Chufut-Kale (Crimean Tatar: Çufut Qale Tatar pronunciation: [tʃuˈfut qaˈle]; Russian and Ukrainian: Чуфут-Кале - Chufut-Kale; Karaim: Кала - קלעה - Kala) is a medieval city-fortress in the Crimean Mountains that now lies in ruins. It is a national monument of Crimean Karaites culture just 3 km (1.9 mi) east of Bakhchysarai.

Its name is Crimean Tatar and Turkish for "Jewish Fortress" (çufut/çıfıt - Jew, qale/kale - fortress), while Crimean Karaites refer to it simply as "Fortress", considering the place as historical center for the Crimean Karaite 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 (Hebrew for 'Rock of the Jews').

Researchers are not unanimous as to the time of the town's appearance. The town was probably a fortified settlement in the 5th or 6th century on the periphery of the Byzantine Empire. Others think that the fortified settlement appeared in the 10th-11th centuries.[citation needed] During the early period of the town's history, it was mainly populated by Alans, the most powerful of the late Sarmatian tribes, who were Iranic speakers. They began penetrating Crimea from the 2nd century. Settling down in the mountainous Crimea, the Alans adopted Christianity. 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.

In 1299, the Golden Horde forces under Nogai Khan raided Crimea; at that time, Kyrk Or was then garrisoned by Byzantine soldiers. The stout fortress resisted direct storming by the Tatars, who then contrived to weaken the defenders by playing loud music for three days and nights. On the fourth morning, the defenders were too exhausted to repel a fresh attack, and the fortress succumbed to a general massacre. Having thus seized the town, the Tatars quartered their garrison in it. At the turn of the 15th century, Tatars settled Karaite craftsmen in front of the eastern line of fortifications and built a second defensive wall to protect their settlement, and thus a new part of the town appeared.[citation needed]

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, many Karaite Jews, who were still Greek speakers, decided to migrate to Crimea, and in particular to the Principality of Theodoro and Chufut-Kale, as Crimea had a familiar Byzantine culture.[1]

In the 15th century, the first Crimean Khan, Hacı I Giray, realizing the fortress’ advantages, turned the old section of the town into his fortified residence. 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, Meñli I Giray, moved his capital to Bakhchysarai. The old town remained a citadel of Bakhchisarai and a place of incarceration for aristocratic prisoners.

In the mid-17th century, the Tatars left Kyrk-Or. Only the Karaites and several Krymchak families remained living there due to anti-Jewish restrictions on stays in other towns of the Crimean Khanate.[2][3] The town gradually acquired the name of Chufut-Kale, which in Turkic meant "Jewish fortress", with a negative and scornful meaning.[4]

After the Annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire in 1783, the fortress inhabitants were permitted to live anywhere in the Crimea. From that time on, Chufut-Kale was deserted. By the mid-19th century the town ceased to exist.[citation needed]

^ Dan Shapira (2003). Avraham Firkowicz in Istanbul (1830-1832) : paving the way for Turkic nationalism. KaraM publication. p. 3. ISBN 9756467037. ^ Гурджи и ашкенази, или крымчаки в городе Чуфут-Кале/ М. Кизилов // Крымчаки, 2009. т.№ 4.-С.12-15. ^ Меметов А. О так называемых «тюркских народах» Крыма Archived 2011-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. // Ученые записки Таврического национального университета им. В. И. Вернадского. Серия «Филология. Социальные коммуникации». Том 22 (61). № 3. 2009 г. С. 172—178. ^ "Tatiana Schegoleva. Karaites of Crimea: History and Present-Day Situation in Community". Archived from the original on 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
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