Ancient peoples of Crimea

During the Jurassic period of the Earth, when there was no man yet, the northern edge of the land was located on the site of the mountainous Crimea. Where the Crimean and southern Ukrainian steppes now spread, a huge sea spilled. The appearance of the Earth gradually changed. The bottom of the sea rose, and where there were deep seas, islands appeared, continents moved forward. In other places of the island, the continents sank, and their place was occupied by a boundless sea surface. Huge cracks split the continental blocks, reached the molten bowels of the Earth, and giant lava flows poured onto the surface. Heaps of ash many meters thick were deposited in the coastal strip of the sea ... The history of the Crimea has similar stages.

Crimea in section

In the place where the coastline now stretches from Feodosia to Balaklava, at one time a huge crack passed. Everything that was located to the south of it sank to the bottom of the sea, that was located to the north, rose. Where they were sea ​​depths, a low coast appeared, where there was a coastal strip - mountains grew. And from the crack itself, huge pillars of fire burst into streams of molten rocks.

The history of the formation of the relief of the Crimea continued, when the volcanic eruptions ended, the earthquakes subsided, and plants appeared on the land emerging from the depths. If you look closely, for example, at the rocks of the Kara-Dag, you will notice that this mountain range is riddled with cracks, rare minerals are sometimes found here.

Over the years, the Black Sea has been uprooting coastal rocks and throwing their fragments ashore, and today on the beaches we walk on smooth pebbles, we meet green and pink jasper, translucent chalcedony, brown pebbles with calcite interlayers, snow-white quartz and quartzite fragments. Sometimes you can also find pebbles that were previously molten lava, they are brown in color, as if filled with bubbles - voids or interspersed with milky white quartz.

So today, each of us can independently plunge into this distant historical past of the Crimea and even touch its stone and mineral witnesses.

prehistoric period

Paleolithic

The oldest traces of hominid habitation in the Crimea date back to the Middle Paleolithic - this is a Neanderthal site in the Kiik-Koba cave.

Mesolithic

According to the Ryan-Pitman hypothesis, up to 6 thousand BC. the territory of Crimea was not a peninsula, but was a fragment of a larger land mass, which included, in particular, the territory of the modern Sea of ​​Azov. About 5500 thousand BC, as a result of a breakthrough of waters from the Mediterranean Sea and the formation of the Bosporus Strait, for quite short period Significant territories were flooded, and the Crimean peninsula was formed.

Neolithic and Eneolithic

In 4-3 thousand BC. through the territories north of the Crimea, there were migrations to the west of tribes, presumably speakers of Indo-European languages. In 3 thousand BC. the Kemi-Oba culture existed on the territory of the Crimea.

Nomadic peoples of the Northern Black Sea region of the 1st millennium BC.

At the end of the II millennium BC. a tribe of Cimmerians emerged from the Indo-European community. This is the first people who lived on the territory of Ukraine, which is mentioned in written sources- Homer's Odyssey. The Greek historian of the 5th century BC told the greatest and most authentically about the Cimmerians. BC. Herodotus.

Monument to Herodotus in Halicarnassus

We also find references to them in Assyrian sources. The Assyrian name "Kimmirai" means "giants". According to another version from the ancient Iranian - "mobile cavalry detachment."

Cimmerian

There are three versions of the origin of the Cimmerians. The first is the ancient Iranian people who came to the land of Ukraine through the Caucasus. The second - the Cimmerians appeared as a result of the gradual historical development of the Prairan steppe culture, and their ancestral home was Lower Volga. Third, the Cimmerians were the local population.

Archaeologists find material monuments of the Cimmerians in the Northern Black Sea region, in the North Caucasus, in the Volga region, on the lower reaches of the Dniester and Danube. The Cimmerians were Iranian-speaking.

The early Cimmerians led sedentary life. Later, due to the onset of an arid climate, they became nomadic people and bred mostly horses on which they learned to ride.

The tribes of the Cimmerians united in large unions of tribes, which were headed by the king-leader.

They had a large army. It consisted of mobile detachments of horsemen armed with steel and iron swords and daggers, bows and arrows, war hammers and maces. The Cimmerians fought against the kings of Lydia, Urartu and Assyria.

Cimmerian warriors

The settlements of the Cimmerians were temporary, mainly camps, winterers. But they had their own forges and blacksmiths who made iron and steel swords and daggers, the best at that time in ancient world. They themselves did not mine metal, they used iron mined by forest-steppe people or Caucasian tribes. Their craftsmen made horse bits, arrowheads, jewelry. They had high level development of ceramic production. Goblets with a polished surface, decorated with geometric ornaments, were especially good.

Cimmerians knew how to perfectly process bones. They had very beautiful jewelry made of semi-precious stones. Stone tombstones with images of people have survived to this day, made by the Cimmerians.

The Cimmerians lived in patriarchal clans, which consisted of families. Gradually, they have a military nobility. Predatory wars contributed to this to a large extent. Their main goal was to rob neighboring tribes and peoples.

The religious beliefs of the Cimmerians are known from burial materials. Noble people were buried in large burial mounds. There were male and female burials. Daggers, bridles, a set of arrowheads, stone blocks, sacrificial food, and a horse were placed in male burials. Gold and bronze rings, glass and gold necklaces, and earthenware were placed in women's burials.

Archaeological finds show that the Cimmerians had connections with the tribes of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, Western Siberia and the Caucasus. Among the works of art were women's jewelry, decorated weapons, stone steles without an image of a head, but with a carefully reflected dagger and a quiver with arrows.

Along with the Cimmerians, the central part of the Ukrainian forest-steppe was occupied by the descendants of the Belogrudov culture of the Bronze Age, the bearers of the Chernoles culture, who are considered the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs. The main source of studying the life of the Chornolists is the settlements. Both ordinary settlements with 6-10 dwellings and fortified settlements were found. A line of 12 settlements, built on the border with the steppe, protected the Chornolists from the attacks of the nomids. They were located in areas closed by nature. The mound was surrounded by a rampart, on which a wall of wooden log cabins and a moat were built. The Chernolesskaya settlement, the southern outpost of defense, was protected by three lines of ramparts and ditches. During attacks, residents of neighboring settlements found protection behind their walls.

The basis of the economy of Chornolists was arable farming and household cattle breeding.

The metalworking craft has reached an extraordinary level of development. Iron was used primarily for the manufacture of weapons. The largest sword in Europe at that time with a steel blade with a total length of 108 cm was found at the Subbotovsky settlement.

The need for a constant struggle against the attacks of the Cimmerians forced the Chornolists to create a foot army and cavalry. Many parts of horse harness and even the skeleton of a horse, placed next to the deceased, were found in the burials. The finds of archaeologists showed the existence of a Cimmerian day in the Forest-Steppe, a rather powerful association of Proto-Slavic farmers, who for a long time withstood the threat from the Steppe.

The life and development of the Cimmerian tribes were interrupted at the beginning of the 7th century. BC. invasion of the Scythian tribes, with which the next stage of the ancient history of Ukraine is connected.

2. Taurus

Almost simultaneously with the Cimmerians in the southern part of the Crimea lived indigenous people- Taurus (from the Greek word "Tavros" - tour). The name of the Crimean peninsula - Taurida, introduced by the tsarist government after the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783, comes from the Tauris. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus in his book "History" said that the Tauris on the mountain plateaus were engaged in cattle breeding, in the river valleys - agriculture, and on the Black Sea coast - fishing . They were also engaged in crafts - they were skilled potters, knew how to spin, process stone, wood, bones, horns, and also metals.

From the second half of the 1st millennium BC. in the Taurians, like other tribes, property inequality appeared, a tribal aristocracy was formed. The Taurians built fortifications around their settlements. Together with their neighbors - the Scythians fought against the Greek city-state of Chersonese, which seized their lands.

modern ruins of Chersonese

The further fate of the Taurians was tragic: at first - in the II century. BC. - They were conquered by the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator, and in the second half of the 1st century. BC. captured by Roman troops.

In the Middle Ages, the Taurians were exterminated or assimilated by the Tatars who conquered the Crimea. The original culture of the Taurians was lost.

Great Scythia. Ancient city-states in the Northern Black Sea region

3.Scythians

From the 7th century to the III century. BC. horror on tribes and states of Eastern Europe and the Middle East were overtaken by the tribes of the Scythians, who came from the depths of Asia and invaded the Northern Black Sea region.

The Scythians conquered a huge territory at that time between the Don, Danube and Dnieper, part of the Crimea (the territory of modern Southern and South-Eastern Ukraine), forming the state of Scythia there. Herodotus left a more detailed characterization and description of the life and way of life of the Scythians.

In the 5th century BC. he personally visited Scythia and described it. The Scythians were the descendants of the Indo-European tribes. They had their own mythology, rituals, worshiped the gods and mountains, brought them a blood sacrifice.

Herodotus singled out the following groups among the Scythians: the royal Scythians, who lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Don and were considered the top of the union of tribes; Scythian plowmen, who lived between the Dnieper and the Dniester (historians believe that it was the descendants of the Chernoles culture who were defeated by the Scythians); Scythian farmers who lived in the forest-steppe zone, and Scythian nomads who settled in the steppes of the Black Sea region. Among the tribes named by Herodotus as actually Scythians were the tribes of royal Scythians and nomadic Scythians. They dominated all other tribes.

Outfit of the Scythian king and commander

At the end of the VI century. BC. in the Black Sea steppes, a powerful state association was formed headed by the Scythians - Greater Scythia, which included the local population of the steppe and forest-steppe regions (cleaved). Great Scythia, according to Herodotus, was divided into three kingdoms; one of them was headed by the chief king, and the other two by junior kings (probably sons of the chief).

The Scythian state was the first political association in the south of Eastern Europe in the early Iron Age (the center of Scythia in the 5th-3rd centuries BC was the Kamenskoye settlement near Nikopol). Scythia was divided into districts (nomes), which were ruled by leaders appointed by the Scythian kings.

Scythia reached its highest rise in the 4th century. BC. It is associated with the name of King Athea. The power of Athea spread over vast territories from the Danube to the Don. This king minted his own coin. The power of Scythia did not shake even after the defeat of the Macedonian king Philip II (father of Alexander the Great).

Philip II on the march

The state of the Scythians remained powerful even after the death of the 90-year-old Atey in 339 BC. However, on the border of the IV-III centuries. BC. Scythia is in decline. At the end of the III century. BC. Great Scythia ceases to exist under the onslaught of the Sarmatians. Part of the Scythian population moved south and created two Lesser Scythia. One, which was called the Scythian kingdom (III century BC - III century AD) with its capital in Scythian Naples in the Crimea, the other - in the lower reaches of the Dnieper.

The Scythian society consisted of three main layers: warriors, priests, ordinary community members (farmers and cattle breeders. Each of the layers was descended from one of the sons of the first ancestor and had its own sacred attribute. For warriors it was an ax, for priests - a bowl, for community members - plow whitefish Herodotus says that seven gods enjoyed special honor among the Scythians; it was they who were considered the progenitors of people and the creators of everything that exists on Earth.

Written sources and archaeological materials testify that the basis of Scythian production was cattle breeding, since it provided almost everything necessary for life - horses, meat, milk, wool and felt for clothes. The agricultural population of Scythia grew wheat, millet, hemp, etc., and they sowed bread not only for themselves, but also for sale. Farmers lived in settlements (fortifications), which were located on the banks of rivers and were fortified with ditches and ramparts.

The decline and then the collapse of Scythia were caused by a number of factors: the deterioration of climatic conditions, the drying up of the steppes, the decline of the economic resources of the forest-steppe, etc. In addition, in the III-I centuries. BC. Sarmatians conquered a significant part of Scythia.

Modern researchers believe that the first sprouts of statehood on the territory of Ukraine appeared precisely in Scythian times. The Scythians created an original culture. The art was dominated by the so-called. Animal style.

The burial mounds of the Scythian era are widely known: Solokha and Gaimanov Graves in Zaporozhye, Tolstaya Mohyla and Chertomlyk in the Dnepropetrovsk region, Kul-Oba, etc. Royal decorations (golden pectoral), weapons, etc. have been found.

WITH Kythian golden pectoral and scabbard from Tolstoy Mogila

Silver amphora. Kurgan Chertomlyk

Chairman of Dionysus.

Kurgan Chertomlyk

Golden comb. Kurgan Solokha

Interesting to know

Herodotus described the burial rite of the Scythian king: Before burying their king of the sacred territory - Gerra (Dnieper region, at the level of the Dnieper rapids), the Scythians carried his embalmed body to all Scythian tribes, where they performed a rite of remembrance over him. In Gerra, the body was buried in a spacious tomb along with his wife, closest servants, horses, etc. Golden things and precious jewelry were placed at the king's place. Huge mounds were piled over the tombs - The more noble the king, the higher the mound. This indicates the property stratification of the Scythians.

4. The war of the Scythians with the Persian king Darius I

The Scythians were a warlike people. They actively intervened in conflicts between the states of Western Asia (the struggle of the Scythians with the Persian king Darius, etc.).

Around 514-512 BC. The Persian king Darius I decided to conquer the Scythians. Gathering a huge army, he crossed the floating bridge across the Danube and moved deep into Great Scythia. The army of Daria I, according to Herodotus, numbered 700 thousand soldiers, however, this figure is believed to be several times exaggerated. The Scythian army probably numbered about 150 thousand fighters. According to the plan of the Scythian commanders, their army avoided an open battle with the Persians and, gradually leaving, lured the enemy deep into the country, destroying wells and pastures on his way. The Scythians were now planning to gather forces and defeat the weakened Persians. This "Scythian tactic", as it was later called, turned out to be successful.

in the camp of Darius

Darius built a camp on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov. Overcoming great distances, the Persian army tried in vain to find the enemy. When the Scythians decided that the Persian forces were undermined, they began to act decisively. On the eve of the decisive battle, the Scythians sent strange gifts to the king of the Persians: a bird, a mouse, a frog and five arrows. The content of the "Scythian gift" to Darius was interpreted by his adviser as follows: "If, Persians, you do not become birds and fly high into the sky, or mice and do not hide in the ground, or frogs and do not jump into the swamps, then you will not return to yourself, these arrows will lose you." It is not known what Darius I was thinking about, despite these gifts and the Scythians, who built units for battle. However, at night, leaving the wounded in the camp who could support the fires, he fled with the remnants of his army.

Skopasis

The king of the Savromats, who lived in the VI century BC. e., Herodotus, the father of history, mentions in his books. Having united the Scythian armies, Skopasis defeated the Persian troops under the command of Darius I, who came to the northern shores of Meotida. Herodotus writes that it was Skopasis who regularly forced Darius to retreat to Tanais and prevented him from invading Great Scythia.

So shamefully ended the attempt of one of the most powerful owners of the then world to conquer the Great Scythia. Thanks to the victory over the Persian army, which was then considered the strongest, the Scythians won the glory of invincible warriors.

5. Sarmatians

During the III century. BC. - III century. AD in the Northern Black Sea region dominated by the Sarmatians, who came from the Volga-Ural steppes.

Ukrainian lands in III-I centuries. BC.

We do not know what these tribes called themselves. The Greeks and Romans called them Sarmatians, which is translated from ancient Iranian as “girded with a sword.” Herodotus claimed that the ancestors of the Sarmatians lived east of the Scythians beyond the Tanais (Don) river. He also told the legend that the Sarmatians trace their lineage from the Amazons, who were taken by the Scythian youths. However, they could not master the language of men well, and therefore the Sarmatians speak the spoiled Scythian language. Part of the truth in the statements of the "father of history" are: the Sarmatians, like the Scythians, belonged to the Iranian-speaking group of peoples, and women had a very high status with them.

The settlement of the Black Sea steppes by the Sarmatians was not peaceful. They exterminated the remnants of the Scythian population and turned most of their country into a desert. Subsequently, on the territory of Sarmatia, as the Romans called these lands, several Sarmatian tribal associations appear - Aors, Siraki, Roxolans, Yazygs, Alans.

Having settled in the Ukrainian steppes, the Sarmatians began to attack neighboring Roman provinces, ancient city-states and settlements of farmers - glorify, Lviv, Zarubinets culture, forest-steppe. Evidence of attacks on the Proto-Slavs were numerous finds of Sarmatian arrowheads during excavations of the ramparts of the Zarubinets settlements.

Sarmatian horseman

The Sarmatians were pastoral nomads. They received the necessary agricultural products and handicrafts from settled neighbors through exchange, tribute, and ordinary robbery. The basis of such relations was the military advantage of the nomads.

Of great importance in the life of the Sarmatians were wars for pastures and prey.

Outfit of Sarmatian warriors

No Sarmatian settlement has been found by archaeologists. The only monuments they left behind are mounds. Among the excavated burial mounds there are many female burials. They found magnificent examples of jewelry made in the "Animal" style. An indispensable accessory for male burials is weapons and equipment for horses.

Fibula. Nagaychinsky mound. Crimea

At the beginning of our era, the dominion of the Sarmatians in the Black Sea region reached its highest point. The Sarmatization of the Greek city-states took place, for a long time the Sarmatian dynasty ruled the Bosporan kingdom.

In them, like the Scythians, there was private property livestock was the main wealth and the main means of production. A significant role in the economy of the Sarmatians was played by the labor of slaves, in which they turned prisoners captured during continuous wars. However, the tribal system of the Sarmatians held on quite steadfastly.

The nomadic lifestyle of the Sarmatians and trade relations with many peoples (China, India, Iran, Egypt) contributed to the spread of various cultural influences among them. Their culture combined elements of the culture of the East, the ancient South and the West.

From the middle of the III century. AD Sarmatians lose their leading position in the Black Sea steppes. At this time, immigrants from Northern Europe- goths. Together with local tribes, among which were the Alans (one of the Sarmatian communities), the Goths carried out devastating attacks on the cities of the Northern Black Sea region.

Genoese in Crimea

At the beginning of the 13th century, after the fourth crusade(1202-1204) the crusader knights captured Constantinople, the Venetians who took an active part in organizing the campaign got the opportunity to freely penetrate the Black Sea.

assault on Constantinople

Already in the middle of the XIII century. they regularly visited Soldaya (modern Sudak), settled in this city. It is known that the uncle of the famous traveler Marco Polo, Maffeo Polo, owned a house in Soldaia.

fortress Sudak

In 1261 Emperor Michael Palaiologos liberates Constantinople from the Crusaders. The Republic of Genoa helped him in this. The Genoese receive the monopoly right of navigation on the Black Sea. In the middle of the XIII century. The Genoese defeated the Venetians in the six-year war. This was the beginning of the two-hundred-year stay of the Genoese in the Crimea.

In the 60s of the XIII century, Genoa settled in Kaffa (modern Feodosia), which became the largest port and trade center in the Black Sea region.

Feodosia

Gradually, the Genoese expand their possessions. In 1357 Chembalo (Balaklava) was captured, in 1365 - Sugdeya (Sudak). In the second half of the XIV century. captured the southern coast of Crimea, the so-called. "Captainship of Gothia", which was previously part of the Principality of Theodoro - Lupiko (Alupka), Muzakhori (Miskhor), Yalita (Yalta), Nikita, Gorzovium (Gurzuf), Partenita, Lusta (Alushta). In total, in the Crimea, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Caucasus, there were about 40 Italian trading posts-colonies. The main activity of the Genoese in the Crimea is trade, including the slave trade. Kafa in the XIV - XV centuries. was the largest slave market on the Black Sea. More than a thousand slaves were sold annually in the Kafa market, and the permanent slave population of Kafa reached five hundred people.

At the same time, by the middle of the 13th century, a huge empire of the Mongols was formed, formed as a result of the conquests of Genghis Khan and his descendants. The possessions of the Mongols stretched from the Pacific coast to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region.

Cafe is actively developing at the same time. However, its existence was interrupted in 1308 by the troops of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhta. The Genoese managed to escape by sea, but the city and the pier were burned to the ground. Only after the new Khan Uzbek (1312-1342) reigned in the Golden Horde did the Genoese reappear on the shores of the Feodosia Gulf. By the beginning of the XV century. A new political situation is emerging in Taurica. At this time, it finally weakens and begins to fall apart. Golden Horde. The Genoese ceased to consider themselves vassals of the Tatars. But their new opponents are the growing principality of Theodoro, who claimed coastal Gothia and Chembalo, as well as the descendant of Genghis Khan, Khadzhi Giray, who sought to create a Tatar state independent of the Golden Horde in the Crimea.

The struggle of Genoa and Theodoro for Gothia lasted intermittently for almost the entire first half of the 15th century, with the support of the Theodorites by Hadji Giray. The largest military clash between the warring parties occurred in 1433-1434.

Hadji Giray

On the outskirts of Solkhat, the Genoese were unexpectedly attacked by the Tatar cavalry of Khadzhi Giray and were defeated in a short battle. After the defeat in 1434, the Genoese colonies were forced to pay an annual tribute to the Crimean Khanate, which was headed by Hadji Giray, who swore to expel the Genoese from their possessions on the peninsula. Soon the colonies had another mortal enemy. In 1453 The Ottoman Turks took control of Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire finally ceased to exist, and sea ​​route, connecting the Genoese colonies in the Black Sea with the mother country, was taken under control by the Turks. The Republic of Genoa faced a real threat of losing all its Black Sea possessions.

The general threat from the Ottoman Turks forced the Genoese to draw closer to their other implacable enemy. In 1471 they entered into an alliance with the ruler Theodoro. But no diplomatic victories could save the colonies from destruction. On May 31, 1475, a Turkish squadron approached the Cafe. By this time, the anti-Turkish bloc "Crimean Khanate - Genoese colonies - Feodoro" had cracked.

The siege of Kafa lasted from 1 to 6 June. The Genoese capitulated at a time when the means for the defense of their Black Sea capital had not been exhausted at all. According to one version, the city authorities believed the promises of the Turks to save their lives and property. One way or another, but the largest Genoese colony went to the Turks surprisingly easily. The new owners of the city took away the property of the Genoese, and they themselves were loaded onto ships and taken to Constantinople.

Soldaya offered the Ottoman Turks more stubborn resistance than Kafa. And after the besiegers managed to break into the fortress, its defenders locked themselves in the church and died in a fire.

Before the capture of the Crimea by the Mongol-Tatars and the accession of the Golden Horde here, many peoples lived on the peninsula, their history goes back centuries, and only archaeological finds testify that the indigenous peoples of Crimea settled the peninsula 12,000 years ago, during the Mesolithic. The sites of ancient people have been found in Shankob, in the Kachinsky and Alimov canopy, in Fatmakob and in other places. It is known that the religion of these ancient tribes was totemism, and they buried the dead in log cabins, pouring high mounds on top of them.

Cimmerians (IX-VII centuries BC)

The first people that historians wrote about were the ferocious Cimmerians, who inhabited the plains of the Crimean peninsula. The Cimmerians were Indo-Europeans or Iranians and were engaged in agriculture; the ancient Greek geographer Strabo wrote about the existence of the capital of the Cimmerians - Kimerida, which was located on the Taman Peninsula. It is believed that the Cimmerians brought metalworking and pottery to the Crimea, their fat herds were guarded by huge wolfhounds. The Cimmerians wore leather jackets and trousers, and pointed hats crowned their heads. Information about this people exists even in the archives of the king of Assyria Ashurbanipal: the Cimmerians more than once invaded Asia Minor and in Thrace. Homer and Herodotus, the Ephesian poet Callinus and the Milesian historian Hecataeus wrote about them.

The Cimmerians left the Crimea under the onslaught of the Scythians, part of the people joined the Scythian tribes, and part went to Europe.

Taurus (VI century BC - I century AD)

Tauri - so the Greeks who visited the Crimea called the formidable tribes living here. The name may have been connected with the cattle breeding they were engaged in, because “tauros” means “bull” in Greek. It is not known where the Tauri came from, some scientists tried to connect them with the Indo-Aryans, others considered them Goths. It is with the Tauris that the culture of dolmens, ancestral burial places, is associated.

The Taurians cultivated the land and grazed cattle, hunted in the mountains and did not disdain sea robbery. Strabo mentioned that the Taurians gather in the Symbolon Bay (Balaklava), stray into gangs and rob ships. The most vicious tribes were considered arihi, sinhi and napei: their battle cry made the blood of enemies freeze; Tauri opponents were stabbed to death, and their heads were nailed to the walls of their temples. The historian Tacitus wrote how the Taurians killed the Roman legionnaires who had escaped the shipwreck. In the 1st century, the Taurians disappeared from the face of the earth, dissolving among the Scythians.

Scythians (7th century BC - 3rd century AD)

The Scythian tribes came to the Crimea, retreating under the pressure of the Sarmatians, here they switched to settled life and absorbed part of the Taurians and even mixed with the Greeks. In the 3rd century, a Scythian state appeared on the plains of Crimea with the capital Naples (Simferopol), which actively competed with the Bosporus, but in the same century it fell under the blows of the Sarmatians. Those who survived were finished off by the Goths and Huns; the remnants of the Scythians mixed with the autochthonous population and ceased to exist as a separate people.

Sarmatians (IV-III centuries BC)

The Sartmatians, in turn, added to the genetic heterogeneity of the peoples of the Crimea, dissolving into its population. The Roksolans, the Iazygs and the Aorses fought with the Scythians for centuries, penetrating into the Crimea. With them came the warlike Alans, who settled in the south-west of the peninsula and founded the Gotho-Alans community, having adopted Christianity. Strabo in Geography writes about the participation of 50,000 Roxolani in an unsuccessful campaign against the Pontics.

Greeks (VI century BC)

The first Greek colonists settled the Crimean coast during the time of the Taurians; here they built the cities of Kerkinitida, Panticapaeum, Chersonese and Theodosius, which in the 5th century BC. formed two states: Bosporus and Chersonese. The Greeks lived off horticulture and winemaking, fished, traded and minted their own coins. With the onset of a new era, the states fell into submission to Pontus, then to Rome and to Byzantium.

From the 5th to the 9th century AD in the Crimea, a new ethnic group "Crimean Greeks" arose, whose descendants were the Greeks of antiquity, Taurians, Scythians, Gotoalans and Turks. In the 13th century, the center of Crimea was occupied by the Greek principality of Theodoro, which was captured by the Ottomans at the end of the 15th century. Some of the Crimean Greeks who have preserved Christianity still live in Crimea.

Romans (1st century AD - 4th century AD)

The Romans appeared in the Crimea at the end of the 1st century, defeating the king of Panticapaeum (Kerch) Mithridates VI Eupator; soon, Chersonese, suffering from the Scythians, asked for their protection. The Romans enriched the Crimea with their culture by building fortresses on Cape Ai-Todor, in Balaklava, on Alma-Kermen and left the peninsula after the collapse of the empire - about this in the work "Population of the mountainous Crimea in late Roman times" writes Professor of Simferopol University Igor Khrapunov.

Goths (III-XVII centuries)

The Goths lived in Crimea - a Germanic tribe that appeared on the peninsula during the Great Migration of Nations. The Christian saint Procopius of Caesarea wrote that the Goths were engaged in agriculture, and their nobility held military posts in the Bosporus, which the Goths took control of. Having become the owners of the Bosporan fleet, in 257 the Germans undertook a campaign against Trebizond, where they seized countless treasures.

The Goths settled in the north-west of the peninsula and in the 4th century formed their own state - Gothia, which stood for nine centuries and only then partially entered the principality of Theodoro, and the Goths themselves were apparently assimilated by the Greeks and the Ottoman Turks. Most of the Goths eventually became Christians, their spiritual center was the fortress of Doros (Mangup).

For a long time, Gothia was a buffer between the hordes of nomads pushing against the Crimea from the north, and Byzantium in the south, survived the invasions of the Huns, Khazars, Tatar-Mongols and ceased to exist after the invasion of the Ottomans.

Catholic priest Stanislav Sestrenevich-Bogush wrote that back in the 18th century, the Goths lived near the Mangup fortress, their language was similar to German, but they were all Islamized.

Genoese and Venetians (XII-XV centuries)

Merchants from Venice and Genoa appeared on the Black Sea coast in the middle of the 12th century; having concluded an agreement with the Golden Horde, they founded trading colonies, which lasted until the capture of the coast by the Ottomans, after which their few inhabitants were assimilated.

In the 4th century, cruel Huns invaded the Crimea, some of which settled in the steppes and mixed with the Goths-Alans. And also Jews, Armenians who fled from the Arabs, moved to Crimea, Khazars, Eastern Slavs, Polovtsy, Pechenegs and Bulgars visited here, and it is not surprising that the peoples of Crimea are not alike, because in their veins the blood of various peoples flows.

Pontus Euxinus - Scythian Sea

Crimea became known for world history many centuries before our era. In ancient times, the peninsula was called Taurica. This name was recorded by the Byzantine historian of the VI century AD Procopius nz Caesarea. The Old Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" gives a slightly modified form of this name - Tavriania. Only in the XII century, the Tatars, who conquered the peninsula, called the Greek city of Solkhat (now Stary Krym) Crimea, which became the center of their possessions. Gradually, during the XIV-XV centuries, this name spread to the entire peninsula. The names of the Greek colonies that arose in the Crimea in the VI century BC. cannot be considered the oldest Crimean toponyms. Before the arrival of the Greeks in the Crimea, numerous tribes lived here, leaving their mark on history, archeology, and toponymy.

Crimea belongs to those few places on earth where people have appeared since time immemorial. Here, archaeologists discovered their sites of the Paleolithic era - the early Stone Age.

Scientists believe that before the beginning of the divergence of peoples - about 3700 BC. throughout the Caspian steppes of Eastern Europe and Western Asia common language communication was , the roots of which lie in .

The roots of the most ancient names of the Crimean places, rivers, mountains, lakes should be sought in the Proto-Indo-European language - Vedic Sanskrit: support, stronghold, tower, tower, pylon. (related word in Dr. Russian: KROM - castle, fortification, secluded, hidden from ...; Kromny - outer edge (edge); KROMA - edge, piece of bread;) At the root of the word Kram - kram - fortress, verb " kR" and "krta" - create, build, make, that is - this is a man-made structure - the Fortress, the Kremlin.

Slavic historian, archaeologist, ethnographer and linguist, author of the 11-volume encyclopedia "Slavic Antiquities" Lubora Niederle claimed that “... among the northern neighbors of the Scythians mentioned by Herodotus, not only the neurons ... but also Scythians called plowmen and farmers ... were undoubtedly Slavs, who were influenced by the Greco-Scythian culture.

The first population of Crimea known to us from ancient Greek sources was the Scythians, Taurus and the Cimmerians, who were related or Thracian.

In the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, 15 km from Sevastopol, is the ancient city of Balaklava, which has a rich history of more than 2500 years.

Since ancient times, it has been a powerful military fortress created by nature itself. Balaklava harbor is closed by high rocks on all sides from sea storms, and the narrow entrance to the harbor reliably protects it from enemy invasions from the sea. reports that Tauris lived in the mountains of Taurida, who knew a lot about martial arts.

within the Dnieper Left Bank there are two toponyms ancient Slavic species - Perekop, near Sreznevsky - Perekop, possible calque of relict Indo-Aryan * krta - “made (that is, dug by hand)” , hence the name Crimea. Approximately in the same place, at the base of the Crimean peninsula, there is another Russian. Oleshye , one of the "populated places" by the sea, which from time immemorial - from Herodotus Hylaea ('Y - "forest") up to the present Aleshkovsky (!) Sands - steadfastly conveyed and preserved the image of this "wooded" patch among the surrounding treeless spaces.

The name "Balaklava" comes from the word, strength, power, energy, strength, military force, army, army. The word "Bala" comes from - RV). Perhaps the name of the harbor "Bala + Klava" - comes from "Bala" - military, "Klap, kalpate" - klṛ p, kalpate - "strengthen, strengthen, fortress" (from the root "kḷ p"), ​​that is - Military Fortress.

Ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 BC - 24 AD) and Roman writer, author " natural history» Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) associated the name of the harbor and the military fortress with the name of his son (II century BC) Palak - "strong warrior." Names of the god of war in ancient Greece - Pallas (Pallas), an epithet of a goddess Athena Palada(other Greek Παλλὰς Ἀθηνᾶ) – militant goddess of war strategy and wisdom, and the name of the Scythian prince Palak - "warrior", come from the same root.

In the 5th century, a powerful city arose on both banks of the Kerch Strait, whose inhabitants consisted of representatives of various peoples - Greek colonists, Scythians, Meots. Dominant dynasty The Spartakids were of Thracian origin, and the royal guard also consisted of the Thracians. In the Proto-Indo-European language, the roots of the language of the Scythians, Cimmerians, Greeks, Goths lie, which is why they found mutual language and, allowing for the interpenetration of cultures and linguistic borrowings on the peninsula, for example, from the Germanic tribes - - the Scythians, who were in a single Gothic union of tribes in the Crimea.

The role of the Goths in the life of the Crimea was very significant, since even in the Byzantine medieval sources the Crimea was called Gothia. belongs to Indo-European group languages. A few fortified Ostrogothic settlements remained in the Black Sea region in the western mountainous part of the Crimea, inhabited by Greeks and subordinated to Byzantium, and also from the 5th century in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov on the Taman Peninsula, the Ostrogoths at the end of the 4th century were cut off by the invasion of the Huns and other nomads in the Black Sea region. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I built a line of fortifications in the Crimea to protect the settlements of the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths). In Taurida (Crimea) there was a Gothic the fortress city of Mangup, the cities of Doro (Doros), Theodoro, ready-meal merchants living on the "table mountain" (near Alushta).

In the 6th century Crimean Goths adopted Orthodox Christianity and patronage from Byzantium. In the Crimea, the Crimean-Gothic language was preserved for a long time, dating back to the Ostrogothic dialect of the tribes of the Eastern Goths, who came to the Black Sea region and the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov in 150-235, and lived in the neighborhood with Greek settlers and Scythians. The Flemish monk V. Rubruk, who testifies in 1253 that the Goths in the Crimea at that time spoke the “German dialect” (idioma Teutonicum). important place occupies the Crimean peninsula in the history of Ukraine. The population of Crimea and Ukraine was connected by common economic, political and cultural processes.

Distribution of power Kyiv princes of ancient Rus' on a fairly large part of the peninsula closely and for a long time brought the population of Crimea closer to ancient Russian state. There were gates of sorts through which Kievan Rus went out to communicate with the countries of the East. In the first centuries of our era in the Crimea appeared Slavs. Their migration to the peninsula is most naturally explained by the so-called great migration of peoples in the II-VII centuries.

From time to time, Byzantine sources recall the Slavs in the Crimea. But scientists were able to get a more complete picture of their life on the peninsula only starting from the era of Kievan Rus. Archaeologists have discovered remains in the Crimea material culture, the foundations of architectural structures, close to those that were built in the cities of Kievan Rus. Moreover, the fresco paintings and the plaster itself of the Crimean Russian churches are very similar in composition to the fresco paintings of the Kyiv cathedrals of the 11th-12th centuries.

Much about the ancient Russian population of the Crimea becomes known from written sources.

From "The Lives of Stefan of Surozh" know that at the beginning In the 9th century, the Russian prince Bravlin took possession of the Crimean cities of Korsun (or Kherson, so in the Middle Ages Chersonesus began to be called) and Sudak. And in the middle of the same century, the ancient Russians settled for a long time in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, having mastered the Byzantine city of Tamatarkha later Tmutarakan, the capital of the future Old Russian principality, part of whose lands extended into the Crimea. Gradually, the Kiev government extends its power to the northwestern part of it to the outskirts of Kherson, the entire Kerch Peninsula.

Tmutarakans principality formed in the middle of the 10th century. Remote from other Russian lands, it was under constant pressure from Byzantium, but managed to survive. Successful Vladimir Svyatoslavich's campaign against Kherson in 989 expanded ancient Russian possessions in the Crimea. According to the Russian-Byzantine agreement, Kievan Rus was able to annex the city of Bosporus with its outskirts to the Tmutarakan principality, which received the Russian name Korchev (from the word "korcha" - a forge, the current Kerch).

The Arab geographer Idrisi called Kerch Strait "the mouth of the Russian river". There he even knew a city with the name "Russia". Medieval European and eastern geographic maps of Crimea recorded many toponyms, names of cities and settlements, testifying to the long and long stay of the Russ in Crimea: “ Cosal di Rosia", "Rossia", "Rosmofar", "Rosso", "Rossika" (the latter near Evpatoria), etc.

IN late XII centuries, the bulk of the nomadic Polovtsy, who took possession of the steppes of the northern Black Sea region, cut off the Crimea from Kievan Rus for a long time. At the same time, the Polovtsians destroyed the Tmutarakan principality, but a significant part of the Russian population remained on the peninsula. One of its strongholds was the city of Sudak (Russian name Surozh). According to the Arab writer Ibn al-Athir. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, many Russian merchants lived in the Crimea. The Russian population of the peninsula, as well as representatives of other local peoples, was dealt an irreparable blow by the conquest of the peninsula Mongol-Tatars after 1223.

We are accustomed to approach the concept of " Crimea» as the name of a place where you can have a great vacation summer days, have a good rest on the seashore, making a couple of trips to attractions located nearby. But if you approach the issue globally, look at the peninsula from a distance of centuries and knowledge, it becomes clear that the Crimea is a unique historical and cultural territory, striking in antiquity and a variety of natural and “man-made” values. Numerous Crimean cultural monuments reflect religion, culture and historical events of different eras and peoples. Story the peninsula is the interweaving of the West and the East, the history of the ancient Greeks and the Golden Horde Mongols, the history of the birth of Christianity, the appearance of the first churches and mosques. For centuries, different peoples lived here, fought with each other, concluded peace and trade agreements, settlements and cities were built and destroyed, civilizations appeared and disappeared. Inhaling the Crimean air, in addition to the notorious phytoncides, you can feel in it the taste of legends about life Amazons, Olympic gods, Taurians, Cimmerians, Greeks…

The natural conditions of the Crimea and the geographical location, favorable for life, contributed to the fact that the peninsula became the cradle of mankind. Primitive Neanderthal people appeared here 150 thousand years ago, attracted by the warm climate and the abundance of animals that were their main food base. In almost every Crimean museum you can find archaeological finds from grottoes and caves, which served as natural shelters for primitive man. Most famous sites primitive man:

• Kiik-Koba ( Belogorsky district);
• Staroselye (Bakhchisaray);
• Chokurcho (Simferopol);
• Wolf Grotto (Simferopol);
• Ak-Kaya (Belogorsk).

About 50 thousand years ago, an ancestor appeared on the Crimean peninsula modern people- Cro-Magnon type. Three sites from this era have been discovered: Syuren (near the village of Tankovoye), Aji-Koba (slope of Karabi-Yaila) and Kachinsky canopy (near the village of Predushchelnoye, Bakhchisaray district).

Cimmerians

If before the first millennium BC, historical data only slightly open the veil from different periods of human development, then information about a later time allows us to speak about specific cultures and tribes of the Crimea. In the 5th century BC Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, visited the Crimean shores. In his writings, he described the local lands and the peoples living on them. It is believed that among the first peoples who lived in the steppe part of the peninsula in the XV-VII centuries BC, there were Cimmerians. Their warlike tribes were driven out of the Crimea in the 4th-3rd centuries BC by no less aggressive Scythians and lost in the vast expanses of the steppes of Asia. Only ancient names remind of them:

• Cimmerian walls;
• Kimmerik.

Taurus

The mountainous and foothill Crimea in those days was inhabited by tribes taurus, distant descendants of the Kizil-Koba archaeological culture. In the descriptions of ancient authors, the Tauri look bloodthirsty and cruel. Being skilled sailors, they traded in piracy, robbing ships passing along the coast. Captives were thrown into the sea from a high cliff from the temple, sacrificing to the goddess Virgo. Refuting this information, modern scientists have established that the Taurians were engaged in hunting, collecting shellfish, fishing, farming and raising livestock. They lived in huts or caves, but for protection from external enemies they built fortified shelters. Taurus fortifications found on the mountains: Cat, Uch-Bash, Kastel, Ayu-Dag, on Cape Ai-Todor.

Another trace of the Taurus is numerous burials in dolmens - stone boxes, consisting of four flat slabs set on edge and covered with a fifth on top. One of the unsolved mysteries about the Tauris is the location of the cliff with the Temple of the Virgin.

Scythians

In the 7th century BC, Scythian tribes came to the steppe part of Crimea. In the 4th century BC, the Sarmatians pushed back Scythians to the lower Dnieper and Crimea. At the turn of the 4th-3rd centuries BC, a Scythian state was formed on this territory, the capital of which was Naples Scythian(in its place is modern Simferopol).

Greeks

In the 7th century BC, strings of Greek colonists reached the Crimean shores. Choosing convenient places for living and sailing, Greeks based on them city-states - "polises":

• Feodosia;
• Panticapaeum-Bosporus (Kerch);
• (Sevastopol);
• Mirmekiy;
• Nymphaeum;
• Tiritaka.

The emergence and expansion of Greek colonies served as a serious impetus for the development of the Northern Black Sea region: political, cultural and trade ties between the local population and the Greeks intensified. The indigenous inhabitants of the Crimea learned to cultivate the land in more advanced ways, they began to plant olives and grapes. The influence of Greek culture on spiritual world Scythians, Taurians, Sarmatians and other tribes that came into contact with it. However, the relationship between neighboring peoples was not easy: peaceful periods were followed by years of wars. Therefore, all Greek policies were protected by strong stone walls.

4th century BC was the time of foundation of several settlements in the west of the peninsula. The largest of them are Kalos-Limen (Black Sea) and Kerkinitida (Evpatoria). At the end of the 5th century BC, immigrants from the Greek Heraclea founded the policy of Chersonesos (modern Sevastopol). A hundred years later, Chersonesus became a city-state independent of the Greek metropolis and the largest policy of the Northern Black Sea region. In its heyday it was a powerful port city, a cultural, handicraft and trade center of the southwestern part of Crimea surrounded by fortified walls.

Around 480 BC, the independent Greek cities united to form Bosporan kingdom, whose capital was the city of Panticapaeum. A little later, Theodosia joined the kingdom.

In the 4th century BC, the Scythian king Atey united the Scythian tribes into a strong state, which owned the territory from the Dniester and the Southern Bug to the Don. From the end of the 4th century BC and especially in the 3rd century BC Scythians and the Tauri, under their influence, exerted strong military pressure on the policies. In the III century BC, Scythian villages, fortifications and cities appeared on the peninsula, including the capital of the kingdom - Scythian Naples. At the end of the 2nd century BC, Chersonese, besieged by the Scythians, turned for help to the Pontic kingdom (located on the southern coast of the Black Sea). The troops of Ponta lifted the siege, but at the same time captured Theodosia and Panticapaeum, after which both the Bosporus and Chersonesos became part of the Pontic kingdom.

Romans, Huns, Byzantium

From the middle of the 1st century to the beginning of the 4th century AD, the entire Black Sea region (including Crimea-Taurica) was within the sphere of interests of the Roman Empire. The stronghold of the Romans in Taurica became Chersonese. In the 1st century, on Cape Ai-Todor, Roman legionnaires built the fortress of Kharaks and connected it with roads with Chersonese, in which the garrison was located. The Roman squadron was stationed in the harbor of Chersonesos.

In 370, hordes of Huns came to the Crimean lands. They wiped out the Bosporan kingdom and the Scythian state from the face of the earth, destroyed Chersonese, Panticapaeum and Scythian Naples. After the Crimea, the Huns went to Europe, bringing the death of the great Roman Empire. In the IV century, the Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern (Byzantine). The southern part of Taurica entered the sphere of interests of the Eastern Empire. Chersonese became the main base of the Byzantines in the Crimea, which became known as Kherson. This period was the time of the penetration of Christianity into the peninsula. According to church tradition, Andrew the First-Called became his first messenger. The third bishop of Rome, Clement, exiled in 94 to Cherson, also actively preached the Christian faith. In the 8th century, an iconoclasm movement appeared in Byzantium: all images of saints were destroyed - on icons, in temple paintings. The monks fled from persecution on the outskirts of the empire, including in the Crimea. In the mountains of the peninsula, they founded cave monasteries and temples:

• Kachi-Kalyon;
• Chelter;
• Uspensky;
• Shuldan.

At the end of the 6th century, new wave invaders - the Khazars, the ancestors of the Karaites. They occupied the entire Crimea, except for Kherson. In 705, Kherson recognized the Khazar protectorate and separated from Byzantium. In response, Byzantium sent a punitive fleet in 710 with a small army on board. Kherson fell, and the Byzantines treated its inhabitants with unprecedented cruelty. But as soon as the imperial troops left the city, it rebelled: uniting with the Khazars and part of the army that had changed the empire, Cherson captured Constantinople and put his emperor at the head of Byzantium.

Slavs, Mongols, Genoese, Theodoro Principality

In the 9th century in the course Crimean history intervene actively new power – Slavs. Their appearance on the peninsula coincided with the decline of the Khazar state, which was finally defeated in the 10th century by Prince Svyatoslav. In 988 - 989 Kherson was captured by Prince Vladimir of Kiev. Here he adopted the Christian faith.

In the XIII century, the Tatar-Mongols of the Golden Horde invaded the peninsula several times, thoroughly plundering the cities. From the middle of the XIII century, they began to settle in the territory of Taurica. At this time, they captured Solkhat and turned it into the center of the Crimean yurt of the Golden Horde. It received the name Kyrym, subsequently inherited by the peninsula.

In the same years, an Orthodox church appeared in the Crimean mountains. Principality of Theodoro with its capital at Mangup. The Genoese had disputes with the Principality of Theodoro about the ownership of the disputed territories.

Turks

In early 1475, Kafa had a fleet Ottoman Empire. Well-fortified Kafa withstood the siege for only three days, after which it surrendered to the mercy of the winner. By the end of the year Turks captured all the coastal fortresses: the rule of the Genoese in the Crimea ended. Mangup held out for the longest time and surrendered to the Turks only after a six-month siege. The invaders brutally treated the captive Theodorians: the city was devastated, most of the inhabitants were killed, and the survivors were taken into slavery.

Crimean Khan became a vassal Ottoman Empire and a conductor of the aggressive policy of Turkey in relation to Rus'. Raids on the southern lands Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Rus' have become permanent. Rus' sought to protect its southern borders and gain access to the Black Sea. Therefore, she repeatedly fought with Turkey. The war of 1768-1774 was unsuccessful for the Turks. In 1774 between the Ottoman Empire and Russia was concluded Kuchuk-Kainarji Treaty about peace, which brought independence to the Crimean Khanate. Russia received the fortresses of Kin-burn, Azov and the city of Kerch in the Crimea along with the Yeni-Kale fortress. In addition, Russian merchant ships now have free access to navigation in the Black Sea.

Russia

In 1783 Crimea was finally annexed to Russia. Most Muslims left the peninsula and moved to Turkey. The edge has fallen into disrepair. Prince G. Potemkin, the governor of Taurida, began to resettle here retired soldiers and serfs from neighboring regions. So the first villages with Russian names appeared on the peninsula - Izyumovka, Mazanka, Clean... This move of the prince turned out to be correct: the Crimean economy began to develop, agriculture was revived. The city of Sevastopol, the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was founded in an excellent natural harbor. Near the Ak-Mechet, a small town, Simferopol was being built - the future "capital" of the Tauride province.

In 1787 Empress Catherine II visited Crimea with a large retinue of dignitaries of foreign states. She stayed in travel palaces specially built for this occasion.

Eastern war

In 1854-1855, Crimea became the scene of yet another war, called the Eastern War. In the autumn of 1854, Sevastopol was besieged by a united army France, England and Turkey. Under the leadership of Vice Admirals P.S. Nakhimov and V.A. Kornilov's defense of the city lasted 349 days. In the end, the city was destroyed to the ground, but at the same time glorified throughout the world. Russia lost this war: in 1856, an agreement was signed in Paris prohibiting both Turkey and Russia from having navies on the Black Sea.

Health resort of Russia

In the middle of the 19th century, the doctor Botkin recommended that the royal family purchase the Livadia estate, as a place with an exceptionally healthy climate. This was the beginning of a new, resort era in the Crimea. Villas, estates, palaces belonging to the royal family, rich landowners and industrialists, court nobility were built along the entire coast. For several years, the village of Yalta has become a popular aristocratic resort. Railways, which connected the largest cities of the region with each other, further accelerated its transformation into a resort and summer resort of the empire.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the peninsula belonged to the Tauride province and was an agrarian region with several industrial cities in economic and economic terms. These were mainly Simferopol and port Kerch, Sevastopol and Theodosius.

Soviet power established itself in the Crimea only in the autumn of 1920, after the German army and Denikin's troops were expelled from the peninsula. A year later, the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Republic was formed. Palaces, dachas and villas were given over to people's sanatoriums, where collective farmers and workers from all over the young state were treated and rested.

The Great Patriotic War

During the Second World War, the peninsula courageously fought the enemy. Sevastopol repeated his feat, surrendering after a 250-day siege. The pages of the heroic chronicle of those years are full of such names as "The Tierra del Fuego of Eltigen", "Kerch-Feodosiya operation", "The feat of partisans and underground fighters"... For the courage and stamina shown, Kerch and Sevastopol were awarded the titles of hero cities.

February 1945 brought together the heads of the allied countries in the Crimea - USA, UK and USSR- at the Crimean (Yalta) conference in the Livadia Palace. During this conference, decisions were made to end the war and establish a post-war world order.

Postwar years

Crimea was liberated from the invaders at the beginning of 1944, and the restoration of the peninsula immediately began - industrial enterprises, rest houses, sanatoriums, facilities Agriculture, villages and cities. The black page in the history of the peninsula of that time was the expulsion of Greeks, Tatars and Armenians from its territory. In February 1954, by decree of N.S. Khrushchev, the Crimean region was transferred to Ukraine. Today, many believe that it was a royal gift ...

During the 60-80s of the last century, the growth of Crimean agriculture, industry and tourism reached its peak. Crimea received the semi-official title of an all-Union health resort: 9 million people annually rested in its health resorts.

In 1991, during the putsch in Moscow, the General Secretary of the USSR M.S. was arrested. Gorbachev at the state dacha in Foros. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea became Autonomous Republic, which became part of Ukraine. In the spring of 2014, after the all-Crimean referendum, the Crimean peninsula seceded from Ukraine and became one of the subjects of the Russian Federation. started recent history of Crimea.

We know Crimea as a republic of relaxation, sun, sea and fun. Come to the Crimean land - let's write the history of our resort republic together!

- November, 10th 2013

In recent years, after the return of the Tatars from deportation, interethnic and interregional relations in the Crimean peninsula have become aggravated. The basis of the conflict is the dispute: whose land is it and who is native in Crimea? To begin with, let's decide who the historical and ethnographic sciences classify as indigenous peoples. The encyclopedia gives this answer:

An indigenous people is an ethnic group that has mastered a territory that was not inhabited by anyone before it.

And now let's trace the changes in the Crimean ethnogenesis (the emergence of various peoples), although this will not be a complete picture, but nevertheless it is impressive. So, they lived in Crimea at different times.

About 300 thousand years ago – primitive people(Early Paleolithic); tools of labor and hunting were found in the places of parking on the South Bank.

About 100 thousand years ago- primitive people (Middle Paleolithic); more than 20 human sites are known: Kiik-Koba, Staroselye, Chokurcha, Shaitan-Koba, Akkaya, Zaskalnaya, Prolom, Kobazi, Wolf Grotto, etc.; religion is animism.

40-35 thousand years ago- people of the Upper Paleolithic; religion - totemism; 4 sites were found, including Suren I.

12th-10th millennium- people of the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age); more than 20 sites were found throughout the Crimea: Shankoba, Fatmakoba, Alimov canopy, Kachinsky canopy, etc.; religion is totemism.

8th millennium- people of the Neolithic (New Stone Age); Kemi-Oba culture (Tashair); religion is totemism.

5th millennium (Bronze Age) - the arrival in the Crimea of ​​the tribes of the "catacomb" and "log" cultures (burials in barrows).

Existence different cultures did not pass without a trace for them themselves - they undoubtedly influenced each other, changed and enriched, and possibly united, giving rise to new cultures. Perhaps this was the beginning of the culture of the Cimmerians (alien tribes) and the culture of the Taurians (local tribes):

3rd millennium BC(Iron Age) - Cimmeria, Cimmerians - warlike people, Indo-Aryans - people of the European type; area of ​​their settlement: south modern Russia, Ukraine, North Caucasus, Crimea; religion is polytheism. They lived in the valleys. Most likely they brought to the Crimea the ability to extract and process iron.

X century BC- Tavria, Taurica, Taurida, Tauris (they can only be called a single people with a certain stretch; rather, it is a conglomeration of various tribes: Arihs, Napeevs, Singhs, etc.) They lived in the mountains, were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting, fishing; their burial places have been preserved - dolmens and fortifications: Uch-Bash, on Cape Kharaks, on Mount Castel Seraus, Koshka, Karaul-oba, on the rocks of the Kachinsky Gate, Ai-Yori and in the Karalezskaya Valley; religion - the cult of the Virgin and other gods.

These tribes were united by one name by the Greeks, who already visited the Crimean shores in those days. It is definitely not clear why they called them that: either for their ferocious temper, or for their innumerable herds (“tauros” - a bull from Greek), or whether this word meant “highlanders” (taurus-tur-mountain) ...

VII-VI centuries BC- Greeks. Tauric Chersonesos, Cimmerian Bosporus on the shores of Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) and Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov). The Greeks founded these two states, as well as hundreds of settlements along the coast; religion - polytheism, the Pantheon of the Olympic gods, headed by Zeus (Kronos); from Iv.n.e. - Gradual Christianization; the Greeks were the first in the Crimea to start trading in slaves from the locals “for export” (how, by the way, could the Tauris, and then the Scythians, relate to them, because they didn’t consider them to be people?)

VIII-VII century BC- Scythia, Scythians (cleaved), Sinds, Meots, Saks, Massagets and other Indo-Iranian nomadic tribes, who practically ousted the Cimmerians from the Crimean expanses and gradually became settled in vast territories (the capital of Scythia was near modern Nikopol, and the second - in the Crimea (Simferopol) - Scythian Naples, built in the III century BC) Religion - polytheism. Pantheon of gods led by Popeye.

The eternal and irresistible process of mutual influence and mixing of peoples led to the fact that in the first centuries of our era the Taurians were no longer separated from the Scythians, but were called Tauro-Scythians, and part of the Scythian settlements mixed with the Greek ones (for example, the Tatars already in the 13th century found a wretched Greek village, which was named Kermenchuk). But let's continue the list.

II century BC Sarmatia. The Sarmatians pushed the related-speaking Scythians from the Northern Black Sea and Azov regions to the Crimea; religion is polytheism.

I century BC- Jewish diaspora - Semites. Religion - monotheismo (god Yahweh); tombstones with menorah candles and inscriptions in Hebrew were found on the Kerch and Taman peninsulas.

I century BC - Iv.n.e.- Pontic (Pontic Bosporus); settled on the site of the Bosporan Cimmerian kingdom, headed by Mithridates VI Eupator (Kerch); religion is polytheism. Together with the Pontians, Armenians appear on the peninsula.

Iv.don.e. – III century AD- the Romans and Thracians, after the defeat of the Pontic kingdom, capture the Crimea (now it is the easternmost outskirts of the Roman Empire); religion - polytheism, and from 325g. - Christianity; the Romans introduced local residents to their culture, introduced them to the virtues of Roman law.

Until the 4th century AD- Eastern Slavs: Antes, Tivertsy (Artania) - have been known in the Northern Black Sea region since ancient times; pushed to the north during the Great Migration of Nations, partially preserved in Taman - the future Tmutarakan; religion is polytheism.

3rd century AD- Germanic tribes: Goths and Heruli (Gothia, Captaincy of Gothia); came from the Baltic, destroyed Scythia and created their own state of Gothia on the southern coast of Crimea. Later - they left the Huns to the west, part returned in the 7th century. The Goths were the impetus for the unification of the Slavs; religion - polytheism, and later - Christianity.

3rd century AD- Alans-yases, related to the Sarmatians (distant ancestors of the Ossetians); together with the Sarmatians they settled among the Scythians; best known in the Crimea for their settlement of Kyrk-Ork (until the 14th century, then - Chufut-Kale), when they were pushed into the mountains by the Huns; religion is Christianity.

IV century- Huns, Xiongnu (Hun principality) - the ancestors of the current Tuvans; invaded from the Trans-Altai, dealt a powerful blow to the Goths, drove away a significant part of the population, thereby initiating the Great Migration; religion - paganism, later - Christianity.

IV century- Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire), Kherson theme; after the collapse of the Roman Empire, Taurica, as it were, “by inheritance” went to Byzantium; strongholds in the Crimea - Kherson, Bosporus (Kerch), Gurzuvits (Gurzuf), Aluston (Alushta), etc. In 325g. accept Christianity.

6th century- the Turks (Turkets-Mongoloids) raided the Crimea from Siberia, setting up their Ashin dynasty in Khazaria (lower reaches of the Volga and Terek), they did not gain a foothold on the peninsula; pagans.

6th century- Avars (obry) - created the Avar Khaganate in Transnistria, also raided the Crimea until they were defeated by the Bulgars; pagans.

7th century- Bulgars (Bulgarians). Some of them settle in the Crimea, becoming sedentary from nomadic, settling in the foothill valleys and engaging in agriculture (in general, the Volga Bulgars-Turks moved to the West; their other wave went north, creating the Kazan Khanate; in the Balkans they assimilated with the southern Slavs, having founded Bulgaria and adopted Christianity ); pagans, and from the IX century. - Orthodox Christians.

7th century- Greekized superethnos (Gothia, Doros) - formed the Greek-speaking basis of the population of the Mangup Principality (Dori); Byzantium is being strengthened, uniting the multilingual peoples who lived in the mountainous Crimea and along the South Coast; religion - Christianity, as well as other religions.

VIII-X centuries.- Khazar Khaganate, Khazars ( Turkic-speaking peoples Dagestan type); religion - paganism, later part converted to Islam, part - Judaism, and part - Christianity. Power in the Kaganate is first seized by the Ashins, then by the Jews; Jewish Khazaria seizes part of the steppe and coastal Crimea, competes with Byzantium, seeks to subdue Rus' (it was defeated by Prince Svyatoslav in 965).

VIII-X centuries.- Karaites; came to Khazaria from Israel through Persia and the Caucasus; met with the Khazars; driven out by Rohdanite Jews to the outskirts of Khazaria, including the Crimea; language - Kynchak dialect of the Turkic language, close to the Crimean Tatar; religion - Judaism (recognize only the Pentateuch - Torah).

VII-I centuries.- Krymchaks (Crimean Jews) - remained in the Crimea and Taman as fragments of the defeated Khazar Khaganate (known as residents of the Tmutarakan principality and Kievan Rus); the language is close to Karaite; Religion - Orthodox Judaism-Rabbinism.

End of IX - beginning of X centuries.- Pechenegs-Bejans (Turkmen) - Turks from the Baraba steppes; defeated by the Polovtsians and Guzes; who dispersed to the Crimea, who - to the Lower Dnieper (Karakalpaks); were assimilated by the Eastern Slavs; religion is paganism.

X-XI centuries- Guz-Oghuz (Turkmen) - Turks. Leader - Oguz Khan; ousted the Pechenegs from the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region, and then, together with the Pechenegs, opposed the Rus (Rugs), Slavs and Polovtsians; religion is paganism.

X-XIII centuries- Eastern Slavs (Tmutarakan principality as part of Kievan Rus). This is the principality (Taman and Korchev-Kerch), founded by Prince Vladimir in 988, in 1222. together with the Polovtsians fought off the Turks; at the Battle of the Kalka in 1223. Ataman Tmutarakan Plaskinya took the side of the Mongol-Tatars; religion is Christianity.

XI century- Cumans (Kypchaks, Kumans, Komans). They created in the Black Sea region and in the Crimea the state of Odzhaklar with the capital Sarkel (on the Don). They alternately fight with Russia, then make alliances; together with the four Russian princes Mstislavs and Khan Katyan, they were defeated on the Kalka River in 1223; part went to Hungary and Egypt (Mamluks), the rest were assimilated by Tatars, Slavs, Hungarians, Greeks, etc. Religion - paganism.

XI century- perhaps, Armenians settled in Crimea at that time (their homeland was tormented by Persians and Seljuk Turks). Mountainous Taurica to the east of present-day Belogorsk has been called Maritime Armenia for some time now; in a wooded tract, the Armenian monastery of Surb-khach (holy cross) appears, known even outside the Crimea; Belogorsk itself is a large and rich city - Solkhat (it is inhabited by Kipchaks, Alans and Russ, as well as Soldaya, Surozh (Sudak).

Ancient authors have a lot of reports about dews (Ruses) who lived from the first centuries of our era in the Northern Azov region, the Black Sea region and in the Crimea. Byzantine documents slipped: “ Scythians, who are Russian". In the IX century. The Black Sea was called by the Arabs the Russian Sea (previously it was Rumsky - "Byzantine"). In the IX century. Enlightener Cyril saw in Taurica books "written in Russian letters." The word "ros" means "light, white." The Tarkhankut peninsula was designated as the "white coast", and the dews lived there. The Arabs called the Rus Slavs, the Greeks called the Scythians, and the Cimmerian Bosporus was considered their homeland. There is a version that the Novgorod prince Bravlin, who went to the Greek settlements, was the leader of the local, Taurus-Scythian, and "Russian new town"- most likely Scythian Naples. In the XI century. The Kerch Strait is called the Russian River, and on its Crimean coast, opposite Tmutarakan, stands the city of Rosia - the White City (Kerch?). Russian merchant Athanasius Nikitin in 1474, when returning from "Overseas", visited the Crimea, where he saw many Russians and people in general Orthodox faith, as well as baptized Tatars (which he wrote about in his diaries).

XII-XV centuries.- Venetians, Genoese, Pisans founded trading posts in the Crimea: Kafa, Soldaya, Vosporo, Chembalo. They appeared in the Crimea back in the days of Byzantium, in the army of Mamai they participated in the Battle of Kulikovo. In 1475 Kafa (modern Feodosia) fell under the blows of the Turks and Tatars. Religion - Catholicism.

XII-XV centuries.- in the Crimea, a multi-ethnic Mangup principality of Theodoro arises, which has ties with Constantinople, Europe, Moscow and numbers 200 thousand. people of the population (most of them are Greeks). It stretched from Balaklava to Alushta, located in the mountainous Crimea; defeated by the Turks and Tatars in 1475. After 300 years, only 30 thousand remained in the Crimea. Greeks, of which half are Urums (Tatarized). In 1778 the Greeks left for the Sea of ​​Azov (Mariupol).

Beginning of the 13th century- Crimea is inhabited by Tatars - Ulus of the Golden Horde. Eski-Krym - Stary Krym (former Solkhat) becomes the capital. The Transbaikalian tribes of Tatars and Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, captured the Yenisei and Ob Kirghiz, conquered the peoples Central Asia. At the beginning of the XIII century. Genghis Khan moved west, against the Kipchaks and Kievan Rus. In Crimea - since 1239; pagans, and from the XIV century - Sunni Muslims.

Crimean Khanate (Tatars) - from 1428 the capital moved from Solkhat to Bakhchisarai; formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde. Since 1475 by 1774 this state is a vassal of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire; liquidated in 1783. Religion is Islam.

XIII century- Gypsies - known in the Crimea since the Crimean Khanate. Perhaps they first appeared in Khazar times; religion - paganism, and then partly Christianity, partly - Islam.

XV century - 1475-1774- Turks, Ottoman Empire(the first attempt to establish itself in the Crimea was in 1222) The Turks capture Kafa, Sudak, the cave cities of Mangup and Chufut-Kale, and the sultan becomes the religious head Crimean Tatars. Religion is Islam.

XVIII - XX centuries.- Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Germans, Czechs, Estonians, Moldavians, Karsk Greeks, Vlachs, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Kazan and Siberian Tatars, Koreans, Hungarians, Italians, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, etc.

After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783. the Turks and most of the Tatars leave for Turkey, and the settlement of the Crimea and the Novorossiysk Territory by Slavic and other peoples (including those from abroad) begins. Religion - different religions and denominations.

Afterword

The article uses data from the article "Indigenous and attached" (newspaper "Krymskaya Pravda" dated January 27, 2004), written by the candidate historical sciences, Honored Worker of Education of the Crimea, a member of the Union of Writers Vasily Potekhin, who claims:

None of the peoples now living in Crimea is aboriginal - autochthonous, that is, indigenous. The principle of our peaceful multi-ethnic existence today is reflected on the coat of arms of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the form of a motto: "Prosperity in unity." Nationalism inevitably leads to national fascism. Crimea was, is and will be a historical testing ground for the creation of a multinational Eurasian culture.

Culture will save the world.