Maxmud of Astrakhan

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Khan Mäxmüd of Astrakhan (pronounced mæx`myt, makh-MEWT) (?-1470s) was one of Kuchuk Muhammed's sons and a Genghisid who founded the Khanate of Astrakhan in the 1460s.

After years of struggle for the throne of the Big Horde against Akhmat Khan, he escaped to Xacitarxan, establishing the independent Khanate of Astrakhan there. He maintained friendly relations with his powerful neighbours - the Nogay Horde and the Big Horde and coined his own money.

His letter to the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (as dispatched on April 10, 1466) is a curious example of diplomatic epistles written in the 15th-century Old Tatar language. The content is a necessity of renewal of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Astrakhan, and sending ambassadors to Istanbul.