Skip to content

← Home

Hajji I Giray

Hajji I Giray (d. 1466) — the founder of the Crimean Khanate and its first ruler (1441–1466), and the progenitor of the Giray khan dynasty. With the support of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania–Ruthenia, he separated Crimea from the Golden Horde and established Crimean Tatar statehood.

Overview

The future khan was born and lived for a long time in the Lithuanian–Ruthenian state, where he held the town of Lida. The founding of the Crimean statehood was closely tied to the alliance between the Tatar aristocracy and the Lithuanian rulers. In 1428, with the support of Grand Duke Vytautas, Hajji Giray made his first attempt to establish himself in Crimea, but met with failure; a second attempt in 1431 also proved unsuccessful.

Only in 1441, when the Lithuanian prince Casimir IV, at the request of the Crimean mirzas, sent him to reign over Crimea, did Hajji Giray finally consolidate his position as the ruler of the new state — the Crimean Khanate. Having secured power, he moved the capital from Old Crimea (the town of Kyrym) to the cave fortress of Kyrk-Or (Chufut-Kale) and was the first to begin minting coins bearing the dynastic symbol he founded — the Tarak Tamga.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Lithuanian period and alliance with the GDL: born and raised in Lithuania (town of Lida); secured the support of Vytautas and Casimir IV, which initiated a long-lasting friendship and diplomatic alliance between the rulers of Crimea and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania throughout the entire 15th–16th centuries.
  • Creation of the Crimean Khanate: in 1441 he officially acquired the throne and proclaimed the independence of the Crimean Khanate from the Golden Horde.
  • Relocation of the capital: moved the capital from Crimea (Old Crimea) to the impregnable mountain town of Kyrk-Or (Chufut-Kale).
  • Introduction of the Tarak Tamga: the first of the khans to adorn minted coins with the symbol of the Tarak Tamga, which became the dynastic emblem of the Girays and the state coat of arms.
  • Parallels with the Hlynsky Principality: Hajji Giray's rise to the throne in Crimea occurred in parallel with the flourishing of the Hlynsky Principality in the Poltava region, which was founded by the descendants of Mamai also under the suzerainty and with the support of the Lithuanian princes.
  • Poltava Region and Crimea. Two Histories of Ukrainian Statehood — an article by Oleksandr Dziuba in the newspaper "Krymska svitlytsia" (2017, No. 2); the main source of biographical information.
  • Tarak Tamga — the dynastic emblem of the Girays, introduced into coin minting by Hajji I Giray.
  • Chufut-Kale — the capital of Hajji I Giray (the Kyrk-Or fortress).
  • Hlynsky Principality — a parallel state in the Poltava region, founded under the protectorate of the Lithuanian–Ruthenian state.
  • Mamai — an Orda temnik, whose descendants (the Mamai-Hlynsky) were partners and contemporaries of Hajji Giray within the GDL system.