Address of the Head of the House of Romanoff, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna on the 15-th Anniversary of the Majlis of Tatar Murzas

Address
of the Head of the Russian Imperial House
H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna
On the 15-th Anniversary of the Majlis of Tatar Murzas 

I send my congratulations to you on the 15-th Anniversary of the Majlis of Tatar Murzas.

On this day I am especially pleased to offer a tribute of gratitude to the many generations of Tatar noble families that took an active part in the formation of the Great Russian State and that selflessly offered their service to it.

An unbroken historical link exists between our House and the true sons and daughters of Russia of the Muslim faith. Members of the Tatar nobility—both those that preserved the religion of their ancestors, and those that converted to Orthodoxy—have equally been the great defenders of the throne.

The Confirmation Charter of the Great Assembly of the Land of 1613, which raised our dynasty to the throne and thereby ended the Time of Troubles, includes the signatures of Tatar princes.

It is enormously important for our multinational state that, from the time of Peter I the Great’s grandson, Peter III, a direct descendant of Ismail ibn Kuraish, King of Seville, the Russian Imperial House has been related to the dynasties that issued from the Prophet Muhammad.

My great ancestress, Empress Catherine II, decreed, with regard to her Muslim subjects, that they should “preserve and defend their mosques and native religion, the free exercise of which is inviolably guaranteed by law;” and by her decree of 22 February 1784, which granted to all Tatar princes and murzas all the same basic rights and privileges as enjoyed by the Russian nobility.

In the difficult times of the revolution that our homeland endured in the 20-th century, many members of the Tatar nobility and officer class kept their oaths to the White Tsar and laid down their lives for duty, honor and dignity. And during our sorrowful exile, my august grandfather, Emperor Kirill Vladimirovich, and father, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, were pleased to accept the service and support of Muslims of all nationalities and classes offered them.

I believe that today’s Tatar nobility, which is piously holding to the ideals and values of its people, will be worthy of the magnificent legacy of their ancestors, and always will remain one of the fundamental pillars of our united homeland—Russia.

My august mother, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, and my son and heir, Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, join me in sending congratulations and send to you all their greetings.

Ever yours faithfully,

The signature of Her Imperial Highness appears here on the original.

Maria 

Madrid, 13 March 2008

Identical with the original:

A. N. Zakatov
Director of H.I.H.’s Chancellery