Crimean Tatars are a very diverse ethnic group formed by the amalgamation of Tatarised Muslims in Crimea. They are descendants of many different ethnic groups that inhabited Crimea. Many of them were originally Christian, but Muslim influence forced them to convert to Islam. Although they share some cultural similarities with the Volga Tatars, who are also Muslims, they are not descended from them and have separate origins. Non-recognition as a separate ethnic group during the Soviet era and expulsion from their homeland was a huge source of trauma for Crimean Tatars.
The Crimean Tatar people consist of four sub-ethnic groups: the Nogais, who historically inhabited the north of Crimea, the Mountain Tatas, who historically inhabited the central highlands of Crimea, the Coastal Tatas, who inhabited the southern coast of Crimea, and the Dajfa - Tatarised Roma who converted to Islam and were voluntarily assimilated into the Crimean Tatar people. The Nogais are descendants of the Nogai conquerors who conquered Crimea in the 14th century. Christians from a wide variety of ethnic groups in Crimea, such as Greeks, Italians, Goths and Armenians, were called "Tatami" by the Nogais and were forced to convert to Islam. However, they were still treated as second-class citizens in the Crimean Khanate, and the word "tat" originally had a pejorative connotation. Many coastal Tats retained some Christian traditions until their forced expulsion to Uzbekistan.
In 1944, Crimean Tatars were widely accused of collaborating with the Nazis and deported, mostly to Central Asia. Many died on the move and in the early years of exile, where they lived under a "special resettlement" regime that forbade them to leave the village to which they were assigned. Many of their traditions were lost in exile. While many other exiled ethnic groups accused of treason were rehabilitated by Khrushchev in 1956 and allowed to return to their homeland, the Crimean Tatars were not, and the government offered them resettlement in the Tatar ASSR, based on the mistaken belief that the Crimean Tatars were part of the unrelated Volga Tatar people. Despite numerous attempts to explain to the Government that they were a separate ethnic group, the Government refused to recognise the Crimean Tatars as a separate ethnic group and severely curtailed the use of the term "Crimean Tatars".
Although both Uzbeks and Crimean Tatars are Muslims, relations between the two groups are not always good. Some Uzbeks regard Crimean Tatars as honourable Russians because of the degree of Russification of Crimean Tatars and their relatively secular culture in comparison to Uzbeks
Family ties are very important for Crimean Tatars. However, two or three generations often live in the same house. Mixed marriages are a controversial issue, but many Crimean Tatar women marry non-Muslim Russians and Ukrainians, despite the fact that this practice is widely considered forbidden in Islam.
