to the Turkish commander-in-chief. There were attacks on Russian troops in Alushta, Yalta and other places. The Crimeans elected Devlet IV as Khan. At this time, the text of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy treaty was received from Constantinople. But even now the Crimeans did not want to accept independence and cede the indicated cities in the Crimea to the Russians, and the Porta considered it necessary to enter into new negotiations with Russia. Dolgorukov's successor, Prince Prozorovsky, negotiated with the khan in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Crimeans did not hide their sympathy for the Ottoman Empire. Shahin Gerai had few supporters. The Russian party in Crimea was small. But in the Kuban he was proclaimed a khan, and in 1776 he finally became the khan of the Crimea and entered Bakhchisarai. The people swore allegiance to him.

Only now Shahin turned to the Sultan as a caliph, for a blessing letter, and the Porta recognized him as a khan, subject to the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Crimea. Meanwhile, in 1782, a new uprising began in the Crimea, and Shahin was forced to flee to Yenikal, and from there to the Kuban. Bahadyr II Giray was elected to the khans, but he was not recognized by Russia. In 1783, Russian troops entered the Crimea without warning. Soon Shahin Giray abdicated the throne. He was asked to choose a city in Russia for residence and the amount was released for his move with a small retinue and maintenance. He lived first in Voronezh, and then in Kaluga, from where, at his request and with the consent of the Port, he was released to Turkey and settled on the island of Rhodes, where he was deprived of his life.

There were "small" and "big" sofas, which played a very important role in the life of the state.

A council was called "Small Divan" if a narrow circle of nobility took part in it, resolving issues requiring urgent and concrete decisions.

The “Big Sofa” is a gathering of “the whole earth”, when in general all the Murzas and representatives of the “best” black people took part in it. Traditionally, the karachei retained the right to authorize the appointment of khans from the Gerai clan by the sultan, which was expressed in the rite of placing them on the throne in Bakhchisarai.

In the state structure of the Crimea, the Golden Horde and Ottoman structures of state power were largely used. Most often, the highest government positions were occupied by the sons, brothers of the khan or other persons of noble birth.

The first official after the khan was the kalga-sultan. The khan's younger brother or his other relative was appointed to this position. Kalga ruled the eastern part of the peninsula, the left wing of the khan's army, and administered the state in the event of the death of the khan until a new one was appointed to the throne. He was also the commander-in-chief, if the khan did not personally go to war. The second position - nureddin - was also held by a member of the khan's family. He was the manager of the western part of the peninsula, chairman of small and local courts, and commanded the smaller corps of the right wing on campaigns.

The mufti is the head of the Muslim clergy of the Crimea, the interpreter of laws, who has the right to remove judges - kadiys, if they judged incorrectly.

Kaimakans - in the late period (end of the 18th century), governing the regions of the khanate. Or-bey - the head of the fortress of Or-Kapy (Perekop). Most often, this position was occupied by members of the khan surname, or a member of the Shirin surname. He guarded the borders and watched the Nogai hordes outside the Crimea. The posts of qadi, vizier and other ministers are similar to those in the Ottoman state.

In addition to the above, there were two important female positions: ana-beim (analogue of the Ottoman post of valid), which was occupied by the khan's mother or sister, and ulu-beim (ulu-sultani), the eldest wife of the ruling khan. In terms of importance and role in the state, they had a rank next to nureddin.

An important phenomenon in the state life of Crimea was the very strong independence of the noble Beysk clans, in some way bringing Crimea closer to the Commonwealth. Beys ruled over their possessions (beyliks) as semi-independent states, they themselves administered the courts and had their own militia. Beys regularly took part in riots and conspiracies, both against the khan and among themselves, and often wrote denunciations against the khans who did not please them to the Ottoman government in Istanbul.

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