The word of "Tatar" has been used with miscellaneous meanings in various periods. Russians have used this term for the Muslims of Turkish origin that lived in the European Russia for centuries.The Western authors and researchers have used the term of "Tatar" for the Turks that lived in Turkestan and the north of Black Sea. The Ottomans used the term of "Tatar" for the northern Turks since the sixteenth century:The term of Tatar was firstly used in the Ottoman firmans for the Crimean Khans in the year of 1696. When this term was firstly used in the Islam world, the term of "Tatar" meant the "Mongolian". The Arabian historian, Ibnül Esir who had lived in the Gregorian thirteenth century always used the term of "Tatar" when he mentioned about the Mongolians. "Entrance of Tatars into the Islam countries", "Advance of Tatars to Turkestan and Transoxania", "Movement of Non-Muslim Tatars towards Harzemshah", etc. Of course, the shamanist and partially Buddhist Mongolians were also mentioned about.
While talking about the events in which Jenghiz Khan caught up with Celaleddin Harzemshah, he stated that "Celaleddin could not pass through (Sindhi River); Jenghiz Khan caught up him with Tatars". While mentioning about Jenghiz Khan, Ibn Kesir (died in 1372) uses the expression of "the greatest sultan of Tatars, the ancestor of today's rulers".
Ibn Haldun also stated that "This sultan, Jenghiz Khan is the sultan of Tatars". As it is well known, Jenghiz Khan is the ruler of the Mongolians. The word of "Tatar" has also been used instead of the word of "Mongolian" by the contemporary Arabian researchers today. For example, the label of the map that shows the Mongolian invasions is the "Tatar despoils". Mongolians captured Moscow in the year of 1237 before they captured Baghdad in the year of 1258 and abolished the Abbasi Caliphate. The most crowded group in the Mongolian (Tatar) army was composed of Kipchak Turks.
The Mongolian army with the majority of Turks had captured the region that is called as Russia today in the first half of the thirteenth century. This situation expresses why all the Muslim people with Turkish origins in the European Russia are called as Tatars: The great majority of the Mongolian (Tatar) army was composed of Turks; According to Russians, all the Muslim Turks that lived in the entire European Russia were the descendants of the Mongolians (Tatars).Another issue that must be significantly emphasised was that the command and authority were under the monopoly of the Mongolians although the majority of the Mongolian (Tatar) army was composed of Turks. Kipchak people, Pecenek people and those coming from the other Turkish tribes were the soldiers without any ranks.
Jenghiz Khan's son, Tuluy's son, Hulagu had abolished the Abbasi Caliphate in the year of 1258. All of the contemporary and the following Arabian historians had dealt about Hulagu and his army as "Tatars". The other nations have cited the Mongolians that had established the greatest state of the world in the thirteenth century as "Tatars".
In the thirteenth century, most of the regions in China, Turkestan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Anatolia, today's Russia, the Caucasus, the Crimea, Ukraine, and Poland were invaded by Tatars (Mongolians). The nations living under this Tatar domination were called as "Tatar" since they lived under the domination of dynasties from Tatar (Mongolian) lineage. Therefore, since the fourteenth century, the term of "Tatar" has turned into a phrase that meant subjection (submission), and a kind of citizenship rather than a tribal, ethnical and racial term.
In other words, the term of "Tatar" gained a political meaning and content instead of a ethnical (tribal) meaning. Those that were out of the Turkish countries were disconnected from the Tatar (Mongolian) domination in the course of time. The political name of Tatar had been continuously used for the Turkish communities that lived in the regions located in the north of the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. In the period of the sovereignty of Jenghiz Khan's other son, Cuci's son, Batu Khan, the " Gok Orda" state emerged in the north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea that was called as "Golden Horde" (Altinordu) (Zolotaycı Orda in Russian language) by the Arabians and the Europeans.
Batu's brother, Burka became Muslim. When he became the Khan of Gok Orda State in the year of 1255, he declared his religion of Islam. This person who undertook the name of Bereke was the first Muslim Khan of the Golden Horde. Bereke Khan married a lady from the dynasty of Anatolian Seljuk State.He gave the regions and environs of Solhat and Sudak cities to his son from this marriage named as Izzeddin. Izzeddin and his mother brought thousands of Muslim Turks from Anatolia to the Crimean region and settled them there.
The religion of Islam got disseminated in Gok Horde State with a great speed and it became established in a strong manner and deeply rooted. The dynasty in the Gok Horde (Golden Horde) was from the lineage of Jenghiz Khan; however, the "Turkish element was so powerful that the Golden Horde could not resist withstand to the influence of this element in the beginning of the fourteenth century and it turned into a Turkish State."
When Gok Horde Khan, Toktamis was defeated by Tamburlaine in the year of 1396, this khanate got disintegrated; and the Kazan, Crimean, and Astrakhan Khanates were established over its lands. Only the khans and the high-rank officials of these khanates were real Tatars, in other words, Mongolians. However, those that were under their administration were called as Tatar due to their rulers. Just like why the Turks in Turkestan are called as "Uzbek" due to the Uzbek Khan as their ruler; why those under the order of division (10.000 cavalrymen) bey, Nogay who had rebelled against the last Gok Horde (Golden Horde) Khan, Toktamiş and fought with him and his descendants that have survived until nowadays are called as "Nogays", and why those under the domination of the Ottoman State were called as "Ottomans", etc.
In the course of time, the khans and the rulers became Turks. For example, the famous hero of the Crimea, Bora Gazi Geray Khan who had lived in the century XVI was a first class poet that used Turkish language and a master of composer in the classical Turkish music. As a matter of fact, when the principle of nationality attracted much interest in the last years of the Tsarist Russia, the people in Russia argued about whether they should be called as "Turks" or "Tatars".
Today, there is Tataristan with the capital city of Kazan within the Russian Federation. In this country, more than half of the people were Muslims, and nearly half of the people are Russians. The Muslims speak with the northern dialect of Turkish language. As it was stated by Ibn Fadlan, their ancestors were the Idyll (Volga) Bulgarians that had officially adopted the religion of Islam in the year of 922 (150 years before the events in which the Anatolia got under the domination of Muslims and became Turkish).
to be continued