Çufut Qale sometimes spelled as Chufut Kale is a historic fortress in Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

, near Bakhchisaray

Bakhchisaray

Bakhchisaray is a town in Central Crimea, centre of the Bakhchisaray raion , best known as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate...

. Its name is Crimean Tatar

Crimean Tatar language

The Crimean Tatar language is the language of the Crimean Tatars. It is a Turkic language spoken in Crimea, Central Asia , and the Crimean Tatar diasporas in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria...

 and Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 for "Jewish Fortress" (çufut/çıfıt - Jew, qale/kale - fortress). Çufut Qale was historically a center for the Crimean Karaite

Crimean Karaites

The Crimean Karaites , also known as Karaim and Qarays, are a community of ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Eastern Europe...

 community. In the Middle Ages the fortress was known as Qırq Yer (Place of Forty) and as Karaites to which sect the greater part of its inhabitants belong, Sela' ha-Yehudim (The Rock of the Jews).

History

10 Main facts about history of Chufut-Kale 1. Researchers are not unanimous as to the time of the town’s appearance. Some of them consider it to be a Byzantine fortress founded in the 6th century. Others are of the opinion the fortified settlement appeared in the 10th-11th centuries. 2. During the early period of the town’s history, it was mainly populated by Alans, the most powerful of a late Sarmatian tribes of Iranian descent. They began penetrating the Crimea from the 2nd century A.D. Settling down in the mountainous Crimea, the Alans adopted Christianity. 3. In written sources the cave town is mentioned in the 13th century under the name of Kyrk-Or (Forty Fortifications). This name lasted until the mid-17th century. 4. In 1299 the Tatar horde of Emir Nogai Nogai Khan Nogai , also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi...  raided the Crimean peninsula. Kyrk-Or was among the sacked towns. Having seized the town, the Tatars quartered their garrison in it. 5. At the turn of the 15th century, Tatars settled Karaite craftsmen in front of the eastern line of fortifications; the Karaites built a second defensive wall to protect their settlement, and thus a new part of the town appeared. 6. In the 15th century the first Crimean Khan, Hadji-Girei Haci I Giray Hacı I Giray Angel was the founder and the first ruler of the Crimean Khanate. He is sometimes referred to as Hacı Devlet Giray or Devlet Hacı Giray... , who realized the fortress’ advantages, turned the old section of the town into his fortified residence. 7. After the defeat of the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate became considerably stronger. The significance of Kyrk-Or as a stronghold declined, and the Crimean Khan Menglis-Girei moved his capital to Bakhchisarai. The old town remained a citadel of Bakhchisarai and a place of incarceration for aristocratic prisoners. 8. In the mid-17th century Tatars left Kyrk-Or. Only Karaites remained to live there. They were the descendants of ancient Turkic-speaking Khazars, whose state in the 7th – 10th centuries included parts of the Crimea. In the 8th century the Khazar Kaganate adopted Judaism. Tatars considered Karaites to be Jews, hence the town gradually acquired the name of Chufut-Kale, which in Turkic meant “Jewish fortress”. After the Tatar departure, Karaites lived there for over 200 years. They adopted Karaism, a doctrine which rejects rabbinism and talmudism and bases its tenets on the interpretation of the Pentateuch. With time, the word “Karaite” came to refer to the name of the people. 9. After the Crimea’s conquest and its inclusion into the Russian empire, the Karaites declared their loyalty to the new rulers. In return the government granted them privileges, enabling them to live anywhere in the empire. From that time on, Chufut-Kale became deserted. 10. By the mid-19th century the town ceased to exist.

Legends

There are many legends concerning the place. According to one, it was called "Qırq Yer" because the khans Meñli Giray and Tokhtamysh

Tokhtamysh

Tokhtamysh was the prominent khan of the White Horde, who briefly unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timur...

, the founders of the city, brought with them forty Karaite families, and in their honor called it the "Place of Forty".

Another legend, fostered by the Karaites to show the antiquity of their sect, says that Karaites were brought there from Persia at the time of the first Exile. The early settlers of the city exercised great influence upon their neighbors, the Khazars

Khazars

The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...

. The Abraham Firkovich

Abraham Firkovich

Abraham ben Samuel Firkovich was a famous leader of the Qarays . He was born in Lutsk, Volhynia, then lived in Lithuania, and finally settled in Çufut Qale, Crimea. Firkovich was a communal leader and hakham...

, who was very skilful in falsifying epitaphs and manuscripts, pretended to have unearthed at the cemetery of Çufut Qale tombstones dating from the year 6 of the common era, and to have discovered the tomb of Sangari, which is still shown by the Karaites. According to Harkavy, however, no epitaph earlier than 1203 can be seen at the cemetery of Çufut Qale, called "Vale of Jehoshaphat"; and the tombs do not belong to Karaites, but to the old Rabbinite settlers called Krymchaks

Krymchaks

The Krymchaks are a Turkic people, community of Turkic languages and adherents of Rabbinic Judaism living in Crimea. They have historically lived in close proximity to the Crimean Karaites...

. Çufut Qale, however, existed as early as the seventh century. Abu al-Fida mentions it under the name "Qırq Yer".

External links

• History and monuments of Chufut Kale
• The map of the fortress