Lady Craven's letters from Crimea

Elizabeth Craven (1750-1828), an English writer and traveller, went by sledge and carriage from St Petersburg through Moscow and Kherson into Crimea in the spring of 1786, three years after Russia annexed the khanate. Escorted by Russian officers and Cossacks, she stayed at Karasubazar, Bakhchysarai and Sevastopol, visited Tatar women at home, lodged in the khan's palace, and sailed on to Constantinople. The book is a series of letters addressed to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, published in London in 1789; this is that first edition. It mixes quick, lively first-hand scenes with a history of Crimea summarised from books.

How they knew

Part eyewitness

Who “Tartar” means here

The Crimean Tatars (and the Nogais the khans brought into Crimea), just after the Russian annexation of 1783. She keeps Cossacks and Kalmyks separate.

Why read it

A rare woman's view from inside Tatar households, with sharp detail on houses, dress, the Bakhchysarai palace and what Tatars told her about their land, at the very moment the khanate ended.

Watch out

She saw Crimea as a guest of the Russian administration preparing for Catherine II's visit, so her informants were mostly Russian officials. She is frank about her prejudices (dirt, 'mummery'). Letters were edited for publication, and the history is second-hand.