Toqtamış Giray Crimean Tatar,

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

and (1589–1608, reigned 1607–1608) ruled briefly as khan of the Crimean Khanate. He followed his father Gazi II Giray, was rejected by the Ottomans and killed by his successor

Selâmet I Giray Selâmet I Giray Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish, and (1558–1610, reigned 1608–1610) was a khan of the Crimean Khanate. His early life was more complex than his 2-year reign. Most of his life involved dynastic conflicts with his brothers and ...

. In 1602, when Gazi left on his third Hungarian campaign, he appointed his 13-year-old son Tokhtamysh as kalga (''qalgha'', designated successor) and left him in nominal charge of Crimea. After he returned to Crimea in 1603 he sent Tokhtamysh with some troops back to Hungary. Gazi died in 1607. By custom, when a khan died power passed to his eldest surviving brother and then to his son. The clan leaders declared the new khan and then requested confirmation from the Ottoman sultan, who sometimes made another choice. Gazi's only living brother was the 50-year-old Selyamet, who was imprisoned in Anatolia. Gazi had made Tokhtamysh his kalga or designated successor. Further, Sultan

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

(1574–1595) had promised that the khanship would go to Gazi's son, in accordance with Ottoman custom. The elders chose the 19-year-old Tokhtamysh and sent to Istanbul for confirmation. Sultan

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( '; ; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no ...

hesitated. His father

Mehmed III Mehmed III (, ''Meḥmed-i sālis''; ; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the Long Turkish ...

(1595–1605) had found Gazi a good warrior, but hard to control, and thought that Gazi's son might also prove disobedient. Ahmed's advisors suggested Selyamet as an alternative. In April 1608 Selyamet was taken from prison and declared khan. Mehmed, son of

Saadet II Giray Saadet II Giray Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish and (reigned 1584) was nominally a khan of the Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography kno ...

would be his kalga. When Tokhtamysh heard of his disposition he set out overland to talk to the sultan. While crossing the

Southern Bug The Southern Bug, also called Southern Buh (; ; ; or just ), and sometimes Boh River (; ),

he met Mehmed and a group of

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

who were travelling overland to Crimea. Tokhtamysh's outnumbered retinue fled and Tokhtamysh died fighting, along with his brother, kalga Sefer Giray. Meanwhile, Selyamet arrived by ship in Crimea, was recognized by the

bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

s and proceeded to

Bakhchisarai Bakhchysarai is a city in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Bakhchysarai Raion (district), as well as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate. Its main landmark is Hansaray, the only extant pal ...

. Mehmed soon arrived with news of Tokhtamysh's death.

Notes

Sources

*Oleksa Gaivoronsky «Повелители двух материков», Kiev-Bakhchisarai, second edition, 2010, , volume 1, pp. 368, 373, volume 2, pp. 23–27. {{DEFAULTSORT:Giray, Devlet I 1589 births 1608 deaths 17th-century Crimean khans