The article analyzes the administrative structure of the Crimea in the seventeenth - eighteenth centuries and in the early years after the Russian annexation of the peninsula in 1783. In the period between 1475/1478 and 1774 the Crimea was divided into two main parts - the Ottoman Crimea and the Crimean Khanate. Although both were administratively divided into qadiliks (judicial districts), the main authority in the Ottoman Crimea was the pasa of Kefe province while the Crimean Khanate was ruled by the Khans of Giray dynasty. Pasa's deputies were qaymaqam and musellem while most important municipal duties were fulfilled by superintendents emins. Khan's deputies were called qalga and nureddin although at the end of the seventeenth century in the Crimean Khanate there also appeared a position of qaymaqam. Most of the Tatar towns were governed by the emins appointed by the Khan. In the Crimean Khanate there also existed beyliks - lands of the Tatar beys which were practically independent both from the Khans and Ottoman sultans. After the Russian annexation of 1783, the administrative structure of the Crimea underwent complete modernisation. All Tatar and Ottoman administrative institutions were abolished. New Russian institutions were established. The territory of the former Crimean Khanate was first reorganized as the Tavricheskaia oblast' (1784) and divided into seven uezds. In 1802, at the time of Alexander 1, it was reorganized as the Tavricheskaia guberniia.

Keywords: Crimean Khanate, the Crimea, Ottomans, Tatars, Russia, administrative system.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE OTTOMAN AND TATAR CRIMEA BEFORE AND AFTER ITS ANNEXATION TO RUSSIA IN 1783

M. B. KIZILOV

The article analyzes the administrative structure of the Crimea in the XVII-XVIII centuries and in the first years after the annexation of the peninsula to Russia in 1783. Between 1475/1478 and 1774, Crimea was divided into two main parts - the Ottoman Crimea and the Crimean Khanate. Although both parts were administratively divided into judicial districts-kadyliks, the main authority in the Ottoman part of the Crimea was the pasha of the province (eyaleta) of Kefe, and the Crimean Khanate was ruled by khans from the Girei dynasty. The pasha's deputies were kaimakam and musellem, while the most important municipal positions were held by Emin officials. Kalga and Nureddin were the khan's deputies, although at the end of the 17th century the post of kaimakam appeared in the Crimean Khanate. Most Tatar cities were governed by emin officials appointed by khans. In the Crimean Khanate, there were also beyliks - the lands of the Tatar beks (beys), who were virtually independent from both the khans and the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. After its annexation to Russia in 1783, the administrative structure of Crimea underwent a complete and rapid modernization. All Tatar and Ottoman administrative institutions were abolished and new Russian ones were created. The territory of the former Crimean Khanate was transformed into the Tauride region (1784) and divided into seven counties. In 1802, during the reign of Alexander I, it was transformed into the Tauride Province.

Keywords: Crimean Khanate, Crimea, Ottomans, Tatars, Russia, administrative system.

Mikhail KIZILOV - DPhil in Modern History, senior Researcher, Crimean Centre for Ethno-cultural studies.

KIZILOV Mikhail Borisovich-Doctor of Philosophy, Senior Researcher at the Crimean Center for Ethnocultural Research, e-mail: mikhail.kizilov@gmail.com.

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INTRODUCTION

Soon after the Ottoman conquest of 1475 the whole territory of the Crimean peninsula was divided into two parts: the Ottoman Crimea and the Crimean Khanate1. The ports and towns situated along the coastal line (which were the most advantageous in the trade and administrative sense) came under the Ottoman jurisdiction, while the rest of the Crimea together with the southern part of contemporary Ukraine was ruled by the semi-independent Crimean khans, who were dejure vassals of the Ottoman sultans. Among the towns under the Ottoman jurisdiction were such important maritime centres as Caffa/Kefe2, Cembalo/Balaklava/Bahqlava, Sudak/ Sogudaq3, Kerch/Cerco/Cherkio (all of these were originally Genoese colonies), and situated in the peninsula's hinterland castle of Mangup/Menkiip (Theodoro)4. Furthermore, the Ottomans also possessed Taman and Azak/Azov, two important maritime centres on the Azov Sea. It is not entirely obvious whether there was a clearly defined border between the Ottoman and Tatar parts of the Crimea. It seems, however, that any visitor to the Crimea (especially Muslim) could easily travel from one part of the peninsula to another. According to Evliya Celebi, the Ottoman lands stretched along the Crimea's coastal line from Kerc in the east up to, but not including, San Kerman (medieval Cherson, a part of modern Sevastopol') in the west. In the Crimea's hinterland they included Mangup, area adjacent to the mountain of Catir Dag, and the region of the Tats [Celebi, 1999, p. 26].

Such towns as Bakhchysarai/Bahcesaray, Gozleve (the only important Tatar port), Qarasubazar, Eski Qirim, Cufut Qale, Aq Mecet (Aq Mescit), and Or (Or Qapi(si)/ Ferahkerman; Russ. Perekop) were situated in the territory of the Khanate. Can Kermen and Gazi Kermen/Kazi Kermen, two relatively large settlements of the Crimean Tatars, were situated outside of the Crimean peninsula5. The capital of the Khanate was the town of Bakhchysarai. The second largest Tatar town was the port of Gozleve; of importance were also Akmecet, the seat of qalga sultan, who was the second person in the Khanate after the Khan, and Karasubazar. In 1774 Ottoman Turkey had to withdraw its military forces from the Crimea and for a short period of time the Crimean khans could enjoy ruling the whole Crimean peninsula. In 1783, however, the Crimea with all its towns and settlements was annexed by the Russian Empire.

In order to analyze the changes in the administrative structure of the Crimean peninsula after the Russian annexation, one should take a closer look at the situation preceding the events of 1774-1783. Unfortunately, not many internal Tatar and Turkish sources for the history of the Crimea in the eighteenth century survived because many documents of this period had disappeared in the flames of numerous eighteenth-century Russo-Turkish wars when the most Tatar archives were burnt down6. Therefore, when speaking about the urban structure and municipal system of the Tatar and Ottoman Crimea one has to rely largely on such not-too-reliable type of source as travel accounts. Consequently, the data on the internal administrative structure of the Crimea is rather fragmentary and sometimes there is no clear definition of functions fulfilled by some authorities. Moreover, it should also bear in mind that the administrative division of the Crimea was in general rather vague and inconsistent. This is why while analysing the history of the region during the Muslim reign one often comes across a

1 This division had been supposedly done on the basis of the treaty between the Ottoman sultan Mohammed II and the Tatar khan Mengli Giray I of 1478. The original text of the treaty, however, has not survived [Fisher, 1970, p. 4].

2 On Genoese and Ottoman Caffa, sec: [Malowist, 1947; Inalcik. 1996; Balard, Veinstein, 1981, pp. 79-131].

3 Genoese Soldaia, alias Surdak, Sugdag or Surozh.

4 From the second half of the fourteenth century and until 1475 Mangup (Doros/Theodoro) was the capital of the principality of Theodoro, also known as "Crimean Gothia" [Kizilov, 2015J.

5 Both were located in southern Ukraine close to the territories of the Zaporozhian Cossacks [Spisok, 1895, p. 7]. Unfortunately, we do not possess too much data on these two settlements.

6 There still exists a rich fiscal documentation from the Ottoman Crimea starting from the end of the fifteenth through the seventeenth century [Veinstein, 1980, p. 227-249; Fisher, 1981, p. 225; Inalcik, 19961.

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number of conflicts and quarrels related to the limits of jurisdiction of the authority of the Ottoman Sultans, Crimean Khans, and Tatar beys. The Khans often sought refuge within the Ottoman part of the peninsula during internal military conflicts in the Khanate - and as the result Ottoman towns were sometimes attacked by the Sultans' own vassals, the Crimean Tatars7. On the other hand, detachments of Sultans' soldiers (janissary; Turk. yeni ceriVand Ottoman military authorities were present practically in every Tatar town of the area.

This article is an attempt to restore the general picture of the administrative and municipal system in the Tatar, Ottoman, and Russian Crimea a short while before the Russian acquisition of the Crimea in 1783 and after this event. I used the following groups of sources: accounts of European and Russian travellers to the Crimea; legislative documents of the Tatar and Russian administration of the period; town-plans, photo- and other visual documentation (drawings and paintings showing architectural ensembles of the Crimean towns); observations received during the field trips to the Crimea (done regularly in the course of the last few years), including oral communications of local inhabitants.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE AND MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIE S OF THE CRIMEA BEFORE THE RUSSIAN ANNEXATION OF 1783

In order to analyse the administrative and urban structure of the Crimea before the Russian annexation one should speak about two different states and two different though quite similar administrative and political systems, the Tatar and the Ottoman. These systems simultaneously coexisted in the territory of the peninsula from 1475 to 1774. Furthermore, in the Crimean Khanate there also existed beyliks that is the lands of the Tatar beys, which were practically independent from the authority of the Khan.

The whole territory of the Crimean Khanate was divided into qadihks8. Each qadihk was under the jurisdiction of a qadi (judge); the qadis were appointed by the qadiasker9 or by the Khan himself. The qadis fulfilled their duties according to the sharia (seriat) laws; nevertheless, some other ways to solve a problem could have been sometimes applied. The ruler of the Crimean Khanate, a Khan from the Girays' dynasty, who had claimed to descend directly from Genghis Khan10, was elected on the basis of the horizontal lineage. As a rule, the Khan was succeeded by one of his brothers, who had titles of qalga and nureddin sultans11. Qalga and nureddin were at the same time the most important authorities in the Khanate after the Khan. Both qalga and nureddin had their own armies and officials, including defterdara, vizirs, judges, and others [de Tott, 1785, p. 124-125; Smirnov, 1888, p. 32]12. It seems that at the end of the seventeenth century, there appeared a position of qaymaqam (from Arabic qo 'im maqam), who was the Khan's deputy when the latter was away. According to the memoirs of the Russian ambassador Vasilii Aytemirov (the seventeenth century), qaymaqam was the most important

7 The Ottoman town of Mangup, for example, was a few times besieged by the Tatar armies in the seventeenth century [Kizilov, 2003, p. 206].

8 In 1666 there were 24 qadihks in the Crimean Khanate [Celebi, 1999, p. 44]. According to the census of 1740 there were 48 qaddiks in the Crimean Khanate [Tunmann, 1784, p. 337-338].

9 That means the senior judge. There were two qadiaskers in Ottoman Turkey. According to Evliya Celebi there also was a qadiasker in the Crimean Khanate (in 1666 functions of qadiasker were fulfilled by Murtaza AH efendi). Nevertheless, according to the traveler, the Khan appointed judges to the qadiliks by himself [Celebi, 1999, p. 44-45].

10 Via Coci, Tokay Timur, and Tas Timur [Fisher, 1970, p. 2]; there also was a side dynasty of Coban Girays. Of interest is that after the Russian annexation of the Crimea some members of the Giray clan converted to Christianity [Kirimli, 2004, p. 61-108].

11 In the Ottoman law the line of succession was vertical - from the ruling sultan to his eldest son. In fact, however, in most cases the Crimean khans were displaced by the order of the Ottoman sultans. Moreover, even within the Crimea itself they had very often been overthrown by their close relatives or by the beys - powerful Tatar clans, whose influence sometimes exceeded that of the khans.

12 The authority of nureddin was lesser than that of qalga, and his residence was in Bakhchisaray [de Tott, 1785, p. 125].

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figure in Bakhchisaray while the Khan was outside of the Crimea being engaged in the raid against Hungary [Spisok, 1895, p. 35 and passim]13.

Most important governmental decisions had been taken not by the Khan himself, but by the assembly of the khans' divan "council of notables". Sessions of the divan were attended by all important officials of the state, representatives of aristocracy14, and by the heads of the bey clans or by their representatives. Sessions of the divan usually decided most important internal and external affairs, and also legal matters. Various questions related to the municipal problems of the Crimean towns were also discussed there15. The Khan had quite a number of officials at his disposal. Most important of them was the main vizir "minister"; highly important were also haznadar aga "treasurer", defterdar "assistant of the treasurer responsible for control of financial documentation", han agasi / qapi agasi16, and master of the mint (darb hane)17. One of the Russian documents mentions sarac basi "head of saddlers and harness-makers" and ustnider basi "head of artisans" during the sessions of the Khan's divan [Spisok, 1895, p. 55]18. Thus, the representatives of various guilds of merchants and artisans also could be present in the Tatar council of notables.

Despite some data about the Khan's administration, much less is known about the municipal authorities in the Tatar towns of the Crimea. It seems that the Tatar towns were usually ruled directly by representatives of the central power. Most of the Tatar towns were governed by the emins appointed by the Khan. Emin (Ar. amin) was a man of trust, a superintendent or an agent appointed to carry out a public work. There were a few types of emins: gumruk emini (=emin of customs), town emin, emin of fishery, harac emini (=emin of land-tax) etc. Nevertheless, in most cases it was emin of customs who ruled a town. Such important Crimean Tatar town as Gozleve, however, in the mid-seventeenth century was ruled by the mulk emini (=superintendant of freehold ownership) [Celebi, 1999, p. 24].

Emin was in charge of the general situation in the town. He also fulfilled various financial functions: exacted custom dues, controlled taxes and paid salaries to other officials. Nevertheless, appointment of emins and other municipal officials subjected to the emin was in the Khan's hands. The second important person in a Tatar town was usually a military commander (dizdar, aga, or bey), responsible for the defence of a town against the state's internal and external enemies. Subasi "head of the soldiers" was responsible for the town's police. Justice was administered by seher qadi "town judge" appointed by qadiasker19. Their activity was controlled by naibs, or assistants of qadiasker. Muhtesib was a qadi's assistant who helped the latter to see that the Muslims' conduct in their public lives, artisan and commercial activity was carried out according to Islamic laws. Religious life of a Muslim community of a given town was administered by a mufti. There is no data whether there was any collegial town magistrate or council of notables in the Tatar towns.

Nevertheless, it was not only emins who governed the Tatar town of the Crimea. According to Johannes Tunmann, the main municipal authority in Bakhchisaray responsible also for the town police was qadiasker [Tunmann, 1784, p. 331]. Aq Mecet was ruled by the qalga sultan

13 In Ottoman Turkey qaymaqam was a deputy of the pasa or sancak bey. Russian authorities usually translated this term as the namestnik (=deputy) or simply transcribed it with Cyrillic as каймакан. In the Crimean Khanate qaymaqam was apparently a deputy of the Khan. Nevertheless, in 1784 there were as much as six qaymaqams, in the Crimea [Kamerainoe, 1999, p. 99].

Mirzas 14 (most probably, a corruption of Ar.-Pers. emir zade).

15 For a detailed description of the Khans' divan see: [Celebi, 1999, pp. 43-44].

16 Controlled taxation of various guilds [Smirnov, 1888, pp. 464-465].

17 These were only the most important officials. In addition, there were some other minor officials as well: aqtaci bey "master of the horse" (Stallmeister); qapuci basi - Khan's adjutant who also had administrative power; divan effendi "secretary for foreign affairs"; asi basi "manager of the kitchen"; land surveyor, scribes, translators el al. Khan's relatives (sons, wives, daughters, and mother) and atahks (=teachers of the Khans' children) also possessed certain administrative power [Vel'iaminov-Zernov, 1881; Bennigsen et al., 1978; Smirnov, 1888].

18 For the description of the Tatar guilds of Bahcesaray see: [Nikol'skii, 1924, pp. 18-35].

19 According to some sources, in the Crimean Khanate qadiasker was also called mufti.

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[Celebi, 1999, p. 68]. Qarasubazar was governed by gumruk emini (=emin of customs) who ruled in the name of qalga sultan and Khan at the same time. Surprisingly, in Qarasubazar there also was an Ottoman military commander, serdar of janissaries, subjected to the aga of janissaries from Ottoman Kefe [Ibid., p. 72]. Eski Qirim, which also was officially under the jurisdiction of the Khan, was governed by the emin appointed by qalga sultan [Ibid., p. 81]20.

Quite different was the situation in the Crimean beyliks - lands of the Tatar beys which were practically independent both from the Khans and Ottoman sultans. Sources usually mention four main bey clans in the Crimea: Sirin, Barin, Argin, and Qipcaq [Manz, 1978, pp. 282-309, esp. p. 284]. Nevertheless, there were a few other less important bey clans: Mangit, Sedcevut, Mansurlu, Dair, and Yaslov (Sulesev). Usually we cannot precisely locate geographic borders of each beylik. Moreover, their borders could change depending on the growth or decline of influence of a given clan. Each bey had his own army, treasury, court, defterdara, vizirs, etc. [Tunmann, 1784, p. 332]. Beys possessed full right to administer their territory and had their own judges there. This was usually arranged on the permission from the qadiasker. Neither beys, nor their subjects paid taxes to the Khan. Gatherings of beys' clans were called qurultays. Qurultays often resulted in important changes in the Khanate's internal and external policies, such as misplacement of Khans, participation in military campaigns and suchlike.

It seems that beys normally owned smaller rural settlements. The only exception was seemingly the town of Qirk Yer (Cufut Qale), which was given to the Yaslov (Sulesev) beys21. The yarhq "charter" of Bahadur Giray of 1637 is the oldest known document that confirms these rights [Smirnov, 1888, p. 107]. The yarhq of Devlet Giray mentions the appointment of Qutlus bey from the Yaslov clan to the office of the governor of Qirk Yer (Cufut Qale) as late as 1773 [Gertsen, Mogarichev, 1993, pp. 95-96]. However, it is not entirely clear how the Khan, beys, and local inhabitants (Karaites) divided their administrative power in the town as in 1608 there still were representatives of the Tatar administration, namely a military garrison, and a qadi there [Sbornik, 1890, p. 62-66]. For more information on Qirk Yer (Cufut Qale) and its status in the eighteenth century, see below.

The situation with the town of Or / Or Qapi(si)22 situated on the narrow isthmus connecting the northern Crimea with southern Ukraine was complicated. The Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi called Or beys the most important among the Crimean beys. According to his testimony, the town of Or was under the jurisdiction of Or bey. Nevertheless, a bit later the traveller himself mentioned that Or bey received his salary from the town emin appointed by the Khan [Celebi, 1999, p. 15]. It seems that "Or bey" was, in fact, not more than a title (or position) - and not a product of hereditary pedigree. The title of Or bey was usually bestowed on one of the Khan's relatives appointed by the Khan himself [de Tott, 1785, p. 125; cf. Tunmann, 1784, p. 331]23. According to Charles de Peyssonel, in the 1750s in spite of the fact that Or bey was the governor of the fortress, there also was a large Ottoman garrison under the commandment of the aga appointed from Istanbul [de Peyssonel, 1787(1), p. 17]. Again, it is not entirely clear how they divided their authorities in Or.

Administrative and municipal system in the Ottoman part of the peninsula was quite different from that in the Crimean Khanate. Ottoman towns of the Crimea constituted a part of Kefe sancak "sub-province" and, later, of eyalet "province" divided into a few qadiliks24,

20 Perhaps, the presence of qalga's (not Khan's) officials in Qarasubazar and Eski Qinm may be explained by the fact that qalga's influence stretched from Aq Mecet up to the Ottoman dominions in the east (cf. Francois de Tott's testimony: "he [qalga] enjoys all the state of Sovereignty. His Ministers execute his orders, and his Command extends almost to Cafa" [de Tott, 1785, p. 124].

21 The main centre of Yaslov beys was the settlement of Yaslov (Yas Dag), situated close to Bakhchisaray.

22 Also: Turkish and Tatar Ferahkerman (official); OrqapilOrqapisi or Oragzi; Slavic PerekoplPrzekop.

23 A few times the title of Or bey was conferred upon Sirin beys [Tunmann, 1784, p. 331].

24 In 1666 Eyotet-i Kefe consisted of seven (or ten?) qadiliks: Kefe, Baliklagu, Inkerman, Kerc, Sogudak, Mangub, and il (=region) of the Tats in the Crimea; Taman, Temruk, Azaq on the Azov Sea [Celebi, 1999, p. 88J.

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under the jurisdiction of the pasa with the residence in Kefe. Kefe, as the centre of the eyalet, had a very complicated system of town bureaucracy similar to that in other large urban centres of Ottoman Turkey. According to Evliya Celebi, in addition to pasa, there were the following officials in Kefe. Qaymaqam and musellem were pasa's deputies. Most important municipal duties were fulfilled by a few superintendents-emins: emin of customs, town emin, emin of harac (=land-tax), and emin of fishery. The traveller mentioned the presence of forty military commanders: three military commanders-agas, one qapudan (=captain, a military commander in the navy), commandant of the garrison consisting of 300 soldiers, qethiida of sipahi (=commander of mounted soldiers), and many others. Justice and religious needs were administered by qadi, seyhulislam, mufti, and two naibs. From other important officials there also were muhtesib, deputy of muhtesib, and defterdar [de Peyssonel, 1787(1), pp. 86-87]. Other, smaller Ottoman towns in the Crimea were ruled by emins and dizdars appointed by the pasa of Kefe.

THE ROLE OF ETHNIC AND CONFESSIONAL MINORITIES IN THE TATAR INSTITUTIONS OF URBAN GOVERNMENT

Because of the fact that before 1475 the Crimea was inhabited largely by Christian population, non-Muslim minorities played an important role in the life of the region after the Ottoman conquest as well. Both Tatar and Ottoman towns of the Crimea were usually divided into mahalle "quarter", inhabited by representatives of various ethnic and confessional minorities. Despite non-Muslim population often constituted a majority of inhabitants of a given town, they played virtually no role in the governmental institutions. Non-Muslim (Jewish and Christian) population of the Crimea was often employed to take part in public works, such as construction of town walls, ditches, ramparts, aqueducts, fountains, mosques, baths, khan's palaces and suchlike. It was usually state authorities (Khans, qaymaqams etc.) that initiated carrying out such public works. Public works of this kind were normally fulfilled without any payment25. Each confessional community had to supply certain number of their men for these works [de Peyssonel, 1787(2), p. 320; Celebi, 1999, p. 16]. The Crimean Greeks as the skilful riflemen were often employed as garrison soldiers. In the seventeenth century there also existed a special detachment of 2000 riflemen from the "il (i.e. province) of the Tats"26.

It seems that the only ethnic minority, which played a comparatively active role in the Tatar government of the Crimea, were the Karaite (i.e. non-Talmudic) Jews. The Karaite community, famous for its wealth and importance, always possessed an exceptional status in the Crimea. In the eighteenth century the Karaites were officially exempted from many public works and additional taxes by the order of ulu hanim (= "big mistress", i.e. Khan's wife). However, in exchange they had to provide ulu hanim with "everything that was necessary for her household, such as timber, coal, coffee and many other provisions of this kind" [de Peyssonel, 1787(2), pp. 320-321]. In addition, in conformity with the ordinance of Nehemiah27, the Karaites were allowed to shut the gates of their main seat, Cufut Qale, at sunset on Friday evening and not open them until the evening of the Sabbath [Henderson, 1826, p. 322]28. It seems that in the eighteenth century the Karaites were de facto owners of the aforementioned town (de jure it belonged to Yaslov beys). According to Evliya Celebi, in 1666 duties of the commandant, garrison, guards, and door-keepers of Cufut Qale were

25 The Russian ambassador to the Crimea, Nikiforov, mentioned that in 1764 Kirim Giray forced local Jews (i.e. the Karaites) and Armenians to take part in the construction works for the palace in Aslama Dere without payment [Donesenie, 1844, pp. 376-377].

26 E.g. in seventeenth-century Or (Perekop) [Celebi, 1999, p. 12, 115].

27 "...the gates should be shut and... should not be open till after the Sabbath" [Nehemiah, xiii, 19].

28 Once again, this privilege directly contradicts the postulates of the pact of 'Umar: "We shall keep our gates wide open..." [Islam, 1987, p. 218].

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already fulfilled by the local Karaites. This situation seemed to Celebi quite extraordinary. He remarked that he had not seen "such an independent Jewish fortress" in any other country of the world [Celebi, 1999, p. 36]. At the end of the seventeenth century the duties of the qapuci (here in the sense "commandant of the fortress," not just a "door-keeper") of Cufut Qale were fulfilled by the Karaite Saltik [Spisok, pp. 35-36, 42-43]. Nevertheless, duties of the armed guards for the prisoners kept in the fortress were fulfilled by the Tatar sekbans [Ibid., pp. 38-39]29.

Some of the Karaites were appointed to important administrative positions of the Crimean Khanate. In contradiction to the words ascribed to 'Umar I ("Do not appoint Jews and Christians to public office..."), there are references to the Karaites who were the treasurers of the Khans' mint in Bakhchisaray. In 1644 "evrei Bereka" (Jew Berakhah, apparently a Karaite from Cufut Qale) was the kaznodar of qalga Gazi Giray and nureddin [Novoselskii, 1948, p. 333]. Aubry de la Motray, who visited Bakhchisaray in 1711, mentioned that the head of the Khan's mint was a certain Jew named Abraham [de la Motray, 1723, p. 24]. Undoubtedly, this Abraham was the father of Samuel ben Abraham (1716-1769), a Karaite merchant who received the status of the aga (i.e. "noble authority") and fulfilled the duties of the manager of the Khan's mint30. Samuel left the title of aga to his scions. Two of them, Benjamin ben Samuel Aga and Joseph Aga were appointed financial advisors to the last Crimean Khan, Sahin Giray, and masters of the mint [Mann, 1935, p. 10]. Thus, the hereditary status of financial advisor to the Crimean Khan was in the hands of the Karaite clan of Aga for at least a hundred years, from the beginning of the eighteenth century until the Russian annexation of the Crimea in 1783. As the Khans' financial advisors, the Karaite leaders had to attend the sessions of the divan, and take part in administrative life of the country.

There is some scattered data about the involvement of some other ethnic minorities into the municipal administration as well. A certain Jew (the source did not specify whether it was a Rabbanite or Karaite) is mentioned as the head of the custom office (gumruk emini?) in Or in the mid-sixteenth century [Lituanus, 1994, pp. 72-74]. In the 1730-1740s the duties of the Khan's treasurer were fulfilled by Tevan Aga, an Armenian from Qarasubazar [Mikaelian, 2004, p. 19]. Nevertheless, as has been mentioned, apart from the Karaites ethnic and confessional minorities did not play significant roles in the administrative and municipal governments of the Crimean peninsula.

CHANGES IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM AFTER THE RUSSIAN ANNEXATION

After the peace treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca in 1774 the Crimean Khanate for the first time in its history received a full independence. The country could enjoy it only until 1783, the time of the final annexation by Russia. During these few years of independence the Khanate had been constantly disturbed by revolts of the bey clans, rivalry of a few members of the Giray dynasty, general turmoil, and emigration of the local population. One of the ruling Khans, Sahin Giray (ruled with interruptions from 1777-1783), attempted to undertake a few radical administrative reforms which, as he hoped, would allow him to become a real ruler of the Crimean land. He tried to liquidate the beylik system and subdue the lands of the Crimean beys to his authority. Furthermore, he attempted to diminish the influence of the Muslim clergy on the Khanate's policy, and introduce a vertical succession to the throne. However, his policy met a strong opposition on the part of the local aristocracy, Nogay Tatars, and other members of Giray dynasty [Lashkov, 1991]. The final blow to the

Sekban 29 means literally "a keeper of hounds". In the Crimea sekbans constituted a special detachment of the Khan's army equipped with muskets. The Karaite Jews could hardly fulfill the duties of armed guards of prisoners - according to the dhimmi rules they were not supposed to bear arms as non-Muslims.

30 His name is also mentioned in the yarliq of Kirim Giray khan of 1768, which appointed the Karaite merchant Samuel to be the head of the aforementioned mint [Sbornik, 1890, pp. 104-105].

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existence of the Crimean Khanate was made in April, 1783, when it was annexed by Russia31.

According to the first statistical Russian survey of the newly acquired Crimea, the whole territory of the peninsula was divided into six large districts under the jurisdiction of the qaymaqams32. These areas, in their turn, were divided into 42 districts-gadiliks. Russia received the peninsula in the state of an utter economic decline, with many of the towns severely damaged by the recent internal and external military conflicts. In addition, the country was half-depopulated because of the masse emigration of the Crimean Tatars and Turks to Turkey, and a forced removal of the Christian population (mostly the Greeks and Armenians) from the peninsula in 1778/1779 (later this vacuum started to be filled with Russian, Greek, German, Bulgarian, Jewish (Ashkenazic), and even Swiss colonists)33. After the annexation of the Crimea and establishment of the new political order, all Tatar and Ottoman administrative institutions were abolished and new Russian institutions were established.

The territory of the former Crimean Khanate was first reorganized as the Tavricheskaia oblast' (i.e. the Tauridian district; 1784) and divided into seven uezds [Agadzhanov, Sakharov (ed.), p. 34]. At the time of Tsar Paul (Pavel 1) the Crimea was included into the Novorossiiskaia guberniia34, and in 1802, at the time of Alexander I, it was reorganized again as the Tavricheskaia guberniia. The period after 1783 and approximately until the Crimean war (1853-1856) might be called a transitory period, whose specific feature was re-adjustment of the former Ottoman and Tatar towns to the standards of European settlements and ultimately their conversion to regular provincial Russian towns: the process in which Russian administration succeeded, perhaps, only after the end of the Crimean war.

The Russian towns of the Crimea were administered according to the Gramota naprava i vygody gorodov Rossiiskoi imperii, or "A charter concerning the rights and profits of the towns of the Russian Empire" from 21 April, 1785. According to this document, each city had its coat of arms and was allowed to possess lands, fishing grounds, mills, inns, taverns, hotels, schools, fairs etc. According to the Gorodskaia obyvatel'skaia kniga, or "Register of town's citizens", there were six ranks of obyvateli "citizens". Citizens composed gorodskoe obshchestvo "town community", which was administrated by obshchaia gorodskaia duma "general town council". Duma consisted of glasnye (members of the duma) and golova (mayor) and met every three years. Golova (mayor) usually was the most influential aristocrat, pochetnyi grazhdanin (freeman) or merchant of the first guild possessing town property of not less than 15.000 roubles. He had to give accounts to the governor of the region. Two of the Crimean ports (Sevastopol' and Kerc with Yeni Qale) received a special status of gradonachal'stvo, i.e. the town and its surrounding area, and were under the jurisdiction of the gradonachal'nik (mayor of gradonachal'stvo)35. Otdeleniia (departments) of duma were headed by starshina (foreman) possessing town property of not less than 6.000 roubles. Upravy (boards) were organs fulfilling orders of duma. Paul 1 tried to abolish this system and establish German "Rathaus" system. Nevertheless, after his death Alexander I restored Catherine's system of 1785.

31 On the years of the independence of the Crimean Khanate and final Russian annexation of the Crimea, see: [Fisher, 19701.

32 They were called каймаканства in Russian.

33 On the general state of the Crimea immediately after the Russian annexation, see: [Statisticheskie, 1886, pp. 91-156]. The Tatar emigration continued in the nineteenth century as well. It is estimated that around 80.000 left the Crimea before the end of the eighteenth century, 30.000 during the time of reorganization of the peninsula (1796-1802), less than 100.000 after the Crimean war in 1859; the gradual emigration also continued after the war with Turkey in 1877 [Fisher, 1970, pp. 88-89, 93].

34 Paul I, who hated his mother Catherine II, tried to abrogate all the reforms of the Empress and returned the old Tatar names to the Crimean towns instead of the new, Greek ones. However, his rule did not last long and his successor, Alexander I, continued Catherine's policy in the Crimea.

35 In the Russian Empire there were only two more gradonachal'stvo - those of St. Petersburg and Odessa.

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In order to eradicate Muslim influence in the peninsula, Russian officials decided to replace Turkic names of the most important Crimean settlements with Greek toponyms. Even Kirim/Qirim36, the Turkic name of the peninsula, started to be superseded by its Medieval Greek naming: Taurida or Taurica (or, officially, Tavricheskaia guberniia). Akmecet was renamed into Simferopol', Aq Yar started to be called Sevastopol', Gozleve-Eupatoriia, Kefe-Theodosiia, Or-Perekop. However, a few important settlements - Bakhchisaray, Qarasubazar, Cankoy, Kerch, Inkerman, Balaklava, Sudak - retained their old names. Moreover, local population often continued using many of the older names or both new and old place-names simultaneously until the second half of the nineteenth century37. The role of the new administrative centre started to be played by Simferopol', a growing city situated in the very heart of the peninsula on the junction of the most important trading routs38.

The policy of the Russian administration towards the ethnic and religious minorities of the Crimea was not uniform. At the very beginning of the Russian rule in the Crimea, in order to win the sympathy of the local population, Catherine II and baron Igelstrom actively involved the local Tatar population into the administration (including town councils as well). Furthermore, they recognized the Tatar nobility (mirza) as dvoriane (Russ. "nobility"), while providing them with large plots of state land in their private hereditary ownership. Some of the Tatar officials working for the former Crimean administration were included into the local government and administration. The Tatar cavalry was reorganized into a few Tatar regiments of the Russian army, and even the Muslim clergy retained its status and started to receive a state salary [Agadzhanov, Sakharov (ed.), p. 35].

A number of representatives of non-Russian minorities were appointed active members of the first Crimean regional government in the 1780s. Especially numerous were the Crimean Tatars: Yakub Aga (or Yakov Izmailovich Rudzevich, appointed councillor to the chancellery), Mehmet bey Shirinskii (appointed councillor to the regional government), Mehmet murza Arginskii (assessor in the salt-mine expedition), mufti Haci Gazi Aga, qadiasker Musladdin Efendi and many others39.

Later, starting from the times of Alexander I (1801-1825), because of the fast growing Russian colonization of the Crimea, participation of the Tatars started to be of much less importance. Consequently, because of their low (according to the Russian standards) education and bad knowledge of Russian, Tatar involvement into administration and town councils was reduced mostly to two towns only, Qarasubazar and Bakhchisaray.

CONCLUSIONS

The administrative system of the Crimea at the end of the eighteenth - first half of the nineteenth century underwent a considerable and drastic change which was determined first of all by the equally drastic shift in the government of the land. After the Russian annexation of 1783 all the Muslim (Ottoman and Tatar) institutions of government were abolished and new - Russian ones - were introduced. The continuous emigration of the Muslim population from the Crimea and settlement of Christian population in the peninsula also drastically changed the ethnic map of the area. As a result, the old and archaic Tatar and Ottoman

36 English: Crimea, Russ. Crimea.

37 For more details regarding the changes in urban structure of the Crimea after 1783, see: [Kizilov, 2006, pp. 181-191]. Especially conservative in this respect were Turkic-speaking inhabitants of the peninsula, Muslim Tatars and Jewish Karaites and Krymchaks, who continued using the Tatar place-names in the twentieth century as well. At present, after the return of the Crimean Tatars to the Crimea at the beginning of the 1990s, the Crimean Tatar newspapers deliberately use, whenever possible, the former Turkic place-names.

38 Originally, it was Qarasubazar that was supposed to be the administrative center of the Crimea. Nevertheless, later this project was abandoned [Prokhorov, 1996, p. 217].

39 Later many of them received important places in the courts of justice and other organs of local government and administration. For details, see: [ibid., pp. 214, 216, 220-221].

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system of administration was completely replaced with the new, one may say, Europeanized one.

Later development of the Crimean cities was determined by the Crimean war (1853-1856, also known as the "War in the East"). Russian failure during the war showed appalling necessity of introducing new changes in this region, which turned out so strategic and important. After this event and a new wave of Muslim emigration to Turkey Russian government started another, even more radical, campaign directed at modernisation of the Crimea. After the Crimean war Taurida, its population and towns started to be more and more Russified and modernised, architecturally, culturally, and ethnically. It was the newer, Russian, parts of the Crimean cities that were expanded, whereas Tatar quarters remained the same or even smaller. In the course of this campaign the Crimea became equal to other, more developed parts of the Russian Empire. In 1862 a new town reform was introduced to all cities of the Russian Empire, including also those of the Crimea. In the 1860-1870s the Crimea was enriched with such modern facilities as proper roads, railroads, large inns and hotels, ports, and sea-side resorts [Mal'gin, 2006, pp. 78-197 and passim].

Russian colonisation of the Crimea and Tatar emigration from the peninsula continued in the second half of the nineteenth century as well. In 1897 the Tatar population of the region constituted about one third of the whole Crimean population [Agadzhanov, Sakharov (ed.), p. 39]. In 1921 there were only 25.90% of the Tatars in the Crimea [Ibid., p. 67.]. In 1917 Russians constituted 60.4% of the town population, whereas the Tatars - only 11.3% [Ibid., p. 49]. In 1944 most of the Tatar inhabitants of the Crimea were deported to the Middle Asia and only some of them returned during the perestroika era in the late 1980s - early 1990s. In 2014, after the Crimea's reunification with the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian legal system was completely replaced with that of Russia. This process, somewhat surprisingly, may recall the replacement of the old Tatar and Ottoman administrative system after 1783.

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