Islam in Ukraine - history of Islam in Ukraine

7 Outstanding Muslims that had an impact on the history and culture of modern Ukraine. Part 2

О. Степанченко — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 15:53:51 +0000

Tugay Bey

Commander and Statesman Tugay-bey (aprox. 1601 - 1651) occupied a special place in the centuries of political relationship between Ukraine and the Crimea. Being an active participant in the Ukrainian Liberation War, Tugai Bey, who had extensive military experience, became the best of all possible allies for Bohdan Khmelnytsky. At the decisive moments of the battles, the Tugay-bey’s Crimean Tatar cavalry effectively supported the Zaporizhzhian infantry by conducting round-the-clock maneuvers and unexpectedly attacking the enemy. In the battles of Zhovti Vody and Korsun, elite Polish armies were devastated by the coherence and cooperation of the Ukrainian and Crimean troops. Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Tugay-Bey were connected not only with common interest but also with the real bonds of brotherhood. The Ukrainian hetman said about the Crimean Tatar commander as follows: "Tugay-bey is close to me, he is my brother, my soul." We know what Tugay-bey was like on the battlefield, from the story of the Crimean historian Kirimli Haji Mehmed Senai: "Tugay-bey and similar to him brave heroes, were charging at the huge siege guns, shouting" Allah, Allah! "," Allah, Allah! ", glorifying the name of God. They all together attacked with sabers, and most of them, trusting in the Lord, like predatory lions, got into the dragon's mouth, shooting out flames, and cherishing a wonderful dream in their hearts to fulfill the promise "either victory or death". They attacked from the right and left, at the centre, and from flanks, with strong swords like dazzling lightning, striking vicious dogs." Tugay Bey was killed in 1651 during the tragic battle for the Ukrainian people near Berestechko. After his death, relations between Ukraine and the Crimean Khanate had been deteriorating gradually that eventually led to a breach of relations between these states. But the remembrance of this union is still a source of pride for many Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars.

Ismail Gasprinski

Ismail Gasprinski is a prominent Crimean Tatar educator, public figure and scientist (1851 - 1914). He is one of the most prominent representatives of the Islamic revival of the late XIX, early XX centuries. A native of the Crimean village Avdzykoi, and a graduate of the Simferopol high school, Gasprinski quickly went beyond the Crimea, establishing contacts with Muslims from Europe, the Ottoman Empire, the Volga region, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East. Gasprinski had to start developing an education system for the oppressed Turkic peoples in the Russian Empire, literally from nothing. The first issue of Tergiman (Translator), published in 1883, was very important for the entire Muslim aristocracy of talent in many countries of the world. Subsequently, a media holding was established on the basis of that newspaper. They were publishing newspapers and magazines that gained popularity far beyond the Crimea. Ismail Gasprinski's new approaches to the educational process ushered in the new school of thought called "Jadidism". Gasprinski sought to combine traditional Islamic education with new approaches developed by European pedagogy. The success of his educational projects proved the effectiveness of the Gasprinski system and its good perspectives. No wonder, the works of the Crimean Tatar educator were popular in the Islamic world even decades after Gasprinski's death. By the early twentieth century, Ismail Gasprinski had managed to bring together the group from Muslim figures who were aiming to educate the general public on the basis of Jadid ideas. In 1905, they established the organisation Butyunrusie Ittifak al Muslim, which in fact became the first legal Islamic party in the Russian Empire. The party aimed to get done with discrimination against the Muslim population, as well as to promote development of culture and education worldwide. Ittifak existed not a long time, and was forced by the authorities to cease its activities. Subsequently, many of its leaders became the founders of Muslim national organisations during the revolution of 1917.

Muhammad Asad

A boy from Lviv, who was born into a wealthy Jewish family, became religious and political Muslim figure of great influence. This transformation has long been some kind of a legend for Ukrainian Muslims. One has only to read the media to see the increasing role of Asad and his ideas in contemporary Ukraine life. Interesting in the East resulted for many Europeans in converting to Islam. But not many of them can be positioned as people who have influenced on the development of Islamic civilization. Leopold Weiss (1900 - 1992) was born in Lviv at the turn of two eras. Even having travelled around the world and become known as Islamic activist Muhammad Asad, he never forgot his homeland, devoting to it the warmest pages in the book of memoirs and thoughts “The Way to Mecca”. This work, published in 1954 and translated into many languages, was met with great interest not only among intellectuals and lovers of something new. It helped Europeans to understand better the religion that came into focus of people all over the world by the end of the twentieth century. It is no exaggeration, to say that most leaders in the modern world learn about Islam, among other things, due to the Muhammad Asad’s books. It may sound strange, but among the last in Europe, who learnt about Assad’s work heritage were his fellow countrymen. Only last year his most famous work “The Way to Mecca” was published in Ukraine. Ukrainians have yet to get acquainted with Asad’s works. Among his works, which are on the list of the most important, a special place is occupied by Asad's comments to the Qur'an, as well as a work about Sharia state aspects. Probably, in the future, the way to Mecca, the Hajj of many Ukrainian Muslims, will begin in Lviv, the city that gave the outstanding writer and thinker of our time to the world.

By Oleksandr Stepanchenko

02/10/2019

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7 Outstanding Muslims Changed the History and Culture of Modern Ukraine. Part One

О. Степанченко — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 14:15:19 +0000

People used to think the history of Ukraine started with the legendary personalities coming: Askold, Dir and Rurik. Volumes of historical and fiction literature are about these fairy-tale heroes, while real historical personalities are often overshadowed by ancient myths. For more than a thousand years, Islamic states have existed on the territory of modern Ukraine, but only a small number of historians understand it, and try to put materials about the Muslim past of our country into the scientific practice. We easily notice and accept the changes the modern Ukraine faces, caused by the complicated processes of becoming an independent state. It is much more difficult for us to accept that long-ago history may be subject to correction, caused by new historical data or by a new interpretation of well-known facts. For more than a thousand years, almost the entire south and a large part of Left-Bank Ukraine were settled by the Turkic peoples, who built cities, grew wheat and grapes, and grazed cattle. On the territory of current Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Odesa and Kherson, not so long ago there were a lot of Muslim cities and villages. Few people know that a number of prominent Muslim figures have had a significant impact on the politics and culture of modern Ukraine. These were the people, who determined the development of civilization processes for decades, and sometimes for centuries.

Marwan II ibn Muhammad

He is a representative of the Umayyad dynasty that was ruling the Arabian Caliphate (688 - 750). He was also an outstanding commander and statesman. In 737 he made a campaign against the Khazar Kaganate. During this campaign, it was for the first time, when Arab troops entered the land of present-day Ukraine. The campaign resulted in an agreement was reached between Marwan and the Khazar Kagan, according to which the Kaganate’s ruling elite converted to Islam. Following the retreating Khazars, Marwan reached the banks of the “Slavic River” - Sahr al-Sakaliba. "Slavic River" is supposed to be the River Dnipro, because nowhere except this river were a lot of Slavic settlements, mentioned by Arab chroniclers. Therefore, 737 should be considered the first year of significant contact between the ancestors of Ukrainians and the Islamic religion adherents. It is very important that during this campaign Marwan sought not to gain new territories and war down the population, but to spread Islam. This would stop the bloody wars between the Khazars and the Arab Caliphate. And, although, the new religion did not immediately gain traction on the Ukrainian territory, the seeds, planted by Marwan, have been still yielding.

Berke

Berke, Genghis Khan’s grandson, (1209-1266), was one of those, who follow in Marwan ibn Muhammad’s footsteps. Being in a difficult political situation, the Muslim ruler of Ulus Juchi did not use force to impose Islam. His policy was much more flexible. Berke built new cities with magnificent mosques, invited famous scientists, architects, builders and artisans from Muslim countries. On his watch, the young state turned from the steppe empire of pagans into an Islamic state. Khan Berke’s short reign had a huge impact on the entire future development of not only the Golden Horde, but also the Crimean Khanate, and then Ukraine.

Haji Ist Giray

The emergence of Crimean Tatars’ state is associated with the name of Khan Haji I Giray (1397 - 1466). There is no doubt the Crimean Khanate history is an important part of the history of Ukraine. Thanks to Haji Giray, the isolated camps of the Crimeans, scattered from the Dnipro to the Kuban, were united to protect the interests of not only Muslims, but the neighboring nations as well. Using the contradictions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Moscow and the Great Horde, Haji Giray managed to create a national center of the Crimean Tatar people and defend it from its enemies’ encroachments. Having entered into an alliance with Lithuania, the Crimean Khan became a reliable defender of the Ukrainian lands from the Horde attacks. Several times he successfully crushed the troops of the Great Horde while their moving to Ukraine. Haji Girey is a vivid example of a successful commander and statesman, a figure that fully marks the unity of the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian peoples.

Evliya Çelebi

The modern history of Ukraine is unconceivable without such a bright personality, as Ottoman writer and traveler Evliya Çelebi (1611 - 1682). Evliya got excellent education at that time. After having graduated from Mekteb, he studied in the Sheikh-ul-Islam Hamid-efendi madrasa. In the days of his youth, he already studied the Quran and became a hafiz. In addition, Evliya studied Muslim theology and law. On August 20, 1630, a nineteen-year-old youth saw the prophet Muhammad in his night dream. Being surprised so far, he wanted to ask the Prophet for intercession (shefaat), but exclaimed with excitement “seyia-hut”, which means “journey”. The Prophet Muhammad bestowed upon Evliya the both things. The young man asked people who knew to interpret an amazing dream. In Istanbul Tekke Mevlevi, Sheikh Abdullah-dede said to the young man the following: “Start from Istanbul - go around, look, describe it!”. Evliya's father advised the future great traveler: “ Visit, see and describe places of pilgrimage — the tombs of great saints, steppes and deserts, high mountains, amazing trees and stones, cities, wonderful monuments and fortresses. Write about their conquerors and builders, about the circumference sizes of the fortresses, and make a work, called the "Book of Travels". Evliya listened to the sheikh and her father’s advices, and visited many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. His notes about the Crimea, Bessarabia, Edisan are extremely interesting for us. He wrote a lot of pages about Kiliya, Ishmael, Akkerman, Ochakov, Bakhchisarai, Kerch, and many other cities of Ukraine and the Crimea. Evliya described in detail the numerous mosques of the Crimean Khanate, including those hadn’t been extant. Çelebi was not only a watcher, but also a direct participant of the events. In his "Book of Travels" he reported information that you cannot find in any other historical work of that time.

Oleksandr Stepanchenko

19/07/2019

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From Poltava to Prut. From the History of the Ukrainian Cossacks and the Muslim Authorities’ Alliance

О. Степанченко — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 11:15:02 +0000

Any fortuity is a sword or reward.

Eastern proverb

On June 27 (July 8), 1709, several kilometers from Poltava, the battle took place, which changed the history of all Eastern Europe for a long time and, above all, the history of Ukraine. The allied Swedish-Ukrainian army was defeated by the troops of the Russian Tsar Peter I, ending all attempts to create an independent Ukrainian state.

The defeated troops of Swedish King Charles XII and Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa were forced to leave the Poltava battlefield in a hurry. At Mazepa’s suggestion, they decided to retreat to the Ottoman Empire territory. Zaporozhian Cossacks were guides in the Dnipro steppes. The only place, where the Swedes and Ukrainians could cross the Dnipro was Perevolochna settlement. That’s the place the defeated army began to retreat to.

The Swedish camp was depressed. The participant of the battle, K. de Tourville, wrote: "I was totally frustrated. I was feeling this left-out for several hours, so I could not even remember, who was the winner, or who had been defeated. "During the Battle of Poltava, the Swedes suffered heavy losses, but in general, they stayed combat-worthy and were still quite numerous.

Moving towards the Dnipro was well-organized. There was no panic. At least 25 thousand Swedish soldiers, officers, and several thousand Ukrainian Cossacks approached Perevolochna. It was a well-known crossing point. But before the Battle of Poltava, Russian troops had burned Perevolochna along with the boats. An attempt to build a bridge was failed, because there was little building timber for this purpose. The Swedes tried to use the old church, disassembled to logs, as a waterborne platform, but they also failed - badly tied logs were washed downstream. Afterall, the soldiers of Charles XII found several small ferries, on which they transported the king and his retinue. Mazepa, along with a group of close friends, crossed the river by fishing boats.

Russian troops under Menshikov command were literally following upon the Allied armies heels. By the time Tsar’s troops approached, only a small part of the Swedish army had crossed the Dnipro. Menshikov blocked the Swedes, commanded by General Levengaupt. Trapped in a difficult situation, they capitulated. At least 16 thousand Swedes were captured by Russians. Along with them, several hundred Ukrainian Cossacks were also taken captives and later executed. Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa were able to avoid captivity, continuing their way to the Turkish possessions.

Levengaupt’s capitulation surprised all, Peter I and even Charles XII himself. Later, the Swedish king wrote: “Levengaupt acted contrary to orders and military duty, in the most shameful way, and caused an irreparable loss that could be less even if he had taken the bold risk... I do not think he did like this due to the intentional maliciousness or personal faintness. But in war, it's not an excuse, and he, seemed completely lost his mind and shrank to act as a general in a difficult moment."

Having lost their supply train, including food, the remnants of the army were doomed to hunger and misery. De Tourville wrote: “Unknown parts of the path, hunger, thirst, heat during the day, and cold at night certainly foreshadowed the death to that unfortunate detachment. There were no villages, houses, huts, trees, or fruit on the road. We could see neither road and path, nor people’s traces. ” The Swedes and Ukrainians could buy enough food from the Turks only on the way to the Ottoman possessions near the crossing of the Southern Bug river.

Retreating into the territory of the Ottoman Empire, Charles XII and Mazepa thought the Turks and the Crimean Tatars would not miss the opportunity to attack Russia that makes tremendous efforts to defeat Sweden. These thoughts were reasonable. Even before the battle of Poltava, the Crimean khan Devlet II Giray was ready to help Charles XII and Hetman Mazepa, but Istanbul’s restrained position forced him to abandon this risky step.

The remains of the Swedish army passed by Ochakov, and Khadzhibey fortress ruins, and stopped only in Bendery. The Swedish king, while being on the road, sent his ambassador Neugebauer to Istanbul to conclude an alliance against Russia. Sultan Ahmed III ordered seraskir Bender Yusuf-pasha to provide Charles XII with all possible hospitality. The Turks supplied the Swedes and the Ukrainian Cossacks with food and allowed them to set up a camp near the city walls.

On August 22, 1709, Hetman Ivan Mazepa died in Bendery. Cossacks elected Pylyp Orlyk as a new hetman, who was as reliable ally for the Swedes and Turks as Mazepa was. Meanwhile, Peter I repeatedly demanded the extradition of the Swedish king through his ambassador in Istanbul, threatening to start military action against the Ottoman Empire. In the Turkish capital, the pro-Russia party was prevailing for a little while, but the sultan had quickly enough of the tsar’s threats, and decided not only to save Charles XII, but to be the first who declared a war against Russians.

On November 20, 1710, the beginning of hostilities against Russia was announced, and already in February, Pylyp Orlyk together with the Crimean Tatars made a raid on Ukraine. For the first time since Hetman Doroshenko P., the Ukrainian Cossacks acted as allies of the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. And although the raid had failed, it showed Peter I Ukraine’s insecurity. The Russian Tsar started to prepare a great campaign to capture the Danube territories.

Heaving learnt about Peter I offensive preparations, the Ottoman Empire’s vassal, the ruler of Moldavia, Dimitrie Cantemir, announced his adopting the Russian citizenship. Delighted by the prospect of getting support from the Moldovans, Peter moved his army to the Prut banks. But, it turned out that Cantemir himself needed a support. The food supplying of the troops was very poorly organized, and the local population barely wanted to share their own food reserves with Peter’s soldiers.

The Ottoman army, the Crimean Tatars’ army, led by Khan Devlet II Giray, along with Zaporizhzhya Cossacks’ detachment moved towards the Russian troops. The Turks had a lot of artillery, gunpowder supplies and enough food. Russian troops were surrounded and pressed to the bank of the river Prut. Their state was hopeless, and only due to the Grand Vizier Baltaji Mehmed Pasha’s betrayal, who agreed to sign a peace treaty, Peter I and his army managed to avoid defeat and captivity.

The Russian tsar was ready for serious concessions, but the peace conditions, negotiated with the Grand Vizier, were even softer. A significant amount of money that was promised to Mehmed Pasha played its role. However, he did not receive the promised money. A few months after the end of the war, the grand vizier was unseated and then executed.

Charles XII returned to Sweden to continue the war against Russia and its allies. He died from a stray bullet during the fortress siege in Norway. For the rest of his life, Pylyp Orlyk was making efforts to create an anti-Russian coalition of European countries. He never saw Ukraine again. Sultan Ahmed III waged wars in Europe and Asia with varying success, but he was overthrown by the insurgent people. Long before the Prut campaign, the courageous and brave Khan Devlet II Giray predicted the danger of the Russia’s rise. But the Sultan did not appreciate enough his faithful and reliable ally. Soon after the Prut War, he removed Devlet II Giray from the Khan's throne, sending him into exile.

Oleksandr Stepanchenko

23/03/2019

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Ukrainian History is Incomprehensible Without Acknowledging Its Oriental Roots During Different Periods

Islam in Ukraine — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 16:58:08 +0000

An important event for theologists and religious studies experts, philosophers, historians, sociologists, representatives of religious and social organisations gathered in Kyiv on 14 December. Volodymyr Vernadskii Tavrian National University hosted the International Research-to-Practice Conference “Muslim Heritage in Southern Ukraine: History, Culture and Religion”, which brought together specialists from not only all around Ukraine, but from Turkey, Moldova and Belarus.

That remarkable event was organized and held by Ukrainian Centre for Islamic Studies, Centre of Islamic Studies of the National University “Ostroh Academy”, Association “Alraid” and Volodymyr Vernadskii Tavrian National University.

Almost two dozens of scientific reconnaissance in the matter of the main topic were presented to the honourable audience during the three sessions, namely “Islam in the history of Crimea and Crimean Tatars”, “Islam on the continental Ukraine”, and “Ukrainian Islam in terms of international ties”. The organizer intentionally avoided separating those sections in different locations, so that every participant would be able to hear each report and participate in its discussion.

The privilege of greeting the participants and charging them to fruitful work was given to Mufti of Religious Administration of muslims of Ukraine “Umma” Said Ismagilov, Recturer of the Tavrian National University Volodymyr Karazin, Head of SCU All-Ukrainian Association “Alraid” Seyran Aryfov and Ukrainian diplomat Yurii Kochubey.

Volodymyr Karazin, in particular, stressed that Ukrainian history was incomprehensible without acknowledging its oriental roots during different periods:

— Half of the Ukrainian history is, of course, linked with Slavonic culture, European traditions and contacts, which are also to be researched and closely studied, for we were limited in doing that in the previous years. But still, a large part of our culture is linked with the East, and we are well aware that the earliest sources about Kyiv Rus were Arab sources, — reminded the recturer.

The Headmaster stressed, that the words about importance of that conference weren’t just a figure of speech:

— This event, in particular, is a reminder of the history of Tavrian National University, where Volodymyr Vernadskiy and his friends opened the Oriental Faculty in 1918, and it was a wise thing to do in Crimea, steeped in Muslim, Islamic, oriental culture; where many great scholars had worked. Creating the Oriental Faculty was a tribute to them and a desire to continue that tradition.

The recturer also reminded that after the World War II, when the University resumed its operation (under the title of Crimean Pedagogical Institute), every Faculty was restored except for the Oriental, which the Soviet authorities never allowed to re-launch.

— That prohibition of restoration of the Oriental Faculty was making it clear that there’s no East remaining here (after the Crimean Tatars’ total deportation, - ed.), so there was no need for further Oriental studies.

Mr.Karazin also told that there were numerous attempts to restart the Oriental faculty up to the collapse of the Soviet Union, but they were never successful.

— I’m happy that in the Independent Ukraine, we launched a Crimean Tatar, Turkish and Arab department, which brought us to restoration of the Oriental Faculty.

Volodymyr Karazin also promised to do everything he could in order to launch regular Orientalists Congress under the auspices of the University, which was, “in particular, to remind Ukraine of its history and traditions that were for some reasons forgotten.”

Seyran Aryfov, Head of the All-Ukrainian Association “Alraid”, started his speech with thanking God Almighty for the organizers being able to gather specialists from different cities and countries in one room having noted that researching the past is never a waste of effort:

— It’s an open secret that all the world’s processes, all the great perturbations have, no doubt, their reasons in the past. The same goes for Ukraine: we live in a troubled moment, and it certainly has its reasons in the past, not perhaps the recent history, but the hoar of innumerable ages. That is why the topic of the conference was chosen. By researching our past, we gain a better understanding of the current events, particularly in the field of interfaith and interconfessional relations, — noted Mr.Aryfov.

Mufti of RAMU “Umma” Said Ismagilov, who is also the Head of the Ukrainian Centre for Islamic Studies, greeted the participants and stressed the symbolism of holding the conference at Travian National University. He expressed his hope for further fruitful cooperation with the University.

Speaking about the topic of the conference itself, the Ukrainian Muslim leader stressed that the Ukrainian Muslim history and heritage had long been out of both te textbooks and research programmes, despite the fact that powerful Muslim countries operated on Ukrainian soil, from the Golden Horde to the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire:

— Ukraine, being situated on the crossroads of civilizations, cultures and religions, has always been in the middle between Christianity and Islam, which was bound to have a great impact on mentality, culture and overall Ukrainian heritage. So we need to be impartial and research the input of every civilization in the phenomenon we now know as modern Ukraine.

An ovation was given to Yurii Kochbei, a prominent researcher and diplomat, greeted the gathering in Ukrainian and Turkish, on behalf of the National Academy Of Science Antagenel Krymskiy Institute of Oriental Studies. He stressed that Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars are able to return Crimea and all its heritage when united, and must do exactly that.

— It’s a fact of little importance what this heritage is, is it Cristian, Antique or Muslim (indeed, the Muslim heritage prevails). And in order to get it back, we must act with the utmost stretch of our powers [....]. That is the only way to dispel all those myths that were force fed to us, and live on normally in our independent Ukrainian State.

The event was moderated by Mykhailo Yakubovych, the famous Ukrainian historian, orientalist and translator (and also the author of full Ukrainian translation of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an). Besides that, he also presented his research on the experience of academic studies of history of Islam in Ukraine.

The first particular conference session was opened by a world-known historian, philologist and Arabist, Professor Mehmet Maksudoglu cast discredit on the very term “Ottoman Empire”, for almost 50 years of research have turned the world famous historian and Arab philologist to thinking that the wrong term was used due to the lack of possibility to give adequate interpretation of the country’s title “Ottoman State”, which is the closest translation possible. In contemporary Ottoman Turkish language, the state was called “The Glorious and Splendid Sultanate of Ottomans”, and it terms of European traditional naming one would better use “Ottoman State”.

Thus, the researcher believes that using the term “Ottoman Empire” is incorrect, for it didn’t have such necessary indications of an Empire as exploitation of colonies. That had rather been a policy of protection and guardianship of Muslims all over the world and justice for non-Muslims.

Noteworthy, Professor Maksudoglu (who taught at various Universities around the world, from Cambridge to Marmara) is of Crimean Tatar origin.

Overall, there were many interesting presentations during the conference, which to be published in one collection in the nearest future.

The list of speakers and topics included “Ukrainian-born Ottoman Reformist Alemdar Mustafa Bairaktar” by Ali Nuriev (Turkey); “Desired or undesired: narratives of reversion to Islam in XVII century Crimea” by Firat Yasha (Turkey); “From trade to religious incitements: merchants-missionaries in XIII-XV century Crimea” by Emel Kilic (Turkey); “On some peculiarities of demographic changes in late XVIII century Crimea” by Teimur Ataev (Azerbaijan); “Balkans, the crossroad of religions” by Lefter Georgi (Moldova); “Crimean Khanate and Belarus: shaping the tatar community” by Zoryna Kanapatska (Belarus); “Tolerance of the Crimean Khans” by Gulnara Bekirova (Ukraine); “Ukraine-Turkey relations” by Buraq Chakyshkan (Turkey); “Shahin Giray as the first experience of modernization in Islamic world” by Grigorii Mavrov (Turkey); “Khan Adil Girey I dealings with Hetman Petro Doroshenko” by Taras Chukhlib, etc.

After the conference, Sheikh Said Ismagilov noted that presentations of foreign guests were particularly interesting:

— It’s always interesting to see Ukraine and our history through the foreign researchers’ eyes, for instance, the researchers from Turkey, Moldova, Belarus and Azerbaijan. It occurs that things we take for granted, as indisputable facts, are not facts for them at all, for their sources are different. The Turkish professor strongly disagrees that the Ottoman Empire has been, in fact, an Empire; a researcher from Azerbaijan has a totally different view on the evitions of Crimean Urums and Armenians; people in modern Belarus know nothing about the vast repressions against the Crimean Tatars on the peninsula, for their news only show plots on Russia’s “great achievements” and “improving life here and now”.

Sheikh Said added that “We can’t, of course, agree with all that, but knowing exactly how people and researchers of some country see us is quite useful and interesting”.

15/12/2017

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Life in the Crimean Khanate and the First Annexation of Crimea Through Turkish Researchers’ Eyes

Islam in Ukraine — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 08:55:27 +0000

The event that gathered researchers from both all over Ukraine and abroad (Belarus, Turkey, Moldova and Azerbaijan) on 14 December in Kyiv, was International Research-to-Practice Conference “Muslim Heritage in Southern Ukraine: History, Culture and Religion”.

Most of the foreign guests arrived from Turkey, and brought their interesting reports based on their groundwork in Turkish archives. It is common knowledge that the Crimean Khanate used to be in Ottoman Empire’s vassalage; Ottoman Sultans even participated in electing the next Khan (of course, the selection range was limited to one family, the Giray). Still the very first contributor, Professor Mehmet Maksudoglu (who taught at various Universities around the world) cast discredit on the very term “Ottoman Empire”, for almost 50 years of research have turned the world famous historian and Arab philologist to thinking that the wrong term was used due to the lack of possibility to give adequate interpretation of the country’s title “Ottoman State”, which is the closest translation possible.

— It all begins with a name: once you’ve changed someone’s name, the perception is different. [...] We see the title “Ottoman Empire” in the literature, even in the textbooks! For instance, when I was a student, every book read “Ottoman Empire”. Yet I’ve got my degree, and, upon closer examination, saw that absolute lie! In then Ottoman Turkish, the state was called “The Glorious and Splendid Sultanate of Ottomans”, and it terms of European traditional naming one would better use “Ottoman State”. See the hundreds and thousands Ottoman documents of that period — that is the only title you’ll find. But in 1856, with international document flow (mostly in French), the correspondence in French used the French term “Ottoman Empire”, while the internal documents kept using the “Ottoman State”, up to Ataturk’s coup.

Noteworthy, Professor Maksudoglu is of Crimean Tatar origin.

Another stereotype was dispelled by Turkish researcher Firat Yasha in his work “Desired or undesired: narratives of reversion to Islam in XVII century Crimea”. Contrary to the popular myth that non-Muslims converted to Islam due to violations or their religious rights in the Khanate, the researcher, quoting the historical documents, told that people of other faiths had their own religious courts, and their own religious traditions defined the marital relations, inheritance, property, etc.

As for the new Muslims, it needs mentioning that besides the testament of faith (the shahada), they usually had to take certain steps towards changing their lifestyle. As a rule, in order to keep religious zoning of the neighbourhoods (for each neighbourhood was designed to fulfill the needs of certain religious community in the best way possible), the new Muslims sold their homes to someone from among their formed adherents, and bought a new home in Muslim neighbourhood. There are many records of such dealings. Still, there was one peculiarity: if a married woman converted to islam, her marriage was “put on hold” intil her husband decided is he was willing to convert as well. If he wasn’t, then their marriage was judicially dissolved due to the contemporary understanding of the rule “a Muslim woman can’t marry a non-Muslim man”. At the same time, there is a court ruling dated by late XVIII century, where a girl who was raised in a Muslim family since she had been 7 proclaimed herself a non-Muslim, and married a non-Muslim man. The case was brought to the court by her family, and she was offered to revert to Islam, and, after she refused, the judge found no reasons for dissolving her marriage.

There was yet another peculiarity of new Muslims: after the peninsula was conquered by the Russian Empire, most of the new Muslims wanted to change their names to Tatar names as fast as possible, so that they wouldn’t be automatically be prescribed to some parish of the Russian Church due to their “Christian-sounding names”.

Researcher Emel Kilic in her report “From trade to religious incitements: merchants-missionaries in XIII-XV century Crimea” spoke about close connections between the arrival of non-Muslim merchant who later became residents, and the arrival of missionaries of their religions. For instance, few are aware that Catholic missions operated in Crimea in olden times, and those missions (officially approved on the highest level by Khan Uzbek himself) started with settlements of Italian merchants who had their businesses going in Crimea.

The same story was with Armenian Apostolic Church and even Jewish missions, who also came with Armenian and Jewish merchants. In fact, the religious variety of the peninsula influenced different spheres of life and art (from architecture to literature).

Grigorii Mavrov, a researcher from Istanbul, in his report “Shahin Giray as the first experience of modernization in Islamic world” spoke about the attempt to reform the Crimean Khanate, that ended us with riot and annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russian Empire.

In order to help his audience better beel the mood of late XVIII century Crimea, mr.Mavrov started his presentation with a quote by Mustapha III, an Ottoman Sultan, who wrote: “The world turned upside down, and there is no hope for the better during our rule. Ill fate gave the power to the hands of of unworthy people; our statesmen are thieves scuttling through Istanbul streets, and we can do nothing about it but pray for God’s mercy,” — and he was the ruler of one of the greatest states in the world that held sway over lands on three continents!

Crimean Khan Shahin Giray was pretty much the first Muslim ruler who launched modernisation. Still, the historical records know him as a looser modernizer. From a young age he traveled to and lived in several countries that belonged to the European Civilization, and witnessed the West growing stronger. He tried to understand why that happened, and borrow the experience and practices that made the Western countries stronger. So what were his reforms about? First of all, he wanted to change the political regimen and establish the absolute powers of the Khan. Earlier Khans never had such power, for they were elected by the tribes, and their ruling was based on the consensus of those tribes. Even the Ottoman Sultans had their word in the election process, for the Crimean Khanate used to be in Ottoman Empire’s vassalage; of course, the selection range was limited to one family, the Giray.

Shahin Giray tried to seise that function and make his exclusive choice of the next Khan. He launched other scale reforms, as well, in particular reform of the Divan (then-Cabinet of Ministers) which was often used as means of pressure upon the Khan. Shahin Geray tried to make members of Divan ordinary public servants invited by him personally.

Other reforms included administrative reform (removing most of the lands from the tribal influence), fiscal (strict reporting on collected taxes), financial (started a new mint with contemporary equipment he bought in Poland), and serious military reform, for the State started unprecedented procurements of contemporary foreign arms which were earlier available only as trophies, involved foreign specialists in training the new soldiers, and introduced mobilization of peasants, even non-Muslims! In order to implement those reforms, one needed to know how much citizens they had, so the first ever population census was carried out in Crimea. Needless to mention that the general population wasn’t very excited about all that.

The Khan also had big plans for modernization of seaports and erecting manufactures and plants. Another change likely inspired by Peter I of Russia was transferring the capital (from Bakhchisaray to Qafa, modern Feodosia, and building there a contemporary European style palace. To implement that, he invited foreign specialists, first of all Englishmen.

We can’t tell what those reforms would have resulted in, for there was a great riot resulting in the Khan’s disthroning. He returned in a rather short period of time,at the point of the Russian bayonets, but that didn’t last long, for Russia decided to bring the experiment to the end and annexed the Crimean Khanate.

Noteworthy, the event was organized and held by Ukrainian Centre for Islamic Studies, Centre of Islamic Studies of the National University “Ostroh Academy”, CSUAUA “Alraid” and Volodymyr Vernadskii Tavrian National University. The Conference was moderated by Mykhailo Yakubovych, the famous Ukrainian historian, orientalist and translator (and also the author of full Ukrainian translation of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an).

25/12/2017

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Islam as a traditional religion of Volyn: Yuvkivtsi

Mykhaylo Yakubovych — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 09:45:44 +0000

Due to the latest researches, we know a lot about the cultural heritage of the so-called "Lithuanian Tatars" (Lipka Tatars). This ethnic group lived on the territory of modern Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine in the XV century. There is a reason to believe that this ethnic group, traditionally professed Sunni Islam, formed mainly out of the Crimean Tatars and Nogais. In Western Ukraine, one of such "Islamic enclaves" was Yuvkivtsi village (now it is a Bilohiria Raion of Khmelnytskyi region), which historically belongs to the so-called “Great Volyn”.

Of course, today, it is difficult to imagine that nearly 500 years ago, Muslims were permanent residents of this region. It is quite hard to get the settlement, because of the dirt roads that are snow-covered in winter and are washed away with rains in summer. Furthermore, the local population is very few, no more than a hundred people. You can see a lot of abandoned houses on the way. Among the small population, there are still a lot of people, mostly the older generation, who have Muslim patronymic Mustafayevych, Suleymanovych, Yusufovych and others. In fact, the only thing that today recalls the Islamic past of Yuvkivtsi is relatively large (60-70 burial places) Tatar cemetery, located in the forested hill on the outskirts of the village. There was also a mosque (as locals say it was situated "between two hills"). The building was situated somewhere near the cemetery, but, the exact place, where it had been located at least until the First World War, could not be determined.

According to the Polish and Ukrainian sources, the first "settled" Tatars came to Yuvkivtsi (then — Ivkivtsiv) in the beginning of the XVI century. They were supposed to be Crimeans, captured by Prince Vasyl-Kostiantyn of Ostroh near Vyshnivets (1512), so they dwelt in Ostroh. Tatars belonged to the nobility and had many privileges, which were given by Polish kings. Later, in the days of Russian empire, they even had serves. According to the investigation of Polish historian Stanislav Dzyadulevych (1872 - 1943), the patrimonial names of Tatars from Yuvkivtsi had very different origins. The Qasymovyches were the descendants of Ostroh Tatar Qasym, The Zhdanovyches were the descendants of Nogai Zhdan that came from the steppe, the Shahmantsers (probably the name originally was "Shahmansur") moved from Lithuania. The origins of some family names still require the research, for example, the Lominskies (probably came from Lomak), the Muhlinskies possibly came from Muheddin or Muhlio. Some Yusuf Muhlio was the mosque Imam in 1915. The family of Soltyk was notably big and could come from Soltykan, the son of Kanchim who lived in the first half of the XVI century. Later, by the end of the XVII century, the family grew so much as the people began to distinguish between "white" and "black" Soltyk. Today the surname of Soltyks is the most common surname of Tatars from Yuvkivtsi. Somewhere in the 50s of the XIX century, it seemed like someone from that family scribed "the hamayil of Yuvkivtsi" that was a prayer book, contained verses of Koran, prayers in Arabic, and its translations into spoken Ukrainian and Tatar languages (written with Arabic letters). Nowadays, descendants of Yuvkivtsi Tatars keep this unique document as a family heirloom.

The Milkomanovych is notable by the fact that its members were the imams of the local mosques in the middle of the XVII century. In particular, Ramazan Milkomanovych was the "Mullah of Ostroh" in 1669. Later some part of the family settled in Yuvkivtsi. The Gasanovych (Hasanovych, Asanović), which appeared in the sources of the XVIII century is also remarkable. At various times these families owned the land in Yuvkivtsi. In times of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, they represented some Tatar chorągiews (troops) during the service at princes of Ostroh and Radzivil.

It is interesting to follow the number of Yuvkivtsi Tatars that has been changing during the centuries. Luka Rafalskyy, the ethnographer, counted 90 Tatar men here in 1864-1865; in 1886 there lived 233 "Mohammedans", both men and women. In 1909, Zakaria Kazakevych, Tatar from Yuvkivtsi, wrote for Orenburg newspaper "Vakit" ("Time"), that about 300 Muslims lived in Yuvkivtsi, and, according to him, all of them had forgotten the Tatar language, and more often turned to Christianity because of lack of educated imams (Thank Tatar Refat Abduzhemilev for the translation of this letter – Mykhailo Yakubovych). The archival sources of 1911 recorded 340 Muslims in both Ostroh and Yuvkivtsi.

After the World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, the Muslim religious activities in Yuvkivtsi almost have not been mentioned. We only know that in 1942, the local population of Yuvkivtsi were deported by Nazis, who formed the German colony "Sun Valley" there. It is hard to say, whether all local population, who came through the war, returned home, but, according to the memories of ostarbeiteren Isid Zhdanovych, Tatars were deported along with Ukrainians and Polishes.

The history has preserved the names of some Yuvkivtsi Tatars. Akmalovych Kimal Yosypovych (born in 1896) was an officer in the imperial army, and later lived in Poltava region. In1938, he was repressed by NKVD. In 1956 NKVD rehabilitated him. Kozakiewicz Mustafa Zakariyevych (Zaharovych.) was born here, in Yuvkivtsi (1901 - 1969). He is graduated student of the Czech Polytechnic Institute, ethnographer, one of the most famous scholars of traditional housing and economic building in Polissya region. It is Mustafa Kozakiewicz that was the first who began to use the term "Ukrainian Polissya" in Soviet times, separating it from "Belarusian Polissya". Many people, who came from Yuvkivtsi, are living far away from home now, so it is difficult to follow their further ways.

A separate historical object is already mentioned cemetery of Yuvkivtsi. The earliest graves belong to the late nineteenth century; there are also burial places from earlier period. Interestingly, these old burial places distinguished from the current funeral ceremonies of Turkic peoples. Moreover, they are closer to the rituals of early Islamic period in many ways (which are currently practiced, for example in Saudi Arabia). The tomb looks just like a stone embankment, which is placed between two small stones at the both sides. The stones slightly differ against the background of the chernozem soil. They were brought specially for ceremonial purposes. Such graves demonstrate compliance with the relevant requirements of Sharia to the height of the grave, which later began being interpreted in some freer way. Thus, the tombstones of the twentieth century are already higher and have specific inscriptions in Arabic and Russian. There is a star (placed horizontally that is typical for Lipka Tatars) above carved crescent. Some stones have carved flowers. Almost all graves have the same Arabic inscriptions "Kalyam Sharif" ("noble word", i.e. Qur'an), hereinafter "Auzu bi-Llyahi mina ash-Shaitani r-Rajimi" ("Looking for the protection of God from Stone Shaitan"), "Bismillyahi Rahmani Rahim" ("In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful"), "La ilyaha Ilah Allahi, Muhammadan Rasulu Lla" ("There is no god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God "). The name of the deceased is indicated below. Dates of birth, death, and the inscription "Rest in peace" are going below the name. Almost the same tombstones are also situated in the Tatar cemeteries of Lithuania, Poland and Belarus. There are the graves of Tatars in the cemetery, who lived far from Yuvkivtsi (e.g. Tatars from Kovel). The inscription on one of the tombstone indicates "Mullah of Yuvkivtsi" is buried here, but his name is unreadable. The cemetery has been still functioning. The contemporaries are looking after it. It is the only such Muslim object in the region.

History of Yuvkivtsi needs to be scrutinized, especially the archival sources require deep search. But even those remained facts indicate that small in number, but very long Islamic presence in the region let us consider Islam as the traditional religion of Volyn along with Christianity and Judaism.

06/05/2016

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Is Mohammed bin Ali Al-Jandi the First Crimean Islamic Scholar?

Mykhaylo Yakubovych — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 12:27:09 +0000

Many scientists have tried to answer the question: when the first Muslims appeared on the territory of the Crimean Island. This question is not about individual faithful, who certainly could live in the Crimea already in the early Middle Ages, but it is about the larger Muslim communities that disposed of Islamic justice, mosques, cultural traditions. The famous legend says that it happened in the time of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And the documentary evidences indicated the first half of the XIII century, when the first mosque considered to be built in Kaffa (now Feodosia) that was captured by the Seljuks in 1221. Already in the second half of the same century, in 1288, a mosque was built in Solhat (now Staryi Krym), according to the order of Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Zahir ad-Din Baibars, who supposedly was the Crimean by descent. But the "mass" Islamization, it means when Islam became the official religion, began only after enthronement of Golden Horde Khan, Muhammad Uzbek (1313/1314 years). As we know from the story of Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited the Crimea in May 1334, there already were sharia judge (according to madhhabs of Abu Hanifa and al-Shāfiʿī), mosques, a lot of Sufi sheikhs’ "monasteries", and madrassas. It means that there was the extensive religious infrastructure in the Crimea.

However, we know not so much about the previous XIII century. According to the number of Crimean Tatar researchers, a Turkic poem "Kyssa i-Yusuf," was written by local author, Mahmoud Kırımlı, in 1220's. The first religious work (which described the Islamic doctrine) is the well-known "Kalandar-name"by Abu Bakr Kalandar written in Persian in 1320's. However, Abu Bakr Kalandar wasn’t from the Crimea, but from Anatolia; the only copy of work was found in 1966 in Namangan (Uzbekistan), but its thorough research has been started just recently, due to the facsimile edition (Kazan, 2015). Available and partial translations have been published in “Golden Horde Rewiev”.

In the same XIV century also lived two authors: Diya ad-Din al-Qirimi (d. 1379) and Rukn ad-Din al-Qirimi (d. 1382). The first came from Qazvin (now Iran), lived in the Crimea, and later moved to Egypt. At least one of his works has remained. It is his compendium of work by theologian and lawyer Al Baydavi "Method of understanding the fundamentals of law" that is available for study in the library of Al Halidiya in the Israeli part of Jerusalem. The second author, Rukn ad-Din al-Qirimi, is a Crimean by descent and supposedly was working there as a judge; later he moved to Egypt, and left behind several works, among those is the extant interpretation of verse "Yusuf" (the only known copy is kept in the library of King Abd al-Aziz in Medina, Saudi Arabia).

There is also one more very interesting manuscript that has remained to nowadays. According to precise date and documented author’s relation to the Crimea, this document is considered to be the first Arabic religious text, rewritten by inhabitant of the Crimea. It is a manuscript, which is a copy of a famous hadith collection “Dzamiy as-Sahih” by Muslim al-Qushayrī. It is kept in the National Library of Israel (Jerusalem) under the designation Ms. Yah. Ar. 103. This work along with a collection of al-Bukhari is the most significant text of Sunnah. There are thousands of manuscripts of this work. It was printed and translated for 10 times, but this copy is interesting because it was rewritten by the Crimean author. The last page of the manuscript has the inscription: "The book has been completed... by the hand of the weakest and the neediest servant of Almighty Allah, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman al-Jandi by birth, Al Qirimi by origin, on the fourth day ...of the blessed month Shaaban of 711 A.H., near the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in the Andalusian monastery ". So we have the clearly stated date that is 4 Shaaban 711 year, ie December 15, 1311 according to the Gregorian calendar. Even these few lines let us track author’s way of life.

So, this Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman came from the city of Jand (Jend). This city is mentioned by many Arab geographers (eg “mu'jam al-buldān” written by Yaqut al-Hamawi in 1220's, contains the article about it) and it was located in the southern part of modern Kazakhstan. Formerly, it was the center of Kipchak association; even the Aral Sea was called "Sea of Jend". According to the historian Rashid ad-Din, Mongols captured, looted and devastated Jend in April 1220. However, the city was easily reborn as not political but commercial centre. The city had long-standing scientific and religious traditions: For example, a scholar and a poet Yakub bin Shirin Al Jandi (XII century) and Sufi Muyid al-Din al-Jandi (d. 1292), a student and commentator of Ibn Arabi’s works, were born there.

Probably, the invasion of Genghis Khan forced many scientists to leave Jend and somehow Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman came to the Crimea. A clear indication of “Al Qirimi al-Mansha-an” ("Al Qirim by origin") proves that the author grew and developed as a scientist in the Crimea. It is significant that, despite living in Damascus, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman didn’t add toponomic surname Al-Dimashki ("from Damascus") to his name, so he considered the Crimea to be his native country, by which other scientists could recognize him. At the turn of XIII-XIV centuries, Crimea became a refuge for scientists from Central Asia, Persia and other regions. They fled from military actions, epidemics of plague and due to other reasons. Such situation favoured the emerging of scientific links. In the second half of the XIII century, an Islamic education already existed in the Crimea that was long before well-known madrassas. Unfortunately, we do not expose any information about teachers or other details of life of Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman in the Crimea but there is no doubt that he had been living there for a very long time before he moved to Damascus.

For some reasons, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman moved to Damascus, perhaps in order to continue his education. The "Andalusian monastery", mentioned by him, was not far from the famous Damascus Umayyad mosque. It was built about 1242 by order of Abu Abdullah Muhammad Al-Andalus, but unfortunately, it has not survived. This Sufi institution served as madrasa, place for public prayers and residence for scholars. It was famous for its sheikhs. According to the historian Ibn Kasira, Shafi'i hadith expert Amin ad-Din al-Ashtar al-Halabbi (d. 1282) taught there and he was highly appreciated by Muhi ad-Din al-Navavi, the author of "The Gardens of the Righteous ". Iraqi Sufi Muammar ibn al Fahir Al Wasiti (d. 1299) also lived there. In the following XIV century, according to Ibn Qadi Shuhba, "Sheikh of Damascus grammarians" Shihab ad- Din al-Utabi (d. 1375) spent the last years of his life at the "Andalusian monastery". He was a pupil of the famous interpreter of the Koran, Hayan Abu al-Andalus. We can suppose that Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman al-Qirimi, like his contemporaries, also was not just a copyist. Most likely, some sheikh of the monastery was his teacher, perhaps, the same Amin ad-Din al-Halabbi.

The copying of the whole Sunnah was a very responsible work, obviously, only a person, who had special background of hadith studies, was able to do that. Unfortunately, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman al-Qirimi was not mentioned in the known biographical sources. Although there were scientists, who had the toponymic name Al Qirimi, in Damascus in the next IX century AH (XV AD), according to known historian Shams ad-Din as-Sahawi, who lived at those times. Some of them could be descendants of Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman.

It is hardly to track where the manuscript were during these centuries, but the inscription on the margins shows that a certain Nur ad-Din was reading this book during some meeting (Majlis) in 1007 AH (1599 AD). Also there is an Ottoman illegible stamp on the page, which only indicates a year — 111(?), it means the time between 1698 and 1708 years. Probably, it had been keeping in Damascus before the famous linguist and collector Abraham Yehuda (1877-1951) found it. He left behind a huge collection of Arabic manuscripts. Part of this collection is kept in the National Library of Israel now, another part is in the library at Princeton University (USA).

The value of the manuscript, written by Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman al-Qirimi, is hard to overstate. This is the first known Arabic text, rewritten by the author, who related directly to the Crimea. Although this is just a copy of another work, the age of the document allows us to revise established views on Islam in Crimea, confirming the significant level of science before the Golden Horde Islamization, namely in the second half of XIIII century. We hope the new findings will give us a deeper insight into this exciting time.

15/08/2016

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The Mosques of the Southern Region of Ukraine in the Historical Documents and the Descriptions Made by Travelers

О. Степанченко — Mon, 30 May 2016 09:59:36 +0000

If somebody makes the list of mosques that existed in the southern regions of Ukraine, no doubt that it will include more than one thousand Muslim religious places. Most of them were destroyed in the Russian-Turkish wars and the following annexation of territories that previously belonged to the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire.

At the time when Russian troops captured the Crimea in 1783, according to the archival documents, there were more than 1660 mosques on the peninsula. But after a few decades, the number started to decline rapidly. After the defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, Russian government began a policy of repression against Crimean Tatar population. During the period 1860 — 1862, about 200 thousand Tatars were forced to leave the Crimea. As a result over 700 villages had been abandoned, some of which were subsequently settled by colonists came from the central provinces of Russia. By 1889, the number of mosques reduced to 737 and by 1921 only 632 mosques left, no more than 10% of which are extant.

For the first time, it was known about the building of the mosque in the south of Ukraine due to the work "Selçuk-name", which reported the campaign of Emir Hussam al-Din Chupan in Sudak. As a result of the successful campaign, Seljuks built the Muslim temple in the captured city. The triumph of the winners is described in the chronicle of Seljuks in high-flown manner: "The troops put on gala uniform. Also the richly decorated minbar was prepared; the main emir put the golden platter with the Holy Koran on the head, and took sultanic standard in his hand. So they entered the city in a grand manner. At the upland of the city, the muezzin called to pray... and a beautiful cathedral mosque was built in less than two weeks."

Probably, Seljuks' mosque was the only Muslim place of worship on the peninsula until 1314, when Khan of the Golden Horde, Uzbek, ordered to build the famous temple in the Old Crimea, which has remained to this day.

In addition to the Crimea, in the interfluve of the Danube and the Don, hundreds of Muslim places of worship were built, after Islam had become the state religion of the Golden Horde.

In 1542, the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, wrote in the letter to the Polish King, Sigismund the Old, arguing his claims on the land of the Northern Black Sea Coast, the following: "There are a lot of Muslim graves and mosques on those territories ... signs have not yet disappeared." A little later, Crimean Khan Sahib Giray I in his correspondence with the Lithuanian Grand Duke's court said: "Those lands... on the rivers Bug and the Blue Waters: Yarkgumakly Yan kgilungu" belonged to the Crimea "there were the proofs of that...".

In the village Mayaky (Odesa Oblast), which still exists today, Tatar mosque was situated from the earliest times. In the "chronological and historical description of churches under the eparchies of Kherson and Taurida regions", it is said: "Russians, who were of the chasovennaya sect (one of the confessions of Bespopovtsy or old believers), settled there, and built a chapel of stones ... taken from Tatar mosques and other ruins of Muslim buildings."

The report of Turkish historian-chronicler Ibrahim Peçevi shows the great number of Muslim population in the south of Ukraine in the early Middle Ages: "In the 1027 Anno Hijri (1618 AD) I has had an occasion to travel in the direction of Akkerman and Bender. Just in front of Bender were the ruins of a building with a lot of arches. There were the words, written with clear handwriting, near the entrance: This is the grave of Shirin ...; the rest of the inscription has been lost. Even now, on the plains of Ochakiv, you can see the traces of several cemeteries. The Koranic verses were engraved on some cemeterial stones as well as the words of confession (shahada); on the other stones you can see the inscriptions such as: Here lies a certain sheikh-ul-Islam, or sheikh, or mufti, or vizier, or mirza."

Dated to the beginning of the XVI century, Polish document from archive of Zamoyski family gives the unique information about numerous Muslim monuments, including mausoleums and mosques in the Bug-Dniester and the Dnieper-Bug interfluves. "From Tiahyn is half a day (journey) towards Kuchurgan, below Tiahyn is a mosque. After a one day journey from that Kuchurgan, also there is a mosque in Karagash. As well as a one day journey from Karagash to Kuyalnyk and you will see a mosque. From Kuyalnik two days journey to the Bug and Pischtschanyi Brid, where two mosques are situated. There is a mosque on the river Suhyi Chartali, where it flows into the Bug. The distance from Pischtschanyi Brid to Vytautas Bridge is six mile; the mosque is also situated there."

After joining of the South Ukrainian lands the Ottoman Empire and Crimean Khanate, a new period of active construction of Muslim places of worship began. Most mosques have been built in major cities: Kiliya, Izmail, Akkerman, Ochakiv.

The historian, lived in the middle of the XVIII century, S. Myshetsky, argued that "on the River Bug, at 200 miles distance from the liman, was a great city, called Chychykliya, where many mosques were; it had been built and destroyed by Turks."

In the description of Ochakiv steppe made by the engineer François de Wollant at the end of the XVIII century, we can find the record of the ruins of the mosque in the village of Ak-Mechet' (modern Akmechetka, Mykolaiv Oblast).

Due to the description of the traveler J. Romm, who visited Karasubazar (the Crimea) in 1786, it is possible to learn how the mosques, which have been lost, looked like. "The mosque is square. The elevation is full-width above the entrance into it. There are two large windows on the opposite wall, the shutters of which were closed from the outside, so the mosque was illuminated only with small windows at the top. Beside the large windows, at the corners, there were the rostrum on the one hand, and the reading stand on the other. Three chandeliers hung from the ceiling, consisting of several glasses that seemed to play the role of lamps, but they were not lighted up ... At the other mosque, the names of God, Mohammed and several other prophets are inscribed above the niche where the Koran is placed. This custom — to write the names of those, whom the believers offer up their prayers or worship, it seems to me, is not worse than the iconic images that adorn the other temples. "

The numerous evidences of historians and travelers say that for several hundred years, from the XIV century to the beginning of the XIX century, the southern Ukrainian lands were the territory of Islam. "Sudden" disappearance of entire cities, mosques, mausoleums, cemeteries was not the result of natural disasters or military actions, but was purposeful policy of the Russian Empire for the depopulation of the Muslim peoples of the Northern Black Sea territories and the destruction of their material culture.

You can find the other materials about "History of Islam in Ukraine" by clicking the following reference.

Olexander Stepanchenko specially for "Islam in Ukraine"

27/05/2016

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Which way Crimean-Tatars fought against Napoleon’s Army

О. Степанченко — Wed, 04 May 2016 07:46:58 +0000

In 1812, Napoleon's expansion in Europe led to the next round of Franco-Russian confrontation. On June 12, the Grand Army began crossing of the border river Neman, entered the Russian Empire. It was clear from the very beginning of the war that the French Emperor planned not only to expand his affected zone, but also to get the major concessions from Russia, including territories.

The four cavalry regiments of Crimean Tatars actively fought in the War of 1812 and in the following campaigns in Europe. This regiment was formed by decree of Emperor Alexander I in 1807.The payroll of the officers has been preserved (made in 1808).

Simferopol Regiment:

The commander: Major Kaya bey Balatukov.

Yesauls (Cossack units): Muratsha mirza Shirinskiy, Mustafa mirza, Maksut Bey Biyarslanov, Sefergazy Bey, Abdureim Celebi Ilyasov the 1st.

Sotniks( commander of hundred men ): Murad mirza, Osman Celebi Ilyasov the 2nd, Adilsha mirza, Agi mirza, Permambet Ağa.

Khorunzhyi (Standard-bearers, junior commissioned rank in the Cossack cavalry): Majid ağa, Seit ağa, Ermambet ağa Dzhaminskiy, Osman Ali.

Perekop Regiment:

The commander: Major Ahmed bey Hunkalov the 1st.

Yesauls: Selyamet bey Hunkalov 2nd, Mengli Giray mirza Shirinskiy, Batyr mirza Uzdemnikov 1st, Yahya mirza, Ak Bochala mirza.

Sotniks: Selyamet mirza Hunkalov the 3rd, Batyr Giray Sultan, Hassan mirza Uzdemnikov 2nd, Mustafa mirza Kantakuzen’, Qasim mirza Karashay.

Khorunzhyi: Boisa Ağa, Kaichy ağa, Memedlya mirza Ali, Kendzhamet Ali.

Yevpatoriya Regiment:

The commander: Captain Abdullah ağa Mamayskiy.

Yesauls: Qasim mirza Mansurskyy, Mustafa mirza, Fetlya mirza, Amet mirza Dzhaminskyy, Sadiq ağa Kuntuhanskiy.

Sotniks: Adilsha mirza Karahutskyy, Temirsha mirza Bulgak, Sartlan Karakipchak mirza, Murad mirza, Temir mirza Dzhazherberdynskiy.

Khorunzhyi: Bore-Akay, Ablay Akay Dzhiyenhazy, Omar Beck, Seit Selamet.

Feodosia Regiment:

The commander: Lieutenant Ali mirza Shirinskiy.

Yesauls: Memetsha mirza Shirinskiy the 2nd, Dzhiyenhazy mirza Niyazov, Agi Giray mirza Shirinskiy, Kurt bey Sedzheutskiy, Yah'ya ağa Seydametov.

Sotniks: Abdul Kadyr ağa, Batyrsha mirza Kemelchynskyy, Seid Ali ağa, Kaya mirza Shirinskiy the 4th, Seit Tehmetov.

Khorunzhyi: Seit Omerov, Petlya ağa Omerov, Veli Chaush Aliyev, Jalal Mustafa, Syin Suleiman.

Before the War of 1812, the regiments of Perekopsk and Simferopol were part of Ataman Matvei Platov’s cossack corps. With the beginning of military operations, the Tatar military were assigned to cover the retreat of General Bagration’s army. The first major battle, in which Perekopsk and Simferopol regiments participated, was held at Navahrudak, on June 27-28. In that battle, the Crimean Tatars faced the 5th Polish Corps under the command of General Jozef Poniatowski, which was part of Napoleon's army. As a result of the battle, the enemy’s attack was repulsed, Crimeans celebrated their first success.

During the further retreat to Moscow, the Crimean Tatar regiments repeatedly distinguished themselves in the battles of Grodno, Mogilev and Smolensk. They played an important role in the Battle of Borodino, participating in a swift raid of Platov’s cavalry against the left flank of the French. Subsequently, all four Crimean Tatar regiments took an active part in the European campaign, having finished its battle way in France.

Among Crimean Tatars, officers-participants in the military campaigns of 1812-1814, Knyaz Kaya Balatukov, the commander of the Simferopol regiment, is of particular interest. He was descended from the old Crimean clan. He was well educated, had a good command of French, Greek and Russian as well as his native language. He knew history, geography, algebra and physics also very well. Balatukov enlisted in the military service in 1793. He was the lieutenant colonel when the war began in 1812. He distinguished himself in the several battles, including battles of Borodino and of Tarutino. In December 1812, he was awarded with the Order of St. George of the IV degree. During the war Balatukov was decorated with five orders.

In 1813, the Simferopol regiment reinforced the corps, commanded by General Wittgenstein P.. In the ranks of its sub-unit, Balatukov fought in Poland, Prussia and France. Knyaz Balutukov was promoted to the major general for his displaying of courage in the capture of Danzig. After the Napoleon's armies were defeated in 1814, Crimean Tatar regiments were disbanded. Only one squadron of the Guards was retained for serving in St. Petersburg.

Tartars served not only on the side of the Russian Empire. They also were in the ranks of Napoleon's army. It is about Lithuanian Tatars ( Lipka Tatars), the descendants of the soldiers’ class, which began to settle in Lithuania, Poland and Belarus in the late XIV century. After Napoleon entered the territory of Lithuania in June of 1812, Polish General Sokolnicki M. addressed the letter to the Emperor with the offer to form the regiment of Lithuanian Tatars. In particular he wrote: "Their honesty as well as their courage were tested, and they are eager to serve to the country, which became their homeland for five hundred years ago."

The squadron was formed in October and accepted the first battle in December 1812, which could be the last. At the defense of Wilno, the squadron, which numbered 122 people, lost 98 people with killed and wounded. Among the dead were the commander Mustafa Mirza Akhmatovich. After that fight, the remnants of the formation retreated to the West together with the army of Napoleon.

The new commander of Lithuanian Tatars, Captain Samuel Mirza Ulan made truly heroic efforts to restore the combat capability of his detachment. But in the course of further battles, its number was getting smaller and smaller. By the time of the capitulation of France, only 14 of Lithuanian Tatars left in the rank, led by their commander. After the war they returned to their homeland.

You can find the other materials about "History of Islam in Ukraine" by clicking the following reference.

Olexander Stepanchenko specially for "Islam in Ukraine"

01/04/2016

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How did the Burial Places of Muslim Soldiers Appear in Galicia

О. Степанченко — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 08:14:29 +0000

On November 2, 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Before that, the state had already experienced three military campaigns (the Italo-Turkish War, 1911-1912, and the two Balkan Wars, 1912-1913), two of which ended for the Ottoman Empire with a heavy defeat and loss of large areas in Europe and North Africa.

During the period 1914-1915, Turkish troops had to fight on the five fronts at once: the Balkans, the Caucasus, Persia, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Egypt. On the Caucasian front, they suffered the number of the painful defeats from the Russian army, but at the same time successfully repelled the attack of British and French troops in Gallipoli.

In 1916, the South-Western Front of World War I was on the territory of Ukraine: in Halychyna and Volyn. On April 1, 1916 in the General Headquarters of the Russian troops, the commanders of all fronts took the briefing, during which they fixed the term of the summer offensive. The commander of the South-Western Front, General Brusilov A. offered to attack at the direction of Lutsk with the forces of the 8th army. That sector became a major in the military campaign of 1916 in the East.

Before starting the offensive, Brusilov managed to have the two-three-fold superiority in manpower on the breakthrough territory; in addition, the powerful artillery attacks struck the whole front of Austro-Hungarian and German forces. During the offensive, most of the forces of the Central Powers, which located before the South-Western Front, were defeated. Only captives were for about 400 thousand people.

Under these conditions, Germany and Austria-Hungary asked the Ottoman government to send aid immediately. Turkish commanders decided to redeploy the 15th corps (The commander of which was Miralay Yakup Şevki Bey) from the area of Gallipoli to the Russian-Austrian front. The Corps included the 19th and 20th divisions.

Before the redeployment, the corps was reinforced with crew, weapons and uniforms that were taken from the other regiments of the Turkish army. The corps route ran across the territory of Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.

On August 5, the troops arrived to the front to the subordination of Lieutenant General von Bothmer. They received the front sector in the river Zolota Lypa, southwest from Berezhany. The immediate neighbors of Turkish soldiers were units of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (USR). According to Gnatevych B. memories, "the Turkish army was very brave, and its officers, trained by Germans, were cultured Europeans."

Russians redeployed the 3rd Turkestan division against the 15th Corps on that front, hoping that the Turks would not fight against fellow Muslims, and begin to desert en masse. But it had quite the opposite effect — the inhabitants of Central Asia, dressed in Russian military uniform, joined the Turkish troops’ side with whole units.

During the first month of the battle, the 15th Corps lost 7,000 soldiers and 95 officers. In late October, at the Turkish soldiers sector, the battles became fierce, even the opponents met in hand-to-hand fight. Since November 1916, the intensity of the battles began to gradually decline in the South-Western Front. The Ottoman forces performed its task. In November, Cevat Pasha replaced Yakup Sevki Bey on the post of the commander.

In early 1917, the corps was reinforced with specially trained soldiers. According to American historian, Edward Erickson, the corps numbered 27031 people in January 1917. During that period, there were no active hostilities on the front, so the loss of Turkish troops was quite small. But, in June 1917, the Russian command began a new offensive. The artillery strike hit the 20th division of the 15th corps. The 43 thousand shells struck its position in a few hours.

July 1, the ottoman corps was subjected to a gas attack that became a serious challenge even for experienced soldiers. The High Command of the Russian army committed another reserves to the battle — forces from Siberia and Finland. But Turkish soldiers held positions, repulsed all the attacks. Loss of Russian troops on the area, defended with the 15th corps, reached into 13 thousand killed and wounded men.

After July 11, the coming rush of Russians became less intense. July 12, Turks counterattacked, closing the river Zbruch. By early August, the lull was all along the front-line.

The revolutionary storm of 1917 corruptively affected the Russian army. The anti-war mood was being intensified in troops; the number of deserters was growing continuously. In the fall, Russia's defeat was unavoidable.

Because of difficult situation of the Ottoman army on the Egyptian front, the command decided to redeploy the 15 Corps to the Middle East. In September 1917, the last units of the Turkish troops left Ukraine.

Killed on the battlefield of Halychyna, the Ottoman soldiers and officers were usually buried close to the front line. However, a lot of military personnel died in the hospitals of Budapest, Krakow, Vienna, Lviv. For example, there were 480 soldiers and officers of the 15th Corps, buried in the Turkish memorial cemetery of Budapest. Among the dead were not only Turks, but also Arabs and Kurds.

From August 1916 to August 1917, the 15th ottoman corps lost for about 25 thousand people in total, during the battles against Russian forces. On the territory of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast’ there are at least six cemeteries of the Ottoman army soldiers. Among them, there is an officer cemetery in Gutysko village.

Until 1939, all places of graves of Turkish soldiers were being maintained in proper condition. But after the arrival of Soviet power, many cemeteries were destroyed or abandoned, and only after 2000s, some of them were restored thanks to the financial support of the Turkish government.

You can find the other materials about "History of Islam in Ukraine" by clicking the following reference.

Olexander Stepanchenko specially for "Islam in Ukraine"

05/04/2016

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