Караїмська громада в Луцьку в останній третині XVIII століття

Abstract

The city of Lutsk, as the centre of the Volyn Voivodeship, was distinguished by a special national colour throughout the 18^th century. It was home to various national communities, among which the Karaite community stood out, who categorically denied being identified with representatives of the Jewish community. Based on descriptive and narrative sources, an attempt is made to reveal the numerical and professional composition of the Karaite community, which mostly lived compactly on Karaite Street in the city. The Karaite settlement for the period under study consisted of about two dozen households, including their own enterprises for the manufacture of products or the provision of services. Karaites owned about 4.5–5 % of all city real estate in the city of Lutsk. Karaites made up a similar percentage of the city’s residents. Lutsk Karaites maintained vineyards, a wax factory, brewed alcoholic beverages, engaged in crafts, actively traded silk, leather, horses, cattle, wax, and salt, were engaged in carting, traveled long distances, worked as translators from Turkish, etc. The Karaite community was characterized by a clear organization, headed by a chazan, and his deputy was a shkolnik. All urgent issues were resolved by the representatives of the starshyna. During the last third of the 18^th century, the Karaite community of the city of Lutsk demonstrated a slight negative population growth. Together, the entire Karaite community paid about 240 zlotys in rent annually in the 1760s–1780s, with separate payments made by winemakers for the production of alcoholic beverages. The Karaite rent included, among other things, a number of obligations that they performed for the benefit of the city. The issue of the Karaite rent to the city and state treasury was resolved within the community and implemented through the mediation of the city’s Jewish kahal. The Karaite community actively joined the process of equalizing the rights of the native townspeople of the Volyn Voivodeship, which became evidence of important transformations in the urban life of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The educational needs of the Karaites were met at the local Karaite school. The Kenasa in Lutsk served as a religious and educational centre, which preserved the ethnic foundations of the community and their culture, tradition, and identity. The list of Karaite settlements with the names of household owners in 1766 has been published for the first time, which will expand the possibilities of demographic, genealogical, or onomastic studies of the Volyn Voivodeship in the 18^th century.