The outskirts of the Crimean Khanate (on the question of the mainland territories of the Crimean Khanate)

Abstract

The article deals with issues related to the development of the possessions of the Crimean Khanate of the XV-XVIII centuries. Located outside the Crimean Peninsula, which, unfortunately, with the exception of a few researches, have not received proper coverage in historical literature. Among them are the processes of expanding territorial borders, the emergence of settlements and issues of administrative management. To cover this topic, materials from written and cartographic sources were involved, as well as the achievements of historians who touched on issues of historical geography were used. In the course of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that, unlike the territory of the Crimean Peninsula, where an agricultural culture was formed, contributing to the development of an administrative system with clear delineations into districts, the mainland possessions of the Khans were inhabited by nomads, in which the traditional order of governance was preserved. Nevertheless, we cannot say that the vast territory from the Dniester to the Don was considered by the Tatars exclusively as a place of nomadic grazing. Analysis of the sources showed the presence of stationary settlements and fortifications on the banks of the Dnieper River, which indicates the cultural development of these lands. For the Crimean Khans, the preservation and expansion of dominance in the forest-steppe zone of Eastern Europe was extremely important, since it strengthened the security of the interior of the country and expanded the military capabilities of the state due to the migration of nomads to these territories. In addition, the Khanate controlled overland trade routes leading to the Black Sea ports on the peninsula.