to Crimea with two letters of appointment – one for Fetih and one for Gazi. He was told to decide which man had the most support and give him the letter. The problem was that Handan was a friend of Gazi's. He chose Gazi and burned Fetih's letter. The next problem was that Fetih had another letter of appointment. The letters were presented to the Kadi at Kaffa and he chose Fetih's on the ground that it had the sultan's signature. Gazi appealed to the Mufti. The Mufti preferred Gazi's letter because it had the sultans ‘’ – a piece of calligraphy that amounted to a seal. The Mufti outranked the Kadi, so Fetih had lost. The Sultan invited him to Istanbul. On learning, or guessing, that the Sultan planned to execute him, he fled to his Circassian father-in-law. (His Circassian wife was the former wife of his brother Mubarak.) There was some talk of him going over to the Russians, as his nephew Murad Giray had done. This was some time in the first half in 1597. In the summer of 1597 Gazi led his troops to the steppes north of Crimea. Fetih assumed that he was starting another Hungarian campaign, so he invaded Crimea. Gazi returned and drove him out. Fetih decided to submit. In Gazi's tent outside of Kaffa, while kneeling before Gazi to make submission, one of the Mansur Mirzas stepped forward with a battle ax and bashed his head in. Baht Giray fled on horseback, but was caught and killed (Baht Giray was Fetih's kalga and the son of the Adil Geray who was executed by the Persians in 1579). Following this Fetih's whole family was killed, including his nine children. Some have claimed that Gazi did not give the order, but this seems unlikely. References Oleksa Gaivoronsky «Повелители двух материков», Kiev-Bakhchisarai, second edition, 2010, , volume 1, pages 358–364 1550s births 1597 deaths Crimean Khans 16th-century rulers in Europe