ABSTRACT
The Girays were descended from Chingiz Khan, through J uchi, founder of the Golden Horde on the Volga. Mengli (Menkili) Giray, whose long reign in the Crimea lasted without interruption from 1467-1514, married his daughter Ayshe to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I (1512-20); and a daughter of Selim's married Mengli's son Sa'adet (Khan, 1524-32). In the event of the extinction of the Ottoman line, the Girays were regarded as their natural heirs. The Girays often intermarried with the princely families of Circassia and, under the atalyk (fosterage) system, their sons were frequently brought up among the Circassians. While the Girays avoided the many enervating effects on personality of the harim and, later, of the 'cage' system in Turkey, a conflict among turbulent brothers, supported often by the fostering clans among the Circassians, was a frequent phenomenon of dynastic succession in the Crimea. 1577-1588 Mehmet II, son of Devlet, a grandson of Mengli
Giray, ruling intermittently with 1584-1588 Islam II} 15 88-1608 Ghazi III brothers of Mehmet II
