Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie (Dec 2016)
Russian Chronicles and Diplomatic Documents on the Moscow-Crimean-Kazan Relations at the end of the 15th – the first half of the 16th centuries
Abstract
Research objective: The article analyzes chronicles’ and diplomatic information about joining of the Kazan Khanate to the Moscow-Crimean alliance in 1487, about the joint actions of these three states against the Great Horde in 1491–1492 and about the Moscow-Crimean-Kazan peace negotiations of 1537–1542. Research materials: Special attention is given to inconsistencies in the sources that often has not been considered in the historiography. In official chronicles the campaign of 1487 marks the submission of Kazan. Whereas diplomatic documents represent the expedition of the Moscow troops of 1487 as the military aid of Ivan III to the khan Mahomed-Amin in his struggle for the Kazan throne. According to official chronicles, in 1491 the Kazan khan warred against the Horde on the side of the Crimea by the order of the Moscow sovereign. In turn, in the Novgorod chronicle the campaign of 1491 is represented as the act of the help of Ivan III to the sultan Satylgan and khan Mahomed-Amin in their fight against the Great Horde. The data of diplomatic documents are consistent with the estimate of the Novgorod chronicle. Research results and novelty: Therefore, it can be assumed that Mahomed-Amin participated in the war against the Great Horde as he was in allied relations with Moscow and the Crimea. Diplomatic documents confirm the point of view of official chroniclers of rather intermediary role of the Crimean khan in the Moscow-Kazan negotiations of 1537–1542. Thus, they display a completely different character of the relations between Moscow, the Crimea and Kazan. The Moscow boyars demanded from the Kazan khan to recognize the supremacy of the Moscow sovereign. In turn, the governors of the Crimea and Kazan called for equal relations. Possibly, this contradiction was the main reason for a failure of the peace negotiations.
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