‘Only You, Our Subject, and Kalmyk Vassals of Yours Should Restrain Yourselves from Seeking Quarrels with Turkish Liegemen for the Sake of Peace’: A 1718 Letter Missive of Peter I of Russia to Khan Ayuka of the Kalmyks

Abstract

Introduction. Recent historiographic studies show an increasing interest in the figure of Khan Ayuka and the whole of written heritage pertaining to seventeenth-eighteenth century Russian-Kalmyk relations. The article is the first to publish a complete text of one 1718 letter missive submitted by Tsar Peter Alekseyevich to Khan Ayuka. Goals. So, the paper shall introduce some further evidence of Russian-Kalmyk contacts from Peter the Great’s era. Materials. The study focuses on related documentary material from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. Results. Such and similar publications shall significantly contribute to the study of Russian-Kalmyk relations throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The examined document mentions a variety of noteworthy facts dealing with the then military and political situation across Russia’s southern frontier. Conclusions. The 1718 letter missive of Peter I attests to the Russian government was well aware of the actual agenda along its southern and southeastern domains. The text clearly shows that Russian authorities were keeping a watchful eye on contacts between Kalmyk landlords and Sultan Bahti Giray of Kuban. The intelligence messages would be regularly delivered by Astrakhan and Tsaritsyn offices, Don Cossacks and princes of Kabardia.

Keywords

• peter i
• khan ayuka
• documentary heritage
• kalmyks
• russian-kalmyk relations
• don cossacks