Tatars III

1441-1650 CE

From 1441 to 1650 CE, the Tatars built the Crimean Khanate into the scourge of two empires — Giray khans playing Moscow against Warsaw, their slave raids carrying off hundreds of thousands to the markets of Caffa, their cavalry deciding battles from Muscovy to Moldova. Under Ottoman suzerainty they prospered, their capital at Bakhchisarai adorning itself with fountains and poetry while their warriors made the steppe a highway of captives.