The
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (also spelled
Kuchuk Kainarjæ) was a
peace treaty signed on 21 July 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca (today
Kaynardzha, Bulgaria) between the
Russian Empire and the
Ottoman Empire. Following the recent Ottoman defeat at the
Battle of Kozludzha, the document ended the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74 and marked a defeat of the Ottomans in their struggle against Russia. The Russians were represented by Field-Marshal
Rumyantsev while the Ottoman side was represented by Musul Zade Mehmed Pasha. Russia returned
Wallachia and
Moldavia to the Ottoman Empire, but was given the right to protect Christians in the Ottoman Empire and to intervene in Wallachia and Moldavia in case of Ottoman misrule.
Bukovina was ceded to
Austria in 1775. The Crimea was declared independent, but the sultan remained the religious leader of the Tatars as the Muslim caliph. This was the first time the powers of the Ottoman caliph were exercised outside of Ottoman borders and ratified by a European power. Russia gained
Kabardia in the Caucasus, unlimited sovereignty over the port of Azov, the ports of
Kerch and
Enikale in the Kerch peninsula in the Crimea, and part of the
Yedisan region between the Bug and Dnieper rivers at the mouth of the Dnieper. This latter territory included the port of
Kherson. Russia thus gained two outlets to the Black Sea, which was no longer an Ottoman lake. Restrictions imposed by the 1739
Treaty of Niš over Russian access to the
Sea of Azov and fortifying the area were removed. Russian merchant vessels were to be allowed passage of the Dardanelles. The treaty also granted
Eastern Orthodox Christians the right to sail under the
Russian flag and provided for the building of a
Russian Orthodox Church in
Constantinople (which was never built).