“The Astrakhan murzas sent a man with letters to the Crimean ruler”: Astrakhan-Crimean relations in the second half of the 16th – early 18th century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-3.48-65Keywords:
Astrakhan, Crimea, the Muscovite state, the Lower Volga region, murzas, Tatars, 16th–18th centuriesAbstract
The article describes the complex relationships that existed between the population of the Lower Volga region and the Crimean Khanate in the second half of the 16th – early 18th centuries. It is noted that while the Astrakhan Khanate still existed, its rulers and population perceived Crimea as an equal polity, with which they periodically either clashed or maintained peaceful relations. During the period of the annexation to the Muscovite state, the Tatar population of the Lower Volga region became a pawn in the political maneuvering of the Astrakhan Khan DervishAli, who alternated between waging war against the former Astrakhan Khan Yamgurchey, who was supported by the Crimeans, and trying to defend his independence from the Muscovite state together with the Crimeans and the Turks. After the final annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate to the Muscovite state, the local Tatar population was forced to follow the policy of the Astrakhan authorities represented by the tsar’s voivodes. Those who disagreed with this left the Lower Volga region and moved to neighboring states, including Crimea, or to Ottoman territories in the AzovBlack Sea region, where they participated in their political life, initially maintaining a formal affiliation with the former Astrakhan Khanate. At the same time, the Tatar population remaining in the Lower Volga region, despite official prohibitions from the Russian authorities regarding ties with Crimea, maintained contacts with the Crimean Tatars and, if their financial situation deteriorated, chose Crimea as their new place of residence. Along with this, the Astrakhan Yurt Tatars participated in the 17th century as part of the Russian troops in military campaigns against the Crimean Khanate, and, with the permission of the Astrakhan voivodes, they also carried out independent reconnaissance raids against Crimean in order to obtain information about the situation in the Crimean Khanate.
For citation: Toropitsyn I.V. “The Astrakhan murzas sent a man with letters to the Crimean ruler”: Astrakhan-Crimean relations in the second half of the 16th – early 18th century. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2026, vol. 16, no.3, pp. 48–65. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-3.48-65 (In Russian)
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