Yusupov princely family descended from Yusuf-Murza, the ruler of the Nogai Horde. Khan Yusuf was the most powerful and educated among the Murzas.
Murza was a name for a prince in the Turkic states, such as the Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean, Siberian khanates, and the Nogai Horde. This word is borrowed from the Persian language and translates into Russian as “ruler”.
The Nogai Horde was formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde and reched its final form in 1440. Uluses lived in the interfluve of the Volga and the Urals. An important role in the formation of the Nogai Horde was played by the temnik of the Golden Horde, Edigey, who ruled in 1396 — 1411. Yusuf-Murza himself considered him his ancestor.
Yusuf became the ruler of the Nogai Horde in 1548 (according to other sources — in 1549) after the death of his brother Sheikh Mamai Biya, and appointed his younger brother Ismail as the heir-nuradin. With the help of uluses, Yusuf roamed the Yaik and Kama near the Kazan Khanate, and Ismail owned nomad camps along the Volga and passed the winter near Astrakhan.
In the book “Before the Exile. 1887 — 1917”, Felix Yusupov wrote about his distant ancestor:
Murza was a name for a prince in the Turkic states, such as the Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean, Siberian khanates, and the Nogai Horde. This word is borrowed from the Persian language and translates into Russian as “ruler”.
The Nogai Horde was formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde and reched its final form in 1440. Uluses lived in the interfluve of the Volga and the Urals. An important role in the formation of the Nogai Horde was played by the temnik of the Golden Horde, Edigey, who ruled in 1396 — 1411. Yusuf-Murza himself considered him his ancestor.
Yusuf became the ruler of the Nogai Horde in 1548 (according to other sources — in 1549) after the death of his brother Sheikh Mamai Biya, and appointed his younger brother Ismail as the heir-nuradin. With the help of uluses, Yusuf roamed the Yaik and Kama near the Kazan Khanate, and Ismail owned nomad camps along the Volga and passed the winter near Astrakhan.
In the book “Before the Exile. 1887 — 1917”, Felix Yusupov wrote about his distant ancestor:
