Meñli II Giray

Mengli II Giray (1678–1740) was twice khan of the Crimean Khanate (1724–1730 and 1737–1740). He was a son of khan Selim I Giray and thus one of the six brothers who were khans during most of the period from 1699 to 1742. He was said to be intelligent, a lover of literature and involved with the Sufi order. He funded mosques and madrassas in Crimea, Budjak and Istanbul. During his first reign he regained control the Crimean nobles and then the Nogais in Budjak and the Kuban region.

He was born in 1678 on the isle of Rhodes during his father’s first exile. In 1704–1707 he was nureddin under his brother Ğazı III Giray. In 1707–1708 and 1713–1715 he was kalga during the first two reigns of his brother Qaplan I Giray. When Qaplan quit he settled at Kadykey near Silistra.

First Reign 1724–1730

When Saadet IV Giray gave up the throne there was talk of reappointing Qaplan, but Mengli was chosen (September-October 1724 = muharram 1137AH)

His kalgas were Safa, a brother of Saadet IV, then Adil and then Salyamet. The last two were Mengli's brothers. His first nureddin was Selyamet, who was later promoted to kalga, then Salih, a son of Saadet IV.

His first task was to regain control of the nobles who has been disobedient during the previous reign.[1] Before reaching Crimea he sent ahead letters confirming most of them in their current positions, as if nothing had happened. He slowly built up alliances. When the Turks called for Crimean troops to fight the Persians (below) he sent many of the malcontents, including Safa and many of the Shirins. When they were surrounded by Turkish troops he sent an order to liquidate them. Several were hung and Safa was exiled to Chios, and later to Yambol. The next problem was a man called Jan Timur.[2] After various meneuvres he was summoned to the palace (October 175). Forewarned, he and his friends fled to the Turks at Azov, and then to the Circassians. With his main enemies out of the way he redistributed fiefs and offices to create an obedient nobility.

In 1725 Istanbul requested 10,000 Crimean troops to fight the Persians.[3] They went under the command of kalga Safa, nureddin Selyamet and Mengli’s son Tokhtamysh. Readily available sources do not say what they did. This was during the Ottoman–Hotaki War (1726–1727) when the Persian ruler tried to regain the northwest part of their empire which had been taken by the Turks. They crossed the Bosporus in July-August 1725 and returned via Trabzond toward the end of 1726. Some seem to have remained since in mid-September 1727 kalga Adil Gray was removed for refusing to lead troops against Persia. See "Note on Crimeans fighting Persians" at bottom.

When Jan Timur fled to Circassia he was protected by Bakht Giray, the warlord son of Devlet II. An army was sent and Vakht made a partial submission (year uncertain). [4] When Adil was removed he went first to an estate near Yambol and then raised a rebellion among the Budjak Nogais in favor of the restoration of Qaplan I. The revolt was suppressed by the local Turkish governors and Adil was forgiven and retired to his estate. This ended about March 1728. [5]

In May 1729 Mengli went to Istanbul where he was congratulated by the Sultan for restoring order in Crimea.[6] In November 1730 Mengli was deposed. The sources do not explain why but all agree that his deposition was connected with the coup that overthrew sultan Ahmad III. [7] Mengli went into exile at Rhodes.

Second reign and death

He was re-appointed Khan during a deep crisis caused by the Russian invasion and the inability of his two predecessors to effectively resist them.

In 1737, during the Russian-Austrian-Turkish war , on February 11, the Crimean Khan Megli-Girey[8]  with his army, 100,000 Tatars, crossed the Dnieper on the ice above Perevolochna and destroyed a small detachment of 100 people on the Ukrainian line , General Yuri Leslie , who died. Khan moved to Poltava , but, alarmed by the news of the movement of Russian troops to meet him, he crossed back across the Dnieper.

Mengli II Giray skillfully organized the defense and, during the third attempt by the Russians to occupy the Crimea, repelled it at Perekop . Khan followed the retreating, constantly disturbing them with his attacks, and inflicted considerable damage.

Mengli II Giray was distinguished by his penchant for literature and theology. He was a member of the Sufi order . He donated funds for the construction of mosques, Khanqahs and madrasahs in Crimea , Budjak and Turkey .

He died in Bakhchisarai in the first days of 1740.

Note on Crimean troops against Persia

This seems to be the first time since 1637 that the Ottomans demanded Crimean troops to fight Persia. Such campaigns were always unpopular because of the long distance and small chance of loot. For reference, the Turks demanded Crimean troops to fight Persia in, at least: 1551 Sahib, 1584 Mehmed II, 1616 Canibek, 1624 Mehmed III, 1637 Canibek, 1637 Inayet, 1725 Mengli, 1732 Qaplan I (Crimean initive against Persian vassals in Dagestan).

This is a summary of what was happening in Persia. In 1722 an Afghan called Mahmud Hotak rebelled and made himself Shah of Persia. The deposed Shah’s son Tahmasp II organized a weak resistance. The Russians and Turks took advantage of Persian weakness and invaded. Tahmasp sought their support against Mahmud. In June 1724, about four months before Mengli became khan, the two powers signed a treaty in which Russia took the west side of the Caspian and Turkey took approximately modern Georgia and Armenia. Tahmasp’s general Nader Shah began to restore Persian power. About nine months before Mengli was dethroned Nader's encroachment on Turkish territory led to the Ottoman–Persian War (1730–1735).

Sources and notes
  1. Smirnov, paragraphs 14,19
  2. Smirnov, paragraphs 16,19
  3. Smirnov,paragraphs 14,19,20
  4. Smirnov, paragraph 23
  5. Smirnov, Paragraphs 20,21
  6. Smirnov, paragraph 24
  7. Smirnov, Paragraphs 26-28
  8. "ВЭ/ВТ/Днепр — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-04-13.
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