Was bride price widespread among Crimean Tatars? Yes, it was. But it did not mean payment for the bride at all. The meaning of kalym among Crimean Tatars is more likely a reimbursement of the costs of her dowry. That is, «the expense for home furnishings made by the bride’s parents is a known guarantee that the bride will live in certain conditions corresponding to her situation,» wrote ethnographer Gleb Bonch-Osmolovsky, who visited Crimea in the first half of the 20th century.
