Where the devlet weight ruled. Versions: Ivan the Terrible and Khan Giray, in search of a secret seal. War and internal strife

In Russian history, in addition to the heroic pages that we remember with pleasure, there are many frankly shameful ones that bashfully hide in the depths of textbooks and reference books.

Khan, who committed mischief on the Izyumsky Way

In the history of the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, generally controversial, the year 1571 stands out, in which the ruler of Russia, despite his nickname, could not avoid the greatest humiliation, which largely influenced his subsequent policies.

After the collapse of the Golden Horde, several state formations existed around the emerging Russian state, remaining after the fall of the Tatar-Mongol empire.

Almost all of them were in hostile relations with the Russian state and carried out regular raids on Russian border territories, robbing, killing and capturing civilians. Such raids contributed to the widespread development of the slave trade in the khanates formed on the ruins of the Golden Horde.

With the strengthening of the Russian state, Russian monarchs began to solve the problem of restless neighbors. Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates were annexed to Russia.

Another serious opponent of Russia was the Crimean Khanate, the head of which in 1551 was Khan Devlet-Girey, appointed Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Devlet-Girey was an irreconcilable opponent of Rus', and after the fall of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates he actively sought to restore their independence.

The confrontation between Russia and the Crimean Khanate will last for many years and will take place with varying degrees of success. The legendary words from the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” about the Crimean Khan, who commits outrages on the Izyum Highway, are the pure truth.

In the first period of his reign, Ivan the Terrible, who took Kazan and Astrakhan, quite successfully repelled Devlet-Girey’s attempts to ruin the Russian lands.

War and internal strife

The situation changed radically after Russia entered the Livonian War, the purpose of which was to secure access to the Baltic Sea for our state. The war, which was initially successful for the Russians, eventually resulted in a protracted conflict that ended in failure for Russia.

Devlet-Girey, taking advantage of the distraction of the main Russian military forces in the western direction, began to carry out devastating raids on southern Russian lands almost every year.

The internal Russian conflict did not allow one to cope with this threat - Ivan the Terrible, who sought to strengthen the autocracy, encountered resistance from the Boyar Duma, which sought to limit the powers of the monarch.

Ivan the Terrible began to directly interpret failures in the Livonian War as evidence of internal treason.

To combat the boyar opposition, the institution of oprichnina was introduced - the tsar himself took under his personal control a number of lands, on which a special royal army was formed to fight the traitors. An army was formed from young nobles, who were opposed to the noble boyars. At the same time, all other lands of the state that were not included in the oprichnina were called “zemshchina” and even received their own king - the Tatar prince Simeon Bekbulatovich, appointed by Ivan the Terrible.

The oprichnina army led by the tsar launched terror against the opponents of Ivan the Terrible, both imaginary and real. In 1570, at the peak of the oprichnina, Novgorod was destroyed, accused of trying to go over to the side of the enemy.

During this period, the creators and leaders of the oprichnina themselves fell under the flywheel of repression. At the same time, the fighting qualities of the oprichnina army, accustomed not to war, but to punitive actions, were extremely low, which will clearly manifest itself in 1571.

Russian disaster

In the spring of 1571, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey, having gathered a large army, numbering, according to various estimates, from 40 to 120 thousand Crimean Horde and Nogais, set out on a campaign against Rus'.
A year earlier, Prince Vorotynsky assessed the state of the guard service on the southern borders of Rus' as extremely unsatisfactory. However, the initiated reforms did not manage to change the situation.

The main forces of the Russian army continued to fight in the Livonian War, and no more than 6,000 warriors tried to prevent Devlet-Girey’s army. The Crimean Tatars successfully crossed the Ugra, bypassed the Russian fortifications on the Oka River and struck the flank of the Russian army.

The warriors, unable to withstand the blow, retreated in panic, opening the way to Moscow for Devlet-Girey. Ivan the Terrible himself, having learned that the enemy was already several miles from his headquarters, was forced to flee to the north.

It is known that initially Devlet-Girey did not set the task of advancing to Moscow, however, having learned about the weakness of the Russian army and the weakening of Rus' as a whole due to several lean years, the Livonian War and the oprichnina, he decided to take advantage of the favorable situation.

By May 23, Devlet-Girey’s army approached Moscow. All that the few Russian troops managed to do was take up defensive positions on the outskirts of Moscow. Ivan the Terrible was not in the capital.

The only safe place was the Kremlin, which the Crimean Tatars could not take without heavy guns. However, Devlet-Girey did not even try to storm the fortress, on May 24 he began plundering the unprotected part of the settlement, where traders, artisans and refugees were located, flocking from the cities through which the Crimean army had previously passed.

The Tatars virtually robbed and set fire to estates with impunity. A strong wind scattered the fire throughout the city, resulting in a fire that engulfed the whole of Moscow. Explosions occurred in cellars in the city, collapsing part of the fortress walls. The fire penetrated the Kremlin, iron rods burst in the Faceted Chamber, and the Oprichnina Courtyard and the Tsar's palace were completely burned down, where even the bells melted.

The wounded commander-in-chief of the Russian troops, Prince Belsky, burned in the basement of a Kremlin house.

3.

Triumph of Devlet-Girey

Survivors of this nightmare wrote that crowds of people rushed in panic to the city gates farthest from the Tatars, trying to escape. Some suffocated in the smoke, others burned in the fire, others were crushed to death in a mad stampede, others, fleeing the fire, threw themselves into the Moscow River and drowned, so that soon it was literally filled with the corpses of the unfortunate.

After three hours of fire, Moscow was practically burned to the ground. The next day, Devlet-Girey went back with the booty and captives, destroying Kashira along the way and ravaging the Ryazan lands. The defeated Russian army was unable to pursue him.

Contemporaries wrote that just cleaning up the corpses of Muscovites and refugees who died in the capital on May 24, 1571 took two months. The city being restored had to be populated by people who were resettled from other cities.

Assessing the damage from the invasion is extremely difficult. According to foreigners, by 1520 at least 100,000 people lived in Moscow, and as of 1580 this number was no more than 30 thousand.

Up to 80 thousand inhabitants of Rus' became victims of the Crimean invasion, and up to 150 thousand were taken captive. A number of historians consider these figures to be overestimated, however, the losses were colossal.

Shocked and humiliated, Ivan the Terrible was ready to transfer the Kazan Khanate to Devlet-Girey, but refused to return the independence of Kazan. At the same time, disappointed in the guardsmen, Ivan the Terrible began to curtail the policy of mass repression. Soon even the mention of the word “oprichnina” was prohibited.

The incredible success, however, stunned not only Ivan the Terrible, but also Devlet-Girey. Having received the nickname “Took the Throne” after a military campaign, he declared his intention not only to take possession of Astrakhan, but also to subjugate the entire Russian state.

Counter attack
In 1572, fulfilling his plans, Devlet-Girey moved to Rus' with a 120,000-strong Crimean-Ottoman army. Having overcome small Russian outposts on the Oka River, he rushed to Moscow.

However, this time the Russians were ready to meet a dangerous enemy. In the Battle of Molodi, which lasted from July 29 to August 2, 1572, the Russian army under the command of governor Mikhail Vorotynsky, Dmitry Khvorostinin and Ivan Sheremetyev defeated the forces of Devlet-Girey.

The Russians, having fewer forces, proved themselves to be much more skilled warriors than the Crimean Tatars, who clearly overestimated their strength after the raid of 1571.

The defeat was complete - those who fled from the battlefield drowned in the Oka, pursued by the Russian cavalry. Among the dead were many Crimean nobility, including the Khan's son, grandson and son-in-law. Many of Devlet-Girey’s associates were captured.

In fact, the Crimean Khanate lost its male combat-ready population. Devlet-Girey no longer carried out raids on Rus', and his successors limited themselves only to forays of small detachments into the border territories.

The Russian shame of 1571 was avenged, but will never be forgotten.

In Russian history, in addition to the heroic pages that we remember with pleasure, there are many frankly shameful ones that bashfully hide in the depths of textbooks and reference books.

Khan, who committed mischief on the Izyumsky Way

In the history of government Tsar Ivan the Terrible, generally controversial, stands out in 1571, in which the ruler of Russia, despite his nickname, could not avoid the greatest humiliation, which largely influenced his subsequent policies.

After the collapse of the Golden Horde, several state formations existed around the emerging Russian state, remaining after the fall of the Tatar-Mongol empire.

With the strengthening of the Russian state, Russian monarchs began to solve the problem of restless neighbors. Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates were annexed to Russia.

The icon “Blessed is the army of the Heavenly King,” painted in memory of the Kazan campaign of 1552. Source: wikipedia.org

Another serious opponent of Russia was the Crimean Khanate, the head of which in 1551 was appointed Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Khan Devlet-Girey.

Devlet-Girey was an irreconcilable opponent of Rus', and after the fall of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates he actively sought to restore their independence.

In the first period of his reign, Ivan the Terrible, who took Kazan and Astrakhan, quite successfully repelled Devlet-Girey’s attempts to ruin the Russian lands.

War and internal strife

Devlet-Girey, taking advantage of the distraction of the main Russian military forces in the western direction, began to carry out devastating raids on southern Russian lands almost every year.

Ivan the Terrible began to directly interpret failures in the Livonian War as evidence of internal treason.

Ivan the Terrible at the wedding of Simeon Bekbulatovich (miniature from the Front Chronicle). Photo: wikipedia.org

To combat the boyar opposition, the institution of oprichnina was introduced - the tsar himself took under his personal control a number of lands, on which a special royal army was formed to fight the traitors. An army was formed from young nobles, who were opposed to the noble boyars. At the same time, all other lands of the state that were not included in the oprichnina were called “zemshchina” and even received their own king - the Tatar prince appointed by Ivan the Terrible Simeon Bekbulatovich.

Russian disaster

A year before Prince Vorotynsky assessed the state of the guard service on the southern borders of Rus' as extremely unsatisfactory. However, the initiated reforms did not manage to change the situation.

By May 23, Devlet-Girey’s army approached Moscow. All that the few Russian troops managed to do was take up defensive positions on the outskirts of Moscow. Ivan the Terrible was not in the capital.

All Saints Bridge and the Kremlin at the end of the 17th century. Painting by Apollinary Vasnetsov Photo: Public Domain

The wounded commander-in-chief of the Russian troops burned in the basement of a Kremlin house Prince Belsky.

Triumph of Devlet-Girey

Assessing the damage from the invasion is extremely difficult. According to foreigners, by 1520 at least 100,000 people lived in Moscow, and as of 1580 this number was no more than 30 thousand.

Counter attack

Foundation stone in memory of the victory in the Battle of Molodi in 1572. Photo: wikipedia.org

In 1572, fulfilling his plans, Devlet-Girey moved to Rus' with a 120,000-strong Crimean-Ottoman army. Having overcome small Russian outposts on the Oka River, he rushed to Moscow.

However, this time the Russians were ready to meet a dangerous enemy. In the Battle of Molodi, which lasted from July 29 to August 2, 1572, the Russian army under the command of the governor Mikhail Vorotynsky, Dmitry Khvorostinin And Ivan Sheremetyev defeated the forces of Devlet-Girey.

The Russians, having fewer forces, proved themselves to be much more skilled warriors than the Crimean Tatars, who clearly overestimated their strength after the raid of 1571.

The Russian shame of 1571 was avenged, but will never be forgotten.

Khan Genghisid, who became famous for the burning of Moscow, captured and sold into slavery hundreds of thousands of people from countries neighboring the Crimea

Coins from the reign of Devlet-Girey

History knows almost nothing about Devlet-Girey’s youth. A relative of the Crimean Khan Sahib-Girey lived for a long time in Istanbul at the Sultan’s court. When the Bakhchisarai throne became vacant in 1551, the Sultan sent Chingizid, whom he liked, to the Crimea.

Having established himself in Bakhchisarai, Devlet-Girey immediately declared himself as the worst enemy of the Russian kingdom, as well as other neighbors of the Crimea. Under him, the raiding war acquired a large scale, and the total number of polonyaniks sold in the slave markets of Kafa (now Feodosia) and other cities of Crimea was estimated not in tens, but in hundreds of thousands of people.

Already in the second year of his reign, in the summer of 1552, Devlet-Girey led his 60,000-strong cavalry army on a raid against Rus'. In its ranks were Turkish janissaries and gunners. Moreover, the Crimean Khanate soon became an ally of the opponents of the Moscow state in the Livonian War of 1558–1583.

That summer, on June 21, the Crimean cavalry appeared under the walls of the fortified city of Tula, whose garrison was commanded by Voivode Temkin. After shelling the city from cannons with incendiary shells, the Krymchaks launched an assault on it, which was repulsed. The siege of Tula and the destruction of its surroundings began.

Ivan IV Vasilyevich sent the royal army to the rescue of the besieged. Its advanced regiment (15 thousand horse soldiers) attacked the army of Devlet-Girey, and the Tula garrison went on a sortie. The raiders suffered heavy losses and fled, but their pursuers overtook them 40 kilometers from Tula on the banks of the Shivoron River, where a new battle took place. After this victory, Tsar Ivan the Terrible set off on the Kazan campaign.

Genghisid decided to launch a new big raid on the Moscow borders only in the summer of 1555. His 60,000-strong cavalry army again moved to Tula, but 150 kilometers from it, near the village of Sudbischi, its path was blocked by a regiment of local nobility led by governor I.V. Sheremetev, who was sent by the tsar on a campaign to Perekop at the head of a 13,000-strong army.

Sheremetev missed the khan. Having learned about the movement of the enemy cavalry towards Tula, the governor left 4 thousand warriors to guard the convoy, and he himself, with 9 thousand cavalry, began to pursue the enemy. The two-day battle took place near the village of Sudbischi. The regiment of the wounded Sheremetev had to hold a perimeter defense in a gully (ravine). Khan, having learned about the approach of new Russian forces, broke camp at night and went to the steppe.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible decided to prevent a new enemy raid. In the spring of 1556, a detachment of servicemen led by the governor, clerk M.I., was sent to the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Rzhevsky. His army went down the Dnieper on ships and took the “fortress fort” from Ochakov, which was destroyed.

At the Turkish Dnieper fortress of Islam-Kermen, Russian warriors and Ukrainian Cossacks fought for six days with the mounted army of the Crimean Tatars. The battle ended with the Krymchaks losing the horse herds that had been captured from them. This was the first appearance of the Moscow army in the lower reaches of the Dnieper.

Devlet-Girey did not abandon his thoughts regarding “profits” at the expense of the Moscow kingdom. In the summer of 1569, he and his cavalry became an ally of the Sultan's commander Kasim Pasha in a campaign against Astrakhan. The reason for the campaign was that the Astrakhan Khanate became part of the Russian state.

The Astrakhan campaign of the Turks (20 thousand) and Crimean Tatars (50 thousand) through the southern Trans-Don steppes ended in complete failure. Approaching Astrakhan, which was defended by a small Russian garrison under the command of governor Karpov, the Ottomans did not dare to storm the fortress.

The Sultan's army, having stood near Astrakhan for only ten days, began to retreat to Azov through the steppes of the North Caucasus. From disease, hunger and lack of water, and frequent attacks by the Trans-Kuban Circassians, the Ottomans lost up to 70 percent of their original number. Only 16 thousand people reached the Azov fortress.

The Astrakhan failure greatly shook the khan's dignity of Devlet-Girey. Then Devlet-Girey decided to assert his position of power among his subjects with a successful raid on Russian borders. He managed to carry out his plans with interest: the raid of the Crimean Khan’s cavalry army on Moscow in 1571 turned out to be extremely successful: the city was burned. Rus' has not seen such a terrible raid by steppe inhabitants for a long time.

That year, the khan led (according to various sources) a cavalry army of 100-120 thousand, with a huge mass of riding horses and baggage camels, on a raid. He knew that the southern borders of the Muscovite kingdom were poorly protected: the Livonian War was going on, and the main Russian forces were far from the banks of the Oka and Ugra rivers.

In the spring of 1571, the “shore” was occupied by the 50,000-strong army of governor I.V. Sheremetev, which with separate regiments and outposts occupied the “climbs” across the Oka and Ugra. Tsar Ivan the Terrible, having received news of the beginning of the raid, with a detachment of oprichniki (“oprichnina army”) approached the Oka River and took up a position near Serpukhov.

Khan managed to outwit the enemy: he moved along the so-called Pig Road, away from the positions of the Moscow army, and unhindered “climbed” the Ugra, finding himself in the rear of the regiments of Governor Sheremetev, who were defending the banks of the Oka.

Such an enemy maneuver led to “shakyness” in the commander’s regiments. Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his oprichnina army found themselves cut off from the Serpukhov fortress and retreated to Bronnitsy, and further to the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, which had a fortress fence. Then he “left” for the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

The tsarist commanders retreated from the Oka to Moscow. On May 23, they took up defensive positions in the capital's outskirts. An enemy attack was expected along the outskirts of Bolshaya Ordynka Street. Two large cannons were placed here, which amazed foreigners with their size - the Kashpirev Cannon (weight - 19.3 tons) and the "Peacock" (weight - 16.32 tons).

The path for the Khan's cavalry to Moscow was open. On May 24, Devlet-Girey approached the city, but did not dare to storm it. An attempt to break through to the Moscow Kremlin along Bolshaya Ordynka was unsuccessful. The large regiment of the governor Prince Ivan Belsky stationed here repelled the attack of the Khan's cavalry. Street fighting did not bode well for uninvited guests from Crimea.

The Krymchaks “dispersed” to the outskirts and suburbs of Moscow and began their usual robbery and “gathering” of polonyaniks. Devlet-Girey, among other things, ordered to burn all the grain that was not yet threshed.

The capital's settlements were set on fire on the same day, May 24. That is, having failed to take a huge wooden city in a raid, the khan decided to burn the Russian capital, using strong winds and dry weather for such “evil.” Moscow burned out completely within a day. Only the Moscow Kremlin survived the fire thanks to its non-wooden walls. But the cellars containing the “fiery potion,” that is, gunpowder, exploded. The explosions killed many people, and in two places a stone fortress wall collapsed. Many tens of thousands of townspeople and warriors perished in the fiery tornado. Contemporaries testified that on the day of May 24, the Moscow River was dammed with the corpses of people who riskily tried to find salvation in it from the all-consuming fire.

Devlet-Girey with his army, burdened with military booty, left burning Moscow on the same day, May 24. He received news that Russian troops were rushing towards the city from the Livonian border.

On the way back, Devlet-Girey ravaged the Ryazan land, turning it in many places into a depopulated wasteland. South of the Oka, the Krymchaks plundered 36 cities. There is information in history that in the raid of 1571, Devlet-Girey took with him to the Crimea, that is, into slavery, about 150 thousand people, according to other sources - up to 100 thousand. The vast majority of them were sold to the Turks.

The following year, the Crimean-Turkish army of 120 thousand people again moved towards Moscow. However, his path was blocked by a 60,000-strong Russian army under the command of the already glorified commander, Voivode Mikhail Vorotynsky. The parties fought in a multi-day battle near the village of Molodi, 60 kilometers from Moscow (between Podolsk and Stolbovaya).

Khan and his army managed to bypass the Russian field fortress (“walk-city”) that stood in his way and rushed towards Moscow. Then Voivode Vorotynsky removed his regiments from the “bank” of the Oka and hastened to pursue the enemy. A regiment of mounted warriors was sent forward under the command of the prince-voivode Dmitry Khvorostinin. He overtook the enemy near the village of Molodi, boldly attacking the Khan’s cavalry.

The main forces of Vorotynsky, who arrived, blocked the Crimeans and Turks from retreating from Moscow. In the battle that took place, Devlet-Girey’s army was defeated and fled. According to some reports, Khan Genghisid from his 120 thousand army, which was leaving for a second raid on Moscow, brought back only 20 thousand demoralized soldiers back to Crimea.

After this terrible defeat, the Crimean Khanate could not restore its military strength for a long time. Genghisid died in disgrace in 1577, suffering “the shame of the Tur (Sultan)” and his loyal subjects, who had lost such a huge number of relatives and friends.

POLITICS OF DEVLET-GIREY I AND HIS SUCCESSORS

It was said above that several junior members of the Girey clan were constantly in Istanbul in case it was necessary to change the khan. So Sahib-Girey was also replaced. The Sultan sent him a firman for a campaign to pacify the Circassians, and when the khan left the Crimea with his army, the Sultan’s captive, Devlet-Girey, was landed in Gezlev, rode to Bakhchisarai, where he published a Turkish letter about his appointment. The former khan, who returned home, was captured by the beys and strangled along with his closest relatives.

Devlet-Girey I (1551 - 1577) remained on the throne for so long, apparently, thanks to his almost constant campaigns against his neighbors. This contributed to the high combat readiness of his troops, their good support, and increased the authority of the khan not only among the people, but also among the nobles. In short, Devlet was the complete opposite of the educated and peaceful Seadet-Girey, which greatly strengthened the throne.

A major diplomatic operation is also associated with the name of this khan, which canceled out Moscow’s plan to completely eliminate the independence of Crimea by seizing it by military force and installing its own governor in Bakhchisarai (Kusheva E.N., 1963, II, 197 - 198). Khan became aware of this mortal danger to his homeland, and he obviously had no doubt that Moscow was capable of carrying out such a plan. In fact, Russia already occupied a huge territory of 2.8 million km2, i.e. it was the largest (after the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation) power in Europe. It had access to the Baltic and other conditions necessary for successful development. Nevertheless, upon becoming crowned king, Ivan the Terrible received from his spiritual fathers a real foreign policy program: he had to strive to expand state borders at the expense of his neighbors (PSRL, 1904, XIII, 150).

And yet the king was wary of going against the khan alone; he turned to Lithuania for help. The negotiations were already successfully coming to an end, and the fate of Crimea seemed to be sealed when Devlet sent a great embassy to Lithuania. Experienced Crimean diplomats handled the matter in such a way that the Lithuanians refused to continue negotiations with the envoys of Grozny, and they returned to Moscow empty-handed. The Lithuanians and Poles did not succumb to the persuasion of the Russians later. In short, thanks to the efforts of the khan, the plan to seize Crimea was postponed for a long time. Although not forever. The khan understood this and was constantly afraid of the king.

But he did not abandon the old dream of the khans and sought to bring Kazan and Astrakhan under the Crimean hand, despite the fact that the Russians were already in charge there. There was a bloody battle in 1555, where many archers fell, and burned in 1571. Moscow, set on fire by the Crimean horsemen, the Tatars devastated settlements and cities near Moscow, but Devlet could not boast of major results of his endless wars. And the only thing he achieved was for Ivan the Terrible to increase the number of “funerals” and streamline their departure to the Crimea, for which the tsar earned from Karamzin an accusation of treason against “our state honor and benefit”! (History of the Russian State, IX, 109).

Devlet-Girey knew how not only to fight, but also to make good use of the infrequent peaceful respites. So, when in 1569 the new Turkish Sultan Selim II decided to send an expedition to build the Volga-Don canal, Devlet, firstly, “friendly” warned the king about this, and secondly, he intimidated the Turks, who had already begun digging work, the terrible Russian frost, that they fled in disarray, barely having time to bury shovels and other equipment. As a result, the khan improved relations with both of his enemy friends with this double action, while simultaneously strengthening the security of Crimea.

In general, Devlet’s policy was continued by his son Muhammad-Girey II the Fat (1577 - 1584). The new khan supplemented the system of Crimean succession with the position of nureddin; he did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of the internal unrest in Turkey, its general decline during the reign of Murad III (1574 - 1595) and took a decisive step towards the independence of Crimea. He became the “author” of the precedent, refusing to go on a campaign to the Caucasus at the behest of Istanbul, proudly declaring to the Sultan: “Well, are we Ottoman beys, or what?” The Sultan tried to remove him by sending a three-thousand-strong detachment of Janissaries to the Crimea. But before the Turks had time to leave Kafa, the city was besieged by 40 thousand Tatars, and Muhammad’s angry statement was transmitted to Istanbul: “I am the padishah, the master of the khutba and coins - who can remove and appoint me!” And it is unknown how this conflict would have ended if the khan had not been strangled by his brother, Ali-Girey.

However, the Turks acted politically quite intelligently, placing on the throne not a fratricide, but the third Giray, Islam, accurately calculating that this khan, who owed everything to the Sultan, would be more obedient. Perhaps Islam would have accepted the most precious legacy of Devlet and Muhammad - the beginning of Crimean independence, and developed them further; but then the Bey civil strife broke out, and the Turks had to forget about serious, nationwide resistance. All Turkish prerogatives of power were restored, but innovations also appeared. As mentioned above, the name of the Sultan was henceforth announced on the khutbah before the name of Giray - and so on until the very end of the Khanate.

Attempts to restore ancient traditions and laws occurred later. Thus, Gazi-Girey (1588 - 1608) sought to reintroduce into practice the election of a khan by seniority (based on the consent received by his grandfather from Murad III), as well as the position of kapa-agasa (grand vizier), who could support the khan who elected him , not expecting to take the throne like Kalga or Nureddin. These attempts were successful, but they did not improve matters. Palace coups that broke out spontaneously in Crimea or inspired by Istanbul also occurred later. Let us give the most striking example of such an event - the history of the two-time reign of Dzhanybek-Girey (1610, 1623, 1627 - 1635).

The grandson of Devlet-Girey I, he grew up in a foreign land, in Circassia, where his father fled from the massacre that Gazi-Girey carried out for his potential rivals. Dzhanybek's mother then returned to Crimea and even became the wife of Khan Selyamet-Girey (1606 - 1610), as a result of which her son was appointed kalga, and then became khan.

Meanwhile, the brothers of the late Selyamet, Muhammad and Shagin, who lived in Turkey, were involved in the riots there, had already served several years in prison and were forgiven by the Sultan, set out to try their luck in their homeland. They settled near Ackerman and, making occasional raids on the Russians, waited there for their time. Success in the raids gathered around them a huge number of Budzhak and other Horde horsemen, and even the Khan’s troops, conquered by the daring of the brothers, began to lean towards them.

This could not help but concern Dzhanybek, and he obtained permission from the Turks to eradicate this nest of robbers. The khan won the battle, the Sultan again put Muhammad in prison, but Shagin managed to escape to the Persian Shah. The Sultan demanded that the 30,000-strong Crimean army invade Persia, but the Tatars were defeated by the Persians, commanded by Shagin. Meanwhile, power changed in Turkey - Osman II became the Sultan, and Hussein Pasha, a friend of Muhammad, who was once in prison with him, became the Grand Vizier. He freed the disgraced Giray and contributed to his appointment as khan. Dzhanybek, naturally, went to Rhodes.

The new khan expelled Shagin from Persia and made him kalga. Once in power, the brothers staged a demonstrative massacre in Crimea, destroying all possible rivals, as well as former enemies. But, sitting comfortably on the throne, the khan made an unforgivable mistake by not paying due attention to the Turkish firmans, who called for a campaign against the Cossacks, who had recently devastated and plundered the coastal possessions of the Sultan with impunity. In 1628, the Turks ran out of patience and again appointed Janybek khan.

He went ashore at Cafe, but the brothers, deciding to defend their rights to the end, closed the way to the capital for both him and the Janissaries accompanying him. Muhammad's army numbered several thousand Horde soldiers and more than a thousand Cossacks, grateful for their connivance during the recent pogroms. The Turkish Janissaries did not dare to oppose these proven thugs and asked for help from Istanbul. Reinforcements arrived, but during this time the brothers increased their army to almost 100 thousand. This huge force fell on Kafa and literally crushed the Turks along with their powerful artillery and fleet.

Carts with trophies reached Bakhchisarai. There were Turkish cannons, which the Tatars so lacked, property seized in the Turkish quarters and public places of Kafa, bags with the military treasury of the expeditionary detachment of the Turks, as well as the khan’s regalia intended by the Sultan to Janybek. The loss of regalia was not only symbolic. Dzhanybek remained a khan only in the eyes of the Sultan, forced to wander either in the vicinity of the Khanate or in a foreign land for another two years. In fact, the khan's power in Crimea still belonged to the brothers, who pursued a completely independent policy. Shagin-Girey even ravaged Turkish towns - Akkerman, Izmail, Zhurzhevo, etc.; No Giray had ever reached such insolence before.

And then even more amazing events happened. The Cossacks took advantage of the protracted Crimean-Turkish conflict and, no longer content with plundering the Rumelian shores, landed on the Bosphorus in 1624 and began to destroy the suburbs of Istanbul, approaching the capital. And young Murad IV (1623 - 1640) could not do anything with them: a war with the Persians began in the east. The situation in Istanbul was as threatening as it was humiliating. The capital was already preparing to fall into the hands of the Zaporozhye gangs, when suddenly a message arrived from Muhammad-Girey, who, as if nothing had happened, offered to help the Sultan by building several fortresses on the Dnieper for protection from the Cossacks. The Sultan had to agree; he ordered the release of tools and workers to Bakhchisarai, and sent honorary sabers and robes to the brothers.

Another message also arrived in Istanbul - from the Bey of the Budzhak Horde, Kan-Temir, who asked to relocate him and his subjects somewhere away from the Cossacks. Not wanting to accept the warlike Nogais into his possessions, Murad sent them to the Crimea, although he knew that Kan-Temir did not have a more vicious enemy than the kalga Shagin (they met more than once with weapons in their hands in the steppe expanses of the Dnieper region, in addition, Shagin massacred Kan-Temir’s entire family by attacking his Crimean estate). Therefore, having passed Perekop, the Budzhak Bey turned left, united with the Kafin Janissaries and only then moved to Bakhchisarai, where the unsuspecting brothers enjoyed peace. In a lightning battle, Kan-Temir defeated their guards, and they themselves barely managed to escape - in Zaporozhye this time. Dzhanybek finally ascended the throne.

But for a long time the former khan and kalga tried to get through to Bakhchisarai at the head of Cossack detachments, although they were not able to go deeper into the Crimea than Karasubazar. Finally, in one of these raids, Muhammad fell and was buried with honor in the Gireyev family dyurbe in Eski-Yurt. Shagin was again forgiven by the Sultan and, having provided the elderly daredevil with an ordinary pension, he sent him to Rhodes. His enemy Dzhanybek, once again deprived of the throne by the Turks, soon arrived there to live out his life.

In the amazing plot of this Crimean odyssey, a seemingly insignificant plot is noteworthy, connected with the first open action against the Gireys of the Kan-Temirov house, which headed the most warlike and powerful Nogai clan of the Mansurs. This family enmity, which had been smoldering even before Dzhanybek, now becomes obvious, almost without dying out. Looking ahead a little, let's say that the Mansurs caused a lot of harm to the independence of Crimea in the 17th - 18th centuries. Faithful minions of the sultans, they readily went to the Crimea at the first nod from Istanbul: the campaigns enriched the Nogai and the Turks who patronized them. From this time on, the Nogai danger became almost constant for the khans.

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Devlet-Girey Devlet-Girey, of course, cannot be compared with the great Hannibal, who wrote brilliant victories over the Romans in the annals of history, but never defeated Rome. The Carthaginian will be offended by such a comparison and will curse. Yes, Devlet-Girey both as a commander and as

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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