Groups connected to the Khazars

The Crimean Karaites (sometimes known as Karaim) are a Karaite Jewish community of Eastern Europe. Originally centered in the Crimean Peninsula, the Karaim were established in Lithuania and elsewhere in Europe from late medieval times. The name "Crimean Karaites" is something of a misnomer, as many branches of this community found their way to locations throughout Europe and the Middle East. Their self-designation, Karaim (or, in the Karaim language, Qaraylar), however, is insufficient, as it fails to disti ...

Including:

• Crimean Karaites - Language
• Crimean Karaites - Origins
• Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania
• Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire
• Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust
• Crimean Karaites - Post-War
• Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia - Crimean Karaites

Abu'l Qasim Ubaid'Allah ibn Khordadbeh, the Director of Posts and Police (spymaster/postman) for the province of Jibal under the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutammid (r.869-885 CE), wrote al-Qitab al Masalik w’al Mamalik ("The Book of Roads and Kingdoms"), probably around 870. Ibn Khordadbeh described the Radhanites as sophisticated and multilingual. He outlined four main trade routes utilized by the Radhanites in their journeys. All four began in the Rhône V ...

See also:

Radhanite, Radhanite - Etymology, Radhanite - Activities, Radhanite - The text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account, Radhanite - Historical significance, Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age, Radhanite - Notes, Radhanite - Sources

Read more here: » Radhanite: Encyclopedia II - Radhanite - Activities

They are probably partially descended from Jewish colonists who settled along the Black Sea in ancient times. Jewish communities existed in many of the Greek colonies in the region. Recently-excavated inscriptions in the Crimea have revealed a Jewish presence at least as early as the first century BCE. In some Crimean towns, pagan cults called sebomenoi theon hypsiston ("Worshippers of the All-Highest God", or "God-Fearers") existed. These quasi-Jews kept the Jewish commandments but remained uncircumcised and retained certain pagan customs. Eventually, these sects disappeared as their members adopted eithe ...

See also:

Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Origins

The activities of the Radhanites are documented by Abū l-Qasim Ubaid Allah ibn Khordadbeh, the Director of Posts and Police (spymaster and postman) for the province of Jibal under the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutammid (ruled 869–885 CE), when he wrote Kitab al-Masalik wal-Mamalik ("The Book of Roads and Kingdoms"), probably around 870. Ibn Khordadbeh described the Radhanites as sophisticated and multilingual. He outlined four main trade routes utilized by the Radhanites in their journeys. All four began in the Rhône V ...

See also:

Radhanite, Radhanite - Etymology, Radhanite - Activities, Radhanite - Text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account, Radhanite - Historical significance, Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age, Radhanite - Notes, Radhanite - Sources

Read more here: » Radhanite: Encyclopedia II - Radhanite - Activities

Their status under Russian imperial rule bore beneficial fruits for the Karaim decades later. In 1934, the heads of the Karaite community in Berlin asked the Nazi authorities to exempt them from the regulations; on the basis of their legal status in Russia. The Reich Agency for the Investigation of Families determined that from the standpoint of German law, the Karaites were not to be considered Jews. The letter from the Reichsstelle fur Sippenforschung gave the official ruling in a letter which stated: The Karaite sect shoul ...

See also:

Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust

The fall of the Tang Dynasty of China in 908 and the destruction of the Khazar Khaganate some sixty years later led to widespread chaos in Inner Eurasia, the Caucasus and China. Trade routes became unstable and unsafe, a situation exacerbated by Turkic invasions of Persia and the Middle East, and the Silk Road largely collapsed for centuries. Moreover, the fragmentation of the Islamic world (and to a lesser extent, Christendom) into small states provided more opportunities for non-Jews to enter the market. This period saw the rise of the mercantile Italian city-states, especially Genoa, Venice, Pisa, and ...

See also:

Radhanite, Radhanite - Etymology, Radhanite - Activities, Radhanite - Text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account, Radhanite - Historical significance, Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age, Radhanite - Notes, Radhanite - Sources

Read more here: » Radhanite: Encyclopedia II - Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age

Russia annexed the Crimea in 1783. The Krymchaks were thereafter subjected to the same humiliations imposed on other Jews in Russia. Unlike their Karaite neighbors, the Krymchaks suffered the full brunt of anti-Jewish restrictions. During the 1800s many Ashkenazim from Ukraine and Lithuania began to settle in the Crimea. Compared with these Ashkenazim the Krymchaks seemed somewhat backward; their illiteracy rates, for example, were quite high, and they observed many superstitions . Intermarriage with the newcomers reduced the numbers of the distinct Krymchak community dramatically. By 1900 there were 60,00 ...

See also:

Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule

During the Early Middle Ages the Islamic policies of the Middle East and North Africa and the Christian kingdoms of Europe often banned each others' merchants from entering their ports.[9] Corsairs of both sides raided the shipping of their adversaries at will. The Radhanites functioned as neutral go-betweens, keeping open the lines of communication and trade between the lands of the old Roman Empire and the Far East. As a result of the revenue they brought, ...

See also:

Radhanite, Radhanite - Etymology, Radhanite - Activities, Radhanite - Text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account, Radhanite - Historical significance, Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age, Radhanite - Notes, Radhanite - Sources

Read more here: » Radhanite: Encyclopedia II - Radhanite - Historical significance

Under the Girai Khanate the Jews were required to live in separate quarters and pay a dhimmi-tax. A limited judicial autonomy was granted according to the Ottoman millet system. Overt, violent persecution was extremely rare. During the Cossack rebellions and pogroms of the mid 1600s, the Krymchaks were active in ransoming fellow Jews who had been taken captive. ...

See also:

Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule

Unlike the Karaim, the Krymchaks were targeted for annihilation by the Nazis. Six thousand Krymchaks, almost 75% of their population, were liquidated by the Nazis. Moreover, upon the return of Soviet authority to the region, many Krymchaks found themselves mistakenly deported to Central Asia along with their Crimean Tatar neighbors. By 2000 only about 2,500 Krymchaks lived in the former Soviet Union, about half in Ukraine and the remainder in Georgia, Russia, and Uzbekistan. A few hundred Krymchaks still clinging to their Crimean identity live in the United States and Israel ...

See also:

Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - The Holocaust and after

The fall of the Tang dynasty of China in 908 and the destruction of the Khazar Khaganate some sixty years later led to widespread chaos in Inner Eurasia, the Caucasus and China. Trade routes became unstable and unsafe, a situation exacerbated by Turkic invasions of Persia and the Middle East, and the Silk Road largely collapsed for centuries. Moreover, the fragmentation of the Islamic world (and to a lesser extent, Christendom) into small states provided more opportunities for non-Jews to enter the market. This period saw the rise of the mercantile Italian city-states, especially Genoa, Venice, Pisa, and ...

See also:

Radhanite, Radhanite - Etymology, Radhanite - Activities, Radhanite - The text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account, Radhanite - Historical significance, Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age, Radhanite - Notes, Radhanite - Sources

Read more here: » Radhanite: Encyclopedia II - Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age

Nineteenth-century leaders of the Karaim, such as Simcha Babovitch and Avraham Firkovitch, were driving forces behind a concerted effort to de-Judaize the Karaite community in eyes of the Russian legal system. Firkovitch in particular was adamant in his attempts to connect the Karaim with the Khazars, and has been accused of forging documents and inscriptions to back up his claims. Ultimately, the Tsarist government officially recognized the Karaim as being of Turkic, not Jewish, origin, a political ruling that has little basis in his ...

See also:

Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire

In 1392 Grand Duke Vytautas of Grand Duchy of Lithuania relocated one branch the Crimean Karaites to Lithuania where they continued to speak their own language. The Lithuanian Karaites settled primarily in Vilna (Vilnius) and Troki (Trakai), but also in smaller settlements throughout Lithuania proper and lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine, that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Karaim in Lithuan ...

See also:

Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania

Assimilation and emigration greatly reduced the ranks of the Karaim community. A few thousand Karaim remain in Lithuania, Belarus, the Ukraine, Russia and Poland. Other communities exist in Israel, Turkey, the United States, and Great Britain. At the time of this writing (March 2005), genetic testing is being conducted to ascertain their ethnic origin. ...

See also:

Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - Post-War

During the Early Middle Ages the Islamic polities of the Middle East and North Africa and the Christian kingdoms of Europe often banned each others' merchants from entering their ports.[7] Corsairs of both sides raided the shipping of their adversaries at will. The Radhanites functioned as neutral go-betweens, keeping open the lines of communication and trade between the lands of the old Roman Empire and the Far East. As a result of the revenue they brought, ...

See also:

Radhanite, Radhanite - Etymology, Radhanite - Activities, Radhanite - The text of Ibn Khordadbeh's account, Radhanite - Historical significance, Radhanite - The end of the Radhanite age, Radhanite - Notes, Radhanite - Sources

Read more here: » Radhanite: Encyclopedia II - Radhanite - Historical significance

Turkic speaking Karaites (in the Crimean Tatar language, Qaraylar) have lived in the Crimea for centuries. Their origin, is disputed. Some regard them as descendants of Karaite Jews who settled in the Crimea and adopted a form of the Kipchak tongue (see Karaim language). Others view them as descendents of Khazar (unlikely) or Kipchak (more likely) converts to Karaite Judaism. Whatever their origins, from the time of the Golden Horde onward, they were present in many towns and villages throughout the Crimea and around the Black Sea. Some of the major communities could be found in the to ...

See also:

Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - Origins

In the late 600s most of the Crimea fell to the Khazars. The extent to which the Krymchaks influenced the ultimate conversion of the Khazars development of Khazar Judaism is unknown. During the period of Khazar rule, intermarriage between Crimean Jews and Khazars is likely, and the Krymchaks probably absorbed numerous Khazar refugees during the decline and fall of the Khazar kingdom (a Khazar successor state, ruled by Georgius Tzul, was centered on Kerch). It is known that Kipchak converts to Judaism existed, it is possible that from these converts the Krymc ...

See also:

Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Middle Ages