Adil Giray, Adil Khan Girai ( crh3, Adil Geray, عادل كراى) was

khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

of the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

from 1666 to 1671.

Family

He is said to have been the grandson of

Fetih I Giray Fetih I Giray (c. 1558–1597, reigned 1596–97) was briefly khan of the Crimean Khanate, interrupting the reign of his elder brother Ğazı II Giray (1588–1607). He was one of the many sons of Devlet I Giray. Khan Adil Giray (1666–1671) w ...

(see below). His father was killed in battle in 1624 when the Turks tried to overthrow

Mehmed III Giray Mehmed III Giray (1584–1629, reigned 1623–1628) was a khan of the Crimean Khanate. Much of his life was spent in conflict with nearly everyone around him. Part of the trouble was caused by his over-aggressive brother Shahin Giray. His reign w ...

. None of his descendants were khans. His elder brother Fetih was nureddin in 1641-44 during the first reign of

Mehmed IV Giray Mehmed IV Giray, the Sufi (1610–1674), was khan of the Crimean Khanate in 1641–1644 and 1654–1666. His two reigns were interrupted by that of his brother Islyam III Giray. His first reign was uneventful, except for the recapture of Azov fro ...

. His kalga and nureddin were Devlet and Gazi, sons of his brother Fetih. Another Adil Giray was one of the many sons of Selâmet I Giray. He served as nureddin under his brothers İslâm III Giray and

circa 1651 to before 1666. His son was Devlet III Giray (1716-1717). He was killed by a fall from a horse.

Reign

In 1666 he was placed on the throne by the Ottomans, who were displeased with khan Mehmed IV. At the time he was in exile at Rhodes. He came into conflict with his nobles, especially the Shirin clan, because of his questionable ancestry and high taxes. It is said he strongly supported the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

, and was one of the candidates in the Polish royal election of 1669. For the complex events to the north, see

The Ruin (Ukrainian history) The Ruin ( uk, Руїна, translit=Ruyína) is a historical term introduced by the Cossack chronicle writer Samiilo Velychko (1670–1728) for the political situation in Ukrainian history during the second half of the 17th century. The time ...

and Petro Doroshenko. In 1671 he was removed as khan by Ottoman sultan

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV ( ota, محمد رابع, Meḥmed-i rābi; tr, IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter ( tr, Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the a ...

, either when the sultan decided go to war with the Commonwealth or because he had ravaged some villages loyal to the pro-Turkish Doroshenko. He was exiled to

Karnobat Karnobat ( bg, Карнобат ) is a town in the Burgas Province, Southeastern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Karnobat Municipality. According to the 2021 census, the town has a population of 16,483 inhabitants.h ...

in modern Bulgaria and died the following year.

His grandfather and father

The story goes that some time between 1588 and 1597

became kalga in 1588 and was khan in 1596 and 1597. a noble Polish girl was captured during a Tatar raid and presented to Fetih Giray. Fetih wanted to marry her but she refused to betray her faith so she was held for ransom. A court servant named Haji Mustafa was sent to take the girl to Poland and bring back the ransom. En route the girl gave birth to a son. Fetih indignantly denied responsibility and sent men to kill all three of them for the crime of fornication and insulting his good name. The girl died in childbirth and Haji Mustafa fled with the infant, whom he named Mustafa. After Fetih's death in 1597 they settled in Crimea near Ak-Mesjid (

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...

). Mustafa grew up as a simple shepherd and had two sons. In 1623 he was summoned to the capital by

. Mehmed recognized him as Fetih's son, appointed him nureddin and made him take the name of Devlet Giray. His sons were to be called Fetih and Adil Giray in place of their lower class names of Kul-Bolda and Chul-Bolda. Because of this his family was called Choban or shepherd. The following year the Turks invaded Crimea and were defeated. While pursuing the defeated Turks Adil's father Mustafa-Devlet Giray-Choban was killed. Howorth (1880) differs from Gaivoronsky's account (above) as follows. The girl was called Maria Potoska. He has 'Haji Ahmed' for Haji Mustafa and 'Ahmed Giray' for Devlet Geray. He seems to think (p558) that Adil was another son of 'Choban Giray'. He says that Mustafa was adopted because Mehmed was childless. Purgstall (1856) says that the girl was 'probably Maria Potocka'.

Sources and notes

*Oleksa Gaivoronsky «Повелители двух материков», Kiev-Bakhchisarai, second edition, 2010, , volume 2, pages 87, 88, 98 (father) *Henry Hoyle Howorth, History of the Mongols, 1880, Part 2, pp. 540, 541, 558 (father);pp. 558–559 (reign) *Joseph Hammar Purgstall, Geschichte Der Chane Der Krim, 1856, pp. 101–103 (father) {{DEFAULTSORT:Giray, Adil Candidates for the Polish elective throne 17th-century births 17th-century deaths Crimean Khans 17th-century rulers in Europe