title: THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE KARAITES IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND THE CREATION OF KARAITE SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES (END OF THE 18TH – FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY)
abstract: The article analyzes the complex of legal and regulatory documentation developed by the Russian government in the course of measures to change the legal status of the Karaite population in Russia. The beginning of the first stage of transformation of the legal status of the Karaites dated back to 1795, when Catherine II signed the law “On the exemption of Taurida Jews, called Karaites, from taxes imposed on all Jews in general”. In accordance with this document, Karaites were exempt from paying 
journal: Scientific Notes of V I Vernadsky Crimean Federal University Historical science