Notes Taken by Scientists and Travelers of the Late XVII – Early XIX Centuries about the Crimea and the Crimean Khanate

Abstract

The material presented in the paper allows to get an idea of the gradual storing knowledge by scientists about the history of the Crimea from the end of the XVII to the beginning of the XIX century. The available data was mainly based on the evidence of medieval written sources. In some cases, the conjectural nature of this information is obvious. First of all, this refers to: 1) incorrect evidence of the conquest of the Crimean Peninsula by Tamerlane (or his creature – Edigey) in 1395; 2) the extermination of the population of Kaffa (and other cities) by the Ottomans in 1475; 3) the confirmation of Mengli I Giray on the throne by Mehmed II in 1478 and the recognition by the Crimean Khanate of a vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire. It should be noted that so far not a single document has been found confirming these erroneous judgments.

Keywords

• archaeology
• history
• crimea
• tavrida
• crimean khanate
• mongols
• tatars
• golden horde
• ulus of jochi
• genoese gazaria
• gothia