winter camp was at Saraychik, a caravan town on the lower Yaik. From 1537 the second in rank was the Nur-al-Din, usually the Bey's son or younger brother and expected successor. The Nur-al-Din held the right bank along the Volga. From the 1560s there was a second Nur-al-Din, a sort of a war chief. Third in rank was the Keikuvat, who held the Emba. Political organization was fluid and much depended on personal prestige since as nomads, the Nogai subjects could simply move away from a leader who was disliked. Ambassadors and merchants were regularly beaten and robbed. Stealing horses, looked down upon in many cultures, was an important part of social and economic life on the steppe. Beys and Mirzas would often declare themselves vassals of some outside power, but such declarations had little meaning. Slavery and raids The Nogai Horde along with the Crimean Khanate raided settlements in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and Poland. The slaves were captured in southern Russia, Poland-Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Circassia by Tatar horsemen in a trade known as the "harvesting of the steppe". In Podolia alone, about one-third of all the villages were destroyed or abandoned between 1578 and 1583. Some researchers estimate that altogether more than 3 million people were captured and enslaved during the time of the Crimean Khanate. History Decline of the Golden Horde 1299: Death of Nogai Khan, the Mongol ruler for whom the Nogays were named 1406–1419: Edigu, another subject and king-maker, founds Nogay dynasty 1438: Kazan Khanate founded 1449: Crimean Khanate founded 1452: Qasim Khanate founded. Beginning of Russian rule over Turkic Muslims 1465: Kazakh Khanate founded 1466: Astrakhan Khanate founded 1466: At this point the Golden Horde was left with only the steppe nomads, Sarai and some control over the caravan trade. The name "Great Horde" appears some time after this 1470s: Nogais hostile to Great Horde 1475: Ottomans take Kaffa from Genoese 1480–1519: Moscow and Crimea allied against Horde and Lithuania 1480: Ugra standoff: Horde fails in attack on Moscow. Approximate start of Russian independence from Tatars 1481: Nogais kill the Khan of the Great Horde in battle 1502: Crimeans destroy remnant of Golden Horde. Sarai destroyed Independence This data is from the English-language sources below. A long list of Nogai raids on Russia and Poland, from Russian sources, can be found at Crimean-Nogai raids. c. 1509 Nogais move into lands vacated by Great