Written source · Ottoman Turkish

Four Ottoman state papers on the end of the Crimean khanate

An Ottoman copy (c.1775 to 1780) of memoirs and a treaty text about Russia, Crimea and the Tatar khans in the 1770s.

Full title Four Ottoman documents on Crimean affairs, 1763-1780: a memoir on Russia since 1763 (Beyan-name), a memoir on Russian exactions (1773), the Russo-Crimean treaty text on frontier changes (Ahd-name, Turkish version by the reis ul-kuttab), and a memoir on the Tatars and their khans

بیان نامه؛ عهدنامه (مجموعه چهار قطعه در باب امور قریم)

Anonymous Ottoman chancery copyist; Abd al-Razzaq Efendi

Read the 3 passages Open the original book

This small manuscript in the BULAC library, Paris, gathers four Ottoman chancery pieces from the Russo-Turkish war of 1768 to 1774 and its aftermath: a memoir on Russia since 1763, a memoir of 1773 on Russian demands (apparently translated from French), a treaty text on the Crimean frontier, and a memoir on the Tatars and their khans, the last two put into Turkish by the reis ul-kuttab Abd al-Razzaq Efendi. The copy is anonymous and undated, perhaps by a European hand. The corpus text is the library's scan on Internet Archive, whose OCR is unusable, so passages were read from the images. A diary of Pierre Ruffin, French interpreter at Bakhchysarai in 1767, is also filed under this record but was not read.

How they knew: Official record
Who “Tartar” means here: The Crimean Tatars and the Nogay hordes (Budjak, Kuban, Yedisan, Jamboyluk, Yedichkul): Muslim subjects of the Genghisid Giray khans, whose status was being fought over by Russia and the Ottomans.
Why read it: It shows 'Tartary' as it looked to Ottoman officials in its last years: a Muslim khanate with Genghisid rulers, real fortresses, and a religious tie to the sultan as caliph.
Watch out: Some pieces are translations of Russian or French texts, so the Ottoman voice is partly mediated. They are diplomatic documents with a political aim, and the transcriptions from a handwritten copy may contain small errors.

What it says: 3 passages

Cities Kerch Strait (Kerch, Yenikale, Taman)1773

Kerch and Yenikale for Russia, a fortress on a non-existent island for the Ottomans

Editorial contextThe memoir lists Russia's peace terms as the Ottomans understood them: the fortresses and places on the Crimean, Taman and Kuban side would be handed to the Tatars, while Yenikale and the port of Kerch, with their districts, would go to Russia. At most, it says with open sarcasm, the Ottomans would be allowed to build a fortress 'on an imaginary island, whose name and body do not exist' between Yenikale and Taman. The Tatar towns of the strait are real fortresses bargained over by two empires.

All the fortresses and places on the side of Crimea, Taman and Kuban … shall be left and handed over to the Tatars; and secondly Yenikale and the port of Kerch, with their districts and territories, shall be made over to Russia; and at most the Sublime State may build a fortress on an imaginary island, whose name and body do not exist, between Yenikale and Taman.
Working translation
Original wording
قريم وطمان وقوبان جانبنده اولان قلاع وبقاع بالجمله … تاتاره ترك وتسليم اولنه وثانيا یکی قلعه وکرش ليمانی الکا وناحيه‌لريله روسيه دولتنه تمليك اولنوب نهايه یکی قلعه ايله طمان بيننده اسم وجسمی معدوم بر اطه موهومه ده دولت عليه بر قلعه بنا ايتمك جايز اوله

Ottoman memoir on Russia's demands, 1773 (item II in the library catalogue, apparently translated from a French memoir), undated copy c.1775 to 1780

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About Crimean Tatars, Russians and Ottomans

Keep in mind

A hostile Ottoman summary of Russian demands, perhaps translated from French; the sarcasm about the island is the memoir's own. Russia did gain Kerch and Yenikale by the treaty of 1774.

Transcribed from the manuscript image (corpus OCR of this manuscript is garbled); one unclear word omitted.

Daily life Crimea1770s

Muslim Tatars and the sultan as caliph

Editorial contextAlthough the Tatars were declared independent of the Ottomans, the memoir keeps a religious tie. Because 'the Tatar nation is of the religion of Islam', and two caliphs cannot coexist under Islamic law, Russia agrees that the Tatars acknowledge the Ottoman sultan, 'caliph and head of all Muslim rulers and protector of the Two Holy Cities', as holding supreme spiritual authority over them. It shows the Crimean Tatars as a Muslim people whose faith linked them to Istanbul.

But since the Tatar nation is of the religion of Islam … the Russian state consents that the Tatars accept and acknowledge that supreme spiritual authority is vested in the noble person of His Majesty the compassionate and mighty Padishah of the House of Osman, as caliph and head of all Muslim rulers and protector of the Two Holy Cities.
Working translation
Original wording
ولکن تاتار ملتی دین اسلامدن اولمغيله … روسيه دولتی رضاداده اولورکه شفقتلو قدرتلو پادشاه آل عثمان حضرتلری خليفه ورئيس جمله حکمداران مسلمين وحرمين شريفين حاميسی اولمغيله ذات شريفه‌لرنده رخصت علياء روحانيه مرکوز بولنديغی تاتارلر قبول واعتراف ايده‌لر

Ottoman chancery memoir on the Tatars and their khans (item IV in the library catalogue, put into Turkish by the reis ul-kuttab Abd al-Razzaq Efendi), undated copy c.1775 to 1780

See the original page

About Crimean Tatars

Keep in mind

Treaty-style wording agreed between two empires; it states a legal position, not what ordinary Tatars believed.

Transcribed from the manuscript image (corpus OCR of this manuscript is garbled).

The name Crimea1770s

Only a descendant of Genghis may be khan

Editorial contextThe memoir sets out what happens when a Crimean khan dies or the Tatar peoples agree to depose him. Because it is 'among impossible things' for anyone outside the line of Genghis to hold the rank of khan, they must elect and install another khan from Genghis's descendants, and then notify both Russia and the Ottoman sultan. Five centuries after the Mongol conquest, the Crimean Tatars' rulers still drew their legitimacy from Genghis Khan.

On the khan's death, or if the Tatar peoples by common agreement wish to depose him, since it is among impossible things for anyone other than the line of Genghis to attain this rank of khan, when they elect and install another khan from the descendants of Genghis
Working translation
Original wording
خانك وفاتنده ويا خود طوايف تاتاريه بالاتفاق عزلنی مراد ايدوب سلسله جنکيزيه‌دن غيری اشبو خانلق رتبه‌سنه نايل اولمق مواد ممتنعاتدن اولمغيله اعقاب جنکيزيه‌دن آخر بر خان انتخاب ونصب ايتدکلرنده

Ottoman chancery memoir on the Tatars and their khans (item IV in the library catalogue, put into Turkish by the reis ul-kuttab Abd al-Razzaq Efendi), undated copy c.1775 to 1780

See the original page

About Crimean Tatars and Nogays ('the Tatar peoples')

Keep in mind

A diplomatic text written for the post-1774 arrangements, not a description of daily life; the copyist is unknown.

Transcribed from the manuscript image (corpus OCR of this manuscript is garbled).

The fine print

How we know

official or contemporary record An official document or a record made at the time.

official record: chancery translations and memoranda of the 1770s on the detachment of the Crimean khanate from the Ottoman empire; copy possibly by a European hand

Research notes

Items II-IV are translations of European or Russian texts, so the 'Ottoman' voice is partly mediated; copyist unidentified.

Why it matters

Ottoman documentary view of the end of Crimean 'Tartary' as an Ottoman dependency (Kucuk Kaynarca 1774 and after), including a native memoir on the Tatars and their khans.

Places named

Crimea; Kuban; Bessarabia; Russo-Ottoman frontier

Peoples named

Golden Horde and its Tatar successor khanates

Persian, Arab, Ottoman and other Islamic states

Ottomans

Rus, Muscovy and the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

Crimean khanate; Ottoman empire; Russian empire; Nogays

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