ebooks The Crimean Tatars the Crimean Tatars: The Diaspora Experience and the Forging of a Nation the Diaspora Experience and the Forging of a Nation (Brill's Inner Asian Library) by Brian Williams (Hi in History

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Crimean TatarsBy BÜLENT TANATARWilliam’s book blending many sparse and in different languages sources asserts theses which deconstructs innumerable myths fabricated about the Crimean Tatars such as they descend directly from Mongolian origin; they are a foreign element occupying Crimea from only 13th century onwards; etc.Author emphasizing the determining importance of the roots deriving from the Ancient Greek; Scythian; Alanian; Ostrogothic; Kipchak-Turkic; Anatolian Seljukid; Pontic Greek; Genoese and Armenian origins during the longue duree before the Mongolian invasion over the gestation process of the burgeoning in the foothills of Yalyboyu (seaside) and Yayla Mountains of the settled-agricultural Crimean Tatar culture flowingly narrates the strong and original styled Tatarization process accompanying the gradual extinction of the nomadism in the age of Crimean Khanate in favor of sedentation and the extension of Ottoman influence via the southern port cities.Then; after revealing the elements of urban and rural civilization of Crimea he unbinds the results of the Russian occupation and annexion with the support of many foreign travelers’ narratives and Russian observers’ reports and highlights how Crimean Tatar peasant dispossessed; trampled in terms of faith; exposed as internal enemy at the crossroads peaking after the Crimean War complied to the call for Hijra to the White Soil.The desertification process of Crimea in the wake of great emigration does a stimulatory effect both on the Russian authorities and the leaders of Crimean Tatar notables; the atmosphere relatively turns mild; and the remnants hold on tighter to their community identity.The emergence of a leader like Ismail Mirza Gapsrinski triggers the process of awakening and the intellectual production in the triangle of Turkey-Romania-Crimea as the first circle and in inner Russia as the second circle at the late 19th and the beginning of 20th century ensures that a notion of territorial motherland imposes itself under the influence of Young Tatars movement led by Abdureshid Mediev; feeding up with new socio-economic developments and historical crossroads.While on one hand subsequent developments perpetuating diasporic identities and on the other hand creating the transformation of the elite nationalization process determined by the transition first to secularly defined ethno-cultural; after to ethno-political citizens led by Noman Chelebi Dzihan and Dzafer Seidamet from a peasant with ethno-religious identity to the mass nationalization led by Veli Ibrahimov in Soviet Crimea; the conception and practice of totalitarian Soviet socialism embanking between motherland and diasporas encouraged both of each to create its own tradition and led them more to diverge from each other.The narrative of exile and its results is the most sanguine chapter of the book. Here the author discusses first the Nazi occupation of Crimea and the subject of Crimean Tatar "treason" and demonstrates the groundlessness of these accusations based on the new deciphered historical sources and testimonies.Finally; heading towards the depiction of exile and after; he sums up how the Crimean Tatar national identity reached up a further integration with the mobilization around the issue of return to motherland without neglecting literary and artistic creativity. In the last chapter dealt with the return; he treats the difficulties of resettlement; the problems of national identity holding confronted in this chaotic environment following the Soviet turmoil without forgetting the Central Asian diaspora left behind.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Incredible journey into the fascinating history of the Crimea's original inhabitants. RivetingBy Stephen LeeWith all the recent headlines across the world this 500 page book which focuses on the history of the indigenous population of this often contested piece of real estate is going to be gaining a lot of attention. There are over a quarter of a million Mongol Crimean Tatars in the Crimea and they have experienced conquest and genocide at the hands of the Russians and Soviets. This ethnic group; the last Mongols of Europe; was conquered by imperial Russia in 1783 and horribly repressed. Then in 1944 Josef Stalin deported this entire ancient race whose roots in the Crimea go back to the Middle Ages; to Uzbekistan and other places in Soviet Central Asia. There one third of them died in an act of genocide. When the Soviet Union collapsed this scattered people returned to their beloved Crimean peninsula. There they face ongoing struggles as the peninsula's Russian population continues to repress them. The recent Russian invasion of their ancestral homeland on March 2; 2014 puts them once again in the Russians' cross-hairs. The quarter of a million Muslim Crimean Tatars will not accept their fate lying down should the Russians again try to repress them. This adds another dangerous current to the Crimea. This book is based on the author's fieldwork in the Crimea and in their places of exile. It is highly readable and written in popular prose. The author has photos from his journeys in the Crimea on his website at: brianglynwilliams.com It is a fascinating read accessible to scholars and novices alike.