Mirza the Young

Mirza Jilakhstan was a Kabardian prince mentioned in the Arabic manuscript al-‘Uqūd al Jawhariyya fī al Mahāsin al Dawla al Ashrafiyya al Ghawiyya (AS 3313) who briefly ruled as the Grand Prince of Kabardia in the late 15th century. He is known primarily from the same manuscript, which describes his conflict with his uncle Talostan Jankhot during a dynastic struggle in Kabardia.

Biography According to the Arabic manuscript al-‘Uqūd al Jawhariyya fī al Mahāsin al Dawla al Ashrafiyya al Ghawiyya (shortened as AS 3313), Mirza was the son of Jilakhstan and became the Grand Prince of Kabardia following his father's death around 1491.

The beginning of Mirza's reign marked a new phase in the dynastic struggle for power in Kabardia, this time between the young prince and his uncle Talostan Jankhot. Talostan, who according to the manuscript had lived among the Tatars of the Great Horde, possibly as part of the practice of atalykism, arrived in Kabardia with a Tatar force and began a campaign against Mirza. Although the manuscript does not provide an exact date for these events, modern historians generally place them around 1491–1492.

AS 3313 further records that the Kabardian princes eventually reached an agreement under which the country was divided between the two rivals, with one half assigned to Mirza and the other to Talostan. However, Talostan later rejected the arrangement and seized control over all of Kabardia after killing the “young” Mirza.