KARAITE JUDAISM

A Guide to its History and Literary Sources

EDITED BY

MEIRA POLUACK

BRILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2003

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 CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES DURING

THE SIXTEENTH TO EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES

Golda Akhiezer

Most of the historical documents relating to the Karaites stem from

the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. They consist of corre-
spondence between the communities within the Crimea and beyond,
notebooks, receipts, and the like, that inform us about the structure
of the communities, their economic condition, their spiritual and
family connections, and mutual support. To date, only a small pro-
portion of these documents have been published and not all are
readily available to scholars from Israel and the West since some of
them are dispersed in various archives, both governmental and pri-
vate, in the former Soviet Union.
A considerable proportion of the Tatar documents from the Crimean
Khanate was lost or destroyed during the Russian invasion of the
capital of the Khanate Bakhchisarai in 1736, when the Russian army
burned the khan's palace, and in the period of the migrations of the
Tatars that was the result of the Russian invasion, and afterwards,
as well as in the period of Soviet domination. 1 The main source of
documentation from the rulers of Crimea that have been published
are the yarliqs, writs of rights that were granted to the subjects of
the Khanate, whether Muslim or protected minorities, by the Tatar
khans. 2 There is also some statistical data on the ethnic makeup of
the population of Crimea and the more fragmentary data on the

1 Some were destroyed following the Bolshevik Revolution and some in 1944

when Stalin ordered the expulsion of the Tatars from the Crimea, upon the accu-
sation that they collaborated with the Nazis, and then an effort was made to destroy
any recollection of their history and culture. Only a portion of the documents have
been preserved, that were transferred to Moscow and St. Petersburg by scholars.
This has, however, barely been published at all, similar to the material that was
taken to Turkey by the waves of immigration after the Russian conquest of the
Crimea.
2 See the collection ofyarliqs from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries in Firkovich,

Ancient Documents and Laws Regarding Karaites, pp. 57-105.

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employment of Karaites, which we find primarily after the Russian

conquest. 3 The Ottoman sources, which include the results of cen-
suses and give us a sense of the different population groups and the
types of taxes and their rates, relate only to the territories that were
under the direct control of the Ottoman Empire, which was only a
section of the Crimea. Furthermore, in most cases no distinction can
be made between Rabbanite and Karaite Jews in these sources. Apart
from these Ottoman sources that mainly refer to the seventeenth
century until the Russian era, we must suffice ourselves on the most
part with the numerical information supplied by travelers from var-
ious periods. 4 This data is, however, fragmentary by nature and not
always precise.
One of the most important kinds of sources for the history of the
Crimean Karaites are the chronicles that were written by Karaites,
themselves. The most outstanding composition of this genre is the
Chronicle by 'Azariah ben Eliyah of Chufut-Kale, who described the
events of the civil war in the Crimea in the period of the Russian
invasion (1777-1783). This occurred under the rule of the last Crimean
khan, Shahin Giray, who had been elevated to the throne by the
Russians. As an eye-witness, 'Azariah recalled the hardship and
suffering of the population of Crimea, in particular, that of the
Karaites. 5 There are also epigraphic sources for the study of the his-
tory of the Karaites in Crimea. In particular there are burial inscrip-
tions, which were published by Abraham Firkovich, 6 however one
must exercise caution when using these on account of the many forg-
eries. 7 The epigraphic material from Jerusalem, burial inscriptions
from the cemetery in Abu Tor, 8 provides information about pil-
grimage and family connections between the communities of the
Crimea and that in Jerusalem. 9

3 Pallas, Journey Throughout the Crimea, pp. 62-208.

4 Further on this information see -+ Kizilov, Travelers.
5 For this genre see Akhiezer, Events under the Rule, chapter on "The Place of

'Azariah in Jewish Historiography."

6 Firkovich, Aunei Zikkaron.

7 On the problematic nature of this material see Shapira, Studies in a Karaite

Community.
8 Ben-Shammai, Reiner, "Abu-Tor Karaite Tomb Inscriptions".
9 Akhiezer, "Crimean Karaites' Connection to Jerusalem".

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 731

7he Karaite Settlements in Crimea: General Background

The major centres of the Karaite settlement in the Crimea were the
coastal cities: Keffe and Gozleve, and in the mountainous and hinter-
land areas: Sulkhat, the first thirteenth century capital of the Crimean
Tatars, and the fortress cities of Chufut-Kale and Mangup. Karaites
lived in the coastal cities even before the Ottomans conquered them
and expelled the Genoese in 1475. From that year the coastal cities
and also the Christian principality of Mangup (or Theodora) came
under the direct rule of the Ottoman Empire, whilst the city Keffe
became the capital of the vilayet, 10 and most of the territory of the
Crimean peninsula became a vassal state of the Empire, the Khanate
of Crimea. As for statistics on the size of the population of Crimea
we can say that the Ottoman authorities conducted two population
censuses. These were held in the years 1529 and 1545 in the provinces
of the Empire. 11 According to the census of 1529 there were 1721
Jews in the territory that was under direct Ottoman rule, whilst in
1545 this number had declined to 1134. 12 This data is partial and
does not reflect the situation in the whole of Crimea. In addition,
it is not known, what proportion of the Jews mentioned in the doc-
uments were Karaites. From these statistics we can only outline dis-
tinct trends in the life of the Jewish communities.
One of the reasons for the population decline was the Cossack
incursions into Crimea from Zaporozh'e and Don, including the area
under direct Ottoman domination. Cossacks cruelly murdered the
inhabitants of Crimea without sparing any particular religion and
inflicted severe damage to the Crimean economy through the system-
atic pillage and destruction of the towns and villages. 13 The follow-
ing is an inscription from the cemetery in Mangup from 1629:
[...] Mamuq the wife of the Rabbi [....] Yi~l:taq, the unhappy, from
the holy congregation of Kale, when there came shaven heads 14 in the
city of Mangup they smote her with lead 15 and she passed away on
Sunday, 27 lyyar [...] (Avnei :(,ikkaron, p. 214, no. 53).

10 The largest administrative unit in the Ottoman Empire. It subdivided into

three san:jaks. At the head of the unit was a wali.

11 Fisher, "The Ottoman Crimea in the sixteenth century", pp. 135-l 70; Berindei,

Veinstein, 1he Population qf the Southern Crimea.

12 Fisher, ibid., p. I 70.
13 Fisher, "The Ottoman Crimea in the mid-seventeenth century", pp. 215-226.
14 Referring to the unique Cossack haircut.
15 Shot with live ammunition.

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Fisher points out that in the wake of the Cossack incursions the pop-
ulation of the vilayet was decimated and according to the figures that
he brings the number of non-Muslims decreased by 69% in a period
of less than a hundred years. The number of Jews decreased by
73%, which was more than any other population group. 16
According to a survey that was conducted in Keffe in 1545 there
were 134 Jewish households which was 8% of the total number of
non-Muslim residents of the city. The Karaite community in the
fortress city of Mangup was founded (or continued to grow) following
the considerable migration from Istanbul in the end of the fifteenth
century and endured until 1793. Upon the conquest of Istanbul by
Sultan Mehmet II and due to the siirgiin 17 policy that he applied from
1453 18 onwards, the Karaites, most of whom had lived in Adrianople,
the sultan's former capital, were compelled to remove themselves to
Istanbul, which then lay in ruins. As can readily be seen from inscrip-
tion copies in Avnei Zikkaron many Karaites moved from Istanbul to
Chufut-Kale and Mangup during this period (see further below).
In the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries Chufut-Kale claimed
a sizable and well-established Karaite community, and most of the
documents that have reached us from that period stem from there.
Hence, necessarily this article is primarily devoted to the history of
the community of Chufut-Kale. This city functioned as the capital
of the Crimean Khanate until the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury. The Khan Mengli Giray 19 transferred the capital to Bakhchisarai
upon completion of its construction and Chufut-Kale became a kind
of ghetto where mostly non-Muslims remained, Jews and some
Armenians. As a suburb of the new capital, Chufut-Kale began to
develop economically, reaching the peak of its prosperity in the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries, and this prosperity was sustained
until the Russian conquest.
One of the important testimonies on the Karaite inhabitants of
this city is that of the Turkish traveler, Evliya Chelebi, who visited
Crimea twice between the years of 1641 and 166 7. 20 He provides

16 Fisher, "The Ottoman Crimea in the mid-Seventeenth Century", p. 219.

17 Siirgiin means the population transfer from a province to the capital city with
the aim of developing it and without the right to leave.
18 Hacker, "The Ottoman System", pp. 27-82.
19 The period of his reign: 1467-1474; 1475-1476; 1478-1514.
20 Shapira, "Evliya Chelebi".

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 733

the most interesting details about the life of the Karaite communi-
ties in Mangup and Chufut-Kale. He emphasises the Jewish char-
acter of Chufut-Kale: "There are no Muslims there at all and even
the commander of the fortress, the soldiers in the fortress, the guards
and gate-keepers are all Jews." Evliya also mentions that there were
l ,530 houses of Jews there and that the poor members of the com-
munity lived in caves carved out of rock. In Mangup he lists "seven
whole quarters of Jews" in which there were l ,000 houses. These
numbers are undoubtedly exaggerated, and probably there were only
a few hundred houses. According to the data in the census 21 there
were only 76 Jewish households, and in 1649, 68 households, and
later, in 1662, just 51 (compared to 48 households in 1529). 22
From the eighteenth century we have numerical evidence con-
cerning four communities in the Crimea (Chufut-Kale, Gozleve,
Keffe, and Mangup) by Siml).ah Yi~l).aq Lucki, one of the great sages
of that generation. According to him:
in all of them there are some 500 households, in the holy congrega-
tion of Kale there are close to 300. In the holy congregation of Kozlev
some 105 people. In Keffe some 50. And in the holy congregation of
Mangup some 40. Further, in the city of Sulkhat close to the holy
congregation of Keffe, there had been earlier a great congregation and
the synagogue in it was much larger than all other synagogues. And
now, there is only a ~azzan there who watches over the synagogue
[...] in each of the three congregations there is one regular house of
study for a Talmud Torah and in each house of study a separate teacher
and they study all day from morning till night without a break.
Lucki adds that in Chufut-Kale there were seven houses of study,
yet three of them were not active. Over thirty students studied with
Lucki himself, in the house of study in Chufut-Kale. 23 We can also
elicit evidence from other sources that are chronologically close to
that of Lucki's testimony. In 1769 a German trader Nikolaus Kleeman
visited the Crimea. He wrote that there were 120 houses in Chufut-
Kale.24 Prof. Tunmann also noted the figure of 120 houses in his

21 Fisher, ibid., p. 221; Fisher, "The Ottoman Crimea in the Sixteenth Century",

p. 151.
22 Cf. Shapira, ibid.
23 Cited by the friend of Sim~ah Yi~~aq Lucki, Yi~~aq ben Yi~~aq from Luck

in his letter dated 1755 to Avraham, the judge from Troki. See Mann, Texts and
Studies, II, pp. 1326-1327, no. 156.
24 Kleeman, Journey from Vzenna to Belgrad, p. I 05.

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734 GOLDA AKHIEZER

book on the Crimea, which he began to write in 17 77. 25 Romm

listed 200 houses and 1,200 inhabitants in 1786, 26 and a traveler
Piotr Sumarokov27 noted 227 houses in 1799. 28

Karaites in the Tatar Khanate: Their Social Status and Occupations

There is but little information on the subject of the taxation of the

Crimean Karaites, as of the Jews in general. Apart from the types
of taxes mentioned in the yarliqs that refer to the Karaites of Chufut-
Kale, there are no documents from other regions of the Crimea,
since these were not under the direct rule of the Ottoman Empire
and so we have no numerical data regarding taxation.
The Jewish population in the Crimea, similarly to the Christian
population, were of protective status, paying the jizya. Landowners,
whether Muslim or protected, paid, in addition, the land tax, (kharq:j)
to the Tatar ruler. In the above mentioned Chronicle written by
'Azariah ben Eliah there is unique information about a policy change
relating to taxation in the Khanate during the reign of the last khan
of Crimea, the reformer, Shahin Giray. 'Azariah adds new data on
the means of collection, the new tax rates that were paid by the
population, and the members of the Karaite community who rep-
resented them to the rulers:
[...] The king instructed that there be brought from all the taxable
towns and villages twenty notables from among the leaders and gather
them together, and also he asked of us two men. And there went from
among us two men who were important and honourable, the hon-
ourable master Binyamin,29 the faithful, the sage, and the honourable
Rabbi Yosef the honourable 30 [ •••] And we were not concerned about
what this was about but it was very terrible and all the appointed men

25 Tunmann, The Crimean Khanate, p. 32.

26 Romm, A Journey to the Crimea, p. 70.
27 Sumarokov, A Journey Throughout the Crimea and Bessarabia, pp. 140-141.
28 Further on the testimonies of travelers --+ Kizilov, Travelers. Further on the

history and topography of the Karaite settlements in Chufut-Kale and Mangup --+
Kizilov, Communites.
29 Binyamin ben Shemuel Aga was among the leaders of the community of

Chufut-Kale, see below.

3°Concerning him see Smirnov, "A Khan Yarliq", pp. 57-58. This yarliq was

granted him in 1778 by Khan Shahin Giray as "the head of the royal mint."

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were gathered together before the king Pasha, called Qaimaqam 31 and
the king made a decree saying: 'which do you want? Either to give
the tax as our religion has established, which is forty-eight pure silver
shekels for a rich man, and twenty-six for the medium, and twelve for
the poor; 32 or as the custom of kings that preceded me who used to
take from you as their heart desired. Choose for yourselves the better
way'. And they gave a reply and all the people answered unanimously
saying that 'we will give the tax as his heart desires' and he said to
take as is the custom of the Tugars. 33

This passage refers to the change in the taxation procedure and the
equality between Muslims and the protected peoples (dhimma) that
was instituted by Khan Shahin Giray, to the dissatisfaction of his
subjects who saw it as slighting the laws of Islam.
We can also learn from the yarliqs34 granted to the community of
Chufut-Kale by the khans about the Karaites' rights within this city.
Members of the community were employed by the khan as care-
takers and used for guarding of the fortress of Chufut-Kale (which
stood about seven kilometers from the capital, Bakhchisarai). Therefore
they received special benefits: release from various taxes, including
an exemption from angarias, 35 from the requirement to house ruling
officials and soldiers in their homes and give them horses, carts, and
so on. 36
The Jews of Chufut-Kale complained to the khan about the new
taxes that they alleged were too high, and "after they related their
distress, all the 'new ones' 37 were annulled, afflictions by the Beks 38
from the fortress, angarias and other services for the Beks-everything
was utterly annulled; the Bek of the city, Ahmad Pasha was censured,

31 Qgimaqam: Qaim Maqam (= Head of the district) was like a qiir/z (=Judge) in
Crimea and represented the judicial authority. In addition they also exercised polic-
ing activities and carried out special assignments for the authorities. In 1783 there
were six Qaimaqam districts in Crimea that included 44 Qgdy!J!ks.
32 A defined tax. 48 weights = 7 roubles and 20 copecks in Russian currency.

24 weights = 3 roubles and 60 copecks. 12 weights = l rouble and 80 copecks.

See Fisher, The Russian Annexation, p. 88.
33 Akhiezer, Events under the Rue! of Shain-Giray, lines 143-151, 2b.
34 Firkovich, Ancient Documents.
35 Forced labour for the king.

36 Firkovich, Ancient Documents. The yarliq from Salemat Giray Khan from 1608

(see pp. 62-66).

37 The reference is apparendy to taxes that the Begs (see the next note) would

collect arbitrarily.
38 'Bek' or 'beg' was a tide of honor in the Ottoman Empire and in Crimea.

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rebuked and forbidden to sit in the session of the divwn 39 in the pres-
ence of the Jews." 40 Thetypes of tax and their rates were fixed by
the khan and we find them detailed in some the yarliqs. In some of
these documents the khans delineate the boundaries of the lands that
belong to the members of the Karaite community and prohibit the
use of these lands both by the Tatars, including those in the khans'
service, and by Christians living in their vicinity41 for their needs
(ploughing and pastureland) or the building of fences there. 42
Despite the protection of their rights and benefits enjoyed by the
Karaites, on occasion they suffered from the rulers' arbitrariness.
The Russian consul, Nikiforov, who was staying in the palace of the
khan, Qrim Giray, 43 noted in a report that among the reasons that
lead to the deposition of the khan by the Turkish sultan was that
whilst carrying out the construction of the royal palace in Bakhchisarai
the Jews and Christians were compelled to work for nothing. Fur-
thermore, large sums of money were extorted from them for royal
purposes "until the construction work lasted all day, [and] there was
taken and extorted from the Greeks-two-hundred, Armenians-
seventy, and Jews-three-hundred people, and not one asper44 was
paid for their labour". 45
In one of the Karaite documents that has been preserved from
the period of Qrim Giray Khan, we are told of a young Karaite
lad, Yosef Sirkegi from Chufut-Kale, who was employed in the build-
ing work on the palace. Upon seeing the young man's beauty, the
khan commanded that he join the dancers in his court and convert
to Islam. Yosef, however, refused to convert. This incident is described
in the document as "an impure incident" and it is one of the many
cases of the arbitrariness of the Tatar rulers, as it says "and this
theft was one of a thousand. " 46

39 Diwan: in the Khanate of Crimea it was the khan's council, the government.
4°Firkovich, Ancient Documents, p. 64.
41 The Greek Orthodox monastery, 'Monastery of Dormition ('Uspenskij skit',

Rus.), in the Valley of St. Mary (Mejrem dere, Tarar.), that is about one and a
half kilometers from Chufut-Kale.
42 See, for instance, the yarliq from Canibek Giray from 1635, Firkovich, ibid.,

pp. 77-79.
43 Qrim Giray ruled from 1758 to 1764, and from 1768-9.
44 Asper: a small Turkish coin.
45 Murzakevich, "Russian Resident's accounts", p. 377.
46 Mann, Texts and Studies, II, no. 3, p. 461.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 737

The inhabitants of Chufut-Kale were engaged in raising sheep,

planting vineyards, viniculture, and the production of food, and var-
ious crafts. Most of the inhabitants of Mangup worked in leatheryY
Members of both places also engaged in trade. Evliya Chelebi testifies
that they went each morning to Bakhchisarai with their merchan-
dise, but towards evening they would have to leave the city. This
bears witness to the ban by Muslims on the settlement of Jews in
the capital. 48
One finds in Avnei Zikkaron examples of many offices and profes-
sions within the community. For example: ~azzan (nos. 409, 456 and
more); melammed---elementary teacher (nos. 454, 463, 477 and more); a
teacher of Torah (nos. 322, 348), gabbai (nos. 516, 531 and more), sqfer
(no. 326). One may surmise that a number of these had an addi-
tional profession, not necessarily in the service of the community.
In the seventeenth century the Turkization process of Karaite soci-
ety was accelerated. We find in Avnei Zikkaron more Turkish names
from this period, particularly of women, than Hebrew names. The
following are examples: Mamuq (no. 383), Sultan (no. 406), Altin
(no. 465), Shumluq (no. 450). This is one of the signs of the integra-
tion of the Karaite community in Tatar society. 49 No small number
of community members found employment in the court of the khans
(no. 4 70, 1756). Titles such as celebi (no. 413, 1713) and pasha (no. 356,
1671) were in use within the community. As a result a class of affluent
people rose up within the Karaite community which mingled with
Tatar society, defending the interests of the community and also sup-
porting other Karaite communities (no. 145, no. 474, 1757).
The Aga family were just such court jews. 5° Shemuel ben Avraham
and his son, Binyamin were the main characters from this family in
the period we are discussing. Shemuel Aga, one of the community's
leaders, also known by the title rosh ha-golah (exilarch), was appointed by
the Tatar khan, Qjrim Giray, in October 1768, to mint coins in the
court. He then received the title Aga. A yarliq from this year testifies

47 Cf. Shapira, "Evliya Chelebi".

48 Cf. Shapira, ibid.
49 One should point out, nevertheless, that in many Jewish communities from

diverse geographical areas one finds a large proportion of foreign names amongst
the women.
50 Aga, the title that was carried from the family usage to that of the adminis-

tration is the title that indicates one who is rich and of distinguished birth; the
holder of an important office.

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to this appointment. 51 Binyamin Aga, his son, was the leader and
intercessor for the Karaite community of Chufut-Kale. 52 In addition
he was an expert in halakhah and was an authority on the calendar. 53
After the rise to the throne of the new khan, Binyamin Aga was
granted, as his father had been, the appointment to mint coins in
the court. Binyamin Aga, himself, was very active working for his
community and supported the community in Jerusalem. 54 When
Shahin Giray rose to power and decided to carry out a series of
economic and political reforms, he leased the customs duties on the
sale of wine to Binyamin Aga in 1781. 55
According to 'Azariah, Binyamin found a way to annul the evil
decree, when Devlet Giray, the pretender who seazed the throne in
177 7, falsely accused the Karaites and the monks from the Monastery
of Dormition of stealing the khan's money, and attempted to extort
from them a sum they were unable to pay. 56 Following the annex-
ation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia he managed to serve as
the official head of the community, and continued to represent it,
as one of its leaders, before the Russian authorities. In 1795, he was
chosen together with Solomon ben Nal).amu Babovich and Yi~l).aq
ben Shelomoh Lucki from Chufut-Kale to travel to Saint Petersburg
for a special mission to the government. The delegation succeeded in
achieving for the Karaites in Crimea exemption from the double tax
that was imposed on all the Jews of the Russian Empire. They also
managed to obtain other rights for their brethren, such as the right to
purchase immovable property. 57 In 1806 Binyamin resumed, together
with his brother, Siml).ah, a publishing house in Chufut-Kale. 58

51 Firkovich, Ancient Documents, pp. 102-105. See his tombstone in Firkovich, Avnei

Zikkaron, no. 498. In this inscription he is described as "a good counselor and an
excellent judge, the Head of the Bet-Din [...] over all the congregations he is like
a candle". Similarly, it is stated that he was murdered: "his blood crying out from
the earth to a jealous God who takes vengeance."
52 He died in 1824. See Firkovich, Avnei ,Zikkaron, no. 555.

53 For epistolary correspondence between other sages, see, for example, Mann,

Texts and Studies, II, nos. 37, 38, pp. 433-443.

54 His name heads a list of donors to the Karaite community in Jerusalem that

was appended to a letter from 1775 from the community of Chufut-Kale to the
members of the Jerusalemite community, see Mann, ibid., p. 457.
55 Lashkov, Shahin-Giray, the Last Crimean Khan, p. 23.
56 Akhiezer, Events under the Rule qf Shain-Giray (lines 38-40; I a).
57 Babovich, Foreword to Or ha-Levanah; Pigit, Iggeret Nidhei Shemuel; Poznanski,

Avraham ben Yoshiyahu the Karaite. Further on this delegation -+ Miller, Karaites of
Czarist Russia.
58 The first publishing house in the Crimean Peninsula was established in 1734

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 739

In the latter half of the seventeenth century, the community of

Chufut-Kale, which approached the apogee of its economic pros-
perity, regularly lent aid to other communities such as Luck, Troki,
Damascus, and in particular, the community injerusalem. 59 Important
data on the extent of financial support sent by the Karaite com-
munities in Crimea may be found in a letter from 177 5 from the
community of Chufut-Kale to the community in Jerusalem. 50 Detail
of the annual contributions is brought in this letter, from which we
can compare the economic situation of the different communities:
Chufut-Kale contributed the largest sum, 686 guruJ and 26 pieces, 61
Gozvele contributed 343 guruJ and 14 pieces, Mangup offered 40
guru} and Keffe 30 guruJ. In the letter it is also stated that the commu-
nity of Chufut-Kale imposed upon the community of Egypt the sum
of 300 guru} and l 00 guru} on the community of Istanbul. Damascus
is absent from the list since at that time it was dependent on the
communities of Crimea. In addition to the community in Jerusalem,
the Crimean communities, lead by Chufut-Kale, also supported other
communities. For example, in 1774 the synagogue of Haskol 2 was
burnt and the leaders of the Karaite community in Istanbul asked
for help from the communities in Keffe, Chufut-Kale, Mangup and
Gozleve. 63 The community of Chufut-Kale, headed by Binyamin
Aga, also helped the Karaites of Istanbul in repairing their syna-
gogue that was burnt in 1794. 64

by brothers Afeda and Shabbtei Yeraqa, who moved from Istanbul to Chufut-Kale,
see Akhiezer, "Crimean Karaites' Connection to Jerusalem".
59 The sources inform us about the Karaite community in Ottoman Jerusalem

that was resumed by David ben Yeshu' from Cairo and numbered 27 people. The
date of its establishment corresponds roughly with the end of Muhammad ibn
Farukh's period in office (1625-1627). The community lapsed into economic crisis
on account of debts to the authorities after the death of David ben Yeshu' in 1647
in Luck whence he had travelled to collect donations. The community was reor-
ganized by Shemuel Levi, who had migrated from Damascus in 1744 with twenty-
four of his family members. See Wilensky, "Rabbi Elija Afeda Bagi"; Mann, ibid.,
pp. 125-127, 321-332; Akhiezer, "Crimean Karaites' connection"; Ben-Zvi, "A let-
ter"; Cohen, Simon-Pikali, Jews in the Moslem Religious Court, Sixteenth Century, pp.
112, 151, 172, 298, 317; Cohen, Simon-Pikali, Salame, Jews in the Moslem Religious
Court, Seventeenth Century.
60 Mann, ibid., p. 455, no. I.
61 'Piece': a small coin. Forty pieces were equal to one piastre.
62 One of the quarters of Istanbul in which there was a significant Jewish

concentration.
63 Mann, Texts and Studies, II, pp. 353-358.
64 Mann, ibid., pp. 1392-1393, no. 169; p. 1394, no. 170.

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740 GOLDA AKHIEZER

Education and Learning amongst the Crimean Karaites

In Chufut-Kale there were scholars, houses of study, and Torah

schools. This is reflected in Avnei Zikkaron, in the following inscrip-
tions: "He built this Midrash (Study house) and dedicated money to
instruct our poor" (no. 403, 1702); "She consecrated her house as
a Torah School" (no. 430, 1726); "A scholar, possessing the Torah,
who teaches the Torah of Moses" (no. 438, 1666).
We do not have sufficient data to evaluate the quality of the edu-
cation received in Chufut-Kale and in the Crimea in general. There
is evidence that many of the scholars of Chufut-Kale studied Torah,
as well as astronomy and other subjects65 in Istanbul, whilst Chufut-
Kale itself was not a centre for Torah. 66 There were, however, some
scholars of distinction in the Crimea, such as Moshe Pasha ben
Eliyahu, who lived in the second half of the sixteenth century. He
was the author of a commentary on Haqdamat ha-A~ulah by Aharon
the First. Moshe ben Eliyahu Levi (died 1667), another scholar, wrote
a work called Darosh Darash Moshe, composed many poems and copied
books. In 1654/5 he visited the Land of Israel and the communities
of Egypt and Damascus. 5 7 Avraham ben Yoshiyahu Yerushalmi (died
after 1734),68 the grandfather of Binyamin Aga, mentioned earlier,
wrote two works: Emunah Omen on the principles of the Karaite faith
versus that of the Rabbanites, and a halakhic composition on the
laws of ritual slaughter. He used to cite from Maimonides, R. Abraham
Ibn Ezra, R. Joseph Karo, as well as from the Talmud and the
Midrash. He revealed expertise in Rabbanic halakhah and his writ-
ing style is close to that of Rabbanite literature. Shemuel ben Y osef
(died 1764) wrote a commentary, entitled Mlil Shemuel on the work
called Sifer ha-Mivbar by Aharon ben Y osef.
Yi~l).haq ben Shelomoh69 (born 1755), one of the heads of the
community in Chufut-Kale, wrote a number of works: Iggeret Pinnal
Yiqrat on ten principles of faith, was written in the form of questions
and answers. He also composed Moladot (lunar calculations) for 34

65 See, for instance, Mann, ibid., pp. 545-546.

66 As was Istanbul until the sixteenth century, towards the seventeenth century
Eastern Europe became the spiritual centre of the Karaites.
67 On this trip see Gurland, Ginzei Yisrael, pp. 221-267.
68 Poznanski, Avraham ben Yoshiyahu the Karaite.
69 See about him in Mann, ibid., pp. 468-474.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 741

years (1806-1840); and a commentary on the Song of Songs. His

most important work was Or ha-Levanah in which he advocated cal-
endar reform. He was the first in Crimea to introduce a uniform
system of fixing the calendar in order to put an end to the long-
standing calendar dispute among the Karaites. In this context he
wrote the following:
And, behold, in former times all the communities of the Karaites were
greatly perplexed and every month through doubt split into two camps,
until in the same city half of them would sanctifY whilst the other half
would profane. And they would make light of one another. Until the
father would sanctifY on Sunday and the son on Monday. Therefore,
we became the ridicule and derision of all the non:Jews and nations
that would deride us and assert that we do not know clearly our law
and religion. 70
Yi~}:thaq ben Shelomoh's calendar reform lead to a fierce dispute
among the communities of Crimea that lasted many years. This
dispute was the turf on which a stormy struggle broke out between
the leadership of Chufut-Kale and Gozleve over the position of
supremacy. 71 In 1811, a group of scholars from the community of
Gozleve arrived in Chufut-Kale headed by the sage, Binyamin ben
Eliyahu Duvan, in order to conduct the polemic with Yi~}:thaq ben
Shelomoh about the reform. Duvan, one of the leaders of the com-
munity of Gozleve and an authority in halakhic matters, had stud-
ied astronomy in Istanbul in 1782-1783 72 and had showed great
interest in the Kabbalah. 73 Polemics and disputes on calendrical mat-
ters had aroused interest in astronomy and advanced the acquisition
of scientific knowledge in this field amongst the Karaite educated
circles. As for Yi~}:thaq ben Shelomoh, he won in the debate with
Duvan, and it was decided by a majority to accept his reforms.
Binyamin Duvan and his followers, however, did not yield and con-
tinued with the old system. In the test of time, the system advanced
by the author of Or ha-Levanah was successful: the head sage of the
Crimean Karaites, Na}:tamu ben Shelomoh Babovich declared in

70 Yi~l_lhaq ben Shelomoh, Moladot, pp. 29-30; Yaari, Travel to the Land qf Israel,

pp. 459-478.
71 Further on the reforms in the Karaite calendar -> Shemuel, Karaite Calendar.

72 Gurland, Ginzei Yisrael, pp. 44-54; 87-88; Mann, Texts and Studies, II, pp. 323,

327, 342, 472-474; Yaari, ibid., pp. 459-478.

73 Binyamin ben Eliyahu Duvan, ENA, JTS N.Y. Mic. 3364; JNUL Mic. 32049.

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742 GOLDA AKHIEZER

1872 that the book, Or ha-Levanah, was an authoritative source for

setting the annual calendar. 74
Yi~l).haq ben Shelomoh was considered one of the greatest reli-
gious authorities on halakhic questions in his generation. He intro-
duced a number of halakhic regulations, such as the prohibition of
the purification of gold and silver vessels without passing them through
fire; the declaration that clay vessels that had not been viewed as
impure were in fact impure and permission for weddings to take
place during the Ten Days of Penitence. 75
On the subject of the studies in the House of Study such as the
age for the students, the curriculum, and the duration of studies, the
source material is very minimal. A manuscript from 17 74 written by
a young man by the name of Yosef from Chufut-Kale 76 is most
informative in this respect:
I set my aim and thoughts to inscribe the year of my entrance into
Beit Midrash (the House of Study) of Rabbi Hillel, the Torah sage,
may God preserve him, and behold the year of my entrance into his
Beit Midrash in the year 5537 from the Creation [1777]. I sat in his
Beit Mishnah for one and a half years. Mterwards I left the Beit
Midrash and entered the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Yi~l).haq Kalfa, the
most high sage, may God preserve him. Likewise, I sat in his Beit
Midrash for one and a half years, altogether three years and within
the three years I read Sifer ha-Miv~ar and the S&r E! /fayyim and Sifer
ha-Moreh, 77 and Sifer ha-M~wot and also Sifer ha-Adderet. 78 I also read
within the three years some 300 books, both of compositions of our
ancient and recent sages and of compositions of the Rabbanites, may
they rest in peace. When I entered the Beit Midrash I was 18 years
old and upon leaving I was 21 years old and afterwards I entered to
my father to study medicine. 79

This manuscript is am important source for the research of the edu-

cation system amongst the Crimean Karaites: the writer began his

74 Mann, ibid., p. 474.

75 Mann, ibid., pp. 528-529.
76 The reference is to Yosef ben Arye Qusdini, who wrote Perush 'Asarah 'Iqqarim.
77 Maimonides, Guide to the Perplexed.
78 The halakhic work, Adderet Eliyahu, by Eliyahu Bashyachi was not accepted by

all the Karaite communities. The communities of Cairo and Damascus rejected
Bashyachi's halakhic reforms, and also in the Crimea the question of whether to
accept them was disputed. On this work see further --+ Lasker, Karaite Byzantine
Thought; --+ Frank, Exegesis and Halakhah in Byzantium.
79 Yosef, SPb Inst. of Oriental Studies, B 156; JNUL, Mic. 53079.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 743

complementary (or secondary) studies in the Beit Midrash at the age

of eighteen. Apparently beforehand he had studied at a Talmud Torah
(primary studies institution), however, we do not know until which
age. He began to learn a profession only after his three years of
study and it is reasonable to assume that his father, the doctor,
financed him during these years. We can not be certain whether this
was typical within the community, wherein many may have com-
bined their studies with the acquisition of a profession. As for the
selection of books which formed the syllabus, the trend is clear: the
combination of the study of Karaite works together with Rabbinic
literature. Y osef mentions the two major works of Maimonides, whose
writings were widespread amongst the learned folk of Crimea and
Poland-Lithuania. 80 The instructor, Rabbi Yi~}:lhaq Kalfa, in whose
Beit Midrash Yosef studied, was one of the well-known sages, a
~azzan and teacher in Chufut-Kale. 81
The general fields of interest and trends in religious education
which were typical of the learned Karaites of the Crimea include
halakhic works, in particular on the laws relating to the calendar,
illicit sexual relations, Sabbath (especially the use of fire on the
Sabbath) and ritual slaughter. These subjects had remained bones
of contention within Karaite society for hundreds of years and the
disputes between those who favoured a lenient approach and those
supporting a more strict interpretation took place in the Crimea, as
well. Bible exegesis was another field, as well as a few polemical
works dealing with the veracity of Karaite beliefs as opposed to those
of the Rabbanites. The last genre developed especially in Poland-
Lithuania and works on this subject were also brought over to Crimea.
Rabbinic literature was, as mentioned, fairly widespread in Crimea.
The learned Karaites from Poland-Lithuania had a great impact
on the Hebrew language, the ways of thinking and the education of

80 Many manuscripts containing Rabbanite texts were in use by Karaites, for

example, Mishneh Torah, fragments of the Mishnah (Abot, Baba Qama, Kil'ayim),
fragments from the Zohar, and more: Rabbanite texts, RNL Evr. II, A 597, JNUL,
Mic. 65295.
81 See the tombstone inscription in Avnei Zikkaron, no. 533, where he is described

as "the gazelle of the generation" and "the crown of the communities", "wise of
heart" and "natural" and "divine" and so on. He composed Sifer Ziz Ne::;er ha-Qgdesh
on the laws of ritual slaughter and 'Aseret 'Iqqarei ha-Emunah. His name also appears
in a list of signatories to a letter from 1775 from Chufut-Kale to the sage, Shemuel
ben Avraham ha-Levi in Jerusalem, see Mann, Texts and Studies, II, p. 458.

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744 GOLDA AKHIEZER

the Crimean Karaites. 82 From the middle of the eighteenth century,

and during the ninteenth century, there was a small stream of schol-
ars to Chufut-Kale from Poland-Lithuania. In 1754 Sim]Jah Yi~]Jaq
ben Moshe Lucki arrived in Chufut-Kale and was appointed as the
head of the Beit Midrash. 83
One should stress that apart from the influence of the Karaite
sages from Poland-Lithuania, the Crimean Karaites were also sus-
ceptible to the influence of their brethren in Istanbul. Istanbul had
its own sages and halakhic schools of thought and the types of
Rabbanite literature written and published there were not common
in Poland-Lithuania. These included historical chronicles that were
also known to the learned amongst the Crimean Karaites.
The Crimean Karaites, nevertheless, as opposed to those in Poland-
Lithuania did not live in educated Rabbanite surroundings that were
able to exert a meaningful influence on the Torah education amongst
the Karaites. The Crimean Rabbanites did not produce well-known
scholars 84 nor notable Y eshivot or Batei Midrash, at least, not when
compared with Poland-Lithuania. The Karaites from Poland-Lithuania,
on the other hand, had a great influence on the Torah education
amongst the Crimean Karaites. These maintained constant contact
with the Karaites of Poland-Lithuania, received books from them,
and scholars who migrated from Poland-Lithuania brought forth dis-
ciples in Crimea. 85
The contacts in the field of Torah study were not, indeed, sufficiendy
intensive, due to economic constraints and the wars, to lead to the
development of Torah study and the development of independent

82 This subject is a desideratum for future studies in this field.

83 See his tombstone in Avnei Zikkaron, no. 483. He died in 5528 (1768). Lucki
wrote over twenty works and many poems. His best known works are Or ha-Jjayyim,
a commentary on the work by Aharon the Second, E~ Hayyim; Orab $adiqim, on
the history of the Karaism and a list of the Karaite sages in various countries, and
various works in Kabbalah such as: Livnat ha-Sappir, an explanation of the funda-
mentals of Kabbalah; Rekhev Elohim, an explanation of the mysteries of the Chapter
of the Chariot that was seen by Jacob, Isaiah, and Ezekiel). See further on the Karaite
sages of Poland-Lithuania ---+ Astren, Historiography and Historical Consciousness.
84 The best known Rabbanite scholar from Crimea was Avraham Q}rimi who lived

in the fourteenth century in the city of Sulkhat. He was a student of R. Shemariyah

lqriti. In 1358 Q}rimi wrote an exegetical-philosophical work called Sqat Emet (RNL,
Evr. I, 50; JNUL, Mic. 50886) in response to the request of his student, I:lizqiyah
ben Ell_lanan ha-Qara'i. See Cinberg, "Abraham Krymski", pp. 97-101.
85 Further on the Karaites in Poland-Lithuania see ---+ Harviainen, Overview;

Contemporary Lithuania.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 745

schools of thought in the Crimea of similar proportions to those cur-

rent in Poland-Lithuania. There was no institution which concerned
itself with bringing students from the Crimea to Poland-Lithuania to
study Torah, or that ensured that teachers were brought to the
Crimea from there on a regular basis. Most of the scholars from
Poland-Lithuania who came to Crimea becoming the spiritual leaders
of the community, and their descendants after them, maintained
the same positions, such as the families, Lucki, Sultansky, Firkovich,
Kukizow, who arrived a short while before the Russian annexation
or immediately following it. During the period of Russian rule the
education institutions began to disintegrate as a result of economic
and demographic changes that affected the communities in the
Crimea. 86 From the mid-nineteenth century, a new ideology began
to crystallize amongst the Karaites, primarily due to the activities of
Abraham Firkovich, that lead to the gradual erasure of the Jewish
element from Karaite heritage. 87

Contacts between the Crimean Karaites Communities and their Relations

with the Crimean Rabbanites (Krimchaks)

A large proportion of the inscriptions in Avnei Zikkaron are dedicated

to the natives of other cities and countries, who were ultimately
buried in the cemetery at Chufut-Kale. This phenomenon reflects
the migratory process as well as family8 8 and other ties between the
various Karaite communities within the Ottoman Empire and Eastern
Europe.
One finds among the inscriptions a number of Greek names and
denominations common amongst members of the community of
Istanbul, for instance, "Archoropola the daughter of the honoured
rabbi, Y ehuda Fuki, the grandson of the author of the book Sha'ar

86 See further -> Miller, Karaites in Czarist Russia.

87 On the changes in Karaite self-perception and identity during this period see
Akhiezer, "The Historical Consciousness"; -> Astren, Historiography and Historical
Consciousness; -> Harviainen, Overview; Abraham Firkovich.
88 Due to the small number of Karaites, who numbered between a few hundred

to a few dozen individuals, and on account of the many and intricate marriage
prohibitions between the most distant relatives in Karaite law, it was occasionally
difficult to find a suitable marriage partner from within the local community. For
this reason marriage between members of different communities was common.

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746 GOLDA AKHIEZER

Yehuda, born in Qusdina" (no. 350, 1668). Y ehuda Fuki was a well-
known scholar from Istanbul (died in 1580). There are other names
from the burial inscriptions of a similar vein such as Eanaria (no.
451) and Afda Yeraqa (no. 552).
Relations between Crimea and Byzantium in all fields had existed
from the earliest times. 89 Letters have been preserved from the
Ottoman era, including correspondence between Crimean and Istanbul
Karaites (mainly from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries) of
which only a small proportion has been published. 90 One of the well-
known characters from Crimea was Siml).ah ben Shelomoh (Siml).ah
Qusdini) who was a native of Gozleve and a former resident of
Chufut-Kale. He was one of the heads of the community of Chufut-
Kale, had studied Torah under Siml).ah Yi~l).aq Lucki and was counted
among the sages of his generation. 91 In 1772 after the Russian inva-
sion Siml).ah ben Shelomoh left the Crimea and became the spiri-
tual leader of the community in Istanbul. Despite this he kept in
touch with the sages of Chufut-Kale, especially with Yi~l).aq ben
Shelomoh, the calendar reformer, with whom he corresponded.
In Avnei :{,ikkaron one also finds other residents of other cities in
the Crimea, for instance, from Sulkhat: The tombstone of one
'Ovadiah ben Yi~l).aq from Qj.rim (Sulkhat) (no. 323, 1632). This
inscription and one other are evidence of the deterioration of the
Karaite community in this city, as mentioned above by Lucki. 92
Apparently towards the end of the seventeenth century some of the
residents of that community migrated to Chufut-Kale.
We also come across members of the community of Mangup, such
as "Mordechai ben Eliyah from the congregation of Mangup" (Avnei
:{,ikkaron, no. 316, 1607) and more (nos. 200, 238, 244). This com-

89 The first documented reference to the Karaites in Crimea appears in a work

by Aharon ben Yosef, a Karaite sage who lived in Byzantium and was apparendy
born in Sulkhat. In his work, Sifer ha-Mivbar, a commentary on Genesis, mention
is made of the polemic between Karaites and Rabbanites in Sulkhat in 1278 con-
cerning the calendar. See Ankory, Karaites in Byzantium, p. 60, n. 12. Also --+ Frank,
Exegesis and Halkhah in Byzantium.
90 See, for example, Wilensky, "Rabbi Elija Meda Bagi"; idem, "Exchange of

letters"; pp. 201-211; Asaf, "Karaites in the Orient", pp. 181-222; Karp, "Sefer
derekh ha-qodesh", pp. 481-497.
91 SimQ.ah ben Shelomoh wrote a number of works such as Derekh Selulah, also

known as Orab Hayyim, which is a commentary on ~ Jjayyim by Aharon ben Eliyahu;

Zivbei Shelamim-on the laws of ritual slaughter; Miqra'ei Qgdesh.
92 Missing text.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 74:7

munity maintained close connections with Chufut-Kale due to their

geographical proximity. There are a few names of immigrants from
Poland-Lithuania. For example, Troki (Firkovich calls him ish meroqy);
a tombstone of one by the name of Moshe ben Yosef (no. 317,
1607). Listed in Avnei .:(ikkaron is the tombstone of the previously
mentioned Siml).ah Yi~l).aq Lucki (no. 4:83, 1769) who had a strong
influence on the spiritual life of his own and the following genera-
tion. In the course of the eighteenth century many families from
Poland-Lithuania moved to the Crimea due to the various events
and processes that brought about the destruction of the communi-
ties there. These events included the Great Northern War (1700-1720),
when Poland was conquered by Sweden, Saxony and Russia; a plague
that broke out in 1710 and obliterated most of the Karaite popula-
tion of Lithuania; 93 scarcity and hunger, and the fierce competition
that persisted with the Rabbanites.
One of the tombstones (no. 353, 1669) is dedicated to a Moshe,
without mention of his father's name. To this notice Firkovich appends
the following remark: "He was one of the Crimean Rabbanites, a
teacher of Torah in Kale." It is likely that there was also a Rabbanite
population in Chufut-Kale, however we have almost no evidence of
it. The Rabbanite population of Crimea, were Krimchak Jews, a
mix of various Rabbanite ethnic groups: Italian and Sephardic Jews,
who reached Crimea with the Genoese and settled along the coastal
cities; Iraqis, Eastern Europeans, and others. One of the main centres
of the Krimchaks was the city Karasubazar (today, Belogorsk).
One of the greatest Rabbanite scholars, Rabbi Moshe Ya'aqov
from Kiev, 94 known as R. Moshe ha-Goleh (14:4:8-1520) was an
important personality also for the history of Karaism. He maintained
extensive ties with the Karaite scholars in Kiev, 95 Luck, Keffe, and
in Istanbul, where he pursued Torah and secular studies, and he
polemicized with them everywhere on halakhic matters and in

93 Shelomoh ben Aharon, Elegy, pp. 259-261. According to Shelomoh of the

thirty communities there remained only three (Troki, Luck, Ponevezh); in Avnei
Zikkaron, p. 352/3, Firkoviczhmentions 32 places. Cf. Mann, Texts and Studies, II,
p. 570.
94 Cinberg, "Avraham Qjrimi", pp. 102-109; Epstein, "Rabbi Moses of Kiev",

pp. 146-150.
95 There was a Karaite community in Kiev, too, in the fifteenth century, that

maintained contact with the Karaites of Istanbul and Crimea. See Mann, ibid.,
p. 1173, no. 118.

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748 GOLDA AKHIEZER

particular on the principles of faith. Among the many works he wrote

was O~ar Nebmad, Yesod ha-'Ibbur, Sifer ha-Diqduq, O~ar ha-Shem, Shoshan
Sodot, Sha' arei $edeq, Sifirot 'Ef:yonot. Most of his works, however, have
been lost. 96 One of his works, a polemical tract on Sifer Can 'Eden
by Aharon of Nicomedia, written as marginalia to the book, aroused
a storm in the Karaite communities of Troki, Luck and Istanbul. In
1482/3, during the Tatar invasion of Kiev, many residents were
taken captive, including R. Moshe's children, and they were taken
to Crimea, and the work vanished together with all of Moshe's pos-
sessions, whilst he, himself, succeeded in escaping. In order to re-
deem his captive children R. Moshe collected donations from both
the Rabbanite and Karaite communities with which he nevertheless
continued to polemicise. 97 This work, that has not reached us, en-
raged the leaders of the Karaites, and Eliyahu Bashyachi and Caleb
Afendopolo saw it as a danger to believers and composed responses
to it. 98
In 1506, whilst in Liady, R. Moshe was taken captive by the
Tatars who brought him to Sulkhat where he was redeemed by both
the Rabbanite and KaraiteJews together. 99 He settled in Keffe where
he was appointed as the head of the important Jewish community
and became famous, among other reasons, for composing a new
prayer formula for the Crimean Rabbanites known as minhag k4fe
("the custom of Keffe"). He instituted eighteen decrees pertaining to
the life of the community since it was divided between the Italian,
Ashkenazi and Babylonian prayer customs. 100 It is interesting to note
that despite all the turns of fate in his life, R. Moshe maintained
contacts with Karaites from a number of different places, and the
fierce polemic aside, they lent him a hand in the redemption of
captives.
'Azariah ben Eliyah provides testimony for the help provided by
Rabbanite Jews, who had testified before the khan in favour of the
Karaites when they had been slandered by the Armenians and

96 See O~ar Ne&mad, RNL, Evr. I, 72; JNUL Mic. 50920; Shoshan Sodot, Library
Zuerich Zentralbibliothek Heid 95; JNUL Mic. 10379; 10447 Yesod ha-'Ibbur, SPb
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy, JNUL, C 97, Mic. 69322.
97 Mann, Texts and Studies, II, pp. 1179-1181, no. 117a.
98 Mann, ibid., p. 1170, no. 117, 117a.
99 Cinberg, ibid., p. 108.
100 Cinberg, ibid., p. 109.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 749

Albanians. These two ethnic groups, according to 'Azariah, were sol-

diers in Shahin Giray's army. 101
The head of the Krimchak community in Karasubazar was David
ben Eli'ezer Lekhno (d. 1735). He owes his fame to the historiographic
work he wrote on the history of the Khanate of Crimea between
the years 1681 and l 731. 102 Lekhno was on friendly terms with mem-
bers of the Karaite community. In Firkovich's first collection there
are two letters written by Lekhno. One, from the year 5465 (1705),
was sent to the Karaite community of Chufut-Kale, then headed by
Moshe Sinani. Lekhno asked of the people of Chufut-Kale to help
in the construction of a synagogue in Karasubazar. 103 The second
letter was sent by Lekhno in the year 5488 (1728) to the Karaite
community of Keffe. Here he requested them to contribute to the
Rabbanite community of Hebron that had trouble paying a debt to
the authorities. Lekhno mentions that he has already turned to the
community of Chufut-Kale with the same request, and that their
leaders, Eliyahu Fuki and Yi~}:laq Sinani had agreed to provide
financial support for the Rabbanites of Hebron. 104
There is no doubt that the Karaite and Rabbanite communities
provided each other with mutual aid when necessary, and appar-
ently connections were maintained in other fields as well, however,
the material on this subject is sparse. The relations between the com-
munities began to deteriorate significantly during the period of Russian
dominion when the Karaites began to disconnect themselves from
Judaism and this process was accelerated by the authorities' gradual
grant to the Karaites of equal rights to the Russian population. 105

The Russian Conquest qf the Crimea and the Changes it E.ffected on the
Lift qf the Communiry

In the eighteenth century, the Khanate of Crimea, the vassal state of

the Ottoman Empire, became the object of the expansive aspirations

101 See Akhiezer, Events under the Rule qf Shahin-Giray, lines 82-89, 2b.
102 Devar Sifatayim was partially published by Markon and was partially translated
into Russian by Finkel. See Lekhno, "Devar Sefatayim"; Lekhno, trans. by A. Finkel.
103 The letter has not been published. It is mentioned in Markon's (Dvir) edi-

tion, see p. 246 n. 105.

104 Asaf, "Karaites in the Orient", ibid., pp. 214-215.
105 See further ---+ Miller, Karaites in Czarist Russia.

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750 GOLDA AKHIEZER

of the Russian Empire. The Khanate had suffered from unstable

government, corruption, and continuous disputes between the Tatar
tribes. This situation facilitated Russian penetration. Catherine the
Great, the Russian Czarina, 106 planned to remove Crimea from the
custody of the Porta, by granting independence to the Khanate
(which the khans themselves had never requested), and at a later
stage, to annex it. The war between Russia and Turkey (1768-1774)
weakened both the Ottoman Empire and the central rule in the
Crimea. In 1774, an agreement was signed between Russia and the
Porta Kuc;uk Kaynarca, according to which Crimea acquired inde-
pendence from the Ottoman Empire.
Shahin Giray rose to power through the Russians. As he had
received a European education, his dream was to turn his home-
land into a progressive and developed country, following the west-
ern model. From the start of his reign in 1776 and during the next
six years he carried out a series of economic, social and military
reforms. However he encountered fierce opposition from both the
ruling elite, the Beys, 107 from whom land was taken by the khan,
and from the military, who were unwilling to accept the establish-
ment of an army based on the western model. The Muslim popu-
lation considered that grant of equal rights to all inhabitants in the
reforms as an affront to their religion and tradition. For these rea-
sons, revolts erupted against Shahin Giray on a number of occa-
sions until 1783. These revolts were, however, cruelly suppressed by
the Russian army and by Shahin's forces. 108
All these events in the Crimea brought about far-reaching changes
in the lives of the Karaites. An inscription in Avnei Zikkaron, 109 dedi-
cated to an Esther, the daughter of Eliyah, bears witness, appar-
endy, to the invasion of the Russian army under Field-marshal Von
Munnich in 1736 in Bakhchisarai, in the course of which the local
population was harmed, including local Karaites. It states: "whilst

106 She reigned in the years 1762-1796.

107 In the Crimean Khanate 'Bey' was the tide of the heads of the Tatar tribes.
The Bey was a landowner (bryliq) and conscripted soldiers in the territory that was
under his jurisdiction.
108 On the Russian annexation of Crimea see Fisher, 77ze Russian Annexation;

Lashkov, Shahin-Giray, 77ze Last Crimean Khan; Akhiezer, Events under the Rule qf Shain-
Giray.
109 See p. 133 (dated to 1736).

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 751

fleeing from the Greek host 110 she died along the way from Rakho
and was buried alone and a year later her son took her from there
and buried her among the graves of the community."
There can, indeed, be no doubt that during the revolts against
Shahin Giray matters gready deteriorated. Over 12,000 people died
during the revolt, that in effect became a civil war, and ended with
Shahin Giray's victory. These were Crimean inhabitants, and the
figure included women and children and the elderly who had died
from cold and hunger. 111 Those Karaites, as other residents, who
were not participating in the revolts tried to escape from the batde
zone and it is reasonable to assume that the demographic picture
changed totally in this period. On occasion entire communities
uprooted themselves and moved to join another community. This
happened, for instance, with the community of Gozleve in 1782, as
described by 'Azariah ben Eliyah. 112 After the ships of the Russian
navy approached the coast of Gozleve, all the members of the com-
munity abandoned the city, some heading for Chufut-Kale, and oth-
ers dispersed themselves among the various villages surrounding
Gozleve. In 1777, after Shahin Giray had ended the first wave of
revolts against him with the aid of the Russian forces, some 120
Karaite families from Chufut-Kale began to flee from the city to the
villages in the region, fearing the Russian soldiers who were approach-
ing the city. Some of them fled to the village of Ozen Ba§. Shahin
Giray's troops together with Russian soldiers entered the village,
robbed the residents, and put to death all those who supposedly
sought refuge with the opponents of the khan. Il3 As testified by
'Azariah:
And first they raided the great Ozen Ba§ and there were there some
sixty householders from the community of Israel [... ] and they rose
at night from their beds, and there was a mighty cry from amongst
them and they fled from there [...] and they smote them a mighty
blow and they showed them all their treasure houses and they took
from them all the gold and silver that they had with them and they

110 'Greek host': Russians or Cossacks, soldiers of the Orthodox faith.

111 See SolO\jev, The History of Russia from the Ancient Times, vol. 29, p. 280.
112 This section is missing in the manuscript of 'Azariah's work but may be recon-

structed on the basis of Firkovich's Russian translation, see K. zh. ibid., p. 69.
113 Ozen Ba§ was one of the first villages from which the rebellion broke out

against Shahin Giray, see Akhiezer, Events under the Rule of Shain-Giray, line 97, lb.

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752 GOLDA AKHIEZER

brought them to all the houses to show them in which house there
was much money, and then they burnt all the houses of those where
they had found the money of the spoil that had been taken from
Magzil Hana 114 [ •••] and afterwards, all those found there were gath-
ered together and brought before the most eminent from among them
and he decreed that they should be killed on account of their leaving
their homes to seek refuge amongst those who would not provide sal-
vation and they also put to death there all those in that village who
could not escape. 115

Statistical data about the Crimean population is provided by P.S.

Pallas, who wrote about the geography of Crimea, having visited
there about ten years after the Russian invasion. 116 According to his
estimate, in 1793/4 there were about 200 Karaite households in
Chufut-Kale and in total about 1,200 people. In the nearby Bakhchi-
sarai the Karaite populated had grown. This was apparently due to
the massive immigration of the Tatars and the transfer of Christians
to Russian territory. 117 He states that there were 1561 households in
Bakhchisarai, totalling 5, 776 people. Of these, around 3,000 were
Tatars, 204 were Greeks, 51 Armenians, and 1,162 Jews. 420 of the
Jews were registered as traders, whilst among the Tatars there were
only 287 traders. The Jews had two synagogues and independent
jurisdiction. Some of these Jews were Karaites from Chufut-Kale
who had began to develop businesses in Bakhchisarai after restric-
tions against this had been removed by the Russian authorities, when
most of their Christian competitors had left the Crimea.
Lashkov provides data from the reports by the Qgimqams from
17th December, 1783 concerning the intact and damaged houses of
the Crimean population. He states that in Bakhchisarai there were
217 Jewish houses (that is, about 1,085 souls) and damaged houses
were not reported, whilst from amongst the 1,215 houses of Tatars,
27 houses were destroyed. In Karasubazar there were 93 Jewish
houses (around 465 people) whereas amongst the Tatars 666 houses

114 Some kind of warehouse where the khan and the Russians kept their money,

merchandise, and items that were pillaged from the Tatars in the course of the
revolt. The soldiers searched the houses for the stolen property.
115 Akhiezer, ibid., pp. 54-65; 2a.
116 Pallas, Journey Throughout the Crimea, p. 77. See further - Kizilov, Travelers.
117 In 1779 Catherine decided to transfer 30,000 Christians from Crimea to the

Azov province. See Akhiezer, ibid., chapter on the reliability of numerical data in
'Azariah's work.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 753

were intact and 193 houses were damaged. In addition, there remained
16 empty houses, after their owners had migrated from the Crimea.
As noted, there were in the whole of Crimea 469 Jewish house-
holds (about 2,345 people). It would be reasonable to suppose that
some of these were Rabbanite Jews, at least in Karasubazar. Apparendy
the statistics for the Jewish population of Bakhchisarai also relate to
the nearby Chufut-Kale, at least partially. As far as the data relat-
ing to damaged houses we can discern a distinct pattern. There is
no report concerning any Jewish house having been destroyed, even
in those places that were the focus of the revolt, which was sup-
pressed most cruelly such as in the region of Bakhchisarai and
Karasubazar where the Tatar population was slaughtered and their
houses were burnt. This statistic does not reflect the entire picture
in this matter. It is possible, nevertheless, that the destruction of
houses was carried out selectively by the Russian army commanders,
whereas regarding Jewish neighbourhoods no orders were given for
the systematic destruction of houses as the Jewish population was
regarded as supporting the revolt.
During the civil war some of the Tatar population fled to Turkey.
The waves of emigration increased following the final conquest in
1783 reaching a climax in 1785/8. 118 It is noteworthy that many
Karaites grew rich through the right to sell the lands of the Tatars
who migrated to Turkey.
In 1793 practically the entire population of Mangup was expelled
by the Russians under circumstances that are unclear, and the remain-
ing members of the Karaite community moved to Chufut-Kale where
they set up their own synagogue. 119 From the end of the eighteenth
century the population of Chufut-Kale gradually declined and in the
nineteenth century there were only a few families left there. One of
the reasons for the desertion of the city was the drying up of the
water wells that occurred already in the time of Cheleby. He points
out that the residents brought them on the backs of donkeys. In
addition, Karaites streamed to the large coastal cities in search of
unlimited economic opportunities, to Keffe, Gozleve, and also to

118 According to Fisher (Crimean Tatars, p. 78) some 100,000 Tatars left Crimea

between these years.

119 See the poem composed by an exile from Mangup, Shapira, "A Karaim

poem", pp. 81-100.

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754 GOLDA AKHIEZER

regions of Russia, where, as opposed to the Rabbanites, they did

not encounter any restrictions within the Pale of Settlement, and
thus small Karaite communities were established in many cities in
the ninteenth century. Shemuel Pigit, 120 who lived in Chufut-Kale
describes in his memoirs that during the Crimean War (1853-1856)
a hundred Karaite families moved there from Gozleve and Sevastopol,
and at the head of the community there stood a Karaite intellec-
tual, Shelomoh Beim. 121 They occupied empty houses and remained
there for some years. 122
According to official data, after the Russian conquest of Crimea
the Karaite community numbered 2,400 souls. 123 Firkovich brings
different demographic data for 1835 that refers to a number of com-
munities in the Crimea and beyond, where, also, mostly former
Crimeans lived. According to these statistics there were at least 3,540
Karaites in the Russian Empire. 124 In the nineteenth century the
Karaites entered a new era in their history. The equal rights that
they acquired through the efforts of their leaders brought about their
full integration into Russian society. At the same time, this process
accelerated their redefinition of their Jewish origins and heritage and
the establishment of new institutions within the community. 125

Bibliography

General Abbreviations

ENA-Elkan Natan Adler

K zk---Karaimska;ja zhizn' (= Karaite Life)
HUS-Haroard Ukrainian Studies
]NUL-Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem

120 Shemuel Pigit (1849-1911), the grandson of Siml:mh Lucki, was an expert in

Karaite and Rabbanite literature, and the author of a number of works in Tatar
and Hebrew. He was among the last Karaite scholars to write Hebrew.
121 On this topic see Pigit, Iggeret Nid~ei Shemuel.
122 See further ---> Miller, Karaites in Czarist Russia.

123 Harkavi, Katzenelson (ed.), Jewish Encyklopedia, "Karaimy", pp. 268-297.

124 The breakdown (in households) is as follows: Odessa: 40; Nikolajev: 25; Kherson:

20; Armiansk: 100; Keffe: 80; Semfiropol: 30; Sevastopol: 40; Bakhchisarai and
Chufut-Kale: 150; Gozleve: 400. In all 885 households. Firkovich, 7he Numbers qf
the Crimean Karaites, RNL £ 946, op. 1, no. 1051.
125 See further ---> Astren, Karaite Historiogrpahy and Historical Consciousness;

---> Harviainen, Overview; ---> Shapira, Beginnings.

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 THE HISTORY OF THE CRIMEAN KARAITES 755

JTS-Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York

RNL-Russian National Library, Saint Petersburg
ZOOID-.<:_apiski Odesskogo Obshchestva Istorii i Drevnostej (= Memoirs of the Odessa
Society for History and Antiquities)

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'Azaryah ben Eliyah the Karaite, the historical chronicle, RNL Evr. IV, no. 132;
Jewish National and University Library, Mic. 69569.
Binyamin ben Eliyahu Duvan, ENA, JTS N.Y., Mic. 3364; JNUL Mic. 32049.
Firkovich A., The Numbers I![ the Crimean Karaites = Svedenija o kolichestve karaimov v
Krymu, LichnY.i arxiv, RNL f. 946 op. 1, no. 1051.
Moshe ben Eliyahu Levi, Darosh Darash Moshe, JTS N.Y., MS 3317; JNUL Mic.
32002.
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RNL Evr. II, A 2674;JNUL Mic. 67711.
Yosef, Saint Petersburg Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy, no.,
B 156; JNUL Mic. 53079.
Yosef ben Arye Qusdini, Perush 'Asara 'Iqqarim, Saint Petersburg Institute of Oriental
Studies of the Russian Academy, no. B 342; JNUL Mic. 53537.
Shemuel ben Yosef, Me'il Shemuel, RNL, Evr I, 674, JNUL Mic. 51343; Saint
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