Giray dynasty

The House of Giray (Crimean Tatar: Geraylar, كرايلر; Ottoman Turkish: آل جنكيز, romanized: Âl-i Cengiz, lit. 'Genghisids'), also the Girays, were the Genghisid/Turkic dynasty that reigned in the Khanate of Crimea from its formation in 1431 until its downfall in 1783. The dynasty also supplied several khans of Kazan and Astrakhan between 1521 and 1550. Apart from the royal Girays, there was also a lateral branch, the Choban Girays (Çoban Geraylar).

Before reaching the age of majority, young Girays were brought up in one of the Circassian tribes, where they were instructed in the arts of war. The Giray Khans were elected by other Crimean Tatar dynasts, called myrzas (mırzalar). They also elected an heir apparent, called the qalgha sultan (qalğa sultan). In later centuries, the Ottoman Sultan obtained the right of installing and deposing the khans at his will.

Their early ancestor was Togay Timur (Tuqa Timur), a younger son of Jochi. The story of the Girays begin with Öreng Timur, son of Togay Timur, receiving Crimea from Mengu-Timur.

From a genetic point of view, the Giray dynasty, according to the researches, is most likely to carry the Asian branch of R1a haplogroup (R1a-Z93), which is absent from the gene pool of Mongolian peoples, but is extremely common among certain Turkic peoples of modern-day Russia and Central Asia. The definitive resolution to the question of the genetic lineage of the Girays hinges on the analysis of Hacı Giray's paleo-DNA. However, despite the initiation of DNA studies in 2017, the results remain undisclosed to date.