Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was Crimean Tatar: Qırım Yurtu, قريم يورتى (Ottoman Turkish and Arabic :خانية القرم). Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. This khanate was by far the longest-lived of the Turkic khanates that succeeded the empire of the Golden Horde. The Crimean Khanate was founded when certain clans of the Golden Horde Empire ceased their nomadic life in the Desht-i Kipchak (Kypchak Steppes of today's Ukraine and South Russia). In 1475 the Ottoman forces, under the command of Gedik Ahmet Pasha, conquered the Greek Principality of Theodoro and the Genoese colonies at Cembalo, Soldaia, and Caffa ("Kefe" in Turkic languages). Thenceforth the khanate was a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultan enjoyed veto power over the selection of new Crimean khans. The Empire annexed the Crimean coast, but recognized the legitimacy of the khanate rule of the steppes, as the khans were descendants of Genghis Khan.