The area referred to as the Crimea by the Russians and native Tatars includes more than just the peninsula area. The Crimea area inhabited by various Tatar tribes stretched from the Dnestr River in the west, past the Sea of Azov to the Kuban River to the east of the Black Sea. In other words it covered to whole north shore of the Black Sea. The provinces to the West of the Crimean were known as Eflak, Bugdan and Bucak. These areas in the 1700s, contained Ottoman garrisons that were strong enough to forestall any attempt by locals at resisting the will of the Ottoman Sultan.

The Crimea itself can be divided into several regions. The peninsula, the Upper plains region which included all of the land between the Dnestr River and the western coast of the Azov, and the Kuban which was the land east of the Sea of Azov to the Kuban River. The defense of the Crimean region was left to the Turkish Tatar vassals with a few small Ottoman garrisons located in key towns and ports.

The Tatars were descendants of the subject people left by the Mongol conquerors of previous centuries. Their politics were based on the needs of individual clans or tribes rather than those of the people as a whole. As a result, instead of presenting a united front to oppose the policies of either the ottomans or the Russians, it was easy for the major powers to find a puppet exile Bey to present as the leader of the Crimea.

The major clans were the Sirin, Argin, Barin, Sicivut, and Mansurs. Their nomadic cousins the Nogays had recently migrated to the Crimean region. The strongest clan was the Sirin (Eastern Crimea peninsula along the western coast of the Azov Sea), by the 1700s the second strongest were the Mansur (The northern neck region of the Peninsula around Orkapisi), followed by the Barins, the Argins (central region of the peninsula) and the Sicivut (in the Southern peninsula).

The Nogays had settled in the Plains region north of the peninsula after Muscovy (Russia) conquered Astrakhan in 1556. By the 1600s the Nogray had consolidated into six tribes. These were the Kuban (north of the Sea of Azov), the Kirgiz (North of the Kuban River and south of the Don River), the Yedickul (North of the peninsula and border areas of the Cossacks), the Bucak (West of the Dnsetr River to the Black Sea), the Cambulak and Yedisan (east of the Dnestr River to the Peninsula and sentered on Ozi).

Along the southern bank of the Kuban River lived the Cherkess and Abaza tribes who would provide strong support to the Ottoman efforts to hold onto the Crimea. . .

While under Ottoman rule, the fighting style of the Tatars remained one of nomadic light Cavalry. This is because this was the troop requested of the Tatars as vassals. Muskets and a few cannon would be provided by the Sultan to the Great Khan or commander of the contributed forces. There was an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 light cavalrymen available for deployment. This often left only a limited number of troops left for home defense against Cossack raiders and other anti-Turk tribes. For the most part, these ‘Akincis’ were often poorly armed with most having only a sword or javelin, or bow but not all three. They would participate in most Ottoman campaigns in the Balkans, against Persia and against Russia and Austria. The tribesmen fought the hit and vanish tactics associated with most nomadic tribes. They would flee or even change sides if their power base was seriously threatened.

A claimant to the title of Khan would impress the tribes living around towns with a show of force by demonstrating the power of his allies. This was often accomplished by having a bodyguard of musket armed troops or foreign troops such as Ottoman Janissaries or Russians. The Russians even equipped and trained a large Tatar guard for the puppet Khan in the Russian fashion with muskets. Such troops with firearms impressed those living in the settled areas around towns but did not impress the nomadic riders of most of the clans.

Russian Efforts Against the Crimean Tatars

During much of the 1600s, Russian politicians focused on consolidating power internally. The Russian rulers of the later 1600s viewed the area near the Peninsular as too hard of a area to attack. While the Cossacks swapped raids with the Tatars, initial Russian efforts were made further East with attacks on the Turkish port on the Sea of Azov.

The wars between the Russians and the Turks did not occur in a vacuum. The Turks were involved in wars with the Persians. The Russians often gave a higher priority to conflicts with Sweden, Prussia and Polish factions. Both sides were concerned with the status of the political situation in the Balkan Peninsula.

Once the threat from their arch enemy Sweden had been weakened by the Great Northern War, the Russians were able to turn their attention south. With the Ottoman Turks now the main target of the Russian policies, the Crimean Tatars because of their location became a target of expansionist policies. During the early 1700s, the Russians viewed the Tatars as a more of a hindrance to their Balkan Operations rather than a threat. The Russian efforts during the 1700s against the Turks and Tatars were often delayed by more urgent threats from Prussia.

Russian expansionist polices would ensure that they would be considered the aggressor in most conflicts with the Ottomans. Both sides supported rivals among the Crimean Tartars to ensure that the situation would never remain calm. Rather than military action, most of the conflict between the two powers focused on monetary support and intrigue in their efforts to ensure that the ‘ruling’ faction in the Crimea supported their country.

The RUSSIAN-AUSTRIAN-OTTOMAN WAR 1736-39.

Russian Armies meet little serious Tatar opposition to their operations in the northern Crimean plains area. The Russians after a bitter siege captured the major Turkish fort at Azov on the on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov.

RUSSIAN-OTTOMAN WAR 1768-74

Russian forces were deployed in Poland, and the Balkans with major efforts made against Tatar forces in the Azov, Kuban and the Crimean. The Russians gained control of the Peninsular area but lost territory south of the Danube.