Aq Mečit in the Dniester-Dnieper Interfluve (To the Study of the Historical Geography of the Northern Black Sea Region of the 14th–18th centuries)

Abstract

Research objectives: This research deals with the study of one of the Northern Black Sea region’s settlements – Aq Mečit (meaning “white mosque”). In addition, the author aims to collect and analyze all available materials related to Aq Mečit; to identify the earliest written sources; to localize and identify the name; to trace the source information about whether there was a ford, a bridge, a ferry or something else across the Southern Bug; to establish the trade route passing through Aq Mečit. Research materials: The source base is very scarce because we have no written documents of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries mentioning Aq Mečit. The author uses only two documents of the sixteenth century, namely the chorographic work “Description of Tartaria” by Martinus Bronovius and the “Mosques in the Fields in Tatar kesheny” by the anonymous author. There are some written sources from the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Also, the author does a comparative analysis of eighteen cartographic sources, the earliest one being Guillaume le Vasseur de Beauplan’s map of 1648. Research results: It is established that the name Aq Mečit is relatively new (it was recorded in sources from the last quarter of eighteenth century). In earlier sources (sixteenth century), this settlement was called differently: Cercicesseniam, Getricessenia, Chryczkieszemi H. Besides the keshen, there were also a tomb of a merchant and a mosque. Now it is the territory of Tsvitkovo village in the Domanivsk district of the Mykolaiv region. The settlement occupied an important strategic place. It was on the crossroads of several routes: the road from north to south, along of the Southern Bug, and the road from west to east. There were many fords (brod in Russian) across the Southern Bug and the most famous of which was Chertaysky ford. Most likely, there was neither a castle nor a fortress. It is possible that there was a settlement of the Golden Horde, but this assumption must be confirmed by archaeological survey. The name transformation may have been as follows: Chertalkesheni – the former Mečit (Mosque) – Aq Mečit – Tsvitkovo farm – Nezamozhnykiv farm – Zhovtneve – Tsvitkovo. The village of Akmechetka that appeared on the geographical map in the nineteenth century was most likely the tiny settlement (vysielok in Russian) near Aq Mečit (now Prybuzhie village, Domanivsk district, Mykolaiv region) and it has nothing to do with the Golden Horde period. Novelty of the research: The novelty of this research is that the author found a new settlement (previously unknown to scholars), the name of which reflected the geographical realities (the Chertala river) and the existence of religious buildings – keshen. The author decided to term it Chertalkesheni as there are many different spellings of this settlement in sources like Cercicesseniam, Getricessenia, Chryczkieszemi.