Question:  The leader of the Crimean Karaites followed Şahin Giray to what protectress who was the country's longest-ruling female leader and arguably its most renowned?

full_context: Document 1: Karaite Jewish University: The Karaite Jewish University is a non-profit corporation incorporated in California, U.S.A., in November 2005 for the purposes of disseminating the study of Karaite Judaism. Karaite Jewish University is not accredited as an academic institution. However, it has been authorized by the Council of Sages of Universal Karaite Judaism to teach an Introduction to Karaite Judaism course, both for Rabbinic Jews wishing to affiliate formally with Karaite Judaism, as well as potential converts to Judaism according to Karaite practice. Universal Karaite Judaism is the official body recognized by the State of Israel as representing Karaite Jews in matters of personal status. The university's first “Introduction to Judaism” class began in February 2006 and ended in May 2007. Ten of the graduates from the course converted to Judaism together with their children under the auspices of Congregation Bnai Israel of the Karaite Jews of America in Daly City, California, on July 30, 2007. These were the first official sanctioned conversions to Judaism according to the Karaite rite since 1465. On September 2, 2007, the university awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in Education to Mourad El-Kodsi, historian and author of The Karaite Jews of Egypt and The Karaites of Poland, Lithuania, Russia & Ukraine. El-Kodsi was named Dean Emeritus of the university whose function will be to mentor the university's graduate students.
Document 2: The Rise of Catherine the Great: The Rise of Catherine the Great (also titled Catherine the Great) is a 1934 British historical film based on the play "The Czarina" by Lajos Bíró and Melchior Lengyel, about the rise to power of Catherine the Great. It was directed by Paul Czinner, and stars Elisabeth Bergner as Catherine, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as Grand Duke Peter, Dorothy Hale as Countess Olga, and Flora Robson as Empress Elizabeth.
Document 3: Aharon of Karlin (I): Aaron ben Jacob Perlov of Karlin, known among the Ḥasidim as Rabbi Aaron the Great, or simply as the "Preacher" or "Censor"; born in 1736; died 1772. He was one of the early great rabbis of the sect who helped the rapid spread of Ḥasidism in eastern Europe, and was distinguished for the fiery eloquence of his exhortations. He died one year before his master, the great Rabbi Baer of Mezhirich, and was succeeded by his disciple, Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin. Rabbi Shlomo was in turn succeeded by Rabbi Aharon's son, Asher. Aaron is the author of the Sabbath hymn "" which begins and is still a part of the liturgy of the Ḥasidim. His ethical will and some collectanea are printed in the work of his grandson, Aaron ben Asher of Karlin.
Document 4: Catherine the Great: Catherine II (Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна "Yekaterina Alekseyevna"; 2 May [O.S. 21 April] 1729 – 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796 ), also known as Catherine the Great (Екатери́на Вели́кая , "Yekaterina Velikaya"), born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader and arguably its most renowned, regardless of gender (although Peter the Great was the only Tsar officially designated as "The Great" ). She came to power following a "coup d'état" when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated. Russia was revitalised under her reign, growing larger as well as stronger in military terms and becoming recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.
Document 5: Şahin Giray: Şahin Giray, Shahin Khan Girai was the last Khan of Crimea. He was born in 1745 in Edirne.
Document 6: Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia: Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia (Russian: Мари́я Влади́мировна Рома́нова ; born 23 December 1953 in Madrid), has been a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia who reigned as Emperors and Autocrats of All the Russias, since 1992. Although she has used Grand Duchess of Russia as her title of pretence with the style Imperial Highness throughout her life, her right to do so is disputed. She is a great-great-granddaughter in the male-line of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.
Document 7: Catherine the Great (1995 film): Catherine the Great is a 1995 television movie based on the life of Catherine II of Russia. It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine, Jeanne Moreau as Empress Elizabeth and Omar Sharif as Alexis Razumovsky.
Document 8: Saint Petersburg Mining University: The Saint Petersburg Mining University (Russian: Санкт-Петербургский горный университет ), is Russia's oldest technical university, and one of the oldest technical colleges in Europe. It was founded on October 21, 1773, by Empress Catherine the Great, who realised an idea proposed by Peter the Great and Mikhail Lomonosov for training engineers for the mining and metals industries. Having a strong engineering profession was seen by many Russian rulers as a vital means of maintaining Russia's status as a great power. As historian Alfred J. Rieber wrote, "The marriage of technology and central state power had a natural attraction for Peter the Great and his successors, particularly Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I". All three had had a military education and seen the achievements of the engineers of revolutionary and imperial France, who had reconstructed the great highways, unified the waterways and erected buildings throughout Europe in a more lasting tribute to the French than all of Napoleon's victories.
Document 9: History of the Jews in 19th-century Poland: Official Russian policy would eventually prove to be substantially harsher to the Jews than that under independent Polish rule. The lands that had once been Poland were to remain the home of many Jews, as, in 1772, Catherine II, the tzarina of Russia, instituted the Pale of Settlement, restricting Jews to the western parts of the empire, which would eventually include much Poland although it excluded some areas in which Jews had previously lived. By the late 19th century, over four million Jews would live in the Pale.
Document 10: Sima Babovich: Sima ben Salomon Babovich (Karayce: Сима Бабович - "Sima Babovich", Russian: Сима Соломонович Бабович ) (1790-1855) was a first Hakham of the Russian Crimean Karaites, one of the early figures in the Crimean Karaites movement.
Document 11: Eupatorian Kenassas: The Eupatorian Kenassas is the temple complex of Crimean Karaites (karaev) located in Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine. It covers an area of 0.25 hectares and consists of large and small kenesa buildings (meetinghouses), building religious schools (Midrash), charity dining, household courtyards and multiple courtyards (grape, marble, waiting for the prayer Ritual, Memorial). The kenesa has been a centre of the religious life of the Karaites of Yevpatoria since 1837.
Document 12: Catherine the Great (TV series): Catherine The Great is a 2015 Russian television series starring Yuliya Snigir as Catherine the Great. It was scheduled to premiere in late 2015 on Channel One Russia.
Document 13: Benjamin Aga: Benjamin Aga (Karaim: Беньямин Агъа), who died in 1824, was the leader of the Crimean Karaites. He was the royal treasurer of Şahin Giray, the last Crimean Khan, and therefore is called in Karaite literature "ha-Neeman" ("the Trusted")—an appellation bestowed also upon his father Samuel, who died in 1770, and who probably held the same office under former khans. When Şahin Giray fled for his life from his rebellious subjects, and sought succor from his protectress Catherine II in St. Petersburg, Benjamin Aga followed him, hoping to collect the large sums of money that he had advanced to the fugitive. Following the last partition of Poland in 1795, after Crimea had been under Russian rule for over a decade, Vilnius, Lutsk and Trakai came under Russian Rule. Benjamin Aga, Solomon ben Nahamu Bobowitz, and the astronomer Isaac of Kalea, the son-in-law of Jacob Aga, who was the elder brother of Benjamin, went to St. Petersburg as a delegation from the Crimean Karaites, to petition the empress to release their sect from the double rate of taxation which all the Jews then had to pay. Through the intervention of Count Nikolay Zubov, the delegation obtained from the empress the exemption from the "Jewish" taxes, some land grants, and other privileges which had not been asked for. This established an important precedent for exempting the Karaites from subsequent anti-Jewish legislation. The extraordinary success of the mission served to arouse great enthusiasm among the Karaites, and Aga and his fellow delegates were received with great honor on their return. A large monolith, fashioned out of marble, with fitting inscription, was erected in the court of the kenesa at Eupatoria, to commemorate an event so important in the history of the Karaites of Russia.
Document 14: Seraya Shapshal: Seraya Shapshal or "His Excellency Hajji Seraya Khan Shapshal " (Karaim: Серая Бен Мордехай Шапшал; Lithuanian: "Seraja Šapšalas" ; Polish: "Seraj Szapszał" ; Russian: Серге́й Маркович Шапшал ) (1873–1961) was a hakham and leader of the Crimean and then the Polish and Lithuanian Crimean Karaites (Karaim) community.
Document 15: Coronation of the Russian monarch: Coronations in Russia involved a highly developed religious ceremony in which the Emperor of Russia (generally referred to as the Tsar) was crowned and invested with regalia, then anointed with chrism and formally blessed by the church to commence his reign. Although rulers of Muscovy had been crowned prior to the reign of Ivan III, their coronation rituals assumed overt Byzantine overtones as the result of the influence of Ivan's wife Sophia Paleologue, and the imperial ambitions of his grandson, Ivan IV. The modern coronation, introducing "European-style" elements, replaced the previous "crowning" ceremony and was first used for Catherine the Great in 1724. Since czarist Russia claimed to be the "Third Rome" and the replacement of Byzantium as the true Christian state, the Russian rite was designed to link its rulers and prerogatives to those of the so-called "Second Rome" (Constantinople).
ground_truth: Catherine II