by the Scythians during the 7th century B.C. A remnant, who took refuge in the mountains, became known subsequently as the Tauri. In that same century Greek colonists began to settle on the coasts, e.g. Dorians from Heraclea at Chersonesus, and Ionians from Miletus at Theodosia and Panticapaeum (also called Bosporus). Two centuries later (438 B.C.) the archon or ruler of the last-named assumed the title of king of Bosporus, a state which maintained close relations with Athens, supplying that city with wheat and other commodities. The last of these kings, Paerisades V., being hard pressed by the Scythians, put himself under the protection of Mithradates VI., king of Pontus, in 114 B.C. After the death of this latter sovereign his son Pharnaces, as a reward for assistance rendered to the Romans in their war against his father, was (63 B.C.) invested by Pompey with the kingdom of Bosporus. In 15 B.C. it was once more restored to the king of Pontus, but henceforward ranked as a tributary state of Rome. During the succeeding centuries the Crimea was overrun or occupied successively by the Goths (A.D. 250), the Huns (376), the Khazars (8th century), the Byzantine Greeks (1016), the Kipchaks (1050), and the Mongols (1237). In the 13th century the Genoese destroyed or seized the settlements which their rivals the Venetians had made on the Crimean coasts, and established themselves at Eupatoria, Cembalo (Balaklava), Soldaia (Sudak), and Kaffa (Theodosia), flourishing trading towns, which existed down to the conquest of the peninsula by the Ottoman Turks in 1475. Meanwhile the Tatars had got a firm footing in the northern and central parts of the peninsula as early as the 13th century, and after the destruction of the Golden Horde by Tamerlane they founded an independent khanate under a descendant of Jenghiz Khan, who is known as Hadji Ghirai. He and his successors reigned first at Solkhat (Eski-krym), and from the beginning of the 15th century at Bakhchi-sarai. But from 1478 they ruled as tributary princes of the Ottoman empire down to 1777, when having been defeated by Suvarov they became dependent upon Russia, and finally in 1783 the whole of the Crimea was annexed to the Russian empire. Since that date the only important phase of its history has been the Crimean War of 1854–56, which is treated of under a separate article. At various times, e.g. after the acquisition by Russia, after the Crimean War of 1854–56, and in the first years of the 20th century, the Tatars emigrated in large numbers to the Ottoman empire.
See Antiquités du Bosphore cimmérien (3 vols., St Petersburg, 1854); C. Bossoll, The Beautiful Scenery of the Crimea (52 large drawings, London, 1855–1856); P. Brunn, Notices hist. et topogr. concernant les colonies italiennes en Gazarie (St Petersburg, 1866); J. B. Telfer, The Crimea and Transcaucasia (2 vols., London, 2nd ed., 1877); F. Remy, Die Krim in ethnographischer, landschaftlicher und hygienischer Beziehung (Leipzig, 1872); Joseph, Baron von Hammer-Purgstall, Geschichte der Chane der Krim unter osmanischer Herrschaft (Vienna, 1856); M. G. Canale, Della Crimea e dei suoi dominatori dalle sue origini fino al trattato di Parigi (3 vols., Genoa, 1855–1856); and Sir Evelyn Wood, The Crimea in 1854 and 1894 (London, 1895). (See also Bosporus Cimmerius.) (P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)
CRIMEAN WAR. The war of 1853–56, usually known by
this name, arose from causes the discussion of which will be
found under the heading Turkey: History. When Turkey,
after a period of irregular fighting, declared war on Russia in
October 1853, Great Britain and France (subsequently assisted
by Sardinia) intervened in the quarrel. At first this intervention
was represented merely by the presence of an allied squadron
in the Bosporus, but the storm of indignation aroused in Great
Britain and France by the destruction of the Turkish fleet at
Sinope (30th November) soon impelled these powers to more
active measures. On the 27th of January 1854 they declared
war on the tsar, and prepared to carry their armaments to the
Danube. In this, the main, theatre of war, the Turks had
hitherto proved quite capable of holding their own. The
Russian commander, Prince Michael Gorchakov, had crossed
the Pruth with two corps early in July 1853, and had overrun
Moldavia and Wallachia without difficulty. Omar Pasha,
however, disposing of superior forces, was able to check any
further advance. During October, November and December
the Turks won a succession of actions, of which that at Oltenitza
(Nov. 4th) may be particularly mentioned, and a little later
Gorchakov found himself compelled to fight at Cetatea (Tchetati)
before reinforcements could come up. The defeat he sustained
was for the time being decisive (6th Jan. 1854). Three months
later, the Russians, now under command of the veteran Prince
Paskievich, took the offensive in great force. Crossing the
Danube near its mouth at Galatz and Braila, they advanced
through the Dobrudja and closed upon the fortress of Silistria,
which offered a strong and steady resistance, with an effect all
the greater as the Turks from the side of Shumla, now supported
by the leading British and French brigades at Varna, prevented
a close investment. The Turks, however, avoided a decisive
encounter, and the stormers stood ready in the trenches before
Silistria, when the siege was suddenly raised. The decision had
passed into other hands. The tsar had learned that the Austrian
army of observation in Transylvania, 50,000 strong under
Feldzeugmeister Hess, was about to enforce the wishes of the
“Four Powers.” The Russian offensive was at an end, the
army hastily fell back, and on the 2nd of August 1854 the last
man recrossed the Pruth. The principalities were at once
occupied by Hess.
The Invasion of the Crimea.—The primary object of the war had thus easily been obtained. But Great Britain and France were by no means content with a triumph that left untouched the vast resources of an enemy who was certain to employ them at the next opportunity. The two nations felt that Sevastopol, the home of the Black Sea fleet, the port whence Admiral Nachimov had sailed for Sinope, must be crippled for some years at least, and as early as June 29th Lord Raglan and Marshal Saint Arnaud, the allied commanders of England and France, had received instructions to “concert measures for the siege of Sevastopol.” Dynastic considerations reinforced the arguments of policy and popular opinion in the case of France; in Great Britain soldier and civilian alike saw the menace of a Russian Mediterranean fleet in the unfinished forts and busy dockyards. The popular strategy for once coincided with the views of the responsible leaders. Yet there is no sign that either the commanders on the spot or their governments realized the magnitude of the undertaking. Few but the most urgently necessary preparations were made, and cholera, breaking out virulently amongst the French at this time, reduced the army
