“Old Quarters” of the Crimean Khans: The Domestic Historiography of Eski-Yurt

• Main Author: D.А. Lomakin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: State Institution «Sh.Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences» 2018-12-01
• Series: Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie
• Online Access: http://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2018-4-6/

The author reviews the history of research on the medieval settlement Eski-Yurt, located in the territory of the modern city of Bakhchisarai, identifying the main stages of its research and summarizing the progression of localization and identification of the monument in Russian historiography. The first attempts to preserve and protect architectural and archaeological objects were connected to the activities of the staff of the Central State Restoration Workshops, associated with the Bakhchisarai State Palace-Museum of Turkic-Tatar Culture, in the mid-1920s. The author describes the development of archaeological research of the site (expeditions led by A.S. Bashkirov and U.A. Bo­daninsky (1924), V.L. Myts (1991), S.V. Karlov (2005)). Objective: To accumulate, systematize and summarize the experience of researching the settlement of Eski-Yurt – possibly the largest Golden Horde center on the Crimean Peninsula after the decline of Solkhat’s role as an economic, military, cultural and, above all, administrative center, and the transfer of the capital to western Crimea. Research materials: Travel records of numerous voyagers who visited the Crimean Peninsula, both for personal purposes and in the call of duty (Martin Bronevsky, F. Dubois de Montpéreux, Jacob Lyzlov, P.S. Pallas, S.I. Tarbeev, Evliya Çelebi, and others); scientific developments brought about by Russian researchers in the field of monu­mentology of the Crimean peninsula of the Golden Horde period, particularly related to the study of the Eski-Yurt settlement (A.S. Bashkirov, U.A. Bodaninsky, P.I. Gollandsky, B.N. Zasypkin, A.A. Ivanov, S.V. Karlov, V.P. Kirilko and others). Archival materials from the Archives of the Monument Protection Department of the Bakhchisarai Historical and Cultural Archaeological Museum-Reserve (Bakhchisarai), of the Scientific Archives of the Institute of Archaeology of the Crimea, of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Simferopol), and of the Central State Archives of the city of Moscow. Results and novelty of the research: Three stages of the study of the site can be distinguished: 1. Late 18th – early 20th centuries: sketches in travel notes of the researcher-encyclopedists who frequently visited the Crimea after its accession to Russia (P.S. Pallas, F. Dubois de Montpéreux and others). The first scientific experience of the development of the site (A.F. Negri, V.D. Smirnov and others); 2. The 1920s: the beginnings of archaeo­logical research on the territory of the settlement (expedition of A.S. Bashkirov, U.A. Bodaninsky, 1924). Attempts to draw the attention of the authorities and the public to the problem of preserving cultural heritage sites at Eski-Yurt (activities of A.S. Bashkirov, U.A. Bodaninsky, P.I. Gollandsky, B.N. Zasypkin); 3. The last quarter of the 20th century – contemporary stage: the revival of scientific interest in the settlement (works of A.E. Gaivoronsky, A.A. Ivanov, V.P. Kirilko, O.M. Stoykova, M.M. Choref, etc.), and the continuation of archaeological research of the monument (expedition of S.V. Karlov, V.L. Myts). The placing of architectural and archaeological monuments of the settlement on the state record. The available material was systematized and summarized by the author who presented the architectural analysis of the monuments of the settlement. He analyzed the current state of objects of cultural heritage and pointed to the further need for the earliest possible archaeological study of the territory of the medieval settlement of Eski-Yurt.