A Letter from Nogai Mirza Sultanash Aksak Kelmametev to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645): Text in Arabic Script, Its Transcription, and Translation with Commentary

This article presents the full text of Nogai mirza Sultanash Aksak-Kelmametev’s (Sultan-Ahmed b. Aksak Kel-Mukhammed Tinma-metev; active in politics from the 1630s to the mid-17th century) letter to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (r. 1645–1676), dated 1645. The document is preserved in Fond 127 (“Russia’s Relations with the Nogai Tatars”) at the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA). The publication includes a facsimile of the original document, its scholarly transcription in Latin script, and a historical translation into Russian. The introductory article and commentary provide insights into the document’s context, related to the oath of allegiance taken by the Nogai nobility to the new tsar and the complex military and political situation in the steppe. This research introduces a valuable source on the history of Russian-Nogai relations in the mid-17th century and highlights the distinctive diplomatic discourse of the Nogai elite.