Kazan Tatars faith. What is the difference between Crimean Tatars and Kazan

Later, after the collapse of the Golden Horde and the emergence of a number of independent khanates in its place, the Kazan Khanate was formed on the Bulgarian lands. As a result of the consolidation of a part of the Bulgars with another Kipchak, and also partly with the Finno-Ugric population of the region, the people of Kazan Tatars are formed.

Formation

Funeral rite

Many facts of the funeral rites of the Kazan Tatars show complete continuity from the Bulgars, today most of the rites of the Kazan Tatars are associated with their Muslim religion.

Location. The urban necropolises of the Golden Horde were located within the city, as were the burial grounds of the period of the Kazan Khanate. Cemeteries of the Kazan Tatars of the 18th-19th centuries. located outside the villages, not far from the villages, if possible - across the river.

Tomb structures. From the descriptions of ethnographers, it follows that the Kazan Tatars used to plant one or more trees on the grave. The graves were almost always surrounded by a fence, sometimes a stone was placed on the grave, small log cabins were made without a roof, in which birch trees were planted and stones were placed, sometimes monuments were erected in the form of pillars.

Burial method. The Bulgars of all periods are characterized by the rite of inhumation (deposition of corpses). The pagan Bulgars were buried with their heads to the west, on their backs, with their arms along the body. A distinctive feature of the burial grounds of the X-XI centuries. is the period of the formation of a new rite in the Volga Bulgaria, hence the lack of strict uniformity in the individual details of the ritual, in particular, in the position of the body, hands and face of the buried. Along with observance of the qibla, in the vast majority of cases there are individual burials facing up or even to the north. There are burials of the dead on the right side. The position of the hands is especially diverse during this period. For necropolises of the XII-XIII centuries. the unification of the details of the rite is characteristic: strict observance of the qibla, the orientation of the face to Mecca, the uniform position of the deceased with a slight turn to the right side, with the right hand extended along the body, and the left, slightly bent and laid on the pelvis. On average, 90% of the burials show this stable combination of features, compared to 40-50% in early burials. In the Golden Horde period, all burials were made according to the rite of inhumation, the body was stretched out on its back, sometimes with a turn to the right side, head to the west, facing south. During the period of the Kazan Khanate, the funeral rite did not change. According to the descriptions of ethnographers, the deceased was lowered into the grave, then laid in a side lining, facing Mecca. The hole was filled with bricks or boards. The spread of Islam among the Volga Bulgars already in pre-Mongol times was very clearly manifested in the rite of the Bulgars of the 12th-13th centuries, during the period of the Golden Horde, and later in the funeral rite of the Kazan Tatars.

National clothes

The clothes of men and women consisted of trousers with a wide step and a shirt (for women it was supplemented with an embroidered bib), on which a sleeveless camisole was put on. Cossacks served as outerwear, and in winter - a quilted beshmet or fur coat. The headdress of men is a skullcap, and on top of it is a hemispherical hat with fur or a felt hat; for women - an embroidered velvet cap (kalfak) and a scarf. Traditional shoes are leather ichigi with soft soles, they were worn outside the home with leather galoshes. The women's costume was characterized by an abundance of metal jewelry.

Anthropological types of Kazan Tatars

The most significant in the field of anthropology of the Kazan Tatars are the studies of T. A. Trofimova, carried out in 1929-1932. In particular, in 1932, together with G. F. Debets, she carried out extensive research in Tatarstan. 160 Tatars were examined in the Arsk region, 146 Tatars in the Yelabuga region, and 109 Tatars in the Chistopol region. Anthropological studies have revealed the presence of four main anthropological types among the Kazan Tatars: Pontic, light Caucasoid, sublaponoid, Mongoloid.

Table 1. Anthropological characteristics of various groups of Kazan Tatars.

signs	Tatars of the Arsk region	Tatars of Yelabuga region	Tatars of the Chistopol region
Number of cases	160	146	109
Growth	165,5	163,0	164,1
Longitudinal diam.	189,5	190,3	191,8
Transverse diam.	155,8	154,4	153,3
Altitude diam.	128,0	125,7	126,0
Head order.	82,3	81,1	80,2
Altitude-longitudinal	67,0	67,3	65,7
Morphological face height	125,8	124,6	127,0
Cheekbone dia.	142,6	140,9	141,5
Morphological persons. pointer	88,2	88,5	90,0
Nasal pointer	65,2	63,3	64,5
Hair color (% black-27, 4-5)	70,9	58,9	73,2
Eye color (% dark and mixed 1-8 according to Bunak)	83,7	87,7	74,2
Horizontal profile % flat	8,4	2,8	3,7
Average score (1-3)	2,05	2,25	2,20
Epicanthus(% availability)	3,8	5,5	0,9
Eyelid crease	71,7	62,8	51,9
Beard (according to Bunak) % very weak and weak growth (1-2)	67,6	45,5	42,1
Average score (1-5)	2,24	2,44	2,59
Bridge height Average score (1-3)	2,04	2,31	2,33
General profile of the bridge of the nose % concave	6,4	9,0	11,9
% convex	5,8	20,1	24,8
The position of the tip of the nose % elevated	22,5	15,7	18,4
% omitted	14,4	17,1	33,0

Table 2. Anthropological types of Kazan Tatars, according to T. A. Trofimova

Population groups	Light Caucasian		Pontic		Sublaponoid		Mongoloid
Population groups	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Tatars of the Arsk region of Tatarstan	12	25,5 %	14	29,8 %	11	23,4 %	10	21,3 %
Tatars of the Yelabuga region of Tatarstan	10	16,4 %	25	41,0 %	17	27,9 %	9	14,8 %
Tatars of the Chistopolsky district of Tatarstan	6	16,7 %	16	44,4 %	5	13,9 %	9	25,0 %
All	28	19,4 %	55	38,2 %	33	22,9 %	28	19,4 %

These types have the following characteristics:

Pontic type- characterized by mesocephaly, dark or mixed pigmentation of the hair and eyes, high nasal bridge, convex bridge of the nose, with a lowered tip and base, significant beard growth. Growth is average with an upward trend.
Light Caucasian type- characterized by subbrachycephaly, light pigmentation of hair and eyes, medium or high nose bridge with a straight back of the nose, moderately developed beard, medium height. A number of morphological features - the structure of the nose, the size of the face, pigmentation, and a number of others - bring this type closer to the Pontic.
Sublaponoid type(Volga-Kama) - characterized by meso-subbrachycephaly, mixed pigmentation of hair and eyes, wide and low nose, weak beard growth and a low, medium-wide face with a tendency to flattening. Quite often there is a fold of the eyelid with a weak development of the epicanthus.
Mongoloid type(South Siberian) - characterized by brachycephaly, dark shades of hair and eyes, a wide and flattened face and low nose bridge, often occurring epicanthus and poor beard development. Growth, on a European scale, is average.

The theory of ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars

There are several theories of the ethnogenesis of the Tatars. Three of them are described in the scientific literature in the most detail:

Bulgaro-Tatar theory
Tatar-Mongolian theory
Turko-Tatar theory.

Notes

Literature

Akhatov G.Kh. Tatar dialectology. Middle dialect (textbook for students of higher educational institutions). Ufa, 1979.
Kosach G. G. Tatarstan: religion and nationality in the mass consciousness // Kaariainen K., Furman D. E. (responsible editors). New churches, old believers - old churches, new believers. Religion in post-Soviet Russia. M., Institute of Europe RAS, Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, 2007.

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See what "Kazan Tatars" is in other dictionaries:

The history of the ethnonym "Tatars" can be traced back to about the 8th century. The ethnonym was first mentioned in a runic inscription on the monument to the Turkic commander Kul Tegin (732). This inscription mentions the tribal unions "Otuz Tatars" and "Tokuz Tatars". ... ... Wikipedia

As a people, the Crimean Tatars in the XIII-XVII centuries. took shape on the territory of the Crimea and in the Northern Black Sea region. The basis of their ethnos was the tribes of the Turks who settled here, as well as the Cumans, Pechenegs, Huns and Khazars. Crimean Tatars - descendants of tribes of Turkic origin who lived in the east of Europe before the Mongol hordes invaded there. The Crimean Tatars, together with the Krymchaks and Karaites, are referred to as the indigenous population of the peninsula. About a quarter of a million Crimean Tatars live directly on the peninsula. They also live in Uzbekistan, Romania, Bulgaria, the Black Sea regions of Russia and Ukraine. It is believed that there are hundreds of thousands of them in Turkey.

However, the majority of Turkish Crimean Tatars identify themselves as Turks of Crimean origin. Crimean Tatars speak Turkic Crimean Tatar language. It is related to Tatar, however, they do not understand most Tatar words and expressions, the phonetics of the Crimean Tatar language differs markedly from Tatar. By religion, the majority of Crimean Tatars are Muslims.

The Crimean Tatar people have a rich and sometimes tragic history. In the XIII century Crimea was conquered by the Mongols. Two hundred years later, an independent Crimean Khanate was created, which, after the capture of the peninsula by the Ottoman Empire, became its vassal. Until the 18th century, it actively fought with the Russian state and Poland.

In 1783, Russia defeated the Turks and took the Crimea. The clergy of the Crimean Tatars and local feudal lords were equated with the Russian aristocracy and retained all their rights. However, the oppression of Russian officials and landowners forced many Crimean Tatars to emigrate en masse to Turkey.

The intensive development of the peninsula in the 19th century led to the displacement of the Crimean Tatars at the expense of immigrants from the Russian provinces. In 1917, an attempt was made to create a Crimean Tatar state. Four years later, the Crimean ASSR was created as part of the RSFSR. In 1937, most of the intelligentsia of the Crimean Tatars were repressed. The Crimean Tatars took an active part in the fight against the Nazi troops during the war. Many of them received military awards.

However, after the expulsion of the Nazi troops from the Crimea, they were accused of collaborating with the invaders. In May-June 1944, most of the Crimean Tatars with their families were deported from their homes to Uzbekistan and other regions of the country. Those who were at the front in the same year were demobilized from the army and sent to the places of settlement of relatives. Crimean Tatars, unlike other deported peoples, received the right to return to their homeland only in 1989.

Kazan Tatars yesterday and today

The Tatar people consists mainly of Kazan Tatars. In turn, such ancient Turkic peoples as the Bulgars and Polovtsy are considered their ethnic basis. The formation of the Kazan Tatars took place in the Middle Ages. During this period, they already represented a numerous people with a developed economy and culture. They were mainly engaged in agriculture, woodworking and leather crafts, and the manufacture of jewelry. Various handicraft industries formed the material culture of the Tatars, which was influenced by the Central Asian peoples, and from the end of the 16th century by Russian culture.

Today, half of the population is part of the Russian Federation. The republics of Tatarstan are modern Kazan Tatars. Their capital is the millionth city of Kazan. The head of the Tatar state is the President. Legislative and control power is exercised by the State Council, executive - by the Cabinet of Ministers. Along with Russian, the official language of Tatarstan is the Tatar language. More than 3.8 million people.

Being one of the most economically developed regions in Russia, it occupies a leading position in the production of polyethylene, synthetic rubbers and tires, trucks, synthetic detergents and oil. In terms of agricultural production, it ranks third in the Russian Federation. Culture, education and science are developing. Tatarstan has large reserves of natural resources, the main of which is oil. Coal and non-metallic materials are also mined here. There are promising reserves of other minerals. The republic has huge reserves of water.

According to its Constitution, Tatarstan is a secular state. Of the religions, Islam and Orthodoxy are the most common in it.

What is the difference

Crimean and Kazan Tatars, being kindred peoples, have noticeable differences.

The Crimean Tatars, being the indigenous people of the Crimean peninsula, do not have their own statehood.
Kazan Tatars make up half of the population of the Republic of Tatarstan with their own constitution, legislative, executive and judicial powers.
The Crimean Tatars were relatively independent until the second half of the 18th century, being dependent on the Turks. Kazan Tatars have been politically dependent on Russia since the 16th century.
About 230-270 thousand Crimean Tatars live in Crimea. About 2 million Kazan Tatars live in the Republic of Tatarstan.
Different peoples participated in the creation of the ethnic groups of the Crimean and Kazan Tatars. Among the Crimean Tatars, these were predominantly Europeans (Cimmerians, Greeks, Romans, Huns, Italians, Slavs, etc.) Among the Kazan Tatars, the peoples who came from the east (Volga Bulgars, ancestors of the Mari, Mordovians, Udmurts, Slavs.
The Crimean Tatar language differs markedly from Tatar, primarily in intonation and phonetics. Crimean Tatars do not understand many words and expressions of the Tatar language.

Academy of Sciences of the USSR

Department of History and Philosophy

Institute of Language, Literature and History of Kazan Branch

Editorial group:

Chairman Academician B. D. Grekov.

Members: Chl. Correspondent Acad. Sciences of the USSR

prof. N. K. Dmitriev,

prof. S. P. Tolstov,

prof. N. I. Vorobyov,

and Art. scientific employee H. G. Gimadi.

Origin of Kazan Tatars: Materials of the session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences, organized jointly with the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, April 25-26, 1946 in Moscow (according to the transcript). - Kazan: Tatgosizdat, 1948. - 160 p.

Editorial

In the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated 9/VIII-1944 “On the state and measures to improve mass-political and ideological work in the Tatar party organization”, serious mistakes were revealed made by some historians and writers when covering certain issues of the history of Tataria. (Idealization of the Golden Horde and the Khan-feudal epic about Idegeya). Historians were instructed to organize the scientific development of the history of Tataria and eliminate the mistakes made. According to this resolution, the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR is developing the history of the Tatar ASSR. When writing this work, the team of authors came across a number of problems, without the solution of which it was impossible to develop the history of Tataria. One of the most topical moments in the history of the Tatar ASSR was the question of the ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars. On this issue, as is known, until recently there was no consensus among historians. Some historians identified the Kazan Tatars with those Mongol-Tatars who conquered Russia and other countries of Eastern Europe in the 13th century. Other historians argued that the current Tatars are a conglomeration of the Turkic-Finnish tribes of the Middle Volga region and the Mongols conquerors. And, finally, there was a theory according to which the Kazan Tatars are direct descendants of the Kama Bulgars, who received only their name "Tatars" from the Mongols.

Considering the importance of the problem, IYALI KFAN of the USSR turned to the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences with a request to convene a special session on the ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars. The session took place in Moscow on April 25-26, 1946. The session was attended by scientists from Moscow, Leningrad and Kazan. Historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers and linguists made presentations and reports. The session opened with introductory words by Acad. B. D. Grekov, who noted the importance of the problem under discussion in the study of the history of the TASSR.

Reports at the session were made by A. P. Smirnov - “On the question of the origin of the Kazan Tatars”, T. A. Trofimova “Ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars of the Middle Volga region in the light of anthropological data”, N. I. Vorobyov “The origin of the Kazan Tatars according to ethnography” and L. 3. Fill in "The origin of the Tatars of the Volga region according to the materials of the language." Kh. G. Gimadi and N. F. Kalinin made co-reports at the session. The awards, which unfolded after the reports, were made by corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR professors: M. I. Tikhomirov, N. K. Dmitriev, S. E. Malov, A. Yu. Yakubovsky, as well as prof. S. P. Tolstov, prof. V. V. Bogdanov, R. M. Raimov, Sh. I. Tipeev, A. B. Bulatov.

The session summed up the long-term discussion on the ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars. Based on the data of linguistics, archeology, ethnography, anthropology and other related disciplines, the session was able to draw certain conclusions. The main conclusion is that Kazan Tatars, like any nationality, are the result of long-term communication and relationships with other ethnic groups and peoples. Their formation was decisively influenced by local tribes and Turkic-speaking peoples (Bulgars and others), who, before the Mongol conquerors came to the region, created the state of the Kama Bulgars. Compared to the nomadic Mongols, the Bulgars stood at a higher level of economic and cultural development.

The Russian people had a huge influence on the development and formation of the Tatar people, with whom the Bulgars maintained extensive economic and diplomatic relations already in the 10th-12th centuries. The reports presented numerous facts of the penetration into the life of the Tatars of more progressive forms of life and economy of the Russian people.

In the reports and speeches, the complete inconsistency of the views that identify the Kazan Tatars with the Mongol-Tatars was thoroughly proved.

In the salary of T. A. Trofimova, on the basis of anthropological data, it is proved that the modern Kazan Tatars were formed "on the basis of the ancient layers of the local population, which included some later anthropological layers."

The population living on the territory of Kama Bulgaria as part of the Golden Horde found itself in the position of an enslaved people. It was taxed and subjected to cruel military-feudal oppression. Like the Russian people, who took upon themselves the main burden of the struggle, the Bulgars and other peoples of the Middle Volga region also fought against the Mongol conquerors. This struggle of the people against the conquerors is captured in historical documents and folk epic.

The result was summed up by Acad. B. D. Grekov, who noted the fruitfulness of the work of the session. The significance of this scientific session is great. Its materials are a valuable contribution not only to the literature on the history of Tataria, but also on the history of other peoples of the Middle Volga region, Chuvash in particular. At the same time, the session gave a specific program for further scientific work on issues requiring in-depth study. Now the historians of Tataria will develop the history of their republic more boldly and confidently, because the difficulties that stood in the way of solving this important task have been largely eliminated.

As a hypothesis, let me make the following considerations. Richly decorated stone slabs with calligraphic script, with texts in Arabic and with words related to the Kazan-Tatar language, belonged, in my opinion, to the top of the Bulgar feudal society, mostly even the capital, largely Arabized and used the literary language of that time, which for the lower and middle Volga region of the XIII-XIV centuries, the Turkic-Kipchak language with strong elements of Arabism can be considered.

Among the rest of the population of the Bulgar state there was a layer standing lower on the social ladder - merchants, artisans, less noble feudal lords. Their language was different, less affected by the influence of literature and Arabic education. The epitaphs of the “second style” with “Chuvashisms” and with simplified Kufic traditional graphics, which are widespread in Tatarstan, are the monuments of the writing of this population. It is possible that here we also have a manifestation of a special ethnic group that originally lived in Bulgaria, which can be called the Turkic-Chuvash or Suvar, which in earlier centuries had its own political center (the city of Suvar), its own feudal nobility. With the loss of Suvar's former position, with the rise of the city of Bulgar, and then with the Mongol conquest and a strong reshuffling of the population, in particular the descendants of the Suvar nobility, who lost their political influence, found themselves in the position of the former aristocracy, holding on to old traditions in language and customs. It is possible that the monuments of the “transitional style”, which we have described above, serve as a manifestation of these traditions of the “Suvar nobility”. Thus, in the Bulgar linguistic monuments presented here, we can distinguish at least two dialects and establish a genetic connection between the Bulgars and the Kazan Tatars, which is especially evident from the comparison of the monuments of the 1st style with Kazan monuments of the same nature, dating back to the 15th-16th centuries. This succession line can be drawn further, in the 17th and 18th centuries. Not being able to present these materials here in detail, I will confine myself to a reference to our albums indicated in note 3. Even the external similarity reveals successive links. They are more noticeable in the language of the texts.

Kalinin H. F. On the question of the origin of the Kazan Tatars.] // Origin of the Kazan Tatars: Materials of the session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences, organized jointly with the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, April 25-26, 1946 in Moscow (according to transcript). - Kazan: Tatgosizdat, 1948. - S. 104.

The Chuvashs are associated with local settled tribes, most likely with the Esegel and Suvar (their city of Oshel was taken by the Russians in 1220), which were part of the Bulgar kingdom. This, in particular, was pointed out by Marr, who connected the Suvars with the Chuvashs. It seems to me that they were part of the Bulgar kingdom as one of the tribes.

Smirnov A.P. Final words // Origin of the Kazan Tatars: Materials of the session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences, organized jointly with the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, April 25-26, 1946 in Moscow (according to the transcript). - Kazan: Tatgosizdat, 1948. - S. 148.

And it is the Kazan Tatars that are one of the numerous and main peoples among all existing ones. They speak Russian or Tatar. They live on the lands of the Russian Federation and are the indigenous inhabitants of the Autonomous Republic of Tatarstan. They belong to the middle group according to the dialects of all Tatars.

population

3.8 million people live in Tatarstan, among which 53% of the total population are Kazan Tatars (this is a little more than 2 million representatives of this people). Most of the Tatars are in Aktanyshsky district (97%), the least - in Spassky (29.5%). Also, Kazan Tatars can be found in other settlements of Russia. In other countries there are insignificant settlements in the USA, Canada, Ukraine, Turkey, etc. Among the ethnic groups of the Kazan Tatars there are Polovtsy, Bulgars (the Tatars very often call themselves that) and the Imenkovskaya culture.

Description of the ethnic group

Women have slightly narrowed eyes, cheekbones protrude on the face. They usually have a strong physique. Very often they hide their beauty, as is customary in Asians. In most cases, they lead a sedentary lifestyle, which is typical of Asian countries, where men do all the work, and wives do only light household tasks. All Tatars are clean, they are cunning, but at the same time there is a struggle for justice. Men also have a beautiful appearance and physique, dark eyes. Very jealous and slightly proud.

Distribution by language groups

Since all Tatars speak Tatar (knowledge of a second language depends on the area), Kazan Tatars can boast of this as well. The only thing that is slightly different is the dialect, because it belongs to the middle (Kazan) dialect. The Tatar language, respectively, belongs to the Kypchak group of the Turkic origin of languages. As for literature and writing, the Kazan dialect is used.

Origin of the ethnos

In ancient times, the modern lands of the Tatars were called Bulgaria. Turkic-speaking tribes lived there (for example, Finno-Ugric). As soon as the Volga Bulgaria was conquered by the Mongols, the Golden Horde arose. For a long time it did not exist, fell apart. Instead of it, various khanates began to form, so the Kazan Khanate appeared on the Bulgar lands, where later such a nationality as the Kazan Tatars (XV-XVI centuries) began to form. Historically, this process is believed to have been influenced by:

Bulgars;
Finno-Ugrians;
Kypchaks;
Turks.

Religion

Beliefs were divided into 2 branches: Christianity (Orthodoxy) and Islam (Sunni).

Kitchen

The most common dish is azu. In other words, this is a stew, it includes various vegetables and meat. The more products, the richer and tastier the dish.

Clothing and jewelry

The traditional costume is kulmek (tunic or tunic-shaped shirt) with harem pants. On the women's costume, they made izu, various stripes and embroideries. The outfit was very heavy because of the decor (sometimes even coins were sewn on). Men wear a kulepesh or skullcap on their heads. It is common for women to wear a kalfak embroidered with pearls, and to braid their hair, more often in two braids. Among the shoes, the fair sex wear ichig, these are high-quality morocco boots with patterns. Also, every woman wanted to wear more jewelry, sometimes their weight reached 6 kg.

Culture and life

Initially, this people was engaged in cattle breeding, less often they planted vegetation. They lived in huts. On the Kazan lands it is customary to be hospitable, so they generously receive and treat guests.

Be sure to wash your hands before eating. The meal at the table began and ended with a prayer. It is considered bad manners if you arbitrarily at the table without the permission of the foremen.

On the eve of the wedding, it is customary to decorate the house with ribbons, flowers and other materials, and the more the better.

Tatar embroidery is highly valued. They were good weavers. Even today, embroidered towels are a valuable product!

I. G. Maksimov

I Introduction

There are a number of conflicting theories about the origin of our Kazan Tatars, none of which can claim to be reliable yet. According to the first of them, and apparently the oldest one, the Kazan Tatars are the descendants of the Tatar-Mongols, according to the other, their ancestors are the Volga-Kama Bulgars, according to the third, they are the descendants of the Kipchaks from the Golden Horde who migrated to the Volga region, and according to the fourth, so far The latest, it seems, is that the Kazan Tatars are the descendants of the Turkic-speaking tribes that appeared in the Volga and Ural regions in the 7th-8th centuries and formed the people of the Kazan Tatars within the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. The author of this last hypothesis is the head of the archaeological department of the Kazan Institute. G. IbragimovaA. Khalikov, although justified and rejects the first three theories, but also about his worknevertheless writes that it is only an attempt to summarize new data on the origin of the Volga Tatars and initiate further research in this area. It seems to us that the reason for such difficulties in resolving the issue of the origin of the Kazan Tatars is that they are looking for their ancestors not where their descendants now live, i.e. not in the Tatar Republic, but, in addition, they attribute the emergence of the Kazan Tatars not to the era when this took place, but in all cases to more ancient times.

II.The theory of the Tatar-Mongolian origin of the Kazan Tatars

According to this theory, the Kazan Tatars are the descendants of the Tatar-Mongols, who conquered many countries in the first half of the 13th century and left the sad memory of the “Tatar yoke” among the Russian people. The Russian people were sure of this when the Moscow army went on a campaign that ended with the annexation of Kazan to Moscow in 1552. Here is what we read in the “Tale of Prince Kurbsky about the conquest of Kazan”: “And Abie, for the help of God, resisted the mighty Christian army. And against some sort of matchers? So great and formidable Ishmaelian language, once the universe trembled from the worthlessness, and not only trembled, but was also devastated”, i.e. The Christian army came out against the people, before whom the world trembled and not only trembled, but by whom it was also devastated.

This theory, based only on the same name of the ancient people and the modern one, had its supporters, but its fallacy is fully proved by the results of diverse scientific studies, which absolutely do not confirm any connection between the Kazan Tatars and the Tatar-Mongols. This hypothesis, perhaps, is still preserved in some places, as a philistine point of view of people who know something from the literature about the “Tatars” of ancient times and who also know that, for example, Kazan Tatars still exist.

III.The theory of the Kipchak-Polovtsian origin of the Kazan Tatars

There is a group of Soviet scientists (M.N. Tikhomirov, M.G. Safargaliev, Sh.F. Mukhamedyarov), who, based on the fact that the Tatar language is part of the so-called Kipchak group of Turkic languages, consider the Kazan Tatars to be descendants of the Kipchak-Polovtsian tribes , which in the XIII and XIV centuries made up the bulk of the population of the Golden Horde. According to these scientists, the Kipchak tribes after the Mongol invasion, especially after the collapse of the Golden Horde, moved to the banks of the Kama and Volga, where, with the remnants of the Volga Bulgaria, they formed the basis of the Kazan Tatars.

This theory, based only on the common language, is refuted by archaeological and anthropological materials, which do not confirm any significant changes in either the culture or the ethnic composition of the population of the Kazan Khanate compared to the population and culture of the local region of the Golden Horde period.

IV. The theory of the origin of the Kazan Tatars from the Volga-Kama Bulgars

For quite a long time there was a controversy between supporters of the origin of the Volga-Kama Bulgars of Kazan Tatars or Chuvash. The dispute was resolved in favor of the latter, and with regard to the Kazan Tatars, this issue has now finally disappeared. In resolving this issue, the main role was played by the fact that the Tatar language is so different from the ancient Bulgarian that it is difficult to identify the ancestors of the Tatars with the Volga-Kama Bulgars. At the same time, “if we compare the language of the Bulgar tombstones with the current Chuvash dialect, then the difference between the two turns out to be very insignificant”,or else: “Monuments of the language of the Bulgars of the 13th century are most closely explained from the modern Chuvash language.”

v."Archaeological" theory of the origin of the Kazan Tatars

In a very solid work on the history of the Kazan Tatars, we read: AD began to penetrate from the southeast and south into the forest-steppe part from the Urals to the upper reaches of the Oka River”...According to the theory clarifying the above position, proposed by the head of the sector of archeology of the Kazan Institute of Language, Literature and History of the USSR Academy of Sciences A. Khalikov, the ancestors of modern Kazan Tatars, as well as the Bashkirs, should be considered Turkic-speaking tribes that invaded the Volga and Ural regions in the 6th-8th centuries, who spoke the language of the Oghuz-Kipchak type.

According to the author, even in the pre-Mongol period the main population of the Volga Bulgaria spoke, probably, in a language close to the Kipchak-Oguz group of Turkic languages, akin to the language of the Tatars of the Volga region and the Bashkirs. There is reason to believe, he argues, that in the Volga Bulgaria, back in the pre-Mongol period, on the basis of the merger of Turkic-speaking tribes, their assimilation of part of the local Finno-Ugric population, the process of adding up the ethno-cultural components of the Volga Tatars was going on. The author concludes that will not large mistake consider that during this period the foundations of the language, culture and anthropological appearance of the Kazan Tatars took shape, including their adoption of the Muslim religion in the 10th-11th centuries.

Fleeing from the Mongol invasion and raids from the Golden Horde, these ancestors of the Kazan Tatars allegedly moved from Zakamye and settled on the banks of the Kazanka and Mesha. During the period of the Kazan Khanate, the main groups of the Volga Tatars were finally formed from them: Kazan Tatars and Mishars, and after the region was annexed to the Russian state, as a result of supposedly forced Christianization, part of the Tatars was allocated to the Kryashen group.

Consider the weaknesses of this theory. There is a point of view that Turkic-speaking tribes with “Tatar” and “Chuvash” languages have lived in the Volga region since time immemorial. Academician S.E. Malov, for example, says: “Currently, two Turkic peoples live in the Volga region: Chuvash and Tatars ... These two languages are very heterogeneous and not similar ... despite the fact that these languages \u200b\u200bare one Turkic system ... I think that these two linguistic elements were here a very long time ago, several centuries before the new era, and almost in exactly the same form as they are now. If the present-day Tatars had met the alleged “ancient Tatar”, a resident of the 5th century BC, they would have fully explained themselves to him. Just like the Chuvash.”

Thus, it is not necessary to refer only to the VI-VII centuries the appearance in the Volga region of the Turkic tribes of the Kipchak (Tatar) language group.

We will consider the Bulgaro-Chuvash identity as indisputably established and agree with the opinion that the ancient Volga Bulgars were known under this name only among other peoples, but they themselves called themselves Chuvash. Thus, the Chuvash language was the language of the Bulgars, a language not only spoken, but also written, accounting.In confirmation, there is such a statement: “The Chuvash language is a purely Turkic dialect, with an admixture of Arabic, Persian and Russian and almost without any admixture of Finnish words”, ...“ the influence of educated nations is visible in the language”.

So, in ancient Volga Bulgaria, which existed for a historical period of time equal to about five centuries, the state language was Chuvash, and the main part of the population was most likely the ancestors of the modern Chuvash, and not the Turkic-speaking tribes of the Kipchak language group, as the author of the theory claims. There were no objective reasons for the merger of these tribes into an original nationality with features that were later characteristic of the Volga Tatars, i.e. to the appearance in those distant times, as if their ancestors.

Due to the multinationality of the Bulgar state and the equality of all tribes before the authorities, the Turkic-speaking tribes of both language groups in this case would have to be in very close relations with each other, given the very great similarity of languages, and hence the ease of communication. Most likely, under those conditions, the assimilation of the tribes of the Kipchak language group in the old Chuvash people should have taken place, and not their merger with each other and isolation as a separate nationality with specific features, and in a linguistic, cultural and anthropological sense, coinciding with the features of modern Volga Tatars .

Now a few words about the adoption of the allegedly distant ancestors of the Kazan Tatars in the X-XI centuries of the Muslim religion. This or that new religion, as a rule, was accepted not by the peoples, but by their rulers for political reasons. Sometimes it took a very long time to wean the people from the old customs and beliefs and make them a follower of the new faith. So, apparently, it was in the Volga Bulgaria with Islam, which was the religion of the ruling elite, and the common people continued to live according to their old beliefs, perhaps until the time when the elements of the Mongol invasion, and subsequently the raids of the Golden Horde Tatars, forced the survivors flee from Zakamye to the northern bank of the river, regardless of tribes and language.

The author of the theory only casually mentions such an important historical event for the Kazan Tatars as the emergence of the Kazan Khanate. He writes: “Here, in the 13th-14th centuries, the Kazan principality was formed, which grew into the Kazan Khanate in the 15th century.”As if the second is only a simple development of the first, without any qualitative changes. In reality, the Kazan principality was Bulgarian, with Bulgarian princes, and the Kazan Khanate was Tatar, with a Tatar khan at the head.

The Kazan Khanate was created by the former Khan of the Golden Horde, Ulu Mohammed, who arrived on the left bank of the Volga in 1438 at the head of 3,000 of his Tatar warriors and conquered the local tribes. In the Russian chronicles there is for 1412, for example, the following entry: “Daniil Borisovich a year before with a squad Bulgarian princes defeated Vasiliev's brother, Pyotr Dmitrievich, in Lyskovo, and Vsevolod Danilovich Kazan prince Talych robbed Vladimir.Since 1445, the son of Ulu Mohammed Mamutyak became the Khan of Kazan, having villainously killed his father and brother, which in those days was a common occurrence during palace coups. The chronicler writes: “In the same autumn, King Mamutyak, Ulu Mukhamedov’s son, took the city of Kazan and patrimony of Kazan, killed Prince Lebei, and himself sat down to reign in Kazan.”Also: “In 1446, 700 Tatars Mamutyakov’s squads besieged Ustyug and took furs from the city, but, returning, they drowned in Vetluga.

In the first case, the Bulgars, i.e. Chuvash princes and Bulgar, i.e. Chuvash Kazan prince, and in the second - 700 Tatars of the Mamutyakov squad. It was Bulgarian, i.e. Chuvash, Kazan principality, became the Tatar Kazan Khanate.

What was the significance of this event for the population of the local region, how the historical process went on after that, what changes occurred in the ethnic and social composition of the region during the period of the Kazan Khanate, as well as after the annexation of Kazan to Moscow - there is no answer to all these questions in the proposed theory. It is not clear just how the Mishar Tatars ended up in their habitats, with a common origin with the Kazan Tatars. A very elementary explanation is given for the emergence of the Tatar-Kryashens “as a result of forced Christianization”, without giving a single historical example. Why did the majority of Kazan Tatars, despite the violence, managed to keep themselves Muslims, and a relatively small part succumbed to violence and converted to Christianity. The reason for what has been said to some extent must be sought, perhaps in the fact that, as the author of the article himself points out, up to 52 percent of the Kryashens belong, according to anthropology, to the Caucasoid type, and only 25 percent of Kazan Tatars are like that. Perhaps this is due to some difference in origin between the Kazan Tatars and the Kryashens, from which their different behavior also follows during “forced” Christianization, if this really happened in the 16th and 17th centuries, which is very doubtful. We must agree with the author of this theory, A. Khalikov, that his article is only an attempt to summarize new data that makes it possible to raise the question of the origin of the Kazan Tatars again, and, I must say, an unsuccessful attempt.

VI."Chuvash" theory of the origin of the Kazan Tatars

Most historians and ethnographers, as well as the authors of the four theories discussed above, are looking for the ancestors of the Kazan Tatars not where this people currently lives, but in places far from there. In the same way, their emergence and formation as an original nationality are attributed not to the historical era when this took place, but to more ancient times. Therefore, the proposed theories of the origin of the Kazan Tatars turn out to be either erroneous or unconvincing. In reality, there is every reason to believe that the cradle of the Kazan Tatars is their real homeland, i.e. region of the Tatar Republic on the left bank of the Volga between Kazanka and Kama.

There are also convincing arguments in favor of the fact that the Kazan Tatars arose, took shape as an original nationality and multiplied over a historical period, the duration of which covers the era from the founding of the Kazan Tatar kingdom by the former Khan of the Golden Horde Ulu Mohammed in 1438 until the revolution of 1917. Moreover, their ancestors were not alien "Tatars", but local peoples: the Chuvash (they are the Volga Bulgars), the Udmurts, the Mari, and, perhaps also, who have not survived to this day, but lived in those parts, representatives of other tribes, including those who spoke in a language close to the language of the Kazan Tatars.

All these peoples and tribes, apparently, lived in those wooded lands from time immemorial, and partially, perhaps, also moved from Zakamye, after the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols and the defeat of the Volga Bulgaria. In terms of the nature and level of culture, as well as the way of life, this heterogeneous mass of people before the emergence of the Kazan Khanate, in any case, did not differ much from each other. In the same way, their religions were similar and consisted in the veneration of various spirits and sacred groves-kiremets - places of prayer with sacrifices. We are convinced of this by the fact that up to the revolution of 1917 they were preserved in the same Tatar Republic, for example, near the village. Kukmor, the villages of the Udmurts and Mari, which were not touched by either Christianity or Islam, where until recently people lived according to the ancient customs of their tribes.

In addition, in ApastovskyIn the region of the Tatar Republic, at the junction with the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, there are nine Kryashen villages, including the villages of Surinskoye and the village of Staroe Tyaberdino, where some of the inhabitants were “unbaptized” Kryashens even before the 1917 revolution, thus surviving before the revolution outside as Christian and Muslim religions. And the Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts and Kryashens who converted to Christianity were only formally listed in it, but continued to live according to ancient times until recently.

In passing, we note that the existence of “unbaptized” Kryashens almost in our time casts doubt on the very widespread point of view that the Kryashens arose as a result of the forced Christianization of the Muslim Tatars.

The above considerations allow us to assume that in the Bulgar state, the Golden Horde and, to a large extent, the Kazan Khanate, Islam was the religion of the ruling classes and privileged estates, and the common people, or most of them - the Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts and others - lived according to the old grandfather customs.

Now let's see how, under those historical conditions, the people of the Kazan Tatars, as we know them at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, could arise and multiply.

In the middle of the 15th century, as already mentioned, on the left bank of the Volga, Khan Ulu Mohammed, deposed from the throne and fled from the Golden Horde, appeared with a relatively small detachment of his Tatars. He conquered and subjugated the local Chuvash tribe and created the feudal-serf Kazan Khanate, in which the winners, Muslim Tatars, were the privileged class, and the conquered Chuvashs were the serfs of the common people. In one pre-revolutionary historical work on the same issue, we read this: “The aristocratic Kazan kingdom was formed, in which the military class consisted of Tatars, the merchant class - from the Bulgars, and the agricultural class - from the Chuvash-Suvars. The power of the tsar extended to the foreigners of the region, who began to convert to Mohammedanism”,in other words, slacking off. It's very believable and specific.

In the latest edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, in more detail about the internal structure of the state in its final period, we read the following: “Kazan Khanate, a feudal state in Wed. The Volga region (1438-1552), formed as a result of the collapse of the Golden Horde on the territory of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. The founder of the dynasty of Kazan khans was Ulu Mohammed (ruled from 1438-45). The supreme state power belonged to the khan, but was directed by the council of large feudal lords (sofa). The top of the feudal nobility were Karachi, representatives of the four most noble families. Next came the sultans, emirs, below them - murzas, uhlans and warriors. An important role was played by the Muslim clergy, who owned vast waqf lands. The bulk of the population consisted of “black people”: free peasants who paid yasak and other taxes to the state, feudal dependent peasants, serfs from prisoners of war and slaves.

The Tatar nobles (emirs, beks, murzas and others) were hardly very merciful to their serfs, to the same foreign and infidel. Voluntarily or pursuing goals related to some kind of benefit, but over time, ordinary people began to adopt their religion from the privileged class, which was associated with the rejection of their national identity and with a complete change in life and way of life, according to the requirement of the new “Tatar” faith is Islam. This transition of the Chuvash to Mohammedanism was the beginning of the formation of the Kazan Tatars.

The new state that arose on the Volga lasted only a hundred years, during which raids on the outskirts of the Muscovite state almost did not stop. In the internal state life, frequent palace coups took place and proteges of either Turkey (Crimea), then Moscow, then the Nogai Horde, etc., appeared on the khan's throne.

The process of formation of the Kazan Tatars in the way mentioned above from the Chuvash, and partly from other peoples of the Volga region, took place throughout the entire period of the existence of the Kazan Khanate, did not stop after the annexation of Kazan to the Muscovite state and continued until the beginning of the 20th century, i.e. almost to our time. Kazan Tatars grew in number not so much as a result of natural growth, but as a result of the Tatarization of other nationalities of the region.

The Tatarization of the dark masses of the Volga peoples was the result of energetic and systematic activity among them of the Muslim clergy, who often received theological, and at the same time political training, mainly in sultanist Turkey. Along with the preaching of the “true” faith, these “theologians” instilled in the Tatar people, who remained in darkness and ignorance, hostility and hostility towards the Russian people. Ultimately, the Tatar people until the XX century. continued to remain far from European culture, alienated from the Russian people and remained in complete ignorance and darkness. On the other hand, all the Volga peoples (Chuvash, Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts and Kryashens) by the middle of the 19th century. turned out to be on the verge of complete disappearance from the historical scene as a result of the Tatarization and absorption of them by the very Arab-Muslim culture frozen at the level of the Middle Ages.

Thus, the formation of the people of Kazan Tatars began after the emergence of the Kazan Khanate and lasted for several centuries, precisely through the Tatarization mainly Chuvash, they are the Bulgars, who should be considered primarily the ancestors of the Kazan Tatars. The foregoing is confirmed by recent studies.

In the materials on the history of the Chuvash people (in the article by V.D. Dimitriev - ed.) we read: “A huge number of left-bank Suvars (Chuvashs) in the 13th-14th centuries. and the beginning of the fifteenth century. moved to the northern regions of the left bank of the Volga in the Order. Despite the Tatarization of a significant part of these Chuvashs, there were many of them in the Kazan district, even in the 16th-18th centuries. In the acts of the XVI - early XVII centuries. in the Kazan district, I managed to record up to 100 Chuvash villages.

“The left-bank Chuvashs gradually fledged. Archival documents show that in the first half of the seventeenth century. in the Kazan district, many Chuvashs converted to Islam and began to call themselves Tatars.“The rapid growth in the number of Kazan Tatars was due, first of all, to the Tatarization, mainly of the Chuvash, as well as the Mari, Udmurts and others.”

“In the sixteenth century. Tatars were numerically less than the Chuvash. The number of Tatars further grew, to a large extent due to the Muslimization mainly of the Chuvash, as well as the Mari, Udmurts, etc. The numerous Chuvash population of the Kazan district was absorbed by the Tatars.

Academician S.E. Malov says: “... When anthropologists used to come to Kazan from abroad, they were surprised that in some counties of the former Kazan province, according to their measurements, the population consisted of Mari. But these anthropometric Maris were at the same time completely Tatars in terms of language and way of life... In this case, we have a Tatarization of the Mari.”

Here is another rather interesting argument in favor of the Chuvash origin of the Kazan Tatars. It turns out that the Meadow Mari are now called Tatars “suas”. N.I. Ashmarin considers this circumstance one of the proofs of the Bulgar origin of the Chuvash on the grounds that the name of the ruling people in the Bulgar period was automatically transferred by the Mari to the new conquerors who arrived from the Golden Horde.It's not particularly convincing. Another more reliable and simpler explanation suggests itself.

Meadow Mari from time immemorial closely coexisted with that part of the Chuvash people who lived on the left bank of the Volga and were the first to Tatar, so that in those places there was not a single Chuvash village left for a long time, although according to historical information and scribe records of the Muscovite state, they were there lot. The Mari did not notice, especially at the beginning, any changes among their neighbors as a result of the appearance of another god in them - Allah - and forever preserved their former name in their language. But for distant neighbors - Russians - from the very beginning of the formation of the Kazan kingdom there was no doubt that the Kazan Tatars were the same Tatar-Mongols who left a sad memory of themselves among the Russians.