50 Litų 600th Anniversary of the settling down of Karaims and Tartars in Lithuania

The Karaims arrived in Lithuania under Grand Duke Vytautas, who relocated several hundred families from Crimea following his 1397 military campaign — not as captives, but as a deliberate settlement of skilled fighters and craftsmen granted privileges that would outlast the Grand Duchy itself. The Tatar communities came through similar channels, and both groups retained distinct legal and religious autonomy for centuries under Lithuanian protection. By 1997, the Karaim population in Lithuania had dwindled to fewer than three hundred individuals.