How the Tatars appeared in the Crimea. Holidays and traditions of the Crimean Tatars. International reaction to the referendum and annexation of Crimea

The question of where the Tatars came from in the Crimea, until recently, caused a lot of controversy. Some believed that the Crimean Tatars were the heirs of the Golden Horde nomads, others called them the original inhabitants of Taurida.

Invasion

On the margins of a Greek manuscript book of religious content (synaxar) found in Sudak, the following note is made: “On this day (January 27) the Tatars first came, in 6731” (6731 from the Creation of the World corresponds to 1223 AD). The details of the Tatar raid can be read from the Arab writer Ibn al-Athir: “Arriving at Sudak, the Tatars took possession of it, and the inhabitants dispersed, some of them with their families and their property climbed the mountains, and some went to sea.”
The Flemish Franciscan monk Guillaume de Rubruck, who visited southern Taurica in 1253, left us terrible details of this invasion: devoured each other mutually, the living dead, as a certain merchant who saw this told me; the living devoured and tore apart the raw meat of the dead with their teeth, like dogs - corpses. "
The devastating invasion of the Golden Horde nomads, no doubt, radically renewed ethnic composition population of the peninsula. However, it is premature to assert that the Turks became the main ancestors of the modern Crimean Tatar ethnos. Tavrika has been inhabited since ancient times by dozens of tribes and peoples, who, thanks to the isolation of the peninsula, actively mixing, weaved a motley multinational pattern. Crimea is called “the concentrated Mediterranean” for a reason.

Crimean aborigines

The Crimean peninsula has never been deserted. During wars, invasions, epidemics or great exoduses, its population did not completely disappear. Until the Tatar invasion, the lands of Crimea were inhabited by Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Goths, Sarmatians, Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Genoese. One wave of immigrants replaced another, to a varying degree passing on the inheritance of the polyethnic code, which ultimately found expression in the genotype of modern “Crimeans”.
From the VI century BC. NS. to the 1st century A.D. NS. The Taurus were the full-fledged masters of the southeastern coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The Christian apologist Clement of Alexandria noted: "The Taurus live by robbery and war." Even earlier, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus described the custom of the Taurus, in which they "sacrificed to the Virgin the shipwrecked sailors and all the Hellenes who were captured on the high seas." How can one fail to recall that after many centuries robbery and war will become constant companions of the "Crimeans" (as the Crimean Tatars were called in the Russian Empire), and the pagan victims, according to the spirit of the times, will turn into the slave trade.
In the 19th century, the Crimean explorer Pyotr Keppen expressed the idea that “the blood of the Taurians flows in the veins of all the inhabitants of the territories rich in finds of dolmens”. His hypothesis was that “the Taurus, being greatly overpopulated by the Tatars in the Middle Ages, remained to live in their old places, but under a different name and gradually moving to Tatar language borrowing the Muslim faith. " At the same time, Köppen drew attention to the fact that the Tatars of the South Coast are of the Greek type, while the mountain Tatars are close to the Indo-European type.
At the beginning of our era, the Taurus were assimilated by the Iranian-speaking tribes of the Scythians who subjugated almost the entire peninsula. The latter, although they soon disappeared from the historical scene, could well have left their genetic mark in the later Crimean ethnos. An unnamed author of the 16th century, who knew well the population of Crimea of ​​his time, reports: "Although we consider the Tatars to be barbarians and poor, they are proud of the abstinence of their lives and the antiquity of their Scythian origin."
Modern scholars admit the idea that the Taurus and Scythians were not completely destroyed by the Huns who invaded the Crimean peninsula, but, having concentrated in the mountains, had a noticeable influence on the later settlers.
Of the subsequent inhabitants of the Crimea, a special place is given to the Goths, who in the III century, having walked a crushing rampart across the northwestern Crimea, remained there for many centuries. The Russian scientist Stanislav Sestrenevich-Bogush noted that at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries the Goths living near Mangup still retained their genotype, and their Tatar language was similar to South German. The scientist added that "they are all Muslim and Tatarized."
Linguists note a number of Gothic words included in the fund of the Crimean Tatar language. They also confidently declare about the Gothic contribution, albeit a relatively small one, to the Crimean Tatar gene pool. “Gothia has died out, but its inhabitants have completely dissolved in the mass of the emerging Tatar nation,” noted the Russian ethnographer Aleksey Kharuzin.

Aliens from Asia

In 1233, the Golden Horde established their governorship in Sudak, freed from the Seljuks. This year has become a generally recognized starting point for the ethnic history of the Crimean Tatars. In the second half of the XIII century, the Tatars became the masters of the Genoese trading point Solkhata-Solkata (now the Old Crimea) and in a short time subjugated almost the entire peninsula. However, this did not prevent the Horde from intermarrying with the local, primarily the Italian-Greek population, and even adopting their language and culture.
The question of how modern Crimean Tatars can be considered the heirs of the Horde conquerors, and to what extent they have an autochthonous or other origin, is still relevant. Thus, the St. Petersburg historian Valery Vozgrin, as well as some representatives of the "Mejlis" (the parliament of the Crimean Tatars) are trying to assert the opinion about the predominant autochthonousness of the Tatars in Crimea, but most scholars do not agree with this.
Back in the Middle Ages, travelers and diplomats considered the Tatars "newcomers from the depths of Asia." In particular, the Russian steward Andrei Lyzlov, in his "Scythian history" (1692), wrote that the Tatars, who "all countries are near the Don, and the Meotsky (Azov) sea, and the Taurica of Kherson (Crimea), around the Pontus Evksinsky (Black Sea) possessed and grayed out ”were newcomers.
During the rise of the national liberation movement in 1917, the Tatar press called on to rely on "the state wisdom of the Mongol-Tatars, which runs like a red thread through their entire history," and also to honor with honor "the emblem of the Tatars - the blue banner of Chinggis" ("kok- bayrak "- the national flag of the Tatars living in the Crimea).
Speaking in 1993 in Simferopol at the “kurultai”, the eminent descendant of the khans of the Gireev Dzhezar-Girey, who arrived from London, said that “we are the sons of the Golden Horde”, in every possible way emphasizing the continuity of the Tatars “from the Great Father, Lord Chingiz Khan, through his grandson Batu and eldest son Juche. "
However, such statements do not quite fit into the ethnic picture of Crimea, which was observed before the annexation of the peninsula to the Russian Empire in 1782. At that time, two subethnos were quite clearly distinguished among the "Crimeans": narrow-eyed Tatars - a pronounced Mongoloid type of inhabitants of steppe villages and mountain Tatars - characterized by a Caucasian body structure and facial features: tall, often fair-haired and blue-eyed people who spoke differently than the steppe, language.

What ethnography says

Before the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, ethnographers paid attention to the fact that this people, albeit to varying degrees, bears the stamp of many genotypes that have ever lived on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. Scientists have identified three main ethnographic groups.
"Steppe" ("Nogai", "Nogai") - the descendants of the nomadic tribes that were part of the Golden Horde. Back in the 17th century, the Nogais roamed the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region from Moldova to the North Caucasus, but later, for the most part were forcibly resettled by the Crimean khans to the steppe regions of the peninsula. Western Kypchaks (Polovtsians) played a significant role in the ethnogenesis of the Nogai. The racial identity of the Nogais is Caucasian with an admixture of Mongoloid.
The "South Coast Tatars" ("yalyboilu") - mostly immigrants from Asia Minor, were formed on the basis of several migration waves from Central Anatolia. The ethnogenesis of this group was largely ensured by the Greeks, Goths, Asia Minor Turks and Circassians; in the inhabitants of the eastern part of the South Coast, Italian (Genoese) blood was traced. Although most of the Yaliboilu are Muslims, some of them retained elements of Christian rituals for a long time.
"Highlanders" ("tats") - lived in the mountains and foothills of the central zone of the Crimea (between the steppe and the southern coast). The ethnogenesis of the Tats is complex, not fully understood. According to scientists, the majority of the peoples inhabiting the Crimea took part in the formation of this subethnos.
All three Crimean Tatar subethnos differed in their culture, economy, dialects, anthropology, but, nevertheless, they always felt that they were part of a single people.

A word to geneticists

Quite recently, scientists decided to clarify a difficult question: Where to look for the genetic roots of the Crimean Tatar people? The study of the gene pool of the Crimean Tatars was carried out under the auspices of the largest international project "Genographic".
One of the tasks of geneticists was to find evidence of the existence of an "extraterritorial" group of the population, which could determine the common origin of the Crimean, Volga and Siberian Tatars. The research tool was the Y-chromosome, which is convenient in that it is transmitted only along one line - from father to son, and does not "mix" with genetic variants that came from other ancestors.
The genetic portraits of the three groups turned out to be dissimilar, in other words, the search for common ancestors for all Tatars was not crowned with success. Thus, among the Volga Tatars, haplogroups prevailing in Eastern Europe and the Urals, while Siberian Tatars are characterized by "paneurasian" haplogroups.
DNA analysis of the Crimean Tatars shows a high proportion of southern - "Mediterranean" haplogroups and only a small admixture (about 10%) of "Near Eastern" lines. This means that the gene pool of the Crimean Tatars was primarily replenished by immigrants from Asia Minor and the Balkans, and to a much lesser extent by nomads. steppe strip Eurasia.
At the same time, an uneven distribution of the main markers in the gene pools of different subethnos of the Crimean Tatars was revealed: the maximum contribution of the “eastern” component was noted in the northernmost steppe group, while the “southern” genetic component dominated in the other two (mountainous and southern coastal). It is curious that scientists did not find any similarities between the gene pool of the Crimean peoples and their geographical neighbors, Russians and Ukrainians.

Arsen Bekirov
From the outside, the Crimean Tatar people seem monolithic, but when communicating with the Tatars, one can often hear: "Zarema has a father-in-law" thirty ", and her mother-in-law is a Kerch nogayka" or "my dad is a Bakhchisarai tat, and my mother will go away." These are the names of sub-ethnic groups - a kind of "peoples within a people."
It is believed that the Crimean Tatar people consists of three sub-ethnic groups: steppe dwellers (nogai), mountain dwellers (tats) and south coast (yalyboilu). The deportation has weakened, but not erased, the distinction: sympathy for "friends" is manifested at the household level, and in business, and in politics.
“The Slavs call this phenomenon nepotism. It is in one way or another characteristic of all peoples, ”says political scientist Alime Apselyamova.

Some are politicians, others are scientists
In the leadership of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, the leading role belongs to people from the South Coast. The head of the Mejlis Mustafa Dzhemilev and his right hand Refat Chubarov are considered their native village Ai-Serez (Mesopotamia, near Sudak). The Mufti of Crimea Emirali Ablaev is from the same places. However, Dzhemilev denies that he selected companions at the place of birth.
“I found out that Refat had roots from Ai-Serez only after he became my first deputy,” says the Crimean Tatar leader. Although his opponents claim that Dzhemilev and Chubarov are distant relatives.
Stepnyakov-nogayev emphasizes a craving for education and science. For example, the rector of the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University Fevzi Yakubov was born in the Black Sea region. Nogai are also many heads of the KIPU - most of the deans and vice-rectors. Yakubov argues that the community factor does not matter for him, but at the same time he recognizes that the relationship between sub-ethnic types affects the atmosphere in the team.
“It happens that a person is incompetent, and then he walks around and says that the tats or otuz did not allow him to work,” says the rector.

Nogai - people from the steppe
The Nogai type of the Crimean Tatars was formed in the steppe regions of the peninsula. The blood of the Polovtsy, Kipchaks and partially the Nogai - the people who now lives in the North Caucasus - mixed in the Nogai. Most of the steppe dwellers have elements of Mongoloid appearance: they are distinguished by their small stature and narrow eyes. According to linguistic and folklore characteristics, the Crimean steppe Tatars are divided into three groups: immigrants from the northwestern Crimea (present-day Saki, Chernomorsky and Razdolnensky regions), residents of the central steppe and eastern Nogai - mostly natives of the Leninsky region. The latter consider themselves "real" steppe dwellers, in contrast, for example, from the Evpatoria nogays, among whom there are many fair-skinned with chestnut or dark-blond hair.
 Features: among the Crimean Tatars there is a widespread belief that male nogai are distinguished by their prudence and calm disposition. Women, on the other hand, are more temperamental and often rule their husbands.

Tats - children of the mountains
Before the deportation, the Tats lived in the mountainous and foothill regions of the Crimea. Crimean Tatars call this territory "orta yolak" - the middle strip. They contain the genes of almost all tribes and peoples that have inhabited Crimea since ancient times: Taurians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Goths, Greeks, Circassians, Khazars and others. Outwardly, the Tats are similar to the inhabitants of Eastern Europe, including Ukrainians. Historians are still arguing about the origin of the word "taty" - according to one version, this is how Christians who converted to the Muslim faith were called during the times of the Crimean Khanate.
 Features: Bakhchisarai tats are considered intelligent, Balaklava tats are stubborn and quick-tempered.

Yaliboylu - southern guys
This is the name of the natives of the southern coast of Crimea, but in fact, the real yalyboil lived on the site from Foros to Alushta. The inhabitants of the Sudak region - the Uskut - have their own characteristics.
The South Coast Tatars are descendants of Greeks, Goths, Turks, Circassians and Genoese. Outwardly, yalyboil are similar to the Greeks and Italians, but there are blue-eyed and light-skinned blondes.
 Features: The South Coast is considered to be distinguished by entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen.

Many peoples have ethnographic types. For example, among Ukrainians, there are Boykov, Polishchuk, Litvin, Lemko.

Families do not discourage mixed marriages. True, if family quarrels occur, the husband and wife can reproach each other for "Yalyboy show-offs" or "Nogai bitchiness"

“Differences are not at all an indicator of the disunity of the people. On the contrary, the presence of clearly defined ethnic groups indicates that the Crimean Tatars are a developing ethnos, ”says cultural expert Vetana Veisova

As they say
Dialects of Nogai and Yalyboi differ in about the same way as Russian and Ukrainian language... The literary Crimean Tatar language is based on the Tats language - it combines the features of the “northern” and “southern” dialects.

16:14 24.04.2014

Most of the Crimean Tatars live in their historical homeland - Crimea - 243.4 thousand people (according to the 2001 census). At the same time, 22.4 thousand Tatars lived in Romania in 2002, 10 thousand in Uzbekistan in 2000 (according to the estimated number of the Crimean Tatars themselves, their diaspora in Uzbekistan by the beginning of 1999 should have totaled 85-90 thousand people), 4.1 thousand - in Russia (in 2002) and 1.8 thousand - in Bulgaria in 2001.

reference

Crimean Tatars, karymtatarlar, qırımtatarlar (self-name) - people who speak the Crimean Tatar language of the Kypchak subgroup of the Turkic group of the Altai language family. In the Crimean Tatar language, the northern (steppe), middle (mountain) and southern (coastal) dialects are distinguished. The modern literary language was formed on the basis of the middle dialect.

Tatars are divided into 3 main sub-ethnic groups: steppe Tatars (Nogai - çöllüler, noğaylar), South Coast Tatars (Yalyboi - yalıboylular) and (mountain) -piedmont Tatars, who call themselves Tatars (tatlar). The traditional occupation of the steppe Tatars is nomadic cattle-breeding, the other groups - agriculture, horticulture and viticulture, as well as fishing among coastal residents. Tatars are Sunni Muslims. According to the anthropological type, the Tatars are Caucasians with a certain degree of Mongoloidism among the Nogai.

Most of the Crimean Tatars live in their historical homeland - in the Crimea - 243.4 thousand live in the Crimea (according to the 2001 census). At the same time, 22.4 thousand Tatars lived in Romania in 2002, 10 thousand in Uzbekistan in 2000 (according to the estimated number of the Crimean Tatars themselves, their diaspora in Uzbekistan by the beginning of 1999 should have totaled 85-90 thousand people), 4.1 thousand - in Russia (in 2002) and 1.8 thousand - in Bulgaria in 2001.

In Turkey, the entire population is considered to be Turks, therefore, officially, since 1970, the number and nationality are not indicated in the census. According to various estimates, the number of Crimean Tatars (“Crimean Turks”) and their descendants varies from 50-150 thousand to 4-6 million people. More realistic numbers look in the range from 150 thousand to 1 million.

History

In 1223, the Mongol-Tatar governorship was established in Sudak, which was the beginning of the settlement of the Crimea by the Tatars. Crimea was part of the Golden, and then the Great Horde.

XIII-XVII centuries - ethnogenesis of the Crimean Tatar population. 2/3 of the urban population of Crimea were Greeks and Italians from Genoa and Venice. Part of the Tatars began to move to settled life from the end of the 13th century. and actively mingle with the sedentary population, even adopting Christianity. In the second half of the XIII-XIV centuries, Islam spread, which became a kind of cement that held the people together. Three sub-ethnic groups of the Crimean Tatars were formed: Nogai, Tats and Coastal. Nogai - direct descendants of the Kipchak-Polovtsi and Nogai - inhabited the steppes of the Crimea; their dialect belongs to the Nogai-Kipchak languages. The largest group of the Tatar population of Crimea was the Tats. The Tats lived in the mountains and foothills north of the South Coast and south of the Nogai. In the ethnogenesis of the Tats, a significant role was played by the Kipchaks, from whom they inherited their dialect (Polovtsian-Kipchak subgroup of the Kipchak group of Turkic languages) and the Goths, elements of whose material culture are found among the Tats, as well as the Greeks. Coastal Tatars lived on the southern coast of Crimea from Balakalava in the west to Feodosia in the east. In the ethnogenesis of this group, the main role was played by the Greeks, Goths, Circassians, and in the East - by the Italians-Genoese. The Oghuz dialect of the South Coast people is close to Turkish, although the vocabulary contains a whole layer of Greek and Italian borrowings.

1441-1783 - during the existence of the Crimean Khanate, whose policy was balanced between strong neighbors: the Moscow state, Lithuania and Turkey, the economic structure of the nomadic economy presupposes constant forays for prey, which was a constant phenomenon in the border areas. If the war was fought at the state level, then the raid became an invasion. In 1571, the 40-thousandth army of Khan Devlet-Girey (1551-1577), besieging Moscow, set fire to the settlement and burned the entire city. The main prey of the warriors was live goods, which were sold in the slave markets (the largest of which was in the Cafe - modern. Feodosia) to Turkey and other countries of the Middle East. According to the historian Alan Fischer, from the middle of the 15th to the end of the 18th centuries, 3 million people from the Christian population of Poland and Russia were captured and sold into slavery by the Crimeans.

1475-1774 - the time of Turkish influence on the culture of the Crimean Tatars during the period of vassal dependence of the Khanate on the Ottoman Empire, which included the southeastern coast of Crimea. Active intervention of the Turks in inner life the khanate is noticeable only at the end of the 16th century. This period saw the flourishing of the Muslim Crimean culture, especially architecture.

1783-1793 years. In 1783, the Crimean Khanate was annexed to Russia. After that, mass immigration of Tatars to the North Caucasus and Dobruzh began, although the Tatar nobility received rights equal to those of the Russian nobility. By the 80s of the 18th century, there were about 500 thousand inhabitants in Crimea, of which 92% were Tatars, most of whom lived in the mountain-forest zone. Until 1793, more than 300 thousand Tatars, mainly mountain Tatars, left Crimea. After the conclusion of the Yassky peace with Turkey as a result of the 2nd Russian-Turkish war (1792), part of the population, having lost hope of changing their position, left Crimea (about 100 thousand people). According to the 1793 census, 127.8 thousand people remained in the Crimea, of which 87% were Tatars. The tsarist government began to widely distribute the Crimean lands to the Russian nobles in possession.

1784-1917 - Crimean Tatars served in the ranks of the Russian army, mainly in cavalry units. March 1, 1784 was followed by the highest decree "On the formation of an army from new subjects inhabiting the Tauride region" was formed 6 "Taurida national divisions of the cavalry army", which were disbanded in 1792 and 1796. For the war with Napoleon (1804-1814 / 1815) in 1807 and then in 1808, 4 Crimean Tatar cavalry regiments were created as a militia. V Patriotic War In 1812, 3 regiments took an active part, reaching Paris in 1814, after which the regiments were disbanded to their homes. In 1827, the Crimean Tatar squadron was formed from the Crimean Tatars, who had military distinctions, which was assigned to the Life Guards Cossack Regiment. The squadron took part in the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829 and partly in the Crimean War in 1854-1855. On May 26, 1863, the squadron was reorganized into the Team of the Life Guards of the Crimean Tatars as part of His Majesty's Own convoy. The cavalry squadron distinguished themselves in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. On May 16, 1890, the team was disbanded. In addition, on June 12, 1874, the Crimean Squadron was formed from the Crimean Tatars, reorganized on July 22, 1875 into a division, and on February 21, 1906, into the Crimean Cavalry Regiment. On October 10, 1909, the regiment received the honorary title "Crimean Equestrian Regiment of Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna". On November 5, 1909, Nicholas II enrolled himself in the regiment's lists. Since 1874, general military service was extended to the Tatars.

1860-1863 - the period of mass migration of Tatars after the Crimean War (1853-1856). Most leave for Romania, as well as for Bulgaria and Turkey (181.1 thousand people left, by 1870 - 200 thousand). It is the descendants of these immigrants who make up the majority of the Crimean Tatar population in these countries today. Emigration affected 784 villages, of which 330 were completely deserted; and it was mainly the herders who had been devastated by the war that left. The main reason for immigration was the accusation of the Tatars in cooperation with the troops of the anti-Russian coalition during the Crimean War.

After the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, a mass of Tatars moved from Dobrudja to Anatolia, the same movement was facilitated by the introduction of universal military service in Romania in 1883, as well as new laws on the redistribution of land ownership in the 1880s.

1891-1920 - the third wave of emigration of Crimean Tatars from Russia, which reached its peak in 1893, when 18 thousand people left. In 1902-1903, up to 600-800 people left every day. This wave of emigration was caused by both economic and ideological, anti-Islamic, reasons.

The end of the 19th century - 1920s - a period of strengthening of national and nationalist sentiments among the Crimean Tatar intelligentsia. The activities of the Tatar educator Ismail Gasprinsky (Ismail Gaspıralı, 1851-1914) on the opening of secular schools and the press. On March 25, 1917, the Crimean Tatar congress-kurultai was held in Simferopol, to which 2 thousand delegates arrived. Kurultay elected the Provisional Crimean Muslim Executive Committee (VKMIK), recognized by the Provisional Government of Russia, the only authorized administrative body of the Crimean Tatars. With this kurultai, the implementation of the cultural and national autonomy of the Crimean Tatars began.

On October 26, 1917, a constituent kurultai took place in Bakhchisarai, which adopted the first constitution in the history of Crimea, declaring a new independent state - the Crimean People's Republic. At the kurultai, the state flag of the Crimea was also adopted - a blue cloth with a golden tamga in the upper corner. The Tatar government lasted until January 1918 and was destroyed by sailors-revolutionaries. In February 1918, the provincial congress of Soviets in Simferopol elected the Central Executive Committee, which, on March 10, 1918, declared the Crimea a Soviet socialist republic Tavrida, which existed for 1 month and fell under the blows of the Germans who seized Crimea by May 1, 1918. In 1920, the Tatars took an active part in the movement of the "green" (about 10 thousand people) against the "white" detachments in the Crimea. In particular, the 5th Tatar regiment of the Crimean insurgent army under the command of Osman Derenayyrly fought against the Wrangel troops.

1921-1945 - the period of the existence of the Crimean ASSR (Qrьm Avonomjal Sotsialist Sovet Respublikas kr.-Tat.) As part of the RSFSR, the official languages ​​of which were Russian and Crimean Tatar. In 1921-1931, in the course of the struggle against religion, all religious buildings were closed and reprofiled: 106 mosques, as well as tekie, madrasah. At the same time, within the framework of the “indigenousization” policy, there is a flourishing of secular national culture: national schools, theaters, newspapers are published in the Crimean Tatar language. In 1930, national village councils and national districts were created, 5 of 7 of which were Tatar. In the mid-1930s, nation-building was curtailed, and a policy of Russification began.

1944 - the eviction of the Crimean Tatars from the Crimea - Sürgün (kr.-Tat.) - "expulsion". In April-May 1944, after the liberation of the Crimea from the occupation forces, about 6 thousand Crimean Tatar collaborators were arrested, who did not manage to evacuate with the Germans. On May 11, 1944, the State Defense Committee of the USSR issued decree No. 5859 "On the Crimean Tatars", in which it accused all Crimean Tatars of desertion from the Red Army and in cooperation with the invaders and decided to expel them to the Uzbek USSR. On May 18-20, 1944, by the forces of 32 thousand NKVD officers, 193.8 thousand Crimean Tatars were evicted from Crimea (more than 47 thousand families, 80% - women and children). 33.7 families (151.3 thousand people) were resettled in Uzbekistan. Tatars worked in agriculture, in the oil fields, in the fishing industry, on construction sites, in coal mines, in mines. Due to the difficult working conditions, the mortality rate in the first 3 years reached 19%. After the eviction, by decrees of 1945 and 1948, the old names of the Tatar villages in the Crimea were renamed to the Russian style, and the houses of the Crimean Tatars were settled by new settlers from Russia and Ukraine.

1944-1967 - Crimean Tatars in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan live in the position of special settlers (until April 1956), and then without this status, but without permission to return to their homeland and receive requisitioned property back.

Since 1956 - the beginning of the "petition campaign" of the Crimean Tatars, who began to send numerous statements to the Soviet authorities with demands to allow them to return to their homeland and restore autonomy.

1967-1974 - by the decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 5, 1967 "On citizens of Tatar nationality who previously lived in Crimea", the charges of Stalinist times were dropped from the Tatars and their constitutional rights were restored. The return of the Tatars to Crimea, but due to the passport regime of registration, only a few were able to return.

January 9, 1974 - the publication of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On recognizing as invalid some legislative acts of the USSR, providing for restrictions on the choice of residence for certain categories of citizens."

1987-1989 - an active social movement of the Crimean Tatars for returning to their homeland - the functioning of public organizations - the "National Movement of the Crimean Tatars" and the increasingly influential "Organization of the Crimean Tatar National Movement". In July 1987, a demonstration of Crimean Tatars was held on Red Square in Moscow, demanding that they be allowed to return to Crimea.

In 1989, the deportation of the Tatars was condemned by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and declared illegal. In May 1990, the concept of the state program for the return of Crimean Tatars to Crimea was adopted. A massive return of Crimean Tatars began: by the end of 1996, about 250 thousand Crimean Tatars had returned to Crimea and, according to some information, about 150 thousand remain in places of exile, mainly in the vicinity of Tashkent, Samarkand and Shakhrisabz. Due to unemployment and the impossibility of returning their land, the Tatars face many problems. Until 1944, the sub-ethnic groups of the Crimean Tatars practically did not mix with each other, but deportation destroyed the traditional areas of settlement, and over the past 60 years, the process of merging these groups into a single community gained momentum. According to rough estimates, among the Crimean Tatars living in Crimea, about 30% are South Coast residents, about 20% are Nogai and about 50% are Tats.

In 1991, the 2nd Kurultai was convened - the national parliament, which created a system of national self-government of the Crimean Tatars within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (since 1995) within Ukraine. Every 5 years, elections for the Kurultai take place, in which the entire adult Tatar population at the age of 18 participates. Kurultay forms an executive body - the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

year 2014. According to the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on the admission to the Russian Federation of the Republic of Crimea and the formation of Russian Federation new subjects of March 18, 2014, the Crimean Tatar language became the state language of the Republic of Crimea (together with Russian and Ukrainian).

Crimean Tatars(Crimean Cat. qırımtatarlar, kyrymtatarlar, singular qırımtatar, kyrymtatar) or Crimeans (Crimean Cat. qırımlar, kyrymlar, singular qırım, kyrym) are a people historically formed in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language, which belongs to the Turkic group of the Altai family of languages.

The overwhelming majority of Crimean Tatars are Sunni Muslims and belong to the Hanafi madhhab.

Dossier

Self-name:(Crimean Cat.) qırımtatarlar, qırımlar

Abundance and area: Total 500,000 people

Ukraine: 248,193 (2001 census)

• Republic of Crimea: 243 433 (2001)
• Kherson region: 2,072 (2001)
• Sevastopol: 1,858 (2001)

Uzbekistan: from 10,046 (2000 census) and 90,000 (2000 estimate) to 150,000.

Turkey: 100,000 to 150,000

Romania: 24,137 (2002 census)

• County of Constanta: 23,230 (2002 census)

Russia: 2,449 (2010 census)

• Krasnodar Krai: 1,407 (2010)
• Moscow: 129 (2010)

Bulgaria: 1 803 (2001 census)

Kazakhstan: 1,532 (2009 census)

Language: Crimean Tatar

Religion: Islam

Includes: to the Turkic-speaking peoples

Related peoples: Krymchaks, Karaites, Kumyks, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, Gagauz, Karachais, Balkars, Tatars, Uzbeks, Turks

Resettlement of the Crimean Tatars

Crimean Tatars live mainly in Crimea (about 260 thousand) and adjacent regions of continental Ukraine, as well as in Turkey, Romania (24 thousand), Uzbekistan (90 thousand, estimates from 10 thousand to 150 thousand), Russia ( 4 thousand, mainly in the Krasnodar Territory), Bulgaria (3 thousand). According to local Crimean Tatar organizations, the diaspora in Turkey numbers hundreds of thousands of people, but there is no exact data on its size, since data on the ethnic composition of the country's population is not published in Turkey. The total number of residents whose ancestors immigrated to the country from Crimea at different times is estimated in Turkey at 5-6 million people, but most of these people have assimilated and consider themselves not Crimean Tatars, but Crimean Turks.

Ethnogenesis of the Crimean Tatars

Crimean Tatars formed as a people in the Crimea in the XIII-XVII centuries. The historical core of the Crimean Tatar ethnos is the Turkic tribes that settled in Crimea, a special place in the ethnogenesis of the Crimean Tatars among the Kipchak tribes, who mixed with the local descendants of the Huns, Khazars, Pechenegs, as well as representatives of the pre-Turkic population of Crimea - together with them, they formed the ethnic basis of the Crimean Tatars, Karaites , Krymchaks.

Historical background

The main ethnic groups that inhabited Crimea in antiquity and the Middle Ages are Taurus, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Bulgars, Greeks, Goths, Khazars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Italians, Circassians, Asia Minor Turks. Over the centuries, the peoples who came to Crimea again assimilated those who lived here before their arrival, or they themselves assimilated among them.

By the middle of the 13th century, Crimea was conquered by the Mongols under the leadership of Khan Batu and included in the state they founded, the Golden Horde.

The key event that left its mark on the further history of Crimea was the conquest of the southern coast of the peninsula and the adjacent part of the Crimean mountains by the Ottoman Empire in 1475, the subsequent transformation of the Crimean Khanate into a vassal state in relation to the Ottomans and the entry of the peninsula Pax Ottomana is the "cultural space" of the Ottoman Empire.

The spread of Islam on the peninsula had a significant impact on the ethnic history of Crimea. According to local legends, Islam was brought to Crimea back in the 7th century by the companions of the Prophet Muhammad Malik Ashter and Gaza Mansur.

History of the Crimean Tatars

Crimean Khanate

The process of the formation of the people was finally completed during the period of the Crimean Khanate.

The state of the Crimean Tatars - the Crimean Khanate existed from 1441 to 1783. For most of its history, it was dependent on the Ottoman Empire and was its ally. The ruling dynasty in the Crimea was the Geraev (Gireyev) clan, the founder of which was the first khan Khadzhi I Geray. The epoch of the Crimean Khanate is the heyday of the Crimean Tatar culture, art and literature.

From the beginning of the 16th century, the Crimean Khanate waged constant wars with the Moscow state and the Commonwealth (until the 18th century, mostly offensive), which was accompanied by the capture of a large number of prisoners from among the peaceful Russian, Ukrainian and Polish population.

As part of the Russian Empire

In 1736, Russian troops led by Field Marshal Christopher (Christoph) Minich burned Bakhchisarai and devastated the foothill Crimea. In 1783, as a result of Russia's victory over the Ottoman Empire, Crimea was first occupied and then annexed by Russia.

At the same time, the policy of the Russian imperial administration was characterized by a certain flexibility. The Russian government made the ruling circles of Crimea its support: all the Crimean Tatar clergy and the local feudal aristocracy were equated with the Russian aristocracy, with all rights reserved.

The oppression of the Russian administration and the expropriation of land from the Crimean Tatar peasants caused a massive emigration of the Crimean Tatars to Ottoman Empire... The two main waves of emigration occurred in the 1790s and 1850s.

Revolution of 1917

Crimean Tatars on a 1905 postcard

The period from 1905 to 1917 was a continuous and growing process of struggle, moving from humanitarian to political. In the 1905 revolution in Crimea, problems were raised concerning the allotment of land to the Crimean Tatars, the conquest of political rights, and the creation of modern educational institutions.

In February 1917, the Crimean Tatar revolutionaries watched the political situation with great preparedness. As soon as it became known about serious unrest in Petrograd, on the evening of February 27, that is, on the day of the dissolution of the State Duma, on the initiative of Ali Bodaninsky, the Crimean Muslim Revolutionary Committee was created.

In 1921, the Crimean ASSR was created as part of the RSFSR. The state languages ​​in it were Russian and Crimean Tatar. The administrative division of the autonomous republic was based on the national principle.

Crimea under German occupation

Deportation

The accusation of cooperation of the Crimean Tatars, as well as other peoples, with the invaders became the reason for the eviction of these peoples from the Crimea in accordance with the Decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR No. GOKO-5859 of May 11, 1944. On the morning of May 18, 1944, an operation began to deport peoples accused of collaborating with the German invaders to Uzbekistan and the adjacent regions of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Small groups were sent to the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Urals, and the Kostroma Region.

In total, 228,543 people were evicted from Crimea, 191,014 of them were Crimean Tatars (more than 47 thousand families). From every third adult Crimean Tatar they took a signature that he got acquainted with the decree, and that 20 years of hard labor threatened to escape from the place of special settlement, as a criminal offense.

A significant number of immigrants, exhausted after three years life in the occupation, died in places of exile from hunger and disease in 1944-45. Estimates of the death toll during this period vary greatly: from 15-25% according to estimates by various Soviet official bodies to 46% according to the estimates of activists of the Crimean Tatar movement, who collected information about the victims in the 1960s.

Return to Crimea

Unlike other peoples deported in 1944, who were allowed to return to their homeland in 1956, during the "thaw", the Crimean Tatars were deprived of this right until 1989 ("perestroika").

The mass return began in 1989, and today about 250 thousand Crimean Tatars live in Crimea (243 433 people according to the 2001 All-Ukrainian census).

The main problems of the Crimean Tatars after their return were massive unemployment, problems with the allocation of land and the development of infrastructure of the Crimean Tatar villages that have arisen over the past 15 years.

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is part of Ukraine, an independent state formed after the collapse of the USSR at the end of 1991 (from 1922 to 1991 - the second most important union republic of the Soviet Union).

The area of ​​Crimea is 27 thousand square meters. km, population in 1994 - 2.7 million people. The capital is Simferopol. In the south of Crimea there is the port city of Sevastopol, which was the main base of the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR (in 1996 the fleet was divided between Ukraine - the Ukrainian Navy, and Russia - the Black Sea Fleet; both fleets are based in Sevastopol, Balaklava and other bases on the southwestern coast of Crimea). The basis of the economy is resort tourism, agriculture. Crimea consists of three cultural and climatic regions: Steppe Crimea, Mountain Crimea and the South coast (actually - southeastern) of Crimea.

History. Crimean Tatars

One of the states that arose on the ruins of the Golden Horde in the 14-15th centuries was the Crimean Khanate with its capital in Bakhchisarai. The population of the khanate consisted of Tatars, divided into 3 groups (steppe, foothill and southern), Armenians, Greeks (who spoke the Tatar language), Crimean Jews, or Krymchaks (who spoke the Tatar language), Slavs, Karaites (a Turkic people professing a special, does not recognize the Talmud, the course of Judaism and speaks a special language close to the Crimean Tatar), Germans, etc.

The legends of the Crimean Tatars attribute the spread of Islam in Crimea to the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.v.)- Malik Ashter and Gazi Mansur (7th century). The oldest dated mosque - 1262 - was built in the city of Solkhat (Old Crimea) by a native of Bukhara. From the 16th century. Crimea became one of the centers of Muslim civilization in the Golden Horde; from here the Islamization of the North Caucasus was carried out. The Zinjirli madrasah, founded on the outskirts of Bakhchisarai in 1500, was very famous. The South of Crimea was traditionally oriented towards Turkey, while the north retained the steppe Horde properties. Among the Sufi tariqas widespread in Crimea were mevleviya, halvetia(both came from Turkey; the latter from the city of Sivas), Naqshbandiya, Yasaviya(the former traditionally dominated the entire Golden Horde; the latter came in the 17th century; both were widespread among the steppe inhabitants).

The conquest of the Khanate by Russian troops in the 18th century marked the beginning of the colonization of Crimea and the migration from Crimea to Turkey of large groups of the Tatar population. The Crimean Khanate ceased to exist in 1783, becoming part of the Russian Empire under the name of the Tauride province (Chersonesos Tauride). At that time, there were about 1530 mosques on the peninsula, dozens of madrasahs and teke.

At the end of the 18th century, Crimean Tatars constituted the majority of the population of Crimea - 350-400 thousand people, but as a result of two migrations to Turkey in the 1790s (at least 100 thousand people) and 1850-60s. (up to 150 thousand) made up the minority. The next waves of emigration of Tatars to Turkey fell on 1874-75; then - at the beginning of the 1890s (up to 18 thousand) and in 1902-03. In fact, by the beginning of the 20th century. most of the Crimean Tatars ended up outside their historical homeland.

After 1783, until the formation of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Crimean Tatars were part of Tauride province(divided into districts: Simferopol, Yevpator, Feodosia / Crimea proper /, Perekop / partially in Crimea /, Dnieper and Melitopol / territory of inner Ukraine / - Tatars also lived in the last three counties - in fact, Nogais). In Crimea itself, at the beginning of the 20th century, Tatars lived compactly in the region: from Balaklava to Sudak and from Karasubazar (Belogorsk) to Yalta; on the Kerch and Tarkhankut peninsula; in the region of Evpatoria; on the shore of the Sivash Bay. The largest groups of city dwellers from among the Tatars were in Bakhchisarai (10 thousand people), Simferopol (7.9 thousand), Evpatoria (6.2 thousand), Karasubazar (6.2 thousand), Feodosia (2.6 thousand) and Kerch (2 thousand). The cultural centers of the Tatars were Bakhchisarai and Karasubazar. By 1917, the number of mosques in Crimea had dropped to 729.

Crimean Tatars consisted of three sub-ethnic groups: steppe Tatars (Nogai Tatars), foothill Tatars (tat, or tatlar), South Coast Tatars (yaly boil); the group of nogai stands out (nogay, nogailar) mixed with the steppe Tatars; sometimes the Central Crimean Tatars are distinguished (orta-yulak)... The difference between these groups was in ethnogenesis, and in dialect, and in traditional culture. In the places of deportation of the Crimean Tatars - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc. - this division has practically disappeared, and today the nation is quite consolidated.

In 1921, the Crimean ASSR was formed as part of Soviet Russia. According to the 1939 census, Crimean Tatars numbered 218.8 thousand people, or 19.4% of the population of the ASSR. In 1944, all Crimean Tatars were deported from Crimea to Central Asia and Kazakhstan - 188.6, or 194.3, or 238.5 thousand people (according to various sources). Russians and Ukrainians from various regions of the USSR moved to Crimea, and all material and spiritual traces of the Tatar-Muslim civilization of Crimea were destroyed, right down to the fountains at the mosques. All materials about the culture of Muslims of Crimea were removed from all reference books and encyclopedias.

The persecution of religion in Crimea, as well as throughout the USSR, began immediately after the revolution. Until 1931, 106 mosques were closed in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Sevastopol, for example, was given Black Sea Fleet) and 2 prayer houses of Muslims, of which 51 were immediately demolished. After 1931, a second anti-religious wave took place, as a result of which the most magnificent mosques of Bakhchisarai, Evpatoria, Feodosia, Yalta, Simferopol were taken away, which were slowly destroyed or destroyed immediately. The German occupation of Crimea 1941-44 temporarily allowed the restoration of relative religious freedom. After the deportation of the Tatars in 1944, all the mosques that had survived by that time were transferred to the hands of the new Crimean authorities, then most of them were destroyed. By the 1980s. on the territory of Crimea, not a single mosque has survived in a satisfactory condition.

The libraries of the khan's palace and the oldest Zinjirli madrasah in Bakhchisarai contained thousands of titles of handwritten books. All this was destroyed with the loss of Crimea's independence and began to revive at the end of the 19th century. In 1883-1914 Ismail-bey Gasprinsky, one of the prominent Muslim leaders throughout the Russian Empire, published the first Crimean Tatar newspaper "Terdzhiman" in Bakhchisarai. In 1921-28, many books and other literature in this language were published (writing: until 1927 - Arabic, in 1928-39 and from 1992 - Latin, in 1939-92 - Cyrillic). After the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, all books in the Crimean Tatar language, from libraries and private collections, were destroyed. [In 1990, the first Crimean Tatar library was opened in the center of Simferopol (in 1995 it acquired the status of a republican library). The library building is now in need of renovation.]

In 1954, according to the order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Crimean region was transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR (while the status of Sevastopol, which was a city of republican (RSFSR) subordination, remained “hanging in the air”). The Crimean ASSR was restored after a referendum on its status in 1991 (since 1992 - the Republic of Crimea, later - the Autonomous Republic of Kazakhstan).

Since the 1960s, when it became clear that the leadership of the USSR would not return the Crimean Tatars to their homeland (unlike the deported and returned Chechens, Ingush, Karachais, Balkars, etc.), new , young leaders, among them - Mustafa Dzhemil, who later became the head of the Organization of the Crimean Tatar National Movement (OKND). OKND was formed by 1989 on the basis of the "Central Initiative Group", created in 1987 in Uzbekistan. Until the mid-1990s, when the return of the Tatars became an irreversible phenomenon, the authorities of the USSR, then of independent Ukraine and Crimea, posed all sorts of obstacles to the return of this people, up to the bloody massacre in the summer and autumn of 1992 in the suburbs of Alushta, trying to turn the confrontation between the Tatars and the authorities Ministry of Internal Affairs in the interethnic war. Only the high organization of the Tatars and a clear system of government contributed then and now to the goals facing the nation - to survive and regain Crimea. By the mid-1990s. the meaning that existed in the late 1980s has lost its meaning. demarcation of the national movement of the Tatars (NDKT - conservative, loyal to the Soviet regime, led by Yu. Osmanov until his death in 1993, and the radical OKND). The supreme body of self-government of the Crimean Tatars is the Kurultai (the "First Kurultai" is read in 1917; the second - in 1991; in 1996, the third Kurultai took place), which forms the Mejlis. For the last time, the leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemil, was elected chairman of the Mejlis.

	Census 1937		Census 1939		1989 census
TOTAL	990-1000 thous.		1126.4 thous.		About 2500 thousand
Russians	476 thous.	47,6%	558.5K	46,6%	1617 thous.	65%
Crimean Tatars	206 thous.	20,7%	218.9K	19,4%	OK. 50 thous.	OK. 2%
Ukrainians	128 thous.	12,9%	154.1K	13,7%	622 thous.	25%
Jews	55 thous.	5,5%	65.5 thous.	5,8%	17 thous.	0,7%
Germans	50 thous.	5,1%	51.3 thous.	4,6%
Greeks			20.7 thous.	1,8%	2.4 thous.
Bulgarians			17.9K	1,4%
Armenians			13 thous.	1,1%	2.8K
Poles					6.1K
Moldovans					6 thous.
Chuvash					4.6K
Mordva					4.5 thous.

date	The number of Tatars in Crimea	The number of arrivals to Crimea	Total number of Tatars (sum of data ****)
1979	5 thousand #
1987, spring	17.4 thousand * / # - for 1989
1987, July	20 thousand *
1989	Approx. 50 thousand ** / 38.4 thousand **** / #	For 1989 - 28.7 thousand ****
1990, May	83 thous. #	Officer 35 thousand ** / 33.8 thousand ****
1990, October	120 thous.		100.9 thous.
1991, July	135 thousand * / **	41.4 thousand ****	142.3 thous.
1991, November	147 thousand *** = not Ukraine
1992, May-July	173 thousand *	13.7 thousand from Uzbekistan *** / total 27.6 thousand ****	169.9K
1992, September	200 thousand *
1993, July	270k ** (???)	19.3 thousand ****	189.2 thousand (?)
1993, end	240-250 thousand *
1994		10.8 thousand ****	200 thousand (?)
1995		9.2 thousand ****	209.2 thousand (?)
1996, mid		3.6K ****	212.8 thousand (?)
1997, end	More than 250 thousand ***, or 248.8 thousand ***

Sources: * - "Crimean Tatar National Movement".
** - "Peoples of Russia", Encyclopedia.
*** - Publications in NG (June 1996, December 1997).
**** - "Banner of Islam", ј5 (09) 1997.
# - "Crimean Tatars. Problems of repatriation". P.85 (according to the Mejlis).

If in the spring of 1987 there were only 17.4 thousand Crimean Tatars in Crimea, and in July 1991 - 135 thousand, then in July 1993 there were already 270 thousand (??) (according to other data, only by 1996 the number of Tatars reaches 250 thousand people; the calculations of specialists indicate the number of Tatars at the beginning of 1997 at 220 thousand). Of these, 127 thousand (??) remain citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, since the government complicates the process of obtaining Ukrainian citizenship (according to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, 237 thousand Tatars were registered by 1996). "Sodruzhestvo NG" (ј6, 1998, p. 4) named the figure of 260 thousand - Tatars living in total in Crimea, of which 94 thousand are citizens of Ukraine. Tatars return to the places of their birth and residence of their ancestors, although they are offered to settle exclusively in the steppe part of Crimea. The strategic goal of the Mejlis is the transformation of Crimea into a national Crimean Tatar state. At present, the relative number of Tatars has approached 10% of the total population of Crimea; in some areas - Simferopol, Belogorsk, Bakhchisaraisky and Dzhankoysky - their share reached 15-18%. The repatriation of the Tatars somewhat rejuvenated the age structure of the Crimean population, especially in rural areas (the proportion of children under 15 years old, according to some data, is 32% among the Tatars). But this effect is of limited scale - due to the exhaustion of the potential of immigration (among the Tatars remaining in Central Asia, elderly people predominate), due to the highest infant mortality among Tatars (the birth rate is 8-14 %%, and the death rate is 13-18%). %), due to difficult social conditions, unemployment and degradation of the health care system.

About 250 thousand Crimean Tatars, according to the Mejlis, still live in the places where they were deported (experts are very critical of this information, subjecting them to great doubts; we can talk about no more than 180 thousand Tatars, of which 130 thousand . - in the republics of Central Asia, the rest - in Russia and Ukraine). In present-day Crimea, Tatars live compactly in more than 300 villages, settlements and micro-districts, of which 90% are unauthorized buildings without power supply, etc. About 120 thousand Tatars do not have permanent housing. About 40 thousand Tatars are not employed, and more than 30 thousand do not work in their specialty. From 40 to 45% of adult Tatars cannot participate in elections, because do not have Ukrainian citizenship (all data needs to be carefully checked, since many of them do not coincide with each other).

According to the 1989 census, there were 271,700 Crimean Tatars in the former USSR. Many Crimean Tatars then concealed their true nationality; according to research calculations, we can talk about a figure of 350 thousand Crimean Tatars. According to the Mejlis, about 5 million "Crimean Turks" - the descendants of the Tatars who were expelled from the Crimea in the 17-18 centuries - live in Turkey today. (R. Landa estimates the number of "Crimean Turks" at 2 million, Damir Iskhakov at 1 million, the most critical researchers (Starchenko) believe that the maximum number of "Crimean Turks" who have not completely assimilated does not exceed 50 thousand In addition, the historical parts of the Crimean Tatar nation are the Budjak or Dobrudzh Tatars living in Romania (21 thousand, or 23-35 thousand - D. Iskhakov), Bulgaria (5, or 6 thousand) and in Turkey near Bursa. In addition to the Tatars of Crimea and Dobrudzha proper, the third part of the nation that formed in the former Crimean Khanate after the collapse of the Golden Horde were the Tatars of the Kuban (present-day Krasnodar Territory of Russia) - who completely migrated to Turkey, either destroyed by Russian troops, or became part of the Nogais and Cossacks of the Kuban in the 17-18 centuries.

According to the law of 1993, the Crimean Tatars received 14 seats (out of 98) in the Crimean parliament - the Supreme Council. However, the Mejlis sought a quota of 1/3 of all deputy mandates + 1 mandate in order to block the adoption of laws that hurt the interests of the Tatars. Until now, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars has not been recognized as a legitimate body by either the Crimean authorities or the Ukrainian authorities. The new Constitution of Crimea, adopted in November 1995, does not provide for a parliamentary quota for indigenous and deported peoples. The new Constitution of Ukraine, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in 1996, in the section "Autonomous Republic of Crimea", also does not provide for the concepts of "indigenous" or "deported" peoples.

The elections to the Crimean parliament that took place in the spring of 1998 did not give the Tatars a single seat (the only Crimean Tatar in the new Supreme Soviet was elected from the list of the Communist Party); 2 Crimean Tatars (including Mustafa Dzhemil) were elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - according to the lists of "Rukh".

Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea

The first DUM in the Crimea was formed during the reign of Tsar Alexander I in 1788 (Tavricheskoe DUM, with its center in Simferopol). In the 1920s. The SAM was liquidated (in 1924 the Crimean Central Muslim People's Administration of Religious Affairs headed by the mufti was created, which soon disappeared). In 1941-44, during the occupation of Crimea by the Germans, they allowed the Tatars to regain their mosques (250 mosques were opened) and madrasahs; "Muslim committees" were created, but they were not allowed to restore the muftiate. In 1991, the Kadiat (Spiritual Administration) of the Muslims of the Crimea was formed, which had the status of a muhtasibat as part of the DUMES. Seid-Jalil Ibragimov became the first mufti of Crimea (under him, in 1995, the SAM included 95 parishes; the most literate of his generation among the Crimean Tatars, he graduated from the Bukhara madrasah and the Islamic Institute in Tashkent); in 1995, Nuri Mustafayev became mufti, who has more neutral than his predecessor relations with the chairman of the SAM of Ukraine A. Tamim (the leader of the Habashists, who is not recognized by the Tatars of Ukraine, has very good relations with the government of Ukraine and support from Caucasians, Lebanese and Palestinian Arabs, etc. . Shafi'i), and better relations with the Turks (but much less literate in the field of Islam). [Said-Jalil-khazrat has now left to study in Riyadh.]

The government and private organizations of Turkey, charitable organizations from Arab and Muslim countries provide assistance to the Crimean Tatars in the restoration of their national culture and religion. They finance the construction of mosques in new settlements rebuilt by the Tatars. But the restoration of ancient mosques in the cities of Crimea, as well as assistance in the socio-economic development of the Crimean Tatars requires a more active participation of Islamic states.

Currently, there are 186 Muslim communities registered in Crimea, 75 mosques are in operation (June 1998), most of which are adapted buildings. In December 1997, the Muslim community of Bakhchisarai, with the support of the Mejlis, occupied a mosque on the territory of the Khan's palace-museum.

Karaites

The Karaims (Karai, Karailar - from the Hebrew "reading") are a Turkic people speaking a special Turkic language (the Karaite language of the Kipchak subgroup, writing - Hebrew), professing a special trend of Judaism - Karaite, or Karaism, founded in the 8th century by the Mesopotamian Jew Ben- David. The Karaites recognize the Old Testament (Torah and other books), but, unlike other Jews, they do not recognize the Talmud. Although there are more than 20 thousand Karaites around the world - in Egypt (Cairo), Ethiopia, Turkey (Istanbul), Iran, and now mainly in Israel - the Karaites of Crimea (and their descendants in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia) are considered a special ethnic group associated with the Middle Eastern Karaites only by a single religion, but having a different origin and a different native language. According to the most common version of their origin, they are descendants of the Khazars (Crimea was part of Khazar Kaganate) professing Judaism. After the defeat of Khazaria in the 10th century, the bulk of the Khazars assimilated with other peoples (as Douglas Reed claims in his book "The Question of Zion" based on the works of some historians, such a large mass of people could not assimilate without a trace; the descendants of the Khazars, who adopted the languages ​​of their neighbors, but who did not change their religion, - says D. Reed, - are Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe: the Lithuanian-Polish state, the Russian Empire, Romania, etc.), while a smaller part, which apparently had differences from other Khazars, remained in Crimea and turned into Karaites. They lived in the Crimea in the fortress cities of Chufut-Kale and Mangup-Kale, and occupied a very honorable position at the khan's court. At the end of the 14th century, part of the Karaites, together with a small horde of Crimean Tatars, left for Lithuania, to the Grand Duke Vitovt, who settled them around the city of Trakai and guaranteed them freedom of religion and language (the descendants of those Tatars are modern Lithuanian Tatars, and the descendants of the Karaites - about 300 people - still live in Trakai, and they are the only ones who have preserved the Karaite language). Another group of Karaites then settled in Galicia and Volyn (the cities of Lutsk, Galich, Krasny Ostrov, etc. - modern western Ukraine). The Trakai and Galich-Lutsk groups developed independently from the Crimean Karaites. When the Crimea annexed to Russia in 1783, the Turks wanted to evacuate the Karaites to Albania. However, Russian rulers, starting with Catherine II, treated them favorably (in contrast to their attitude towards Jews). The Karaites were the owners of tobacco and fruit plantations, salt mines (the Jews were small artisans and merchants). In 1837 the Tauride Spiritual Administration of the Karaites was formed (by analogy with the Spiritual Administrations of Muslims); the residence of the gakham - the head of the Karaite clergy - was Evpatoria. During the revolution and civil war in Russia in 1918-20. Karaites took part in it mainly on the side of the whites. After the revolution, all religious buildings of the Karaites (kenases) in Crimea were closed, including the central kenasa in Yevpatoria, where a museum of atheism was set up (until the 1940s, the only kenasa of the Karaites operated in Trakai, Lithuania). The national library - "karay bitikligi" was destroyed. After the death of the last Gahan in the late 80s. no one was elected to replace him, and thus the religious institutions nearly collapsed.

In 1897 the total number of Karaites in Russia was 12.9 thousand. In 1926, there were 9 thousand Karaites within the borders of the USSR, and 5 thousand abroad (mainly Lithuania and Poland). In 1932 in the USSR - 10 thousand (mainly in the Crimea), in Poland and Lithuania - about 2 thousand. Before the war, there were about 5 thousand Karaites in Crimea. During the war, the Germans did not persecute the Karaites (unlike the Jews), to which there was a special order from the German Ministry of Internal Affairs (1939) that the "racial psychology" of Karaites is not Jewish (although Karaites in Krasnodar and Novorossiysk were persecuted). Nevertheless, after the war, the process of migration of Karaites abroad, and above all to Israel, and, most importantly, the strongest assimilation by the Russians, is gradually gaining momentum. In 1979, there were 3.3 thousand Karaites throughout the USSR, of which 1.15 thousand were in the Crimea. In 1989 in the USSR - 2.6 thousand, of which in Ukraine - 1.4 thousand (including in the Crimea - 0.9 thousand, as well as in Galicia, Volyn, in Odessa), in Lithuania - 0 , 3 thousand, in Russia - 0.7 thousand. In the 1990s. the national movement intensified, kenasas were opened in Vilnius, Kharkov, the opening of kenasas in Evpatoria is planned. However, the clear downward trend in national self-awareness leaves little chance for this nation. The language, with the exception of the Karaites of Lithuania, is known only to the older generation.

Today there are no more than 0.8 thousand Karaites in Crimea, which is 0.03% of the population of Crimea. Using the status of the "indigenous people of Crimea" (along with the Crimean Tatars and Krymchaks), they had 1 seat (out of 98) in the parliament of the republic, in accordance with the amendments to the Law "On elections to the Supreme Council of Crimea" adopted on October 14, 1993 (the new Constitution of Crimea 1995 and the new 1996 Constitution of Ukraine deprives them of such a quota).

Krymchaks

Krymchaks (Crimean Jews) have lived in Crimea since the Middle Ages. They were distinguished from other groups of Jews (Ashkenazi and others), who appeared in Crimea much later, in the 18-19 centuries. colloquial(special dialect of the Crimean Tatar language) and traditional way of life. In the 14-16 centuries. their main center was the city of Kaffa (modern. Feodosia), at the end of the 18th century. - Karasu-Bazar (modern Belogorsk), from 1920s - Simferopol. In the 19th century, the Krymchaks were a small, poor community engaged in crafts, agriculture, horticulture and viticulture and trade. At the beginning of the 20th century. Krymchaks also lived in Alushta, Yalta, Evpatoria, Kerch, as well as outside the Crimea - in Novorossiysk, Sukhumi, etc. Representatives of the Krymchaks took part in the Zionist movement. In 1941-42. most of the Krymchaks died during the German occupation of Crimea. In the 1970s and 90s. the high level of migration to Israel practically led to the disappearance of this people from Crimea and countries the former USSR... The number of Krymchaks in Crimea before the war was 7.5 thousand, in 1979 - 1.05 thousand, in 1989 - 679 people, in 1991 - 604 people. (or less than 0.02% of the modern population of Crimea). Currently, being considered one of the "indigenous peoples of Crimea" (along with the Crimean Tatars and Karaites), they had 1 seat (out of 98) in the parliament of the republic, according to the amendments to the Law "On elections to the Supreme Soviet of Crimea", adopted on 14.10.93 ( the new Constitution of Crimea in 1995 and the new Constitution of Ukraine in 1996 deprive them of such a quota).

Crimean Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks and Germans

In 1941, by order of the Soviet government, about 51 thousand Germans were deported from Crimea to the eastern regions of the USSR; in May 1944, after the liberation of the Crimea from the Nazis, the Crimean Tatars and the remnants of the Crimean Germans (0.4 thousand) were deported; a month later, in June, the same fate befell the Greeks (14.7, or 15 thousand), Bulgarians (12.4 thousand) and Armenians (9.6, or 11 thousand), as well as foreign nationals living in Crimea: 3.5 thousand Greeks, 1.2 thousand Germans, Italians, Romanians, Turks, Iranians, etc.

Armenians known in the Crimea from the 11th century. In the 11-14 centuries. they migrated to the peninsula from Amshen and Ani (Asia Minor), settled mainly in the cities of Kaffa (Feodosia), Solkhat (Old Crimea), Karasubazar (Belogorsk), Orabazar (Armyansk). In the 14-18 centuries. Armenians ranked second in number in the Crimea after the Tatars. In the future, the colony was replenished with immigrants from Armenia, Turkey, Russia. Since the 12th century, they have built 13 monasteries and 51 churches in the Crimea. In 1939, 13 thousand Armenians lived in Crimea (or 1.1% of the total population of the republic). After the deportation of 1944, Armenians began to settle in Crimea again in the 1960s. - immigrants from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia, Central Asia. In 1989, there were 2.8 thousand Armenians in Crimea (of which 1.3 thousand were citizens). Only a small part of them are descendants of those deported from Crimea after the war.

Bulgarians appeared in the Crimea at the end of 18-19 centuries. in connection with the Russian-Turkish wars. In 1939, 17.9 thousand Bulgarians (or 1.4%) lived in Crimea. Due to the performance of Bulgaria during the war of 1941-45. on the side of Nazi Germany, all Bulgarians were deported from the Crimea. Today their repatriation is the least organized (in comparison with other nations).

Greeks lived in Crimea since antiquity, having numerous colonies here. Descendants of the ancient Greeks - immigrants from Trebizond Empire- "Romeus" with their native Crimean Tatar language and modern Greek (Mariupol dialect) - who lived in the region of Bakhchisarai, in the bulk were withdrawn in 1779 from the Crimea to the northern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov in the region of Mariupol (present-day Donetsk region of Ukraine). The settlers of modern times (17-19 centuries) - "Hellenes" with the New Greek (in the form of dimotic) language and the Pontians with the Pontic dialect of the New Greek language - settled in Kerch, Balaklava, Feodosia, Sevastopol, Simferopol, etc. In 1939, Greeks accounted for 1.8% of the republic's population (20.7 thousand). The deportation of 1944 left a very difficult psychological mark on the national consciousness of the Greeks; until now, many of them, when returning to the peninsula, prefer not to advertise their nationality (even after 1989, Greeks were practically not registered in Crimea); there is a strong orientation towards going to Greece. Among those returning to Crimea, a significant part are descendants of the Pontic Greeks, who were deported in 1944-49. from various regions of the North Caucasus; likewise, the Crimean Greeks settled in the North Caucasus.

Germans began to populate the Crimea since the time of Catherine II. It was the only one of the old-timers' groups in Crimea that did not mix much with the Crimean Tatars and did not adopt almost anything from the Tatars (neither in language nor in culture). On the contrary, already in the 20th century. the Germans-townspeople in Simferopol, Yalta and others did not differ in their everyday life from the Russians. In 1939, there were 51.3 thousand Germans in the Crimea, or 4.6% of the republic's population. Most of them were evicted in 1941, a small part - in 1944. Today, both the descendants of the Crimean Germans and the Germans of the Volga region and other areas return to Crimea (all Germans from the European part of Russia and Ukraine were deported at the beginning of the war). When they return, they, perhaps, experience the least difficulties in comparison with other peoples. Neither the local population, nor the Crimean authorities, nor the Ukrainian authorities have anything against their return, and even, on the contrary, they in every possible way invite the Germans to settle in Crimea (do they hope for a financial flow from Germany?).

On November 1, 1997, about 12 thousand Bulgarians, Armenians, Greeks and Germans returned to Crimea ("NG", December 1997). All these groups, as descendants of the "deported peoples", had 1 seat in the parliament of the republic out of 98, in accordance with the amendments to the law "On elections to the Supreme Soviet of Crimea" adopted on October 14, 1993 (the new Constitution of Crimea 1995 and the new Constitution of Ukraine 1996. do not provide for such quotas).

Ashkenazi Jews in the 1930s. had a Jewish national (Larindorf) region in Crimea; in addition, Jews lived in Evpatoria, Simferopol, Dzhankoy and Freidorf (western Steppe Crimea) regions. The number of Jews in Crimea in 1926 - 40 thousand, 1937 - 55 thousand (5.5%), 1939 - 65.5 thousand, or 5.8% (including Krymchaks -?), In 1989 - 17 thousand. (0.7%).

The most plausible version of the numerous sharp turns in the fate of the Crimea is set forth in "NG" 03/20/98 in the article by Ph.D., Associate Professor S.A. Usov "How Russia Lost Crimea". This article directly speaks about the role of Jews in the sad fate of the Crimean Tatars, Germans and other problems. After the revolution of 1917 (the role of Jews in the revolution is known) and the civil war, about 2.5 million Jews remained on the territory of the USSR, i.e. half of their number in the collapsed Russian Empire. Most of them lived in the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. In 1923, after the mass death of more than 100 thousand people in Crimea from the famine of 1921-22, the majority of whom were Crimean Tatars, the USSR and the USA almost simultaneously began to discuss the idea of ​​creating a Jewish national autonomy by resettling Jews from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia on land in the Black Sea region. In the USA, this idea was pushed through by the Jewish charitable organization "Joint", and in the USSR - by the elite circles of the capital's intelligentsia, close to Maria Ulyanova and Nikolai Bukharin. In the fall of 1923, a report was presented to the Politburo through Kamenev with a proposal to create by 1927 state autonomy of Jews within the regions of Odessa - Kherson - Northern Crimea - the Black Sea coast to Abkhazia, incl. Sochi. The supporters of this secret project were Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin, Rykov, Tsyurupa, Sosnovsky, Chicherin, etc. Gradually discussing the project reduced the territory of the alleged Jewish autonomy (and in January 1924 already the Jewish Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, federated with Russia) to the size of Northern Crimea. The "Crimean Project" received wide support in the circles of Jewish financiers of the West, future US presidents Hoover and Roosevelt, leaders of the World Zionist Organization, and was included in the agenda of the Jewish Congress of America in Philadelphia. The US Congress, although it did not have diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia, decided to finance the Crimean Project through the Joint organization. After that, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, based on Kalinin's report, adopted a resolution on the possibility of organizing Jewish autonomy in Crimea. The resettlement of Jews to the Steppe Crimea began; The increased secrecy of the project was "blown up" by the chairman of the Ukrainian All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Petrovsky, who gave an interview to Izvestia, after which the situation in Crimea escalated sharply. The unrest of the Crimean Tatars and Germans began; the Tatar intelligentsia, in opposition to Jewish autonomy, wished to create a German one in the north of Crimea. In early 1928, Veli Ibraimov, the chairman of the Crimean Central Executive Committee, who actually led the sabotage of Moscow's orders to allocate land to Jews in the steppe part of Crimea, was arrested and shot three days later. After that, under the personal control of the Menzhinsky GPU, the closed trial "63" was fabricated, according to which, for resisting the Jewish colonization of Crimea, they were exiled to Solovki and there they shot the bloom of the Tatar national intelligentsia. The unrest of the Crimean Germans was harshly suppressed. With the aim of freeing lands for the resettlement of Jews to Crimea, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR urgently approved a special law recognizing the North Crimean funds as lands of all-Union significance for the resettlement needs of the USSR; at the same time about 20 thousand Crimean Tatars were deported to the Urals. Massive land acquisition for new settlers began. In total, 375 thousand hectares were withdrawn - it was planned to resettle 100 thousand Jews here and proclaim a republic. On February 19, 1929, in an atmosphere of increased secrecy, an agreement was signed between the Joint and the government of the USSR on the financing of the Crimean project by the Americans, according to which the Joint allocated 900 thousand dollars per year for 10 years at 5% per annum. The payment of the debt was supposed to begin in 1945 and end in 1954. The USSR government undertook to issue bonds for the entire loan amount and transfer them to the Joint, and this organization distributed shares among wealthy American Jews - including Rockefeller, Marshall, Roosevelt, Hoover and others. In total, by 1936 "Joint" transferred more than 20 million dollars to the Soviet side. By that time, Stalin was already pursuing a policy of destroying his competitors - Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, and others. Soon Stalin decided to form two Jewish regions in Crimea (instead of an autonomous republic), and an autonomous region was created on Far East in Birobidzhan; later, everyone who took part in the project of a Jewish republic in Crimea was destroyed. Nevertheless, it was not for nothing that the Germans were deported from Crimea in 1941 - they were avenged for their anti-Jewish actions. When the Crimea was occupied by Nazi troops, resentment against Moscow in the light of the "Crimean project" was the main reason for the alliance of the Crimean Tatars with the German fascists. With the outbreak of the war with Hitler, Stalin was forced to reconsider his policy towards the Jews; the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (EAK) was created. In the United States, EAK representatives were reminded of the USSR's obligations regarding the Crimean Project loan; a little later, the fulfillment of these obligations was the main condition for the extension of the Marshall Plan to the USSR. In 1944, a petition from the leaders of the JAC was sent to Stalin to create a Jewish republic in the Crimea, and now it was no longer only about the northern regions of Crimea, but about the entire peninsula. In May 1944 Crimean Tatars, and a month later Armenians, Bulgarians and Greeks were deported from Crimea. The leaders of the JAC have already begun to distribute among themselves the highest posts in the future republic. However, a little later, the USSR supported the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Stalin again began to have fits of suspicion about the Jews, a lawsuit was started against the leaders of the JAC; after Stalin's sudden death in 1953, this campaign ended. Khrushchev's decision to transfer Crimea to Ukraine was caused by the fact that the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR took the obligation to allocate land for the resettlement of Jews to Crimea under an agreement with the Joint. Thus, the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine was aimed at closing the issue of the obligation to the Zionist organizations of the United States to allocate lands and create a Jewish state in Crimea.

This story is indirectly mentioned by the experts of the Applied Social Research company and the Center for Management Design S, Gradirovsky and A. Tupitsyn in the article "Diasporas in a Changing World" ("Commonwealth of NG", ј7, July 1998), saying: "At least two attempts to transform Crimea into the Jewish Autonomous Region in the 1920s and late 1940s. " (p. 14).

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to especially note the main trends that characterize the Crimean Tatar nation today, after many years of exile and the difficulties of finding a homeland:

• For 50 years of their life in deportation, Crimean Tatars completely changed the rhythm of life and professional orientation in the sphere of production, from rural steel to a mostly urbanized nation.
• The general educational level of the people has grown.
• The dominant features were enormous capacity for work and an active life position.
• There are no dependent moods.
• The self-perception of the people as a single nation was strengthened. The conventional division into tats and nogai disappears.
• Nationalist sentiments have intensified among the youth.
• The development of culture and language has been greatly slowed down.
• Religion and many of its canons were transformed into national customs and traditions.
• The spiritual basis of the Crimean Tatars' worldview was love for the Motherland and the desire to return to Crimea.
• Crimean Tatars did not accept the state ideology, having repeatedly experienced its deceit and inconsistency.
• There was a constant feeling of being "inferior" and, as a consequence, mental tension among the entire people.
• It is possible to state discrimination based on ethnicity in all spheres of public life.
• Inconsistency between the mentality of the nation and its position in the state structure of the country (Crimea).
• Lack of prospects for national development.

Today, more than ever, not just one-two-time assistance is needed, but targeted support for a whole range of economic, cultural, social, religious and educational programs to strengthen the very shaky positions of the Crimean Tatars in order to strengthen Islam and Muslims in Crimea.

Notes:

Some old and new names major cities Crimea

Literature

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