The Karaites are a unique Turkic people and the smallest national minority in Lithuania. Today, about 200 Karaites live in Lithuania, and about 30 people can speak their native language fluently. The Karaite religion, the Karaism, is a pure Old Testament faith.
How did the Karaites come to Lithuania? After the victorious battle in the Crimea in the 14th century, Vytautas the Great brought some 380 Karaite families to Trakai. Once here, the Karaites formed two distinct groups: the military and the civilian. The soldiers were the guards of the castles and the bridge to the Island Castle. A small number of civilian Karaites were the Grand Duke's scribes and translators, while most of the civilians were involved in land cultivation, vegetable growing, small crafts, trade, keeping taverns, collecting state duties and other important activities, such as mediating to ransom the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's prisoners from the Turks.
The Karaites in Trakai were settled between the duke’s two castles. The water level in the lakes was much higher at that time, and the stream was running through the middle of the town. People of various nationalities lived to the south of it, and only the Karaites lived to the north. They were placed on the peninsula for a good reason: anyone who wanted to enter the castle had to pass through the Karaite territory. The soldiers of this nation guarded not only the bridges but also the Karaite Island. The Karaite city stretched from the shrine of St. John Nepomuk to the Iron (Karaite) Bridge.
The Karaite community in Trakai has preserved its traditions, faith, customs, and language throughout the centuries. The Karaites have had written language since the 8th century. When they moved to Lithuania, many of them were literate. Families usually owned a book to record the birth and death dates of family members, write down various farm notes, and transcribe their folklore in the form of stories, proverbs, enigmas, dreams, fortune-telling, or predictions. In Crimean Karaite families, such books are called medzhuma. Translated from Arabic, it means 'collection'.
Vytautas the Great is known as "Vyta bay" in the Karaite language, meaning "the king who crushes enemies".
The legends say that when the Karaites built a house they used to have one window dedicated to themselves, another to Vytautas the Great and the third to their God.
Karaite homesteads were located on Karaite Street: a dwelling house just next to the street, with outbuildings behind it, and then gardens or orchards stretching to the lakeside.
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