The first known Crimean population were the Cimmerians (XII century BC), mentioned in the ancient sources of Assyria. These were tribes of Iranian descent. Their stay in the Crimea is confirmed by ancient and medieval historians, as well as by the toponyms of the Eastern part of Crimea: the Cimmerian crossings, the Kimerik. In the middle of the VII century BC Some parts of the Cimmerians were displaced by the Scythians from the steppe strips, to the foothills and mountains of Crimea, where they formed compact settlements.
At the same time, in the foothills and mountainous Crimea, as well as on the southern coast, there lived the tribe of the Taurus. From the Taurus come the ancient name of the mountainous and coastal part of the Crimea: Tavrika, Tavria, Taurida. The remnants of fortified settlements and residential buildings of the Tauris, as well as their Cromelians (ring-shaped fences with vertically stacked stones) and the Taurus tombstones were preserved until the 21st century and were investigated.
The new stage of the history of Tavria began with the seizure of Crimea by the Scythians. But by the end of III century BC the state of the Scythians significantly decreased under the pressure of the Sarmatians. The Scythians were forced to relocate their capital to the Salgir River (near the present-day Simferopol), where Naples Scythian or Greek Naples emerged.
The Scythian state in the Crimea existed until the second half of the 3rd century AD and was destroyed by the Goths.
The Greek colonists founded in the territory of Crimea settlements Panticapai, Kerkinitida, Feodosia and several others in the 6th century BC. The Democratic Republic of Khersones of Tavria emerged on those territories. A little later Khersones was built, located within the limits of the present Sevastopol, surrounded by powerful stone walls. It was founded on the site of the Taurus settlement by the Greeks from Heracles of the Pontic.
The Greek colonists brought to Crimean coast their art of building ships, growing grapes, olive trees and other crops, erected wonderful temples, theaters, stadiums. In Crimea there were hundreds of Greek settlements. The ancient Greeks created vast historical and literary works about the Crimea. Euripides wrote a drama "Iphigenia in Taurida" on the Crimean material. The Greeks, who lived in the Khersones of Tauride and in the Cymmerian Bosporus, knew the Iliad and the Odyssey. Herodotus told about the religious beliefs of the Scythians and about the Tauris in the V century BC.
The Bosporus state arose in the Eastern Crimea, whose capital was Panticapaeum (modern Kerch). The acropolis of this city was located on Mount Mithridates, and nearby archaeologists excavated the burial places of Melek-Chesmenskaya and Tsarsky. Inside these burial mounds were found the stone vaults - unique monuments of Bosporan architecture.
In the 1st century BC Khersones and Bosporus obeyed the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire, Khersones was considered a distant province on the border with the barbarians. The unwanted persons were sent here to exile (among those who were here in exile were the Pope Martin, the Pope Clement and later the Emperor Justinian II).
The apostle Andrew passed through the Crimea on his way. The Christian diocese in the Crimea appeared before the recognition of Christianity in the Roman Empire at the beginning of the IV century AD.
Somewhere in the 6th century AD, the Crimea falls under Byzantine rule. Khersones was the the main center of Byzantium, as before of Greeks and Romans. It was the only city with the predominantly Greek population (in this period there lived from three to eight thousand people). The streets of Khersones were either paved with pavement, or strewn with crushed stone or ceramic - so they were clean and not suffering from dirt. The city had huge stone walls, partially preserved until now. Many of the invaders who tried to capture Crimea could not take this powerful fortress.
In the IX century the Rus state (please mind, it was not a Russian state, it was the state called Rus, with the capital in Kyiv, Russia did not even exist then) was strengthened and expanded its boundaries. Rus began to control the important trade route of that time - the Dnipro River. This path is known in the history by the name "the path from the Vikings to the Greeks". Trade with Byzantium was conducted through Khersones. In Kyiv, archaeologists have found Khersones coins and other items that are dated in the meantime.
Together with trade relations, Rus also had military clashes with Khersones. Sometimes the Rus troops suppressed the uprising in Khersones at the request of the Constantinople emperor, as it was in 1076. The most famous campaign of the Rus army in Khersones was the campaign of Prince Volodymyr in 988 (this year is indicated in the "Tale of the Past Years". In other versions it should be 989 year). Princess's army succeeded to take Khersones. Prince Volodymyr marries Emperor's sister Anne, and his army (and then all of Rus) accepted Christianity. After this event, the connection between Rus and Khersones deepened even more, as many priests, books and church subjects went to Rus from Kherson.
Putin used these events as a justification for the occupation of the Crimea. But Rus was not Russia, and Prince Volodymyr was not Russian. The Russians use the similarity of the names Rus and Russia, in order to speak about their rights to the history of Rus and its legacy. Peter I decided to rename Muscovy to Russia at the beginning of the XVIII century, and the word "Russia" was specifically chosen for a new name, because it would coincide with the name Rus.
In 965 the Rus troops defeated the Khazars and extended their influence to the Eastern Crimea. Then, or a few years later, the Rus Tmutorokan principality emerged there with the capital in the Bosporus, which the Rus called Korchev (from the word "korcha" - forge, because in the vicinity of Kerch long ago there was an extraction of metal).
In 1204, during the crusade, the crusaders supported by the Venetians captured and robbed Constantinople. After that, the Venetians spread the geography of their shopping routes to the Black Sea. City Soldaya became their base in the Crimea. But Venice stayed on the peninsula for a little more than a century. In 1365 the Soldaya was taken from them by Genoese.
Genoese enter into an alliance with the Nicean Empire, which led the movement for the restoration of Byzantium. In 1261, the crusaders were expelled from Constantinople, Michael Paleologus restored the empire. The Genoese, as his allies, were guaranteed by the emperor a monopoly right to trade in the Black Sea. The Genoese could quickly prevail over the Venetians in the Black Sea.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Genoese spread their influence on the southern coast of the Crimea. The first and later the main city of the Genoese was Kafa, where they settled in 1266. In 1318, the Genoese founded the Bosporo (Kerch) base, in the 40's of the 14th century. - Cembalo (Balakalava), and in 1365 they took from Venice the city Soldaya (Sudak). They also owned several villages in this area. The possession of Genoese in the Crimea was called "Genoese Gazari".
In the 13th century, the fortresses were built in the main dangerous points in the Crimea: Kafa, Cembalo, Soldaya, Lusta (Aluston). The largest of them was Kafa, but to this day, the best preserved of all is Sudak Fortress (Soldaya) - so it is the most famous medieval fortress in Crimea.
Kafa became a very large city for that time (in the 14th and 15th centuries). In the 15th century its population was 70 thousand people, which could be compared with the population of Constantinople. Kafa's population (like other Genoese cities) consisted mostly not of Italians, but of Armenians and Greeks.
Then Tatars came to Crimea. At this time, Khersones begins to lose its importance. In 1299 Khersones was burned down by Khan Nogai troops. In 1363 the city was captured by the troops of the Lithuanian Prince Olgerd, and in 1397 - by the troops of the Lithuanian Prince Vytautas. The ultimate blow, after which the city has not recovered, was caused by the Tatars leader Yedigei in 1399.
In the second half of the 14th century, the Golden Horde began a tendency for fragmentation, troubles were constantly occurring. In these circumstances, the independence of the Crimean Ulus was actually intensifying. In the 15th century, the Crimean Khans find support in the struggle against the Golden Horde in the Lithuanian Principality, which was interested in weakening the Horde. From the 14th century, a group of Tatars settled in Lithuania, as prisoners, volunteers and migrants who hid in Lithuania from civil wars. In the Lithuanian emigration, the future founder of the Crimean Khanate, Haji Heraj, was born. In 1427-1428 he made the first attempt to get power over the Crimea, but failed. In 1431, with the support of Lithuania, he assembled a new army, which managed to consolidate himself in the Crimea.
During this period, the Crimean Tatar ethnic group begins its formation. Although the Mongol-Tatars provided him it a historical state foundation, they were dissolved in the local population due to smaller numbers. The Mongol-Tatars were not the basis of the Crimean Tatar people, but Kipchaks. And only the northern Nogai Tatars retained Mongoloid traits.
After 1475 Crimea becomes the vassal of Ottoman Empire.
Starting from the 18th century, the Russian Empire began to increase its pressure on the Crimea and in 1783 conquered the peninsula.
This is briefly the known Crimean history. It hardly gives any proofs to claim that Crimea is a "sacred Russian territory". The Greeks, Italians, Tatars, Turks have more reasons to make such claims than Russians.
From a legal point of view, recognized by the international community, the Crimea belongs to Ukraine since 1954.