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The Karaite Communities of Chufut-Kale and Mangup: History and Topography of the Settlements

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The Karaite Communities of Chufut-Kale and Mangup: History and Topography of the Settlements CHAPTER THIRTY THE KARAITE COMMUNITIES OF CHUFUT-KALE AND MANGUP: HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SETTLEMENTS Mikhail Kizilov Chufut-Kale and Mangup, two settlements inhabited by large Karaite communities since the late Middle Ages, were always an attraction to warlike nomads, diplomats, merchants, scholars, poets, and tourists because of their beauty and advantageous position in the heartland of the mountains of south-western Crimea. Goths, Alans, Byzantines, Khazars, Turks, and Crimean Tatars vied for dominance over these settlements until the seventeenth-eighteenth centuries when both were de facto left in the possession of the Karaites, their last inhabitants. Although the medieval history and archaeology of Chufut-Kale and Mangup have been well-investigated, 1 the last chapters of their his­ tory, pertaining to the life and activity of the Karaite communities, are still to be written. This article offers a short overview of the set­ dements' history with special emphasis on the history of the Karaite communities from their initial settlement down to the time of their abandonment. The Karaites left (or, as this article tries to show, were forced to leave) Mangup at the beginning of the last decade of the eighteenth century, whereas Chufut-Kale, probably the last inhabited medieval Crimean stronghold, was still populated by Karaites as late as the mid-nineteenth century, This article will focus on lit­ -de known sources related to the history of the Karaite communities of Chufut-Kale and Mangup, speculate on their living conditions and activities, and discuss particular historical Karaite monuments situated in their territories. 1 See Gertsen and Mogarichev, Krepost' dragotsennostei; Vasiliev, 1he Goths in; Gertzen, "Krepostnoi ansambl"', pp. 87-166; Gertsen, "K probleme tipologii", pp. 85-90; Y ak.obson, Srednevekovyi Krym, pp. 128-135. 760 MIKHAIL KIZILOV Chlffot-Kale (Qjrq-Yer) Historical Outline The remains of Chufut-Kale (Qjrq-Yer) are situated in a naturally fortified location, on an isolated rock on the inner chain of the Crimean mountains, surrounded on three sides by cliffs reaching in some places a height of fifty-metres. Evliya Chelebi wrote that these cliffs resembled "the jaws of Hell and bottomless depths."2 There are several valleys surrounding Chufut-Kale. One is Maryam-Dere ("Valley of St. Mary") which contains the remains of the Greek medieval settlement called Mariampolis and a cemetery dating from the sixth-ninth centuries. It also contains the Muslim cemetery, Gazi­ Mansur ("St. Mansur"), situated a bit farther to the north and the Karaite cemetery in the Jehosaphat vallq. There is a settlement belong­ ing to the so-called Kizil-Koba culture and an uninvestigated early­ medieval cemetery in the valley called Ashlama-Dere, which is situated to the north-east of the plateau. 3 It is possible to enter the territory of the town using the footpath leading to Kuchuk-Qgpu ("Small" or Southern Gate; see the topo­ graphic plan of Chufut-Kale in appendix 1.2) or by the road com­ ing through Maryam-Dere and the Jehosaphath valley to Buyuk-Qgpu ("Big" or Eastern Gate; appendix 1: 12). Because of the fact that the town ceased to exist very recently, its defensive complex has been preserved to such a degree that it is still only barely possible to enter Chufut-Kale when these medieval gates are closed. The territory of the town is clearly divided into three parts: the empty western part called Burunchack ("Little Cape") with an area of about 36 hectares, the so called Old Town, with an area of about seven hectares (between Burunchack and the middle defensive wall), and the New Town with an area of about three hectares, situated between the middle and eastern defensive walls (see appendix 1).4 The history of Chufut-Kale, called in the Middle Ages Qjrq-Yer (Qjrq-Er, Qjrq-Or), is interesting and complicated, with a number of still unsolved problems. The foundation of the first defensive com- 2 Evliya Chelebi, Kniga Puteshestvii, p. 93. 3 Gertsen and Mogarichev, ibid., p. 27. 4 Gertsen and Mogarichev, Krepost' dragotsennostei, pp. 8-9. .
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