Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. Picture of the 18th century.
Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. Picture of the 18th century.
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Brotherhood: Khan Adil Girey and Hetman Petro Sukhovoy

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Crimean Khan Adil Girey I. Engraving of the 1670s.
Crimean Khan Adil Girey I. Engraving of the 1670s.

In April 1666, the Istanbul court removed the influential Crimean khan Megmed Giray IV from the throne, and Adil Giray I became the next ruler of the Crimean kingdom. In particular, this applied to the Ukrainian policy of the High Port. Having got rid of the difficult-to-control ruler, the Turkish sultan Megmed IV Avci decided to directly influence the development of events in Ukraine. However, given that the Ottoman Empire was currently at war with the Venetian Republic, Adil Giray I continued the independence course of his predecessor. In the autumn of 1666 he repeatedly appealed to the officials of the Commonwealth in order to influence the right-bank hetman of Ukraine Petro Doroshenko,who refused to provide the Crimean khan with several thousand Cossacks to march on the Circassian land.

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Khan Adil Giray I, like his predecessor, did not want to give up Ukraine “on both banks” of the Dnieper. In fact, at that time most of the territory of the Right Bank was already under Tatar supremacy. And in order to gain influence on the Left Bank, which was under Moscow’s protection, the Crimean Khan resorted to diplomatic cunning and during negotiations with the ambassadors of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich demanded the withdrawal of Moscow troops from “Cherkasy cities” and to “be them, Cherkasy, in person.” that the Ukrainian state became independent of both the tsar and the khan. « … And from the Cossacks there would be an apostate while between us both great sovereigns ambassadors the link will be and our fraternal friendship will be strengthened“- wrote November 14, 1668 Adil-Girey I to the Moscow tsar. However, it could be predicted that if Moscow withdrew its troops from the Left Bank of Ukraine, the Tatar hordes would immediately enter.

During the same year, 1668, an interesting diplomatic dispute took place between Bakhchisarai and Moscow over the right to own the Right-Bank Ukraine. «And Kalga Crimea Girey tsarevich knowing with us the great sovereign of our brother Adil Girey tsar about friendship and about love and sending from war from the Cherkassy cities to act and to do any zeal did not order, that Cherkassians who on this side of Dnieper became citizens under your king’s majesty with a high hand and in their guilt finished forehead. Yes, and our brother the tsar’s majesty (Khan Adil-Girey I. – T. Ch.) In his letter to us the great emperor wrote, which the Cossacks in their guilt to us the great emperor will get a forehead and in citizenship under our tsarist majesty the high hand of the doer, and he has nothing to do with those Cossacks, and he will not teach the entrant for them, and as you Kalga Crimea Girey Tsarevich from the war from our cities of Little Russia will come out and come to the Crimea,and you, on the advice of our brother with Adil Gireev, the tsar’s majesty would send his neighbor for a contract on Voluyka without hesitation…». It was said that Moscow would not claim the Cossacks-right-bankers, who recognized the supremacy of the Turkish sultan and the Crimean khan. By the way, this provision was laid down in the Moscow-Polish Andrusiv Armistice of 1667. In one of his articles, the tsar renounced the right-bank Cossacks in favor of the Polish king.

The territorial dispute over the political subordination of Right-Bank Ukraine in view of Doroshenko’s flexible foreign policy was not resolved, so in April 1670 the Moscow tsar, through his ambassador Yelchin, appealed to the Crimean khan: “… And about the Ukrainian Cossacks it is named, there would be to us the Great Sovereign to our Tsarist Majesty in citizenship, and your Tsar Majesty about that there will be no word; and after that to us the Great Sovereign to Our Tsar’s Majesty wrote Your Adil Gireevo to Tsar’s Majesty… Do not go to our states by war, and cities and lands, as well as subjects on both sides of the Dnieper not to fight, and not to send military men, do not want for anything… In Ukraine, do not start a war, and evil quarrels to the war from no one to listen to the war for nothing, and between the three states (Russia, Poland and Crimea. – Including.) Peace in accordance and forever keep… ». The Crimean khan responded to the intricate diplomatic balance of Moscow as follows: “… And there will be the Cherkasy land (Right-Bank Ukraine. – T. Ch.) To us great Adil Gireev tsar, the majesty of the doctrine, and for that we should not make wars, quarrels and not start wars, that would be a joke ”

Ukrainian Hetman Petro Doroshenko. Engraving of the 1670s.
Ukrainian Hetman Petro Doroshenko. Engraving of the 1670s.

An important place in the policy of the new khan was occupied by relations with Ukrainian hetmans, whom Adil Giray I wanted to see as completely dependent on himself. When he saw that Petro Doroshenko, imitating Bohdan Khmelnytsky, was trying to play an independent role and restore equal, fraternal relations between Ukraine and Crimea, he immediately decided to remove him. When he failed to do so, he appointed his hetman of the right-bank Ukrainian Hetmanate, using the Zaporozhian Sich, and its foreman hatched plans to deprive Doroshenko of the mace.

Zaporozhian military clerk Petro Sukhovienko or Sukhovoy became Khan’s protege in Ukraine. In early August 1668, the Kosh Council of the Zaporozhian (Chortomlyk) Sich decided to send an embassy to the Tatar capital Bakhchisarai with a demand to help them take the mace from Petro Doroshenko and hand it over to a man who, unlike him, would take into account the political and economic aspirations of the Cossacks. , and was more predictable for the Crimean khan. Such a person was found in the person of the Zaporozhian clerk Sukhoviy, who was assigned to head the embassy in the Crimea. Arriving in Bakhchisarai in mid-August, he quickly concluded a military-political agreement with the Crimean khan Adil Girey I. According to his articles, in exchange for the commitment of the Cossacks not to destroy the Tatar uluses, the khan promised to provide military assistance to the Sich.In the process of communication between the Cossack embassy and the Tatar government, Adil Giray I liked the young Zaporozhian clerk so much that he offered to become Yomo Hetman of Ukraine under the protectorate of the Crimean Khanate, and gave Sukhovienko a duplicate of his own seal depicting a “bow with two arrows.” Regarding Bakhchisarai’s support of the new hetman and motivating factors of the Crimean nobility, the letter of the Crimean sultan Girey to the field hetman Vyshnevetsky dated November 23, 1668 in which “Kalga, the Crimean sultan, Circassian, Bila Tserkva, Nogai troops” wrote: “Regarding Bakhchisarai’s support for the new hetman and the motivating factors of the Crimean nobility, the letter of the Crimean sultan Giray to the field hetman Vyshnevetsky dated November 23, 1668 is interesting, in which “Kalga, Crimean sultan, Circassian, Bila Tserkva, Nogai troops” wrote: “Regarding Bakhchisarai’s support for the new hetman and the motivating factors of the Crimean nobility, the letter of the Crimean sultan Giray to the field hetman Vyshnevetsky dated November 23, 1668 is interesting, in which “Kalga, Crimean sultan, Circassian, Bila Tserkva, Nogai troops” wrote: “We, seeing Doroshenko’s slander, knowingly do: the clerk, who came out of Zaporozhye with the Zaporozhian Army with me, we took him for a friend and hetman Peter Sukhovey; about which we ask and wish that you do not listen to Doroshenko’s lovely letters, against the oath Podgaetsky was with me, and did not step on Ukraine “.

Crimean Tatar soldiers. Picture of the 18th century.
Crimean Tatar soldiers. Picture of the 18th century.

Immediately after returning to Ukraine, Sukhovienko wrote a letter to Petro Doroshenko with a proposal to come to Zaporozhye for a council “to elect one hetman to the Cossacks on both sides of the Dnieper.” But the experienced Doroshenko, anticipating the possibility of his assassination at this council, refused and wrote back to Sukhovienko that, according to custom, Cossack councils were always held “in the gardens” and not in Zaporizhia. As a result, the council of Zaporizhzhya Kosh elected Petro Sukhovienko hetman on its own behalf, as well as parts of the right-bank and left-bank regiments. This election was supported by about six thousand Cossacks, Cossacks of Pereyaslav, Poltava, Myrhorod, Lubny and Pryluky regiments. However, it should be noted that the support of the left-bank Cossacks became possible only in view of the presence in Ukraine of a horde of many thousands from the Crimean Khanate. In addition,immediately after his election, Sukhovienko sent his ambassadors to the Turkish sultan. They were to assure the sultan that the newly elected hetman would abide by all the agreements that had been made between him and hetman Petro Doroshenko. Megmed IV Avji supported Sukhovienko in the hetmanship, promising him the help of the khan, and also promised to provide troops in the spring to march on the Kodak fortress.

In the second half of November 1668 Petro Sukhovienko together with the Crimean Tatar detachments acted in Poltava region. In particular, he is negotiating with the mayor of Luben on the placement of 4,000 Tatars in the city for the winter. But he was denied this. It was at the end of autumn, not without the help of Moscow representatives, that rumors spread in Ukraine about Petro Sukhovienko’s “obsurpation.” Reitar lieutenant Kryzhanovsky testified that Sukhovienko had embraced the Muslim faith under the name of Aspat-Murza. Another Russian, Hopchinsky, told the Ambassadorial Order that the Tatars had given him the name Shamai. In addition, he testified: “responds Sukhoveenko khan’s son.” It is possible that the Tatars unofficially, in their own way, called Petro Sukhovienko Shamay, and during the protocol meetings – Ashpat Murza, but the evidence of his conversion to Islam, in our opinion,was a fabrication of the Muscovites in order to discredit another “Busurman” hetman.

At the beginning of 1669, Sukhovienko, together with his loyal regiments and Crimean Tatar detachments, Adil Girey I crossed from the Left Bank of Ukraine to the Right Bank, where he tried to capture the Ukrainian capital and residence of Hetman Petro Doroshenko – Chyhyryn. However, having reached the outskirts of the fortress city and considering the impregnability of its walls, Petro Sukhovienko concluded an agreement with Doroshenko, the main purpose of which was a joint offensive against the Poles. But neither one nor the other hetman kept their agreements. Soon the Ukrainian-Tatar army of Sukhovienko was defeated near Vilshanka, where they were defeated by units of Colonel S. Korsunets. After some time, many more Cossacks of Sukhovienko were killed in a skirmish with G. Doroshenko’s regiments returning from the Left Bank. When on January 16 Ivan Sirko’s detachments defeated the Batyrchi-Murza Tatar troops near Olkhovets,then most of Sukhovienko’s supporters sided with this Zaporozhian commander. As a result of this defeat, the left-bank regiments, which were under the rule of the pro-Tatar hetman, again passed to Petro Doroshenko. In addition, Doroshenko’s Cossacks seized Sukhovienko’s office, along with archives, seals, flags, timpani, and tambourines, which were brought to Chyhyryn. But despite this, the young hetman was not going to surrender to the mercy of the winner. On the contrary, on April 25, 1669, he convened a council at the Sich, where he was once again proclaimed the “Zaporozhian” hetman and again began to prepare for the struggle against Doroshenko.Doroshenko’s Cossacks seized Sukhovienko’s office, along with archives, seals, flags, timpani, and tambourines, which were brought to Chyhyryn. But despite this, the young hetman was not going to surrender to the mercy of the winner. On the contrary, on April 25, 1669, he convened a council at the Sich, where he was once again proclaimed “Zaporozhye” hetman and again began to prepare for the struggle against Doroshenko.Doroshenko’s Cossacks seized Sukhovienko’s office, along with archives, seals, flags, timpani, and tambourines, which were brought to Chyhyryn. But despite this, the young hetman was not going to surrender to the mercy of the winner. On the contrary, on April 25, 1669, he convened a council at the Sich, where he was once again proclaimed “Zaporozhye” hetman and again began to prepare for the struggle against Doroshenko.

The Crimean Khanate, which benefited from the continuation of the internecine struggle in Ukraine, continues to support its protege. Khan Adil Giray I sent a horde led by Sultan Murat to help him. The khan also addressed a letter to some left-bank colonels, in particular the Pryluky and Pereyaslav colonels, convincing them that it was not necessary “for the sake of one hetman (P. Doroshenko. – T.Ch. ) to be at odds with the Crimea.” On May 26, Petro Sukhovienko wrote a letter from the Chortomlyk Sich to Colonel I. Matsenko of the Pryluky Regiment, asking the latter not to trust Doroshenko, who, in his opinion, wanted to hand Ukraine over to Turkish captivity. At the same time, Sukhovienko decided to hold a unifying Cossack council of the Ukrainian Hetmanate.

Crimean Tatar warrior. 1683. Drawing by R. de Hoge.
Crimean Tatar warrior. 1683. Drawing by R. de Hoge.

After an unsuccessful campaign in the Left Bank of Ukraine, Petro Sukhovienko decides to extend his power to the Right Bank. In the first half of June 1669 he sent a regiment of Cossacks under the leadership of Stefan Sulima to Perevolochnaya. But on June 15, he was knocked out by Doroshenko’s units. Despite this, at the end of the month, as a result of hostilities and diplomatic measures, the Korsun, Uman, Kalnytsia, and Targovytsia regiments sided with Sukhovienko. Soon, as a result of the battle of Smila, units of the Bila Tserkva and Pavolotsk regiments joined him. At this time, the Crimean Sultan Murat and his horde came to Sukhoi’s aid. On July 7, another battle took place for the right to own Chyhyryn. Despite the fact that many Cossacks from Doroshenkiv died,Tatars together with Sukhovienko’s regiments could not capture the capital of Cossack Ukraine. Soon a number of officers, as well as former Hetman Yuri Khmelnytsky, fled from Doroshenko to Hetman “His Khan’s Majesty”. Thus, most of Right-Bank Ukraine finds itself under the rule of a twenty-four-year-old hetman.

Sukhovienko, together with the younger Khmelnytsky and Uman colonels Mykhailo Khanenko, went to Uman. It was here that on July 23, 1669, a council of Cossack regiments of the Right Bank of Ukraine took place, where Sukhovienko was offered to renounce the mace in favor of the pro-Polish hetman Mykhailo Khanenko. Given the conflict with the Turks and Tatars, he agreed to support the newly elected Hetman Khanenko, who wanted to rely on the military power of the Commonwealth. With the consent of Petro Sukhovienko, he was elected Secretary General in the government of Mykhailo Khanenko. Having exchanged the hetman’s mace for a clerk’s squid, Sukhovienko advised Khanenko to gather a joint Cossack council with Petro Doroshenko and Demko Ignatovych near Chyhyryn for the benefit of all Ukrainian people.

In September-October 1669, Sukhovienko, as general secretary, took part in the struggle of Mykhailo Khanenko and Doroshenko for the right to rule over the right-bank cities and towns. In particular, the Khanenkos recaptured Torhovytsia, Zvenyhorodka, and Tarasivka. Petro Sukhovienko is also trying to support Khanenko by using his old ties with Crimea. At that time, the Tatar ambassador to Warsaw, on behalf of Khan Adil Girey I, called Petro Doroshenko a traitor to the Crimean Yurt and supported the hetmanship of Mykhailo Khanenko and the clerk of Petro Sukhovienko. In mid-September, Sukhovienko was near Korsun in a camp of Tatars defeated by Doroshenko and Ivan Sirko. Eyewitnesses reported that after the Korsun events, “the whole horde was drawn to the Crimea, taking Sukhovia with them as a prisoner.”

Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. Picture of the 18th century.
Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. Picture of the 18th century.

For some time Sukhovienko was a prisoner of war, but in June 1670 Hetman Mikhail Khanenko, while in the Sich, sent him to the Crimean Khanate with an embassy mission. The former hetman was to take letters to the khan in which it was written “that the Crimean khan should not go to war with the Polish king.” It was at this time that the Tatar ambassadors in Moscow declared that the newly elected in the summer Khan Selim Girey I could relinquish his claims to the Left Bank of Ukraine if the Moscow tsar recognized the right to own the Khanate of the Right Bank. However, two months later, in September, Petro Sukhovienko, for reasons unknown to us, took 170 Yefim from Khanenko’s treasury and fled to the Left Bank of Ukraine to Demko Ignatovych. Mnogohrishny’s government also used Sukhovienko as a specialist on the “Tatar question”: it is knownthat the left-bank hetman was preparing him for a trip to the Crimea for talks with the khan’s government.

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As we can see, Hetman Petro Sukhovienko conducted his military and political activities in line with the policy of the Crimean Khan Adil Girey I. The latter consisted in supporting the weaker Cossack ruler as opposed to the stronger one. Unfortunately, attempts to make the Ukrainian Hetmanate independent of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Moscow Kingdom through brotherhood with the Crimean Khanate were realized only for a short historical period of time.

List of illustrations:

  • Crimean Khan Adil Girey I. Engraving of the 1670s.
  • Ukrainian Hetman Petro Doroshenko. Engraving of the 1670s.
  • Crimean Tatar soldiers. Picture of the 18th century.
  • Crimean Tatar warrior. 1683. Drawing by R. de Hoge.
  • Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. Picture of the 18th century.

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The project was implemented with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation

Taras Chukhlib

Taras Chukhlib, Ukrainian historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences. Leading researcher of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, director of the Stepan Bandera Research Institute of the Cossacks. Researcher of the history of Ukraine, Poland and Turkey, the geopolitical development of Eastern Europe.

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