Budjak Tatars
The Budjak Tatars (Crimean Tatar: Bucaq tatarları; Romanian: Tătari bugeceni or Tătari bugegeni; Russian: Буджакские татары; Ukrainian: Буджацькі татари) were a Turkic ethnic group, primarily of Nogais who lived in the Budjak region (southern Bessarabia), inhabiting the area between the Danube and Dniester.
History
[edit]The Budjak Tatars came about due to waves of migration of Turkic peoples, specifically Nogais, to the Budjak area. Nomadic Turkic speaking people, such as the Kipchaks, had lived in the Black Sea region for centuries. In the second half of the 13th century the area came under control of the Golden Horde and after its retreat from the region, Moldavia. During the Moldavian Campaign (1484–1486), the Ottoman Empire with the help of the Crimean Khanate, conquered the area around southern Moldavia. Following the peace, the fortresses of Kiliia (Romanian: Chilia Nouă) and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (Romanian: Cetatea Albă, Turkish: Akkerman) came under Ottoman control with the Crimean Khan receiving fiefs in the settlements of Dubăsari and Căușeni.[1][2]
The 16th century saw the first recorded appearances of the "Akkerman Cossacks", scattered former subjects of the Golden Horde, who were defeated by Meñli I Giray. Turkic migration to Budjak was also facilitated by former Golden Horde tribes who voluntarily surrendered to the Crimean Khanate. Meñli I Giray also sought to inhabit the region with people belonging to his own house.[3] Between 1490–1510 the Nogai Mangıts, leaders of Nogai tribal life became a part of the Crimean Khanate.[4] A Polish source in 1502 claimed the Ottoman Sultan invited various "Volga Tatars" from the weakening Golden Horde to the region, most likely Nogais living at the lower Volga. The area under Ottoman and Crimean control was expanded further by the Moldavian Campaign (1538), capturing the strategic Tighina Fortress and its surrounding area.[5]
The Second wave of Turkic migration to Budjak occurred in the mid 16th century, when Sahib I Giray began resettling nomadic Nogais, fleeing from the southward-expanding Grand Principality of Moscow.[6][7] Budjak Tatars participated in various wars on the side of the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. Nogai warriors were treated as an auxiliary force to keep a hold on the Black Sea area. Evliya Çelebi reported that in 1657, 47,000 Nogais set out against Principality of Transylvania.[8]
In the late 17th century the Budjak area experienced overcrowding from the massive influx of Nogais. Refugees from the Greater and Lesser Nogai Horde were fleeing westwards due to Kalmyk invasion.[9][10] In response Mehmed IV Giray decided in 1665 to resettle many Nogais to the eastern bank of the Dniester, an area which came to be known as Yedisan. The local Nogais resisted this move and called for assistance from the Ottoman Sultan, requesting Ottoman citizenship and permission to settle in the territories of Akkerman, Kiliya, Izmail, Bender, and Sarata. In response Mehmed IV Giray led a punitive expedition to Budjak, which led to his removal from the Crimean throne.[11][12]
Following this a conflict over taxation arose between Nogai mirzas (nobles) and Ottoman tax collectors who were often killed in the region. The Ottoman authorities reacted to this by exiling to Budjak Tatars to Crimea, though quickly rolling back this decision due to the economic ruin this caused to the area. Another such conflict broke out in 1699, this time, many Budjak Tatars sided against their mirzas in their fight against the Crimean Khanate.[13] The Budjak Mirzas in the early 18th century sought to bring an end to Moldavia and established relations with Grigore II Ghica, promising to return all territories conquered by Nogais to Moldavia with the Tatars on these territories leaving for Akkerman or paying tribute to the landowners. Implementing these plans led to a Nogai revolt in 1727–1728, being put down by a combined Ottoman, Crimean, Moldavian and Wallachian force.[14] The rebellion of 1756–1758 broke out due to tensions between the Nogais and the Crimean-Ottoman bloc. Initial reasons for rebellion were increased authorities and levies placed on the Nogai in Yedisan horde, which quickly spread to other hordes. The rebellion was ended after Ottoman intervention and deposition of the Crimean Khan.[15]
During the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), many Nogais from Yedisan fled to Dobruja; however the Budjak region remained populated by Nogais. According to the Treaty of Bucharest (1812), which ceded Budjak to the Russian Empire, all Tatars who inhabited the area had the right to resettle in the Ottoman Empire. In reality Budjak Tatars were given 18 months to leave and Christian refugees from the Ottoman Empire were to take their place. A large portion of the Budjak Tatars were resettled in the Russian Empire, namely Dnipro, Kherson, Crimea and the North Caucasus, with the rest moving to Dobruja and other parts of the Ottoman Empire.[16]
To this day many locations in southern Moldova and southwestern Ukraine have Tatar-derived toponyms, as settlers who moved into Budjak following the Tatar exodus occupied abandoned Nogai settlements.[17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Gemil, Tasin Tair (2013-09-01). "The Tatars of Dobruja and Budjak" (PDF). Золотоордынское обозрение (1): 164–166. ISSN 2308-152X.
- ↑ Трепавлов, Вадим Винцерович (2002). История Ногайской Орды. pp. 441–442.
- ↑ Трепавлов, Вадим Винцерович (2002). История Ногайской Орды. p. 442.
- ↑ Başer, Alper (2019). "Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. 36 (1/2): 110. ISSN 0363-5570.
- ↑ Gemil, Tasin Tair (2013-09-01). "The Tatars of Dobruja and Budjak" (PDF). Золотоордынское обозрение (1): 167. ISSN 2308-152X.
- ↑ Gemil, Tasin Tair (2013-09-01). "The Tatars of Dobruja and Budjak" (PDF). Золотоордынское обозрение (1): 168. ISSN 2308-152X.
- ↑ Трепавлов, Вадим Винцерович (2002). История Ногайской Орды. pp. 443–444.
- ↑ Трепавлов, Вадим Винцерович (2002). История Ногайской Орды. p. 445.
- ↑ Трепавлов, Вадим Винцерович (2002). История Ногайской Орды. p. 444.
- ↑ Başer, Alper (2019). "Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. 36 (1/2): 107. ISSN 0363-5570.
- ↑ Gemil, Tasin Tair (2013-09-01). "The Tatars of Dobruja and Budjak" (PDF). Золотоордынское обозрение (1): 167–169. ISSN 2308-152X.
- ↑ Başer, Alper (2019). "Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. 36 (1/2): 111. ISSN 0363-5570.
- ↑ Başer, Alper (2019). "Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. 36 (1/2): 111–112. ISSN 0363-5570.
- ↑ Gemil, Tasin Tair (2013-09-01). "The Tatars of Dobruja and Budjak" (PDF). Золотоордынское обозрение (1): 171–172. ISSN 2308-152X.
- ↑ Başer, Alper (2019). "Conflicting Legitimacies in the Triangle of the Noghay Hordes, Crimean Khanate, and Ottoman Empire". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. 36 (1/2): 112–116. ISSN 0363-5570.
- ↑ Gemil, Tasin Tair (2013-09-01). "The Tatars of Dobruja and Budjak" (PDF). Золотоордынское обозрение (1): 169–171. ISSN 2308-152X.
- ↑ Yusupov, Spartak. "АКАДЕМИЯ НАУК СССР ИНСТИТУТ ЯЗЫКОЗНАНИЯ На правах рукописи". USSR Academy of Sciences, INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS.
