Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate[b] self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak[4][c] and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary[d], was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441–1783, the longest-lived of the Turkic khanates that succeeded the empire of the Golden Horde. Established by Hacı I Giray in 1441, it was regarded as the direct heir to the Golden Horde and to Desht-i-Kipchak.[5][6]
Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak
- Kipchak dialects (Old Crimean Tatar)
- Ottoman Turkish
- Language of literature — Chagatai language[3]
Hacı I Giray (first)
Şahin Giray (last)
1441
1783
In 1783, violating the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (which had guaranteed non-interference of both Russia and the Ottoman Empire in the affairs of the Crimean Khanate), the Russian Empire annexed the khanate. Among the European powers, only France came out with an open protest against this act, due to the longstanding Franco-Ottoman alliance.[7]