2026. no 3. Roman Pochekaev

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22378/kio.2026.3.23-38

Girays and the Sharia: On the History of the Court and Trials in the Crimean Khanate

Roman Pochekaev
National Research University “Higher School of Economics”
Russian Federation, Russian Federation

Abstract.The goal of research is clarifying of relations between the representatives of khans’ dynasty (who had court functions themselves) and Sharia justice institutions. The author studies the valuable source on history of the Crimean Khanate – court registers, also known as kadiasker books, or sijils, and analyzes their materials, which related to rulers of the Khanate from the dynasty of Girays as well as their relatives. The author finds that analyzed information reflects complex system of relations between ruling dynasty and courts of kadiaskers and kadis: on one side, Girays had their own jurisdiction as well as a supreme power over the Khanate, including Muslim judges; on the other side, Girays were participants of private legal relations in which they did not have any preferences before others.

Keywords: Crimean Khanate; Girays dynasty; court and proceedings; Sharia; traditional law; khans’ yarliqs; court decisions; private legal relations; contractual obligations

For citation: Pochekaev R.Yu. Girays and the Sharia: On the History of the Court and Trials in the Crimean Khanate. Krymskoe istoricheskoe obozrenie=Crimean Historical Review. 2026, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 23–38. https://doi.org/10.22378/kio.2026.3.23-38 (In Russian)

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roman Yu. Pochekaev – Dr. Sci. (History), Cand. Sci. (Jurisprudence), Professor, Head of the Department of theory and history of law and state, National Research University “Higher School of Economics” (3A, Kantemirovskaya Str., Saint Petersburg 194100, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0002-4192-3528. E-mail: rpoche-kaev@hse.ru

Received 17.05.2026

Accepted 04.06.2026