Where is the number of Tatars? Who are the Tatars? General characteristics of the Tatar people and population

About 14 thousand people. The total number is 6,710 thousand people.

They are divided into three main ethno-territorial groups: Volga-Ural Tatars, Siberian Tatars and Astrakhan Tatars. The most numerous are the Volga-Ural Tatars, which include the subethnic groups of the Kazan Tatars, Kasimov Tatars and Mishars, as well as the sub-confessional community of the Kryashens (baptized Tatars). Among the Siberian Tatars, the Tobolsk, Tara, Tyumen, Barabinsk and Bukhara Tatars (ethnic class group of Tatars) stand out. Among the Astrakhan ones are the Yurt, Kundra Tatars and Karagash (in the past, the Tatars of the “three courtyards” and the Tatars “emeshnye” also stood out). Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Lithuanian Tatars were a special ethnic group of the Golden Horde-Turkic ethnos, which disappeared as a result of ethnic and political processes of the 15th-16th centuries. This group in the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. experienced, to a certain extent, the process of integration into the Tatar ethnic community.

Folk-colloquial Tatar language Kipchak group Turkic language is divided into three dialects: western (Mishar), middle (Kazan-Tatar) and eastern (Siberian-Tatar). The Astrakhan Tatars retain a certain specificity in terms of linguistic characteristics. The Turkic language of the Lithuanian Tatars ceased to exist in the 16th century (Lithuanian Tatars switched to the Belarusian language, and by the middle of the 19th century, part of the intelligentsia began to use Polish and Russian).

The most ancient writing is the Turkic runic. Writing from the 10th century to 1927 was based on Arabic script, from 1928 to 1939 - Latin (Yanalif), from 1939 - 40 - Russian.

Believing Tatars, with the exception of a small group of Kryashens (including Nagaybaks), who were converted to Orthodoxy in the 16th-18th centuries, are Sunni Muslims.

In the past, all ethno-territorial groups of the Tatars also had local ethnonyms: among the Volga-Urals - Meselman, Kazanly, Bulgarians, Misher, Tipter, Kereshen, Nagaybek, Kechim and others; among the Astrakhan ones - Nugai, Karagash, Yurt Tatarlars and others; among the Siberian ones - seber tatarlary (seberek), tobollyk, turaly, baraba, bokharly, etc.; among Lithuanians - maslim, litva (lipka), Tatarlars.

For the first time, the ethnonym “Tatars” appeared among the Mongolian and Turkic tribes in the 6th-9th centuries, in the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. it became established as the general ethnonym of the Tatars. In the 13th century, the Mongols who created the Golden Horde included tribes they conquered (including Turkic ones), called “Tatars”. In the XIII-XIV centuries, as a result of complex ethnic processes taking place in the Golden Horde, the numerically dominant Kipchaks assimilated the remaining Turkic-Mongol tribes, but adopted the ethnonym “Tatars”. European peoples, Russians and some large Asian nations called the population of the Golden Horde “Tatars”. In the Tatar khanates formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde, noble layers, military service groups and the bureaucratic class, consisting mainly of Golden Horde Tatars of Kipchak-Nogai origin, called themselves Tatars. It was they who played a significant role in the spread of the ethnonym “Tatars”. After the fall of the khanates, the term was transferred to the common people. This was also facilitated by the ideas of the Russians, who called all the inhabitants of the Tatar khanates “Tatars.” In the conditions of the formation of the ethnic group (in the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries), the Tatars began a process of growth national identity and awareness of their unity. By the time of the 1926 census, most Tatars called themselves Tatars.

The ethnic basis of the Volga-Ural Tatars was formed by the Turkic-speaking tribes of the Bulgarians, who created in the Middle Volga region (no later than the beginning of the 10th century) one of the early states of Eastern Europe - Volga-Kama Bulgaria, which existed as an independent state until 1236. As part of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria, from many tribal and post-tribal formations, the Bulgarian nationality took shape, which in pre-Mongol times was experiencing a process of consolidation. The inclusion of its territories into the Golden Horde led to significant ethnopolitical changes. On the site of the former independent state, one of the ten administrative divisions (iklim) of the Golden Horde was formed with the main center in the city of Bulgar. In the XIV-XV centuries, separate principalities with centers in Narovchat (Mukshy), Bulgar, Dzhuketau and Kazan were known in this territory. In the XIV-XV centuries, Kipchakized groups, including Nogai, penetrated into the ethnic environment of the population of this region. In the XIV - mid-XVI centuries. the formation of ethnic communities of Kazan, Kasimov Tatars and Mishars took place. The Kazan-Tatar people developed in the Kazan Khanate (1438-1552), which was one of the significant political centers of Eastern Europe. The ethnic appearance of the Mishars and Kasimov Tatars was formed in the Kasimov Khanate, which was dependent on Muscovite Rus' from the mid-15th century (it existed in a greatly modified form until the 80s of the 17th century). Until the middle of the 16th century, the Mishari experienced the process of becoming an independent ethnic group. The Kasimov Tatars, who had some ethnic characteristics, were actually the social elite of the Kasimov Khanate and, ethnically, formed a group transitional between the Kazan Tatars and the Mishars. In the 2nd half of the XVI-XVIII centuries. As a result of mass migrations of Tatars in the Volga-Ural region, a further rapprochement of the Kazan, Kasimov Tatars and Mishars occurred, which led to the formation of the Volga-Ural Tatars ethnic group. The Astrakhan Tatars are descendants of the Golden Horde groups (but possibly also of some earlier components of Khazar and Kipchak origin). In the XV-XVII centuries, this population, living in the Astrakhan Khanate (1459-1556), partly in the Nogai Horde and individual Nogai principalities (Big and Small Nogai and others), experienced strong influence from the Nogais. Among the Astrakhan Tatars there are other components (Tatar Tats, Indians, Central Asian Turks). Since the 18th century, ethnic interaction between the Astrakhan Tatars and the Volga-Ural Tatars has intensified. In separate groups of Astrakhan Tatars - in the Yurt Tatars and Karagashs - the ethnic groups of the medieval Nogai and Golden Horde-Turkic ethnic groups are distinguishable.

Lithuanian Tatars began to form at the end of the 14th century on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the expense of people from the Golden Horde, and later from the Great and Nogai Hordes.

The Siberian Tatars were formed mainly from ethnic groups of Kypchak and Nogai-Kypchak origin, which included the Ugrians assimilated by them. In the XVIII - early XX centuries. Ethnic contacts between the Siberian Tatars and the Volga-Ural Tatars intensified.

In the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. as a result of ethnocultural and demographic processes (early entry into the Russian state, proximity of ethnic territories, migration of the Volga-Ural Tatars to the regions of Astrakhan and Western Siberia, linguistic and cultural-everyday rapprochement based on ethnic mixing), the consolidation of the Volga-Ural, Astrakhan and Siberian Tatars into a single ethnic group. One of the expressions of this process is the assimilation by all groups of “all-Tatar” self-awareness. Among some of the Siberian Tatars there was the ethnonym “Bukharians”, among the Astrakhan Tatars - “Nogais”, “Karagashi”; among the Volga-Ural Tatars, according to the 1926 census, 88% of the Tatar population of the European part of the USSR considered themselves Tatars. The rest had other ethnonyms (Mishar, Kryashen, including some of them - Nagaybak, Teptyar). The preservation of local names indicates the incompleteness of consolidation processes among the Tatars, who are a fully established large ethnic group, although some of the Siberian Tatars, Nagaibaks and some other groups continue to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Tatars.

In 1920, the Tatar ASSR was formed (as part of the RSFSR), which in 1991 was transformed into the Republic of Tatarstan.

Traditional occupations are arable farming and cattle breeding. They grew wheat, rye, oats, barley, peas, lentils, millet, spelt, flax and hemp.

The Kryashens raised large and small cattle and horses, and the Kryashen Tatars raised pigs. In the steppe zone, the herds were significant, and among the Tatar-Orenburg Cossacks and Astrakhan Tatars, livestock breeding was not inferior in importance to agriculture. Tatars are characterized by a special love for horses - a legacy of their nomadic past. They raised poultry - chickens, geese, ducks, and more recently - turkeys. Gardening played a secondary role. The main garden plant for most peasants was potatoes. In the Southern Urals and Astrakhan Territory important had melon growing. Beekeeping was traditional for the Volga-Ural Tatars: formerly beekeeping, in the 19th-20th centuries apiary. In the recent past, hunting as a trade existed only among the Ural Mishars. Fishing was more of an amateur nature, but on the Ural River, and especially among the Astrakhan Tatars, it had commercial significance; among the Barabinsk Tatars, lake fishing played an important role; among the northern groups of the Tobol-Irtysh and Barabinsk Tatars - river fishing and hunting.

Along with agriculture, various trades and crafts have long been important. There were different types of additional work: waste trades - for the harvest and for factories, factories, mines, for state-owned forest dachas, sawmills, etc.; transportation Traditional, especially for the Kazan Tatars, were various crafts: wood chemical and woodworking (matting, cooperage, carriage, carpentry, carpentry, etc.). They had high skill in processing leather (“Kazan morocco”, “Bulgarian yuft”), sheepskin, and wool. On the basis of these crafts in the Zakazan region in the 18th-19th centuries, fulling-felt, furriers, weaving, ichizh, and gold-embroidery manufactories arose, and in the 19th century - leather, cloth and other factories. Metalworking, jewelry, brickmaking and other handicrafts were also known. Many peasants were engaged in crafts in otkhodnik form (tailors, wool beaters, dyers, carpenters).

Trade and trade intermediary were primordial for the Tatars. activity. The Tatars practically monopolized petty trade in the region; Most of the prasol-procurers were also Tatars. Since the 18th century, large Tatar traders dominated transactions with Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

The Tatars had urban and rural settlements. Villages (aul) were mainly located along the river network; there were many of them near springs, highways, and lakes. The Tatars of the Pre-Kama region and part of the Urals were characterized by small and medium-sized villages located in the lowlands, on the slopes of the hills; in forest-steppe and steppe areas, large, widely spread auls on flat terrain predominated. Old Tatar villages of Predkamya, founded during the time of the Kazan Khanate, until the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. retained cumulus, nested forms of settlement, a disorderly layout, were distinguished by cramped buildings, uneven and confusing streets, often ending in unexpected dead ends. Often there was a concentration of estates by related groups, sometimes the presence of several related families in one estate. The long-standing tradition of locating dwellings in the depths of the courtyard, a continuous line of blind street fences, etc., was preserved. In areas with forest-steppe and steppe landscapes, settlements for the most part had a focal form of settlement in the form of a sparse network of single isolated settlements. They were characterized by multiple courtyards, linear, block-by-block, ordered street development, the location of dwellings on the street line, etc.

In the center of the villages, the estates of wealthy peasants, clergy, and merchants were concentrated; a mosque, shops, stores, and public grain barns were also located here. In mono-ethnic villages there could be several mosques, and in multi-ethnic villages, in addition to them, churches were built. On the outskirts of the village there were above-ground or semi-dugout bathhouses and mills. In forest areas, as a rule, the outskirts of villages were set aside for pastures, surrounded by a fence, and field gates (basu kapok) were placed at the ends of the streets. Large settlements were often volost centers. They held bazaars, fairs, and had everything necessary for the administrative functioning of the building.

The estates were divided into two parts: the front - a clean courtyard, where the dwelling, storage, and livestock buildings were located, the back - a vegetable garden with a threshing floor. Here there was a current, a barn-shish, a chaff barn, and sometimes a bathhouse. Less common were single-yard estates, and rich peasants had estates in which the middle yard was entirely devoted to livestock buildings.

The main building material is wood. The timber construction technique predominated. The construction of residential buildings made of clay, brick, stone, adobe, and wattle fence was also noted. The huts were above ground or on a foundation or basement. The two-chamber type predominated - hut - canopy; in some places there were five-walled huts and huts with a porch. Wealthy peasant families built three-chamber huts with communications (izba - canopy - hut). In forest areas, huts connected through a vestibule to a cage, dwellings with a cruciform plan, “round” houses, cross houses, and occasionally multi-chamber houses built according to urban models predominated. The Volga-Ural Tatars also mastered the construction of vertical housing, also mainly observed in the forest zone. These included houses with a semi-basement residential floor, two-, and occasionally three-story. The latter, built according to a traditional cruciform plan, with mezzanines and girls' rooms (aivans), represented the specifics of the rural architecture of the Kazan Tatars. Wealthy peasants built their residential log houses on stone and brick storerooms and placed shops and shops on the lower floor.

The roof is a truss structure, gable, sometimes hipped. With a rafterless structure, a male roof was used in forest areas, and in the steppe, a rolling covering made of logs and poles was used. Territorial differences were also observed in the roofing material: in the forest zone - planks, sometimes shingles were used, in the forest-steppe zone - straw, bast, in the steppe zone - clay, reeds.

The internal layout is of the Northern Central Russian type. In certain areas of the forest and steppe zones, sometimes there was an eastern version of the South Russian plan, occasionally there was a plan with the opposite direction of the mouth of the furnace (towards the entrance) and rarely among the Tatar-Mishars of the Oka basin - a Western Russian plan.

Traditional features of the interior of the hut are the free location of the stove at the entrance, the place of honor “tour” in the middle of the bunks (seke), placed along the front wall. Only among the Kryashen Tatars the “tour” was placed diagonally from the stove in the front corner. The area of ​​the hut along the stove line was divided by a partition or curtain into women's - kitchen and men's - guest halves.

Heating was carried out by a stove with a “white” firebox, and only in rare huts of the Mishar Tatars did stoves without pipes survive. Bakery ovens were built of adobe and brick, differing in the absence or presence of a boiler, the method of strengthening it - suspended (among certain groups of Tatar-Mishars of the Oka basin), embedded, etc.

The interior of the home is represented by long bunks, which were universal furniture: they rested, ate, and worked on them. In the northern areas and especially among the Mishar Tatars, shortened bunks were used, combined with benches and tables. Walls, piers, corners, tops, etc. decorated with fabric decorations with bright colors, woven and embroidered towels, napkins, and prayer books. The sleeping places were enclosed by a curtain or canopy. Valances were hung along the matitsa, along the upper perimeter of the walls. The attire of the hut was complemented by festive clothes hung on the partition or shelves, felt and lint-free carpets, runners, etc. laid on the bunks and on the floor.

The architectural decorative design of dwellings has been preserved in the villages of the Kazan Tatars of the Zakazan region: ancient buildings, two- and three-story bai houses, decorated with carved and applied ornaments, columns with orders, pilasters, lancet and keeled pediment niches, light verandas, galleries, balconies decorated with figured columns , lattice. The carvings were used to decorate the platbands, the plane of the pediment, the cornice, the piers, as well as the details of the porch, panels and gate posts, and the upper lattice of blind fences in front of the house. Carving motifs: floral and geometric patterns, as well as stylized images of birds and animal heads. The carved decoration of the architectural parts was combined with polychrome painting in contrasting colors: white-blue, green-blue, etc. It also covered the sheathed planes of walls and corners. Overlay kerf threads were used more in the northern regions of the Oka basin. Here, the design of roof finials, chimneys, and gutters with patterns of milled iron was developed. The huts of the Tatars in adjacent, and partly southern, areas of the forest-steppe zone had the simplest appearance: the plastered walls were covered with whitewash and small window openings stood out on the clean surface of the walls without frames, but mostly equipped with shutters.

Men's and women's underwear - a tunic-shaped shirt and wide, loose-fitting pants (the so-called “wide-leg pants”). The women's shirt was decorated with flounces and small ruffles, the chest part was arched with appliqué, ruffles, or special izu breast decorations (especially among the Kazan Tatars). In addition to appliqué, tambour embroidery (floral and floral patterns) and artistic weaving (geometric patterns) were often used in the design of men's and women's shirts.

The outerwear of the Tatars was swinging with a continuous fitted back. A sleeveless (or short-sleeved) camisole was worn over the shirt. Women's camisoles were made from colored, often plain, velvet and decorated on the sides and bottom with braid and fur. Over the camisole, men wore a long, spacious robe with a small shawl collar. In the cold season they wore beshmets, chikmeni, and tanned fur coats.

The headdress of men (except for the Kryashens) is a four-wedge, hemispherical skullcap (tubetey) or in the form of a truncated cone (kelapush). The festive velvet braided skullcap was embroidered with tambour, satin stitch (usually gold embroidery) embroidery. In cold weather, a hemispherical or cylindrical fur or simply quilted hat (burek) was worn over the skullcap (and for women, the bedspread), and in the summer, a felt hat with lowered brims.

The women's cap - kalfak - was embroidered with pearls, small gilded coins, gold embroidery stitch, etc., and was common among all groups of Tatars, except the Kryashens. Women and girls braided their hair in two braids, smoothly, parted in the middle; only the Kryashen women wore them with a crown around their heads, like Russian women. There are numerous women's jewelry - large almond-shaped earrings, pendants for braids, collar clasps with pendants, slings, spectacular wide bracelets, etc., in the manufacture of which jewelers used filigree (flat and “Tatar” tuberous), graining, embossing, casting, engraving, blackening, inlay precious stones and gems. IN rural areas Silver coins were widely used in the manufacture of jewelry.

Traditional shoes are leather ichigs and shoes with soft and hard soles, often made of colored leather. Festive women's ichigs and shoes were decorated in the style of multicolor leather mosaics, the so-called “Kazan boots”. The work shoes were bast shoes of the Tatar type (Tatar chabata): with a straight-braided head and low sides. They were worn with white cloth stockings.

The basis of the diet was meat, dairy and plant foods - soups seasoned with pieces of dough (chumar, tokmach), porridge, sour dough bread, flatbread (kabartma), pancakes (koymak). The national dish is belesh with a variety of fillings, most often from meat, cut into pieces and mixed with millet, rice or potatoes, in some groups - in the form of a dish cooked in a pot; unleavened dough is widely represented in the form of bavyrsak, kosh tele, chek-chek (wedding dish). Dried sausage (kazylyk) was prepared from horse meat (the favorite meat of many groups). Dried goose was considered a delicacy. Dairy products - katyk (a special type of sour milk), sour cream (set este, kaymak), sezme, eremchek, kort (varieties of cottage cheese), etc. Some groups prepared varieties of cheese. Drinks - tea, ayran - a mixture of katyk and water (summer drink). During the wedding, they served shirbet - a drink made from fruits and honey dissolved in water. Some ritual dishes have been preserved - elbe (fried sweet flour), honey mixed with butter (bal-may), a wedding dish, etc.

The small family predominated, although in remote forest areas until the beginning of the 20th century there were also large families of 3-4 generations. The family was based on patriarchal principles, there was an avoidance of men by women, and some elements of female seclusion. Marriages were carried out mainly through matchmaking, although there were runaway marriages and abductions of girls.

In wedding rituals, despite local differences, there were common points that made up the specifics of the Tatar wedding. In the pre-wedding period, during matchmaking, collusion, and engagement, the parties agreed on the quantity and quality of gifts that the groom's side should give to the bride's side, i.e. about bride price; the amount of the bride's dowry was not specifically specified. Basic wedding ceremonies, including a religious wedding ceremony, accompanied by a special feast, but without the participation of the newlyweds, were held in the bride’s house. The young woman stayed here until the bride price was paid (in the form of money and clothes for the girl, food for the wedding). At this time, the young man visited his wife on Thursdays once a week. The young woman's move to her husband's house was sometimes delayed until the birth of the child and was accompanied by many rituals. Specific feature wedding feasts of the Kazan Tatars were held separately for men and women (sometimes in different rooms). Among other groups of Tatars this division was not so strict, and among the Kryashens it was completely absent. The Kryashens and Mishars had special wedding songs, and the Mishars had wedding lamentations from the bride. In many areas, weddings took place either without alcoholic beverages at all, or their consumption was insignificant.

The most significant Muslim holidays: Korban Gaete is associated with sacrifice, Uraza Gaete is celebrated at the end of a 30-day fast and the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad - Maulid. Baptized Tatars celebrated Christian holidays, in which elements of traditional Tatar folk holidays were observed. Of the folk holidays, the most significant and ancient is Sabantuy - the festival of the plow - in honor of spring sowing. It did not have not only an exact calendar date, but also a specific (established) day of the week. Everything depended on the weather conditions of the year, the intensity of snow melting and, accordingly, the degree of readiness of the soil for sowing spring crops. Villages of the same district celebrated in a certain order. The culmination of the holiday was meidan - competitions in running, jumping, national wrestling - keresh and horse racing, preceded by a door-to-door collection of gifts to present to the winners. In addition, the holiday included a number of rituals, children's and youth's amusements that made up its preparatory part - hag (dere, zere) botkasy - a collective meal of porridge prepared from collected products. It was cooked in a large cauldron in the meadows or on a hillock. An obligatory element of Sabantuy was the collection of colored eggs by children, which were prepared by each housewife. In recent decades, Sabantuy has been celebrated everywhere in the summer, after the completion of spring field work. Characteristic is the attitude towards it as a national holiday, which manifested itself in the fact that those groups of Tatars who had not celebrated it in the past began to celebrate it.

Since 1992 two religious holiday- Kurban Bayram (Muslim) and Christmas (Christian) are included in the official holiday calendar of Tatarstan.

The oral folk art of the Tatars includes epics, fairy tales, legends, baits, songs, riddles, proverbs and sayings. Tatar music is based on the pentatonic scale and is close to the music of other Turkic peoples. Musical instruments: accordion-talyanka, kurai (a type of flute), kubyz (labial harp, possibly penetrated through the Ugrians), violin, among the Kryashens - gusli.

Professional culture is closely related to folk art. Achieved significant development national literature, music, theater, science. Applied ornamental art has been developed (gold embroidery, tambour embroidery, leather mosaic, jewelry making - filigree, engraving, embossing, stamping, stone and wood carving).

Tatars(self-name - Tat. Tatar, tatar, plural Tatarlar, tatarlar) - a Turkic people living in the central regions of the European part of Russia, in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Xinjiang, Afghanistan and the Far East.

Tatars are the second largest ethnic group ( ethnicity - ethnic community) after the Russians and most numerous people Muslim culture in the Russian Federation, where the main area of ​​their settlement is the Volga-Ural region. Within this region, the largest Tatar groups are concentrated in the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Language, writing

According to many historians, the Tatar people with a single literary and practically common spoken language emerged during the period of the existence of a huge Turkic state- Golden Horde. The literary language in this state was the so-called “idel terkise” or Old Tatar, based on the Kipchak-Bulgar (Polovtsian) language and incorporating elements of Central Asian literary languages. The modern literary language based on the middle dialect arose in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In ancient times, the Turkic ancestors of the Tatars used runic writing, as evidenced by archaeological finds in the Urals and Middle Volga region. Since the voluntary adoption of Islam by one of the ancestors of the Tatars, the Volga-Kama Bulgars, the Tatars used Arabic writing, from 1929 to 1939 - Latin script, and since 1939 they have used the Cyrillic alphabet with additional characters.

The earliest surviving literary monument in the old Tatar literary language (Kul Gali’s poem “Kyisa-i Yosyf”) was written in the 13th century. From the second half of the 19th century V. The modern Tatar literary language begins to take shape, and by the 1910s it had completely replaced the old Tatar language.

The modern Tatar language, belonging to the Kipchak-Bulgar subgroup of the Kipchak group of the Turkic language family, is divided into four dialects: middle (Kazan Tatar), western (Mishar), eastern (language of the Siberian Tatars) and Crimean (language of the Crimean Tatars). Despite dialectal and territorial differences, the Tatars are a single nation with a single literary language, a single culture - folklore, literature, music, religion, national spirit, traditions and rituals.

Even before the 1917 coup, the Tatar nation occupied one of the leading places in the Russian Empire in terms of literacy (the ability to write and read in its own language). The traditional thirst for knowledge has survived in the current generation.

The Tatars, like any large ethnic group, have a rather complex internal structure and consist of three ethno-territorial groups: Volga-Ural, Siberian, Astrakhan Tatars and the sub-confessional community of baptized Tatars. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Tatars went through a process of ethnic consolidation ( Consolid tion[lat. consolidatio, from con (cum) - together, at the same time and solido - compacting, strengthening, merging], strengthening, strengthening something; unification, rallying of individuals, groups, organizations to strengthen the struggle for common goals).

Folk culture Tatars, despite its regional variability (it varies among all ethnic groups), are fundamentally united. The vernacular Tatar language (consisting of several dialects) is fundamentally unified. From the 18th to the beginning of the 20th centuries. A national (so-called “high”) culture with a developed literary language emerged.

The consolidation of the Tatar nation was strongly influenced by the high migration activity of Tatars from the Volga-Ural region. So, by the beginning of the 20th century. 1/3 of the Astrakhan Tatars consisted of immigrants, and many of them were mixed (through marriages) with local Tatars. The same situation was observed in Western Siberia, where already by end of the 19th century V. about 1/5 of the Tatars came from the Volga and Urals regions, who also intensively mixed with the indigenous Siberian Tatars. Therefore, today it is almost impossible to identify “pure” Siberian or Astrakhan Tatars.

The Kryashens are distinguished by their religious affiliation - they are Orthodox. But all other ethnic parameters unite them with other Tatars. In general, religion is not an ethnic-forming factor. Basic elements The traditional culture of the baptized Tatars is the same as that of other neighboring groups of Tatars.

Thus, the unity of the Tatar nation has deep cultural roots, and today the presence of Astrakhan, Siberian Tatars, Kryashens, Mishars, Nagaibaks has a purely historical and ethnographic significance and cannot serve as a basis for identifying independent peoples.

The Tatar ethnic group has an ancient and vibrant history, closely connected with the history of all the peoples of the Ural-Volga region and Russia as a whole.

The original culture of the Tatars has worthily entered the treasury of world culture and civilization.

We find traces of it in the traditions and language of the Russians, Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Bashkirs, and Chuvashs. At the same time, the national Tatar culture synthesizes the achievements of the Turkic, Finno-Ugric, Indo-Iranian peoples (Arabs, Slavs and others).

Tatars are one of the most mobile peoples. Due to landlessness, frequent crop failures in their homeland and the traditional desire for trade, even before 1917 they began to move to various regions of the Russian Empire, including the provinces Central Russia, to the Donbass, Eastern Siberia and the Far East, the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This migration process intensified during the years Soviet rule, especially during the period of “great construction projects of socialism”. Therefore, at present there is practically no federal subject in the Russian Federation where Tatars live. Even in the pre-revolutionary period, Tatar national communities were formed in Finland, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and China. As a result of the collapse of the USSR, Tatars who lived in the former Soviet republics - Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and the Baltic countries - ended up in the near abroad. Already due to re-emigrants from China. In Turkey and Finland, since the mid-20th century, Tatar national diasporas have been formed in the USA, Japan, Australia, and Sweden.

Culture and life of the people

The Tatars are one of the most urbanized peoples of the Russian Federation. Social groups Tatars, living both in cities and in villages, are almost no different from those that exist among other peoples, especially Russians.

In their way of life, the Tatars do not differ from other surrounding peoples. The modern Tatar ethnic group arose in parallel with the Russian one. Modern Tatars are the Turkic-speaking part of the indigenous population of Russia, which, due to their greater territorial proximity to the East, chose Islam rather than Orthodoxy.

Traditional housing The Tatars of the Middle Volga and Urals had a log hut, separated from the street by a fence. The external façade was decorated with multicolor paintings. The Astrakhan Tatars, who retained some of their steppe cattle-breeding traditions, used a yurt as a summer home.

Like many other peoples, the rituals and holidays of the Tatar people largely depended on the agricultural cycle. Even the names of the seasons were designated by a concept associated with a particular work.

Many ethnologists note the unique phenomenon of Tatar tolerance, which consists in the fact that in the entire history of the existence of the Tatars, they have not initiated a single conflict on ethnic and religious grounds. The most famous ethnologists and researchers are sure that tolerance is an invariable part of the Tatar national character.

People in the Russian Federation. The number in the Russian Federation is 5,522,096 people. The colloquial Tatar language of the Kipchak group of the Turkic language is divided into three dialects.

The Tatars are the most numerous Turkic people in Russia. They live in the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as in Bashkortostan, Udmurt Republic and adjacent regions of the Urals and Volga region. There are large Tatar communities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities. And in general, in all regions of Russia you can meet Tatars who have been living outside their homeland, the Volga region, for decades. They have taken root in the new place, fit into their new environment, feel great there and don’t want to leave.

There are several peoples in Russia who call themselves Tatars. Astrakhan Tatars live near Astrakhan, Siberian Tatars live in Western Siberia, Kasimov Tatars live near the city of Kasimov on the Oka River (in the territory where serving Tatar princes lived several centuries ago). And finally, the Kazan Tatars are named after the capital of Tatarstan - the city of Kazan. These are all different, although close to each other, peoples. However, only those from Kazan should simply be called Tatars.

Among the Tatars, two ethnographic groups are distinguished - the Mishar Tatars and the Kryashen Tatars. The former are known for the fact that, being Muslims, they do not celebrate the national holiday Sabantuy, but they celebrate Red Egg Day - something similar to Orthodox Easter. On this day, children collect colored eggs from home and play with them. The Kryashens (“baptized”) are so called because they were baptized, that is, they accepted Christianity, and they celebrate Christian, rather than Muslim, holidays.

The Tatars themselves began to call themselves that quite late - only in the middle of the 19th century. For a very long time they did not like this name and considered it humiliating. Until the 19th century they were called differently: “Bulgarly” (Bulgars), “Kazanli” (Kazan), “Meselman” (Muslims). And now many are demanding the return of the name “Bulgar”.

The Turks came to the regions of the Middle Volga and Kama region from the steppes of Central Asia and the North Caucasus, pressed by tribes that were moving from Asia to Europe. The resettlement continued for several centuries. At the end of the 9th-10th centuries. A prosperous state, Volga Bulgaria, arose in the Middle Volga. The people who lived in this state were called Bulgars. Volga Bulgaria existed for two and a half centuries. Agriculture and cattle breeding, crafts developed here, and trade took place with Russia and with the countries of Europe and Asia.

The high level of Bulgar culture in that period is evidenced by the existence of two types of writing - the ancient Turkic runic and the later Arabic, which came along with Islam in the 10th century. The Arabic language and writing gradually replaced the signs of the ancient Turkic script from the sphere of state circulation. And this is natural: everyone used Arabic Muslim East, with whom Bulgaria had close political and economic contacts.

The names have reached our time wonderful poets, philosophers, scientists of Bulgaria, whose works are included in the treasury of the peoples of the East. This is Khoja Ahmed Bulgari (11th century) - scientist and theologian, expert on the moral precepts of Islam; Suleiman ibn Daoud al-Saksini-Suvari (XII century) - author of philosophical treatises with very poetic titles: “The light of rays - the truthfulness of secrets”, “A flower of the garden that delights sick souls”. And the poet Kul Gali (XII-XIII centuries) wrote “The Poem about Yusuf,” which is considered a classic Turkic-language work of art of the pre-Mongol period.

In the middle of the 13th century. Volga Bulgaria was conquered by the Tatar-Mongols and became part of the Golden Horde. After the fall of the Horde in the 15th century. A new state emerges in the Middle Volga region - the Kazan Khanate. The main backbone of its population is formed by the same Bulgars, who by that time had already experienced the strong influence of their neighbors - the Finno-Ugric peoples (Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts) who lived next to them in the Volga basin, as well as the Mongols, who made up the majority of the ruling class Golden Horde.

Where did the name “Tatars” come from? There are several versions on this matter. According to the most common one, one of the Central Asian tribes conquered by the Mongols was called “Tatan”, “Tatabi”. In Rus', this word turned into “Tatars”, and everyone began to be called by it: both the Mongols and the Turkic population of the Golden Horde, subject to the Mongols, which was far from being monoethnic in composition. With the collapse of the Horde, the word “Tatars” did not disappear; they continued to collectively refer to the Turkic-speaking peoples on the southern and eastern borders of Rus'. Over time, its meaning narrowed to the name of one people living on the territory of the Kazan Khanate.

The Khanate was conquered by Russian troops in 1552. Since then, the Tatar lands have been part of Russia, and the history of the Tatars has developed in close cooperation with the peoples inhabiting the Russian state.

The Tatars succeeded in various types of economic activities. They were excellent farmers (they grew rye, barley, millet, peas, and lentils) and excellent cattle breeders. Of all types of livestock, special preference was given to sheep and horses.

The Tatars were famous as excellent artisans. Coopers made barrels for fish, caviar, pickles, pickles, and beer. Tanners made leather. Particularly prized at the fairs were Kazan morocco and Bulgarian yuft (original locally produced leather), shoes and boots, very soft to the touch, decorated with appliquéd pieces of multi-colored leather. Among the Kazan Tatars there were many enterprising and successful merchants who traded throughout Russia.

In Tatar cuisine, one can distinguish “agricultural” dishes and “cattle breeding” dishes. The first include soups with pieces of dough, porridge, pancakes, flatbreads, i.e., what can be prepared from grain and flour. The second includes dried horse meat sausage, sour cream, various types of cheese, and a special type of sour milk - katyk. And if katyk is diluted with water and cooled, you will get a wonderful thirst-quenching drink - ayran. Well, belyashi - round pies fried in oil with meat or vegetable filling, which can be seen through a hole in the dough - are known to everyone. Smoked goose was considered a festive dish among the Tatars.

Already at the beginning of the 10th century. the ancestors of the Tatars converted to Islam, and since then their culture has developed within the framework of the Islamic world. This was facilitated by the spread of writing based on Arabic script and the construction of a large number of mosques. Schools were created at the mosques - mektebs and madrassas, where children (and not only from noble families) learned to read the Koran in Arabic.

Ten centuries of written tradition were not in vain. Among the Kazan Tatars, compared to other Turkic peoples of Russia, there are many writers, poets, composers, and artists. Often it was the Tatars who were mullahs and teachers of other Turkic peoples. The Tatars have a highly developed sense of national identity, pride in their history and culture.

Tatars - titular people Republic of Tatarstan, which is included in the Russian Federation. This is a Turkic ethnic group with many subethnic groups. Due to the widespread settlement in the regions of Russia and neighboring countries, they influenced their ethnogenesis, assimilating with the local population. Within the ethnic group there are several anthropological types of Tatars. Tatar culture is filled with national traditions that are unusual for Russians.

Where live

Approximately half (53% of the total) Tatars live in the Republic of Tatarstan. Others are settled throughout the rest of Russia. Representatives of the people live in areas of Central Asia, Far East, Volga region, Siberia. According to territorial and ethnic characteristics, the people are divided into 3 large groups:

1. Siberian
2. Astrakhan
3. Living in the Middle Volga region, the Urals.

The last group includes: Kazan Tatars, Mishars, Teptyars, Kryashens. Other subenos include:

1. Kasimov Tatars
2. Perm Tatars
3. Polish-Lithuanian Tatars
4. Chepetsk Tatars
5. Nagaibaki

Number

There are 8,000,000 Tatars in the world. Of these, about 5.5 million live in Russia and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. This is the second largest population after citizens of Russian nationality. At the same time, there are 2,000,000 people in Tatarstan, 1,000,000 in Bashkortostan. A small number moved to regions neighboring Russia:

• Uzbekistan - 320,000;
• Kazakhstan - 200,000;
• Ukraine - 73,000;
• Kyrgyzstan - 45,000.

A small number live in Romania, Turkey, Canada, USA, Poland.

Kazan - the capital of Tatarstan

Language

State language Tatarstan is Tatar. It belongs to the Volga-Kypchak subgroup of the Turkic branch of the Altai languages. Representatives of subethnic groups speak their own dialects. The closest are the speech features of the peoples of the Volga region and Siberia. Currently, Tatar writing is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Before this, the Latin alphabet was used, and in the Middle Ages the basis of writing was Arabic characters.

Religion

The vast majority of Tatars are Muslims professing Sunni Islam. There are also Orthodox Christians. A small part considers themselves atheists.

Name

The self-name of the nation is Tatarlar. There is no clear version of the origin of the term “Tatars”. There are several versions of the etymology of this word. The main ones:

1. Root tat, meaning "to experience", plus the suffix ar- “gaining experience, advisor.”
2. Derivative of tattoos- “peaceful, ally.”
3. In some dialects tat means "foreigner".
4. The Mongolian word Tatars means "poor speaker".

According to the last two versions, these words were used to call the Tatars by other tribes who did not understand their language, for whom they were foreigners.

Story

The first evidence of the existence of Tatar tribes was found in Turkic chronicles. Chinese sources also mention the Tatars as people who lived along the banks of the Amur. They date back to the 8th-10th centuries. Historians believe that the ancestors of modern Tatars were formed with the participation of Khazar, Polovian nomads, tribes inhabiting Volga Bulgaria. They united into one community with their own culture, writing, and language. In the 13th century, the Golden Horde was created - a powerful state that was divided into classes, aristocracy, and clergy. By the 15th century it had broken up into separate khanates, which gave rise to the formation of sub-ethnic groups. At a later time, mass migration of Tatars began across the territory of the Russian state.
As a result of genetic studies, it turned out that different Tatar subethnic groups did not have common ancestors. There is also a large diversity of genome within subgroups, from which we can conclude that many peoples influenced their creation. Some ethnic groups have a large percentage of the genome of Caucasian nationalities, while Asian ones are almost absent.

Appearance

Tatars of different ethnic groups have different appearance. This is due to the large genetic diversity of types. In total, 4 types of representatives of the people were identified based on anthropological characteristics. This:

1. Pontic
2. Sublaponoid
3. Mongoloid
4. Light European

Depending on the anthropological type, people of Tatar nationality have light or dark skin, hair and eyes. Representatives of the Siberian ethnic group are most similar to Asians. They have a wide, flat face, a narrow eye shape, a wide nose, and an upper eyelid with a fold. The skin is dark, the hair is coarse, black, the color of the iris is dark. They are short and squat.

Volga Tatars have an oval face and fair skin. They are distinguished by the presence of a hump on the nose, apparently inherited from the Caucasian peoples. The eyes are large, gray or brown. Tall men with good physique. There are blue-eyed and fair-haired representatives of this group. Kazan Tatars have medium-dark skin, brown eyes, and dark hair. They have regular facial features, a straight nose, and clearly defined cheekbones.

Life

The main occupations of the Tatar tribes were:

• arable farming;
• pasture-stall livestock farming;
• horticulture.

Hemp, barley, lentils, wheat, oats, and rye were grown in the fields. Agriculture was of a three-field type. Cattle breeding was expressed in the breeding of sheep, goats, bulls, and horses. This occupation made it possible to obtain meat, milk, wool, and skins for sewing clothes. Horses and oxen were used as draft animals and for transportation. Root crops and melons were also grown. Beekeeping was developed. Hunting was carried out by individual tribes, mainly living in the Urals. Fishing was common among the ethnic groups inhabiting the banks of the Volga and Ural. Among the crafts, the following activities have become widespread:

• jewelry production;
• furriery;
• felting craft;
• weaving;
• leather production.

The national Tatar ornament is characterized by the presence of floral and plant designs. This shows the people’s closeness to nature, the ability to see beauty in the world around them. The women knew how to weave and made their own everyday and festive costumes. Details of clothing were decorated with patterns in the form of flowers and plants. In the 19th century, embroidery with gold threads became popular. Shoes and wardrobe items were made from leather. Products made of leather of different shades, sewn together, were popular.

Until the 20th century, tribes had tribal relations. There was a division between the male half of the population and the female half. The girls were isolated from young men; they did not communicate until the wedding. A man had a higher status than a woman. Remnants of such relations persist in Tatar villages to this day.

All Tatar families are deeply patriarchal. Everything the father says is fulfilled unquestioningly. Children revere their mother, but the wife has virtually no say. Boys are brought up in permissiveness, since they are the successors of the family. From childhood, girls are taught decency, modesty, and submission to men. Young girls know how to run a household and help their mother around the house.
Marriages were concluded by agreement between parents. The young people's consent was not asked. The groom's relatives were obliged to pay the bride price - ransom. Most wedding ceremonies and feasts took place without the presence of the bride and groom; numerous relatives took part in them. The girl got to her husband only after paying the dowry. If the groom arranged for the bride to be kidnapped, the family was freed from the ransom.

Housing

Tatar tribes located their settlements along the banks of rivers, near major roads. The villages were built chaotically, without an orderly layout. The villages were characterized by winding streets, sometimes leading to dead ends. A solid fence was erected on the street side, outbuildings were built in the courtyard, placing them in a group or in the shape of the letter P. The administration, mosque, and trading shops were located in the center of the settlement.

Tatar houses were log buildings. Sometimes the dwelling was made of stone, less often it was made of adobe. The roof was covered with straw, shingles, and boards. The house had two or three rooms, including a vestibule. Rich families could afford two- and three-story dwellings. Inside, the house was divided into female and male halves. They made stoves in the houses, similar to the Russian ones. They were located next to the entrance. The inside of the home was decorated with embroidered towels and tablecloths. The outside walls were painted with ornaments and trimmed with carvings.

Cloth

Tatar folk costume was formed under the influence of Asian culture. Some elements were borrowed from the Caucasian peoples. The outfits of different ethnic groups vary slightly. The basis of a men's suit consists of such elements as:

1. Long shirt (kulmek).
2. Harem trousers.
3. Long sleeveless vest.
4. Wide belt.
5. Skullcap.
6. Ichigi.

The tunic was decorated at the top and bottom with national ornaments; it was belted with a wide, long piece of fabric with fringe at the ends. In addition to the shirt, loose pants were worn. Over the set they wore a sleeveless vest, the fronts of which were equipped with embroidery. Sometimes they wore a long robe (almost to the floor) made of cotton material. The head was covered with a skullcap, which was generously decorated with national ornaments. Some ethnic groups wore fezzes - Turkish headdresses. In cold weather, they wore a beshmet - a narrow-cut caftan down to the knees. In winter they wore sheepskin coats and fur hats. Ichigi served as shoes. These are light, comfortable boots made of soft leather without heels. Ichigi were decorated with colored leather inserts and ornaments.

Outfits Tatar girls very colorful and feminine. Initially, girls wore a costume similar to men's: a long (floor-length) tunic and wide pants. Ruffles were sewn to the bottom edge of the tunic. The upper part was embroidered with patterns. In modern outfits, the tunic has been transformed into a long dress with a narrow bodice and a flared hem. The dress emphasizes a woman's figure well, giving her curvaceous. A vest of medium length or waist-length is worn over it. It is richly decorated with embroidery. The head is covered with a cap like a fez, a turban or a kalfak.

Traditions

The Tatars are a nation with a dynamic temperament. They are very active and love dancing and music. Tatar culture has many holidays and customs. They celebrate almost all Muslim holidays, and they also have ancient rituals associated with natural phenomena. The main holidays are:

1. Sabantui.
2. Nardugan.
3. Nowruz.
4. Eid al-Fitr.
5. Eid al Adha.
6. Ramadan.

Ramadan is a holy holiday of spiritual purification. It is called by the name of the month of the Tatar calendar, the ninth in a row. There is strict fasting throughout the month; in addition, you need to pray fervently. This helps a person to cleanse himself of dirty thoughts and become closer to God. This strengthens faith in Allah. Eid al-Adha is celebrated to mark the end of fasting. On this day you can eat everything that Muslims cannot afford during fasting. The holiday is celebrated by the whole family, with the invitation of relatives. In rural areas, celebrations are held with dancing, singing, and fairs.

Kurban Bayram is a holiday of sacrifice, celebrated 70 days after Eid al-Adha. This main holiday Muslims all over the world and the most beloved. On this day, sacrifices are made to please Allah. Legend has it that the Almighty asked Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as a test. Ibrahim decided to fulfill the desire of Allah, showing the steadfastness of his faith. Therefore, God left his son alive, ordering him to slaughter a lamb instead. On this day, Muslims must sacrifice a sheep, ram or goat, keep some of the meat for themselves, and distribute the rest to those in need.

Sabantuy, the festival of the plow, is very significant for the Tatars. This is the day the spring field work ends. It is dedicated to work, harvest, and a healthy lifestyle. Sabantuy is celebrated cheerfully and on a grand scale. On this day, festivities, dances, and sports competitions begin. Competitions of singers and dancers are held. It is customary to invite guests and serve refreshments. Porridge, colored eggs, and buns are placed on the table.

Nardugan is ancient pagan holiday winter solstice. It is celebrated at the end of December. Translated from Mongolian, the name of the holiday means “birth of the sun.” There is a belief that with the beginning of the solstice, the forces of darkness lose their power. Young people dress up in costumes, masks and walk around the courtyards. On the day of the vernal equinox (March 21), Novruz is celebrated - the arrival of spring. According to the astronomical solar calendar, a new year is coming. Daylight overtakes night, the sun turns to summer.
Another interesting custom is that Tatars do not eat pork. This is explained by the laws of Islam. The point is that Allah knows what benefits his creatures, that is, people. He forbids eating pork because it is considered unclean. This lock is reflected in the Koran, the holy book for Muslims.

Names

Tatars call their children beautiful, sonorous names that have deep meaning. Popular male names are:

• Karim - generous;
• Kamil - perfect;
• Anwar - radiant;
• Arslan - lion;
• Dinar is precious.

Girls are called names that reveal natural qualities, symbolizing beauty and wisdom. Common female names:

• Venus is a star;
• Gulnara - decorated with flowers;
• Kamalia - perfect;
• Lucia - light;
• Ramilya - miraculous;
• Firyuza is radiant.

Food

The peoples of Asia, Siberia, and the Urals had a great influence on Tatar cuisine. Their entry national dishes(pilaf, dumplings, baklava, chak-chak) diversified the Tatar diet, making it more diverse. The Tatar cuisine is rich in meat, vegetables, and seasonings. It contains a lot of various baked goods, confectionery, nuts, and dried fruits. In the Middle Ages, horse meat was widely consumed; later they began to add meat from chickens, turkeys, and geese. Beloved meat dish Tatars have lamb. Lots of fermented milk products: cottage cheese, ayran, sour cream. Dumplings and dumplings 1 are a fairly common food on the Tatar table. Dumplings are eaten with broth. Popular dishes of Tatar cuisine:

1. Shurpa is a fatty, thick soup based on lamb.
2. Belish is a baked pie made from unleavened dough, stuffed with meat and potatoes, rice or millet. This is the most ancient dish, it is served on festive table.
3. Tutyrma is a homemade intestine sausage stuffed with minced meat and rice.
4. Beshbarmak - stew with homemade noodles. It is traditionally eaten with the hands, hence the name “five fingers”.
5. Baklava is a treat that came from the East. It is a cookie made from puff pastry with nuts in syrup.
6. Chak-chak is a sweet product made from dough with honey.
7. Gubadiya is a closed pie with a sweet filling, which is distributed in layers. It includes rice, dried fruits, cottage cheese.

Potatoes are often used as a side dish. There are snacks made from beets, carrots, tomatoes, and sweet peppers. Turnips, pumpkin, and cabbage are used as food. Porridge is a common dish. For everyday food, millet, buckwheat, peas, and rice are cooked. The Tatar table always contains a variety of sweets made from unleavened and rich dough. These include: baursak, helpek, katlama, kosh-tele. Honey is often added to sweet dishes.

Popular drinks:

• ayran - a fermented milk product based on kefir;
• kvass made from rye flour;
• sherbet - a soft drink made from rose hips, licorice, roses with the addition of honey and spices;
• herbal teas.

Tatar cuisine is characterized by stewing, boiling, and baking in the oven. The food is not fried; sometimes boiled meat is fried a little in the oven.

Famous people

Among the Tatar people there are many talented people who have become famous throughout the world. These are athletes, scientists and cultural figures, writers, actors. Here are some of them:

1. Chulpan Khamatova is an actress.
2. Marat Basharov is an actor.
3. Rudolf Nureyev - ballet dancer.
4. Musa Jalil - famous poet, Hero of the Soviet Union.
5. Zakir Rameev is a classic of Tatar literature.
6. Alsou is a singer.
7. Azat Abbasov - Opera singer.
8. Gata Kamsky is a grandmaster, US chess champion in 1991, and is one of the 20 strongest chess players in the world.
9. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov is an Olympic champion, multiple world and European champion as part of the hockey team, coach of the Russian national hockey team.
10. Albina Akhatova is a five-time world champion in biathlon.

Character

The Tatar nation is very hospitable and friendly. A guest is an important person in the house; they are treated with great respect and asked to share a meal with them. Representatives of this people have a cheerful, optimistic character and do not like to lose heart. They are very sociable and talkative.

Men are characterized by perseverance and determination. They are distinguished by hard work and are accustomed to achieving success. Tatar women are very friendly and responsive. They are raised as models of morality and decency. They are attached to their children and try to give them the best.

Modern Tatar women follow fashion, look very well-groomed and attractive. They are educated, there is always something to talk about with them. Representatives of this people leave a pleasant impression of themselves.

Tribes XI - XII centuries. They spoke Mongolian (Mongolian language group of the Altai language family). The term “Tatars” first appears in Chinese chronicles specifically to designate their northern nomadic neighbors. Later it becomes the self-name of numerous nationalities speaking languages ​​of the Tyuk language group of the Altai language family.

2. Tatars (self-name - Tatars), an ethnic group that makes up the main population of Tatarstan (Tatarstan) (1,765 thousand people, 1992). They also live in Bashkiria, the Mari Republic, Mordovia, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Penza and other regions of the Russian Federation. Tatars are also called Turkic-speaking communities of Siberia (Siberian Tatars), Crimea (Crimean Tatars), etc. The total number in the Russian Federation (excluding Crimean Tatars) is 5.52 million people (1992). The total number is 6.71 million people. The language is Tatar. Believing Tatars are Sunni Muslims.

Basic information

Autoethnonym (self-name)

Tatar: Tatar is the self-name of the Volga Tatars.

Main area of ​​settlement

The main ethnic territory of the Volga Tatars is the Republic of Tatarstan, where, according to the 1989 USSR census, 1,765 thousand people lived. (53% of the republic's population). A significant part of the Tatars live outside of Tatarstan: in Bashkiria - 1121 thousand people, Udmurtia - 111 thousand people, Mordovia - 47 thousand people, as well as in other national-state entities and regions of the Russian Federation. Many Tatars live within the so-called. “near abroad”: in Uzbekistan – 468 thousand people, Kazakhstan – 328 thousand people, in Ukraine – 87 thousand people. etc.

Number

The dynamics of the population of the Tatar ethnic group according to the country's censuses is as follows: 1897 – 2228 thousand (total number of Tatars), 1926 – 2914 thousand Tatars and 102 thousand Kryashens, 1937 – 3793 thousand, 1939 – 4314 thousand ., 1959 - 4968 thousand, 1970 - 5931 thousand, 1979 - 6318 thousand people. The total number of Tatars according to the 1989 census was 6649 thousand people, of which in the Russian Federation - 5522 thousand.

Ethnic and ethnographic groups

There are several quite distinct ethno-territorial groups of Tatars; they are sometimes considered separate ethnic groups. The largest of them is the Volga-Urals, which in turn consists of the Kazan, Kasimov, Mishar and Kryashen Tatars). Some researchers, as part of the Volga-Ural Tatars, especially highlight the Astrakhan Tatars, which in turn consist of such groups as the Yurt, Kundrovskaya, etc.). Each group had its own tribal divisions, for example, the Volga-Ural group - Meselman, Kazanly, Bolgar, Misher, Tipter, Kereshen, Nogaybak, etc. Astrakhan - Nugai, Karagash, Yurt Tatarlars.
Other ethno-territorial groups of Tatars are Siberian and Crimean Tatars.

Language

Tatar: The Tatar language has three dialects - western (Mishar), middle (Kazan-Tatar) and eastern (Siberian-Tatar). The earliest known literary monument in the Tatar language dates back to the 13th century; the formation of the modern Tatar national language was completed at the beginning of the 20th century.

Writing

Until 1928, Tatar writing was based on Arabic script; in the period 1928-1939. - in Latin, and then based on Cyrillic.

Religion

Islam

Orthodoxy: Believers of the Tatars are mainly Sunni Muslims, the group of Kryashens are Orthodox.

Ethnogenesis and ethnic history

The ethnonym “Tatar” began to spread among the Mongolian and Turkic tribes of Central Asia and southern Siberia from the 6th century. In the 13th century During the aggressive campaigns of Genghis Khan and then Batu, Tatars appeared in Eastern Europe and made up a significant part of the population of the Golden Horde. As a result of complex ethnogenetic processes occurring in the 13th-14th centuries, the Turkic and Mongolian tribes of the Golden Horde consolidated, including both the earlier Turkic newcomers and the local Finnish-speaking population. In the khanates formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde, it was primarily the elite of society who called themselves Tatars; after these khanates became part of Russia, the ethnonym “Tatars” began to be adopted by the common people. The Tatar ethnic group was finally formed only at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1920, the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as part of the RSFSR, and since 1991 it has been called the Republic of Tatarstan.

Farm

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the basis of the traditional economy of the Volga-Ural Tatars was arable farming with three fields in forest and forest-steppe regions and a fallow-fallow system in the steppe. The land was cultivated with a two-toothed plow and a heavy Saban plow in the 19th century. they began to be replaced by more improved plows. The main crops were winter rye and spring wheat, oats, barley, peas, lentils, etc. Livestock farming in the northern regions of the Tatars played a subordinate role; here it was of a stall-pasture nature. They raised small cattle, chickens, and horses, the meat of which was used for food; the Kryashens raised pigs. In the south, in the steppe zone, livestock farming was not inferior in importance to agriculture, in some places it had an intense semi-nomadic character - horses and sheep were grazed all year round. Poultry was also bred here. Vegetable gardening among the Tatars played a secondary role; the main crop was potatoes. Beekeeping was developed, and melon growing was developed in the steppe zone. Hunting as a trade was important only for the Ural Mishars; fishing was of an amateur nature and only commercial on the Ural and Volga rivers. Among the crafts of the Tatars, woodworking played a significant role; leather processing and gold embroidery were distinguished by a high level of skill; weaving, felting, blacksmithing, jewelry and other crafts were developed.

Traditional clothing

Traditional Tatar clothing was made from home-made or purchased fabrics. The underwear of men and women was a tunic-shaped shirt, men's length almost to the knees, and women's almost to the floor with a wide gather at the hem and a bib decorated with embroidery, and trousers with wide steps. The women's shirt was more decorated. The outerwear was swinging with a continuous fitted back. This included a camisole, sleeveless or with short sleeves; the women's was richly decorated; over the camisole, men wore a long, spacious robe, plain or striped, belted with a sash. In cold weather they wore quilted or fur beshmets and fur coats. On the road they wore a straight-back fur sheepskin coat with a sash or a checkmen of the same cut, but made of cloth. The headdress of men was a skull cap different forms, a fur or quilted hat was worn over it in cold weather, and a felt hat in the summer. Women's headdresses were distinguished by great variety - various types of richly decorated hats, bedspreads, towel-shaped headdresses. Women wore a lot of jewelry - earrings, braid pendants, breast jewelry, baldrics, bracelets; silver coins were widely used in making jewelry. Traditional types Shoes were leather ichigs and shoes with soft and hard soles, often made of colored leather. Work shoes were Tatar-style bast shoes, which were worn with white cloth stockings, and mishars with onuchas.

Traditional settlements and dwellings

Traditional Tatar villages (auls) were located along the river network and transport communications. In the forest zone, their layout was different - cumulus, nesting, chaotic; the villages were characterized by crowded buildings, uneven and confusing streets, and the presence of numerous dead ends. The buildings were located inside the estate, and the street was formed by a continuous line of blank fences. The settlements of the forest-steppe and steppe zones were distinguished by the orderliness of their development. In the center of the settlement there were mosques, shops, public grain barns, fire sheds, administrative buildings, families of wealthy peasants, clergy, and merchants also lived here.
The estates were divided into two parts - the front yard with housing, storage and premises for livestock, and the back yard, where there was a vegetable garden, a threshing floor with a current, a barn, a chaff barn, and a bathhouse. The buildings of the estate were located either randomly or grouped in a U-, L-shape, in two rows, etc. The buildings were erected from wood with a predominance of timber frame technology, but there were also buildings made from clay, brick, stone, adobe, and wattle structures. The dwelling was three-partitioned - izba-seni-izba or two-partitioned - izba-seni; among the wealthy Tatars there were five-walled, cross-shaped, two- and three-story houses with storage rooms and shops on the lower floor. The roofs were two- or four-slope; they were covered with planks, shingles, straw, reeds, and sometimes coated with clay. The internal layout of the Northern Central Russian type predominated. The stove was located at the entrance, bunks were laid along the front wall with a “tour” place of honor in the middle, along the line of the stove the dwelling was divided by a partition or curtain into two parts: the women’s – kitchen and the men’s – guest. The stove was of the Russian type, sometimes with a boiler, mounted or suspended. They rested, ate, worked, slept on bunks; in the northern regions they were shortened and supplemented with benches and tables. The sleeping places were enclosed by a curtain or canopy. Embroidered fabric products played an important role in interior design. In some areas, the exterior decoration of dwellings was abundant - carvings and polychrome painting.

Food

The basis of nutrition was meat, dairy and plant foods - soups seasoned with pieces of dough, sour bread, flat cakes, pancakes. Wheat flour was used as a dressing for various dishes. Homemade noodles were popular; they were cooked in meat broth with the addition of butter, lard, and sour milk. Delicious dishes included baursak - dough balls boiled in lard or oil. There was a variety of porridges made from lentils, peas, barley, millet, etc. Various meats were consumed - lamb, beef, poultry; horse meat was popular among the Mishars. They prepared tutyrma for future use - sausage with meat, blood and cereals. Beleshi were made from dough with meat filling. There were a variety of dairy products: katyk - a special type of sour milk, sour cream, kort - cheese, etc. They ate few vegetables, but from the end of the 19th century. Potatoes began to play a significant role in the diet of the Tatars. The drinks were tea, ayran - a mixture of katyk and water, the festive drink was shirbet - made from fruit and honey dissolved in water. Islam stipulated dietary prohibitions on pork and alcoholic beverages.

Social organization

Until the beginning of the 20th century. Social relations of some groups of Tatars were characterized by tribal division. In the field of family relations, there was a predominance small family in the presence of a small percentage of large families, including 3-4 generations of relatives. There was avoidance of men by women, female seclusion. The isolation of male and female youth was strictly observed; the status of men was much higher than that of women. In accordance with the norms of Islam, there was a custom of polygamy, more typical for the wealthy elite.

Spiritual culture and traditional beliefs

It was typical for the wedding rituals of the Tatars that the parents of the boy and girl agreed on the marriage; the consent of the young people was considered optional. During preparations for the wedding, the relatives of the bride and groom discussed the size of the bride price, which was paid by the groom's side. There was a custom of kidnapping the bride, which eliminated the payment of bride price and expensive wedding expenses. The main wedding rituals, including the festive feast, were held in the bride’s house without the participation of the newlyweds. The young woman remained with her parents until the bride price was paid, and her move to her husband’s house was sometimes delayed until the birth of the first child, which was also accompanied by many rituals.
The festive culture of the Tatars was closely connected with the Muslim religion. The most significant of the holidays were Korban Gaete - sacrifice, Uraza Gaete - the end of the 30-day fast, Maulid - the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. At the same time, many holidays and rituals were of a pre-Islamic nature, for example, related to the cycle of agricultural work. Among the Kazan Tatars, the most significant of them was Sabantuy (saban - “plow”, tui - “wedding”, “holiday”), celebrated in the spring before sowing. During it, competitions were held in running and jumping, national wrestling keresh and horse racing, and a collective meal of porridge was held. Among the baptized Tatars, traditional holidays were dedicated to the Christian calendar, but also contained many archaic elements.
There was a belief in various master spirits: water - suanasy, forests - shurale, earth - fat anasy, brownie oy iyase, barn - abzar iyase, ideas about werewolves - ubyr. Prayers were held in groves called keremet; it was believed that an evil spirit with the same name lived in them. There were also ideas about other evil spirits - gins and peris. For ritual help they turned to the yemchi - that’s what healers and healers were called.
Folklore, song and dance art associated with the use of musical instruments– kuraya (a type of flute), kubyz (labial harp), and over time the accordion became widespread.

Bibliography and sources

Bibliographies

• Material culture of the Kazan Tatars (extensive bibliography). Kazan, 1930./Vorobiev N.I.

General work

• Kazan Tatars. Kazan, 1953./Vorobiev N.I.
• Tatars. Naberezhnye Chelny, 1993./Iskhakov D.M.
• Peoples of the European part of the USSR. T.II / Peoples of the world: Ethnographic essays. M., 1964. P.634-681.
• Peoples of the Volga and Urals regions. Historical and ethnographic essays. M., 1985.
• Tatars and Tatarstan: Directory. Kazan, 1993.
• Tatars of the Middle Volga and Urals. M., 1967.
• Tatars // Peoples of Russia: Encyclopedia. M., 1994. pp. 320-331.

Selected aspects

• Agriculture of the Tatars of the Middle Volga and Urals 19th-early 20th centuries. M., 1981./Khalikov N.A.
• Origin of the Tatar people. Kazan, 1978./Khalikov A.Kh.
• Tatar people and their ancestors. Kazan, 1989./Khalikov A.Kh.
• Mongols, Tatars, Golden Horde and Bulgaria. Kazan, 1994./Khalikov A.Kh.
• Ethnocultural zoning of the Tatars of the Middle Volga region. Kazan, 1991.
• Modern rituals of the Tatar people. Kazan, 1984./Urazmanova R.K.
• Ethnogenesis and main milestones in the development of the Tatar-Bulgars // Problems of linguoethnohistory of the Tatar people. Kazan, 1995./Zakiev M.Z.
• History of the Tatar ASSR (from ancient times to the present day). Kazan, 1968.
• Settlement and number of Tatars in the Volga-Ural historical and ethnographic region in the 18th-19th centuries. // Soviet ethnography, 1980, No. 4./Iskhakov D.M.
• Tatars: ethnos and ethnonym. Kazan, 1989./Karimullin A.G.
• Handicrafts of the Kazan province. Vol. 1-2, 8-9. Kazan, 1901-1905./Kosolapov V.N.
• Peoples of the Middle Volga region and Southern Urals. Ethnogenetic view of history. M., 1992./Kuzeev R.G.
• Terminology of kinship and properties among the Mishar Tatars in the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic // Materials on Tatar dialectology. 2. Kazan, 1962./Mukhamedova R.G.
• Beliefs and rituals of the Kazan Tatars, formed due to the influence of Sunni Mohammedanism on their life // Western Russian Geographical Society. T. 6. 1880./Nasyrov A.K.
• Origin of the Kazan Tatars. Kazan, 1948.
• Tatarstan: national interests (Political essay). Kazan, 1995./Tagirov E.R.
• Ethnogenesis of the Volga Tatars in the light of anthropological data // Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. New gray T.7 .M.-L., 1949./Trofimova T.A.
• Tatars: problems of history and language (Collected articles on problems of linguistic history, revival and development of the Tatar nation). Kazan, 1995./Zakiev M.Z.
• Islam and the national ideology of the Tatar people // Islamic-Christian borderland: results and prospects of study. Kazan, 1994./Amirkhanov R.M.
• Rural housing of the Tatar ASSR. Kazan, 1957./Bikchentaev A.G.
• Artistic crafts of Tatarstan in the past and present. Kazan, 1957./Vorobiev N.I., Busygin E.P.
• History of the Tatars. M., 1994./Gaziz G.

Selected regional groups

• Geography and culture of ethnographic groups of Tatars in the USSR. M., 1983.
• Teptyari. Experience of ethnostatistical study // Soviet ethnography, 1979, No. 4./Iskhakov D.M.
• Mishar Tatars. Historical and ethnographic research. M., 1972./Mukhamedova R.G.
• Chepetsk Tatars (Brief historical sketch) // New in ethnographic studies of the Tatar people. Kazan, 1978./Mukhamedova R.G.
• Kryashen Tatars. Historical and ethnographic research material culture(mid 19th - early 20th centuries). M., 1977./Mukhametshin Yu.G.
• On the history of the Tatar population of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (about the Mishars) // Tr.NII YALIE. Issue 24 (serial source). Saransk, 1963./Safrgalieva M.G.
• Bashkirs, Meshcheryaks and Teptyars // Izv. Russian Geographical Society.T.13, Issue. 2. 1877./Uyfalvi K.
• Kasimov Tatars. Kazan, 1991./Sharifullina F.M.

Publication of sources

• Sources on the history of Tatarstan (16-18 centuries). Book 1. Kazan, 1993.
• Materials on the history of the Tatar people. Kazan, 1995.
• Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars on the formation of the Autonomous Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic // Collection. legalizations and orders of the workers' and peasants' government. No. 51. 1920.