Crimean Karaites

Crimean Karaites or simply Karaites (Crimean Karaim: Кърымкъарайлар, Qrımqaraylar, singular къарай, qaray; Trakai dialect: karajlar, singular karaj; Crimean Tatar: Qaraylar), also known more broadly as Eastern European Karaites, are a traditionally Turkic-speaking Judaic ethnoreligious group native to Crimea. Nowadays, most Karaim in Eastern Europe speak the dominant local language of their respective regions.

The Karaite religion, known in Eastern Europe as Karaism, split from mainstream Rabbinical Judaism in the 19th and 20th centuries, though differences date back to the 12th century. They have lived alongside Krymchaks. Most Karaites in the region do not consider themselves to be Jews, associating the ethnonym with Rabbinical Jews alone, but rather consider themselves to be descendants of the Khazars, non-Rabbinical Judeans, or other Turkic peoples.

Research into the origins of the Karaites indicates they are of ethnic Jewish origin and are genetically closely related to other Jewish diaspora groups. Some researchers believe they originated in Constantinople and later settled in the Byzantine Principality of Theodoro.

A closely related group, the Slavic Karaites, were formally accepted into the Karaite ethnoreligious community of Crimea after the deposition of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917. They are descendants of ethnic Russian Subbotniks. However, most Slavs claiming to be Karaites in Eastern Europe are not members of the Karaite ethnoreligious community, and are not accepted as legitimate Karaites.