The Heraldry of the Lithuanian Tatars from the 16th to the Mid-17th Century

The Hospodar Tatars in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania constituted a distinct ethno-social group descended from the Golden Horde, who, due to various circumstances, joined the grand duke’s service. The settlement by the Tatars in the land of Lithuania was most intense from the late 14th to the early 16th century. Military service provided Lithuanian Tatars with a privileged status that was similar to the set of rights and freedoms of the Lithuanian-Ruthenian nobility. The visual means for presenting the privileged status of the Lithuanian Tatars was the use of coats of arms, as for the rest of the nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The early heraldry of the Lithuanian Tatars, which developed during the 16th century, has as its main source sfragistic features: seals, which members of the Tatar nobility used to certify various documents. The heraldry of the Lithuanian Tatars in the 16th century was based on tamgas,2 which apparently appeared during the residence of the respective families’ ancestors in the Ulus of Jochi. At the same time, these signs are mostly placed on the shields of the Hospodar Tatars’ relevant sfragises, which indicate that these tamgas were already understood as heraldic signs. The heraldic features of the Lithuanian Tatars in the 16th and the first half of the 17th century indicate the existence of a developed culture of coats of arms, which was formed under the clear influence of the Lithuanian-Ruthenian nobility. However, if in the 16th century in Lithuanian Tatar coats of arms tamgas like tribal signs dominated, from the early 17th century the Lithuanian Tatar coats of arms contained many plots which were borrowed from Lithuanian-Ruthenian and Polish heraldry.