The forgotten heroes of Budzhak: "Bloody Sword" by Kantemir Murza

The history of Ottoman Bujak is not only about socioeconomic processes, political system, and religious coexistence between Christians and Muslims. First of all, it is about bright figures who made the region famous for their political deeds. One such personality of that time was the leader of the Budzhak Horde, Kantemir Murza, nicknamed "The Bloody Sword" from the Mansur Ogly family. Thanks to his victories, the Crimean Khanate turned into a powerful military force that was greatly appreciated by the Ottoman sultans and respected by Christian enemies.

The Nogai Bey. Image: ua.krymr.com

The activities of Kantemir Murza have been studied only fragmentarily. In particular, his leadership, his implacable attitude towards the Cossacks, and his resolute desire to protect the Budzhak Horde from the encroachments of the Crimea, the Ottoman Empire, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth have been noted.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Budzhak was a joint Ottoman-Crimean possession. In the early sixteenth century, the Crimean administration resettled in Budzhak some of the uluses of the Great Nogai Horde that had fallen to the Crimean khans of the Giray. The settlers were mostly Nogai tribes of Mansur and Mambet, who planned to strengthen their army with the help of the newly arrived Giraya Nogai.

In addition to the warriors themselves, Nogai aristocrats who had great ambitions to form new political associations (uluses or hordes) also arrived in the Crimean possessions. One of these leaders was Kantemir Murza of the Mansur-oglu family. This family was named after the son of the Golden Horde khan, Yedigey. The Mansurs considered themselves the heirs of the Horde khans, and the Crimean Girayans were perceived as usurpers. The Mansurs especially did not have good relations with the influential Shirin family, who were considered their rivals in the Crimean possessions. Therefore, Kantemir Mansur, as a typical representative of his wealthy family, was negatively perceived by the Crimean authorities.

Realizing that the Budzhak Horde could not resist the Crimean Giray on its own, Kantemir Murza was constantly looking for influential allies. In the early seventeenth century, he began to focus on the Ottoman sultans. Of course, such an independent policy only led to an aggravation of relations with the Crimean khans, especially after the Budzhak Horde accepted a pretender to the Crimean throne, Kalga Shahin Giray, in 1610. Crimean khan Janibek Giray II was forced to march on Budzhak and defeated the horde at Tiligul in 1614.

After the defeat, Kantemir Murza changed his tactics against the Giray. He began to devastate Moldavia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to provoke a war between Crimea and Warsaw, as the Budzhak Horde was nominally considered dependent on Bakhchisarai, who was responsible for the actions of his vassals.

In the winter of 1616-1617, Kantemir marched to Galicia. The campaign against Kamianets-Podilskyi was also quite successful, the horde devastated the outskirts of the city and returned with almost no losses. In 1618, the Bujaks marched on the Ukrainian lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1619, the Moldavian lands were devastated. For his cruel treatment of his enemies, Kantemir was nicknamed "The Bloody Sword" in Poland. Although Cantemir's army was relatively small (5-12 thousand soldiers), it was characterized by courage, high mobility, and combat capability.

Nogai (Bujak) and Crimean Tatars (late 18th century). Image: islam.in.ua

The actions of the Nogai Budzhak led to an aggravation of Polish-Ottoman relations, which soon led to war. In 1620, thanks to Kantemir's troops , the Ottomans defeated the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army near Ciezora. During the Khotyn campaign of 1621, Kantemir acted autonomously, and by devastating the areas of Podillia and Galicia, he cut off the Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian army from supplies and interaction with other military units. In fact, he saved Sultan Osman II from a crushing defeat.

The grateful sultan granted Kantemir Murza the title of "amir ul umaar," or independent leader (ruler). According to other sources, the reward was even greater - the position of "Beylerbey" (governor) of the Silistren Eyalet and the title of "yali agasy" or "governor of the coast" from the Crimean khan. Thus, Bakhchisaray recognized the authority of Kantemir over Budzhak, and Istanbul appointed the Murza as governor of this territory.

The power of the Murza became so significant that, according to legend, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire , Ohrili Hussein Pasha, responded emotionally to the request of the envoy from Warsaw, Zbarazhsky, to relocate the Budzhak horde: "Leave Kantemir alone. He is a devil! We cannot eliminate him." Kantemir also extended his power to the northern part of Dobruja and decided to finally get rid of the power of the Girayi, who hated him, and make Budzhak free of Crimea.

In turn, the Crimean khan Muhammad Giray, along with his brother Shahin Giray Kalga, planned to be the first to attack Budzhak in 1623. They enlisted the support of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which promised to stop the attacks of the Budzhak Nogai in case of victory. Even Vizier Hussein Pasha secretly supported this plan. "Let him be cursed whoever advised the Sultan to put this robber there," he told the Polish envoy.

The plan was disrupted by an unexpected march of the Nogai Bujak through Moldova to Krakow. In 1624, Kantemir made two more successful campaigns in Galicia and Little Poland. Despite being defeated by the Poles near Martyniv on June 20, 1624, and being wounded, Kantemir managed to take several influential nobles prisoner. Therefore, King Sigismund III considered his raids to be the main problem for the southern border.

With the support of Istanbul, Kantemir managed to remove Muhammad Giray from the khanate in 1624 and put Janibek Giray II in his place. This was the peak of the Budzhak ruler's influence. He called himself "the ruler of the fate of the khans." The remnants of the Mansur tribe were resettled from the Crimea to Budzhak. Murza persecuted the blood enemies of the Shirins, the surviving part of whom fled to Circassia.

In 1627, fate smiled on Muhammad Giray and he regained power. His brother Kalga Shahin Giray was ordered to defeat the Budzhak horde. Under the pressure of a large Crimean army, Kantemir was forced to retreat to Dobruja, where he defeated Kalga's army with the help of a cunning maneuver and Turkish reinforcements.

In 1628, Kantemir entered the Crimea, where he defeated Shahin Giray and his Cossack allies. In 1629, the Mirza attacked Podillia to capture prisoners, whom he usually sent to Istanbul. In this way, he paid for Ottoman assistance and gained the sultanate's favor.

The power of Kantemir Murza was growing stronger. In 1631, the Russians sent him a mention (i.e., a tribute) in an attempt to gain his support. The growing authority of the Murza caused concern in Istanbul. Kantemir did not recognize any authority and only nominally obeyed Sultan Murad IV the Hunter. Murad ordered Cantemir to take part in a campaign against Muscovy, and he was forced to obey. At the same time, the Ottoman sultan appointed his enemy, Inayet Giray, to the Crimean throne.

Sultan Murad IV the Hunter. Image: Wikipedia

In the future, Inayet refused to provide Kantemir with military assistance against the Poles, and the Bloody Sword suffered its first serious defeats. In October 1633, Kantemir's troops crossed the Dniester and attacked the crown hetman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanisław Koniecpolski. The Poles defeated them in the Battle of Sasovyi Rih.

Realizing that Inayet could not have done this without the permission of the Ottoman sultan, Kantemir, in desperation, began to correspond with the Polish hetman Stanisław Potocki. He proposes that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth enter into an alliance with the Budzhak horde against the Crimean Khanate. Murza expressed his readiness to recognize dependence on Warsaw, as long as it was not on Bakhchisarai. Potocki was interested in the proposal and was ready to pay the horde's Nogai soldiers with his own money during campaigns.

However, the Polish Sejm rejected the proposal, fearing Potocki's increased power and a possible military tandem between the two prominent commanders. In turn, Bakhchisarai secretly promised Warsaw to forbid Kantemir from attacking the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth if Warsaw forbade the Cossacks to attack Crimea. Upon learning of Bakhchisarai's negotiations with Warsaw, Kantemir became even more enraged and executed the khan's ambassadors in Akkerman, who had come to demand that he stop raiding the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and leave Budzhak.

Realizing that his plan had failed, Kantemir took a decisive step. In 1634-1635, taking advantage of the Crimean army's participation in the Iranian campaign, Kantemir attacked Crimea. "I am not a slave to the Crimean Khan," he allegedly said. Inayet Giray, hearing about this, immediately returned the troops (about 150 thousand) and sent them against the Budjak horde. In January 1637, Kantemir hid his treasures in Kiliya and fled with his family to Istanbul. Upon arriving in Akkerman, the khan forced Kantemir's brothers, Urak and Kelmamet, to swear an oath of allegiance to the khanate and confiscated their property.

A complaint was written to the Ottoman Empire about Kantemir's actions. However, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV did not punish Kantemir, and in response, Inayet Giray instructed his brother Husam Giray to capture Kiliya and the treasures of the Murza of Budzhak. The victory was spoiled by the unexpected death of Husam Giray's son in Istanbul, allegedly from illness. However, Inayet was convinced that the child had been poisoned and, out of rage, closed the peace with Warsaw.

Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of the Nogai people with the actions of the Crimean khan, Kantemir's brothers killed the Crimean khan's brothers, Husam Giray and Saadet Giray, near Akkerman. On June 13, 1637, Inayet Giray was removed from the post of khan and sent to Istanbul to meet with Kantemir and Murad IV. During a personal meeting in July 1637, Inayet Giray quarreled with Kantemir in the presence of the sultan. Murad IV regarded this act as a manifestation of disrespect for his office, and on July 1, 1637, Inayet Giray was strangled in Istanbul.

Kantemir decided that he had regained the sultan's favor and openly demonstrated his joy at the execution of his old enemy. However, Murad decided to put an end to the endless disputes between the Budzhak Horde and the Crimean Khanate. "We are all concerned about the cruelty and cunning of this demon-possessed sultan. Now is the time that Allah gives once in a thousand years," Murad allegedly said and ordered the Bujat Horde to move away from the borders with Poland, and appointed Kantemir as governor of Kamara-Isar.

The bad ending was spoiled by Kantemir's son, Usein, who killed a resident of Istanbul during a drunken quarrel. The sultan immediately realized that there was a reason to punish the disobedient murza. On July 10, 1637. Useyin's head was beheaded, and Kantemir, unable to bear the grief, publicly insulted the sultan for this act. Therefore, on the same day, Murad IV ordered Kantemir Murza to commit suicide. According to another version, the murza was executed in Istanbul.

After Kantemir's death, repressions against the Nogai began. However, the Budzhak Horde's hatred of the Ottomans and Crimeans only increased. In 1701, the Murza held secret negotiations with representatives of the Hetman of the Left Bank of Ukraine, Ivan Mazepa, to facilitate the horde's transition to the rule of Russian Tsar Peter I. Mazepa rejected this idea. Only in August 1770, under an agreement with the horde's murzas, 12,500 Nogai families moved to the Tavriya province. Thus, Kantemir Murza's long-held dream of gaining independence for the Budzhak Horde came to a final collapse.

Kantemir Murza was a controversial figure. A cruel but courageous warrior, cunning and treacherous, he laid down his life for the sake of the interests of his family and his horde. Thanks to him, the Budzhak Horde was finally formed as a separate political unit, and the Budzhak army became a symbol of the Nogai military art for many years.

Андрій Шевченко