The Relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Ukrainian Cossacks, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy during the Reign of Khan Islam Giray III (1644-1654)

This dissertation analyzes the relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Ukrainian Cossacks, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy during the reign of Khan Islam Giray III (1644 - 1654). Islam Giray’s reign coincided with some of the most turbulent years of the Crimean Khanate’s history. Shortly after his accession to the throne in summer 1644, a quarrel between his nobles and palace guards during the return from a Circassian campaign turned into an exhausting civil war between him and his nobility. The Khanate’s relations with its northern neighbours were also deteriorating as Warsaw and Moscow decided to take action against the attacks of the Tatars and stopped tribute/gifts payments to Crimea. Under these circumstances, the Cossack rebellion of 1648 against the Commonwealth under the leadership of Bohdan Xmel’nyc’kyj was a golden opportunity for Islam Giray to reassert his position as ruler in Crimea and strengthen the Khanate’s position in eastern European affairs. While the khan gave military support to the Ukrainian Cossacks throughout their war with the Commonwealth, he was never willing to allow the collapse of Warsaw’s authority over Ukraine. Instead he aimed to be a mediator between the Cossacks and the Commonwealth forcing them to agree to peace treaties that would reconcile their contending demands. Islam Giray also intended to ally with Warsaw and Xmel’nyc’kyj for the conquest and partition of Muscovy, acquiring the Volga patrimony of the Golden Horde, Kazan and Astrakhan, for the Khanate. However, as the Cossacks and the Commonwealth were overwhelmed by their mutual problems, they were uninterested in participating in an anti-Muscovite alliance. Eventually, a decisive blow to Islam Giray’s mediatory position and his anti-Muscovite schemes came as the Ukrainian Cossacks could not reach a settlement with Warsaw and decided to submit to Muscovy in 1654. Now, towards the end of his reign, the khan found himself at a crossroads between maintaining his alliance with the Ukrainian Cossacks and taking sides with the Commonwealth against the Ukrainian-Muscovite rapprochement.Ph.D.2019-11-06 00:00:0