
968 document 61 (18 july 1654)
And since His illustrious Royal Majesty, John Casimir, has witnessed the
persevering friendship and brotherly aection of the free tsar of free hordes,
His Majesty, the Crimean khan, towards him and the Commonwealth, which
[His Majesty, the khan] has oered through his great envoy, Süleyman Agha,
5
to His illustrious Royal Majesty, John Casimir, and all the estates of the Com-
monwealth during the present time of the general Crown
6
Diet [held] in War-
saw, and has promised to keep forever and conrm with his oath, then His
illustrious Royal Majesty, John Casimir, following the consent of all the estates
of the Commonwealth, likewise oers an eternal friendship, sworn with his
royal conscience [i.e., heart], towards the free tsar of free hordes, Islam Giray,
his successors, and the great hordes belonging to his states, and promises to
keep it forever.
In return, the free tsar, His Majesty, the Crimean khan Islam Giray, along
with all the beys, aghas, mirzas, and ocials, will take an analogous oath to
His Majesty, John Casimir, the illustrious king of Poland, his successors, and
the whole Commonwealth, in front of His Royal Majesty’s envoy.
And from now on, John Casimir, the illustrious king of Poland, will never
invade the states of the free tsar, His Majesty, the Crimean khan Islam Giray,
or the latter’s successors, either in person or by sending his troops; likewise, the
free tsar, His Majesty, the Crimean khan, should never bring enmity or cause
harm to the states of His illustrious Royal Majesty, either in person or by send-
ing even his smallest horde. Not only the Crimean, Nogay, Kalmyk,
7
Budjak,
Očakiv, Dobrudjan, or any other hordes that are under the rule of the free tsar,
His Majesty, the Crimean khan, but even a single bey, agha, or mirza at the
head of even a smallest band, should not and will not bring any damage to the
states of His illustrious Majesty, the king of Poland; the free tsar, His Majesty,
the Crimean khan, promises and swears, also on behalf of the House of the
Giray princes [sultans], as long as it lasts, and on behalf of all his successors,
5
Probably identical with the Crimean envoy, who traveled to Istanbul between
December 1653 and April 1654 with the khan’s notication to the Porte of the Treaty
of Żwaniec; see Jaroslav Fedoruk, Mižnarodna dyplomatija i polityka Ukrajiny, pp.
102–103 and 111–112.
6
Although the adjective koronny (“of the Crown”) usually referred to the Polish
Crown as opposite to the adjective litewski (“Lithuanian”) that referred to the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania, in this case the name sejm koronny (“Crown Diet”) refers to the
common assembly composed of the representatives of both Poland and Lithuania.
7
On Islam III Giray’s earlier claim to a suzerainty over the Kalmyks, recorded in
the Polish (but curiously not in the Tatar) version of the Treaty of Zborów, cf. Docu-
ment 59, n. 5. e dierent religion (Buddhism) and socio-political organization of
the Kalmyks made their cohabitation with the Tatars and Nogays uneasy; in fact,
they oen raided the Crimea and allied with Muscovy. Nevertheless, in the spring
of 1654, Jaskólski reported of a Kalmyk envoy, who had come to the Crimea in
order to negotiate an anti-Muscovian alliance; cf. Fedoruk, Mižnarodna dyplomatija
i polityka Ukrajiny, pp. 47–48 and 217. Perhaps that embassy strengthened Islam III
Giray’s claim to treat the Kalmyks as his subjects. In 1658, also Mehmed IV Giray
notied Tsar Alexis that, with God’s help, the Kalmyks had become his subjects; see
Khodarkovsky, Where Two Worlds Met. e Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads,
1600–1771, p. 93.