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Crimean Karaites

Ethnoreligious group

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  • 7 chapters

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The Karaite religion, known in Eastern Europe as Karaism, split from mainstream Rabbinical Judaism in the 19th and 20th centuries, though differences date back to the 12th century. They have lived alongside Krymchaks. Most Karaites in the region do not consider themselves to be Jews, associating the ethnonym with Rabbinical Jews alone, but rather consider themselves to be descendants of the Khazars, non-Rabbinical Judeans, or other Turkic peoples.

Research into the origins of the Karaites indicates they are of ethnic Jewish origin and are genetically closely related to other Jewish diaspora groups. Some researchers believe they originated in Constantinople and later settled in the Byzantine Principality of Theodoro.

A closely related group, the Slavic Karaites, were formally accepted into the Karaite ethnoreligious community of Crimea after the deposition of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917. They are descendants of ethnic Russian Subbotniks. However, most Slavs claiming to be Karaites in Eastern Europe are not members of the Karaite ethnoreligious community, and are not accepted as legitimate Karaites.

Origins

Turkic-speaking Karaite Jews (in the Crimean Tatar language, Qaraylar) have lived in Crimea for centuries. Most modern scientists regard them as descendants of Karaite Jews who settled in Crimea and adopted a Kypchak language. Others view them as descendants of Khazar or Cuman, Kipchak converts to Karaite Judaism. Today, many Crimean Karaites reject ethnic Semitic origins theories and identify as descendants of the Khazars. Some specialists in Khazar history question the Khazar theory of Karaim origins, noting the following:

  • the Karaim language belongs to the Kipchak language subgroup of Turkic, and the Khazar language arguably belongs to the Oghuric group; there is no close relationship between these two Turkic languages;
  • According to the Khazar Correspondence, Khazar Judaism was, most likely, Rabbinic Judaism. The tradition of Karaite Judaism ranks only the Tanakh as a holy book and does not recognize the Talmud;
  • Khazars disappeared in the 11th century. But, the first written mention of the Crimean Karaites was in the 13th century;
  • Anthropologic researches show similarity between Crimean Karaites of Lithuania and Egyptian Karaite Jews.

In 19th century Crimea, Karaites began to distinguish themselves from other Jewish groups, sending envoys to the czars to plead for exemptions from harsh anti-Jewish legislation. These entreaties were successful, in large part due to the tsars' wariness of the Talmud, and in 1863 Karaites were granted the same rights as their Christian and Tatar neighbors. Exempted from the Pale of Settlement, later they were considered non-Jews by Nazis. This left the community untouched by the Holocaust, unlike other Turkic-speaking Jews, like the Krymchak Jews that were almost wiped out.

Miller says that Crimean Karaites did not start claiming a distinct identity apart from the Jewish people before the 19th century, and that such leaders as Avraham Firkovich and Sima Babovich encouraged this position to avoid the strong antisemitism of the period.

From the time of the Golden Horde onward, Karaites were present in many towns and villages throughout Crimea and around the Black Sea. During the period of the Crimean Khanate, they had major communities in the towns of Çufut Qale, Sudak, Kefe, and Bakhchysarai.

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