ON THE IDENTITY OF THE TATAR HANZADE AT THE CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY OF SÜLEYMAN I’S SONS
Authors: YOLSEVER Umut 
Published: January 2024

One of the homelands of the Turks in the world is the plains north of the Black Sea. The Crimean Khanate, which has existed in these plains for about 350 years, is the last of the independent Turkic states that dominated in the north of the Black Sea. Since its establishment, the Crimean Khanate established political, social, cultural and economic relations with other states and communities in and around the Black Sea. One of the main features that distinguishes the Crimean Khanate, which was one of the heirs of the Golden Horde State like the Kazan Khanate and the Astarhan Khanate, from other khanates is that the fact that this state endured longer. The most important factor for this is that the Khanate accepted the Ottoman Empire's subordination from its early period. All the Tatar Khanates that emerged from the Golden Horde State continued the tradition of their rulers being descended from Genghis Khan. Being of Genghis lineage ensured that all hanzades had a say in the state administration. Unable to ascend to the throne on their own, the hanzades needed the support of various states, which were their enemies. These states supported the hanzades in line with their own interests, and groupings emerged within the khanates. These groupings led to internal conflicts in time and Tatar Khanates did not last long. In the early period of the Crimean Khanate, as in other khanates, internal conflicts threatened the state with collapse soon after its foundation, but the state was prevented from collapse when it came under Ottoman rule in 1475. The Crimean khans, with the exception of Mehmet Giray Khan I, began to sit on the throne with the approval of the Ottoman sultan. However, in time, the Crimean khans desire for independence from the Ottoman Empire emerged. In order to prevent possible independence attempts, the Ottoman Empire implemented the tradition of having a hanzade of the Giray dynasty reside in their territory as a pledge.

The splendid circumcision ceremony held for the şehzades in the Ottoman Empire have found a place in the works of Ottoman authors. In addition to the state officials, representatives of the states affiliated to the Ottoman Empire also attended these magnificent ceremonies. The Crimean hanzade living in the Ottoman lands also took their places in the protocol at official state ceremonies. One of these ceremonies was the circumcision ceremony of Süleyman I's sons in June-July 1530. The works of Celâlzâde Mustafa Çelebi's Tabakâtü'l Memâlik ve Derecâtü'l Mesâlik, Nişancızâde Mehmet Efendi's Mir'âtü'l Kâinât, Gelibolulu Mustafa Ali's Künhü'l Ahbâr, Peçevi İbrahim Efendi's Peçevi Tarihi contain valuable information about this circumcision ceremony. In our study, we think that the Crimean hanzade, who participated in the circumcision ceremony held in 1530 and was named as the son of Tatar Khan according to the authors, is a name contrary to what is written in Turkish sources. As a result of the researches conducted by us, it has been seen that the hanzades claimed in Turkish sources were not in Istanbul at the date of the circumcision ceremony. In this study, we have tried to determine the name of the hanzade, whose name could not be determined in Ottoman sources, based on Russian sources, and it was understood that Himmet Giray and Baba Giray could have been in Istanbul on the days of the circumcision ceremony. However, as a result of the analysis of the existing sources, it is stated that Himmet Giray may have died at a date before Baba Giray's arrival in Istanbul.