← Explore on the interactive map
Founding of the Crimean Khanate
Between roughly 1441 and 1449, Hacı Giray, a descendant of Jochi, broke away from the Golden Horde with the support of the Crimean beys and founded t…
Timeline
- c. 1440–1441The Crimean Peninsula · Crimean PeninsulaAfter Golden Horde rule in Crimea loosened, local clans invited Hacı Giray, a Jochiid descendant in exile in Lithuania, to return as khan, in order to shake off Sarai's direct control and counter other steppe rivals.
- 1441–1443Chufut-Kale · Crimean PeninsulaHacı Giray minted coins in his own name at Chufut-Kale, and the Genoese authorities at Caffa also recognized his khanly title. This marked Crimea's transformation from a Golden Horde dependency into an independent khanate, with the Giray family thereafter holding the peninsula's khanly line.
- 1443–1449Crimea and the northern Black Sea steppe · Crimean PeninsulaHacı Giray still had to contend with Golden Horde remnant khans and internal challengers, and his position wavered several times. Around 1449 he consolidated his rule once more, with Qırq Yer as the early capital, and the Crimean Khanate stabilized as an independent state.
Sources
- khanate of Crimea https://www.britannica.com/place/khanate-of-Crimea
- The Crimean Tatars: The Diaspora Experience and the Forging of a Nation — Brian Glyn Williams (2001)
- Crimea: A History — Neil Kent (2016)