Astrakhan Khanate in the context of "Nogais"

Astrakhan (Russian: Астрахань, IPA: [ˈastrəxənʲ] ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, 100 km (62 mi) from the Caspian Sea, with a population of 475,629 residents at the 2021 Census. At an elevation of 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level, it is the lowest city in Russia.

Astrakhan was formerly the capital of the Khanate of Astrakhan (a remnant of the Golden Horde) of the Astrakhan Tatars, and was located on the higher right bank of the Volga, eleven kilometres (6.8 mi) from the present-day city. Situated on caravan and water routes, it developed from a village into a large trading centre, before being conquered by Timur in 1395 and captured by Ivan the Terrible in 1556 and in 1558 it was moved to its present site.

The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually assimilated into the Turkic populations that they conquered and ruled over, thus becoming known as Turco-Mongols. These elites gradually adopted Islam, as well as Turkic languages, while retaining Mongol political and legal institutions.

The Turco-Mongols founded many Islamic successor states after the collapse of the Mongol khanates, such as the Kazakh Khanate, the Tatar khanates that succeeded the Golden Horde (e.g., Crimean Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, Khanate of Kazan), and the Timurid Empire, which succeeded the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia. Babur (1483–1530), a Turco-Mongol prince and a descendant of Timur, founded the Mughal Empire, which ruled much of the Indian subcontinent. The Turks and Tatars also ruled part of Egypt, exercising political and military authority during the Mamluk Sultanate.

The House of Giray (Crimean Tatar: Geraylar, كرايلر; Ottoman Turkish: آل جنكيز, romanized: Âl-i Cengiz, lit. 'Genghisids'), also the Girays, were a Genghisid Turkic dynasty that reigned in the Khanate of Crimea from its formation in 1431 until its downfall in 1783. The dynasty also supplied several khans of Kazan and Astrakhan between 1521 and 1550. Apart from the royal Girays, there was also a lateral branch, the Choban Girays (Çoban Geraylar).

Before reaching the age of majority, young Girays were brought up in one of the Circassian tribes, where they were instructed in the arts of war. The Giray Khans were elected by other Crimean Tatar dynasts, called myrzas (mırzalar). They also elected an heir apparent, called the qalgha sultan (qalğa sultan). In later centuries, the Ottoman Sultan obtained the right of installing and deposing the khans at his will.

Astrakhan Tatars (Tatar: Əsterxan tatarları, Əsterhan tatarlary, Ashtarkhan tatarları; Russian: Астраханские Татары) are an ethnic subgroup of the Tatar.

In the 15th to 17th-centuries, the Astrakhan Tatars inhabited the Astrakhan Khanate (1459–1556), which was also inhabited by the Nogai Horde, and the Astrakhan Tatars exerted a profound effect on Nogais. Since the 17th century, there has been an increased interaction and ethnic mixing of the Astrakhan Tatars with Volga Tatars.