Karimi

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The Karimi (Crimeans) were originally a Persian Sufi class of Cuman merchants who controlled the trade routes through Crimea (Persian: Karima) where they interacted with Romaniot Jews of the Karaite persuasion. They were known for being the first Karaitizers. Their leaders believed they had Israelite ancestry and moved to Lithuania in 1396 where they were known first as Turkic Karaimites before finally (after WW2) naming themselves Karaims after their now extinct clerical caste. People adopted the Karimi's religion were known as Subbotniks in the Russian empire. Such people include the descendants of the related proto-Molokan Keraites who arrived in the lands of Old Rus' with Batu Khan's Tatar invasion.