TheNogai Horde was aconfederation founded by theNogais that occupied thePontic–Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by theKalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called theManghuds constituted a core of the Nogai Horde.
In the 13th century, the leader of theGolden Horde,Nogai Khan, a direct descendant ofGenghis Khan throughJochi, formed an army of theManghits joined by numerousTurkic tribes. A century later the Nogays were led byEdigu, a commander ofManghit paternal origin and Jochid maternal origin, who founded the Nogai dynasty.[1]
In 1557, NogaiNur-al-Din Qazi Mirza quarreled with Ismael Beg and founded theLesser Nogai Horde on the steppe of theNorth Caucasus. The Nogais north of the Caspian were thereafter called the Great Nogai Horde. In the early 17th century, the Horde broke down further under the onslaught of the Kalmyks.[2]
The Nogais north of theBlack Sea were nominally subject to theCrimean Khanate rather than the Nogai Bey. They were divided into the following groups:Budjak (from theDanube to theDniester),Yedisan (from the Dniester to theBug), Jamboyluk (Bug toCrimea), Yedickul (north of Crimea) andKuban. In particular, the Yedisans are mentioned as a distinct group, and in various locations.[3]
There were two groups ofNogais: those north of theCaspian Sea under their ownBey (leader), and those north of theBlack Sea nominally subject to theCrimean Khan. The first group was broken up circa 1632 by theKalmyks. The second shared the fate of theKhanate of Crimea.
TheNogai language was a form ofKypchakTurkic, the same language group as that of the neighboring Kazakhs, Bashkirs and Crimean and Volga Tatars. They were mostly Sunni Muslims, but their religious institutions were not centralised and the Nogais strongly opposed any efforts to do so. When the Ottomans tried to impose their control over the Nogai Horde, they heavilly supported the creation of new mosques and madrasses as they served as the instrument of political legitimisation for the Ottoman sultan who also served as the Caliph. However, those attempts were mostly unsuccesful and the Ottomans failed to demolish the authority of the tribe leaders and centralize their rule over the Nogais.[4]
They were pastoralnomads grazing sheep, horses, and camels. Outside goods were obtained by trade (mostly horses and slaves), raiding, and tribute. There were some subject peasants along theYaik river. One of the main sources of income for the Nogais was raiding for slaves, who were sold in Crimea andBukhara. Hunting, fishing, caravan taxation, and seasonal agricultural migration also played a role, although this is poorly documented.
The basicsocial unit was the semi-autonomousulus or band. Aristocrats were calledmirza. The ruler of the Nogais was the Bey. The capital or winter camp was atSaraychik, a caravan town on the lowerYaik. From 1537 the second in rank was theNur-al-Din, usually the Bey's son or younger brother and expected successor. TheNur-al-Din held the right bank along theVolga. From the 1560s there was a secondNur-al-Din, a sort of a war chief. Third in rank was theKeikuvat, who held theEmba.
Political organization was fluid and much depended on personal prestige since as nomads, the Nogai subjects could simply move away from a leader who was disliked. Ambassadors and merchants were regularly beaten and robbed. Stealing horses, looked down upon in many cultures, was an important part of social and economic life on the steppe. Beys andMirza's would often declare themselves vassals of some outside power, but such declarations had little meaning.
The Nogai Horde along with theCrimean Khanate raided settlements in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and Poland. The slaves were captured in southern Russia,Poland-Lithuania,Moldavia,Wallachia, andCircassia byTatar horsemen in a trade known as the "harvesting of the steppe". InPodolia alone, about one-third of all the villages were destroyed or abandoned between 1578 and 1583.[5] Some researchers estimate that altogether more than 3 million people were captured and enslaved during the time of the Crimean Khanate.[6]
After the Mongols managed to destroy the Cuman-Kipchak Confederation and conquered its lands, they established the Golden Horde also known as Ulus Juchi. At its peak it dominated most of the land area between Volga and Danube rivers. During this time Manghit Edigu Bey (Edigu) rose to power and managed to reorganize the various Manghit tribes into the Nogai Horde. Due to his role in defeating and killing Tokhtamysh he was granted a great measure of independence to the Nogai Horde and giving him control over much of the western territories of the Golden Horde.[7] However, soon after his death, at the beginning of the 15th century the Golden Horde had entered a period of internal decline due to struggle for power between Crimea and Nogais and eastern Khanates. Additionally the consequences of Tamerlane’s fatal expeditions, and the rising power of Lithuania and Muscovy also led to diminishing power of the Golden Horde and eventual collapse in 1501, when the Crimeans sacked the capital city of the Golden Horde – Sarai.[4]
Independence and the Conflict with Crimean Khanate
Due to the decentralised nature of the Golden Horde, the Nogais were relatively independent of their overlords in Sarai and thus didn't oppose the Crimeans in their fight with the Golden Horde. However, after the sack of Sarai and the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Crimeans started to claim legitimacy as the successors of the Golden Horde and thus wanted to expand their rule over the Nogais. They justified their expansion, by invoking the title of "Khan" which showed their connection to Chingissids. But, as the Nogais were one of a few tribes whose rulers descended not from the Chingissids but from their own dynasty, they rejected any authority of Crimean Khan, which eventually led to clashes and conflicts between them.[8] Thr first and most important attempt of Crimean Khanate to subjugate the Nogais ended when the Nogais killed the Crimean KhanMehmed I Giray, near Astrakhan.
Such hostilities resulted in the tension between the two nations and thus many Nogai and Crimean sources from that period started depicting their opponents in a very negative light which was then heavily exaggerated in the folklore and other fictional stories of that, which created a sense of heavy anomicity and hostility between the two people.[9]
1466: At this point theGolden Horde was left with only the steppe nomads,Sarai and some control over the caravan trade. The name "Great Horde" appears some time after this
This data is from the English-language sources below. A long list of Nogai raids on Russia and Poland, from Russian sources, can be found atCrimean-Nogai raids.
c. 1509 Nogais move into lands vacated by Great Horde
1519 end of Moscow–Crimean alliance
1521 Nogais, driven west by the Kazakhs, cross the Volga and attack Astrakhan.
c. 1522 Kazakhs capture Nogai capital
1523 Crimea briefly takes Astrakhan, but its army and Khan are destroyed by the Nogais.
1547Ivan the Terrible, Grand Prince of Moscow, becomes the first Tsar of All Rus'.
1552 Kazan annexed by Muscovy. Nogais lose tribute
c. 1550–1560 Crimean Tatars and Nogais again attack Ryazan land
1556 Astrakhan annexed by Muscovy. Nogais lose tribute
1557 Mirza Kazy crosses the Volga and founds Small Horde along the Kuban
1567–1571 Muscovite fort on the Terek, south of Nogais
1569 Ottomans and Crimeans with Small Horde fail to take Astrakhan
1570s Kazakh pressure shifts Nogai trade away from Central Asia toward Moscow
1500–1850 Russian population expands southward and occupies forest-steppe and steppe. This is poorly documented
1605–1618 During theTime of Troubles so many captives were taken that the price of a slave at Kaffa dropped to fifteen or twenty gold pieces.[10]: 66 Nogais ravage and burn many of the "Ukraine and Seversk" cities, towns, villages and suburbs, killing and taking prisoners from the locals.
1616 Raids on Russian borders by large numbers of Nogais
1617 Nogais and Azov Tatars invade southern Russia three times to plunder the village and capture prisoners.
1618 Nogais release 15,000 captives in peace treaty with Moscow.[11]
1619 Isterek Bey dies. Civil war. Status of Beyship uncertain after this
1628 Crimean Tatars and Nogais begin to ravage the surrounding towns and villages of Poland, killing and capturing the local population.
1637, 1641–1643: Raids by Nogais and Crimean nobles without permission of the Khan[10]: 90
1640 Crimean Tatars and Nogais terribly ravage Volhynia, Podolia and Galicia, taking a large number of captives.
1643 Kalmyks push back from Astrakhan
1664 Crimean Tatar and Nogai noblemen with their troops take part in the military campaign against the Polish king and devastate Livny and Bryansk counties
1693 Kalmyks attack Nogais, as agents of Russia
1699 Nogai forces continue to raid the southern Russian cities.
1711 20,474 Kalmyks and 4,100 Russians attack Kuban. They kill 11,460 Nogays, drown 5,060 others and return with 2,000 camels, 39,200 horses, 190,000 cattle, 220,000 sheep and 22,100 human captives, of whom only 700 are adult males. On the way home they meet and defeat a returning Nogai war party and free 2,000 Russian captives.[13]
1720s 15,000 Nogai 'tents' flee Kalmyks for Kuban.
1736–1739 Russians temporarily hold Azov
1770 Yedisans ally with Russia, blocking the land route from the Balkans to Crimea
1771 Exodus of Trans-Volga Kalmyks back to Dzungaria
1772 many Crimean Nogais accept Russian protection
1774 Crimea is proclaimed independent from the Ottoman Empire by the Russo-OttomanTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca. The khanate increasingly falls under Russia's influence
1783 Crimea annexed by Russia; many Nogais move from lower Dnieper to Kuban
Mamay Khan (died 1549): Murdered the Crimean khan in 1523. 1530s: near Yaik, then near Kazan.
Yosuf Khan (1549–1555): (on Yaik, anti-Moscow) circa 1535: nearKazan. 1549: helped Moscow against Kazan. 1551: nearYaik, broke with Moscow, claimed to have 300,000 horsemen and 8 sons. circa 1552: dissuaded from raid on Moscow. 1555: murdered by Araslan Mirza.
Ismail Khan Nogai (1555–1564) (on Volga, pro-Moscow) 1551: near Astrakhan. 1554: helped to take Astrakhan. 1555: sent 20,000 horses to Moscow 1555:Beg. 1556–57: Yosuf's sons (especially Yunus) seized his property. 1558: abandoned and starved, sent across Volga to buy food. 1560: tried to attack Crimea, blocked by Kazy Mirza
Söyembikä of Kazan, daughter of Yosuf, widow of Kazan Khan, Moscow's captive
Kazi Mirza (died 1577): son of Mamay. 1551: nearJaxartes. 1555: Nureddin under Ismael. circa 1557: broke with Ismael when Ismael appoints Tin Ahmed his successor. Fled to Kuban, foundingSmall Horde. 1577: killed in war withKabardians
Tin Ahmad (1564–1579): 1577 said to support raids on Moscow
Urus Khan Nogai (1579–1590): 1581 withCrimean Tatars attacked Moscow's frontiers. Killed in battle against the Small Horde
Isterek (1600–1618): 1600: was installed by Russians atAstrakhan. 1613: was attacked byKalmyks, fled toCaucasus, thenAzov Sea region. Swore allegiance to both Russians and Turks, then made alliance withPoland, and received ambassadors fromPersia, refused to bevassal ofCrimea. 1616: was attacked by Crimea, sought Russian protection at Astrakhan. 1618: died under questionable circumstances
^According to Tsutsiev (Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, 2014, Map 4 for 1774), many of these tribes existed north of the Caucasus. From west to east he lists 'Kipchak', Yedishkul, Jambulak, Navruz, Mansur(sic), and Beshtau Nogay. North of Jambulak-Beshtau were Yedisans and north of these names are omitted. East of the Beshtau Nogay were Turkmen and then the Kara-Nogai in the present Nogai location west of the Caspian.
^abBaşer, Alper. “Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire.”Harvard Ukrainian Studies 36, no. 1/2 (2019): 105–22. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48585260.
^Fisher 'Muscovy and theBlack Sea Slave Trade', pp. 580—582.
^Kara, Dávid Somfai. “BABA TÜKLI AND THE SWAN GIRL. LEGITIMISING ELEMENTS IN THE TURKIC EPIC EDIGE.”Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 63, no. 2 (2010): 117–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23659044.
^Beatrice Forbes Manz, The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane (Cambridge,1989), İsmail aka, “timurlular,” in Güzel and birinci, Genel Türk Tarihi,
^Halim Giray, Gülbün-ü Hanân, folio 31b, British Library, London, UK; Yavuz Söylemez, “es-seb’üs Seyyâr Fî ahbâr-i Mülûki’t-tatar,tenkitli Metin neşri İnceleme” (Phd diss., ege University, 2016)
^abDavies, Brian (2007).Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500–1700.
Related books by Willard Sunderland (Taming the Wild Field), Alan W Fisher (Crimean Tatars), Martha Brill Olcott (Volga Tatars) and Khodarkovsky (1992Where Two Worlds Met, on Kalmyks)
Başer, Alper. “Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire.”Harvard Ukrainian Studies 36, no. 1/2 (2019): 105–22. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48585260.
Kara, Dávid Somfai. “BABA TÜKLI AND THE SWAN GIRL. LEGITIMISING ELEMENTS IN THE TURKIC EPIC EDIGE.”Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 63, no. 2 (2010): 117–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23659044.
1These are traditional areas of settlement; the Turkic group has been living in the listed country/region for centuries and should not be confused with modern diasporas. 2State with limited international recognition.
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