Adil Giray Crimean Tatar,

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, and was

khan Khan may refer to: * 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 various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

of the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

from 1666 to 1671.

Family

He is said to have been the grandson of

Fetih I Giray Fetih I Giray Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish and (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 Gira ...

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

Mehmed III Giray Mehmed III Giray Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish and (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-aggressiv ...

. 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 Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish and (1610–1674), was khan of the Crimean Khanate in 1641–1644 and 1654–1666. His two reigns were interrupted by that of his brother İslâm III Giray. His first reign was uneventful, ...

. 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 Selâmet I Giray Crimean Tatar, Ottoman Turkish, and (1558–1610, reigned 1608–1610) was a khan of the Crimean Khanate. His early life was more complex than his 2-year reign. Most of his life involved dynastic conflicts with his brothers and ...

. He served as nureddin under his brothers

İslâm III Giray İslâm III Giray (; 1604 – 10 July 1654) was khan of the Crimean Khanate for ten years (1644–1654), interrupting the reign of his brother Mehmed IV Giray. He was khan during the Khmelnytsky uprising of the Cossacks against Poland. Ancestors ...

and

circa 1651 to before 1666. His son was

Devlet III Giray Devlet III Giray (1647 – 1717) was the Khan of the Crimean Khanate from 1716 to 1717. He died in 1717 somewhere in modern day Bulgaria after falling from his horse, having been removed from power by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III Ahmed III (, ...

(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, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, 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 () 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 timeframe of the period varies amon ...

and

Petro Doroshenko Petro Dorofiiovich Doroshenko (; 1627–1698) was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of right-bank Ukraine (1665–1672) and a Russian voivode. Background and early career Petro Doroshenko was born in Chyhyryn into a noble ...

. In 1671 he was removed as khan by Ottoman sultan

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV (; ; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to b ...

, 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 ( ) 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 had a population of 16,483. Geography Karnobat municipality i ...

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 ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

). 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 17th-century Crimean khans