From: The Karaite Encyclopedia by Nathan Schur (Frankfurt, 1995)

Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and renamed Istanbul. For the next hundred years the Karaite centre there continued to flourish (Byzantium), mainly under the leadership of the Bashyazi family. But later the leadership of the Karaite world passed to the communities of the Crimea and of Eastern Europe. The congregation of Istanbul remained of secondary importance. In the early seventeenth century the Beghi family of Karaite scholars is worth mentioning there, and especially Moses ben Benjamin Beghi, Joseph ben Moses Beghi and Elijah Afida Beghi. Another member of the family, Samuel Beghi, served later as Hakham and met during the Passover of 1642 the pilgrim Samuel ben David. Further descriptions of the community were penned in 1654 by Moses Elijah ha-Levi (who attended a circumcision ceremony in the local synagogue) and in 1785 and 1786 by Beniarain ben Elijah (who spent there 150 days). In 1772 Simba ben Solomon from the Crimea became Hakham of Istanbul. A. Firkovich tried in 1831/2 to introduce to the worship in the local synagogue the use of the Crimean Turkish-Karaite dialect, but met such determined resistance, and such solid support for the local Graeco-Karaite dialect, that he had to desist. As a result of the "Uprising of the Felaheen" in 1834 nearly all the Karaites of Jerusalem moved to Istanbul. In 1839 the Scottish missionaries Bonar and McCheyne estimated the number of Karaite households at 100, all of whom lived in one quarter, in the suburb of Huskoy. They described a service in the local synagogue: "We again sailed up the Golden Horn to Huski, and soon reached the Karaite synagogue. The Jews were already met, in number about eighty persons. Their shoes were all piled up at the door and they themselves seated upon the ground ... All sat while reading their prayers, but when the Law was produced all stood up in token of reverence ... The rabbi ... referred ... to the wise provision of the Karaite Jews, that none be admitted into their communion, who have not passed through a probation of five years, during which time they are instructed and their manner of life watched." The missionaries were invited by the Hakham, Isaac Cohen, to his house, "a clean and airy habitation". He spoke fluent Hebrew and had translated the Pentateuch into Turkish. Many of the Karaites traded with Odessa. In 1856 L.A. Frankl estimated the number of Karaites there at 200-250 (50 households). He found the Karaite synagogue much cleaner than the Sephardi one, and the service conducted in eastern style, with the man who led the singing, touching his forehead to the ground. In 1900 Abdul Hamid II granted the Karaites the status of an independent religious sect, and its head was named "Djemaat Bashi" for "Istanbul and the Provinces". Late in the nineteenth century and early in the twentieth, the community of Istanbul was still regarded as possessing men of learning, and four of the Hakhamim of Cairo came from there.

Great conflagrations gutted Huskoy in 1756, 1883 and 1918, with disastrous results. The old Kol Kadosh Kushta synagogue was however reconstructed after 1918. During the nineteenth century, and especially after the Russian Revolution and World War II, the local community was joined by newcomers from Russia. The Karaites were merchants (especially of pearls), artisans (mostly goldsmiths) and clerks, but a few entered the liberal professions. In 1955 the Karaites numbered 350 persons. In the 1960's and 1970's the Karaites left the Haskoy quarter, and thus lost what little had been left of communal life. In 1982 only 150 were left. Some of them still spoke their Graeco-Karaite dialect, but communal life was nearly nonexistent, the old cemetery was abandoned, valuable manuscripts were sold or thrown away, and the synagogue was open only on Saturday.

Kol Kadosh Kushta

This is the old Karaite synagogue of Istanbul, in the Haskoy quarter. It was nearly destroyed in the conflagration of March 17th, 1918, but was reconstructed, and a wall was built around it. The Karaites left the Haskoy quarter in the 1960's and 1970's and when J. Elgamil visited Istanbul in 1977, and E. Trevisan-Semi in 1982, the synagogue was rarely used, but still owned by the local congregation.

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For more information on Karaims and Jewish Community in Turkey, click here.

On the relations between Crimean Karaims and Turkey at the turn of the 20th century:
N.A. Zinchenko-Kefeli. Türkç. Çeviren: Hakan Kirimli XX. Yüzyil baslarinda Kirim Karaimlerinin Türkiye ile münasebetleri. Emel, No. 216 (Sept./Oct.), 1996. (In Turkish).