Mengli Giray

Mengli Giray (1445–1515) was a khan of the Crimean Khanate and the sixth son of the khanate founder Haci Giray.

He ascended the throne in 1466 for some months, then was deposed by his brother Nur Devlet. He was restored to the throne in January 1469, lost power again in March 1475 as a result of a rebellion of rival brothers and nobility. In 1475 he was captured by Ottomans in Caffa and delivered to Istanbul. After being forced to recognize Ottoman suzerainity over the Crimean Khanate he was returned to the throne of Crimea. He made a great contribution to the development of Crimean Tatar statehood. In 1502 Giray defeated the last khan of the Golden Horde and took control over his capital Saray. Proclaimed himself the haqan (the emperor) pretending to be the successor of the Golden Horde's authority over the Turkic khanates of Caspian-Volga region. Having common enemy with the Princedom of Moscow, concluded an alliance with the Duke of Muscovy Ivan III.

Died in 1515, buried in the Durbe of Salaciq in Bakhchisaray. Remaining monuments in Bakhchisaray built by Mengli Giray:

- Zincirli medrese in Salaciq (1500)

- Durbe of Haci Giray in Salaciq (1501)

- Demir Qapi portal in the Bakhchisaray Palace (Portal of Aloisio Lamberti da Montagnana) (1503)

See also

• List of Crimean khans
• Crimean Tatars
• Crimean Khanate
• Bakhchisaray
• List of Turkic states and empires

External links

• The Palace of the Crimean Khans