The origin of both large and small communities of the population - peoples, nationalities and various ethnographic groups is a complex historical process, including migrations, wars, epidemics, deportations. Some populations became heterogeneous, which inevitably caused problems in understanding the history, culture, evolution of both the communities themselves and the whole world.
To solve these problems, a number of classifications were compiled based on languages, specific objects of material culture, basic phenotypic differences, etc. However, despite the existing sound historical ethnogenetic and anthropogenetic reconstructions and classifications, it cannot be argued that they fully reflect the real historical fact. In this case, special biological (genetic) research, which has been rapidly developing in recent years, could help us.
One of these areas is the study of the morphological features of the structure of human hair, which are used not only in forensic medical examination, but also to determine different ethnic groups. Based on a large number of studies on the study of hair of different nationalities, unique results have been obtained. It turned out that the edges of keratinocytes make up specific "patterns". They have, as it turned out, identical characteristics for individual genetically closely related groups that make up one or another people. The change in the pattern of the edge occurs very slowly, perhaps over several millennia.
The purpose of this work is to analyze the results of research and compare the "patterns" of hair keratinocytes using a new in science raster-electronic method (SEM) of various ethnic and ethnographic groups of Crimea, but first of all, to clarify the ethno-anthropological composition of the group of "Crimean Tatars" (breakdown produced according to the ethnic self-identification of the subjects).
The problem of the origin of the Crimean Tatars is complex and poorly understood. Although many scientific works and monographs of historians, ethnologists, and philologists are devoted to the ethnic history of the Crimean Tatar people. There are the following versions of the ethnogenesis of this people. A.L. Jacobson in his work "Medieval Crimea" directly indicates that "the ancestors of the Crimean Tatars are the Mongols". Philologists have a different version, who, relying on the features of the Crimean Tatar language, attribute this people to the Kypchak tribes (Polovtsy). The same views, in particular, are held by the Turkologist G.T. Grunina, who believes that the bulk of the Turkic-speaking population of Crimea, both before the Mongol invasion (if there was such a thing in the history of the peninsula) and after it, were Kipchaks (Polovtsy) and “only after the Mongol invasion” other Turkic tribes came to the peninsula” .
The following peoples could take part in the formation of the Crimean Tatar ethnic group: Taurians, Scythians, Greeks, Byzantines, Sarmatians, Alans, Goths, Huns, Khazars, Proto-Bulgarians, Pechenegs, Cumans (Kypchaks), Horde, etc.
According to one version, “two powerful ethnic layers” developed in the Crimea: the Tats, who inhabited the mountainous and coastal regions of the peninsula, and the Turkic, whose representatives inhabited the steppe and foothill parts.
Another classification, based on practical observations, the study of dialect differences in the language, features of the anthropological type, material and spiritual culture, made it possible to subdivide the Crimean Tatars into four groups (the fourth - conditionally, a characteristic for 1940) . The first group includes the Crimean Tatars of the southern coast of Crimea (the self-name "yaly-boylu" - "coastal"). To the second group, scientists include the population living between the First and Second Ridges of the Crimean Mountains. They were called "tats". The group of Crimean Tatars of the northern foothills, conditionally introduced by scientists, lived in the lower reaches of the Chernaya, Belbek, Kacha, Alma and Bulganak rivers and had the self-name "Tatars", less often "Turk". And, finally, the third group - the steppe Tatars of the Crimea, or "nogai", "nugai" (self-name "mangyt").
They called the "tatami" and the southern coast Tatars. The ethnonym "janaviz" is also found. The Tats population of the eastern part of the mountainous Crimea retained the self-name "tau-boyli".
During the study, external biometric data were recorded, including: eye color, color, shape, length, thickness of the hair, as well as the nature of their peripheral end, the nature and features of the lines of the cuticle pattern, the number of the latter at a certain length. Hair was cut with scissors near the surface of the skin of different parts of the head (temporal, frontal, parietal, occipital regions). The hair weights were at least 50 mm.
The shape of the hair was described using the usual notation; their length was measured according to the generally accepted method. Hair color was determined according to the color scale of G.G. Avtandilov (1964) for pathologists and forensic doctors. Brief Color Chart G.G. Avtandilov includes 107 chromatic and achromatic colors and shades. There is a nomenclature of colors, which provides scientifically based names of color shades. The color naming system has a uniform terminology. In the study of hair, a light binocular microscope MMU-modified (magnification 5000) was used.
The data obtained were subjected to a variation-statistical analysis. The name of the type of pattern of keratinocytes was given according to the monograph published in the monograph of Academician Yu.V. Pavlova (1996) classification. If some type of pattern was found in the vast majority of samples, then it was recognized as dominant for this person. And the trait found in the largest number of respondents in the group is recognized as dominant in the group.
Part of the names of the types of patterns of keratinocytes originally appeared as a result of research by Academician Yu.V. Pavlova. Part of it is the result of research by expert Alexei Novikov. General group names are used here, such as: Uralic (for the Finno-Ugric peoples), Slavic, Iranian, Turkish-Asia Minor (for the ancient population of Asia Minor), Turkish-Turkic, Turkic-Kypchak (i.e. - Tatar), Turko- Oghuz (i.e. Turkmen), Northern Mongolian (i.e. Buryat), Western Mongolian (i.e. Kalmyk), Indian (i.e. Dravidian or Tamil), etc.
In our studies, the cells of the hair cuticle - keratinocytes in the Crimean group of "Crimean Tatars" are large, have an arc. Mechanical damage to the free edges of hair cuticle cells - cracks, fractures, splitting - indicates increased hair fragility, which, apparently, is associated with their genetic, chemical and morphological characteristics.
First of all, studies were conducted of adults of both sexes in the amount of 56 people who identify themselves as "Crimean Tatars". The sample is random and determined by the nature of the work of independent experts. Respondents are evenly represented Balaklava, Yalta, Alushta, Sudak-Feodosia, Sevastopol, Bakhchisaray, Simferopol, Kirov, Leninsko-Kerch, Dzhankoy regions of Crimea, rural and urban areas. Pilot study.
In each case, when taking hair samples, the genealogy of the person was taken into account, the region from which the respondent comes from, and information about all ethnic inclusions, if known, was indicated. Such data is necessary for comparison, because in this study, an important place was given to the issues of miscegenation of the studied people, its ethnic drift. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the extreme conservatism of the Crimean Tatar population before the period of the Second World War, before the deportation in 1944, when miscegenation was extremely low, the communities were often endogamous.
In the studied Crimean group of “Crimean Tatars”, 33 types of keratinocyte pattern were found, of which the most common were: Chinese in 31 subjects (55.36%), Italian – in 27 (48.21%), Kurdish – in 25 (44.64%), Greek, Central- Uralic, Japanese and Turkish-Asia Minor – in 20 (35.71%), Latvian – in 14 (25.00%), Armenoid – in 13 (23.21%), Korean and Indian – in 12 (21.43%), Northern Mongolian – in 11 ( 19.64%), German - 10 (17.86%), Turko-Kypchak (Tatar) - 9 (16.07%), Iranian, Uzbek, Gypsy - 8 (14.29%), Iraqi - 7 (12.50%), Slavic – in 6 subjects (10.71%) of the total number. This fact indicates that the "Crimean Tatars" are not a mono-ethnic group, but are a complex multi-ethnic composite.
As can be seen from the data presented, among the “Crimean Tatars”, the “Chinese” type of keratinocyte pattern was dominant (55.36%), which dominated in every two out of five carriers of this type (41.94%) and in every fifth in the group as a whole (23.21%).
The Japanese type was found in 20 people. (35.71%), Korean - in 12 people. (21.43%). Signs of all three types were found in 40 respondents, which amounted to 71.43%. 32 people adjoin here with the Ural (35.71%) and North Mongolian types (19.64%). Taking into account the fact that the same person can be a carrier of different anthropological types, we took into account such only once. As a result, there were 48 representatives of the “Golden Horde complex”, which amounted to 85.71% of the entire group. However, the Far Eastern anthropological type (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian) dominates only in every third respondent of the entire group (33.93%).
Most likely, representatives of the Chinese peoples came to Eastern Europe along with the troops of Batu Khan in the 13th century. In addition to them, the Tungus-Manchu, Japanese, Korean, Altai and other Siberian and Far Eastern peoples and nationalities could and should have been under the leadership of the Mongols. Initially, apparently, they could be localized in the Volga-Ural basin, where the core of the "Golden Horde" was formed. Consequently, assimilated Uralic peoples must also be taken into account in the composition of this population. In general, this community may well be conditionally called the "Golden Horde". It stands out for its relative integrity, characteristic specificity, compatibility and is represented by a complex of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian (northern, eastern and central groups) and Ural anthropological types.
The second dominant type is the “Italian” anthropological type of keratinocyte pattern (48.21%), which prevailed in one of the three carriers of this type (37.04%) and in every sixth in the group as a whole (17.86%). Taking into account the proximity of the French type (4 people = 7.14%), only 31 people, which would be 55.36%. However, in two cases the speakers of Italian and French coincided, therefore, we have 29 people of the Western Mediterranean type, which is 51.79%. That is, half. The appearance of the Italian type in the Crimea can be associated with the late Middle Ages, when in the XII-XV centuries, when there was an intensive Venetian, Genoese and minor Lombard and Montferrat colonization of the southern coast. A certain number of Italians could also appear with the Romans, who fell into the Crimea in the 1st century BC. BC. - VI century. AD A small number of French colonists, apparently, came here in the XIV-XV centuries. along with the Genoese.
If the Italians and the French are traditionally referred to the western part of the Mediterranean community, then the Balkan-Armenoid group is traditionally referred to its eastern part. First of all, this concerns the Greeks. Among the respondents, the study revealed the Greek anthropological type in 20 people, which accounted for 35.71% of the group. The Turkish-Asia Minor anthropological type of representatives of the ancient population of Asia Minor and the Black Sea region was also found in 20 people, which is 35.71% of the group. And the Armenoid anthropological type was found in 13 people, which is 23.21% of the group. But taking into account that in some carriers the signs of different types may coincide, we ended up with 38 people, which amounted to 67.86% of the group. This reflects the realities of both the ancient population of the Crimea, and subsequently the newcomer. The Turkish-Asia Minor anthropological type can correspond both to representatives of the ancient agricultural population of the Crimea, and to representatives of Turkish expansion in the late Middle Ages and modern times. Greek - from the first appearance of the Greeks in the Crimea in the VII-VI-V centuries. BC. until the first third of the 20th century. AD Armenoid, perhaps, is associated with the appearance here of the troops of the Pontic emperor Mithridates VI Eupator at the end of the 2nd century BC. BC, then - the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire (not only the dynasty of Byzantium, but also a significant part of the soldiers were Armenians). A large influx of the Armenian population dates back to the late Middle Ages and modern times under the Genoese and Turks.
Of great interest in the study was the presence of the German anthropological type among the Crimean Tatars, residents of the Bakhchisaray-Balaklava region. This region was unofficially sometimes even called Gothia, believing that the descendants of the ancient Goths-Germans remained there. According to the study, it was possible to establish that the German type among the Crimean Tatars is extremely dispersed throughout the peninsula and extremely rare: Sudak-Feodosia region - 3, Yalta - 1, Balaklava - 1, Bakhchisaray - 2, Dzhankoy - 1, Simferopol - 1 representative.
The discovery of Slavic types among the Crimean Tatars was also of interest. The Slavic type belongs to 10.71% of the group; separately "Russian" (possibly - Alanian?) type - 3.57%. Total - 14.29% of the group. However, Slavic types are localized in limited regions: the Kerch Peninsula, the Yalta-Alushta and Simferopol regions. In addition to the Germanic and Slavic groups, Iranian peoples belong to the Indo-Europeans. The Iranian anthropological type was found among 17.39% and is represented in the following regions: Alushta, Simferopol, Bakhchisarai, Balaklava, Kerch. It is combined more often with the following types: Italian, Greek, Turkish-Asia Minor, Japanese, Turkic-Kypchak (Tatar), Chinese, Uralic, Iraqi. Given the departure of Iranian nomads, localization in transit regions and the presence of the Golden Horde complex, one can assume a later origin of the Iranians. In this case, it is doubtful to connect them with the ancient peoples of the Northern Black Sea region: Scythians, Cimmerians, Sauromatians, Sarmatians, Alans.
It is noteworthy that among the respondents the representation of the Caucasian population is extremely low: isolated cases of the Georgian and Ossetian types were found, and no more. At the same time, the Indian anthropological type was found in 12 respondents, which amounted to 21.43%, and the gypsy type was found in 8, which amounted to 14.29%. Taking into account the belonging of these types to the South Asian group, a total of 17 carriers were identified, which amounted to 30.36%.
It should be noted a very high level of the Near Eastern and Middle Eastern types of keratinocyte pattern in the study group as a whole: Kurdish - in 25 people. (44.64%), Iraqi - in 7 (12.50%), Lebanese - in 4 (7.14%), Kuwaiti - in 2 (03.57%), together - in 33 people. (58.93%).
It is significant that of the Turkic types, "Turkic-Kypchak" is represented in 9 people. (16.07%) and "Turkic-Oghuz" (Turkmen-Turkish - 1 person, Azerbaijani - 2 people and Uzbek - 8 people) in 10 people. (17.86%). The northern Mongolian anthropological type appeared in 19.64% of the group.
Of these anthropological types, in the first place, we were interested in the Turkic-Kypchak, which is often identified with the "Tatar". It turned out that it is extremely rare among the Crimean Tatars (up to 16%) and is localized in certain regions: Bakhchisaray, Yalta, Alushta and Kerch. Perhaps these are the remnants of the pre-Mongolian Far East-Central Asian population of Crimea. It is tempting to assume that we found representatives of the Polovtsian (Kipchak) ethnic group.
It was surprising to find a Latvian anthropological type, unexpectedly numerous (25.00% of the whole group) and showing a certain localization in the so-called. "Gothic" region (71% between Bakhchisaray and Balaklava). It is also represented in the Yalta region close to it, as well as in the Sudak and Kerch-Lenin regions. It is combined more often with such types: Kurdish, Chinese, Mordovian; much less often - with Italian and Greek. This reflects a preference for militancy rather than settledness.
In general, the entire group of Crimean Tatars easily breaks up into northern and southern parts. Representatives of the southern coast of Crimea from Balaklava to Feodosia belong to the southern. The anthropological types of this group lined up in the following descending order: Italian, Chinese, Kurdish, Turko-Asia Minor, Uralic, Greek, Japanese, Armenoid, Latvian, Korean, Northern Mongolian, Indian, Iraqi, Germanic, Turko-Kypchak, Iranian, Uzbek, Gypsy, Lebanese
Here the share of Italian sharply increases to 53.33% (for 30 people with southern coastal roots). And up to 60.00% only among the South Coast, without taking into account the descendants of mixed marriages with the northern group. Together with French, the share rises to 66.67%. And, accordingly, the share of the Chinese type also sharply drops to 43.33% with mixed marriages and to 40.00% among the South Coast. Japanese: one third to one quarter. From the Golden Horde complex, the percentage of the Ural type is unexpectedly high here: more than 50%. The Korean type also grew from one-fifth of the whole group to one-fourth in the southern part without intermarriages. The Mongolian type also manifested itself strongly (up to one third) precisely among the southern coastal part of the group. The entire Golden Horde complex was found in 90% of the entire group.
The level of representation of Turkic types is traditionally low, it fluctuates between one seventh and one eighth of the group. While the Caucasian types are insignificant and possibly random, the proportion of Eastern Mediterranean types is expected to increase compared to the entire group: the Greek anthropological type is present in more than every second representative (53.33%), Turkish-Asia Minor and Armenoid - in every third . Only 76.67% of the entire group.
The Middle Eastern types are represented by Kurdish (33.33%), Iraqi (20.00%) and Lebanese (13.33%). There are 17 people in total, which is 56.67% of the entire group. Relatively low representation of South Asian patterns, about one in seven respondents. Minor representation of Iranian, Slavic, Turkic and Latvian patterns.
On the whole, the southern group demonstrates the following average composition: nine-tenths Golden Horde types, three-quarters Eastern Mediterranean, two-thirds Western Mediterranean, and half Asiatic-Middle Eastern types.
Anthropological types of the northern part of the group lined up in the following descending order: Chinese, Kurdish, Turko-Asia Minor, Japanese, Italian, Uralic, Greek, Indian, Latvian, Armenoid, Germanic, Korean, Northern Mongolian, Turko-Kypchak, Iranian, Gypsy, Uzbek .
Here, the share of Chinese is traditionally high 57.14% (dominant among 25.71% of the northern group) and without mixed marriages - up to 73.68%. The share of Northern Mongolian (dominant among 11.43%) and Korean (dominant among 5.71%) types falls compared to the average figure in the group, while Japanese grows from one third to two fifths in the group (42.86%). The entire Golden Horde complex makes up 91.43% of the group. The representation of Eastern Mediterranean types is very high: the Turkish-Asia Minor anthropological type is present in two out of five (42.86%), Greek - in every third representative (31.43%), and Armenoid - in every fifth (22.86%). Only 71.43% of the entire group.
The Middle Eastern types are represented by Kurdish (48.57%), which is dominant among 11.43% of the group, Iraqi (8.56%), Lebanese (5.71%) and Kuwaiti (2.86%) types. Only 57.14% of the entire group. Together with mixed marriages, Western Mediterranean types made up 42.86% of the group (dominant among 17.14%), while South Asian and Latvian types are represented by 31.43% each (both dominant among 5.71%). A minor representation of Iranian, Slavic and Turkic patterns.
The northern group demonstrates the following composition: nine-tenths of the Golden Horde complex, almost three-quarters of the Eastern Mediterranean types, almost three-fifths of the Near East, two-fifths of the Western Mediterranean, one-third of the South Asian and Latvian types.
The entire group of the studied Crimean Tatars demonstrates the following composition: almost nine-tenths are Golden Horde types, two-thirds are Eastern Mediterranean, three-fifths are Western-Mediterranean, half are Western Mediterranean, one-third are South Asian and a quarter are Latvian types.
Based on the obtained data on the distribution of keratinocyte types in the head hair of representatives of the studied Crimean group of Crimean Tatars, it can be stated that this community is polyethnic. In its composition, a significant proportion is occupied by the Golden Horde anthropological types [Chinese (55.36%), Japanese (35.71%), Korean (21.43%), Central Ural (35.71%), North Mongolian (19.64%)], Eastern Mediterranean [Greek (35.71%), Turkish-Asiatic (35.71%) and Armenoid (23.21%)], Near Eastern or Afrasian [Kurdish (44.64%), Iraqi (12.50%), Kuwaiti, Lebanese], Western Mediterranean [Italian (48.21%) %) and French], South Asian [Indian (21.43%) and Gypsy (14.29%)], North European [Latvian (25.00%), Germanic (17.86%) and Slavic (10.71%)], Turkic [Turkic-Oguz ( 19.64%) and Turko-Kypchak (16.07%)] and Iranian (14.29%). However, the basic anthropological type of this group can be considered the “Golden Horde composite” for the northern part and the “Italo-Balkan-Caucasian composite” for the southern part. At the same time, the most likely candidates for the archaic part of the Crimeans may be population groups with Turkish-Asia Minor, Greek and Armenoid anthropological types, which corresponds to the ancient farmers of the peninsula.
There is too little Iranian to build an assumption about the participation of the Scythian-Sarmatian-Alan peoples in the ethnogenesis, and German - to build an assumption about the participation of the Gothic peoples in the ethnogenesis. It is possible that the ethnically Crimean Goths were not of German origin or were completely exterminated or moved outside the peninsula. Perhaps in their place will be the Baltic (Latvian) peoples.
The Turkic types were separated from the Golden Horde complex due to the fact that the "Oguz" influences may be of very late origin, associated with the deportation of a large number of Crimean Tatars to Uzbekistan. The Turkic-Kypchak or "Tatar" type, in turn, appeared in the Crimea very early and cannot always be tied specifically to the Mongol conquests. In addition, the latter type is not scattered among all regions, but, unlike Chinese, Japanese or Korean, it is strictly localized, not typical for the entire Crimean Tatar ethnic group, which does not give researchers the right to call this community “Tatar”.
Perhaps there should have been more Slavic types historically, but a significant number of alleged speakers among the northern part of the Crimean Tatars were resettled outside the Crimea or left it after its conquest and wars in the 18th-19th centuries. Unfortunately, among the respondents there were no natives of Krasnoperekopsky, Chernomorsky, Razdolnensky, Belogorsky, Nizhnegorsky and Leninsky regions of Crimea. But this did not rule out the possibility of discovering some tendencies and processes.
Thus, on the basis of the conducted pilot study and the results of the analysis of anthropological macro-microscopic data on the structure of the hair cuticle of the head, taking into account that the group itself is small, one can only make a very cautious preliminary assumption that the Crimean group of Crimean Tatars is part of a characteristic Crimean community, which is a complex ethnic composite that has been formed over the past millennium. In its formation, there probably took place a partial miscegenation with the Golden Horde population of Eastern Europe. Among the ongoing processes, one can note the erasure of narrow group barriers, increased regional migration, powerful urbanization, the widespread loss of traditions, the substitution of local traditions for stylized Soviet or Arab-Turkish ones, and against this background, as a result, acculturation and the strongest intra-group and extra- group miscegenation. The obtained data do not yet allow identifying the Crimean Tatars with Tatars, Turks, Slavs (including Ukrainians), Scythians, Sarmatians, Khazars, Germans (including Goths), Mongols and Celts. But they provide an opportunity to create historical reconstructions. For example, the participation of a large number of forcibly mobilized Chinese population from China destroyed by the Mongols in the campaign of Batu Khan.
The studied Crimean group of Crimean Tatars makes up a significant part of the Crimean society according to the latest population census. In the linguistic, cultural and religious spheres of life, as well as in ethnic and genetic-anthropological relations, they represent a unique and specific Crimean community.
Our research can be used by anthropologists, ethnographers, historians, political scientists involved in the research of the Crimean society, will help to penetrate deeper into the essence of the problems of the history of Crimea, reduce the severity of interethnic relations in Crimea. But most importantly, there is a need to conduct a large-scale study of the main groups of the Crimean population, which could solve many issues of modern history.
Crimean Tatars are a very interesting people that arose and formed on the territory of the Crimean peninsula and southern Ukraine. They are a people with a dramatic and ambiguous history. The article will discuss the number, as well as the cultural characteristics of the people. Who are they - the Crimean Tatars? You can also find photos of this amazing people in this article.
General characteristics of the people
Crimea is an unusual multicultural land. Many peoples left their tangible mark here: Scythians, Genoese, Greeks, Tatars, Ukrainians, Russians... In this article we will focus on only one of them. Crimean Tatars - who are they? And how did they appear in the Crimea?
The people belong to the Turkic group of the Altai language family, its representatives communicate with each other in the Crimean Tatar language. Crimean Tatars today (other names: Crimeans, Krymchaks, Murzaks) live on the territory of the Republic of Crimea, as well as in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and other countries.
By faith, most of the Crimean Tatars are Sunni Muslims. The people have their own anthem, coat of arms and flag. The latter is a blue cloth, in the upper left corner of which there is a special sign of nomadic steppe tribes - tamga.
History of the Crimean Tatars
The ethnos is the direct ancestor of those peoples who at different times were associated with the Crimea. They represent a kind of ethnic mix, in the formation of which the ancient tribes of the Taurians, Scythians and Sarmatians, Greeks and Romans, Circassians, Turks and Pechenegs took part. The process of formation of an ethnos lasted more than one century. The cement mortar that held these people together into a single whole can be called a common isolated territory, Islam and one language.
The completion of the formation of the people coincided with the emergence of a powerful state - the Crimean Khanate, which lasted from 1441 to 1783. For most of this time, the state was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, with which the Crimean Khanate maintained allied ties.
In the era of the Crimean Khanate, the Crimean Tatar culture experienced its heyday. At the same time, majestic monuments of Crimean Tatar architecture were created, for example, the Khan's palace in Bakhchisarai or the Kebir-Jami mosque in the historical district, Ak-Mosque in Simferopol.
It should be noted that the history of the Crimean Tatars is very dramatic. Its most tragic pages belong to the 20th century.
Number and distribution
It is very difficult to name the total number of Crimean Tatars. The approximate figure is 2 million people. The fact is that the Crimean Tatars, who left the peninsula in different years, assimilated and ceased to consider themselves as such. Therefore, it is difficult to establish their exact number in the world.
According to some Crimean Tatar organizations, about 5 million Crimean Tatars live outside their historical homeland. Their most powerful diaspora is in Turkey (about 500 thousand, but the figure is very inaccurate) and in Uzbekistan (150 thousand). Also quite a lot of Crimean Tatars settled in Romania, Bulgaria. At least 250,000 Crimean Tatars currently live in Crimea.
The size of the Crimean Tatar population on the territory of Crimea in different years is striking. So, according to the census for 1939, their number in the Crimea was 219 thousand people. And exactly 20 years later, in 1959, there were no more than 200 Crimean Tatars on the peninsula.
The main part of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea lives today in rural areas (about 67%). Their highest density is observed in Simferopol, Bakhchisarai and Dzhankoy regions.
Crimean Tatars are generally fluent in three languages: Crimean Tatar, Russian, and Ukrainian. In addition, many of them know Turkish and Azerbaijani, which are very close to the Crimean Tatar. Over 92% of the Crimean Tatars living on the peninsula consider Crimean Tatar as their native language.
Features of the Crimean Tatar culture
The Crimean Tatars created a unique and original culture. The literature of this people began to develop actively during the Crimean Khanate. Another heyday falls on the 19th century. Among the prominent writers of the Crimean Tatar people are Abdulla Dermendzhi, Ayder Osman, Jafer Gafar, Ervin Umerov, Lilia Budzhurova and others.
The traditional music of the people is based on old folklore songs and legends, as well as the traditions of Islamic musical culture. Lyricism and softness are the main features of the Crimean Tatar folk music.
Deportation of the Crimean Tatars
May 18, 1944 is a black date for every Crimean Tatar. It was on this day that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars began - an operation to forcibly evict them from the territory of the Crimean ASSR. Led the operation of the NKVD on the orders of I. Stalin. The official reason for the deportation was the cooperation of individual representatives of the people with Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
So, in the official position of the State Committee for Defense of the USSR, it was indicated that the Crimean Tatars deserted from the Red Army and joined the Nazi detachments fighting against the Soviet Union. What is interesting: those representatives of the Tatar people who fought in the Red Army were also deported, but after the end of the war.
The deportation operation lasted two days and involved about 30,000 soldiers. People, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses, were given half an hour to pack, after which they were loaded onto wagons and sent in an easterly direction. In total, more than 180 thousand people were taken out, mainly to the territory of the Kostroma region, the Urals, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
This tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people is well shown in the film "Haytarma", which was filmed in 2012. By the way, this is the first and so far the only full-length Crimean Tatar film.
The return of the people to their historical homeland
Crimean Tatars were forbidden to return to their homeland until 1989. National movements for the right to return to Crimea began to emerge in the 1960s. One of the leaders of these movements was Mustafa Dzhemilev.
The rehabilitation of the Crimean Tatars dates back to 1989, when the Supreme Soviet of the USSR recognized the deportation as illegal. After that, the Crimean Tatars began to actively return to their homeland. To date, there are about 260,000 Crimean Tatars in Crimea (this is 13% of the entire population of the peninsula). However, returning to the peninsula, people faced a lot of problems. The most acute among them are unemployment and lack of land.
Finally...
Amazing and interesting people - the Crimean Tatars! The photos presented in the article only confirm these words. These are people with a complicated history and a rich culture, which, without a doubt, makes Crimea even more unique and interesting for tourists.
The origin of the ethnos "Crimean Tatars" It should be immediately noted that the word "Tatars" and the combination of the words "Crimean Tatars", despite the consonance of one word, denote completely different peoples. Unlike the Crimean Tatars, the "Volga" and other Tatars are a different people, with their own language and culture, different from the Crimean Tatars. So, the word - the term "Tatars" was originally the name of one of the nomadic tribes, which were later united by Genghis Khan. In the Crimea, the first appearance of the soldiers of Genghis Khan was short-lived and had the character of a short-term raid. They defeated the Kypchaks in the battle near Derbent. After that, one of the detachments, pursuing the Kipchaks who retreated to the Crimea, in January 1223 approached the city of Sudak and captured it. The nomads devastated the city, after which they left the Crimea, leaving the peninsula to join their main forces. This is how the first acquaintance of the population of the Crimean peninsula with the people, who are better known to the world as the Turks and Mongols, happened. *** According to a number of researchers, it was at this time that the process of Turkization of the population of the mountain-forest zone intensified on the territory of the Crimean peninsula under the influence of numerous Kipchaks, who lived mainly in the steppe regions. Here lived the descendants of the Tauro-Scythians, Sarmato-Alans, Goths and other tribes. It was on their basis that the core of the Crimean Tatar people was formed. During the reign of the Golden Horde in Southeastern Europe in the first half of the 13th - the first half of the 15th centuries, three main political entities coexisted on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. The Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde was the largest of them. It occupied almost the entire steppe part of the peninsula, as well as the foothills and Southwestern Taurica. The bulk of the population in the steppe and foothills were western and eastern Kipchaks and other Turkic tribes, who were the Turkic ancestors of the Crimean Tatars. The inhabitants of the mountain-forest part of the Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde were called "Gotalans" - they were non-Turkic ancestors of the Crimean Tatars. The steppe inhabitants of the ulus called the inhabitants of the mountains "tatami". Nevertheless, outside the Crimea, all the inhabitants of the peninsula, both the Kipchaks from the steppe and foothill part of the ulus, and the "Tats" - the inhabitants of the mountain-forest part, called themselves the same - "kyrymly" or "Krymets". Simultaneously with the Golden Horde in the Crimea, there was another large feudal formation: the Principality of Theodoro. The composition of its population was rather heterogeneous, since the Byzantines, descendants of the Alans and Goths, as well as the Turko-Bulgars of the pre-Khazar and Khazar times lived here. The Genoese colony, which occupied mainly the southern coast, was the third significant political entity on the territory of Crimea. The main population of the Genoese colony were the Byzantines, as well as the descendants of the Alans and Goths. In the process of constant and active trade and economic relations between the population of the Principality of Theodoro and the Genoese colony with the inhabitants of the steppes and foothills, most of these last two political formations are gradually being Muslimized and, as a result, are also included in the formation of the Crimean Tatar ethnic group. *** At the end of the 15th century, the formation of the Crimean Khanate takes place, which actually completes the formation of the core of the "kyrymly" nation, and in the future the ethnic history of the people continues. Since that time, in the official documents of Moscow, the population of the peninsula, i.e. the people of the Crimean Khanate are most often referred to as "Crimeans". At the beginning of the 16th century, relations between Ivan III and Mengli-Giray deteriorated noticeably, after which in Russia the people of the Crimean Khanate began to be called not "Crimeans", but "Crimean Tatars". When the Crimea was annexed to Russia in 1783, the entire Muslim population of the peninsula began to be called "Tatars". By the 80s of the 18th century, up to 500 thousand Crimean Tatars lived on the peninsula. At the same time, that large part of the "kyrymly", which lived in the mountain-forest zone and determined the most characteristic ethnic features of the people "Crimean Tatars" ... Based on the materials of the publication: R.I.Kurtiev, K.K.Kogonoshvili. The ethnic term "Tatars" and the ethnos "Crimean Tatars" - Through the centuries: the peoples of Crimea. Issue 1 \ Ed. N. Nikolaenko - Simferopol: Academy of Humanities, 1995.
Crimean Tatars are an Eastern European Turkic people who historically formed on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. Belongs to the Turkic group of the Altaic language family.
The national flag of the Crimean Tatars is blue with a yellow emblem in the upper left corner. The first time this flag was adopted at the national congress of the Crimean Tatars in 1917, shortly after the Federal Revolution in Russia.
Crimean Tatar activists will gather on September 20 or 21, 2015 to completely close off the temporarily occupied peninsula. This was announced on September 14 by Refat Chubarov, MP from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction, chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, during a meeting of the Parliamentary Conciliation Council.
The leadership of the Turkish Republic does not recognize and does not recognize the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia, and will do everything possible to protect the indigenous population of the peninsula - the Crimean Tatars, the press service of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people reports.
In a greeting to the participants of the II World Congress of Crimean Tatars, which takes place in (Turkey) on August 1-2, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also stated that the security of the Crimean Tatars in their homeland is a top priority for Turkey.
International reaction to the referendum and the annexation of Crimea.
The United Nations Security Council said it considers the referendum held in Crimea to be legitimate.
Aziz Abdullayev, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the ARC;
Ilmi Umerov, head of the Bakhchisaray district state administration;
Fevzi Yakubov, rector of KIPU;
Lilya Budzhurova, journalist;
Ahtem Chiygoz, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis;
Enver Abduraimov, businessman;
Nadir Bekirov, lawyer;
Server Saliev, Chairman of the Committee for Nationalities of the ARC;
Shevket Kaybullayev, Head of the Information Policy Department of the Mejlis;
Eldar Seitbekirov, chief editor of the weekly "Voice of Crimea";
Enver Izmailov, musician;
Seyran Osmanov, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Turkey;
Safure Kadzhametova, head of the association of Crimean Tatar educators "Maarifchi";
Aider Emirov, director of the library named after I. Gasprinsky;
Crimean Tatar groups have many followers on VK.com:
153 groups found in Odnoklassniki:
There are also many groups found in:
16:14 24.04.2014
The majority of Crimean Tatars live in their historical homeland - in the 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 Crimean Tatars themselves, their diaspora in Uzbekistan by the beginning of 1999 should have numbered 85-90 thousand people), 4.1 thousand - in Russia (in 2002) and 1.8 thousand - in Bulgaria in 2001.
Reference
Crimean Tatars, kyrymtatarlar, qırımtatarlar (self-name) - a people speaking the Crimean Tatar language of the Kypchak subgroup of the Turkic group of the Altai language family. The Crimean Tatar language is divided into northern (steppe), middle (mountain) and southern (coastal) dialects. 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 (yalyboy - yalıboylular) and (mountain) foothill Tatars, who call themselves tatami (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 Caucasoids with a certain degree of Mongoloidity among the Nogays.
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 Crimean Tatars themselves, their diaspora in Uzbekistan by the beginning of 1999 should have numbered 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 Turks, therefore, since 1970, the number and nationality have not been officially 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. Figures in the range from 150 thousand to 1 million look more realistic.
Story
In 1223, the Mongol-Tatar governorship was established in Sudak, which served as 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 - the 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 mix with the settled population, even adopting Christianity. In the 2nd half of the 13th-14th centuries, Islam spread, which became a kind of cement that held the people together. 3 sub-ethnic groups of Crimean Tatars were formed: Nogai, Tats and coastal. Nogai - direct descendants of the Kipchaks-Polovtsians and Nogais - inhabited the steppes of Crimea; their dialect belongs to the Nogai-Kipchak languages. The Tats were the largest group of the Tatar population of the Crimea. 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 (the Polovtsian-Kipchak subgroup of the Kipchak group of Turkic languages) and the Goths, whose elements of 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 - Italian Genoese. The Oguz dialect of the South Coast people is close to Turkish, although there is a whole layer of Greek and Italian borrowings in the vocabulary.
1441-1783 - during the existence of the Crimean Khanate, whose policy was balanced between strong neighbors: Muscovy, Lithuania and Turkey, the economic structure of the nomadic economy involves constant raids for prey, which was a constant phenomenon in the border areas. If the war was waged at the state level, then the raid became an invasion. In 1571, the 40,000-strong army of Khan Devlet Giray (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 at the slave markets (the largest of which was in the Cafe - modern Feodosia) to Turkey and other countries of the Middle East. According to historian Alan Fisher, 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. The active intervention of the Turks in the internal life of the khanate was noticeable only at the end of the 16th century. During this period, the flourishing of Muslim Crimean culture, especially architecture, falls.
1783-1793 years. In 1783 the Crimean Khanate was annexed to Russia. After that, mass immigration of Tatars to the North Caucasus and Dobruzha began, although the Tatar nobility received equal rights with 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 300,000 Tatars, mostly mountainous, left the Crimea. After the conclusion of the Iasi peace treaty with Turkey as a result of the 2nd Russian-Turkish war (1792), part of the population, having lost hope of changing their situation, left the 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 for possession.
1784-1917 - the service of the Crimean Tatars in the ranks of the Russian army, mainly in separate cavalry units. On March 1, 1784, the highest decree “On the composition of the army from new subjects living in the Tauride region” followed, 6 “Taurian national cavalry divisions” were formed, 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. In the Patriotic War of 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 Command of the Life Guards of the Crimean Tatars as part of His Majesty's Own convoy. The cavalrymen of the 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, which was 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 Mounted Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Regiment." On November 5, 1909, Nicholas II enrolled himself in the lists of the regiment. Since 1874, general military service has been 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 that today make up the majority of the Crimean Tatar population in these countries. Emigration affected 784 villages, of which 330 were completely deserted; moreover, mostly pastoralists, devastated by the war, 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 compulsory military service in Romania in 1883, as well as new laws on the redistribution of land property in the 1880s.
1891-1920 - the third wave of emigration of the Crimean Tatars from Russia, which peaked in 1893, when 18 thousand people left. In 1902-1903, up to 600-800 people left daily. 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 activity of the Tatar educator Ismail Gasprinsky (İsmail Gaspıralı, 1851-1914) to open secular schools and press. On March 25, 1917, the Crimean Tatar congress-kurultai was held in Simferopol, which was attended by 2,000 delegates. Kurultai elected the Provisional Crimean Muslim Executive Committee (VKMIK), recognized by the Provisional Government of Russia, as the only authorized administrative body of the Crimean Tatars. From this kurultai, the implementation of the cultural and national autonomy of the Crimean Tatars began.
On October 26, 1917, a constituent kurultai was held in Bakhchisaray, which adopted the first constitution in the history of Crimea, declaring a new independent state - the Crimean People's Republic. The state flag of Crimea was also adopted at the kurultai - a blue cloth with a golden tamga in the upper corner. The Tatar government lasted until January 1918 and was destroyed by revolutionary sailors. In February 1918, the Provincial Congress of Soviets in Simferopol elected the Central Executive Committee, which on March 10, 1918 declared the Crimea the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, which existed for 1 month and fell under the blows of the Germans, who captured the Crimea by May 1, 1918. In 1920, the Tatars actively participated in the "green" movement (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 existence of the Crimean ASSR (Qrm 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 places of worship were closed and redesigned: 106 mosques, as well as tekie, madrasahs. At the same time, within the framework of the “indigenization” policy, a flourishing of secular national culture is observed: national schools, theaters are opened, newspapers are published in the Crimean Tatar language. In 1930, national village councils and national districts were created, 5 out of 7 of which were Tatar. In the mid-1930s, national construction was curtailed, and a policy of Russification began to be pursued.
1944 - the eviction of the Crimean Tatars from the Crimea - Sürgün (Kr.-Tat.) - "exile". In April-May 1944, after the liberation of the Crimea from the occupation troops, about 6 thousand Crimean Tatar collaborators were arrested, who did not have time 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 collaboration with the occupiers and decided to send them to the Uzbek USSR. During May 18-20, 1944, 193.8 thousand Crimean Tatars (more than 47 thousand families, 80% - women and children) were evicted from the Crimea by the forces of 32 thousand employees of the NKVD. 33.7 families (151.3 thousand people) were settled in Uzbekistan. Tatars worked in agriculture, in the oil fields, in the fishing industry, at construction sites, in coal mines, and 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, in the Crimea, the old names of Tatar villages were renamed in the Russian way, 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 as 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 demanding that they be allowed 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 the Crimea", accusations of Stalin's times were dropped from the Tatars and constitutional rights were restored. The return of the Tatars to the 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 the recognition as invalid of certain legislative acts of the USSR, providing for restrictions on the choice of residence for certain categories of citizens."
1987-1989 - an active public 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, Crimean Tatars demonstrate on Red Square in Moscow demanding to 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 a 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 250,000 Crimean Tatars had returned to Crimea, and, according to some data, about 150,000 remained in places of expulsion, mainly in the vicinity of Tashkent, Samarkand and Shakhrisabz. Due to unemployment and the inability to return their land, the Tatars have many problems. Until 1944, the sub-ethnic groups of the Crimean Tatars practically did not mix with each other, but the deportation destroyed the traditional areas of settlement, and over the past 60 years, the process of merging these groups into a single community has gained momentum. According to rough estimates, among the Crimean Tatars living in Crimea, about 30% are Yuzhnoberezhtsy, 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) as part of Ukraine. Every 5 years, Kurultai elections take place, in which the entire adult Tatar population at the age of 18 participates. Kurultai forms an executive body - the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
year 2014. According to the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on the admission of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation and the formation of new entities within the Russian Federation dated March 18, 2014, the Crimean Tatar language became the state language of the Republic of Crimea (together with Russian and Ukrainian).
