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Tarak-Tamga

Tarak-Tamga (Crimean Tatar taraq tamğa — "comb tamga") is the ancient clan and state sign of the ruling Giray dynasty and the national emblem of the Crimean Tatar people. It is depicted as a trident-like stylized comb on the national blue flag (kyok-bairak).

Overview

The word "tamga" comes from the ancient Turkic languages and means a clan or tribal mark, seal, or owner's brand. The tradition of using tamgas dates back to the times of the Sarmatians and the Bosporan kings, and during the Golden Horde period they came into wide use as khan's seals on yarlyks (decrees). As a symbol of khanly power, the Tarak-Tamga was first minted on coins by the founder of the Crimean Khanate, Haci I Giray.

A shared coat of arms in the form of the Tarak-Tamga united two states of the 14th–15th centuries — the Crimean Khanate and the Principality of Hlynsk in the Poltava region. The descendants of the Golden Horde emir Mamai — the Princes Hlynsky — bore a coat of arms with the same tamga on a red field, known in Polish armorials under the name "Kyrkor" (derived from the fortress Kyrk-Or, i.e. Chufut-Kale). With the revival of Crimean Tatar statehood in 1917–1918, the Tarak-Tamga was officially approved as the emblem on the national flag.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Etymology and meaning: the word "tarak" means "comb" in the Crimean Tatar language. Tamga signs were created on the basis of laconic geometric figures, everyday objects, or weapons and had a capacity for variation (similar to the transformations of the trident of the Rurikovichi).
  • Sarmatian-Bosporan roots: the tamga as a phenomenon and geographic symbol has continuity with the Sarmatian and Bosporan tamgas; the word "tamga" is widely spread among the Turkic and Caucasian peoples.
  • Khan and state symbolism: the walls and interiors of the Khan's Palace in Bakhchysarai, khan's yarlyks, and coins from the era of Haci I Giray are decorated with the Tarak-Tamga.
  • The "Kyrkor" coat of arms of the Princes Hlynsky: the coat of arms of the descendants of Mamai, the Princes Hlynsky, was the Tarak-Tamga on a red field, which indicates shared state-building and symbolic roots between the Poltava region and Crimea.
  • Modern status: the golden Tarak-Tamga on a light-blue field (kyok-bairak) is the official emblem and national symbol of the Crimean Tatars.
  • Poltava Region and Crimea: Two Histories of Ukrainian Statehood — article by Oleksandr Dziuba in Krymska Svitlytsia (2017, No. 2); the main source of this page.
  • Haci I Giray — founder of the Crimean Khanate who introduced the Tarak-Tamga as the khan and state symbol.
  • Principality of Hlynsk — an autonomous state in the Poltava region whose princes bore a coat of arms with the Tarak-Tamga ("Kyrkor").
  • Chufut-Kale — the medieval fortress Kyrk-Or, capital of Haci I Giray, whose name gave the Hlynsky coat of arms its name "Kyrkor".
  • Khan's Palace in Bakhchysarai — an architectural monument of the Crimean Khanate adorned with images of the Tarak-Tamga.
  • Mamai — beylerbey of the Golden Horde, whose descendants (the Princes Hlynsky) used the Tarak-Tamga.