The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE CRIMEA. 447a reaction which lusted till the fourth century of the vulgar era. Then thegeneral westward movement of the peoples caused at least a partial change in thepopulation of the Crimea, -whose communications with the tribes of the mainlandwere now also interrupted for centuries.Amongst the new arrivals were the Alans, who, under the name of As, Yas,Akias, or Akas, were able to maintain their independence in this secluded cornerfor over six hundred years. Marino Sanndo mentions them in 1334, a time whenthey had long disappeared from the rest of Europe. A small detachment of Gothsalso preserved their nationality and their speech for over a thousand years in thesehighlands. In the middle of the thirteenth century the Fleming Rubniquis statesexpressly that the Goths were then numerous in the district called Gothland, onthe south coast, and that their language was of Teutonic origin.In mediaeval times some Russian settlers also found a firm footing in theCrimea, and the Xogai Tatars were able to hold their ground in the Tauridahighlands much longer than elsewhere. Here they traded with Europe throughthe Italian, and especially the Genoese stations on the coast, and when the GoldenHorde was overthrown by Tamerlane on the Volga, a regular Tatar kingdom wasorganized in the Crimea, where the famous Ghirei dynasty ruled for over threehundred years from the beginning of the fifteenth century. The early period of thisdynasty was one of the happiest for the peninsula, thanks to the universal tolerationgranted to all strangers wishing to settle or trade in the country. But all waschanged when the Turks seized Kafia, and reduced the Crimean Khans to a stateof vassalage, obliging them to provide slaves for the sultans of Stambul. In 1774Catherine II. compelled Turkey, in its turn, to recognise the independence ofthe Crimea, which thus became virtually dependent on Russia, in whose favour thelast of the Ghirei dynasty abdicated in 1787.Under Russian rule the population of the Crimea fell from about half a millionto 140,000 in 1804, but has since increased to over 250,000. After the Crimeanwar of 1854-5, and again from 1S60 to 1863, large numbers of Tatars migratedto Turkey, leaving over 500 villages and hamlets completely depopulated. Theabandoned territory was afterwards occupied by Bulgarians and other Christiansfrom the Balkan peninsula. In consequence of these movements and the vexatiousmeasures introduced in 1874 regarding the obligation to military service,the adoption of Russian in the schools, and official intermeddling, the Tatarelement has continued to decline, while the other races increase. In 1864 theTatars were still more numerous than all the rest together, but at present theyform scarcely one-third of the entire population of the peninsula.* They haveceased to be polygamists, and all agree in praising their uprightness, love ofwork and order, temperance, and self-respect. In them the Crimea loses itsbest citizens.The Crimean Jews, belonging to the Kam'itic sect, arc also much respected for* Approximative population of the Crimea:Tatars in 1S6J 100,000 in 1S74 (according to Rittich) 80,000Russians. Great, Little, and 'White . ., 55,700 , 130,000Greeks, Jews Bulgarians, and others „ 39,-JuO , 38,000