Haji Giray

Timeline

1. 1397–1419Trakai · Grand Duchy of LithuaniaAfter Timur struck the Golden Horde, Tash-Timur's descendants took refuge in Lithuania. Haji was born in exile around 1397; his father Giyasuddin died in fighting supporting Tokhtamysh's line, and legend says servants hid the boy for years. After Edigu died in 1419, the gateway to Crimea reopened to this branch of the dynasty.
2. 1419–1441Solkhat (Old Crimea) · CrimeaAfter 1419 he and his uncle Devlet-Berdi established themselves in Crimea. Devlet-Berdi briefly took Sarai but was soon killed. Haji advanced and retreated several times among rival khans, appearing briefly in Crimea's power lists by around 1428, and long maintained contacts with Lithuania against Great Horde rivals such as Sayyid Ahmad.
3. 1441–1449Chufut-Kale (Kirk-Er) · CrimeaBy 1441 the Genoese already called him new khan, and that year he minted coins in his own name at Chufut-Kale, which many researchers take as the khanate's beginning. He moved his seat from Old Crimea to the rock fortress of Chufut-Kale, relying on Crimean beys and Lithuanian support to declare independence from the Golden Horde court. This node falls entirely within the 1401–1450 window.
4. 1449–1466Chufut-Kale · CrimeaAfter claiming the khanate he continuously resisted Great Horde khan Sayyid Ahmad and others, maintaining an alliance with Lithuania–Poland. In 1456 his son Haydar briefly seized the throne but was expelled the same year, and Haji was restored. He died in August 1466 and was buried at Sarachik; his sons Nur Devlet and Mengli-Girey contested the succession, and the khanate entered a war of succession.