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Karaims/Karaylar

Template:Flag
Hacı I Giray tamga كرايلر‎ national emblem.
200px
Karaims/Karaylar's symbol including Ephod, Tallit, Сэнэк (spear), and Къалкъан (shield).
Total population
Unknown
Regions with significant populations
Template:Flag c.1200 Template:Flag c.800 Template:Flag 273
Languages
Karaim language
Religion
Karaite Karaism
Related ethnic groups
Qaraei Kypchak Tatars

Qaraei,Garai,Gharaei,Karai Family

Tamga of the Qaraei
Regions with significant populations
Iran Turkey Azerbaijan Uzbekistan Russia USA Hungary
Languages
Persian Dari Tajik Azerbaijani Turkish Russian English
Religion
Islam (Shi'a and Sunni), Zorastrian, Christian, Karaite Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Iranian peoples, Qashqai, Turkmen, Kereit, Tatars, Volga Tatars, Crimean Tatars and Turkic Karaites.

Markus Buyruk Khan

Markus Khan

Saryk Khan (2nd) 12th century

Kurchakus Buyruk Khan (3rd) 12th century

Wang Khan (last) 12th century-1203

Керей хандығы

Template:Lang-kz)

Mongoplian Хэрэйд

Before Wang Khan

Markus Buyruk Khan, was a Kerait leader who also lead the Zubu confederacy. In 1100, he was killed by the Liao Dynasty. Kurchakus Buyruk Khan was a son and successor of Bayruk Markus, among whose wives was Toreqaimish Khatun, daughter of Korchi Buiruk Khan of the Naiman. Kurchakus's younger brother was Gur Khan. Kurchakus Buyruk Khan had many sons. Notable sons was Toghrul,Yula-Mangus, Tai-Timur, Bukha-Timur.

After Kurchakus Buyruk Khan died, Ilma's servant — Eljidai from Tatar — became the de-facto regent. This upset Toghrul who had his younger brothers killed and then claimed the throne. After this, Gur Khan raided Toghrul. Yesugei Baghatur helped Toghrul.

By 13th century, there was a significant Mongolization process among the Kerait people (Khereyid in Mongolian). Although, the ruling aristocracy was of Turkic stock, the general population of the khanate was Mongol.

Keraits who joined western khanates became more Turkicized forming Tatars, Kazakhs and Khirgizs while there currently exists Kerayid clan of Mongols in present-day Mongolia.

Wang Khan and Kereits in Mongol Empire

File:WangKhan.JPG

Depiction of Wang Khan as "Prester John" in Le Livre des Merveilles, 15th century.

Toghrul (Wang Khan), who was the son of Kurchakus by Ilma Khatun, reigned from 1160s to 1204. His palace was located at present-day Ulaanbaatar and he became blood-brother to Yesugei. Genghis Khan called him khan etseg ('khan father').

The Tatars rebelled against the Jin Dynasty in 1195. The Jin commander sent an emissary to Temujin. A fight with the Tatars broke-out and the Kereit-Mongol alliance defeated them. In 1196, the Jin Dynasty awarded Toghrul the title of "Wang" (king), to Toghrul Khan's pleasure. After this, Toghrul was recorded under the title Wang Khan.

In 1203, Temüjin defeated the Kerait, who were distracted by the collapse of their own coalition. Toghrul tried to escape to the Naimans, but was killed by a Naiman warrior who did not recognize him. The remaining Kerait submitted to Temüjin's rule, but out of distrust, Temüjin dispersed them among the other Mongol tribes.

Toghrul's younger brother was Jakha Khambu, a lifelong ally of Genghis Khan, and the father of Sorghaghtani Bekhi. Toghrul's son was Nilkha Sengum. Sorghaghtani Beki, daughter of Jakha Khambu, became Tolui's khatun. She was mother of Great Khans Kublai Khan, Mongke Khan, and Ilkhanate-founder Hulagu Khan. Rinchin protected Christians when Ghazan began to persecute them. But he was executed by Abu Said when fighting against his custodian Chupan of the Suldus clan in 1319.

Ethnicity

The Kereit tribe is called both Mongolian and Turkic by different accounts, but names and titles of Kereit rulers were primarily Turkic.

Descendants in Modern times

People with clan name Khereit (also spelled Khereid) are still found among the Ordos and the Baarin in Inner Mongolia as well as among northern Khalkha and Torguud people in Mongolia.

Other descendants of Kerait are the Karaylar or Kerey tribe within the Middle Juz of the Kazakhs.

The Qaraei or Kara Tatar (Qarai, Qaray, Karai,Garai, Gharaei, Ghara Tatar, Qara Tatar, Template:Lang-kz, Template:Lang-tt, Template:Lang-mn, Template:LangWithName, Template:Lang-zh. Template:Lang-ar, Template:Lang-fa, Template:Lang-fa, Template:Lang-fa, Template:Lang-tr, Template:Lang-tr, Template:Lang-tr) are an ethnic group who live between the Altay Mountains and the Carpathian Mountains, in Central Asia, the Middle East, Transcaucasia and Eastern Europe.

They are known as Qaraei,Gharaei,Gharaee,Garai in USA, Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, as Qara Tatar in Turkey, Iran and former USSR and also as Garayeli and Garayelu in Iran.

13th to 15th century

In the years between 1230 and 1243, Qara Tatars as members of the Mongol army swept through Afghanistan and Persia, and after the defeat of the Seljuqs of Rum at the Battle of Kosedag in 1243, settled in Anatolia to supervise the Seljuqs who were now Mongol vessals. Their most famous leaders were Baiju Noyan, chief commander of Mongol army in Persia and Anatolia (1241–1246), and his son Samagar Noyan, who was the Governor-general of Anatolia (c.1265-1274, 1277–1284) for the Ilkhan Mongol ruler of Persia, Abaqa. Arab Noyan Samaghar's son was the first Muslim Qara Tatar; he was Governor of Sivas (c.1284-1300s) for the Ilkhanid ruler Sultan Mahmud Ghazan.

After the Ilkhanid period, the Qara Tatars in Anatolia came under the Eretna Emirate in Kayseri and subsequently under Kadi Burhan al-Din state in Sivas. Muruvvet Bey (c.1370s-1398), chieftain of the Qara Tatars in Sivas, was a close friend of Kadi Burhan al-Din and fought against his own son-in-law Kara Osman of the Ak Koyunlu Horde who had their capital in Diyarbakir.

In 1394, Qara Tatar territories came under Ottoman rule. However, Sultan Bayezid I could not hold these territories long as a new threat came from the east. In the year 1402, when Tamerlane defeated the Ottoman army at the Battle of Ankara and captured the Ottoman Sultan Yildirim Bayezid I, the Qara Tatars who were in the service of the Ottomans and had played a major role in Tamerlane’s victory by siding with him, were now rewarded as some of them remained in Anatolia as powerful tribes while others were moved to Khorasan in today’s Iran and Samarqand, Tamerlane’s capital in modern Uzbekistan, and given territories to live in.

16th to 20th century

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Qara Tatars started to call themselves Qaraei and served in the Safavid Persian Army. Throughout this period they were scattered across Iran and Afghanistan by the Safavid Shahs who feared their power.

However, when Nader Shah became the Emperor of Persia in 1735, he gathered some of the Qara Tatars from across Persia, approximately 4,000 families and settled them in Khorasan in Torbat-e Heydarieh and Khaf townships and made Najafaliqoli Khan Qara Tatar as their chief. From this time their power grew which then from (1802–1816) under Sardar Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati and subsequently under his son Sardar Mohammad Khan Qaraei-Torbati (1823–1829) had formed an independent Khanate in Khorasan who posed a threat to the ruling Qajar Dynasty of Persia.

By 1925 when Reza Shah Pahlavi came to power, the tribal lifestyle of the Qaraei changed. The Qaraei were no longer a tribal people and had become city dwellers.

Rulers List

Anatolia

Kara Tatar Noyans and Beys

• Baiju Noyan, Chief of Besud Clan (d.1260?), West Asia, Transcaucasia & Asia Minor: Maragheh (c.1241-1246); Sivas(c.1258-1260)
• Samagar Noyan, (d.1284?) Rum: Sivas (c.1264-1274, 1277-1284).

Template:Lang-tr, see also: Franco-Mongol alliance

• Qutu Noyan, c.1277, grandson of Baiju.
• Arap Noyan, Governor of Konya, Kayseri (c.1295)
• Ishbugha Noyan, Governor of Amasya
• Teberruk Bey

Ottoman Military Chiefs and Sancaks

• Muruvvet Bey (d.1398?), Governor of Kirsehir (c.1398)

• Minnet Bey Governor of Iskilip (c.1400); Konit Hisari; Filibe(c.1418?)
• Mehmet Minnetovic, Sanjak of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo(c.1463-1464)

Persia

Ilkhans of Qara Tatar & Qaraei Tribe

Khurasan

Name	Image	Title	Start term	End term	Seat	Note
Kazem Beg Qara Tatar (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qara Tatar tribe		1728	Merv	He was murdered in battle against Nadir Shah in 1728.
Sarukhan Qara Tatar (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qara Tatar tribe	1728		Merv	Appointed by Nadir Shah as Chieftain of the tribe after death of Kazem Beg.

Name	Image	Title	Start term	End term	Seat	Note
Ali Qoli Khan Qaraei (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qaraei tribe			Zaveh	Chieftain of the tribe, he was succeeded as ilkhan by his son Mozaffar Khan.
Mozaffar Khan Qaraei (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qaraei tribe			Zaveh	Chieftain of the tribe during reign of Nader Shah Afshar.
Haji Mohammad Beg Qaraei (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qaraei tribe			Zaveh	a Qaraei Chieftain in Afsharid dynasty army (d.1745). He was set up by Nader Shah Afshar, sent to a battle where he would eventually die.
Najaf Qoli Khan Qara Tatar (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qaraei tribe			Zaveh	He was murdered by his own kinsmen.
Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qaraei tribe		1816	Zaveh	son-in-law of Najaf Qoli Khan. Governor Torbat-e Heydarieh (c.?-1816); Mashhad (c.1813). Commander-in-Chief of Khurasan, Vizier of Khurasan, father-in-law of Khurasan governor Mohammad Vali Mirza Qajar. He was executed by the order of Fath Ali Shah.
Mohammad Khan Qaraei-Torbati (Template:Lang-fa)		ilkhan of Qaraei tribe	1816	1833	Dowlatabad (Khorasan)	son of Eshaq Khan, He was also Governor of Ghurian (1813-1816);Mashhad(1829). Imprisoned in Tehran for two years, then lived in exile in Tabriz and Karbala.

• Minor Khans

Name	Image	Title	Start term	End term	Seat	Note
Mohammad Ali Khan Qaraei (Template:Lang-fa)					Zaveh	a Qaraei Chieftain in Safavid dynasty army, c.1729
Baqer Khan Qaraei (Template:Lang-fa)					Zaveh	a Qaraei Chieftain in Safavid dynasty army, c.1729
Amir Khan Qaraei (Template:Lang-fa)					Dowlatabad (Khorasan)	also appointed Governor of Mashhad (c.1749) by Noor Mohammad Afghan on behalf Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Hassan Khan Qaraei				1775	Dowlatabad (Khorasan)	brother of Amir Khan. He was murdered by a Prince Nasrollah Afshar, great-grandson of Nader Shah Afshar.
Hassan Ali Khan Qaraei-Torbati			1815	1816	Torshiz	eldest son and heir to Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati, also Governor of Soltanabad (Khorasan)(1816). He was executed by the order of Fath Ali Shah.
Yousef Ali Beg Qaraei-Torbati			1803	1813	Ghurian	nephew of Eshaq Khan.
Hossein Ali Khan Qaraei-Torbati			1816	1818	Zaveh	fourth son of Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati.
Lutf Ali Beg Qaraei-Torbati			1818	1821	Mahmoudabad (Khorasan)	eldest son Hasan Ali Khan.
Navab Khanoom Qara Tatar					Jafarabad (Khorasan)	daughter of Najaf Qoli Khan and wife of Eshaq Khan.
Amin Khan Beg Qara Tatar					Roshtkhar	son of Najaf Qoli Khan.
Allah Qoli Khan Qaraei-Torbati					Tun	a son of Mohammad Khan's Arab wife
Haji Khan Yavar					Roshtkhar	a colonel in Persian Army.
Mohammad Khan Yavar					Roshtkhar	son of Haji Khan, a colonel in Persian Army.
Zolfaqar Khan Qaraei					Roshtkhar	a descendant of Eshaq Khan's son Ahmad Khan. He was one of the Khans in Roshtkhar region from the early 1900s til the 1930s. He was known as Emad-ul-Mamalik.
Abolfazl Khan Qaraei					Roshtkhar	a descendant of Eshaq Khan's son Ahmad Khan. He was one of the Khans in Roshtkhar region from circa early 1900s. He was a cousin of Zolfaqar Khan.

• Princely Families

Name	Image	Father	Mother	Note
Jafar Qoli Mirza Qajar (Template:Lang-fa)		Mohammad Vali Mirza Qajar	daughter of Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati	a commander in Persian Army.
Qahreman Mirza Qajar (Template:Lang-fa)		Hasan Ali Mirza Qajar	daughter of Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati	his father was Shoja os Saltaneh. He is ancestor of Qahreman, Qahremani and Shojania families of Khorasan.

Geographic distribution

Original Homeland

Towns and cities of their habitat is unknown, roughly along the lower Kerulen river along the Mongolian-Chinese border. Also see Kereit.

Former Persia

Iran

The Qaraei in Iran are scattered. They live in the provinces of Khorasan, Yazd, Kerman, Fars and West Azerbaijan.

According to a recent census, current nomadic tribal Qaraei population in Iran is 1,740 household or a total of 7,780 people, mostly reside in Kerman province and Hormozgan province.

In Khorasan province, they lived as tribal people in Torbat-e Heydarieh and its districts (Dowlatabad; Roshtkhar; Rabat Baba Qodrat), Khaf, Kashmar, Mahmudabad (Khorasan) in Torbat-e-Jam, Soltanabad (Khorasan) in Torshiz. They had their own Qaraei Khanate with each district or town ruled by a khan while the main khan resided in Torbat-e Heydarieh.

In Yazd province, they lived as tribal people in Tabas, Tun and Taft. They had their own Qaraei Khanate ruled by two khans, one in Tabas and the other in Tun. They are descendants of Allah Qoli Khan, son of Mohammad Khan. His mother was the daughter of Amir Hasan Khan Zangooyi-Sheybani-Tabasi, the powerful chieftain of the Zangooyi clan of the Arab Sheybani tribe of Tabas. The Qavami are one of the Qaraei clans of Tun.

In Kerman province, they lived as nomadic tribal people who switched their place of living accordingly to Summer or winter seasons. Their summer quarter stretched from the Kana Sorkhòi mountain pass, on the Kerman-Saidabad (Sirjan) road, down to the neighborhood of Balvard. Their winter quarters were in the Ayn-al-Bagal region, across the salt lake from Saidabad. According to Encyclopaedia Iranica, in 1957 they comprised some 420 households and their tiras (clans) were: Tela Begi, Kurki, Abbasi, Beglari, Haydari and Yar-Ahámadi. The village of Tangu was their headquarters.

In Fars province, the Qaraei lived as clans within the nomadic Qashqai tribal confederation that comprised Turkic, Arab and Tajik clans. There are clans by the name Qaraei in the Amala tribe, Eynalli (Inanlu) and Arab Jabbara tribes of the Khamseh tribal confederacy, and in the Bakesh tribe of the Mamasani tribal confederacy. Some Qaraei lived in the dehestan of Sar Ahan, near Bavanat, and in the dehestan of Abada Tashk, near Neyriz. It is believed that the Qaraei of Kerman and Fars were moved there from Khorasan during the Safavid period.

In West Azerbaijan province, the Qaraei lived as clans within the Shahsevan tribal confederations, near modern Urmia.

Azerbaijan

Some Qaraei tribes lived as clans within the Shahsevan tribal confederation in Mughan throughout the 17th century. When Nader Shah in 1740s recovered the lost Persian territories of the Caucasus, after he signed the treaty of Gyandzha with the Russians, two Qaraei Khans with the names of Islam Khan and Fath Khan who were commanders in the Persian army took governorship of Ganca. They might have been Khorasani Qaraeis. Today there is nothing known about the Qaraei in Azerbaijan.

Afghanistan

Under Eshaq Khan, the chief of the Qaraei tribe in Khorasan, the city of Ghurian came under Qaraei Khanate territory. Eshaq Khan made his nephew Yusef Ali Khan the chief in Ghurian.

Uzbekistan

Some Qara Tatars in 1402 were moved to Samarqand by Timur.

Former Ottoman

Turkey

In Turkey they are known as Kara Tatar, Küyin Tatar and Samagar Tatar. They are believed to be the descendants of Samagar Noyan, a Mongol commander under Abaqa Ilkhan who held the position of Governor-general of Anatolia from 1271-1276. They lived in cities and townships of Sivas(Sebastea), Kayseri (Caesarea), Iskillip, Kirsehir, Tokat and Amasya. After the collapse of the Ilkhanid Sultanate in 1337, the Kara Tatars lived as tribes under a chief with a title of bey. Their beys were vassals of Eretnids, Kadi Burhan al-Din Ahmed State, Ak Koyunlu Horde and Ottoman Sultans.

Bulgaria

The Kara Tatars of Bulgaria were a result of force settlements by the Ottoman sultans. The first of these was the forced population settlement of the Crimean Tatars under their chief Aktav in 1393. The second was the forced population settlement of Tatars from Saruhan under their chief Pasayigitbey (Pasha Yegit Bey) in 1400, in Filibe (modern Plovdiv), both during the reign of Bayezid I (1380–1402). The third was the forced population settlement of Kara Tatars from Iskilip under their chief Minnet Bey to Konit Hisari (near Filibe) in 1418 during the reign of Mehmet I (1413–1421).

Bosnia

Minnetoglu Mehmed-beg bs:Minnetoglu Mehmed-beg was the Sancak of Bosnia.

Crimea

• The Kara Tatars ruled as a dynasty in Crimea and Kazan under the name of Giray Dynasty. The dynasty ruled in Crimea from their capital Baghchisaray from the 1440s until June 1792, when they were conquered by the Russians and also ruled in Kazan (Tatarstan) roughly between 1524 to 1551.

Former USSR

Kara Tatar are listed as an ethnic group of USSR. "The Kara Tatar call themselves the Qara Tatar and have also been known as the Nukrat Tatar. They are a small group of Volga Tatars who dwell on the Cheptsa River"

Culture

Music

Qaraei is one of the music sub-style(gusheh) of Afshari(dastgah) of Iranian traditional music.

Carpet weaving

Qaraei are well known for their carpet weaving, specially Qaraei of Khorasan.

• Rugreview: THE QARAI RUGS OF TURBAT-I-HAIDARI

Language

The Qaraei have adopted the language of the country they settled in. Thus they speak Persian and Azerbaijani in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan, Azerbaijani in Azerbaijan, Turkish and Turkmen in Turkey, Tajik and Uzbek in Uzbekistan, Russian in Russia, Ukrainian in Ukraine and Bulgarian in Bulgaria.

Origins

Due to starkly contrasting academic opinions, virtually nothing about the Karaims and Karaylar is without controversy. Fundamentally there are two schools of thought with the Jewish school generally promoting a Jewish origin while all others (usually non-Jewish) generally discuss the Turkic question.

The Keraits first enter into history as the ruling faction of the Zubu confederacy, a large alliance of tribes that dominated Mongolia during the 11th and 12th centuries and often fought with the Liao Dynasty of northern China, which controlled much of Mongolia at the time. After the Zubu confederacy broke up, the Keraits retained their dominance on the steppe right up until they were absorbed into Genghis Khan's Mongolian state. They consisted of eight tribes, including the Khereit, Jirkhin, Khonkhoid, Sukhait, Albat, Tumaut, Dunghaid and the Khirkh.

Name

According to Mongol legend there was once an ancient Khan who had seven sons. These seven sons had unusually dark faces. That is why the tribal confederation they founded was called Khereed or 'Crows'. 'Kheree' means 'crow' in Mongolian. Others claim that the Keraits were named so because they originally lived at a place called 'Khereet' meaning 'crow-with' or 'place with crows'. Yet another theory maintains that the name 'Khereed' derives from the Mongolian word 'Kherees' meaning 'cross' and is connected to their Christian religion.

Etymology

The name of the Qaraei people derives from the Turkish word Kara, which means black. The term originally was used to refer to the Kara Tatar Black Tatars, various clans and tribes such as Tatars, Keraits, and Tayichiud who resided in Mongolia and Central Asia. They arrived in the Middle East as part of the Mongol Army when their chief Baiju was the Mongol Commander who invaded Transcaucasia, Anatolia and parts of Persia. In Turkey they mixed with the native population of Sivas, Kayseri who were Turkmen, while Timur who had invaded the Ottoman Empire moved some 40,000 of them to (Damghan and Torbat-e Heydarieh in Khorasan and also his capital Samarqand). In Persia they mixed with the native population and thus adopted Persian customs and language. As part of the Ottoman Army under their chiefs Minnet Bey and Minnetoglu Mehmed-beg they settled in (Filibe, Bulgaria) and conquered Bosnia.

Ethnonyms

The name Karaims derives from Crimea originally Kirimi. However, "K'rym-K'araylar" or "Krymkaraylar" pertains only to several dozen members of the clerical families currently living in the Crimea and is a misnomer in reference to all other branches of the Karaims and Karaylar who have long been established in other parts of Europe, Crimea being only one such location.

According the modern Karaylar leaders the name Karaylar has nothing to do with Hebrew but is derived from كرايلر‎ a branch of the قرائی‌ها from a Turkic root word Kara meaning "Black", while the ethnicon of the Karaims derives from قريم and certain Kermixions who settled there. More plausible etymology points to Template:LangWithName and Template:Lang-ar "Qarai", lit. "reading" {cite}. Nevertheless, Karaylar and Karaims are to be distinguished from the Hebrew-speaking Karaite Jews of the Near East to highlight the difference between the Karaims' and Karaylar's ethnic group and the Karaite Jewish religious denomination.

For the purposes of this article, the terms "Karaylar" for clergy is used interchangeably with "Karaims" in reference to the communities in diaspora as a whole, while "Karaite Jews" refers only to the general Karaite branch of Judaism.

History

Emergence of the Kara Tatar

Qara Tatar legend trace their ancestry back to Nimrod (Iapetus) whom they sometimes make into a descendant of Salm son of Fereydun, an idea which may have been introduced through ecclesiastical conversion made among proto-Turkic tribes into the Persian Church of the East before it was displaced by the reforms of Babai the Great and their subsequent adoption of Islam. Today the Qara Tatars and Qaraei, Garai, Gharaei are scattered across the three continents of Asia, Europe and America. They primarily live in Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey, though in the past they lived in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Crimea, Tatarstan and the Balkans.

It is believed that the so-called Qara Tatars (meaning Black Tatars) were descendants of the Toquz Tatar clans (meaning Nine Tatar) who in 740 A.D. united with the Oghuz Turkic tribes and rebelled against their overlords the Gok Turks (meaning Blue Turks) during the reign of the Gok Turk Khaghan, Kul Tegin, whose military commander Mojilian Shad (later known as Bilge Khan was the one who crushed the rebels at the Battle of Aghu. As a result of this defeat, the Oghuz and Toquz Tatars moved to the eastern lands. They settled along the lower end of the Kerulen river and west of Lake Buir, close to the Mongolian-Chinese border. Red (Kyzyl, i.e. Southern) and also white (Xwar i.e. Western) hordes were known among the proto-Turkic tribes which included the Blue (Gok, i.e. Eastern) and Black (Kara i.e. Northern) hordes.

Their name Qara Tatar (Black Tatar) was first given to them by the Chinese, which was Heitata, due to their dark features and black hair color. This name was used to distinguish them from the other Tatars who had fair skin and red hair color. YAP signature Haplogroups found among men in their populations indicate an Arabian origin.

The Qara Tatars were not a major power in Central Asia and the Mongolian steppes until the 12th century. From the time of their settlement in Mongolia, they were ruled by the Uighurs, Kirghiz, Kara Khitans and the Chinese. However, in the 12th century they became a powerful tribal group who posed a threat to the Mongolian Altan Khanate, the Chinese Empire, and other Tatar clans such as the Keraits, Naimans and Kara-Khitans.

Their most famous leader was Temujin Uge who in the autumn of 1167 was captured by Genghis Khan’s father Yesükhei. Thus Yesükhei named his newborn son (i.e. Genghis Khan) Temujin after the name of the captive chieftain. In 1196 Genghis Khan, together with his ally Wang Khan, the chieftain of the Kerait, began to launch attacks on the Tatar clans of the Lake Buir and Kerulen River and the Abakan Tatars. Megujin Se Ulte, who was the Khagan of the Qara Tatars and son of Temujin Uge, was defeated and killed at the Battle of the river Ulja. The Mongols massacred every teenage and adult male Tatar, keeping only women and children alive.

However, Genghis Khan adopted a four-year-old Tatar prince who had golden ear rings. The boy, Shiqi Khutuqu, became a fearless commander in Genghis Khan’s army and played a major role in the wars against the Khwarezmian Empire of Persia and the Chinese Jin Empire. By 1202 all the Tatar tribes had come under the Mongol realm.

Most of the known history is gathered from correspondence between the populations of Karaims and populations elsewhere in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries (Akhiezer 2003). Unfortunately, a large number of documents pertaining to the Crimean population of Karaim were burned during the 1736 Russian invasion of the Tatar Khanate capital of Bakhchisarai.

What is certain at least is that the the earliest evidence discovered so far concerning the Karaims presence in Eastern Europe is the Alsószentmihály inscription in Szekely Rovas transcribed by the archaeologist-historian Gábor Vékony. Turkic-speaking Karaims have lived in the areas once called Scythia for centuries. They regard themselves as descendants of Khazar or Kipchak converts to Mosaism among the Crimean Huns by remnants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel stranded in Scythia after the Assyrian exile -a tradition preserved up until relatively recent times.

In the twelfth century, Rabbi Petachia wrote about "Minim" in the land of Kedar whose practices fit Karaite Judaism, and Schur (1995) says that Karaims are descendants of Karaite merchants on the active trade routes from Crimea to China and Central Asia who migrated to Crimea from the Byzantine Empire, presumably adopting a Turkic language upon their arrival in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This opinion coincides with the migration of some Karaite Jews from Istanbul to Crimea documented following a fire in the Jewish quarter of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 1203 (. However, these groups were assimilated by the already present Karaims and Karaylar descendants of the Khazars (IICK 2007) and Israelite tribes from the time of the first Exile by an Assyrian King.

A century before Gahan Abraham Firkovich of the Karaims and Karaylar, they are known to have been discussing their Turkic origin. Gahan Abraham Firkovich progressed the theory by collecting documents in favor of the Khazar theory which he presented before the Russian Tsar. He had chosen his evidence to back up the Karaims own belief that Israelites from Assyria had gone into the North Caucasus and from there, with the permission of Assyrian king into the Crimean peninsula. Walfish and Kizilov have discussed the authenticity and bias of Firkovich's finds. According some Karailar authors "Karay" dynasty using the trident Tamga spread far and wide following the collapse of Khazaria, even as far as Kazakhstan where they were known as the Kerait.

The Khazar Khaganate

Some modern Karailar authors claim in the 8^th-9^th centuries CE, the upper stratum of Khazar society converted to a form of universalist Mosaism untouched by the influence of Babai. A group of the Khazars known as the Kabars who took part in a failed rebellion - joined the Magyars in the invasion of Hungary, and settled there in the end of the 9th century CE. An interesting relic of this Khazar settlement was discovered in (Transylvania, today Romania) in the 20^th century CE called the Alsószentmihály inscription. According to Gábor, the meaning of the two-row Alsószentmihály inscription is:

"ɛbi atlïɣ" (His mansion is famous)

and

"Jyedi • Kyr Qaraj" (Jüedi Kür the "Karaite")

This is seen as proof that at least a part of the Kabars were Karaylar.

From the other side according Khazar Correspondence the Khazars religion was Rabbinic Judaism. Amateur researcher K. A. Brook considers this Mosaism to have been a form of Talmudic Judaism and although the clerical Karaim-Karaylar do not observe Hillelite Halakhah, the Shammai Halakhah presented in the Talmud is known to them again disassociating Karaims from Karaite Jews who completely reject all oral tradition.

The Kereit had become the most dominant (khanlig) of the five major tribal confederations in central asia during the 12th century. As allies of Genghis Khan, they were influential in the rise of the Mongol Empire. In the 11th century, they converted to Nestorian Christianity and were a key example of prominent Christians among the Mongols.

The Kereit were located between the mountain ranges of Khangai and Khentii and were centered on the site of the present day city of Ulaanbaatar and in the willow groves of the Tuul River, to the west of the Khamag Mongol and to the east of the Naiman.

The last ruler, Toghrul, gained fame as far away as Europe for his battles with Muslims, and several women from the Kereit clan became influential women in the Mongol court. Sorghaghtani Bekhi, the younger daughter of Toghrul's brother Jakha Khambu, married a son of Genghis Khan, and their four sons, including Great Khans Kublai Khan and Mongke Khan, became prominent leaders of the Empire.

Lithuanian rule

The origin of the Karaites in Lithuania is much better documented and agreed upon by the scholars. The Lithuanian Karaites originated in Crimea. In 1392, the Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania defeated the Crimean Tatars and relocated 330 families of Karaims and Karaylar to Lithuania (Schur 1995). They settled primarily in Vilnius and Trakai, maintaining their Turkic language; there has been further minor settlement in Biržai, Pasvalys, Naujamiestis and Upytė. Despite the history of disease and famine through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries culminating in the great plague of 1710, Lithuania was somewhat less affected by such turmoil than surrounding areas. As a result, Lithuanian Karaims and Karaylar had a relative sense of stability over those years, and maintained their isolation as a group, keeping their Turkic language rather than abandoning it for the local languages (“Karaim Homepage” 1998).

According to the historical documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the Karaims' main occupation was farming and they in were granted by special privileges including permission to attain the rank of Officer, but also exemption from compulsory military drafting while under the Golden Horde the Karaims were prohibited from riding horses, leading to Hacı I Giray's revolution.

In 1392 Grand Duke Vytautas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania employed one branch the Karaims as Hussars inviting them to Lithuania where they continued to speak their own language. The Lithuanian Karaims settled primarily in Vilnius (Vilna) and Trakai (Troki), as well as in Biržai, Pasvalys, Naujamiestis and Upytė - smaller settlements throughout Lithuania proper - and lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine, that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Karaims in Lithuanian territory enjoyed practical autonomy. The Karaites were needed in order to serve as a middle class, between the aristocracy on one hand and the serfs working the land on the other, and therefore were granted privileges in order to induce them to settle and stay. In 1441, King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland (and Lithuania) granted them the same rights as those of the city of Magdeburg (in Germany).

Famous Lithuanian scholars originating among the Karaylar included Isaac b. Abraham of Troki (1543–1598), Joseph ben Mordecai Malinovski, Zera ben Nathan of Trakai, Salomon ben Aharon of Trakai, Ezra ben Nissan (died in 1666) and Josiah ben Judah (died after 1658). Some of the Karaims would become quite wealthy in the service of Catherine the Great.

Identity of Karaims under the Tsars

Unlike Karaite Jews, Karaims also suffered no problems under Russian rule until the final partitions of the Lithuanian commonwealth. Russia conquered Lithuania in 1783 followed by Crimea in 1793. Russian authorities were confused concerning inclusion of Karaims under laws applying to Jews inherited from the Lithuanian commonwealth revised by Catherine the Great in 1791 which had not previously applied to Karaims. The Karaims who had enjoyed privileges as loyal Hussars to the Lithuanian kings responded in 1795 by sending a delegation led by Benjamin Aga to clear the misunderstanding to Catherine who granted them lands for services rendered to the crown. From this point on, the main cultural center for Karaims became the city of Eupatoria.

Thanks to the efforts of Sima Babovich, Russia granted the Karaims the status of an independent Church in 1840, putting them on par legally with Muslim Crimean Tatars and giving them rights far in advance of the Jews. The Russian government made Babovich the Hachan of the "Diocese of Crimean Karaims", based in Theodosia.

In 1872 Avraham Firkovich, published the results of his lifelong interest in the ethnography of the Karaims proving their tradition of descent from the Khazars and presence in Crimea before the Current Era. However, Abraham Harkavy rebutted that the Khazars were Jews in a response which Firkovich and Russian authorities ignored as the Tsarist government officially recognized the Karaims as being of Turkic, not Jewish, origin. The Krymchak community, which was of similar ethno-linguistic background but which practised rabbinical Judaism, did however suffer under Tsarist anti-Jewish laws, and the standard opinion from Jewish sources is therefore that he forged documents and inscriptions to back up his claims. {cite} Miller stated that the phenomenon of claiming a distinct identity apart from the Jewish people appears to be no older than the 19th century, when he believed it appeared under the influence of such leaders as Avraham Firkovich and Sima Babovich as a means of escaping anti-Semitism.

It has been suggestedTemplate:Fix that as the Russian Empire in the period of Czar Alexader I was starting to deal directly with its ethnic minorities, Karaites in Lituania decided to address the Imperial power with a strategy of separating themselves, ethnically and religiously, from the Jews. They won recognition from the Russian Imperial powers to the theories put forth by their leaders Abraham Firkovich and Sima Babovich in 1837, and again by Imperial edicts in 1840. Their political fate within the Russian Empire, thus became much better than that of the Jews. Their overall fate would later be enhanced by the recognition of their separate status by the Nazi invaders in World War II.

Solomon Krym (b.1864, d. 1936), a Karay agronomist, was elected in 1906 to the First Duma (1906–1907) as a Kadet (Constitutional Democratic Party). In November 1918 he became Prime Minister of the second short-lived Crimean Regional Government.

During Russian Civil War a significant number of Karaims emigrated to France and Germany. The known Karaylar modern national revivification philanthropist M.S. Sarach was one of them. Due to their close ties to the nobility, the Karaims' Churches were the first to be closed down by the Socialists.

Identity of Karaims under the Nazis

Their status under Russian imperial rule bore beneficial fruits for the Karaims decades later. In 1934, the Karaylar heads of the community in Berlin asked the Nazi authorities to exempt them from the regulations; on the basis of their legal status in Russia. The Reich Agency for the Investigation of Families determined that from the standpoint of German law, the Karaims were not to be considered Jews. The letter from the Reichsstelle fur Sippenforschung gave the official ruling in a letter which stated: Template:Quotation This ruling set the tone for how the Nazis dealt with the communities of Karaims in Eastern Europe.

At the same time, the Nazis had serious reservations towards the Karaims. SS Obergruppenfuhrer Gottlob Berger wrote on November 24, 1944:

Their Mosaic religion is unwelcome. However, on grounds of race, language and religious dogma... Discrimination against the Karaims is unacceptable, in consideration of their racial kinsmen [Berger was here referring to the Crimean Tatars]. However, so as not to infringe the unified anti-Jewish orientation of the nations led by Germany, it is suggested that this small group be given the opportunity of a separate existence (for example, as a closed construction or labor battalion)...

Although three separate panels of Jewish scholars in the Warsaw, Lvov, and Vilna Ghettoes all independently submitted reports to the Nazis that the Karaylar-Karaims were not racially Jewish, Jews in France deliberately attempted to convince the French Nazis that the Karaims were of Jewish origin. Of the 9000 Karaims across Europe at the time some of the 50 at Lutzk (Spector p. 106) were reported by Jacob Eilbert, a survivor of the Lutsk Ghetto, to have collaborated in war-crime atrocities in August 1942 (Green 1978a). Nevertheless, and despite their exempt status, confusion led to initial massacres. German soldiers who came across Karaims in Russia during the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa, not aware of their legal status under German law, attacked them. 200 were killed at Babi Yar alone saying "Let us meet death bravely, as Christ did" as they went. German allies such as the Vichy Republic began to require the Karaims and Karaylar to register as Jews, but eventually granted them non-Jewish status upon being instructed by Berlin.

On interrogation, Ashkenazi rabbis in Crimea told the Germans that the Karaims were not Jews. Many Karaims risked their lives to hide Jews, and in some cases claimed that Jews were members of their community. Many of the Karaims were recruited for labor battalions.

In Vilnius and Trakai, the Nazis forced Karaylar chief Seraya Shapshal to produce a list of the members of the community. Though he did his best, not every Karaylar was saved by Shapshal's list.

Post-War

After the Soviet recapture of Crimea from Nazi forces in 1944, the Soviet authorities counted 6,357 remaining Karaims. Karaims were not subject to mass deportation{cite}, unlike the Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Armenians and others whom the Soviet authorities alleged had collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation. Some individual Karaims were deported.

Assimilation and emigration greatly reduced the ranks of the Karaims. A few thousand Karaims remain in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Poland. Other communities exist in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Great Britain.

Karaims/Karaylar (Crimean-Karaim language: sg. Къарай - K'aray, pl. K'araylar; Trakai-Karaim language: sg. Karaj, pl. Karajlar) are an endangered Kypchak minority ethnic group believing themselves to be of Ten Tribes descent with Khazarian heritage, and preserving the Unitarian Universalist cultural traditions of "Karaimism" (not to be confused with Karaite Judaism). Traditional homelands where Karaims and Karaylar were once well established include Transylvania, and Halychyna (Lviv, Halych, Lutsk), as well as other parts of Ukraine like Crimea and later also the area of Trakai in Lithuania from late medieval times which had the greatest population before the Holocaust. Significant numbers now only remain in Ukraine. Only clergymen must be circumcised and keep the Torah. Due to cultural assimilation and secularization most of the community are uncircumcised laymen who do not speak the ancient clerical Karaylar's Karaim languages. Neither do they remember anything much from the Torah beyond the Decalogue. Secularised lay congregations such as these call themselves by various similar terms (Russian: Караимы, French: Karaïmes, Polish: Karaimi, Lithuanian: Karaimai, Turkish: Karaimlar) all normally translated into English as "Karaims". The terms "Karaylar" ("Къарайлар" pl.) and Karay ("Къарай" sg.) are often reserved for clerics serving as the more knowledgeable custodians of their cultural heritage.

Geographic distribution

Local communities of Karaims have long existed in Lithuania (where they live mostly in Panevėžys and Trakai regions) and Poland (now mainly around Wroclaw). The earliest definitive archaeological evidence the Alsószentmihály inscription in Szekely Rovas transcribed by the archaeologist-historian Gábor Vékony identifies them in the Carpathian area from at least the 10th century AD. Lithuanian Karaims Culture Community was founded in 1988. According to the Lithuanian Karaims website the Statistics Department of Lithuania carried out an ethno-statistic research "Karaims in Lithuania" in 1997. It was decided to question all adult Karaims/Karaylar and mixed families, where one of the members belongs to the Karaims/Karaylar. During the survey, for the beginning of 1997, there were 257 people of the Karaims/Karaylar according to nation, 32 of which were children under 16. The 1979 census in the USSR showed 3,300 Karaims.{cite}

Present condition

The Karaim-Karaylar are on the verge of extinction. Chief Gahan Mark Michaelovich Lavrinovich passed away on Christmas Eve 2011, leaving only David Teriyaki as the last qualified Chief cleric. The current head of the World Association of Karaites is Yuri Aleksandrovich Polkanov.

Historical figures

A few important and Influential figures in the history of the Karaylar include: Hacı I Giray, Benjamin Aga; Abraham Firkovich; Sima Babovich; and perhaps most importantly Seraya Shapshal.

Culture

Language

Karayce is a Kypchak Turkic language being closely related to Crimean Tatar, Armeno-Kipchak etc.. It used Herbrew Alphabet in the past, with some religious texts were also translated to Latin and Classical Arabic. Three different dialects have developed. Differ northern (Trakai), Southern ( Galich ) and Crimean dialects. While the first two dialects have not changed over the past five centuries, the latter has been subject to a great extent influenced by the Turkish language during the Turkish rule in the Crimea in the XV-XVIII centuries, there is also the hypothesis of their independence from each other origins. The Troki dialect, used in Trakai and Vilnius (Lithuania), the Lutsk or Halych dialect spoken in Lutsk (until World War II), and Halych, and the Crimean dialect. The last forms the Eastern group, while Troki and Halych Karaims belong to the Western group. Currently Lithuanian Polish and French Karaims use Latin Alphabeth while the Karaims of Ukraine and the rest of the CIS use Cyrilian Alphabet. Among the many different influences exerted on the Karaim language, those of Arabic and Persian were the first to change the outlook of its lexicon (Zajaczkowski 1961). Hebrew has also had some influence mainly due to liturgical vocabulary. In fact, the Crimeam Karaim Language is differs from Crimean Tatar mainly through its Hebraisms. Later, due to considerable Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian influence, many Slavic words entered the language of Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and Russian Karaims. The Hebrew alphabet remained in use for liturgical purposes until relatively recent times{cite}. Following the Ottoman occupation of Crimea, Turkish was used for business and government purposes among the Karaims living on the Crimean peninsula which also left its mark{cite}.

Folklore

Karaim Karaylar have a rich and diverse folklore which according to modern Karaylar publicists is the most important component of spiritual culture rather than liturgy. Valuable information on the attitudes and the old way of life were handed down with folk-crafts to modern times. The publications date the origins of this folklore back to the time of the Crimean Khazars and the preceding period of history defining them as modern time preservation of Khazar themes echoing not only Turkic usages in the distant Altai but also the Levites of Simeon whose fortress adorns their coat of arms. The Karaim language word for God "Ten'ri" is a perfect example of this. Tymbyla (тымбыла), thick round gear sun-like Easter cakes are interpreted as still preserving representations of the moon and the stars venerated in their Sabian pre-history and Purim masquerading that includes animal masks are also interpreted as ancient Khazar folk-craft. A devil called Kargaev Ata (Father of Curses) features in children's stories. These authors also claim that only Sima Babovich introduced the 19-year Rabbinical calendar, overriding the older 52 week folk calendar attributed to Prophet Adam called Ulug Ata's Sunnah (Great Father's Count) with Turkic Month names which exist only in the Crimean dialect of the Karaim language. Of particular interest are the names Suyunch-ay meaning "joyful month" (February–March), Eynekun - "day of high purity" (Friday), and Yuhkun - "holy day" (Sunday), which ring of Polovtsy origins. Yuhkun is the same in Karachai and Balkar, while Kankun "day of slaughter" (Wednesday) - is the same with the Chuvash and Bashkirs remembering the Qurban highlight of the Spring Hajj. Pride of place in the home is given to a wooden peg called "Chui" upon which is hung the dawn prayer Buben. Cradles are made with wooden nails. Of great significance, white (Khavar) is the companion of happiness, while black (Kara) is the colour of solemnity. Funerary shrouds are of black felt or skins stored for such purposes in the Kenasa. In times of hardship or persecution when there is no access to Kenasa, oak-groves are the substitute sacred place of choice. Much has been written about the importance of the "words of fathers", poetic proverbs for virtually every occasion passed down in accordance with the laws of Moses. Destani were a popular musical form, and Butakhamore a lullaby about an animal is the most ancient echoing themes from Altai. The national dish Kybynlar consist of lamb meat filling cooked in a light buttery pastry.

Religion

They originally were Shamanist and Nestorian. In modern times they are Sunni and Shi'a, and some practice Karaite Judaism{cite}.

Religion

The Keraits have their own distinct religion, although they have been described somewhat sloppily as Nestorian Christians from as early as the 11th century. The confusion comes from the widespread misinformation that some 200,000 "Turks" who converted with their king by the Metropolitan of Marv around 1007 were Keraits , because the 13th century Jacobite historian Gregory Bar Hebraeus who was familiar with Kerait religious practice in the Persian Il-Khanate interpolated them somewhat ecumenically into the Metropolitan of Merv's account. According to The Metropolitan of Merv's account, in the early 11th century, a Tatar king lost his way while hunting in the high mountains. When he had abandoned all hope, a saint (Mar Sergius or Saint Sergius who is elsewhere acredited with converting the Keraits) appeared in a vision and said, "If you will believe in Christ, I will lead you lest you perish." He returned home safely. When he met Christian merchants, he remembered the vision and asked them about their faith. At their suggestion, he sent a message to the Metropolitan of Merv for priests and deacons to baptize him and his tribe. As a result of the mission that followed, the king and 200,000 of his people were baptized. Hunter, The coversion of the Kerait to Christianity in AD 1007 pp. 156f & 161f. </ref> It is now accepted that Keraits were not converted at this time, but only became known to Syrian writers in Mongol times although they along with other Turkic tribes such as the Naiman and the Ongud had already been evangelized entirely or to a great extent by then.

The Kerait Tatar religion on the other hand which still exists in scattered and tiny Qaraei communities from Poland to Alaska is the remnant of the Persian Church of the East, a Torah based quasi-ascetic type of Christianity whose adherents had largely given in to Caliphism having been evicted from Nisibis and persecuted by other "Christians" from the time of Babai the Great. Without consulting what the Keraits have to say for themselves, much has been written by outside observers concerning their practices. Rashid al-Din says in the Jami al-Tawarikh that the Kereits "are given over to the worship of Jesus". William of Rubruck, who encountered many Nestorians during his stay at Mongke Khan's court and at Karakorum in 1254-1255, notes that the so-called "Nestorianism" in Mongolia was tainted by shamanism and Manicheism and very confused in terms of liturgy. He attributes this to the lack of teachers of the faith, power struggles among the clergy and a willingness to make doctrinal concessions in order to win the favour of the Khans.

The legend of Prester John, otherwise set in India or Ethiopia, was also brought in connection with the Kerait Kohans. In some versions of the legend, Prester John was explicitly identified with Ong Kahan rulers like Tughril. But Mongolian sources say nothing about his religion. The Chinese series "Genghis Khan" depicts Wang Khan Toghrul as a devout Christian, with a cross mounted on top of his royal yurt which has a Christian altar inside and shows him regularly making the sign of the cross. The Naiman are also depicted similarly, as a literate Christian tribe looking down on the 'filthy Mongols'. Jamukha, politically motivated, hastily receives a baptism from them. A brief scene of the Chinese "Genghis Khan" series on YouTube shows the Khan of the Naiman (with helmet) in front of his cross-crowned royal yurt ([2]). The Japanese-Mongolian film "Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea" also depicts Wang Khan Toghrul of the Kerait as Christian, with a church bell behind his royal yurt and Christian cross signs on his flag, his throne as well as covering his yurt. This can be seen starting from "3:00" minutes on this YouTube video of the film (dubbed Thai) which shows a young Genghis Khan presenting a gift to Wang Khan Toghrul ([3][dead link]).

Religion

Until the 20th century, the only religion of the Karaims was their own continually evolving ethno-religious confession called "Karaimism" (significantly distinct from Jewish Karaism) which, according to various sources, is the fourth and smallest of the Abrahamic religions, or a particular branch of Judaismin much the same way as Christianity branched from Judaism. Worship was conducted not only on language of the Old Testament, but also in Karaite language. Since the beginning of XX century, it has also been practised in Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, French, and English.

Firkovich traced the origins of the religion back to the Sebomenoi of the Bosporan kingdom while the traditions of the modern clerical Karaylar can be traced back to a period of chaos in the Eastern Kanisa from 604AD-628AD being considered heretical apostates by the early Churches. Not long after this the Khazars rose to prominence in the Western Turkic Kaghanate. Although their ancestors once preserved the only known example of Islamized Mosaism, the precise nature of Karaimism prior to 1736 is difficult to ascertain. Fortunately, its most ancient tenets are first recorded in the significant attention Anan ben David generated after he was converted to this belief by Abu Hanifa in the year 767AD. However, antithetical Karaite Judaism quickly evolved in the chaos following Anan which along with the spread of the spread of Caliphism forced the Karaylar to take refuge in Khazaria.

Despite its origins, the modern ethno-religious confession of the Karaims and Karaylar currently represents a form of Unitarian Universalism. Karaims/Karaylar (especially Krymkaraylar) preach Christ is a prophet, and the Lord's Prayer is still included in the 200 year old Karaims' missals. This in spite of the criticism of trinitarian Christian dogma that is contained in Yitzhak of Troki's "Hizzuk Emunah". They refer to God as Allah (Алла) and follow the name Muhammad by the phrase "peace be with him" The Turkic word "Ten'ri" Тэнъри means "God" in most Turkic languages including Crimean Tatars and Krymchaks languages and is used in many Karaim homely life idioms in contradiction to Hebrew word "Adonai", used mainly by clerics, though one can occasionally find Ten'ri or Allah prefixed with Adonai. Some modern Karaylar and Krymchaks claiming non-Jewish origin of their ethnic groups consider this as approval that original religion of their forefathers was Tengrism. Except for clerical Karaylar, Karaims are not circumcised, nor taught to observe anything from Torah other than the Decalogue. Such disciples (Karaims) wear white while the clergy (Karays) wear black.

The Karay interpretation of Torah is significantly different from both Karaite Judaism and Orthodox Judaism, so for this reason their observances are classified as Mosaism (along with Molokans, Gerei, and Subbotniks) but not Judaism. For example, the role of the Karay clergy is one of servitude and spiritual support to the Karaim community, otherwise a Karay is to the Karaims as a Rabbi is to the Rabbinics, although in terms of Torah observance Karays to Karaims is more like Jews to Noachites{cite}. The highest spiritual title which can be attained by Karays is Gahan-Bashi, although Babovich was also endowed with the Arabic title Hakham (Judge). Other offices in the Karay clergy include Raban/Uluhazan, Ułłu, Hazan, and Shamash. Among the Karaims, only the Gahans and Rabans/Uluhazans will be circumcised and do their best to perform the Torah Laws of Moses in harmony with the ways of Abraham's people as described in the Bible and unpublished Karayana (teachings/lessons) guarded by the Karays. The Shamash has 7 years to choose whether to have his ear pierced and become a lifelong Hazan or not, both offices needing only to observe the Ten Commandments.

Karaims may study in a Madrasa and at times announced by the clergy may attend Kanisa, while oak (Terebinth/Elim) groves have also been traditional places of worship in times of persecution and/or poverty.

The Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe Eulogy (1942):

"The Russian Orthodox Church has always regarded the Karaim religion as a completely independent and never mix it with the Jewish religion.

Karaim religion recognizes the Old Testament of the Ten Commandments, included in other monotheistic religions (eg, Muslim), recognize Jesus Christ and Muhammad a great prophet and rejected the Talmud, which is the foundation and the main content of the Jewish religion. For these reasons, the Karaites never mixed with the laws of the Russian Imperial Jews and enjoy all the rights of the indigenous population, which the Jews did not use - for example, were made in officer ranks, were admitted to the privileged schools and so on."

The Metropolitan of Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan District, Bishop Seraphim of Berlin and Germany (April 1942):

"Karaite doctrine, according to the Russian Orthodox Church, was regarded as completely detached religion. Number of legislative acts Russian government confirmed the complete isolation of the Karaite religious religion and Karaites afforded all the rights of Russian citizens, without any restrictions."

Fr Simon Starikov, long lived in the Crimea, and who knew the Karaites, wrote:

"If you get acquainted with the religion of the Karaites, we can see that their Bible was considered the Pentateuch, that they recognized Jesus Christ a prophet, but a prophet considered equally and Mohammed, they believe in reincarnation, that their holidays are on the lunar calendar, the status of women and before and after marriage, based on the teachings of Muhammad that kenasy built as a mosque, "fountain", and was a special room for washing by type Mohammedan, when logging in kenasy remove your shoes, like the Mohammedans. Especially revered book "Leviticus" (from the Pentateuch of Moses) and out of Chapter 18 and 19 of the love of neighbor, the elder, about morality. This doctrine is expanded in sermons hazzan and somehow approaching the teaching of early Christians. Characteristically, in the teachings of the Karaites no statements exalts this nation over the other, never preached hatred between people, but rather preaches about philanthropy..."

Judging by the text, printed December 11, 1941 Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church of Paris, the Catholic Church, for its part, defines it as:

"A religion practiced by a small number of Karaites Russian who settled in France after the revolution. It is regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as a completely autonomous, more akin to Islam than the Jewish religion."

Identity

In general modern Karaims regard themselves as the descendants of Khazars and legitimate owners of the of Khazar heritage. The idea of Khazar origin of Karaim was discussed by the Russian orientalist V Grigoriev (1816 — 1881) though it was not universally accepted In spite of that, the theory was widely supported by the Russian scientific community including historians from among the Karaims such as Gahan Seraya Shapshal.

Various references to Hebrew (еврейский) origins seem to exist in early documents, although Jews regard them as having little in common with Jews due to their Turkic-Tatar descent Karaite Jews especially do not regard "Khazar" Karaims/Karaylar as Jewish.

The distinction is in fact mutual, due to the Karaims' emphatic denial any Jewish roots on their part. From the Karaite Jewish point of view, due to the proselytes and mixed marriages common in communities of Karaims (e.g. with Khazars) which had long been prohibited in Karaite Jewish communities, even the Turkish Karaite Jews considering "Khazar" Karaims and Karaylar as non-Jews at best or otherwise bastards. This coupled with the Karaims veneration of Christ and Muhammad as great prophets, elements of Tengrism and limiting the layman's observance of Torah to the ten commandments only, makes it that Karaite Jews do not regard Karaims as anything but gentiles. Even when Karaim-Karaylar cite references that point to them regarding themselves as part of the Karaite Jewish world in the recent past, they are required to pass a full formal conversion process in order to be allowed integration into the Karaite Jewish religious community, which so far only a few Karaims have successfully passed.

Starting from mid of XIX century Karaims have sought to distance themselves from being identified as Jews, emphasizing what they view as their Turkic heritage as Turkic practitioners of a "Mosaic religion" as John Kinnamos wrote, separate and distinct from Judaism. From the time of the Golden Horde onward, the Karaims were present in many towns and villages throughout Crimea and around the Black Sea. During the period of the Crimean Khanate some of the major communities could be found in the towns of Juft Qale, Sudak, Kefe, and Bakhchisaray.{cite}

See Also

Kerait

Qaraei

Unitarianism

Universalism

References

• Ben-Tzvi, Yitzhak. The Exiled and the Redeemed. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1957.
• Blady, Ken. Jewish Communities in Exotic Places. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson Inc., 2000. pp. 115–130.
• Brook, Kevin Alan. The Jews of Khazaria. 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006.
• Friedman, Philip. "The Karaites under Nazi Rule". On the Tracks of Tyranny. London, 1960.
• Green, W.P. "Nazi Racial Policy Towards the Karaites”, Soviet Jewish Affairs 8,2 (1978) pp. 36–44
• Gurwitz, Percy Die Schuld am Holocaust, pub Stadt Erlangen, 2010 pp. 7–8
• Karaite Judaism: Introduction to Karaite Studies. Edited by M.Polliack. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2004, 657-708.
• Kizilov, Mikhail. Karaites Through the Travelers' Eyes: Ethnic History, Traditional Culture and Everyday Life of the Crimean Karaites According to the Descriptions of the Travelers. Qirqisani Center, 2003.
• Kizilov, Mikhail. “Faithful Unto Death: Language, Tradition, and the Disappearance of the East European Karaite Communities.” East European Jewish Affairs 36:1 (2006): 73-93.
• Krymskiye karaimy: istoricheskaya territoriya: etnokul'tura. Edited by V.S. Kropotov, V.Yu. Ormeli, A. Yu. Polkanova. Simferpol': Dolya, 2005
• Miller, Philip. Karaite Separatism in 19th Century Russia. HUC Press, 1993.
• Semi, Emanuela T. "The Image of the Karaites in Nazi and Vichy France Documents." Jewish Journal of Sociology 33:2 (December 1990). pp. 81–94.
• Shapira, Dan. “Remarks on Avraham Firkowicz and the Hebrew Mejelis 'Document'.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59:2 (2006): 131-180.
• Shapira, Dan. “A Jewish Pan-Turkist: Seraya Szapszał (Şapşaloğlu) and His Work ‘Qırım Qaray Türkleri’.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 58:4 (2005): 349-380.
• Shapira, Dan. Avraham Firkowicz in Istanbul (1830–1832). Paving the Way for Turkic Nationalism. Ankara: KaraM, 2003.
• Shapshal, S. M.: Karaimy SSSR v otnoshenii etnicheskom: karaimy na sluzhbe u krymskich chanov. Simferopol', 2004
• Zajączkowski, Ananiasz. Karaims in Poland: History, Language, Folklore, Science. Panistwowe Wydawn, 1961.

External links

• Anthropology of the Karaims
• Virtual Karaim Museum
• Gahan Mark Lavrinovičius
• Official site of the Karaylar
• http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vil2003_kizilov.htm
• http://www.berkovich-zametki.com/Nomer35/MN55.htm
• http://www.berkovich-zametki.com/Nomer41/Kizilov1.htm
• Signs of New Life in Karaim Communities
• Karaites in the Holocaust
• web site of Lithuanian Karaims
• International Institute of Karaylar
• Karaims and Tatars - 600 years in Lithuania
• Symbols of the Karaims

Further references

• rugreview
• A look at the word tribal by Murray L. Eiland
• The word Karai in Iranica Encyclopaedia
• From the horses mouth with Jerry Anderson
• Craycraft, Michael: Belouch and Karai Rugs of Torbat-i-Heydarieh
• Qaraei Tribe of Sirjan
• http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Persia/qajar6.htm
• Central Asia After the Mongol Invasion-Islam and Sedentray Life as a Consequence by Prof. Dr. Ozkan Izgi
• http://rbedrosian.com/tm4.htm rbedrosian
• The word Deportation in Iranica Encyclopaedia
• http://www.ozturkler.com/data/0003/0003_03_02.htm ozturkler
• List of Qara Tatar clans
• http://www.enfal.de/otarih23.htm
• http://hattusa.sitemynet.com/b_kale.htm
• Afshar and Khorasani Turks
• Beginning of Great Mongolia
• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/MONGOLS.htm

See also

• List of medieval Mongolian tribes and clans
• Tiele
• Qaraei
• Hacı I Giray
• Giray dynasty
• Karaylar

References

• Khoyt S.K. Kereits in enthnogenesis of peoples of Euroasia: historigraphia of the problem. Elista, 2008. 82 p. ISBN - 978-5-91458-044-2 in Russian
• Хойт С. К. Кереиты в этногенезе народов Евразии: историография проблемы. Элиста, 2008. 82 с. ISBN - 978-5-91458-044-2