The Tatars, formerly also spelled Tartars, is an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" across Eastern Europe and Asia.
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of the Mongol Empire after 1259, it became a functionally separate khanate. It is also known as the Kipchak Khanate or the Ulus of Jochi, and replaced the earlier, less organized Cuman–Kipchak confederation.
The Great Stand on the Ugra River or the Standing on the Ugra River, also known as the Battle of the Ugra, was a standoff in 1480 on the banks of the Ugra River between the forces of Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, and Grand Prince Ivan III of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are an East European Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. The formation and ethnogenesis of Crimean Tatars lasted over 2500 years in Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region, uniting Mediterranean populations with those of the Eurasian Steppe.
The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441–1783, the longest-lived of the Turkic khanates that succeeded the empire of the Golden Horde. Established by Hacı I Giray in 1441, it was regarded as the direct heir to the Golden Horde and to Desht-i-Kipchak.
The Khanate of Astrakhan was a Tatar rump state of the Golden Horde. The khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, around the modern city of Astrakhan. Its khans claimed patrilineal descent from Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan.
Devlet I Giray ruled as Crimean Khan during a long and eventful period marked by significant historical events. These events included the fall of Kazan to Russia in 1552, the fall of the Astrakhan Khanate to Russia in 1556, and the burning of Moscow by the Crimean Tatars in 1571. Another notable event during Devlet's reign was the defeat of the Crimeans near Moscow in 1572. However, Cossack raids into the Crimea were also common during his reign.
The Nogai Horde was a confederation founded by the Nogais that occupied the Pontic–Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by the Kalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called the Manghuds constituted a core of the Nogai Horde.
The Great Horde was a rump state of the Golden Horde that existed from the mid-15th century to 1502. It was centered at the core of the former Golden Horde at Sarai on the lower Volga.
The Battle of Molodi was one of the key battles of Ivan the Terrible's reign. It was fought near the village of Molodi, 40 miles (64 km) south of Moscow, in July–August 1572 between the 120,000 horde of Devlet I Giray of Crimea and about 60,000–70,000 Russians led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky. The Crimeans had burned Moscow the previous year, but this time they were thoroughly defeated.
Meñli I Giray (1445–1515) was thrice the khan of the Crimean Khanate and the sixth son of Hacı I Giray.
The Russo-Kazan Wars were a series of short, intermittent wars fought between the Grand Principality of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan between 1437 and 1556. Most of these were wars of succession in Kazan, in which Muscovy intervened on behalf of the dynastic interests of its main ally, the Crimean Khanate. For most of the period, neither side sought to conquer the other, until Ivan the Terrible decided to annex Kazan upon the successful 1552 siege, which was followed by a rebellion lasting until 1556.
Muravsky Trail or Murava Route was an important trade route and an invasion route of the Crimean Nogays during the Russo-Crimean Wars of the 16th and early 17th centuries. As described in the Book to the Great Chart of Muscovy (1627), the route went north from the Tatar fortress of Or Qapı (Perekop), the gateway of the Crimean peninsula, east of the Dnieper, to the Russian fortress of Tula, 193 km south of Moscow.
Mehmed I Giray was khan of the Crimean Khanate. He was preceded by his father Meñli I Giray and followed by his son Ğazı I Giray (1523–1524). He gained control of the steppe nomads, put his brother on the throne of Kazan and was killed after taking Astrakhan.
Sahib I Giray (1501–1551) was Khan of Kazan for three years and Khan of Crimea for nineteen years. His father was the Crimean Khan Meñli I Giray. Sahib was placed on the throne of Kazan by his ambitious brother Mehmed of Crimea and driven out of Kazan by the Russians. He became Khan of Crimea with Ottoman support and was expelled by the Turks for disobedience. During his reign Crimean troops fought for the Turks and also fought in the North Caucasus. In 1532-1584, during the long reigns of Sahib I Giray, Devlet I Giray and Mehmed II Giray, Crimea was at the height of its power.
The steppe and forest-steppe of Ukraine and southern Russia, traditionally held by pastoral nomads, provided agricultural opportunities. States that were able to settle the land with tax-paying peasants could significantly increase their power. From 1500 to 1800, this region came under Russian control.
Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe were the slave raids, for over three centuries, conducted by the military of the Crimean Khanate and the Nogai Horde primarily in lands controlled by Russia and Poland-Lithuania as well as other territories, often under the sponsorship of the Ottoman Empire, which provided slaves for the Crimean and Ottoman slave trades.
İslâm I Giray (?–1537) was for five months 1532 Khan of the Crimean Khanate. He was preceded and followed his uncles Saadet I Girai (1524–1532) and Sahib I Giray (1532–1551). His father was Mehmed I Giray (1515–1523). Islam spent most of his life (1524–1537) trying to take the throne from his uncles. He was once Khan and twice Kalga or designated heir and co-ruler. He revolted three times, twice almost captured the khanship and once partitioned the Khanate between himself and his uncle. When not in Crimea he lived with the Nogai nomads.
Mehmed II Giray, the Fat was khan of the Crimean Khanate. During his reign he made at least three campaigns against Persia in the service of the Ottomans. He was overthrown by the Ottoman Empire for refusing another campaign. He was one of the numerous sons of Devlet I Giray. Five of his brothers were later Khans.
