Genoese-tatar treaty of 1387
and its background

Victor Talakh

Abstract

In the article the text of the treaty of August 12, 1387 is translated into Ukrainian, the provisions of the treaty are analyzed, a reconstruction of the events preceding its conclusion is proposed on the base of the data of the Book of Massaria of Caffa for 1386/87 and other sources.

It has been found that the treaty of August 12, 1387 was a peace agreement that put the end to the armed conflict between the Crimean Genoese and the Ulus of Jochi, known as the “Solkhat war”. The causes of the conflict lay in the contradictions between the interests of the Genoese colonists and the Tatar rulers and authorities in Crimea, generated by the cession of the Southern Coast of the peninsula to the Genoese in 1380/81, as well as, probably, by the discontent of the local population with Genoese domination.

The records of the Book of Massaria do not provide indisputable evidence in favor of the assumption that in 1386 the prince Bek Bulat acts in Crimea as a Khan rival to Toqtamїsh (corresponding hypotheses are based on controversial translations and interpretations of Latin texts and contradicts data from other sources). However, the interests of local authorities and nobility in Crimea did not fully coincide with the position of the Khan’s court.

At the same time, the main initiators of the peaceful settlement of the conflict were, based on their general political priorities, the central governments of the Republic of St. George and Ulus of Jochi. Because of this Khan's representative Qutlug-Boga in the midst of the war maintained friendly relations with the Genoese and received gifts from them. The treaty itself reaffirmed status quo ante bellum and established some additional guarantees of compliance.

Victor Talakh – Independent scholar, Kyiv, Ukraine.