This situation continued as Poland and Lithuania formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, after almost two centuries of personal union. There were examples of legal discrimination against Tatars - for example, the first legal code of the Grand Duchy, passed by its parliament in 1529, prohibited Tatars from testifying against Christians in court. Nevertheless, this law was repealed in 1568, shortly before the Commonwealth’s formation. Settlement also came at a price. Tatar settlers were required to arm themselves and members of their household at their own cost and raise cavalry units when required, a cost often prohibitive as land holdings were divided amongst siblings from generation to generation. Thus, the Tatars were forced to
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Nonetheless, Tatar communities continued to grow under the protection of influential magnates, particularly powerful members of the nobility that opposed the poorer szlachta, relatively unscathed by the rhetoric of the Counter-Reformation. This peace was broken, however, by the occupation of Lithuania by Muscovy. The difficulties in proving land rights due to lost deeds during the aftermath, together with a demand for Tatar cavalry in combatting Cossack uprisings in the mid-17th century in the eastern territories of the Polish crown, led to a gradual movement of the bulk of Tatars to the Crown territories. Many Tatars were granted holdings in these territories as a form of payment for military service and were key to resisting Ottoman incursions into Crown lands. Around three thousand Tatars defected to the Ottoman Empire due to the frequent interruptions in pay for cavalry service, however, the vast majority remained loyal to the Polish crown and many defectors returned after King Jan III Sobieski, just elected King of the Commonwealth, declared an amnesty in 1674 in the recently recaptured fortress of Bar (Kryczyński,
Nonetheless, Tatar communities continued to grow under the protection of influential magnates, particularly powerful members of the nobility that opposed the poorer szlachta, relatively unscathed by the rhetoric of the Counter-Reformation. This peace was broken, however, by the occupation of Lithuania by Muscovy. The difficulties in proving land rights due to lost deeds during the aftermath, together with a demand for Tatar cavalry in combatting Cossack uprisings in the mid-17th century in the eastern territories of the Polish crown, led to a gradual movement of the bulk of Tatars to the Crown territories. Many Tatars were granted holdings in these territories as a form of payment for military service and were key to resisting Ottoman incursions into Crown lands. Around three thousand Tatars defected to the Ottoman Empire due to the frequent interruptions in pay for cavalry service, however, the vast majority remained loyal to the Polish crown and many defectors returned after King Jan III Sobieski, just elected King of the Commonwealth, declared an amnesty in 1674 in the recently recaptured fortress of Bar (Kryczyński,