arshba.ru

Karaites (Crimean Karaim: singular къарай, plural къарайлар; Trakai dialect: singular karaj, plural karajlar; from Hebrew קָרָאִים — "Karaites," literally "readers") — a small ethnic group descended from Turkic-speaking followers of Karaism in Eastern Europe.

Traditional places of residence of the Karaites are Crimea, some cities of Western Ukraine (Halych, Lutsk), and Lithuania (Trakai, Panevėžys).

The Karaim language belongs to the Kipchak group of Turkic languages. There are northern (Trakai), southern (Halych), and Crimean dialects. The lexical composition of the Karaim language is distinguished by borrowings of a number of religious terms from Hebrew. The Crimean dialect of the Karaim language (traditional Karaim name — Leshon Tatar (Hebrew: לשון טטר — "language of the Tatars")) differs markedly from the dialects of the Karaites of Lithuania and Western Ukraine, called by the Karaites Lashon Kedar (Hebrew: לשון קדר — "language of the nomads"). Currently, all dialects of the Karaim language, with the exception of the Trakai dialect, have practically disappeared.


Khazar (Turkic) theory

According to this theory, the Karaites are descendants of the Khazars — a Turkic nomadic people of the 7th—10th centuries, who adopted Judaism and among whose areas of settlement was Crimea.

Arguments

- according to a number of anthropologists of the 1930s, there is a similarity between the Chuvash and the Karaites and, thus, with the Khazars
- according to the Turkologist N. A. Baskakov, "the Karaites were part of the Bulgar-Khazar, Oghuz-Pecheneg, and only later — the Kipchak-Cuman tribal union with the dominant Kipchak language."
- anthropological studies show differences between Jews and Karaites

Criticism

- before the appearance of the Khazar theory, there was no tradition linking the Karaites with the Khazars
- anthropological studies show, along with the difference between Jews and Karaites, a similar difference between Crimean and Lithuanian Karaites and therefore can be explained by 1000-year genetic isolation.
- the Karaim and Khazar languages are Turkic, but Karaim belongs to the Kipchak group, while Khazar presumably belongs to the Bulgar group; therefore, there is no close kinship between them.
- Khazar Judaism was most likely Talmudic, while Karaism does not recognize the Talmud.
- the Khazars disappeared in the 11th century, and the first written mentions of Crimean Karaites date back to the 13th century (see below in the "History" section).
- anthropological studies show similarities between Lithuanian and Mediterranean Karaites; genetic studies also show the presence of Near Eastern genes in Karaites, similar to those of Jews
- in archaeology, sites of ethnic Khazars do not yet have a generally accepted identification, which calls into question conclusions about the anthropological connection of Karaites with the Khazars

Spread

This theory was put forward in 1846 by the Russian orientalist V. V. Grigoriev, who was unaware of the existence of Hebraisms in the Karaim language. It became widely known in the second half of the 19th century.

The Khazar theory was actively developed by Seraya Shapshal. In the context of demarcation from the Jewish community, Karaites nationalists accepted the main provisions of this theory.

In the 20th century, the Khazar theory was officially recognized by Soviet science, as well as by modern secular leaders of the Karaites who deny any connection with Jews and Judaism, and also indirectly figures in the modern formula of Karaites self-identification (see the "Self-identification" section).

Unlike secular leaders, many religious Karaites were skeptical of the Khazar theory. Modern leaders of religious Karaites in emigration, without denying the Turkic elements in the origin of the Karaites, criticize this theory.

Currently, the Turkic theory is not shared by the majority of modern scholars.


Not only Karaites consider themselves descendants of the Khazars, but also some representatives of Turkic-speaking Jewish peoples — Krymchaks, as well as Iranian-speaking Mountain Jews.


Genetics

J2 (J­M172)     - 28.5%
J1 (J­M267)     - 19%
E1b1b1 (EL117) - 19%
G2a (G­P15)     - 14.3%
G2a3b1 (GP303) - 4.8%
L2a (L­M349)    - 4.8%
R1b1a2 (RM269) - 4.8%
Q1b1a (Q­L245)  - 4.8%

* The Genetic Signatures of East European Karaites. Kevin Alan Brook, Leon Kull, and Adam J. Levin 2013—­2015
** Brooks, K. A. (2006). Do Crimean And Lithuanian Karaites Descend From Khazars? In The Jews of Khazaria (2nd ed., pp. 231-232). United States of America: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (Original work published 1999)


There is a Karaite surname Abaza.