Crimean Tatar subethnic groups

Crimean Tatars are a heterogenous ethnic group derived from the gradual merger of the different ethnic groups of Crimea. Contrary to the popular misconception and Soviet propaganda, they are not a diaspora of the Volga Tatars of Tatarstan, and the origins of the two groups are very different. The subethnic divisions of the Crimean Tatar people are tied to the three main environments of Crimea - the Steppe, the Mountains, and the Coastline. Over the centuries, many different ethnic groups living in Crimea including but not limited to Armenians, Circassians, Georgians, Goths, Greeks, and Italians underwent the process of Tatarization, adopting Crimean Tatar customs and language. Over time, the cultural and linguistic differences between different Tatarized peoples decreased, and gradually evolved into being the Tat subgroups of the Crimean Tatar people. Contrary to how Soviet propaganda depicted Crimean Tatars, the Crimean Tatars have only very minuscule traces of Altaic ancestry. Before the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, Soviet publications about Crimean Tatars would acknowledge the huge cultural and linguistic different between the Steppe Crimean Tatars of Northern Crimea and the Coastal Dwellers in Southern Crimea. In addition, Soviet anthropologists studying archeology centered on the pre-Islamic populations of Crimea, such as Boris Kuftin, noted that their descendants were found among the Crimean Tatars. After their deportation, the Soviet government switched to rewriting history and erasing their acknowledgement of Crimean Tatars deep roots in Crimea. The Steppe population is more linguistically, culturally, and genetically distinct from the Coastal and Mountain Tat subgroups. Historically Crimean Tatars of Romani descent were much more distinct from the Gadjo Crimean Tatar subethnic groups, over time the distinctions have decreased considerably. The Mountain and Southcoast Crimean Tatars are very culturally close and together made up approximately two-thirds of the general Crimean Tatar population in Crimea before they were deported. Historically, marriage between the different Steppe and Tat subgroups was rare. Government recognition Before the Deportation of the Crimean Tatars, academic literature about Crimean Tatars published by official state organs of the Soviet Union often compared the different subgroups and would mention them by name. However, after the deportation, the government took the position that Crimean Tatars were not composed of different subgroups but rather were a homogenous diaspora of the Volga Tatars. a theory that has since been refuted repeatedly. As of 2018, RIA Novosti, a media outlet wholly owned by the Russian government, currently officially acknowledges the existence of, and differences between, the different subethnic groups. ==Steppe==

Steppe Crimean Tatars are the descendants of the nomadic Turkic peoples and tribes that inhabited the Black Sea steppe, including those that were part of the Golden Horde, an integral part of the Crimean Tatar people. Steppe Crimean Tatars made up the vast majority of the army of the Crimean Khanate, although most Crimean Tatars are from the two Tat subgroups. However, Brian Glynn Williams postulates that Steppe Crimean Tatars adopted the name from Emir Nogay. Genetics , Stavropol Nogai outliers and Lipka Tatars. The Steppe Crimean Tatars are genetically closer to the Crimean mountain Tatars (d=0.22) than to the Nogays of the Caucasus (d=0.25), which is comparable to the genetic distance of the Steppe Crimean Tatars from the Southcoast Tatars (d=0.25). At the same time, the Steppe Crimean Tatars are significantly closer to other subethnic groups of the Crimean Tatars than to the Kazakhs (d=0.68) and Mongols (d=0.84), which contradicts Soviet propaganda that branded them as Mongol invaders. Among the Steppe Crimean Tatars, to a degree comparable to other subethnic groups, haplogroups R1a-M198 (steppe lines), R1b-M343, G2a, J2, predominate. They are widespread in Eastern Europe and among the Turkic peoples of Russia, including the Caucasus, and are practically not represented among the Mongolians. Thus, the results of the genetic study conducted by Anastasiya Agdzhoyan in the laboratory of genomic geography of the N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, disproves the hypotheses about the main origin of the gene pool of Crimean Tatars, including the Crimean Steppe Tatars, being from either from the Mongols or from Central Asian populations in general. The same study also rebutted the Soviet theory of origin from the Volga Tatars. Cuisine The Steppe Crimean Tatar diet consisted heavily of meat and grain. They switched from nomadic cattle breeding to sedentary agriculture in the 16th century. ==Mountain==

The Mountain Crimean Tatars, usually called Mountain Tats or even just Tats, and occasionally Hill Tatars are the largest subethnic group of the Crimean Tatars. They were known for building houses into the sides of mountains, such that they built only three walls with the mountain serving as one of the sides of the house. In the social hierarchy of the Crimean Khanate, Tats were below the Steppe Crimean Tatars, and their affairs were controlled by a minister called the Tat-ağası, which means "Lord of the Tats." Their ancestors began to adopt Islam when Turkic tribes arrived in the Crimean Highlands. As the Goths became more and more Tatarized, outsiders noticed they became indistinguishable from the other Turkic tribes in Crimea. ==Southcoast==

The Southcoast Crimean Tatars were the last of the Crimean Tatar subethnic groups to adopt Islam and retained many of their pre-Islamic Greek customs far longer than even the Mountain Tats. They traditionally inhabited a narrow strip of land on the southshore of Crimea. In contrast to the Steppe Crimean Tatars, who were skilled horseback riders, the Southcoast Crimean Tatars were rarely proficient at raiding and warfare on horses. In turn, Greek influence is very prominent in Yaliboylu culture. Their dialect belonged to the Oghuz language family and was very close to the Turkish language. Many Southcoast Tats were initially deported to Siberian regions of the USSR, where they lived until the special settler regime was lifted and they were allowed to live among other exiled Crimean Tatars in Uzbekistan. Cuisine Traditional trades among the Southcoast Crimean Tatars included fishing and cultivation of fruit trees. ==Romani Crimean Tatars==

While there is no exact consensus on the percentage or number of Crimean Tatars of Romani descent, the Crimean Roma are sometimes considered to the fourth main subethnic group of the Crimean Tatar people, with conservative estimates of their population being around 6,000 around the fall of the Soviet Union. Within the Crimean Roma community, there are subgroups, and clans within subgroups. They came to Crimea in several separate waves, and due to their Islamic faith they were able to assimilate quite well into the Crimean Tatar people. Trades While the Crimean Roma engaged in a variety of trades, including but not limited to basketweaving, blacksmithing, and grain hauling, they are particularly known for their contributions to Crimean Tatar music. Many of the most famous Crimean Tatar musicians are Romani. Tayfa The Tayfa are generally considered to be a separate group within the broader Crimean Roma community by anthropologists, although a growing number of academics contest the theory that they are of Romani origin but were mistaken for Romani people due to their dark complexion. Genetics No genetic studies have focused on the Crimean Roma, as genetic studies of Crimean Tatars focus on the three largest subethnic groups. The extreme degree of assimilation into the Crimean Tatar community by the Crimean Roma has been cited proof that Romani people are not genetically predisposed to crime as claimed by far-right politicians; ==Gallery==

File:Annotated page from medical journal article about tuberculosis in Crimean Tatars (102).png|A page from an article about tuberculosis rates in Crimea from a 1925 Soviet medical journal that mentions the three main subethnic groups of the Crimean Tatar people by name (underlined in red for emphasis). File:Excerpt from Soviet academic article about Crimean Tatar music, 1930.png|An excerpt from a 1930 academic article by Sergey Bugoslavsky about music in the Soviet Union that acknowledges the substantial differences between the Northern Steppe and Southcoast types of Crimean Tatars File:Типы степных крымских татар.jpeg|Illustration of Steppe Crimean Tatars in their traditional dress Горные и южнобережные крымские татары.jpg|Illustration of Mountain and Coastal Tat Crimean Tatars in their traditional dress File:Дети. Татары крымские. 1908 год.jpg|Photograph of Coastal Tat Crimean Tatar children in 1902 File:Ismail Gaspirali 2.jpg|Ismail Gaspirali, a prominent Yaliboylu Crimean Tatar enlightener File:Bekir Chobanzade during student years in Budapesht University.jpg|Bekir Çoban-zade, a prominent Steppe Crimean Tatar academic ==See also==