Karaimai 1764-1765 m. visuotiniame Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės žydų surašyme : šaltiniai ir jų tyrimo galimybės

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: 1764-1765 m. žydų surašymas; Karaimai; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); 18 amžius; Žydai; Jewish census of 1764-1765; Jews; Karaites; Lithuanian XVIII c. history; The Grand Duchy of Lithuania; The Great Duchy of Lithuania.

ENThe sources of the general Jewish census, pursued in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) in 1764-1765, which in historiography has been subjected to rather fragmented analysis and only when it comes to the history of Rabbanite Jews, provides unique knowledge of the size, demographic and to some extent even social characteristics of the Karaite community. The research revealed that already prior to the census, the Karaite community was not particularly numerous. Comparison of the number of Karaites in the late 17th century and that indicated in the census data suggests that the community decreased by about 40 per cent, though in the long term perspective the decrease did not result in the disappearance of Karaites in the GDL. On the contrary, the tendency in the two Karaite centres, namely Trakai and Nowe Miasto, was an increase in population, probably at the expense of decreasing relocation of community members to smaller sub-kahals and their subsequent continuous decline. Analysis of the nominal lists of the Karaite minority drawn up by those conducting the census of 1764-1765 revealed the key characteristic features of the community, including disproportion in the numbers of men and women, and the disposition of childless families to settle down in urban areas, both determined by marital and professional mobility; stronger stratification of social groups conditioned by the growing economic competition with Rabbanite Jews, as well as the decline and disappearance of small sub-kahals, which led to the concentration of Karaites in the major communal centres on the one hand, and stronger diversification of their economic activities, which helped reduce internal competition on the livelihood on the other. [From the publication]

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