Kolodziejczyk Dariusz. The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania (ENG)

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844 document 44 (20–30 december 1609)

my, Sałamet Gierey

car, i gałga carowicz, i nuradyn, bejowie i murzowie

dobrą chęcią Jego Królewskiej Miłości na pomoc na kożdego nieprzyjaciela

gotowiśmy, i Jego Królewskiej Miłości szczyrym przyjacielem, i Jego Królew-

skiej Miłości przyjacielowi przyjacielem być chcemy.

A strony państwa wołoskiego i multańskiego,

iż Królowie Ich Miłości pol-

scy na państwo wołoskie i multańskie hospodara

nasadzywali, i teraz naten-

czas hospodarowi wołoskiemu od Jego Królewskiej Miłości nasadzonemu

przeszkody

w dzierżeniu jego, ani też w państwie czynić, i hospodarów

inszych nasadzywać nie mamy; i jeśliby który był w państwach naszych, tedy

takowego temu

hospodarowi od Króla Jego Miłości polskiego nasadzonemu

odsyłać mamy, i przyjaźń jemu swą pokazywać.

A jeśliby Jego Królewska Miłość przeciw nieprzyjaciela jakiegokolwiek

swego nas albo wojska naszego potrzebował do państwa swego, tego my się

wzbraniać nie będziemy, tylko to wojsko ma wszelkie mieć uszanowanie i

bezpieczeństwo,

tak od panów senatorów, od starostów, od wojska, jako i

od poddanych pogranicznych i od Kozaków; tak w państwo Jego Królewskiej

Miłości idąc, jako i z państwa <idąc>

wychodząc przeszkoda żadna temu

wojsku być nie ma.

A ja Panu Bogu jedynemu, i od Pana Boga prorokowi nam zesłanemu

Machometowi Mostae, i księgam zesłanym Alkoranowi na Alkoranie przy-

sięgam, jako pierwiej przysięgę uczyniłem, sam od siebie, synów, braciej

naszej, carowiczów, i od murzów, bejów, i wszytkich inszych poddanych

naszych, Jego Królewskiej Miłości i Panom Radnym, poddanym, miastam,

miasteczkam, zamkom, i wsiom, i wszytkim pospolitym ludziom iż żadnej

szkody czynić nie mam

póki wieku naszego będzie; w pokoju i [w]

przy-

jaźni braterskiej z sobą mieszkać mamy, aby ubodzy poddani, siroty i wdowy

B. Salametgierey.

B. i gałga carowic, muradin [sic], begowie i murzowie z dobroju chęciu Jego

Królewskiej Miłości dopomóc na każdego nieprzyjaciela gotowiśmy, i Jego Królewskiej

Miłości przyjacielem szczerym i nieomylnym, i przyjacielowi Jego Królewskiej Miłości

przyjacielem być chcemy.

B. państwa wołoskiego, także i multańskiego.

In B. erroneously hospodarskie.

B. i teraz i natenczas hospodarowi nasadzonemu od Jego Królewskiej Miłości żad-

nej przeszkody.

B. takiego temu.

B. i przyjaźń swą jemu pokazywać.

B. A jeśliby Jego Królewska Miłość przeciwko nieprzyjacielowi jakiemukolwiek

swemu nas albo wojska naszego do państwa swego potrzebował, czego my zbraniać nie

będziem, tylko to wojsko ma mieć wszelakie uhonorowanie i bezpieczeństwo.

In A. only.

B. i od Pana Boga nam prorokowi zesłanemu Machmet Mustae, i księgom zesła-

nym Halkoran na Halkoranie przysięgam, którą przysięgę uczyniłem sam od siebie,

synów, braci naszej, carowiców, i od murzów, begów, i wszystkich innych poddanych

moich, Jego Królewskiej Miłości i panom senatorom, poddanym, miastom, miastecz-

kom, zamkom, i wsiom, i wszystkim pospolitym ludziom iż żadnej szkody czynić nie

mamy.

In B. only.

B. sieroty i udowy.

document 44 (20–30 december 1609) 845

w pokoju i w rozkoszy byli; i za panowania mego

kupcom ze wszelakimi

kupiami z państwa Waszej

Królewskiej Miłości do państwa naszego, a z

państwa naszego do państwa Waszej

Królewskiej Miłości, kupcy wolno i

bezpiecznie

przejeżdżać i odjeżdżać mają; którzy niech

za nas i za Waszą

Królewską Miłość [Pana]

Boga proszą, aby nam i

w inszych monarchiach

dobra sława była.

A te pakta napisane są roku od proroka naszego Machometa tysiąc ośmna-

stego, miesiąca decembra 20 dnia; złotą pieczęcią naszą przypieczętowawszy

posłaliśmy. Pisan w Bakcesaraiu.

Translation:

[e instrument of agreement sent] by Selamet Giray Khan to His Royal Maj-

esty:

e great, free khan

of the Great Horde, the mighty and great khan of the

Kipchak Steppe,

of the Circassians,

Tatars, and numerous Nogay peoples,

Selamet Giray.

[Let] a great greeting and salutation [be pronounced] to the great hereditary

king of Ruthenia, Prussia, Mazovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Kiev, Volhynia, Podo-

lia, of the Swedes, Goths, Vandals, and numerous [other] states, His Majesty

Sigismund the ird, [the king] of Poland and the grand duke of Lithuania,

His Royal Majesty, our brother!

We announce by our presently written letter our goodwill and sincerity, as [we

did] earlier through our loyal and good servant, Muzaer Agha.

We, Selamet

B. a za panowania naszego.

B. Jego.

B. także kupcy wolno i przezpieczno.

B. niechaj.

In B. only.

Missing in B.

B. A te pakta napisane są roku od proroka naszego Machometa 1018, miesiąca

decembra die 20, złotą pieczęcią swą zapieczętowawszy posłaliśmy. Dan w Bakc-

zysaraiu.

e expression wolny car (“free khan”), also found in Ruthenian sources (cf. Doc-

ument 10, n. 3), reects the ancient Mongol-Tatar notion of sovereignty.

e Turkish term Deşt-i Qıpçaq (Kipchak Steppe) is rendered in Polish by an

adjective: deskiczapski (destkupczacki in the B. copy).

On the term Petyhorcy, referring to the Circassians, and especially to the Kabar-

dinians, see Document 40, n. 6.

As the accession to the throne of Selamet Giray in the spring of 1608 was fol-

lowed by large Tatar raids against Poland-Lithuania in June and November 1608,

only in July 1609 the khan’s courier, Muzaer Agha, arrived at Vilnius with the for-

mal announcement of his lord’s enthronement; see Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie,

pp. 153–158.

846 document 44 (20–30 december 1609)

Giray Khan, Your Royal Majesty’s brother, having ascended with God’s help

the prosperous Crimean throne, like our fathers and brothers had [once] done,

notied Your Royal Majesty, wishing you a prosperous reign and good

health, and requesting from Your Royal Majesty the customary gis, just as

they used to be given for the sake of peace and amity to our late brother of glo-

rious memory, Ghazi Giray Khan, bringing peace between the two states, and

[in result] oath-letters of agreement used to be mutually exchanged with Your

Royal Majesty, so that the poor subjects in both states could live in peace and

security. And as Your Royal Majesty remained in good friendship with our late

brother, we wish to remain in brotherly friendship with Your Royal Majesty

even more. In fact, being formerly in the state of Your Royal Majesty along with

our late brother, Alp Giray Sultan,

we took an oath in front of Prince Myxajlo

Vyšnevec’kyj, Pan Zamoyski, the chancellor, and numerous other lords sena-

tors, namely we promised—if God allows any of us to reign in our fatherland,

that is the Tatar khanate—to remain in a better brotherly friendship with our

brother, His Royal Majesty, than the former khans had used to, and to refrain

from bringing any damage or harm to [his] domains and people; “especially if

no harm or damage is done by them in our state, then we will never bring any

damage to [the royal] domains and subjects”—thus we conrmed by oath.

Having favorably received our letter and oral message delivered by our afore-

mentioned envoy, Muzaer Agha, Your Royal Majesty, our brother, gracefully

sent him back and dispatched along with him his own loyal servant, noble

Florian Zbrożek,

with his letter, oering his friendship and asking for such

e khan is rstly referred to by the rst person plural, and then by the rst

person singular.

Alp Giray, the son of Devlet Giray Khan and the brother of the khans Mehmed II

Giray, Islam II Giray, Ghazi II Giray, Feth Giray, and Selamet Giray. He had very

strained relations with Mehmed II Giray, who unwillingly, forced by the Porte,

appointed him his qalga instead of his son, Sa‘adet Giray (in result Mehmed II Giray

created for his son the new post of nureddin). In 1584, during the civil war and Otto-

man intervention in the Crimea, Alp Giray killed Mehmed II Giray and became the

qalga of the new khan, Islam II Giray (1584–1588). When yet another brother, Ghazi

II Giray ascended the throne in 1588, he wanted to avenge Mehmed II Giray and exe-

cute Alp Giray, but the latter managed to escape. As late as 1598, the Porte considered

replacing Ghazi II Giray with Alp Giray on the Crimean throne; see Skorupa, Stosunki

polsko-tatarskie, pp. 32, 48–49, 69, 83; Hajvoronskyj, Sozvezdie Geraev, pp. 28–34; on

the relations between Devlet Giray’s sons, see also Document 35, n. 20.

e mention of Alp Giray’s and Selamet Giray’s sojourn in Poland refers to

the year 1581 when the two brothers escaped from the Crimea during their conict

with Mehmed II Giray and were detained by the starosta of Čerkasy, the Cossack

leader Prince Myxajlo Vyšnevec’kyj. ey were forced to swear in front of Chancel-

lor Jan Zamoyski and some Senate members that they would remain loyal towards

the Commonwealth; see Kazimierz Dopierała, Stosunki dyplomatyczne Polski z Turcją

za Stefana Batorego (Warsaw, 1986), pp. 108–111; Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie,

p. 157.

On Florian Zbrożek, the captain of horse (rotmistrz) and royal courier, sent sev-

eral times to the Crimea, see Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie, pp. 146, 153, 156–158,

184–186, 194–196, 224–225. Dispatched to Ghazi II Giray in February 1608, Zbrożek

document 44 (20–30 december 1609) 847

a treaty as had been given by the late Ghazi Giray Khan, who, while seating

on [the throne of ] this state, had sworn an oath and issued a letter of agree-

ment; such was the tenor of His Royal Majesty’s notication sent us through the

aforementioned messenger. erefore we have issued such a treaty as had been

given by the late Ghazi Giray Khan, and we have sent Your Royal Majesty the

[present] large oath-letter, having written down the treaty [conditions] in gold

and having appended our seal.

In regard to the customary gis

and the Cossacks, as Your Royal Majesty has

ordered the frontier [i.e., Ukrainian] lords

to restrain them, and Your Royal

Majesty has notied us about this [order], in appreciation of this we wish to

entirely and inviolably keep our former oath, as it was kept by our brother, the

late Ghazi Giray. erefore we, Your Royal Majesty’s brother, Selamet Giray

Khan, having likewise written such an oath[-letter] and large treaty [instru-

ment], give it to our great envoy, our loyal upright councilor, noble Sefer Ghazi

Bey;

and along with him we have also dispatched a second [envoy], Rustem,

and a third one, Bayram Agha, as envoys to Your Royal Majesty;

when they

come to Your Royal Majesty you should know about them [i.e., recognize them

as our envoys].

We, Your Royal Majesty’s brother, the free khan of the Great Horde, Selamet

Giray Khan, along with the qalga, my son and brother

Djanibek Giray Sul-

tan, and the nureddin, my brother

and son Devlet Giray Sultan,

and my

was detained over one year by the new khan, Selamet Giray; once back in Poland-

Lithuania, in July 1609 he joined the Crimean courier, Muzaer Agha, on his return

way from Vilnius to Baghchasaray, and in December 1609 was sent back from Bagh-

chasaray along with the great embassy of Sefer Ghazi Bey, carrying the present docu-

ment. In April 1610, Sefer Ghazi and Zbrożek were received by Sigismund III in his

military camp near Smolensk and again sent to the Crimea with the task of bringing

an “amended” version of the khan’s instrument. Yet, such a corrected version was

never issued. Aer Selamet’s death in 1610, Zbrożek was again sent to the Crimea in

1612, and then in 1615–1616, when he suered another long detainment in the hands

of Djanibek Giray.

In fact, the present paragraph does not contain any further reference to the gis,

dealing exclusively with the Cossacks.

Ukrainnym panom can be translated as “frontier lords” or “Ukrainian lords.”

On Sefer Ghazi Bey, the great envoy to Poland-Lithuania in 1604–1605 and

1609–1610, who delivered the present document to Sigismund III in his military camp

near Smolensk on 24 April 1609, see also Document 41, n. 5.

Probably identical with Rustem Agha, the Crimean envoy to Poland in 1619; cf.

Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie, pp. 217–218, 221–223.

Rustem Agha and Bayram Agha probably performed the functions of the tet and

the bahşı respectively; on these functions, cf. Document 20, n. 27 and Document 35,

n. 21.

It should rather read “nephew;” cf. n. av above and n. 16 below.

It should rather read “nephew;” cf. n. ax above and n. 16 below.

Djanibek Giray (the future khan) and Devlet Giray (his future qalga) were the

grandsons of Devlet Giray and the sons of Mübarek Giray, hence Selamet Giray’s

nephews. Aer Mübarek’s death his widow remarried twice, rst to Feth Giray, and

then to Selamet Giray. e latter adopted both stepsons and appointed them his qalga

848 document 44 (20–30 december 1609)

remaining older and younger sons and brothers, the sultans, and the qaraçı

beys, mirzas, ulans, and all our loyal servants, and with all the Nogays who

remain under our rule, having taken counsel with all those aforementioned we

have conrmed our oath that we should not and will not bring any harm to

His Royal Majesty, the illustrious king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania,

[his] lords senators, servants, and their estates, namely castles, towns, boroughs,

villages, and their subjects and children, and all their prots, namely cattle,

herd, ock, sheep, all other goods and chattels, and all kinds of prots resulting

in His Royal Majesty’s state, neither should we impede drawing benets from

them, and we should not and will not let any troops invade His Royal Majesty’s

states, send forays, enslave [his] subjects or disturb their work; on the contrary,

we will display our benecence to them and we will forbid our subjects to com-

mit any harm to them. We should regard His Royal Majesty’s friends as our

own friends, and his enemies as our enemies, moreover, we are ready to face

them along with our troops. And, according to our oath, we should not assist

His Royal Majesty’s enemy with any troops or counsel.

And if we, Selamet Giray, the free khan of the Great Horde, or the qalga, or

the nureddin, or my other brothers and sons, the sultans, or the lords or mirzas,

set out along with our people and troops against our enemy, then we should

not pass through the states of His Royal Majesty, and no one from among those

mentioned above should invade or bring damage to [his] frontier estates.

As is provided in the treaties from the times of [our] ancestors, eir Royal

Majesties and the Tatar khans, when His Royal Majesty noties us [about his

aim] to set out against Muscovy, then we, respecting our duty, will be ready

to go along with our troops, capture the castles and towns [that had belonged

to the kings of Poland]

and restore them to His Majesty, the king of Poland

and the grand duke of Lithuania, along with all their lands and prots, as our

ancestors used to restore [such castles and towns] to the ancestors of His Royal

Majesty, and as they used to regard His Royal Majesty’s enemies as their own

enemies. Hence we too, Selamet Giray Khan, and the qalga sultan, the nured-

din, the beys and mirzas, are willing and ready to assist His Royal Majesty

against any enemy, and we wish to be a sincere friend of His Royal Majesty,

and a friend of His Royal Majesty’s friend.

In regard to the states of Moldavia and Wallachia,

as eir Majesties, the

kings of Poland, used to appoint hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia,

also

now we should not disturb the reign of the Moldavian hospodar appointed by

and nureddin, hence he could refer to them as both his nephews and his sons. On

Dur-bike, a daughter of a Circassian lord and the mother of Djanibek and Devlet

Girays, see Hajvoronskyj, Poveliteli dvux materikov, vol. 2, pp. 27 and 37, n. 11.

is fragment is evidently missing; cf. Document 37.

In the given context, the Polish adjective wołoski refers to Moldavia, and the

adjective multański to Wallachia; cf. Document 39, notes 1 and 13.

Lit. “used to seat hospodars on the states [i.e., thrones] of Moldavia and

Wallachia.”

document 44 (20–30 december 1609) 849

His Royal Majesty;

neither should we bring disturbance to his state or appoint

other hospodars;

and if any of them [i.e., pretenders to the Moldavian throne]

resided in our states, we should deliver him to the hospodar appointed by His

Majesty, the king of Poland, and we should display our friendship towards him

[i.e., the hospodar].

And if His Royal Majesty needs us or our troops to assist him in his state

against any enemy, we will not refuse him, but these troops should fully enjoy

respect and security from the side of lords senators, starostas, troops, as well

as frontier inhabitants and Cossacks; both on their way to the state of His

Royal Majesty, and on their way back, these troops should not encounter any

hindrance.

Hence I swear to one God, the prophet sent to us by God, Muhammad

Mustafa,

and the revealed book<s> of Koran, by the Koran, as I swore for-

merly, on my behalf and on behalf of my sons and brothers, the sultans, and

the mirzas, beys, and all our subjects, that I should not bring any damage to

His Royal Majesty, [his] Lords Councilors, subjects, towns, boroughs, castles,

villages, and all common people, as long as our days last; and we should remain

in mutual peace and brotherly friendship, so that the poor subjects, orphans

and widows may enjoy peace and joy; and during my reign merchants with all

kinds of merchandise may freely and safely travel and return from the state of

Your Royal Majesty to our state, and from our state to the state of Your Royal

Majesty; may they pray to God for us and Your Royal Mayesty, so that we may

have a good fame also in other monarchies.

is treaty [pakta] has been written in the year 1018 from our prophet

Muhammad, on the 20th day of the month of December;

having stamped it

with our golden seal, we have sent it. Written in Baghchasaray.

I.e., Constantin Movilă, son of Ieremia, the hospodar of Moldavia in the years

1607–1611; introduced on the throne with Polish support, in 1608 he was conrmed

in his post by the Porte. Having lost his throne in 1611, he tried to regain it with Pol-

ish support but failed and was killed in 1612.

In fact, precisely at that time a group of Moldavian boyars dissatised with the

pro-Polish rule of Constantin Movilă aimed to secure Selamet Giray’s support for the

candidacy of Stefan Bogdan, the son of the former Moldavian hospodar Iancu Sasul

(r. 1579–1582). e intrigue involved a number a Greek clergymen and Orthodox

Christians in the khan’s entourage; see D. Souliotis, “A Greek prelate in the Tatar

khanate of the Crimea in the early seventeenth century,” Balkan Studies 31 (1990):

269–282.

Mustafa (lit. “the Chosen”) is the second name of Prophet Muhammad.

e Muslim year 1018 A.H. lasted from 6 April 1609 till 25 March 1610; it is not

certain whether the date of 20 December, given according to the Christian calendar,

refers to the new style, or to the old one, still used by the Orthodox Christians (for

instance the Greek subjects of the khans); therefore the present document can be

dated either 20 December or 30 December (i.e., 20 December according to the Old

Style) 1609.

DOCUMENT 45 (FEBRUARY 1611)

e ‘ahdname (list przymierny) sent by Khan Djanibek Giray

to King Sigismund III

e original document is missing.

Polish copy: Bibl. Czart., ms. 1640, pp. 837–838.

List od cara przymierny:

Wielkiej Ordy wielki wolny car, destkypczacky, wie lki newiysky wieliu nacij,

pietiorski, bez liczby wielie Tatar wielki car będący Dziambegiery.

Wielkiemu ruskiemu, pruskiemu, i wieliom chrześcijańskim państwom i

lithewskym wielkiemu panu, mazowieckiemu, żmudzkiemu, ini anckiemu,

kiiowskiemu, wołyńskiemu, podolskiemu, szwedzkiemu, gottskiemu, wan-

dalskiemu, polskiemu dziedzicznemu panu, bratu naszemu, Trzeciemu Zyg-

muntowi Jego Królewskiej Miłości wielki pokłon i pozdrowienie!

Oznajmujemy życzliwość i chęć swoję, to jest chwała Bogu ja, Dziambegiery,

brat Waszej Królewskiej Miłości, iż za bożą pomocą zostałem na stolicy w

roku tysiąc i dziewiętnastego według zakonu naszego, miesiąca Juny, na wiel-

kiej ojczyźnie swojej i na szczęśliwej stolicy osiadszy panem został. Iż przod-

kowie moi, osiadszy na stolicy, i od przodków Waszej Królewskiej Miłości

z państwa wielkich króliów upominki i z podarkami nas obsyłał,

teraz ja,

brat Dziambekgiery ośm miesięcy jakom carem został, Wasza Królewska

Miłość, brat nasz, na tem szczęśliwem stolcu, nas od osoby Waszej Królews-

kiej Miłości nikt nie nawiedził i nie pozdrowił, i przyjaźni swojej nie oznajmił.

I u nas to w podziwieniu było, iż do tego czasu w szczęśli wem wojowaniu,

jakośmy słyszeli, do nas nikogo nie było. Jeśliby wielki poseł Waszej Królews-

kiej Miłości, i z upominkami i z przymiernym listem jeśliby przyjachał, my,

brat przyjaźń swą i chęć swoję uczynilibychmy, i na pomoc część wojska, co

by go potrzeba była, posłalibychmy Waszej Królewskiej Miłości, a brat nasz

wojować by raczył z jednej strony, a nasze wojsko z drugiej strony, i niedługo

za bożą pomocą nieprzyjaciela Waszej Królewskiej Miłości zwojo walibychmy.

e document is not dated; the khan only mentions his accession in June 1019

A.H. (i.e., June 1610 A.D., since the Muslim year 1019 A.H. lasted from 26 March

1610 till 15 March 1611), and then adds that eight months have already passed since

that time. Skorupa wrongly assumed that the document was dated in June 1610 A.D.,

hence he found an apparent contradiction between that date and the mention of the

eight months’ lapse; cf. Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie, p. 165, n. 73.

is fragment is grammatically inconsistent but its tenor is clear.

document 45 (february 1611) 851

I tak Dziambekgierey przyjaźń swoję oznajmując wiernego i sta rego sługę

swego, Dziana Antoniego i Spynulia uczyniwszy wielkim posłem, także i

gońca, i wtórego, i trzeciego posłałem Waszej Królewskiej Miłości. A brat

nasz i z nami, carem Dziambekgiereiem, jako i z nieboszczykiem bratem,

carem Kazigiereiem przodkiem moim czyniliście przyjaźń, także i z nami,

bratem swoim przyjacieliowi swojemu przyjacieliem być, a nieprzyjacieliowi

nieprzyjacieliem, póki będzie stawało wieku Waszej Królewskiej Miłości,

i obojgom państwom pokoju życząc i z obojgu stron przymierne listy jeśli

jest wolia dać, Waszej Królewskiej Miłości któregośmy my posłali wielkiego

posła, także żesz Wasza Królewska Miłość do nas posła swego według zwy-

czaju dawnego pospołu z posłem naszym przysłać racz, i z upominkami, jeśli

chcecie z nami braterską przyjaźń trzymać.

My, brat Waszej Królewskiej Miłości, my swoim pisaniem, które od Boga

mamy, i na tym przysięgę czynimy, według tego, jako był nieboszczyk car

Kazigierej uczynił list przymierny i dał, i ja też z swojej strony taki przy-

mierny list posyłam i według tego czynię przysięgę, żeby obojgom państwom

pokój zobopólny był, póki wieku mego będzie; a ja też Waszej Królewskiej

Miłości przyjacielowi chcę być przyjacieliem, a nieprzyjacieliowi nieprzyja-

cielem, co by ubodzy poddani w pokoju i w rozkoszy mieszkając za nas i za

Waszą Królewską Miłość Boga prosili. Zatem i powtóre pozdrowienie i pokój

Waszej Królewskiej Miłości czyniemy.

Translation:

e letter of agreement [sent] from the khan:

e great, free khan

of the Great Horde, being the great khan of the Kipchak

Steppe,

numerous Nogay peoples,

the Circassians,

and innumerable Tatars,

Djanibek Giray.

[Let] a great greeting and salutation [be pronounced] to the great lord of

Ruthenia, Prussia, and numerous Christian states and Lithuanian [domains],

the hereditary lord of Mazovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Kiev, Volhynia, Podolia,

of the Swedes, Goths, Vandals, and of Poland, our brother, His Royal Majesty

Sigismund the ird!

Skorupa does not regard the present document as a treaty and refers to it merely

as a letter; cf. Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie, pp. 164–165. Admittedly, it is much

shorter than other treaty instruments of the period. Yet, the term list przymierny can

be found both in its heading and in its contents.

On the expression wolny car (“free khan”), cf. Document 44, n. 1.

e Turkish term Deşt-i Qıpçaq (Kipchak Steppe) is rendered in Polish by an

adjective: destkypczacky.

Recorded in a slightly corrupt form as wielki newiysky wieliu nacij.

On the term Petyhorcy, referring to the Circassians, and especially to the Kabar-

dinians, see Document 40, n. 6.

852 document 45 (february 1611)

We [hereby] announce our favor and goodwill; as—thank God!—I, Djanibek

Giray, Your Royal Majesty’s brother, have ascended the throne with God’s help

in the year 1019 according to our law [i.e., calendar], in the month of June,

I have become the lord of my great fatherland and prosperous throne. While

my ancestors, having ascended the throne, used to receive gis and presents

from the state of great kings sent by the ancestors of Your Royal Majesty,

now, Your Royal Majesty, our brother, though eight months have passed since

I, [your] brother Djanibek Giray, have become the khan on the prosperous

throne, nobody has come to us from the side of Your Royal Majesty to greet

us and announce [your] friendship. And we have wondered that so far nobody

has come to us, [especially as] we have heard of [your] successful campaign. If

a great envoy of Your Royal Majesty had arrived along with gis and a letter

of agreement, we, [your] brother, would have put in eect our friendship and

goodwill and sent Your Royal Majesty as many troops as needed, so that you

could campaign from one direction, and our troops from another, and with

God’s help we would quickly defeat Your Royal Majesty’s enemy.

And in order to announce my friendship I, Djanibek Giray, have sent Your

Royal Majesty my loyal and old servant, Djan Anton Spinola,

having appointed

Cf. n. a above.

Djan Anton İspinola (ﻪﻟﻮﻨ

ﭙ

ﺳ

ا نﻮﺗنﺎﻧﺎﺟ

; thus spelled in the letter of Ghazi II Giray to

Sigismund III recorded in Libri Legationum, no. 26, fol. 21b) alias Gianantonio Spinola

(whereas Gian, the Italian shortened form of Giovanni, must have been identied by

the Tatars with Djan [Can], a popular component preceding Tatar names), a Christian

diplomat and silk merchant (hence the Turkish nickname qazaz) in the khan’s service,

originating from the Spinola family that was once prominent in Genovese Caa; in the

Polish sources referred to as Dzian Anton, Dżan Anton, Dżan Ton Spiniolo, or Dżan

Antoni Spinolla; he was sent to Poland-Lithuania in 1589, 1596, 1600, 1603, 1607, 1611,

and 1619, to Sweden in 1589 (he traveled through Poland) and 1592, and to Vienna in

1599; his last mission to Warsaw coincided with the Polish-Ottoman war and resulted

in his detainment until 1622, in revenge for the detainment of the Polish envoy, Flo-

rian Oleszko, in the Crimea; see Skorupa, Stosunki polsko-tatarskie, pp. 59, 67–68, 73,

96, 121–126, 146, 165, 226–229, 244–250; Carl Max Kortepeter, Ottoman Imperialism

during the Reformation. Europe and the Caucasus (New York and London, 1972), pp.

120, 170 (on his missions to Sweden and Vienna), 185, 230; Ştefan Andreescu, “Génois

sur les côtes de la Mer Noire à la n du XVI

siècle,” Revue Roumaine d’Histoire 26

(1987): 125–134, esp. pp. 130–131; idem, Din istoria Mării Negre (Genovezi, români şi

tătari în spaţiul pontic în secolele XIV–XVII) (Bucharest, 2001), pp. 163–173. Spinola’s

diplomatic career had apparently nothing to do with his uency in Western languages:

on a receipt for the royal gis that he issued in Cracow on 12 February 1608, instead

of his signature one nds a note by a Polish clerk: “he does not know to write” (sam

pisać nie umie); see Biblioteka PAN w Krakowie, ms. 1690, fol. 66a. In his descrip-

tion of the Crimea, composed in 1634, an Italian missionary from the Dominican

Order, Emidio Portelli d’Ascoli, admitted that local Italians no longer spoke their

language and were commonly perceived as “Frankish Circassians” (Cerchessi Franchi)

due to their frequent marriages with Circassian girls; see Ambrosius Eszer, “Die

‘Beschreibung des Schwarzen Meeres und der Tatarei’ des Emidio Portelli d’Ascoli

O.P.,” Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 42 (1972): 199–249, esp. pp. 242–243 (East

European historians have long misspelled Portelli’s name as Dortelli due to an errone-

ous reading by N. Daškevič who had rst edited the “Descrittione del Mar Negro et

della Tartaria” in 1891; see Čtenija v Istoričeskom obščestve Nestora Letopisca, vol. 5,

document 45 (february 1611) 853

him great envoy; and furthermore I have sent a courier, and another, and yet

another [courier]. And if you, Your Royal Majesty, our brother, wish to have

mutual friends and mutual enemies with us, your brother, Djanibek Giray, as

long as your days last, just as you kept friendship with my ancestor, my late

brother Ghazi Giray Khan, and if you wish peace to [our] two states and want

to mutually exchange letters of agreement and keep brotherly friendship with

us, you should send us your envoy along with gis, according to the ancient

custom, along with our [returning] great envoy, whom we have sent to Your

Royal Majesty.

We, Your Royal Majesty’s brother, swear upon the [Holy] Writing that we

have from God, and I send a letter of agreement [ list przymierny] just like the

letter of agreement issued by the late khan, Ghazi Giray, and in accordance to

that I take an oath, so that mutual peace may reign in the two states, as long

as my days last; and I wish to be a friend of Your Royal Majesty’s friend, and

an enemy of your enemy, so that the poor subjects may enjoy peace and joy,

and pray to God for us and Your Royal Majesty. We send Your Royal Majesty

our repeated salutations and wish you peace.

otdel III: Materialy, pp. 1–46; the error was perpetuated by the Russian translation of

N. Pimenov, published in 1902). Portelli’s companion, Giovanni Giuliani da Lucca,

reported in 1626 that Crimean Catholic Circassians retained Genovese family names

such as Doria, Spinola, Giustiniani, or Grimaldi but adopted Tatar rst names such

as Aytemir or Aslan; see Raymond Loenertz, “Le origini della missione secentesca dei

Domenicani in Crimea,” Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 5 (1935): 261–288, esp.

pp. 284–285. e above remarks explain the seemingly contradictory fact that the Pol-

ish envoy Ławryn Piaseczyński referred to Djan Anton as a Circassian (Dżan Anton

Czerkies) and simultaneously pointed to his Genovese and Caan origin (Dżan Ton

Spiniolo z Kafy); cf. Pułaski, “Trzy poselstwa Piaseczyńskiego,” pp. 361 and 469. On

the Italians, who lived in the Crimean Khanate in the 16th and 17th century, see also

Oleksa Hajvoronskyj, “Genuezcy v Krymskom xanstve,” Qasevet 33 (2008): 8–13.