Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie (Nov 2013)
The Early Khans of Crimea: the Chronology of the Turmoil in the Ac-counts of the Genoese Treasury of Caffa, 1420s
Abstract
Four account books of the Genoese colony in Caffa kept in 1420–1426 by its treasurers (massarii) are still unpublished as a whole. Almost four hundreds records in these manuscripts deal with the Tartar-Genoese relations and the political situation in Crimea. Combined with the numismatic data and evidences from chronicles and state correspondence they let the author to ascertain up to weeks and days the chronology of khans’ reign. After the death of the first Crimean khan Bek Sufi in 1421 his brother Dawlat Berdi (the kinship became evident from these records) struggled for power with his cousin Ulugh Muhammed, khan of the Golden Horde, for six years and climbed to the Solhat throne four times. The newly obtained information proves that neither Bek Sufi nor Dawlat Berdi, cannot be treated as the khans of the Golden Horde. They were two of the first members of the Tukatimurid dynasty which came to power in Crimea. The separatism and the might of the Crimean tribal beks were a real reason and basis for forming this independent khanate. The same beks reestablished the dynasty in 1441 having invited to the throne Haji Giray, nephew of both khans, who gave his name to the dynasty of the state, established in 1419. It was necessary to use original Latin texts to understand the history that accompaied the research.
