Crimean Karaites or simply Karaites (Crimean Karaim: Кърымкъарайлар, Qrımqaraylar, singular къарай, qaray; Trakai dialect: karajlar, singular karaj; ), also known more broadly as Eastern European Karaites, are a traditionally Turkic-speaking Judaic ethnoreligious group native to Crimea. Nowadays, most Karaim in Eastern Europe speak the dominant local language of their respective regions.
The Karaite religion, known in Eastern Europe as Karaism, split from mainstream Rabbinical Judaism in the 19th and 20th centuries, though differences date back to the 12th century. They have lived alongside Krymchaks. Most Karaites in the region do not consider themselves to be Jews, associating the ethnonym with Rabbinical Jews alone, but rather consider themselves to be descendants of the Khazars, non-Rabbinical Judeans, or other Turkic peoples.
Research into the origins of the Karaites indicates they are of ethnic Jewish origin and are genetically closely related to other Jewish diaspora groups. Some researchers believe they originated in Constantinople and later settled in the Byzantine Principality of Theodoro.
A closely related group, the Slavic Karaites, were formally accepted into the Karaite ethnoreligious community of Crimea after the deposition of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917. They are descendants of ethnic Russian Subbotniks. However, most Slavs claiming to be Karaites in Eastern Europe are not members of the Karaite ethnoreligious community, and are not accepted as legitimate Karaites.
Origins
Turkic-speaking Karaite Jews (in the Crimean Tatar language, Qaraylar) have lived in Crimea for centuries. Most"The first direction that dominates present-day scientific circles says the Karaites are Jews both in the religious and the ethnic respect. Representatives of the second direction claim that ethnically Karaites are not Jewish but descendants of the Khazars, Polovets, and other Turkic nations. In the opinion of the followers of this theory, the Karaites have their own religion based upon ancient Turkic beliefs that have only indirect relation to Judaism." T.Schegoleva Karaites of Crimea: History and Present-Day Situation in Community "The second avenue of approach, which, due to the specificity of the activities of Karaite community, is mostly supported by researchers in Eastern Europe, is related with the transformation of Karaite identity. Researchers tend to accept the theory of Karaite Khazarian origins, and apply it in their studies. Because of its limitations – the critical application of this approach to the Karaites history before the 20th c. is logically almost impossible – the Karaite studies are not sufficiently developed in this region. And in the last decades this approach attracts even less adherents – with an exception of more of descriptive nature, journalistic initiatives, which are supported by Lithuanian Karaite community. While the Khazarian approach is rather critically assessed by the academic community". Dovile Troskovaite. "Identity in Transition: The Case of Polish Karaites in the first half of the 20th century". University of Klaipeda (Lithuania), 2013, p. 210 modern scientists regard them as descendants of Karaite Jews who settled in Crimea and adopted a Kypchak language. OthersSee e.g Inscription in Khazarian Rovas script view them as descendants of Khazar or Cuman, Kipchak converts to Karaite Judaism. Today, many Crimean Karaites reject ethnic Semitic origins theories and identify as descendants of the Khazars.Blady 2000, pp. 113–130. Some specialists in Khazar history question the Khazar theory of Karaim origins,Brook 2006 pp. 110–111, 231. noting the following: the Karaim language belongs to the Kipchak language subgroup of Turkic, and the Khazar language arguably belongs to the Oghuric group; there is no close relationship between these two Turkic languages;Erdal, Marcel (1999). "The Khazar Language". In: Golden et al., 1999:75–107 According to the Khazar Correspondence, Khazar Judaism was, most likely, Rabbinic Judaism."After the days of Bulan there arose one of his descendants, a king Obadiah by name, who reorganized the kingdom and established the Jewish religion properly and correctly. He built synagogues and yeshiva/yeshivot, brought in Jewish scholars, and rewarded them with gold and silver. ... They explained to him the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud and the order of divine services. The King was a man who revered and loved the Torah. He was one of the true servants of God. May the Divine Spirit give him rest!" Khazar Correspondence text The tradition of Karaite Judaism ranks only the Tanakh as a holy book and does not recognize the Talmud; Khazars disappeared in the 11th century. But, the first written mention of the Crimean Karaites was in the 13th century;A. Harkavy, Altjudische Denkmaler aus der Krim, mitgetheilt von Abraham Firkowitsch, SPb., 1876. Anthropologic researches show similarity between Crimean Karaites of Lithuania and Egyptian Karaite Jews.A. Fried, K. Landau, J. Cohen and E. Goldschmidt (1968). "Some genetic polymorphic characters of the Karaite community". Harefuiah, 75, 507–509.
In 19th century Crimea, Karaites began to distinguish themselves from other Jewish groups, sending envoys to the czars to plead for exemptions from harsh anti-Jewish legislation. These entreaties were successful, in large part due to the tsars' wariness of the Talmud, and in 1863 Karaites were granted the same rights as their Christian and Tatar neighbors. Exempted from the Pale of Settlement, later they were considered non-Jews by Nazis. This left the community untouched by the Holocaust, unlike other Turkic-speaking Jews, like the Krymchak Jews that were almost wiped out.
Miller says that Crimean Karaites did not start claiming a distinct identity apart from the Jewish people before the 19th century, and that such leaders as Avraham Firkovich and Sima Babovich encouraged this position to avoid the strong antisemitism of the period.Miller, Philip. Karaite Separatism in 19th Century Russia, pp xv–xvi, 3, 47
From the time of the Golden Horde onward, Karaites were present in many towns and villages throughout Crimea and around the Black Sea. During the period of the Crimean Khanate, they had major communities in the towns of Çufut Qale, Sudak, Kefe, and Bakhchysarai.
History
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
According to Karaite tradition,: ( "… At 1218 Witold, Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania made war against the Tatars, reached the Crimea island, fought, captured and took with him 483 Karaite families and led to Lithuania and ordered to build for them a town, called New Troki and gave them the freedom and the fields and the lands and settled in this town 330 families …") .Abraham Firkovich // The Hebrew Monuments of the Crimea, p. 252— Wilna 1872 () Grand Duke Vytautas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania relocated one branch of the Crimean Karaites to Lithuania ordering to build them a town, called today Trakai. There they continued to speak their own language. This legend originally referring to 1218 as the date of relocation contradicts the fact that the Lithuanian dialect of the Karaim language differs significantly from the Crimean one. The Lithuanian Karaites settled primarily in Vilnius and Trakai, as well as in Biržai, Pasvalys, Naujamiestis and Upytė – smaller settlements throughout Lithuania proper.
The Lithuanian Karaites also settled in lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine, which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Karaite communities emerged in Halych and Kukeziv (near Lviv) in Galicia, as well as in Lutsk and Derazhne in Volhynia. Jews (Rabbinites and Karaites) in Lithuanian territory were granted a measure of autonomy under Michel Ezofovich Senior'sMagda Teter. Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland – A Beleaguered Church in the Post-Reformation Era. management. The Trakai Karaim refused to comply, citing differences in faith. Later all Jews, including Karaites,"He-Avar" ("Хе-Авар") Magazine, Petrograd, No. 1, 1918 were placed under the authority of the Rabbinite "Council of Four Lands" (Vaad)Jacob Mann, "Karaica", Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, no. 11, Philadelphia, 1935; Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė – Verbickienė, Žydai Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės visuomenėje: sambūvio aspektai, Vilnius, 2009; Idem, Ką rado Trakuose Žiliberas de Lanua, arba kas yra Trakų žydai, in Lietuvos istorijos studijos, no. 7, 1999. and "Council of the Land of Lithuania" taxation (1580–1646). The Yiddish-speaking Rabbinites considered the Turkic-speaking Karaites to be apostates, and kept them in a subordinate and depressed position. The Karaites resented this treatment. In 1646, the Karaites obtained the expulsion of the Rabbinites from Trakai. Despite such tensions, in 1680, Rabbinite community leaders defended the Karaites of Shaty near Trakai against an accusation of blood libel. Representatives of both groups signed an agreement in 1714 to respect the mutual privileges and resolve disputes without involving the Gentile administration.
According to Crimean Karaite tradition, which developed in the 20th century interwar PolandКизилов М. Ильяш Караимович и Тимофей Хмельницкий: кровная месть, которой не было, (М. Kizilov. Ilyash Karaimovich and Timofey Khmelnitsky: the blood feud that never took place) Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in publication Фальсификация исторических источников и конструирование этнократических мифов . "Начиная приблизительно с межвоенного периода и вплоть до наших дней, караимские националисты стараются представить мирное караимское население Восточной Европы в роли 'неустрашимых и храбрых воителей', что едва ли одобрили их богобоязненные исторические предки, которые были преимущественно торговцами и ремесленниками". their forefathers were mainly farmers and members of the community who served in the military forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in the Crimean Khanate. But according to the historical documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the chief occupation of the Crimean Karaites was money lending.Древние привилегии литовско-волынских караимов, извлеченные из актов замка Луцкого 1791 г"Но вникнув в смысл привилегии Витольда замечаем, что в древние времена тамошние Караимы более всего занимались заимодавством; да, и по сие время зажиточные люди этого общества не оставляют этого прибыльного промысла; и отдавая свои капиталы в рост, в обеспечение их берут у своих должников в арендное содержание мельницы, корчмы, а чаще всего ссудят под заклад движимого имущества". They were granted special privileges, including exemption from the military service.Древние привилегии литовско-волынских караимов, извлеченные из актов замка Луцкого 1791 г"В следствие того они били челом его Королевской милости, что издавна еще при Великом Князе Витольде и при Сигизмунде и при отце нашем Короле Казимире его милости, жиды [Троцкие] (i.e Karaite Jews) никогда на войну не хаживали и не посылали". In the Crimean Khanate, the Karaites were repressed like other Jews, with prohibitions on behavior extended to riding horses.P. S. Pallas Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die Südlichen Statthalterschaften des Russischen Reichs (1799–1801)
Some famous Karaim scholars in Lithuania included Isaac b. Abraham of Troki (1543–1598), Joseph ben Mordecai Malinovski, Zera ben Nathan of Trakai, Salomon ben Aharon of Trakai, Ezra ben Nissan (died in 1666) and Josiah ben Judah (died after 1658). Some of the Karaim became quite wealthy.