Crimea… The majestic mountain peaks fanned with legends, the azure sea, the boundless, hot steppe, fragrant with herbs… This ancient land has embraced people since the Paleolithic times, and, finding peace, ancient Hellenes and Byzantines, warriors of the Golden Horde, became equal before it, and residents of the Crimean Khanate. The Crimean land remembers and the times of the Ottoman Empire, Russia has not forgotten either.
The land of Crimea gave life and then eternal rest to Tatars, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Estonians, Czechs, Turks, Armenians, Germans, Bulgarians, Jews, Karaites, Gypsies, Krymchaks. What are people to her, if the land of Crimea quietly whispers with steppe grasses a song about how she buried entire civilizations. Oh, people are truly insane who think that time passes too quickly. Stupid people. This is what you are going through.
History of Crimea since ancient times
The first people appeared on the Crimean peninsula in the distant times of the Paleolithic, as evidenced by archaeological excavations near the sites of Staroselye and Kiik-Koba. And in the first millennium BC, tribes of Cimmerians, Scythians and Taurians settled on this land. By the way, it was on behalf of the latter that the land of the coastal and mountainous parts of Crimea got its name - Taurida, Taurica or, more familiar, Tavria. But already in the sixth - fifth century BC, the Greeks settled in the Crimean territories.
At first, the Hellenes settled in colonies, but soon Greek city-states began to emerge. Thanks to the Greeks, majestic temples to the Olympic gods, theaters and stadiums appeared on the peninsula, the first vineyards appeared and ships began to be built. A few centuries later, part of the coast of the Taurian land was captured by the Romans, whose power continued until the invasion of the peninsula by the Goths in the third or fourth centuries of our era, putting an end to the existence of the Greek city-states. But the Goths did not stay long in the Crimea either.
Already other tribes forced the Goths, like the Taurians and Scythians, to disperse in the human sea, without preserving their national identity, ceasing to be a single people. Starting from the fifth century, for several hundred years, Crimea fell under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, but from the seventh to the ninth century, the entire peninsula (except for Kherson) became a territory Khazar Khaganate. In 960, in the rivalry between the Khazars and Ancient Russia, the Old Russian state won the final victory.
The Khazar city of Samkerts, on the Caucasian coast of the Kerch Strait, became known as Tmutarakan. By the way, it was here, in the Crimea in the year 988 from the Nativity of Christ, that the Grand Duke Vladimir of Kiev was baptized, having occupied Kherson (Korsun). In the thirteenth century, the Mongol-Tatars invaded Tavria, where they formed the so-called Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde. And in 1443, after the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate arose on the peninsula. In 1475, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, and it was the Crimean Khanate that Turkey used as a weapon, carrying out its raids on Russian, Ukrainian and Polish lands. It was to combat the raids of the Crimean Khanate that the Zaporozhian Sich was founded in 1554.
Annexation of Crimea to Russia
But it put an end to three hundred years of Ottoman rule in the Crimea. So Crimea becomes Russian territory. At the same time, the fortress cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol were built in Tavria. But Turkey was not going to surrender Crimea just like that - it was preparing for a new war, which was a completely logical decision at that time. But the Russian army was not the bast of the shield. Another Russian-Turkish war ended in 1791 after the signing of the Iasi peace treaty.
Crimea in the Russian Empire
From that time on, palaces began to be built in the Crimea, fishing and salt production, and winemaking developed. Crimea has become the most beloved health resort of the Russian aristocracy, and ordinary people going to the Crimean sanatoriums to treat all sorts of ailments. The census of the population of the Tauride province was not carried out in the composition, but according to Shagin-Girey, the peninsula was divided into six kaymakams: Perekop, Kozlov, Kefin, Bakhchisaray, Karasubazar and Akmechet.
Already after 1799, the territory was divided into counties with 1400 villages and 7 cities: Alushta, Kerch, Simferopol, Feodosia, Sevastopol, Evpatoria and Yalta. In the year 1834, Crimean Tatars still dominated in Crimea, but after the Crimean War, a decision was made to gradually resettle them. According to the records of 1853, 43 thousand people in Crimea already professed Orthodoxy, and among the Gentiles there were Reformed, Lutheran, Roman Catholics, Armenian Catholics, Armenian Gregorians, Muslims, Jews - Talmudists and Karaites.
Crimea during the Civil War
During the civil war at the beginning of the twentieth century, both whites and reds came to power in Crimea. In November 1917, the Crimean People's Republic was proclaimed, but a year later, in January 1918, after Soviet power was established in Crimea, it ceased to exist. Throughout March and April 1918, Crimea was part of the RSFSR as the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida.
On April 13, 1918, with the support of the Tatar militia and parts of the UNR army, German troops invaded the republic and liquidated Soviet power by May 1. For several months, until the fifteenth of November of the same year, 1918, the Crimea was under German occupation. After that, the Second Crimean Regional Government was created, which lasted from November 15, 1918 to April 11, 1919.
From April to June 1919, Crimea was again part of the RSFSR as the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic. But already from July 1, 1919 to November 12, 1919, Crimea was under the rule of the VSYUR and the baron's Russian army. Crimea was conquered by the Red Army in 1920, inflicting terror on the peninsula, which claimed about 120 thousand lives.
Crimea in Soviet times
After the civil war in Crimea, in which, in addition to the Whites and Reds, the French and the British also perished, the Soviet authorities made an unprecedented and radical decision - to deport the Crimean Tatars to Siberia, and to settle the Russians in their place. So Crimea finally ceased to be part of the East. After the Red Army was forced to leave the Crimea, retreating to the Taman Peninsula.
But the counteroffensive launched from there ended in failure, and the army was driven back even further, beyond the Kerch Strait. The Great Patriotic War seriously exacerbated ethnic conflicts in the Crimea. So, in 1944, not only the Tatars were finally evicted from the Crimea for the cooperation of some of them with the Germans, but also the Bulgarians, Greeks and Karaites.
Ancient history of Crimea
The most ancient history of Crimea begins with the appearance of the first people here, about 150 thousand years ago, but up to the time when the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region came to the attention of peoples who owned writing, its events have to be reconstructed solely on the basis of "dumb" archaeological sources. The situation changes in the 1st millennium BC. Ancient Greek and Roman authors left numerous information about the peoples who inhabited the Crimean peninsula in the era that archaeologists call the "early Iron Age" (IX-IV centuries BC).
At least since the 8th century BC. e. ancient Eastern and ancient Greek documents mention the Cimmerians, whom ancient tradition associated with the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimea. The first information about the Cimmerians is contained in Homer's Odyssey. Describing the wanderings of Odysseus, the legendary poet talks about a sad region where "the people and the city of the Cimmerian people" are located. According to Homer, this whole area is covered with "wet fog and haze of clouds", the sun never shines there ...
The great ancient Greek historian Herodotus is more informative. Outlining one of the three, in his opinion, the most reliable legend about the appearance of the Scythians, he says that having crossed the Araks River, the Scythians ousted from Asia by the Massagetae "arrived in the Cimmerian land." When the Scythians approached, the Cimmerians began to hold advice, not knowing what to do: the kings offered to give the Scythians a battle, and the people considered it best to give up their land to a formidable enemy without a fight. Not having achieved unity, the Cimmerians entered into battle with each other. The survivors of this battle buried the fallen and left their land, leaving along the Black Sea coast to Asia. “And now even in the Scythian land,” Herodotus wrote, “there are Cimmerian fortifications and Cimmerian crossings; there is also a region called Cimmeria and the so-called Cimmerian Bosporus [Kerch Strait. - Auth.] "2. Another evidence that firmly connected the people of the Cimmerians with the Crimea belongs to Strabo (I century), who says that the Bosporus is called Cimmerian, since the Cimmerians once had “great power” here3.
Numerous ancient Eastern sources confirm Herodotus' message about the Cimmerian invasion of Asia. The first state to be subjected to Cimmerian raids was Urartu, located on the territory of later Armenia. Judging by the Assyrian cuneiform documents, the Cimmerians made raids from the territory located north of Urartu, called the “country of Ga-mir”. This caused a response campaign of the Urartian king Rusa I, during which, in 714 BC. e., the Urartian army was defeated by the Cimmerians.
In the future, the Cimmerians, as part of coalitions of various peoples, raided the borders of the Assyrian state. An important event was the defeat of the Cimmerian army led by Teushpa from the Assyrian king Esarhaddon in 679 BC. e.4 But after this, as ancient authors report, Cimmerian invasions into Asia Minor - into Phrygia and Lydia followed. In the middle of the 7th century BC. e. The Cimmerians suffered a series of defeats from the Scythians who invaded Asia and concentrated in the area of the city of Sinop on the Asia Minor coast of the Black Sea. Here around 600 BC. e. they were finally defeated by the king of Lydia, Aliattes. The fantastic features of this battle are reported by Polien (II century): “Aliatt, when the Cimmerians, having unusual and animal-like bodies, came out against him, brought into battle, along with other forces, the most powerful dogs, which, approaching the barbarians, like animals, many of them killed, the rest were forced to shamefully flee. Researchers suggest that the “strongest dogs” should be understood as the Scythians who acted in alliance with Aliatt6.
Despite the seemingly clear trace that the Cimmerians left on the pages of written sources, they remain a mystery people to this day. So, a lot of controversy was caused by the question of their linguistic affiliation. The fact is that written sources have preserved only three Cimmerian words - the names of the kings: Teushpa, Tugdamme (Ligdamis) and Sandakshatra. Today, most experts are sure that the language spoken by the Cimmerians belongs to the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family7.
Until now, it has not been possible either to outline the area of the original habitat of the Cimmerians, or to answer the question of their origin. Most researchers believe that the Cimmerians lived in the steppes between the Don and the Danube. Others are trying to localize them in Taman, on the Kerch Peninsula, in the North-Western Caucasus, on the territory of modern Iran. There is also a point of view according to which the Cimmerians are not a separate people, but part of the forward detachment of the Scythians8.
It is not possible to convincingly substantiate the identity of the Cimmerians with any of the archaeological cultures known to us. The problem is complicated by the fact that not a single reference Cimmerian site has yet been discovered (on the territory of Asia Minor)9. As a result, archaeologists came to a certain compromise: it is customary to consider the burial mounds of the steppe burials of the 9th - first half of the 7th century BC as Cimmerian. e., the inventory in which differs, on the one hand, from the burials of the Bronze Age, and on the other hand, from the burials of the Scythians who appeared later. To date, about 200 such burials are known on the territory from the Danube to the Volga, of which more than a dozen and a half are in the Crimean steppe10. The burial under the barrow near the village of Tselinnoye in the Dzhankoy region is considered to be a classic burial of a Cimmerian warrior. The buried was laid in a crouched position on the left side. At the head was a black-polished korchaga containing the bones of a ram; an iron dagger was located on the belt of the deceased, and in left hand donkey was invested. From the jewelry, two bronze pendants in the form of ram horns covered with gold foil were found. The lower part of a stone stele with a relief image of a belt with a gorite (a case for bow and arrows), a dagger, a suspended whetstone, and also a cruciform object, the purpose of which is unknown11, was found in the mound of the mound.
Judging by the materials that have come down to us, the basis of the economy of the Cimmerians was nomadic cattle breeding. The breeding of horses played a predominant role. The samples of weapons found in the burials (long iron swords, daggers, spears with iron tips), as well as the bows and details of the warhorse equipment known from the images, confirm the militant glory of the Cimmerians. Probably, their political organization corresponded to the stage that in historical science is usually called the chiefdom, and the process of the emergence of the state did not end with them.
Another historical people, about which ancient authors left evidence and whose fate (now completely and completely) is connected with the Crimean peninsula, were the Taurians. Historians have made several assumptions about the origin of this ethnonym. Some researchers associated it with the Greek word for "bulls", and believed that the Taurus got its name from the bull cult common among them. Others suggested that the self-name of the Tauri was similar in sound to the Greek word for "oxen". Still others pointed out that Taurus is the name of a mountain range and that “Tauri” should be translated as “highlanders”12...
Herodotus was the first to describe the Taurians. He says that the Scythians, preparing for the invasion of their land by the troops of the Persian king Darius I, turned for help to neighboring tribes, including the Taurians. The Taurians refused to support the Scythians, pointing out that it was the Scythians (and not the Persians) who were responsible for the war. Taking the opportunity, then Herodotus told everything that he knew about the Taurus. Having described the primordial Scythia up to the “city called Karkinitida” (Evpatoria), the “father of history” indicates that from there along the sea to the Rocky (Kerch) Peninsula “there is a mountainous country” inhabited by the Taurus tribe. Thus, according to Herodotus (and all other authors agree with him on this), the Crimean Mountains were the area of settlement of the Taurians.
Herodotus also owns the first description of the bloody customs of the Taurians, after which the glory of fierce robbers and robbers confidently entrenched in them: “The Taurians have such customs: they sacrifice the wrecked sailors and all Hellenes who are captured on the high seas to the Virgin, as follows. First, they hit the doomed with a club on the head. Then the body of the victim, according to some, is thrown from a cliff into the sea, for the sanctuary stands on a steep cliff, while the head is nailed to a pillar. Others, agreeing, however, regarding the head, argue that the body of the Taurus is not thrown off the cliff, but buried in the ground ... With captured enemies, the Taurians do this: the severed heads of the captives are taken to the house, and then, sticking them on a long pole, placed high above the house, usually above the chimney. These heads hanging over the house are, they say, the guardians of the whole house. The Taurians live by robbery and war.
Other ancient authors also pointed to the bloodthirstiness and robbery lifestyle of the Taurians. So, Pseudo-Skimn (III-II centuries BC) reports that “Taurians are a numerous people and love nomadic life in the mountains; in their cruelty they are barbarians and murderers, and propitiate their gods by wicked deeds.” Historian of the 1st century BC e. Diodorus Siculus lists the Taurians among the pirating peoples. Strabo in the 1st century AD e. supplemented this information with the following message: “Then follow Ancient Chersonesus, lying in ruins, and then a harbor with a narrow entrance, where the Taurians (a Scythian tribe) usually gathered their bands of robbers, attacking those who fled here”14. The harbor in question is the modern Balaklava Bay. The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus reports on the destruction of shipwrecked Roman soldiers by Taurus, and Ammian Marcellinus in the 4th century directly connected the former name of the Black Sea - "Inhospitable" - with the ferocity and rudeness of the Taurians who lived here.
Archaeological data help to clarify the information of ancient authors, according to which the ethnic group, which the Greeks later called the Taurians, formed in the foothills of the Crimean Mountains by the 8th century BC. e. Not later than the 6th century BC. e. Taurians master the Crimean mountains, where they form a peculiar economic and cultural type associated with yailage cattle breeding. A mobile way of life led to the absence of long-term settlements among the Taurians. The only Taurian settlement known in the mountainous Crimea (about 1.5 ha15) was discovered on Mount Koshka near Simeiz.
The main archaeological monuments associated with the Tauris are numerous (about 60) burial grounds, consisting of stone boxes and dating back to the 6th-5th centuries BC. e. The design of such a collective tomb is simple - two long (up to 1.5 m) and two short (1 m) stone slabs, set on edge, dug into the ground and covered with a slab from above. As a rule, the boxes were installed on the surface and were clearly visible - their height reaches 1 m. This circumstance contributed to the fact that almost all of them were looted. A happy exception is the Mal-Muz necropolis in the Baydarskaya valley, which consisted of 7 stone boxes covered with an embankment16. One of them contained 68 skulls17! The dead were laid in a crouched position on their side; when the box was full, the bones, except for the skulls, were taken out and the tomb continued to be used for new burials. Taurus burials include a variety of grave goods: bronze ornaments, swords, arrows, glass beads. It should be noted that, apart from beads, no other things were found in the burials that could be the prey of pirates and robbers. Probably, the ideas of ancient authors about the bloodthirstiness of the Taurians need significant adjustment...
In the IV century BC. e. the Taurians leave the mountains and move to the foothills. The reasons for this migration are still unknown. According to archeological data, the foothills during this period of time were inhabited by the carriers of the Kizil-Koba culture (named after the Kizil-Koba tract, where its monuments were discovered)18. The existence of this culture dates back to the VIII-III centuries BC. e. Taking into account the fact that the ancient authors do not know any other population in the mountainous and foothill Crimea, except for the Taurians, it was suggested that the Kizil-Koba culture belonged to the Taurians19. At first glance, this identification is hindered whole line circumstances. The Taurians inhabited the mountains, and the Kizil-Kobans inhabited the foothills, the former were nomadic pastoralists, and the latter were sedentary farmers and shepherds. The Taurians left behind almost exclusively burial grounds, and from the carriers of the Kizil-Koba culture in all the foothills - from Sevastopol to Feodosia - there were also settlements. But, on the other hand, both of them made collective burials in stone boxes, their grave goods are very similar... The question has not yet found a final solution, but most researchers believe that the monuments of the Kizil-Koba culture were still left by Taurians . Probably, in a certain period, within the same ethnos, two economic and cultural types coexisted, the differences between which are easily explained by the difference in environmental conditions20.
The problem of the disappearance of monuments associated with the Tauris at the beginning of the 3rd century BC also requires an explanation. e. The reason should be sought primarily in the contacts of the Taurians with other ethnic groups of the Crimean peninsula. Despite the isolation of the Taurians noted by ancient authors, historians and archaeologists today have evidence to the contrary. Thus, the Kizil-Koba ceramics found on the territory of the Greek cities of Bosporus, Chersonesos and Kerkinitida indicates that in some cases the Taurians became residents of ancient cities and other settlements. Since the manufacture of stucco vessels is associated with female labor, it has been suggested that the Greek colonists could enter into marriage alliances with local residents21. The penetration of the Taurians into the Greek cities is also confirmed by epigraphic data. The famous tombstone from Panticapaeum, dating from the 5th century BC. e., adorns the inscription: “Under this monument lies a husband, desired by many, a Taurian family. His name is Tikhon"22...
Given the warlike nature of the Taurians, one cannot but take into account the wars that were fought on the peninsula. So, Diodorus Siculus, praising the Bosporan king Eumelus (end of the 4th century BC), speaks of his successful actions against the Taurian pirates. In the Chersonese decree in honor of Diophantus (2nd century BC), among other things, it is said that this commander "subdued the surrounding Taurians". Bosporan king Aspurg in the 1st century BC. e., as evidenced by epigraphic data, he also “subdued the Scythians and Taurians” ... It should be assumed that during these wars a certain part of the Taurians was exterminated. The other part probably assimilated within the Late Scythian culture. This process is clearly indicated by archeological monuments - paired burials of Scythian men and Taurian women23. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall that since the turn of the eras, the barbarian population of the Crimea has been known in the sources under the name of "Tavro-Scythians". According to modern researchers, the final disappearance of the Taurians occurred by the 3rd century AD24.
No less warlike than the Taurians, the people who left their mark on the history of the Crimean peninsula were the Scythians. Scythians - the collective name of a group of tribes that lived in the steppes between the Danube and the Don, as well as in the North Caucasus in the 7th-4th centuries BC. e.; they themselves called themselves chipped. The question of their origin has not yet been resolved. Already Herodotus was forced to cite three legends at once about the emergence of the Scythians. We met one of them when it was about the Cimmerians, and the content of the other erects the first ancestor of the Scythians named Targitai to the daughter of the god of the river Borisfen (Dnepr) and Zeus (thus leading the Scythians out of the Dnieper). Within the framework of this legend, the origin of various Scythian tribes from the three sons of Targitai - Lipoksai, Arpoksai and Kolaksai - is also explained. The third legend, cited by Herodotus, connects the origin of the Scythians with the marriage of Hercules and the snake-footed goddess, from whom the Scythian was born, who became the founder of the family of kings. The overwhelming majority of researchers attribute the Scythian language to the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family25.
Thanks to numerous historical sources, the main stages of the political history of the Scythians have been studied quite fully. In the 670s BC. e., following the Cimmerian, the era of Scythian campaigns in Transcaucasia and Western Asia begins. Scythians reach the borders of Egypt! The horror of the peoples of the East in the face of warlike nomads was conveyed by the biblical prophet Jeremiah: “They will eat your harvest and your bread; they will eat your sons and daughters [...]”. “For 28 years,” Herodotus reports, “the Scythians ruled in Asia and with their arrogance and outrage brought everything there into complete disorder. Indeed, in addition to the fact that they collected the established tribute from each people, the Scythians still traveled around the country and robbed everything that came across. The Scythian invasions of Asia continued for about 100 years; the end of the Scythian threat was put only by the king of Media, Cyaxares. Inviting the Scythian leaders to a feast and killing them there, he deprived them of their leaders, and the Scythians returned to the Northern Black Sea region - where Scythian tribes who did not participate in Asian campaigns continued to live.
At the end of the VI century BC. e. accounts for the famous Scythian campaign of the Persian king Darius I, the reason for which was the Scythian robberies in Asia. In these events, the Scythians showed themselves to be masters of guerrilla warfare. Having crossed the Istres (Danube), the Persian army invaded Scythia and reached, bypassing the Crimea, to Tanais (Don). The Scythian king Idanfirs refused to fight the Persians. Instead, the Scythians, retreating, filled up the wells and burned all the vegetation for a day's journey in front of the Persian army. The Persians suffered severely from hunger, thirst and disease. As a result, according to Herodotus, Darius I was forced to flee under the cover of night, leaving the convoy and wounded soldiers to the mercy of fate. Only the refusal of the guards of the bridge across the Ister to destroy it (which the Scythians asked them to do) allowed the Persian army to avoid complete annihilation ... The victory over the Persian king brought the Scythians the glory of an invincible people.
From the 5th century BC e. Scythians begin to actively influence the situation in the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region. The spectrum of relations between the Hellenes and the Scythians was very diverse - from trade contacts and peaceful existence to military conflicts. So, it is generally accepted that the unification of the cities of the Bosporus in 480 BC. e. into a single state occurred under the direct influence of the Scythian threat27. As evidenced by epigraphic data, Kerkinitida at the end of the 5th century BC. e. was dependent on the Scythians, and its population paid tribute to the nomads28. On the other hand, the data of written sources leave no doubt that sometimes the Greeks married Scythians; so, for example, did Gilon of Nymphaeum - the grandfather of the famous orator Demosthenes.
In the IV century BC. e. Scythia is clearly experiencing its heyday29. Judging by the data of archeology, the population is increasing several times. The richest burials of the Scythian nobility, the so-called royal mounds, date back to this time. The Scythian king Atey managed to unite under his rule all the tribes in the interfluve of the Danube and the Don30. Coins minted in the name of this king became a symbol of his power. However, in 339 B.C. e., at the age of 90, Atey died fighting with the troops of Philip of Macedon. According to Pompey Trogus (in the transmission of Justin), Philip got the following booty: “Twenty thousand women and children were taken captive, many cattle were captured; gold and silver were not found at all ... Twenty thousand of the best mares were sent to Macedonia to breed horses of the Scythian breed”31.
After the death of Atey, the illusory political unity of the Scythian world disintegrates. The Scythians who lived on the territory of the Crimean peninsula differed from their northern neighbors, which is confirmed, for example, by the peculiarities of the funeral rite. In the second half of the IV century BC. e. they maintain close contacts with the inhabitants of the Greek cities of the peninsula. So, in Kerkinitida, coins were minted with the image of a Scythian32. On the Kerch Peninsula, according to archeological data, the Hellenic, Scythian and mixed population lived in agricultural settlements, growing mainly bread exported to Hellas33. Representatives of the Scythian nobility also lived on the territory of the Bosporus along with the (presumably the poorest) layers of the Scythian society who settled on the ground - as evidenced by the burial complex of the Kul-Oba barrow. Written data allow us to assert that the Bosporan kings used the Scythians in their military activities, which was the result of friendly relations with their leaders. Thus, Levkon I (390-349 BC) managed to defeat Theodosius only with the help of the Scythians34. And in the internecine war of 309 BC. e. More than 20,000 Scythian infantrymen and 10,000 horsemen participated for the Bosporan throne on the side of one of the pretenders (Satire).
Important changes in the life of the Scythians occurred in the 3rd century BC. e.36 In most of Scythia, desolation is observed; Scythians are concentrated in the Crimea and the Lower Dnieper region. Their main occupation is agriculture. On the territory of Crimea, in the valleys of the rivers of the Inner and Outer ridges of the Crimean mountains, late Scythian settlements arise. Four late Scythian fortresses are mentioned in ancient sources: Naples, Khabei, Palakiy and Napit. The capital of the late Scythian kingdom, according to most scientists, was located in the Crimea, on the territory of modern Simferopol, on the Petrovsky rocks, and was called Naples37.
In the III and II centuries BC. e. there is a series of Scythian-Chersonese wars, the main theater of which is the fertile lands of the northwestern Crimea. Initially, success was generally accompanied by the Scythians, they occupied many settlements and fought literally at the walls of Chersonese. In the face of the Scythian threat, the Greeks were forced to seek support from various allies, including the Sarmatians who occupied the deserted Scythian steppes. The Sarmatian queen Amaga with 120 warriors once raided the Scythians, put the Scythian king to death, handed over power to his son and demanded that the Scythians ensure the safety of Chersonese. However, such episodic assistance was not enough, and in 179 BC. e. Chersonese concludes an agreement with Pharnaces I, the king of Pontus, a state located on the territory of Asia Minor. Taking advantage of this agreement, in the same II century BC. e. the inhabitants of Chersonesus turned to the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator for help, which resulted in the famous expedition of Diophantus. The commander of Mithridates Diophantus defeated the Scythians, led by King Palak, in several battles and subjugated the Taurians neighboring Chersonesos, founding the fortress of Evpatoria in their land. After visiting the Bosporus on an important diplomatic mission (it was about the transfer by the Bosporan king Perisad of his kingdom under the rule of Mithridates), Diophantus made a trip deep into Scythia. He managed to conquer the Scythian fortresses of Khabei and Naples and force the Scythians to recognize their dependence on the king of Pontus. The perfidy of the Scythians led to another expedition of Diophantus. This time the battle took place at Kalos-Limen, in the northwestern Crimea. The army of the Scythians and their allied Sarmatians from the Roksolani tribe was again defeated38. The Scythians managed to gain freedom only after in 63 BC. e., having been defeated in the fight against Rome, King Mithridates committed suicide.
The Scythians quickly restore their military power and again switch to an active foreign policy. At the turn of the eras, not only Chersonese, but also the Bosporus became the object of their expansion - as we know from the inscriptions designed to perpetuate the victories of the Bosporan kings over the Scythians. The inhabitants of Chersonesus turned to Rome for help, and in 63 AD. e. Roman troops appear in Crimea39. The Scythians had to leave the vicinity of Chersonesos, and the Roman garrison was placed in the city.
At the beginning of the 2nd century, the Sarmatians moved to the Crimea, who managed to significantly push the Scythians. The weakening of the Scythian kingdom40 was used by the kings of the Bosporus - Sauromates II (174/175-210/211) and his successor Reskuporides III (210/211-226/227). As a result of their conquests, the Scythian kingdom ceased to exist. After that, the Scythians lived in the foothills of the Crimean mountains until the middle of the 3rd century, when the tribes of the Goths invaded the Crimea, destroying most of the Scythian settlements.
For a long time, the neighbors of the Scythians were the Sarmatians, who roamed to the East and were related to them in language. Herodotus reports amazing story about the origin of these tribes: they allegedly descended from the marriages of warlike Amazons, ships with which washed up on the shores of Scythia, and Scythian youths. Archaeological data indicate that the formation of the Sarmatian culture took place in the steppes of the Volga and Ural regions. In the III century BC. e. Sarmatians settled the deserted steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. For two centuries after that, they appeared on the territory of the Crimean peninsula only occasionally, during military raids - such as, for example, Queen Amaga, who came to the aid of Chersonesos, or the Roxolans, who fought on the side of Palak against Diophantus.
In the 1st century A.D. e. the resettlement of the Sarmatians to the Crimea begins (by this time a rich female Sarmatian burial in the Nogaychinsky mound near the village of Chervonoe, Nizhnegorsky district, dates back to this time41). In the foothills, the Sarmatians settled in territories that previously belonged to the Scythians, sometimes next to them. Thus, the study of the burial ground near the village of Kolchugino, Simferopol region, shows that there were two sites on it - on one, the Scythians were buried, and on the other, the Sarmatians42. Like the Scythians, the Sarmatians, being nomads, entered into active trade relations with the Greek cities. Probably, this caused their penetration into the Bosporus, where traces of the Sarmatian presence were archaeologically recorded in the first centuries of our era43. It is generally accepted that King Aspurg, who founded a new Bosporan dynasty in the 1st century, was a native of the Sarmatian nobility44.
Perhaps the most famous of the Sarmatian tribes - thanks to the description of the Roman historian of the 4th century Ammianus Marcellinus - are the Alans. They are “tall and beautiful in appearance, their hair is fair-haired, their eyes, if not fierce, are still formidable ... they find pleasure in wars and dangers”45. Initially, the Alans settled in the North Caucasus (where they began to engage in agriculture), and appeared in the Crimea along with the Goths in the 3rd century. Here the Alans settled together with their kindred Sarmatian tribes. It is with the Alans that the appearance of crypts for collective burials on the Sarmatian burial grounds instead of the previously common side-pit graves is associated46.
Well, in the 4th century, the Huns appeared in the Northern Black Sea region, a new era began - the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Some of the Alans are drawn into the campaigns of conquest by the Huns, the population of the Crimean foothills, in fear of the conquerors, flees to hard-to-reach areas of the mountains, where they continue to live in the Middle Ages.
Greek cities appeared in Crimea in the 6th century BC. e. The Greeks were forced to leave their native places for various reasons, but above all, due to the lack of land suitable for cultivation in their homeland. In conditions of population growth, this led to mass migrations47. Probably, Greek navigators had previously visited the places of future colonies. From this period, the Greek name of the Black Sea - Pont Aksinsky, that is, "Inhospitable Sea" was also preserved (later it was renamed Pont Euxinsky - "Hospitable Sea").
The role of the Greek policies in the development of the Crimea was different. The greatest activity was shown by the largest Asia Minor city of Miletus, which was at the head of a whole union of Ionian policies. Thanks to the organizational efforts of the inhabitants of Miletus at the turn of the 7th and 6th centuries BC. e. (or at the very beginning of the 6th century BC), Panticapaeum appears on the site of modern Kerch. In the VI century BC. e. Theodosius and Nymphaeum appear nearby. Further colonization of the Kerch Peninsula developed, apparently, already from these centers. Soon, small agricultural towns of Tiritaka, Mirmekiy, Partheny and Pormfiy arose here. The most prominent place among these Bosporan cities was occupied by Panticapaeum - where already in the middle of the VI century BC. e. coins were minted. In addition to Panticapaeum, Nymphaeum and Theodosia had the status of a policy in the Eastern Crimea, and Phanagoria, Germonassa and Kepy50 on the Taman Peninsula (Asian Bosporus). The threat from the Scythians, as well as economic interests, led to the need to unite the Bosporan cities. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC) reports that such a union took place in 480 BC. e. and that at the head of the new state were the archons of Panticapaeum from the Greek aristocratic family of the Archaeanactids. The religious symbol of the new state (the political nature of which is most often defined as hereditary tyranny) was erected on the acropolis of Panticapaeum in the second quarter of the 5th century BC. e. Temple of Apollo
In 438/437 BC. e. power in the Bosporus was seized by the founder of the new dynasty, Spartok, whose origin is still the subject of debate. By his name, she ruled the Bosporus until the end of the 2nd century BC. e. The dynasty was named Spartokids. Under the Spartocids, the Bosporus state turns into a monarchy; through their efforts, not only the previously independent policies of Phanagoria, Nymphaeum, Theodosius, but also many local tribes (Scythians, Taurians, Sinds, Meots) became part of the state. The state acquired a Greek-barbarian character.
The son of Spartok Satyr I (433/32-393/92 BC) persuaded Gilon, who represented Athenian interests in Nymphaeum, to transfer the city to him with the help of bribery. Not wanting to come into conflict with Athens, Satyr granted Athenian merchants significant benefits. The Athenians, who were in dire need of the grain grown in the Bosporus, did not fail to take advantage of them, and in the future, mutually beneficial friendly relations were established between Athens and the Bosporus. Suffice it to say that in honor of the Bosporan kings who ruled after Satyr, Leucon I and Perisades I, the Athenians adopted a special decree and awarded them with golden wreaths. Following these accession of Nymphaeum, the Bosporus-Theodosian war unfolded, which was complicated by the fact that Satyr had to fight at the same time with the tribes of the Sinds. Only the next Bosporus king Levkon I (393/92 - 353 BC) succeeded in subjugating Theodosius (as well as annexing Sindika)52.
At the end of the IV century BC. e. in the Bosporus, a dynastic war broke out between the sons of Perisad I (348-310 BC). He was succeeded by his eldest son Satyr II, but another son, Eumelus, rebelled and made an alliance with the ruler of the Sirak tribe, Arifarn. In the battle on the Fat River, Eumel's troops were defeated, and he himself fled and locked himself in one of the fortresses. However, during an attempt to siege this fortress, Satyr II was mortally wounded. In the battle with the third brother, Prytan, Eumel won - who got power over the Bosporus. However, his reign was short-lived - he tragically died in 304/03 BC. e.
In the III-I centuries BC. e. the economic situation of the Bosporus deteriorated. This was due to the crisis of arable farming caused by both climatic conditions, and the decline of the main importer of Bosporan grain - Athens. The crisis probably resulted in Theodosia's attempt to regain political independence (in any case, it is known that Levkoi II in the second half of the 3rd century BC was again forced to fight the Theodosians). The Scythian threat is also growing; the rulers of the Bosporus are forced to enter into dynastic marriages with the Scythian nobility, or even simply pay off tribute53.
The decline of the Bosporus kingdom led to the fact that the last ruler of the Spartokid dynasty, Perisades V, in 109/108 BC. e. abdicated in favor of the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator. This decision of Perisad caused an uprising among the Scythian nobility of the Bosporus. Perisades was killed, and the commander of Mithridates Diophantus, who was in the Bosporus, was forced to flee to Chersonese. However, after a year, he returned with an army and crushed the uprising, capturing the leader of the rebels, Savmak. The Bosporus came under the rule of Mithridates, and its population was drawn into the confrontation between Pontus and Rome. The hardships of this confrontation in 86 BC. e. led to an uprising of the Bosporan cities, and Mithridates managed to finally restore his power in the Bosporus only by 80/79 BC. e. However, the Romans persuaded the son of Mithridates, Mahar, who ruled the Bosporus, to treason. Having suffered a series of defeats from the Romans and having lost all his possessions in Asia Minor, in 65 BC. e. Mithridates flees to the Bosporus, puts Mahar to death and tries to consolidate his power in order to continue the fight against Rome. This, as well as the skillful actions of the Romans, who organized a naval blockade of the possessions of Mithridates, cause a new uprising of the Bosporan cities: Phanagoria, Theodosia, Nymphaeum. Moreover, the army of Mithridates proclaimed the king of another of his sons - Pharnaces. Under these conditions, Mithridates considered it best to commit suicide - which happened on the acropolis of Panticapaeum in 63 BC. e.54
In power in the Bosporus was Farnak, who managed to conclude a profitable agreement with Rome. Soon, however, the new king demonstrated that he did not intend to abandon the ambitious plans of his father - by invading Asia Minor, by the autumn of 48 BC, he e. managed to regain power over the lands of the former power of Mithridates. This new threat to Rome was dealt with by Gaius Julius Caesar, who defeated Pharnaces at the Battle of Zela in 47 BC. e. However, while still going to Asia Minor, Farnak left a certain Asander as a ruler in the Bosporus - in whose hands, after the death of Farnak, power over the Bosporus turned out to be. By marrying the granddaughter of Mithridates VI Eupator Dynamia, Asander obtained from the Romans the recognition of his rights to the Bosporan throne. He managed for some time to stabilize the foreign policy situation and defeat the Black Sea pirates55. Shortly after the death of Asander in 21/20 B.C. e. in the Bosporus, the struggle for power flares up again, which is characterized by the growing intervention of Rome. A temporary lull comes only in 14 AD. e., when, probably, a native of the noble Sarmatian Aspurg family comes to power. Having visited Rome, he received the royal title from the hands of the emperor Tiberius. Aspurgus managed to protect the Bosporus from the barbarian threat, having won victories over the Scythians and Taurians.
Probably, these victories became the key to the new flourishing of the Bosporus, which is observed in the 1st-3rd centuries56. This period is also characterized by the penetration into the Bosporus of significant masses of the Sarmatian population from the steppe regions of the Crimea. Power at this time was in the hands of representatives of the dynasty founded by Aspurgus, but Roman influence was still felt. Suffice it to say that there was a cult of Roman emperors in the Bosporus, and their portraits were minted on coins57!
A new period in the history of the Bosporus began in the middle of the 3rd century, when the tribes of the Goths invaded. The Gothic invasion is associated with the death of some Bosporan cities, the ruin of the chora, and the decline of trade58.
In the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, another Hellenic state, Chersonese, was located, the center of which was on the territory of present-day Sevastopol. The founders of the Greek colony here were people from the Dorian city located on the southern coast of the Black Sea - Heraclea Pontica. The traditional date of the founding of Chersonesus is considered to be 422/421 BC. e., although opinions have repeatedly been expressed in favor of an earlier59. It is assumed that the original population of Chersonesus did not exceed a thousand people, and the area was 4 hectares60. If on the territory of the Bosporus between the Scythian tribes and the Greek colonists, as is assumed, peaceful relations were initially established, then on the Herakleian Peninsula, where Chersonesos was located, the situation was different. This peninsula was inhabited by the warlike tribes of the Taurians, whose salvation from the threat of attack the Chersonesites saw in the erection of powerful defensive structures61... The final transformation of Chersonesos into an independent polis should be attributed to the 870s BC. e.: it was at this time that the beginning of the minting of their own coins took place there62.
Having fortified themselves on the territory of the Heracleian peninsula, the Chersonesites moved on to its development. The occupied lands were divided equally among the citizens of Chersonesos, and the local population was either exterminated or turned into state slaves. From the middle of the IV century BC. e. Chersonesites begin to develop the territories of the northwestern Crimea, and by the end of this century they had already demarcated the entire western coast of the peninsula. At the same time, the previously independent city of Kerkinitida63 became part of the policy. In total, several dozen settlements and fortifications of Chersonesites are known64.
Unlike the Bosporus, Chersonese has been a democratic republic throughout its history. The supreme legislative power was in the hands of the people's assembly. which were full citizens. The right to participate in it did not extend to the dependent population, women, minors and citizens of other policies. During the breaks between popular assemblies, power was in the hands of the elected Soviet. Colleges of magistrates, elected for a one-year term, directed the day-to-day life of the city. From the collegiums that operated in Chersonese, we know the strategists (who were in charge of military affairs), nomophylacs (who monitored the observance of laws), agoranomas (responsible for the affairs of the market), gymnasiarchs (who were in charge of matters related to the education of youth) and others. Economic heyday at the end of the 4th century BC. e. accompanied political struggle inside the policy. As is known from the text of the oath taken by every citizen, an attempt was then made in the polis to overthrow democracy and violate the territorial integrity of the state65...
After overcoming the internal political crisis, the Chersonese state had to deal with an external enemy. The main danger came from the outbreak that arose in the Crimea in the 3rd century BC. e. late Scythian state, the object of expansion of which was the territory of the northwestern Crimea. As already noted, the wars of the Scythians and Chersonesites stretched out until the end of the 2nd century BC. e. By the turn of the III and II centuries BC. e. Chersonese lost territories in the northwestern Crimea, the Scythians destroy the estates on the Herakleian Peninsula itself. The immediate threat to the city is evidenced by the fact that the inhabitants of Chersonesus were forced to build an additional defensive wall66. The Chersonesites were unable to cope with the growing threat on their own. Taking advantage of the prisoner at the beginning of the II century BC. e. agreement with the king of Pontus, they asked for help from Mithridates VI Eupator. As a result of three campaigns carried out in 110-107 BC. e. sent here with an army by Diophantus, Chersonese was delivered from the Scythian threat. The grateful inhabitants of the city cast a bronze statue of the commander and carved a decree in his honor (from the text of which we know about these events67. However, now Chersonese is losing political independence and becoming part of the power of Mithridates, who in 80 BC transferred power over it to his son of Mahar.
During the 1st century BC. e. - the middle of the II century, Chersonesos did not leave attempts to get rid of the power of the Bosporan kings - which, however, was sanctioned by Rome, which controlled these latter. The Scythian threat traditional for Chersonesus in the middle of the 1st century forced the inhabitants of the city to turn directly to Rome for help. In 63, Roman troops appeared in Chersonese under the command of Moesia's legate Tiberius Plautius Silvanus; having dealt with the Scythians, he left a Roman garrison in the city (though not for long). The next time Roman troops appeared in Chersonese was around the middle of the 2nd century. By this time, Chersonesus, thanks to the petition of Heraclea of Pontus to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, received independence from the Bosporan kingdom68. The Roman garrison, consisting at different times of the soldiers of the V Macedonian, I Italian and XI Claudian legions and sailors of the Ravenna squadron, stayed in Chersonese for more than 100 years. In addition to Chersonese itself, the Romans occupied several other important strategic points - Cape Ai-Todor, where they built the fortress of Kharaks, and the settlement of Alma-Kermen (a settlement on the territory of modern Balaklava), from where they had previously expelled the Scythians.
The Roman presence, which ensured political stability in the region, favorably affected the economic situation of Chersonesos, and in the first centuries of our era it experienced an upsurge. Prosperity is observed in all branches of the craft, and in trade, and in agriculture. According to modern estimates, the city during this period was inhabited by 10-12 thousand inhabitants, and its area was up to 30 hectares69.
In the middle of the 3rd century, probably due to the events associated with the Gothic wars, the Romans were forced to leave Chersonese. True, for reasons that are still not clear, Chersonesus managed to avoid ruin by the Goths, and by the end of the 3rd century, to resume relations with Rome. Connections with the latter led to the appearance in Chersonese, probably in the middle of the 4th century, of Christianity.
In the 370s, the Huns invaded the Northern Black Sea region, but Chersonesus practically did not suffer from them, because it was somewhat away from the route of their campaigns. The ancient history of Chersonesus ends at the end of the 5th century, when the city, which lost its autonomy, becomes part of the Byzantine Empire.
Spivak Igor Alexandrovich,
Candidate of Historical Sciences,
Associate Professor, Crimean Federal University
Notes
1. Latyshev V.V. News of ancient Greek and Latin writers about Scythia and the Caucasus. T. 1-2. SPb., 1893-1906.
2. Herodotus. History. M., 1993. IV, 12.
3. Strabo. Geography. M., 1994. VII, 4, 3.
4. Medvedskaya I.N. Ancient Iran on the eve of empires (IX-VI centuries BC) History of the Median kingdom. SPb., 2010. S. 179-217.
5. Polian. Strategies. SPb., 2002. VII, 2.
6. Ivanchik A.I. Dog warriors. Men's unions and Scythian invasions into Asia Minor // Soviet ethnography. 1988. No. 5. S. 38-48.
7. Vlasov V.P. Cimmerians // From Cimmerians to Krymchaks. Simferopol, 2007. S. 10-11.
8. Kolotukhin V.A. Early Iron Age. Cimmerians. Taury // Crimea through millennia. Simferopol, 2004. S. 49-53.
9. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. Simferopol, 2005. S. 69.
10. Vlasov V.P. Decree. op. S. 11.
11. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 70.
12. Khrapunov I.N. Essays on the ethnic history of Crimea in the early Iron Age. Taurus. Scythians. Sarmatians. Simferopol, 1995. S. 10.
13. Herodotus. IV, 103.
14. Strabo. VII, 4, 2.
15. Vlasov V.P. Decree. op. S. 19.
16. Ancient and medieval Crimea. Simferopol, 2000. S. 29.
17. Kolotukhin V.A. Mountain Crimea in the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age. (Ethnocultural processes). Kiev, 1996. S. 33.
18. Kolotukhin V.A. Early Iron Age. pp. 53-58.
19. Kolotukhin V.A. Mountain Crimea in the Late Bronze Age... S. 88.
20. Khrapunov I.N. Essays on ethnic history ... S. 19.
21. Vlasov V.P. Decree. op. S. 22.
22. Corpus of Bosporan inscriptions. M.; L., 1965. No. 114.
23. Vlasov V.P. Decree. op. S. 23.
24. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 84.
25. Khrapunov I.N. Essays on ethnic history... S. 29.
26. Herodotus. I, 106.
27. Zubar V.M., Rusyaeva A.S. On the banks of the Cimmerian Bosporus. Kiev, 2004. S. 42-43.
28. Solomonik E.I. Two ancient letters from the Crimea // Bulletin of ancient history. 1987. No. 3. S. 114-125.
29. Puzdrovsky A.E. Scythians. Sarmatians. Alans // Crimea through millennia. Simferopol, 2004, p. 65.
30. Shelov D.B. Scythian-Macedonian conflict in the history of the ancient world // Problems of Scythian archeology. M., 1971. S. 56.
31. Justin Mark Yunian. Epitome of Pompey Trogus. SPb., 2005. IX, 15.
32. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 108.
33. Petrova E.B. Ancient Feodosiya: history and culture. Simferopol, 2000. S. 82.
34. Zubar V.M., Rusyaeva A.S. Decree. op. S. 67.
35. Petrova E.B. Great Greek colonization. Bosporan kingdom // Crimea through millennia. Simferopol, 2004. S. 88.
36. Aybabin A.I., Herzen A.G., Khrapunov I.N. The main problems of the ethnic history of Crimea // Materials on archeology, history and ethnography of Tavria. Issue. III. Simferopol, 1993. S. 213-214.
37. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 123.
38. Tauric Chersonese in the third quarter of the 6th - the middle of the 1st century. BC e. Essays on history and culture. Kiev, 2005. S. 247-262.
39. Zubar V.M. Chersonese Tauride and the population of Taurica in ancient era. Kiev, 2004. S. 153.
40. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 147.
41. Simonenko A.V. Sarmatians of Tavria. Kiev, 1993. S. 67-74.
42. Khrapunov I.I. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 158.
43. Ibid. pp. 158-159.
44. Masyakin V.V. Sarmatians // From Cimmerians to Krymchaks. S. 43.
45. Marcellinus Ammianus. Roman history. SPb., 1994. XXXI, 2.
46. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. S. 161.
47. Yaylenko V.P. Greek colonization of the 7th-3rd centuries. BC e. M., 1982. S. 44-46.
48. Ancient states of the Northern Black Sea region. M., 1984. S. 10.
49. Ibid. S. 13.
50. Petrova E.B. Great Greek colonization. S. 81.
51. Zubar V.M., Rusyaeva A.S. Decree. op. pp. 53-54.
52. Ancient states of the Northern Black Sea region. S. 13.
53. Khrapunov I.N. Ancient history of Crimea. pp. 176-177.
54. Zubar V.M., Rusyaeva A.S. Decree. op. pp. 137-151.
55. Petrova E.B. Ancient Feodosiya: history and culture. pp. 111-115.
The history of Crimea is very rich. Whoever was not on the lands of the peninsula, what historical events did not affect him! That is why they say that when you start studying the history of the Crimea, you will inevitably study World History.
Crimea - the history of the peninsula in dates
80-40 thousand years ago- on the territory of the peninsula
15th-8th centuries BC e. - live in Crimea - a nomadic people, mentioned by Homer in the Old Testament, and which ancient authors considered pirates sacrificing sailors to the goddess Virgo.
7th century BC e . - the nomads came from the north to replace the Taurians, who gradually switched to a settled way of life and founded powerful states.
6th-5th centuries BC uh . - the first settlements were founded on the coast (Kerkinitida, Panticapaeum ...). The colonists minted coins, were engaged in crafts, agriculture, fishing, traded with other peoples. Greeks rendered big influence to the culture of their neighbors.
70s AD - The Romans came to the peninsula after the victory over the Pontic king Mithridates the Sixth Eupator. In particular, they founded the Kharaks fortress on Cape Ai-Todor and built the first mountain road from it to Chersonese.
4th-7th centuries AD — The Great Migration of Nations. New tribes come to Crimea - the Alans. The ethnogenesis of the future Crimean population is taking place.
6th-12th centuries AD - education, the largest of which becomes, the formation of an influential Christian
988 - having captured the city of Kherson (Korsun), the Kiev prince Vladimir marries the Byzantine princess Anna and; Russia is Christianized.
13th century - Venetian and then Genoese colonization of the Crimean coast. actively engaged in trade and to protect their cities built powerful fortresses on almost the entire south coast.
1239 - the campaign of the Mongol Khan Batu in the Crimea, in 1242 the peninsula with its capital in Solkhat (), is part of the Golden Horde.
14th century - in the ruined and deserted cave cities begin to settle (karai) - a people of Turkic origin, possibly descendants of the Khazars, who professed Judaism in a special form - Karaimism. Unlike the Jews, they did not recognize the Talmud and remained faithful to the Torah.
1394 - the destruction of Chersonesos by the Lithuanian prince Olgerd.
1420-1466 - the founder of the dynasty of Crimean khans, Haji Giray, proclaims the Crimean Khanate independent and transfers the capital to.
1475 - Crimea is attacked by the Ottoman Empire. The Turks capture and destroy the Genoese fortresses, conquer the Principality of Theodoro, and subjugate the Crimean Khanate.
1735-1739 - Russia, in alliance with Austria, wages war against Turkey and twice occupies the Crimea.
1768-1774 - The first Russian-Turkish war, as a result of which the Crimean Khanate was proclaimed independent from Turkey. Kerch becomes a Russian city, and Russian garrisons appear in all ports.
1783 -. - the base of the Russian and (1784) - the capital of the Taurida province.
1787 - a visit to Crimea by Empress Catherine II and Emperor Joseph II of Austria became one of the most expensive trips in the history of mankind.
1853-1856 - Eastern War (Crimean since 1954). Russia is fighting against the coalition troops of England, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia, acting on the side of Turkey. Battles take place in the European part of Russia, on the Black Sea and in Kamchatka. 349 days lasts.
1787-1791 - The Second Russian-Turkish War, recognition by Turkey of the annexation of Crimea to Russia.
1875 - a railway line and a highway were brought to Sevastopol. Summer residences of the imperial family are being built on the southern coast. Crimea becomes an aristocratic resort.
1918-1920 - after the revolution, Crimea - one of the last strongholds of the White Army under the command of General Wrangel. After fierce fighting, the Red Army is victorious, after which V.I. Lenin issued a decree "On the use of Crimea for the treatment of workers" - all palaces and dachas were given over to sanatoriums for workers, collective farmers and party workers.
1941-1942 - the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The main blow of the German troops falls on. For the steadfastness and courage of the defenders, two Crimean cities - Sevastopol and Kerch - were awarded the title of "Hero City".
1944 - mass deportation of the peoples of Crimea for "collaboration with the invaders", among the victims - Crimean Tatars, Armenians, Bulgarians and Greeks.
February 4-11, 1945- . The heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain decided on the division of Germany and reparations, on the participation of the USSR in the war with Japan and on the membership of the Soviet Union in the UN - a new international organization.
1954 - by decision of the Secretary General of the CPSU N.S. Khrushchev Crimea is transferred from the jurisdiction of the RSFSR to the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian SSR and becomes a region within Ukraine.
1991 - putsch in Moscow and arrest of M.S. Gorbachev on his After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea becomes an Autonomous Republic within Ukraine.
March 16, 2014 - a referendum on the status of the republic was held in Crimea, as a result of which the majority of Crimeans voted for joining Russia. Two days later, an agreement was signed on the entry of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation as subjects.
History of Crimea briefly in dates on video
Serious passions broke out over the annexation of Crimea to Russia, which took place in 2014. Russia calls it the restoration of territorial integrity and historical belonging. Ukraine talks about Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory. Both sides argue in favor of one position or another, but there are no two truths, and in order to establish the truth, one must turn to the history of the development of the lands of Crimea, wars and peace treaties, according to which Crimea was assigned to a certain state.
Even in those distant times, which are commonly called "BC", Scythian tribes roamed the steppes of Crimea, and immigrants from ancient Greece settled on the Black Sea shores. They called these lands Taurica. The Greeks were engaged in shipbuilding in Taurica, building temples, theaters and stadiums, growing grapes and olives. At this time, two Greek states were formed in the Crimea - Tauric Chersonese and the Bosporus state (and why the Greeks did not join the lamentations over the Crimea: “Crimea is na-a-a-a-sh”).
At the beginning of our era, the Romans began to enter the Crimea (here are more contenders for you), who built the fortress of Kharaks. At this time, Christianity began to spread in the Crimea. Then the Goths invaded here, displacing the Scythians, then the Huns. By the end of the 4th century AD, only one Greek city remained in the Crimea - Chersonese Tauride, which became the backbone of the Byzantine Empire, which later founded the fortress cities of Aluston, Simbolon, Gurzuf and Sudak. 
At the beginning of the VIII century, with the advent of the Khazars, Crimea is divided into two parts between Byzantium and Khazaria. In the 10th century, battles began in the Crimea between the Khazars and the Russians (we finally appeared). Our valiant ancestors - the Rus - defeated the Khazars and part of Taurica, which belonged to the Khazars, was annexed to the ancient Russian Tmutarakan principality (this is not a joke, but the real name of the principality with its capital in the city of Tmutarakan, located on the territory of the modern village of Taman, Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory). In 988, after the siege, the army of Prince Vladimir of Kiev took the city of Tauric Chersonesos (here the Ukrainians pulled themselves up). This allowed Vladimir to put forward his conditions to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II and marry the Byzantine princess Anna.
In 1223, Tatar-Mongolian troops invade Crimea, and it becomes the possession of the Golden Horde until its collapse in the 15th century, after which a new state is formed on the territory of Crimea - the Crimean Khanate (that's where the Tatars in Crimea come from).
In the summer of 1475, the Ottoman Turks, who had previously captured Constantinople and the territory of the former Byzantine Empire, landed troops in the Crimea and the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, capturing all the Genoese fortresses and Greek cities. In the conquered cities, the Turks destroyed almost all the inhabitants, robbed and burned houses. Thus, the coastal cities and the mountainous part of Crimea became part of the Ottoman Empire. 
The Crimean Khanate, which became a vassal of the Ottomans, made regular raids on Russian state and the Commonwealth (Polish-Lithuanian state, located on the lands of modern Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus), with the aim of capturing slaves and their further sale in Turkish markets. During the existence of the Crimean Khanate, about three million Slavs were driven into slavery.
After the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Russian state, having defeated the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates subject to the Tatar-Mongols, set as its task access to the Black Sea. The fight against the Turks and the mastery of the Crimean peninsula became one of the most important tasks Russian Empire.
After several unsuccessful Crimean military campaigns (including under the leadership of Peter I in 1695-1696), in 1771 the army of General Vasily Mikhailovich Dolgoruky captured the Crimea and forced the Crimean Khan Selim to flee to Turkey. Khan Sahib II Giray, who was loyal to Russia and signed a peace treaty with Russia, was elevated to the khan's throne. For his services, Vasily Dolgoruky received the title of Prince of Crimea from Empress Catherine II.
As a result of this Russian-Turkish war The Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty of 1774 was signed, according to which Turkey renounced all claims to the Crimean peninsula, the Crimean Khanate gained independence from Turkey, the fortresses of Kerch and Yenikale went to Russia, the Kerch Strait became Russian.
But the independence of the Crimean Khanate from the Ottoman Empire was not complete. The fact is that the Turkish sultan was the supreme caliph and retained the religious right to approve all new khans, which gave him the opportunity to control power in the Crimean Khanate. Realizing this, the Russian Empress Catherine II did not abandon the idea of joining the Crimea to Russia, as it was of great military-political and economic importance for the state. 
In 1778, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov was appointed commander in the Crimea and Kuban, who strengthened the defenses of the peninsula and forced the Turkish fleet to leave the Crimean waters of the Black Sea.
By order of Prince Grigory Potemkin, Suvorov organized the resettlement of the Christian population of the Crimean Khanate to the empty lands of the Azov coast and the mouth of the Don. Suvorov settled the Greeks on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, where they founded the city of Mariupol and 20 other villages. The Armenians were settled in the lower reaches of the Don, where they founded the city of Nikhichevan-on-Don and 5 surrounding villages (now Rostov-on-Don is located in this place).
In 1781, Turkey organized an uprising in the Crimean Khanate, overthrowing Khan Shahin Giray, who maintained good relations with Russia, from the throne. In summer next year Prince Potemkin, on the orders of Catherine II, went with an army to help Shahin Giray and successfully restored him to the khan's throne.
Prince Potemkin, who is the governor of the Black Sea lands - Novorossia, formulated the need to annex the Crimean peninsula to the Russian Empire. Firstly, it would free up funds going to strengthen the southern border of the state, increase its security and complete the territorial expansion of the Russian Empire to the south to the natural borders. Secondly, it would allow creating a single economic region of the Northern Black Sea region. Thus, it is Potemkin who plays the main role in the annexation of Crimea to Russia. 
On April 8, 1783, Catherine the Great signed a manifesto "On the acceptance of the Crimean peninsula, the island of Taman and the entire Kuban side under the Russian state." And in June of the same year, Prince Potemkin took the oath of allegiance to Russia by the Crimean nobility and representatives of all classes. Thus, the Crimean Khanate ceased to exist, on the site of which the Tauride province was formed.
The main harbor of the future Russian Black Sea Fleet was chosen near the village of Akhtiar, not far from the ruins of the ancient city of Tauric Chersonesos. At the beginning of 1784, a fortified city was founded here, which Catherine the Great named Sevastopol.
Prince Potemkin received the title "Tauride" for his merits in the annexation of Crimea.
In June 1854, the Crimean War broke out. Its premises were the desire of England and France to weaken Russia's position in Europe and the Balkans. Entering a military bloc with Turkey, they declared war on Russia and launched an invasion of Crimea. In October, they managed to besiege Sevastopol, and in May of the following year, they took Kerch. September 11, 1855 Sevastopol fell to enemy troops. Outstanding Russian military leaders, Vice Admiral Vladimir Alekseevich Kornilov and the legendary admiral of the Russian fleet Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov, perished in the Crimean War.
Although, according to the peace treaty, Sevastopol returned to Russia, the empire lost part of the conquests made during the time of Catherine II, thereby worsening its position on the Black Sea. 
In 1917, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Bolshevik Party was established in Sevastopol and on March 19, 1918, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida was proclaimed. But in March, Ukrainian troops invaded Crimea, followed by the German army. By agreement between Kiev and Berlin, Ukraine abandoned all claims to Crimea(well, we got to this place) and on April 27, 1918, Ukrainian troops left the peninsula.
The Crimean Tatars entered into an alliance with the German invaders, and on May 1, 1918, Germany completely captured the Crimea. The German occupation lasted until the defeat of Germany in the First World War. On November 25, 1918, the Entente squadron entered the port of Sevastopol. In the Crimea, the government of the South of Russia was formed, headed first by General Denikin, and later by Baron Wrangel.
On November 12, 1920, detachments of the Red Army broke through the defenses of the Whites in the Perekop area and broke into the Crimea. The next day, Simferopol was taken, and the remnants of Wrangel's troops left the Crimea by sea. Having seized the Crimea, the Bolsheviks carried out the “Red Terror” there, as a result of which, according to various estimates, from 20 thousand to 120 thousand people were shot.
On October 18, 1921, Crimea, as an autonomous republic, became part of the RSFSR, after which the famine that erupted due to Bolshevik collectivization and repressions claimed the lives of more than 75,000 people in Crimea. 
During the Second World War, Crimea was occupied by fascist troops. The management of the territory of the Crimean peninsula was given to the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine. In Crimea, the extermination of communists and "racially inferior" people began - Jews, Gypsies, Krymchaks and Karaites.
After the liberation of the Crimea, the defeat of the Nazi troops and the end of the war, the Crimean ASSR was transformed into the Crimean region.
In principle, these are all significant milestones in the history of Crimea. As seen from historical facts, Russia received the right to own the territory of the Crimean peninsula as a result of victories over the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, the refusal of the Turks from claims to the Crimea was recorded in the peace treaties between the Russian and Ottoman empires. Ukraine has never had any rights to Crimea. Only during the Second World War was the formal leadership of Crimea entrusted to the occupation government of Ukraine formed by the German authorities. But if I were my current Ukrainian friends, to put it mildly, I would be embarrassed even to mention it.
But in the history of the existence of Crimea as part of the USSR, there is one interesting nuance. In 1954, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev (which is important - a native of Ukraine) signs an amusing document - a decree on the transfer of Crimea from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. Of course, while Soviet Union was considered an indestructible state, and the friendship of peoples - a reliable stronghold of this inviolability, such a decision was only a formality. From what considerations Khrushchev insisted on its adoption, today one can only guess. Ideas from Nikita Sergeevich gushed out one more absurd than the other. After a trip to the US, he launched a company to replace traditional crops with corn. To provide the population with meat, a third of the livestock was put under the knife. Such "wise decisions" almost led the country to a food disaster. 
Here is a ditty of those times, quietly sung by the people:
Ilyich, Ilyich - wake up
And deal with Khrushchev.
Vodka costs twenty-seven,
Fat, meat - not at all.
Let's go to communism
And we won't find cabbage.
At a UN meeting, Khrushchev allowed himself to take off his shoe from his foot and clobber it on the podium. The narrow-minded, uneducated and ill-mannered tyrant did everything he wanted in a country where fears of Stalinist repressions were still strong. And to seriously talk about the belonging of the Crimea to Ukraine, based on the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU, is simply ridiculous.
And if there is a desire to follow any orders and resolutions, then one more document must be taken into account - the Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation of 1992 on invalidating the decision of 1954 on the transfer of Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR. The Russian Federation is the legal successor of the USSR and the decisions of its supreme authority are no less important than the decisions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. 
Summarizing all of the above and relying on facts, we can say with confidence that Crimea belongs to Russia, this right is secured by peace treaties between the Russian and Ottoman Empires(the former owner of the territory of the Crimean peninsula). Ukraine, as an independent state, has never owned Crimea and cannot claim it as an integral part of its territory.
The decision to join the Crimean Autonomous Republic and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was approved at a popular referendum and approved by the Supreme Council of Crimea. And the continuation of the discussion about the ownership of the Crimea is only in the hands of nationalists of all stripes, who are ready to sacrifice hundreds and thousands of human lives to achieve their dirty goals. 
Register to leave comments without verification
In the spring of 2014, changes took place on the political map of the world. The Crimean peninsula, which was part of Ukraine, became part of the Russian Federation. This is not the first time in history that coastal residents have changed citizenship.
Whose Crimea was originally?
Scientists have proved that the peninsula was inhabited in the prehistoric period. In antiquity, ancient Greek colonies were located on the coast. IN new era the territory survived the invasion of the Goths, Huns, Turks and ethnic Bulgarians. In the Middle Ages, Crimea briefly became part of the Russian principality, later came under the influence of the Golden Horde. In the 15th century, the Turks seized power on the peninsula. Until the Russian-Turkish war, Crimea belonged to the Ottoman Empire.Who conquered Crimea for Russia?
Crimea became part of the Russian Empire after the victory in the war with the Ottomans. In 1783, Catherine the Great signed a document on the annexation of the peninsula. At the same time, the Kuban became part of Russia. After that, the Crimean Tatars (at that time a significant part of the population) emigrated. Restored losses at the expense of immigrants from Russia and Ukraine.In the middle of the 19th century, Russia briefly lost the peninsula, losing in Crimean War. But during the negotiations, the country managed to return the coast again. In 1921, the Crimean autonomy was created. During the Great Patriotic War, Crimea was occupied by the Nazis. After the end of the war, Joseph Stalin abolished the autonomy and deported the Crimean Tatars for aiding the Germans.
Who gave Crimea to Ukraine?
In 1954, the Crimean region withdrew from the RSFSR and became subordinate to the Ukrainian SSR. A decree to this effect was issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and signed by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. The official reason for the transfer of Crimea was the post-war devastation. The area was in decline. The deportation of the Crimean Tatars, who lived on this land for decades and knew how to farm, played a role. In such circumstances, it was easier to administer on the spot than to manage from Moscow. 
Some historians also talk about the personal interest of Nikita Khrushchev, who tried to win over the leadership of the Ukrainian SSR with such a gift. As part of the republic, Crimea existed until perestroika.
In what year was Crimea given to Ukraine?
In 1991, Crimea became part of independent Ukraine. At the same time, a referendum on the revival of autonomy was held in the region. Most residents supported the idea. For a while, Crimea had its own president and its own constitution. Then they were abolished. Until 2014, Crimea was part of Ukraine.How many cities are included in Crimea?
The composition of the Crimea includes 16 cities, 14 districts, as well as more than a thousand towns, villages and rural settlements. The largest cities are Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yalta, Feodosia, Kerch and Evpatoria. 
How many people are in Crimea?
According to the 2001 census, more than 2 million people live in Crimea. Almost half of the population is in the 4 largest cities - Sevastopol, Simferopol, Kerch, Evpatoria.The national composition of the population is very diverse. Most of the inhabitants are Russians, Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
The influence of the Internet on a person
Types of seizures Tonic-clonic seizures in children
Profession Internet project manager
best remedy for prostatitis
Symptoms and treatment of mastopathy of the mammary glands