1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Karasu-Bazar

KARASU-BAZAR, a town of Russia, in the Crimea and government of Taurida, in 45° 3′ N. and 34° 26′ E., 25 m. E.N.E. of Simferopol. Pop. (1897), 12,961, consisting of Tatars, Armenians, Greeks, Qaraite Jews, and about 200 so-called Krymchaki, i.e. Jews who have adopted the Tatar language and dress, and who live chiefly by making morocco leather goods, knives, embroidery and so forth. The site is low, but the town is surrounded by hills, which afford protection from the north wind. The dirty streets full of petty traders, the gloomy bazaar with its multitude of tiny shops, the market squares, the blind alleys, the little gates in the dead courtyard walls, all give the place the stamp of a Tatar or Turkish town. Placed on the high road between Simferopol and Kerch, and in the midst of a country rich in corn land, vineyards and gardens, Karasu-Bazar used to be a chief seat of commercial activity in the Crimea; but it is gradually declining in importance, though still a considerable centre for the export of fruit.

The caves of Akkaya close by give evidence of early occupation of the spot. When in 1736 Khan Feta Ghirai was driven by the Russians from Bakhchi-sarai he settled at Karasu-Bazar, but next year the town was captured, plundered and burned by the Russians.