Kalga ( uk, Калга russian: Калга crh3, qalğa, قالغا ar, كالغا tr, kalgay ka, კალგა) was the highest ranked official after the
khan in the hierarchy of the
Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...
.
The title of kalga was introduced
[Law and Division of Power in the Crimean Khanate (1532-1774): With Special Reference to the Reign of Murad Giray (1678-1683), by Natalia Królikowska-Jedlińska, 2018, publisher BRILL, ISBN 9004384324, 9789004384323] in 1486 by
Meñli I Giray
Meñli I Giray ( crh3, I Meñli Geray, ۱منكلى كراى) (1445–1515), also spelled as Mengli I Giray, was a ''khan'' of the Crimean Khanate (1466, 1469–1475, 1478–1515) and the sixth son of Hacı I Giray.
Biography
Struggle f ...
for his son Mehmed Geray in order to establish a firm order of succession to the throne. Prior to that, power in the
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
was inherited by a senior member of the khan's family, which led to endless strife. This may have been Mengli's intention, but in later reigns the khanship usually went to one of the khan's relatives without much regard to who had been kalga. The khan, kalga and nureddin were always members of the Giray clan. From an early date the khans were confirmed by the Ottoman Sultan. From the seventeenth century khans were increasingly installed and removed by the Turks.
The successor to the Crimean Khan or a trusted member of the Khan's family was appointed to the position of kalga. In the event of the death of khan, the kalga ruled the country until the appointment of a new monarch. He was also the commander in chief of the army if the khan did not go to war personally. The kalga had a residence in
Simferopol
Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...
, known as Ak-Mosque at the time, and ruled the city of
Bilohirsk, known as Karasubazar at the time, and its environs.
Other Crimean titles
*The nureddin (
Nur al-Din Nur al-Din ( ar, translit=nūr ad-dīn, نور الدين) is a male Arabic given name, translating to "light of the religion", ''nūr'' meaning "light" and ''dīn'' meaning "religion". More recently, the name has also been used as a surname.
There ...
) was third in rank after the khan and kalga. This title was introduced in 1578 or 1579 by
Mehmed the Fat. Like the kalga, he was normally a close relative of the khan. His official residence was at Bakhchisarai and he had his own officials, but not as many as his superiors. The nureddin was sometimes unofficially associated with the Mansur clan in the northwestern steppe-like part of the peninsula and therefore with the steppe nomads, just as the kalga was sometimes unofficially associated with the Shirin clan in the east and therefore with the Turks at Kaffa.
*The Or-Beg was the governor of
Perekop
Perekop (Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is an urban-type settlement located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea. ...
. Howorth calls him the third dignitary in the state, but the title is hard to find before about 1690.
*The Begs (
Bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
) were leaders of the Crimean clans.
*
Mirza
Mirza may refer to:
* Mirza, Kamrup, town in Assam, India
* Mirza (name), historical royal title & noble
* ''Mirza'', the genus of giant mouse lemur
* "Mirza", song by Nino Ferrer
* ''Mirza – The Untold Story'', Punjabi action romance film wri ...
was a title used by some Nogai chiefs.
*The Seraskers (
Serasker
''Serasker'', or ''seraskier'' ( ota, سرعسكر; ), is a title formerly used in the Ottoman Empire for a vizier who commanded an army.
Following the suppression of the Janissaries in 1826, Sultan Mahmud II transferred the functions of the ...
) were Crimean agents in the Nogai hordes, especially Budjak and Kuban. The title first appears perhaps around 1700.
*Sultan was an honorific sometimes given to members of the Giray clan in Turkish sources.
Further reading
* VV Panashenko . Kalga, kalga-sultan // Encyclopedia of the History of Ukraine ( uk, Енциклопедія історії України) : in 10 volumes / editor: VA Smoliy (chairman) and others. ; Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine . - K . : Наукова думка , 2007. - Т. 4: Ка - Ком. - P. 29. - 528 p. : il. - ISBN 978-966-00-0692-8 . (In Ukrainian)
* Bushakov V. On the origin of the title of Kalga in the Crimean Khanate ( uk, О происхождении титула калга в Крымском ханстве) // Vatan. - 1991. - № 3. - 14-18. (In Ukrainian)
* Buszakow WA On the origin of the title of kalag in Chanakie Krymsky // Rocznik muzułmański. - Warzawa. - 1994. - R. 3. - T. 2. - S. 85-88. (In Polish)
References
{{reflist
Crimean Khanate
Ottoman period in Ukraine
History of the Ottoman Empire in Europe
Islam in Ukraine
Noble titles