On the status of the Nogai Horde in the system of post-Horde states

Abstract

Research objectives: To establish the degree of equivalence for the status of the Nogai Horde in comparison with the Tatar khanates that arose after the collapse of the Golden Horde. Research materials: Russian-Nogai embassy books and documents about those living in Russia in the 16th–17th centuries, writings pertaining to noble people from the East. Results and scientific novelty of the study: The Nogai Horde, until the last third of the 16th century, retained the institution of nominal khans chosen from the numerous descen­dants of Chingis Khan. These latter figures were needed to proclaim the next biy as a beklerbek and issue a charter with a golden seal. That was the only way to legitimize power in the Horde in the eyes of the neighbors and, most crucially, the Nogai themselves. Thus, the Nogai Horde could not get rid of the idea of its subordinate position in relation to the states ruled by the Chingisids. However, from the middle of the 16th century. the traditional place of the Tatar tsars and princes begins to be occupied by the Russian tsar.