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39-658: In 1419, the Genoese Jew Simeone de Ghisolfi married a reigning princess of the municipality of Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula named Bikhakhanim , and took possession of this area, most likely centred on the town of Matrega . The de Ghisolfi clan ruled this principality as a protectorate of the Genoese consulate of Gazaria for much of the 15th century. In 1453, the Republic of Genoa ceded its Crimean possessions to

78-538: A fortress town and renamed Tamatarkha . Arabic sources refer to it as Samkarsh al-Yahud (i.e., "Samkarsh of the Jews") in reference to the fact that the bulk of the trading there was handled by Jews. Other variants of the city's name are "Samkersh" and "Samkush". Fortified with a strong brick wall and boasting a fine harbor, Tamatarkha was a large city of merchants. It controlled much of the Northern European trade with

117-612: A great contribution to the development of Crimean Tatar statehood. He founded the fortress of Özü . In 1480, Meñli entered into a treaty of alliance with Ivan III , the grand prince of Moscow . The alliance was directed against Poland-Lithuania, the Great Horde and the Khanate of Astrakhan . This was an important factor in the Great stand on the Ugra River which led to Russian independence from

156-463: A publication now in the public domain :  Rosenthal, Herman (1904). "Guizolfi (Giezulfis), Zacharias de". In Singer, Isidore ; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia . Vol. 6. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. pp. 107–108. Tmutarakan Tmutarakan ( Russian : Тмутарака́нь , romanized :  Tmutarakán' , IPA: [tmʊtərɐˈkanʲ] ; Old East Slavic : Тъмуторокань , romanized:  Tǔmutorokanǐ )

195-487: A while, for an important reason. There were naphtha deposits in the area and this was a vital ingredient of their main tactical weapon, Greek Fire . Up until the end of the 12th century the imperial authorities were forbidding their Genoese trading partners access to the city known to them as Matracha . In the 13th century the city passed to the Empire of Trebizond (a Byzantine successor state). Its last recorded mention

234-605: Is clear that Zacharias, intending to accept Ivan's hospitality, started for Moscow, but while on the way was robbed and tortured by Stefan , the voivode of Moldavia ; upon his release, he returned home. Notwithstanding this experience, Ghisolfi and his men declared themselves ready to join Ivan provided that guides were furnished them. Replying to this despatch, March 18, 1488, the Muscovite prince repeated his invitation, and informed Ghisolfi that he had notified Dmitry Shein , his ambassador at

273-541: Is evidence of others taking part in the enterprise, including Cretans . The city flourished for some centuries and many ancient buildings and streets have been excavated from this period, as well as a hoard of 4th century golden coins. Hermonassa was a centre of the Bosporan cult of Aphrodite and in the early centuries CE was trading with the Alans . There is also archaeological evidence of extensive replanning and construction in

312-526: Is our wish that you do so. When you are with us we will give you evidence of our favourable disposition toward you. If you wish to serve us, our desire will be to confer distinction upon you; but should you not wish to remain with us and prefer to return to your own country, you shall be free to go ... From a despatch in Latin from Conario on the Kuban River , dated June 8, 1487, and signed "Zachariah Guigursis", it

351-579: The Bank of St. George , a private enterprise to which it was heavily in debt. The Ghisolfi family continued to rule Matrega and the surrounding region on behalf of the Bank. Through such intermediaries as Khozi Kokos , they maintained relations with the rulers of Muscovy and other Russian principalities. A descendant of Simeone, Zacharias de Ghisolfi was the prince and ruler of the Taman peninsula from about 1480. Beset by

390-541: The Byzantine name for the city, Tamatarcha , is derived) was built on the site in the 7th century, and became known as Tmutarakan when it came under the control of Kievan Rus'. The Greek colony of Hermonassa was located a few miles west of Phanagoria and Panticapaeum , major trade centers for what was to become the Bosporan Kingdom . The city was founded in the mid-6th century BCE by Mytilene (Lesbos), although there

429-645: The Byzantine Empire and Northern Caucasus . There were also trade routes leading south-east to Armenia and the Muslim domains, as well as others connecting with the Silk Road to the east. The inhabitants included Greeks , Armenians , Rus' , Jews , Ossetians , Lezgins , Georgians , and Circassians . After the destruction of the Khazar empire by Sviatoslav I of Kiev in the mid-10th century, Khazars continued to inhabit

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468-612: The Ottoman Empire (which was then in the process of reducing the Girai Khanate and the Italian possessions in the Crimea to tributary status) in 1482, Zacharias and his subjects, a mixed population of Jews , Italians , Greeks , Circassians , Tatars and Slavs , were compelled to retire from Matrega and sought refuge on the island of Matrice. On August 12 of that year, Zacharias informed

507-660: The 2nd century CE. After a long period as a Roman client state, the Bosporan kingdom succumbed to the Huns , who defeated the nearby Alans in 375/376. With the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the late 5th century, the area passed within the Roman sphere once again but was taken by the Bulgars in the 6th century. Following the fall of the city to the Khazars in the late 7th century, it was rebuilt as

546-524: The Crimea's numerous Italian trading cities, and Genoese mercenaries formed a significant part of his army. For his raids on Lithuania see Crimean-Nogai Raids for 1480–1511. Meñli was a father of Mehmed I Giray and Sahib I Giray . One of his wives was Nur Sultan , who are one of only three women known to have played a political role in the Crimean Khanate. Meñli's known consorts were: Meñli's sons were: Meñli's daughters were: Meñli I Giray

585-595: The Crimean ambassador declared that, out of friendship for Muscovy, the khan Meñli I Giray would take Ghisolfi under his protection, but expressed concern due to Ghisolfi's having antagonized the Turks, who were the khan's overlords. From subsequent events, it is evident that Ghisolfi entered the service of the khan, for further negotiations were carried on, and in April 1500, Ivan, instructing his ambassador, refers to Ghisolfi as "Zacharias

624-465: The Crimean court, that he had requested khan Meñli I Giray to send to Cherkassy two men to guide Ghisolfi to Moscow. He directed Shein to add to this number a Tatar from his own suite. Several years passed before guides were sent, but in the spring of 1496 they reached the mouth of the Miyusha and Taigana rivers, where Zacharias was to meet them four weeks after Easter . It had been arranged that in

663-562: The Fryazin," who had lived in Circassia and is now in the service of Meñli I Giray , but who never reached Russia." Ivan's repeated invitations to Ghisolfi seem to indicate that he hoped the latter's services would be valuable to him in extending Russian influence on the Black Sea . Yet it is strange that during a period of more than eighteen years Ghisolfi did not succeed in reaching Russia. Whether

702-828: The Golden Horde's authority over the Tatar khaganates in the Caspian-Volga region. Meñli was buried in the Dürbe (or türbe ) of Salaçıq in Bakhchysarai . In that city, he commissioned Zıncırlı Medrese ( medrese with chains) in Salaçıq (1500), Dürbe in Salaçıq (1501), and "Demir Qapı" (Iron Gate) portal in the Bakhchisaray Palace by Aloisio the New (1503). Meñli often depended on troops from

741-455: The Great gave to his sons, which implies that Rus control over the city was established in the late 10th century and certainly before Vladimir's death in 1015. Bronze and silver imitations of Byzantine coinage were struck by the new rulers during this period. Vladimir's son Mstislav of Chernigov was the prince of Tmutarakan at the start of the 11th century. During his reign, a first stone church

780-460: The Great Horde. In September 1482, Meñli managed to ravage Kiev , in which Ivan Chodkiewicz and his family were taken hostage. From 1489 to 1500, Crimean Tatars repeatedly devastated Podolia and Volyn . In 1502, Meñli defeated the last khan of the Golden Horde and took control over its capital, Saray . He proclaimed himself Khagan ( Emperor ), claiming legitimacy as the successor of

819-539: The North Caucasus, but was captured and imprisoned in the Genoese fortress at Sudak . He made an anti-Turkish alliance with Principality of Theodoro . In the summer of 1469 a Turkish fleet burned some villages near Kaffa. From late 1473 Eminek made himself head of the Shirin clan which held the eastern peninsula of Crimea. He became the second most powerful man in the country and was often hostile to Mengli. In March 1475

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858-543: The directors of the Bank of Saint George in Genoa of his position, and requested for 1,000 ducats with which to retain the friendship of his allies, the Crimean Goths of Feodoro , who had exhausted his resources; he stated that unless he received the support of the republic, he would move to Wallachia , where the voivode had offered him a castle. Notwithstanding the fact that the Turks had captured Tana ( Azov ) and most of

897-445: The event of either party reaching the rendezvous before the other, the first should wait until Whitsuntide , and if need be until Peter and Paul's Day . The guides waited until St. Nicholas ' Day (Dec. 6), when they learned that Ghisolfi was unable to advance on account of disturbances among his people, for "the man Zacharias is substantial, his family is great, and probably it is difficult to induce them to move." In his report to Ivan,

936-514: The fact that Ghisolfi was a Jew had anything to do with the impediments put in his way, it is difficult to ascertain, for no mention of him is to be found in Jewish writings. The different spellings of Zachariah's name in Italian and Russian documents—"Guizolfi," "Guigursis," and "Guilgursis"—may be attributed to errors of the Russian scribes. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

975-626: The gold seal" to Zacharias the Jew, at Caffa . This message, dated March 14, 1484, and forwarded by Luka and Prince Vasili, both court dignitaries, reads as follows: By the grace of God the great ruler of the Russian country, the Grand Duke Ivan Vassilivich, Czar of all the Russias , ... to Skariya the Hebrew. You have written to us through Gabriel Petrov, our guest, that you desire to come to us. It

1014-496: The nobles replaced Mengli with his elder brother Hayder of Crimea . Mengli fled to Kaffa. In May 1475 a large Turkish fleet arrived at Kaffa seeking to subordinate the Genoese. They took Kaffa and other Genoese forts and the Principality of Theodoro. Mengli, who had supported the Genoese, was captured and taken to Constantinople. Nur Devlet was released from prison and restored as a Turkish vassal. Nur Devlet's third reign (1475–78)

1053-460: The prince of Chernigov and then to the Grand Prince of Kiev , Vsevolod Yaroslavich . In 1079, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich appointed a governor ( posadnik ), but he was captured two years later by David Igorevich and Volodar Rostislavich , who seized the city. Exiled from the city to Byzantium by Khazar agents during this turbulent time, Oleg Svyatoslavich returned to Tmutarakan in 1083 and ousted

1092-460: The region. The Mandgelis Document , a Hebrew letter dated AM 4746 (985–986) refers to "our lord David, the Khazar prince" who lived in Taman and who was visited by envoys from Kievan Rus to ask about religious matters. Although the exact date and circumstances of Tmutarakan's takeover by Kievan Rus are uncertain, the Hypatian Codex mentions Tmutarakan as one of the towns that Vladimir

1131-510: The rival Rus prince Rostislav Vladimirovich who in his turn was forced to flee the city when Gleb approached with an army led by his father. Once Svyatoslav left, however, Rostislav expelled Gleb once again. During his brief rule, he subdued the local Circassians (also known as Kasogi) and other indigenous tribes, but his success provoked the suspicion of neighboring Greek Chersonesos in the Crimea, whose Byzantine envoy poisoned him on 3 February 1066. Afterwards command of Tmutarakan returned to

1170-512: The sense that Vladimir Mayakovsky gives it. Me%C3%B1li I Giray Meñli I Giray (also spelled Mengli I Giray ; Crimean Tatar : I Meñli Geray , ۱منكلى كراى ‎; 1445–1515) was the khan of the Crimean Khanate (1466, 1469–1475, 1478–1515) and the sixth son of Hacı I Giray . It took Mengli twelve years to establish himself as khan. When Haji Girai died power went to his eldest son Nur Devlet . Mengli revolted. He

1209-579: The settlements in Gazaria , Ghisolfi continued the war from Matrice, but with only a small measure of success. Learning that he had expressed a desire to come to Russia, and glad of an opportunity to ally with the Circassians and other peoples resisting Ottoman incursions, Ivan III of Muscovy directed Prince Nozdrevaty, his ambassador to the Crimean Tatar khan Meñli I Giray , to forward a message "sealed with

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1248-411: The site was rediscovered in 1792, when a local peasant found a stone with an inscription stating that Prince Gleb had measured the sea from here to Kerch in 1068. Archaeological excavations of the site were begun in the 19th century and have continued since. The habitation level in places exceeds twelve meters. During much of the 17th and 18th centuries the area was dominated by Cossacks centered on

1287-629: The town of Taman , which was located near the remains of Tmutarakan. The modern town of Temryuk is nearby. Speculations have been advanced for how the settlement came by its later name. That it derives from the Tatar language is generally assumed. Jean Richard also mentions the Greek for "fish curing" ( Τομη΄ταριχα ), an important Black Sea product. Afterwards it might have been given a Russian folk etymology, combining t'ma ("darkness") and tarakan ("cockroach"), to mean metaphorically 'the back of beyond',

1326-518: The usurpers, adopting the title of " archon of Khazaria" ( Arakhan of Tmutar), and placed the city under nominal Byzantine control. But he also issued rough silver coins in his own name which included a short inscription in Cyrillic letters. Then in 1094, like Mstislav before him, he returned to Rus to claim the throne of Chernigov. Byzantine interest in the city was maintained through this succession of client rulers, and thereafter by more direct rule for

1365-607: Was a medieval principality of Kievan Rus' and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus , the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov , between the late 10th and 11th centuries. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa ( Ancient Greek : Ἑρμώνασσα ) founded in the mid 6th century BCE, by Mytilene (Lesbos), situated on the Taman peninsula , in present-day Krasnodar Krai , Russia , roughly opposite Kerch . The Khazar fortress of Tamantarkhan (from which

1404-504: Was dedicated to the Mother of God ( Theotokos ). The excavated site suggests that it was built by Byzantine workmen and has similarities with the church Mstislav went on to commission in Chernigov . After his death, he was followed by a succession of short-lived petty dynasts. Gleb Svyatoslavich was given command of the city by his father, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich , but in 1064 he was displaced by

1443-592: Was in a scroll of 1378. The region fell under the control of the Republic of Genoa in the 14th century and formed part of the protectorate of Gazaria , based at Kaffa . It was within the territory administered by the Ghisolfi family and was conquered by the Crimean Khanate in 1482 and by Russia in 1791. A possible remaining Khazar connection is suggested by mention of “Jewish princes” in Tamatarkha under both Genoese and Tatar rule. The city subsequently fell into ruin and

1482-461: Was supported by the Crimean nobility while Nur Devlet was supported by the Great Horde . In 1467 Mengli occupied the capital of Kyrk-Er ( Chufut-Kale ) but was soon driven out by Nur Devlet and fled to the Genoese at Kaffa . In June 1468 a delegation of nobles elected him khan at Kaffa. He, the nobles and a Genoese detachment marched on the capital. After six months Nur Devlet was expelled and fled to

1521-409: Was unsuccessful. In the winter of 1477–78 Crimea was briefly conquered by Janibeg, a nephew of Akhmed Khan of the Great Horde. Eminek wrote to the sultan asking that Mengli be restored. In the spring of 1478 Mengli was released and arrived at Crimea with a Turkish fleet and Turkish soldiers. He was joined by Eminek's troops, Nur Devlet was driven out and Mengli became khan as a Turkish vassal. He made

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