Lake Peipus retains in its name the memory of the tribe that participated in Battle on the Ice, but then gradually disappeared from the historical arena.
In the Urals, and in Siberia, and in the north of Russia, and even in Altai, many legends say that once lived in these places ancient people called "chud". Legends about the miracle are most often told in places where Finno-Ugric peoples live or previously lived, so in science it was customary to consider the Finno-Ugric people to be the miracle. But the problem is that the Finno-Ugric peoples, in particular the Komi-Permyaks, themselves tell legends about the Chud, calling the Chud another people.
When people who live here to this day came to these places, the Chud buried itself alive in the ground. This is what one of the legends recorded in the village of Afanasyevo tells Kirov region: “...And when other people (Christians) began to appear along the Kama, this monster did not want to communicate with them, did not want to be enslaved by Christianity. They dug a large hole, and then cut down the pillars and buried themselves. This place is called - Peipus coast."
Sometimes it is also said that the Chud “went underground,” and sometimes that it went to live in other places: “We have the Vazhgort tract - Old village. Although we call it a village, there are no buildings there. And it is not clear that anyone lived there, but the old people claim that ancient, Chud people lived there. For a long time, they say, they lived in that area, but newcomers appeared, they began to oppress the old residents, and they decided: “We have no life, we need to move to other places.” They gathered their belongings, they said, took the guys by the hands and said. "Goodbye,
Old village! We won't be here - and there won't be anyone!" And they left the village. They go, they say, they are leaving their homeland and they roar. Every single one of them left. Now it is empty."
"Wonderful" secrets.
But when she left, the Chud left behind a lot of treasures. These treasures are enchanted, “cherished”: a covenant has been placed on them that only the descendants of the Chud people can find them. Chud spirits in different guises (sometimes in the guise of a hero on a horse, sometimes a hare or a bear) guard these treasures: “Sluda and Shudyakor are Chud places. The heroes lived there, were thrown from village to village with axes. Then they buried themselves in the ground and took the gold with them. They took away the ingots-pillows at the Shudyakorsk settlement, but no one will take them: the horsemen are standing guard. Our grandfathers warned us: “Don’t walk past this settlement late at night - the horses will trample you!”
In the text of another ancient entry in the village of Zuikare, Vyatka province, it is written about the “Chudskaya treasure” in the Chudskaya Mountain on the right bank of the Kama. A huge, slightly crooked pine tree grows here, and at a distance from it, about four arshins away, stands a rotten stump up to two meters in diameter. They tried to find this treasure many times, but when they approached it, such a storm arose that the pine trees bent their tops to the ground, and the treasure hunters were forced to abandon their enterprise. However, they say that some treasure hunters still managed to penetrate the secrets underground inhabitants, but it cost them very, very dearly. The sight of the “eccentrics” is so terrible that some treasure hunters, having met them in the dungeons, came out completely insane and could not recover for the rest of their lives. It was even worse for those who came across the bones of a “buried alive” miracle in the Chud graves - the dead, guarding their treasures, suddenly came to life as soon as someone approached their treasures...
In 1924-28, the Roerich family was on an expedition to Central Asia. In the book “The Heart of Asia” Nicholas Roerich writes that in Altai an elderly Old Believer led them to a rocky hill and, pointing out the stone circles of ancient burials, said: “This is where Chud went underground. When the White Tsar came to Altai to fight and how it bloomed White birch in our land, Chud did not want to stay under the White Tsar. Chud went underground and blocked the passages with stones. You can see their former entrances yourself. But Chud is not gone forever. When the happy time returns and people from Belovodye come and give great science to all the people, then Chud will come again, with all the treasures he has obtained." And even earlier, in 1913, Nicholas Roerich wrote a painting on this topic, "The Chud Has Gone Under the Ground."
Riddles and more riddles.
In the Urals, stories about miracles in to a greater extent widespread in the Kama region. Legends indicate specific places where the Chud lived, describe their appearance (and they were mostly dark-haired and dark-skinned), customs, and language. Legends have even preserved some words from the Chud language: “Once in the village of Vazhgort a Chud girl appeared - tall, beautiful, broad-shouldered. Her hair was long, black, and not braided. She walks around the village and calls: “Come visit me, I’m cooking dumplings.” !" There were about ten people willing, everyone went after the girl. They went to the Peipus spring, and no one returned home, everyone disappeared somewhere. The next day the same thing happened again. It was not because of their stupidity that people fell for the girl’s bait, but because she had some kind of power. Hypnosis, as they say now. On the third day, the women from this village decided to take revenge on the girl. They boiled several buckets of water, and when the miracle girl entered the village, the women poured boiling water on her. ran to the spring and wailed: “Odege! Odege!" Soon the residents of Vazhgort left their village forever and went to live in other places..."
Odege - what does this word mean? In none of the Finnish Ugric languages there is no such word. What ethnic group was this mysterious miracle?
Since ancient times, ethnographers, linguists, and local historians have tried to solve the mystery of the miracle. There were different versions about who this miracle is. Ethnographers of local history Fedor Aleksandrovich Teploukhov and Alexander Fedorovich Teploukhov considered the Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi) a miracle, since there is documentary information about the presence of the Ugrians in the Kama region. Linguistic scientist Antonina Semenovna Krivoshchekova-Gantman did not agree with this version, because in the Kama region there are practically no geographical names, deciphered using Ugric languages; she believed that the issue required further study. Kazan professor Ivan Nikolaevich Smirnov believed that the Chud were the Komi-Permyaks before the adoption of Christianity, since some legends say that the Chud are “our ancestors.” Latest version became most widespread, and most ethnographers adhered to this version until recently.
Discovery in the Urals in the 1970-1980s ancient city the Aryans of Arkaim and the “Country of Cities” of Sintashta somewhat shook the traditional version. Versions began to appear that the Chud were the ancient Aryans (in a narrower sense, the ancestors of the Indo-Iranians, and in a broader sense, the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans in general). This version found many supporters among scientists and local historians.
If linguists have previously recognized that there are many “Iranianisms” in the Finno-Ugric languages, then in last years an opinion emerged that the Finno-Ugric and Indo-Iranian languages have a very large common lexical layer. A version has emerged that the names of the Kama rivers in the Urals and the Ganges (Ganga) in India have the same origin. It is not for nothing that in the Russian North (Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions) there are geographical names with the root “gang”: Ganga (lake), Gangas (bay, hill), Gangos (mountain, lake), Gangasikha (bay). No wonder the geographical names are Nakar
(Kudymkar, Maykar, Dondykar, Idnakar, Anyushkar, etc.) are in no way decipherable using local Permian languages (Udmurt, Komi and Komi-Permyak). According to legend, in these places there were Chud settlements, and it is here that bronze jewelry and other objects are most often found, conventionally united by the name Perm animal style. And the “Iranian influence” on the art of the Perm animal style itself has always been recognized by experts.
Another people.
It is no secret that there are parallels in the mythology of the Finno-Ugric and Indo-Iranian peoples. The legends of the ancient Aryans preserve memories of a semi-mythical ancestral home located somewhere far to the north of India. The Aryans who lived in this country could observe amazing phenomena. There are seven heavenly sages-rishis moving around North Star, which the creator Brahma strengthened in the center of the universe above the World Mountain Meru. Beautiful celestial dancers - apsaras - also live there, shining with all the colors of the rainbow, and the sun rises and shines for six months in a row. The seven rishis are probably the constellation Ursa Major, and the apsaras are the embodiment of the northern lights, which captured the imagination of many peoples. In Estonian myths, the northern lights are heroes who died in battle and live in the sky. In Indian mythology, only magical birds, including the messenger of the gods Garuda, can reach heaven. In Finno-Ugric mythology Milky Way, connecting north and south, was called the Bird Road.
There are similarities directly in the names. For example, the god of the Udmurts is Inmar, among the Indo-Iranians Indra is the god of thunder, Inada is the foremother; in Komi mythology, both the first man and the swamp witch bear the name Yoma; in Indo-Iranian mythology, Iima is also the first man; The name of the god is also consonant with the Finns - Yumala, and among the Mari - Yumo. “Aryan influence” even penetrated into the ethnonyms of the Finno-Ugrians: the Tatars and Bashkirs of the Udmurts, their neighbors, call the ethnonym “Ar”.
So who was called a miracle in the Urals? If Aryans, then the question again arises: why was there confusion about who was considered a Chud, and why did the ethnonym Chud “stick” specifically and only to the Finno-Ugric peoples? What is the relationship between the Indo-Iranian and Finno-Ugric peoples? Apparently, here we should remember the opinion of Lev Gumilyov, who believed that a new ethnic group, just like a person, is born from two ethnic parents. Then it becomes clear why the legends call them either “another people” or “our ancestors.”
And yet, what did the miracle girl scream, doused with boiling water? Maybe the word "odege" is in the Indo-Iranian languages? If we open the Sanskrit-Russian dictionary, we will find there a similar sounding word - “udaka”, meaning “water”. Maybe she was trying to run to the Peipus spring, the only place where could she have escaped?
“Rus' got lost in the Mordovians and the Chuds,
She doesn't care about fear..."
Sergey Yesenin.
From the Baltic Sea to Ural mountains- A huge Finno-Ugric belt stretches across the north of European Russia - the habitat of numerous Finnish and Ugric tribes. Some of these peoples have survived to this day, and some have mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind legends, traditions and ancient burial mounds from the Volga and Vyatka to the gray Urals!
One of these peoples is the ancient Chud, which is known from Lake Peipus in the west to the Chud settlements and caves in the Northern Urals. There are many legends about both the miracle itself and the underground cities of this people, about their mysterious treasures, burials and mysteries. The Chud are often remembered in the legend about their departure to the underworld, where they supposedly closed themselves until other times...
There are legends about the Chud peoples as ancient and skilled miners, somewhat similar to the gnomes who lived in the adits and mines of the European mountains. Echoes of such legends have been preserved, for example, in Sarmanovo (Tatarstan), where there was an ancient copper mine. There are many similar legends in the Kirov region, where burial grounds and ancient settlements of the Chud people were discovered!
There are legends about Chud and Mari people- a very common legend is about how in ancient times the Mari themselves went into dungeons and caves and cut down the pillars holding the earth, after which the passages to the mysterious dungeons were closed forever. The Mari themselves associate these legends with their ancestors; it is likely that the ancient Chud (like the Merya) played a role in the ethnogenesis of the Mari people.
If we remember the mysterious Ovda, then in every second case, Ovda lives either in a cave or in a dugout, is not tall, usually hides from people, and then went far to the North.
The legendary Prince Chembulat also went into a rocky dungeon, as it says ancient monument and a sanctuary on the Nemda (a tributary of the Pizhma and Vyatka).
A huge number of legends about miracles have been preserved in the Urals; this will be mentioned in articles about anomalous zones Bashkiria, Perm region, Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk region, we’ll tell you separately about these legends.
This article will talk about the traces of the Chud people on Vyatka land(Kirov region). In this region (and around it) there are many references to the Chud - let’s remember, for example, where, according to legend, the Chud tribe went!
After all, people are still arguing about where this place is???
Chud goes underground (N. Roerich) 
CHUD PEOPLE
Chud is a collective name for a number of Finno-Ugric tribes and peoples. Sometimes this is the name given to a mythological character close in meaning to the word “goblin” (found in folklore, including among the Komi and Sami).
Depending on the historical chronology and the territory of use, the meaning of the word is slightly different:
in The Tale of Bygone Years (859), Nestor reports that
“The Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on the Chud, Slovenes, Merya and Krivichi, and the Khazars - from the glades, northerners, Vyatichi, took tribute on a silver coin and a veritsa (a squirrel) from the smoke)"; here there is a difference between Merya and Chud; for the year 882, when Oleg “went on a campaign and took with him many warriors: Varangians, Chuds, Slovenians, Meryans, all and Krivichi, and came to Smolensk and took the city”; here the difference is that, among other things, the whole is mentioned; in 1030 Yaroslav I the Wise undertook a campaign against Chud, “and defeated them, and established the city of Yuryev”), here the Chud are probably Estonians;
It is also known from chronicle sources that noble representatives of the Chud lived in Novgorod (Chudintseva Street) and Kyiv (the Chudin courtyard, where he moved " best husbands"from Krivichi, Vyatichi, Novgorod and Chud in 982 Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko);
the Vyatka chronicler reports that the Novgorodians on the Chepets River, along which they descended to Vyatka, found two peoples - the Chuds and the Ostyaks;
V late XIX century, the historian S. M. Solovyov at the IV Archaeological Congress suggested that the Chud, which the Tale of Bygone Years mentions in the story about Rurik’s calling, should be considered the Vodskaya Pyatina inhabitants of the Novgorod Land, whose descendants lived at that time in Narva district (see "Narova (nationality)"), they were then called Chud in everyday life. Officially in Russian Empire Until 1917, the Vepsians were called Chud.
the Udmurts have generic names Chudya (Shudya), Chudna;
Komi, that’s what they called their unbaptized ancestors.
WONDERFUL
I will grab onto the phrase that Chudya was the name of the Vod people who lived northwest of Novgorod. From here a connection with Vyatka and the first newcomers to it from Novgorod already emerges. Actually, Chud-vod was one of the components of the population of Novgorod and Vyatka. Indeed, what kind of people are they who were settled over a large territory (from Novgorod to the Ob, center - Vyatka), but disappeared without a trace just at the time when Muscovy took over these regions? Let me remind you that archaeologists associate Chud with kar settlements (Kar in the name), which include our Koshkar and Karino (Tatars on Vyatka). So connections with the Cossacks can be traced.
In the languages of the Komi and Udmurts, some researchers see an Iranian-language influence, which is associated with the Chud people, who lived among these peoples until the 15th century. the legendary Chud also lived on Vyatka.
NORTHERN LORD
About the connections between Sysola and Vyatka.
On the Sysol (a tributary of the Vychegda from the Vyatka side) there are settlements with the names Karil (Kara-il?), Votcha (Votka?) and Gul-Chun ("Devil's Finger" in the Komi language) containing Novgorod finds of the 13-14th century. According to legend, Chud lived there. The "Chudskoye settlement" is mentioned in the Vym-Vychegda chronicle. It turns out that Chudya can be understood as the Novgorod-Vyatka population that existed before Moscow’s conquest of Vyatka and the territories adjacent to it. People from Sysola could receive the nicknames and surnames Sysolyatin and Sysoev (from Sysoy, Sysa).
Let me remind you that in the upper reaches of the Sysola there is Kaigorodok - the name can be translated as a city on the road (kai - portage, road through the forest, if you remember the Mari: kai - to leave). That is, in this place there was an ancient route from Vyatka to the north - Sysola, Vychegda and Dvina. Around Vyatka in all directions there are (in the past) legends about the Chud people. Stories about the Chud vary, some talk about Chud heroes, like those we have on Chursha. In others, “weirdos” are ridiculed and generally treated with disdain. In Vyatka they were called chuchkas, hence the verb “to spoil” (to spoil, to dirty). PSV Mikulin is named Peipsi town. It turns out that Chud is the population of the Vyatka city in the 15th century. It can be assumed that a disdainful attitude towards the old population of Vyatka and its environs was deliberately instilled in the 16th century. among the new arrivals here from Muscovy and Ustyug.
TOPONYMY
(Kudymkar, Maykar, Dondykar, Idnakar, Anyushkar, etc.) are in no way decipherable using local Permian languages (Udmurt, Komi and Komi-Permyak). According to legend, in these places there were Chud settlements, and it is here that bronze jewelry and other objects are most often found, conventionally united by the name Perm animal style. And the “Iranian influence” on the art of the Perm animal style itself has always been recognized by experts.
In the Urals, stories about miracles are more common in the Kama region. Legends indicate specific places where the Chud lived, describe their appearance (and they were mostly dark-haired and dark-skinned), customs, and language. Legends have even preserved some words from the Chud language: “Once upon a time, a Chud girl appeared in the village of Vazhgort - tall, beautiful, broad-shouldered. Her hair was long, black, and not braided.
This is what one of the legends, recorded in the village of Afanasyevo, Kirov region, tells: “...And when other people (Christians) began to appear along the Kama River, this miracle did not want to communicate with them, did not want to be enslaved by Christianity. They dug a large hole, and Then they cut down the pillars and buried themselves. This place is called the Peipsi Coast.”
"Traces" of the Chud (really attributed to different ethnic groups and different historical periods- from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages) can be considered - mounds and fortifications; embankments and holes; remains of buildings, arable land, hayfields; groves considered sacred; archaic household items; ancient burials (in particular, the “Chud” burial grounds, which were log houses with wooden ceilings lowered into pits)<Северные предания, 1978>. Compare: Some mounds are the burial places of the white-eyed miracle, which, frightened by the Russians, “went into the ground itself,” “buried itself alive” (Vyat.) Kudryavtsev, 1901>. In the Shenkursky district of the Arkhangelsk province they said that “the local indigenous inhabitants, the Chud, desperately defending their land from the invasion of the Novgorodians, never wanted to submit to the newcomers,” frantically defended themselves from the fortresses, fled into the forests, killed themselves, and were buried alive in deep ditches (having dug a hole, they put posts in the corners, made a roof over them, put stones and earth on the roof, went into the hole with the property and, having cut down the stands, died). Chud was also “buried” from Ermak.
One of the possible “traces” of the miracle is considered in the 19th century. an unusual, mysterious place, the Kholmogory spruce forest (on Kurostrov, near the town of Kholmogory). According to the mentioned II. Efimenko legend, in the spruce forest there was once supposedly a “Chiplus idol”. The idol, cast from silver, “was attached to one of the most seasoned woods and held a large golden cup in its hands.” It seemed impossible to steal the idol and the treasures surrounding it: “Chud guarded its god tightly: there were always sentries standing near it, there were springs near the idol itself. Whoever touches the idol, even with one finger, immediately these springs will play and different bells will ring , and here you won’t go anywhere; the guards will immediately take you away, and the cursed monster will fry you in a frying pan and sacrifice it to your idol.”
Despite these precautions, the Russians still managed to rob the sacred site and escape unharmed. According to one version, the monster that had come running stood, looked at the retreating ships, clapped its hands and dispersed - “and from that very time on it stopped gathering in the spruce forest.” According to another version, the Chudinians chased the Novgorodians about ten versts to the present village of Kurya down the Dvina and there they entered into battle with them, but could not defeat the kidnappers (Arch.)<ЕФИМЕНКО),1869Г.)
LORD OF THE SAMIS
O ancient times, a white-eyed monster came to our lands. The enemies wore iron armor over their clothes and iron horned helmets on their heads. Their faces were covered with iron nets. The enemies were terrible, they slaughtered everyone. Men, women, children, old people - everyone was killed, no one was spared. They wanted to bring our entire family together so that there would be no Sami left in the world. They took all the goods, stole all the deer, killed the dogs, and after the raid on the camp there was not a single living soul left.
The miracle came in the fall, on the first ice. Just as the rivers were covered with ice, so the enemy’s force came rushing in. The Sami were very afraid of enemies, they went to the mountains, hid in the ground, and built underground villages. However, the Chud did not go far into the tundra. The enemies themselves were afraid.
One day a large detachment of miracles came along the river in boats.
UDMURT TALE
Batyrs from the Chud tribe
When, in what distant times this happened, no one can say, but it only goes without saying that the Alangasars (giants) were no longer in the world, and the descendants of Ud settled in the forest region in different tribes, and Inmar and Kyldysin did not appear to people anymore . It was then that a tribe called the light-eyed Chud settled on the Kama River. And this tribe lived on a mountain, on a high bank. The people of this tribe loved space and freedom, and therefore did not settle crowdedly, did not crowd one another. But they lived together: when they saw that the enemy was approaching one of them, they fired preemptive arrows at their brothers. They will take and shoot an arrow at the mound near the Belaya River, and further, to the Chegandinsky tract. As soon as the arrow landed, they immediately gathered together and met the enemy.
They were very tall in stature, exorbitant in strength, and independent in character. Other tribes called them batyrs.
TRADITIONS OF THE OLD BELIEVERS
“Once upon a time, in this fertile valley, the powerful Chudi tribe lived and flourished. They knew how to find minerals and how to grow a rich harvest. This tribe was the most peace-loving and hardworking. But then the White King came with countless troops of cruel warriors. Peace-loving and the hardworking Chud could not resist the violence of the conquerors and did not want to lose their freedom; then, for the first time, the white birch began to grow in this area. And, according to ancient prophecies, Chud learned that the time had come for them to leave. wanting to remain subservient to the White Tsar, she went underground. Only sometimes you can hear the singing of holy people; now their bells are ringing in underground temples. But the glorious time of human purification will come, and in these days the Great Miracle will again appear in full glory.
HISTORICAL DATA
The conquest of a certain Tiudi-Chudi by Germanarich can be associated with the appearance in the Kama region and Vyatka of that time of burials of knights of the 4th-5th centuries. - the Goths and the Huns who replaced them (this was discussed above). The interest in our region can be explained not only by fur gold; an important international east-west trans-Siberian railway ran north of the mouth of the Kama River. It is enough to take a globe and connect northern China and central Europe with the shortest line. In the country of the ancestors of the Udmurts there was a transshipment point; those who owned it controlled the entire route. The roundabout route through the southern steppes was more difficult and dangerous. This is how Arsania appeared.
Chud was of two types: dark and light, of southern and northern origin, respectively. The southern Iranian-speaking type can be considered the original one. The northerners appeared a little later. These could be Scandinavians, Russes and Balts. They competed with each other or somehow got along - probably both. It cannot be ruled out that natives of the north were hired to replenish the troops, and special detachments were formed from them.
The Chud were a highly developed people, good warriors. At first, her beliefs were unique; only in the later period were some of the miracles baptized. But their faith seemed to differ from Moscow Orthodoxy. The Peipus heroes lived in special fortresses - Karakh, located on high riverine hills. In the Vyatka basin, the most outstanding are Churshinskoye and Elabuga fortifications.
The unique archaeological culture of the Kama region corresponds to the period of life of the Chud. In addition to the Finno-Ugric and Bulgar components, it includes noticeable Old Russian (Northern Russian and Scandinavian) material.
Excerpts from the dissertation of L. D. Makarov
"Old Russian population of the Kama region 10-15 centuries":
"...Thus, in the western part of the Lower Kama region it was revealed
a larger number of ancient Russian finds. There are reasons to link
monuments of this part of Volga Bulgaria with "silver Bulgarians"
Russian chronicles - one of the possible Bulgarian tribal
associations that have in their composition a noticeable Old Russian
component. According to linguists, the Turkic name for Vyatka is “Nukrat”
- distorted from "Novgorod".
In the Bulgarian-Tatar reading, the Vyatka river was called the “Novgorod River” (Akhmetzyanov M., 1991; Dobrodomov I.G., 1994).
Gradually, the original meaning of the name was forgotten and, apparently, began to be explained by the Bulgarians from the consonant Arabic word “nukrat” - “silver”. In this concept, the “silver Bulgarians” (in fact, “Bulgarians who lived near the Novgorod river”) found their way into Russian chronicles, which can be explained by the concentration
there is a significant ancient Russian component here.
I note that it was in the Nizhnekamsk region that the processes of integration of the ceramic traditions of the Slavs, Permian and Upper Volga Finns with the Turks were most active (Vasilieva I.N., 1988).
It is possible that after the defeat of Volga Bulgaria by Batu, part of the Old Russian population migrated to the Mari-Chuvash Volga region, to the Middle and Lower Vyatka, to the Middle Kama region, and the remaining population gradually dissolved in the prevailing Turkic-speaking environment.
So, the Chud state - this is Nukrad (Vyatka-Novgorod) Bulgaria - existed for more than 500 years. In better times, it extended from the possessions of Novgorod and the upper Oka to the Ob. The borders changed over time, the western outskirts disappeared, but until the Mongol conquest the central region remained - the northern bank of the lower Kama with its capital, the stone fortress of Arsa, - now Kazan, - where the powerful ruler was located - the Arsky Tsar of Bulgaro-Russian origin. His military service consisted mainly of Russians - Scandinavians, Balts and Slavs. To the south of the Kama, around the same period, the Bulgar state existed. The relationships between them varied, from enmity to alliance. The division occurred in the 10th century. with the adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgars. The Nukrat Bulgars remained pagan, but over time they also had to make a choice of faith
There is a Tatar name NUKRAT - in addition to the name of the river. Vyatka and Karino settlements among the Tatars it means “small silver coin”, as well as silver ingots. In Novgorod in the 15th century. They printed their own Novgorod coins, and until then they used bullion. In addition, Novgorodians mined silver in Ugra. Hence the emergence among the Tatars (Bulgars) of a semantic correlation between silver and Novgorod. The Russians called silver coins the word “silver”.
According to the archaeological data of L. Makarov, there were 4 separate territories on the Vyatka land in the 12th-15th centuries.
1. Nikulinskaya volost - 4 villages: Nikulchino-2, Rodionovo, Krivoborye on Cheptse, Vyatskoye in Kirov; and 3 settlements: Slobodskoye, Churshinskoye and Nikulchinskoye.
2. Kotelnichskaya volost - 6 villages and 3 settlements: Kovrovskoye, Shabalinskoye, Orlovskoye.
3. Pizhemskaya volost - 8 villages and the settlement of Podrelie.
4. Lebyazhsko-Urzhumskaya volost - 3 villages: Poksta-2, etc.
Fortifications are the remains of ancient cities, fortified settlements, border fortresses or centers of power. Villages are ancient settlements without noticeable traces of artificial fortifications - earthen ramparts and ditches, as well as walls and towers. Note that the settlement is from the 15th century. on the site of Kotelnich he does not classify as a settlement.
Addition about Chudi - KIROV REGION
On the river There is a great village. Chudinovo (near the villages of Kuren, Shish-Kari). According to legend, the “givenless Chud” lived here - she did not pay taxes, perhaps she was exempt from them or evaded them.
http://www.tataroved.ru/publicat/fu_10.pdf 5.0 MB (p. 133, also about the sacred Velikoretsk place - very interesting)
village Chudnye - near the village of Shestakovo. We have surnames Chudinov, Chudinovsky.
Thus, the Chud on Vyatka lived for some time side by side with the ancestors of the modern population. By “Novgorodians,” as we have clarified, according to the text of the SV, who took the city of Peipus, we must understand the events of 1489. Population since the 17th century. a mythical understanding of history was instilled: clashes with the former Chud population were attributed to certain Novgorodians, and the Chuds themselves were given negative traits. But these are, to a large extent, our ancestors, the people who lived in Vyatka and the surrounding area before the arrival of settlers from Muscovy in the region. The word Chud acquired the meaning of wonderful, strange, incomprehensible, and even alien people. For ordinary peasants, these were the old-timers of Vyatcha, who lived according to their Cossack rules, probably in a special Christian faith. Most of them left Vyatka, the remainder gradually dissolved into the Russian population and joined the Old Believers. It seemed as if she had disappeared, gone underground...
The name Chud (Zavolochskaya) is clearly of external origin, it was given by succession from an earlier people of Hun-Gothic origin, who ruled the Kama region back in the middle of the 1st millennium. Chud corresponds to a unique synthetic archaeological culture of the 9th-14th centuries. on Vyatka and in its neighboring regions. It includes Scandinavian, Slavic and Finno-Ugric elements. It is not customary to talk about this, since according to official According to the doctrine, first the Finno-Ugrians lived with us, and then right behind them - the Russians. Any other interpretation is not welcome. That's what they do: Finnish shards to the left, Old Russian ones to the right, the rest - to the back burner. Everything is clear and understandable, without unnecessary questions.
LEGENDS OF KOMI
Here's something else about Chudi in Komi legends. The author often attributes the Chud to the ancestors of the Komi people. However, the Chepetsk Udmurts, the Podchurshinskys and other residents of Vyatka have very similar legends about heroes.
“They had more names starting with the letter K: Kocha, Kudymov, Köch, Kös. They all already spoke then” (S.I. Buzinov, village of Maskali, Kochevsky district of the K-P. national district)...
They lived in the rye, they run around there - only the rye sways" (M. Zyuleva, village of Pyatigory, Gainsky district of the K-P. national district)...
“The Chud used to live here. They had a rampart not far from here - and now they do. They plowed open copper axes, large cast earrings, etc. The visiting people began to attack - it merged or became obsolete. They were beaten by robbers who rode from above in large boats. They had axes. The Chudins rolled logs from the high banks onto the robbers.” (P.A. Kashin, village of Gayny, Komi-Permyak national district.)...
There were some robbers here. Their leader couldn’t even be hit by a bullet: if you shoot, he’ll catch the bullet with his hand. They robbed here. They will enter the hut and demand money and gold. The owner doesn’t give it - they split the stove damper, they light a fire on the floor, they fry the owner on the fire... But the old ones were like that: they beat them with rods, they fry them on the fire - they ask for money - but he holds a coin in his mouth and doesn’t give it back. They were a strong people, large..." (N.A. Sidorov, village of Moskvina, Kochevsky district of the K-P. national district.) Chud allegedly had to build fortifications for protection, underground passages from the kara to the hole (fortification), throw in their enemies with stones, logs, etc...
The old people told how Stepan of Perm enlightened the people along the river. Kame executed them. Cherdyn was formerly called Great Perm. Cherdyn was named later as a place of execution: Cherdyn - at the axe, near the axe. Cherdyn was called after many miracles. Chud did not want to accept the Orthodox faith; they went into the forests, dug holes, brought down the ceilings on themselves and died. Wonderful things were found here: bows, arrows, axes, spears, earrings."
Closely related to this type of legend are the legends about the heroic miracle. In them, the Chud are a large, strong people who built fortresses, punishments, fortified towns with underground passages and cast-iron gates. The heroes allegedly threw axes, iron sticks, and weights from car to car. These people lived richly: they had a lot of silver and gold.
“There are many Chud places. There is a Chud settlement towards Vershinino, the beds there are still noticeable - they apparently planted them. In the Popshotem field, behind the log, from the place of 3 fathoms, there is a treasure, they say - made of silver, gold...
Along the river Onolwe near the bridge, on his left hand, there is a miracle well. They lived on Cape Kurogkar, they say. While plowing, their things were found. There seemed to be a cave there, with a gated entrance. The village of Chanyayb has a Byldog cape, and there was also a settlement there.
Kurögkar-Cape and Byldög-Cape communicated and walked. They say that they threw themselves from one cape to another with sticks (about 7 km) - such heroes were strong. Previously, the people were generally stronger.
The miracles also had roads. The road was from Gain to Yurda through forests. Here they walked through Pelem, the road passed here. They say they all ruined themselves. We went into the pits and covered ourselves with earth" (A.I. Androv, village of Otopkova, Kochevsky district, Perm region).
There are quite a lot of similar legends. The stories never look like fairy tales, the narrators usually specifically indicate the punishments (usually Rodanian fortifications), the places of their burials and the places where their wealth was hidden, adding that they or others were looking for their treasures, etc...
Legends about the heroic miracle are also most common among the Cherdyn Komi-Permyaks...
It can be suggested that the idea of the Chud among the ancient Russians, the Novgorodians, arose during the period of their clashes with the Chud of Zavolochskaya, whose ethnicity is still not clear."
Let us pay attention to the prevalence of Chud toponyms such as “Koch”. This finds an explanation if the word “Koch” or “Kosh” has the Cossack meaning “Camp”.
The robbers “on big boats” who attacked the Chud were probably ushkuiniki. There are South Vyatka legends about robbers, but there are somewhat fewer legends about the Chud, especially in the central regions. It is interesting that the Churshinsky heroes (according to the descriptions, completely similar to miracles) were not called miracles. Stories about heroes here have a neutral or positive connotation. The heroes were clearly their own. The Churshinsky heroes were opposed by the Nikulitskys who defeated them.
Chepetsk Udmurts have legends about heroes who lived in local settlements-kars. They also have a plot about throwing objects. The attitude towards heroes is twofold. The Sloboda Udmurts do not remember the miracle; they trace their family from a town without a name, located in the center of Kirov. Until recently, once a year they commemorated some of those killed on Churshinskaya Mountain.
TATARSTAN
According to the legends of the southern Udmurts, their king lived in Arsk (Tatarstan), and annual prayers of the Udmurts and other peoples and tribes took place there. The ancestors of the Udmurts were allegedly expelled from the Arsk region by the Tatars more than 500 years ago. This event can be dated back to the 13th century.
In Tatarstan near the border with the Kirov region. in the area of the Udmurt settlement there is a large mountain-hill called Kukmor. According to the legends recorded here, part of the Arsk Udmurts went “beyond Vyatka,” probably to the area of the city of Kirov. Hence the legend about the original place of existence of the city of Khlynov “on Kikimorskaya Mountain”. Together with the Udmurts, it seems that the Arsk princes also moved to the north. According to Karin legends, they ended up in Vyatka in the 50s of the 13th century. during the retreat from Batu's troops.
Stefan of Perm in Komi legends looks like a crusader - a forced baptizer. From all that has been said, the struggle in the 14th century emerges. Novgorodians with Chud, - the ancient military-mercantile class of the country of Visu.
If we consider that in the middle Vyatka there were legends about the settlement of Novgorodians here, then we must admit that the Chuds had to make room. Although part of it, apparently, continued to live in the 15th and early 16th centuries. In my opinion, there was a mixing of the surviving Chuds with the northern Russians. This ethnic group became the basis of the future Russian Cossacks.
MONUMENTS AND FORTEIZATIONS OF CHUDI
Chud are legendary people in many ways. Apparently, it was understood not as one people, but as a group of peoples and tribes who lived in the vast northern territory at different historical times before its entry into Russia, but were connected by something in common. Vyatka Chud 14-15th century. - these are Russian Bulgars, the probable ancestors of the Cossacks of Ukraine and the Don.
On the territory of the Kama region there is also a huge number of ancient “Peipus mines”. This is understandable. Only in a sick imagination can one imagine that ore was brought hundreds of kilometers away. Of course not. Where they smelted, they dug nearby.
It turns out that often high hills on flat terrain have ore layers containing copper, tin, nickel, and iron lying in them at shallow depths. It is impossible to install a large mining complex on these deposits, and small developments are today considered unprofitable...
LEGENDS ABOUT CHUDI
“...the whole country inhabited by the Permians is filled with the remains of ancient fortifications, known under the name of the Chud settlements; and further from them to the south on both sides of the Kama, quite a few of these ancient monuments are found,” wrote N. Popov in the first years of the 19th century - In addition to the fortifications described above in Cherdynok district... there are also in Sslikamsky... In Perm district... In the dachas of Princess Golitsyna... In Kungur district... In addition to these, there are some other not so well-known fortifications in different places of the Perm province on this side of the Ural ridge, not to mention those that are also found on their eastern side.” (N. Popov. Economic description..., part III. 1813, pp. 63-65).
Legends told about places where the remains of Chud fortifications and dwellings were preserved: walls, ramparts, ditches, pits. In the legends of the 19th century. The motif of Chud settlements, as well as in the legends of the 18th century, is rarely found separately. In most cases, it is included in stories about Chud mining (Chud mines), Chud mounds or burial grounds, Chud treasures, Chud writings, and the death of Chud. Archaeologist M.V. Malakhov describes the Chud settlements in the following way in 1878: “The monuments that exist in large numbers are Chud settlements consisting of earthen ramparts; there are many of them in Solikamsk (Cherdyn), Verkhotursky and Shadrinsky districts. They usually settled on elevated places, on cliffs and were protected by a rampart and a ditch on the side, which was not sufficiently protected by nature. At some settlements, pits are clearly visible - the remains of Chud dwellings (near the village of Neloby... Excavations of settlements yield very rich results, a lot of Chud settlements are found). things related to religion, weapons, decoration and home utensils" (M.V. Malakhov. At the Chud settlement (from travel notes in the Perm province), 1878. - Archives of the Russian Geographical Society, f. 29, op. 1, storage unit. 60, l. 1, v., l.2).
GROUND GROUND IN THE SACRED GROVES-"BUSHES" ON KOKSHENGA AND SUKHONA
In 1981, the author on the river. Uftyuga (the left tributary of the Kokshenga river) in the village of Ignatovskaya (another name is Podkust), in an area called “Kust”, a destroyed ground burial ground was discovered. The orientation of the preserved burial is with its head to the west (with a deviation to the north by 35R); arms folded on the chest, hands under the chin. There were no belongings with the buried person. Ethnic identification and dating have caused difficulties. Local historian from Tarnoga A. A. Ugryumov wrote, in particular, about the “bushes” known on Koksheng, and called them ancient Chud groves. The word “bush” itself was derived from the Vepsian “kuuz” (spruce) and the Mari “kusoto” (prayer site). In 1984, during reconnaissance in the Tarnog region, the author examined several such “bushes”. The local Koksheng name "bush" refers to traditionally protected groves. Usually these are islands of spruce or pine, sometimes mixed, mother forest. At the beginning of the 20th century, according to the director of the Totemsky District Museum N.A. Chernitsyn, these “bushes” occupied an area of 1-3 hectares. They are usually located on a hill and are clearly visible from afar. Centuries-old trees grow in the “bushes”. In the Tiunovsky “bush” the girth of the largest pine is 3.8 m. Currently, some of the “bushes” have a significantly reduced area. Yaryginsky and Dolgovitsky II "bushes" are plowed.
Map of burial grounds and “bushes” (empty circles):
The author attributes the burial grounds to the Chud 14th - 15th centuries. “We can assume that this is a Finno-Ugric or Finno-Ugric-Slavic pagan burial ground with elements of Christianization of the population.” “The right hand was on the left humerus, the left hand was on the thigh of the right leg.” - As you can see, some of the burials are close in ritual to the Cossacks from Chigirin and Nikulchino. A similar fan-shaped burial of bodies is also found in Vyatka.
Another quote: “If we recognize that the ground burial grounds (Ignatovsky, Ramensky, Tiunovsky and Dolgovitsky) on Koksheng and Sukhona in sacred groves-“bushes” are not accidental, then we can propose the following scheme for transforming pagan burial grounds and sacred groves into the concept of “bush”: the ground burial grounds in the sacred groves belonged to the local Finno-Ugric (or to some extent mixed with the Slavs) population - the baptism of the “bushes” through the “appearance” of the icon - the construction of a chapel in the “bushes” at the site of the “appearance” of the icon. Church holidays were held in the “bushes” near the chapels once a year. The groves were protected by tradition. Sometimes in the “bushes” there were “treasured” stumps that were chewed for toothache, or pieces of them were infused and a tincture was taken for stomach diseases. Sometimes there were “saints” nearby. "springs, the water of which was used for various diseases (Markushevsky and Yaryginsky "bush"). A monastery arose on the site of the Markushevsky "bush".
“Based on the study of scientific and local history literature and field research, it can be argued that such sacred groves are distributed much wider than the Kokshenga basin. There is information about sacred groves in the space from the Sukhona almost to the White Sea and from Vychegda to Lake Onega. Information about such sacred groves varies according to the degree of completeness. For example: “The Zyryans of Ustvym have preserved to this day the tradition that the Archangel Church was founded by Saint Stephen on the site of an unusually large birch tree, which their idolatrous ancestors worshiped and on which they sacrificed sables, mustelids, ermine and other animal furs. This people continues to trade in trade to this day; The vast stump of this tree was left under the altar of the Arkhangelsk wooden church until the construction of the current stone church on the site, in which this place now lies under the deacon's pulpit. In general, the Ustvym Zyryans still call the ancestors of their idolaters Elniki, because they adored all kinds of trees, especially spruce trees of extraordinary size." End of quotes.
Another work by the same author, archaeologist Nikitinsky I.F.
http://www.nikivan.chat.ru/russ.htm - TIUNOVSKY SANCTUARY
It describes in detail the Chud sanctuary, which is located 3.5 km northeast of the village of Tiunovskaya, Tarnogsky district, Vologda region in the river basin. Kokshengi, among the local population it was known as “stone with crosses”. “In our time, the sanctuary consists of two parts: the main one - a stone (about 3 m) with drawings and an altar slab.
The arrangement of the stones, each drawing of the sanctuary has its own meaning, and the relative arrangement of the drawings on the stone also has its own meaning. The quadrangular, dome-shaped stone displays the pagan understanding of the world: its three-tiered vertical structure, the World Tree, the sun at its zenith and the sun at sunset.. In addition, there is a staircase to heaven, a staircase to the ground, an entrance and a window to heaven, a heavenly ship and a pantheon of gods with the stories accompanying them. In the configuration of the stone (a plan close to a square, a dome inscribed in it), in its orientation to the cardinal points, in the placement of gods in a circle, the principle of the mandala is realized. In the center of the mandala, on the dome of the sanctuary stone, the leader of the rituals or the one who wanted the spirit of the main god (demiurge), who was not depicted, to descend upon him should have been placed. Traces of rituals can be seen in the striking of begas and the scenes accompanying them, as well as in the form of coal and compaction of the soil around the sanctuary.
MAP OF FORTETS
1 - Monastery of St. Fedora. 2 - Minsk churchyard. 3 - Ivasskoye Nikolskoye settlement. 4 - Spassky Pogost. 5 - Bogoroditsky settlement. 6 - Druzhinina Savvatievskaya desert. 7 - Dolgovitsky churchyard. 8 - Novgorodovskoye ancient settlement. 9 - Kremlin town. 10 - Ozeretsky churchyard. 11 - Verkhnekokshenga churchyard. 12 - Ileskian according to the state standard. 13 - Spassky Pechenga Monastery. 14 - Londuzhsky churchyard. 15 - Markushevsky Agapitov Monastery. 16 - Tiunovskoye Miracle Sanctuary. 17 - Shebengsky churchyard. 18 - Vaimezha settlement. 19 - Romashevskoye settlement. 20 - Zaborsky according to the state standard. 21 - Lokhotsky churchyard. 22 - Potsky churchyard. 23 - Verkhovsky Pogost. 24 - Kuloi Pokrovsky churchyard. 25 - Brusyanoy town (Brusenets). 26 - Gorodischensky according to the state standard. 27 - Kichmeng town.
VYATKA TRADES AND STORIES ABOUT CHUDI
This is what Podosinovsky local historians write:
"....the people called Chud of Zavolotsk by the Novgorodians lived in the basins of the Mezen and Northern Dvina rivers, along the banks of the Luza, Yug, Pushma (note, the Vyatka surnames Mezentsev, Luzyanin, Yuzhanin - borgheus). There is the village of Chudalovo in the Oparinsky district, the village of Chudinovo in the Oryol region, Chud - a mountain in Anikino, Luzsky district - there are a lot of examples. According to Zakharov’s proposal, the population of Luzskaya Permtsy is a fragment of the Chud tribe...
...Chudi also had noisy pendants, but of a special shape, characteristic only of them. Very few archaeological sites of Chud have been found so far. On the Sukhona and its tributaries these are Ust-Puya, Korbala, Maryinskaya, Kudrino; in the upper reaches of Luza - Loima and Vekshor. Based on archaeological finds, one can guess what the people who once lived here looked like, how they lived, and what they did.
These were people of average and above average height, presumably fair-haired and with light eyes, in appearance most reminiscent of modern Karelians and Finns. Little is known about men's clothing. They wore cloaks, which were fastened with brooches, and leather belts with metal buckles, decorated with applied bronze figured plates. Women wore long linen shirts with an open collar and long sleeves gathered at the wrist; a slanted, blind sundress, a hoop-type headdress with a hard lining of birch bark. Women wore a lot of bronze jewelry - bracelets, hryvnias, temple rings, rings, pendants, earrings, and glass beads. Some of the bronze jewelry was also worn by men. It is interesting that before the 10th century. AD Bronze casting was done by women: foundry molds are found in women's graves.
The Chud tribes were skilled in pottery and blacksmithing, and knew how to weave and process wood and bone. They lived by hunting and fishing. They were also engaged in agriculture, growing unpretentious northern crops: oats, rye, barley, flax.
This is what the Lal historian I.S. writes. Ponomarev about the miracle that lived in our area before the Novgorodians settled here:
“Whether the surroundings of Lalsk were inhabited by Chud at that time, or whether the Novgorodians settled in a completely empty region is not known for certain, but we must assume that the surroundings of Lalsk were already populated at that time. The data for this is as follows:
1) Several legends have been preserved that the settlers, Novgorodians, were attacked by “Chud”; Moreover, one of them adds that, during one of the raids, “Chud”, near Lalsk, through the prayer of Laletyan to St. Nicholas, was struck by blindness. This place is located on the pasture land of the city and is still called Poklonnaya Hill.
2) Solvychegodsk chronicler A. Soskin writes: “one can think and affirmatively conclude that the population of Novgorodians and other Russian peoples in the former city of Chernigov (near Solvychegodsk) and Onago County was already in a place inhabited by the Chud people.”
3) Among the dense forests in the volosts of Tselyakovskaya and Papulovskaya closest to Lalsk, traces of arable land have been preserved to this day; but when and who lived here, none of the local residents knows, but they heard from the old people that it was as if “Chud” lived in those places, and as if, subsequently, this “Chud”, whether to avoid collisions with aliens, either out of reluctance to accept Christianity, or, finally, due to lack of strength, she moved further to the east and went to Siberia."
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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO
Team Nomads
Article by Ustinov B.G.
http://samlib.ru/editors/u/ustinow_b_g/vrk6.shtml
http://paranormal.org.ru/
Wikipedia website
http://www.wowwi.orc.ru/folks/nr/nr-chud/nr-chud1.htm
http://www.ursmu.ru/
http://badelskkomi.svoiforum.ru/
The Chud tribe is one of the most mysterious phenomena in our country. Its history has long been overgrown with secrets, epics and even rumors, both quite plausible and completely fantastic. Not much is known about this tribe to judge from this information the complete history of its representatives, but quite enough to give rise to the most incredible legends. Scientists and researchers have tried and are trying to unearth evidence of that era, to decipher that wonderful world full of mysteries that the Chud tribe gave us.
The Chud tribe is sometimes compared to the Maya tribe of American Indians. Both those and others suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only memories. In official history, the term “Chud” is considered the ancient Russian name for several Finno-Ugric tribes. The very name of the tribe Chud"is also not entirely clear. It is popularly believed that representatives of these tribes were named this way because of their incomprehensible language, which they spoke and which other tribes did not understand. There is an assumption that the tribe was originally Germanic or Gothic, which is why they were called Chud. In those days, “Chud” and “Alien” were not only of the same root, but also had the same meaning. However, in some Finno-Ugric languages, the name Chud was used to name one of the mythological characters, which also cannot be discounted.
This tribe, which suddenly disappeared, is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, where the chronicler directly narrates: " ...Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on Chud, Ilmen Slovenes, Merya and Krivichi..."However, not everything is so simple here either. For example, the historian S.M. Solovyov made the assumption that in the Tale of Bygone Years the inhabitants of the Vodskaya valley of the Novgorod Land pyatina were called Chud. Another mention dates back to 882 and refers to Oleg’s campaign: " ...went on a campaign and took with him many warriors: Varangians, Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi, all, Chud and came to Smolensk and took the city...".
Yaroslav the Wise undertook a victorious campaign against Chud in 1030: “and he defeated them and established the city of Yuryev.” Subsequently, it turned out that a number of tribes were called Chud, such as: Estonians, Seto (Chud of Pskov), Vod, Izhora, Korely, Zavolochye (Chud of Zavolochskaya). In Novgorod there is Chudintseva Street, where noble representatives of this tribe previously lived, and in Kyiv there is Chudin Dvor. It is also believed that the following names were formed on behalf of these tribes: the city of Chudovo, Lake Peipus, and the Chud River. In the Vologda region there are villages with the names: Front Chudi, Middle Chudi and Back Chudi. Currently, Chudi’s descendants live in the Penezhsky district of the Arkhangelsk region. In 2002, Chud was included in the register of independent nationalities.
Of particular interest, in addition to the historical, is folklore, in which the tribe appears as the White-Eyed Chud. Strange epithet " White-eyed", with which representatives of the Chud were dubbed, is also a mystery. Some believe that the white-eyed Chud is because it lives underground, where there is no sunlight, while others believe that in the old days, gray-eyed or blue-eyed people were called white-eyed. White-eyed Chud, as a mythological character found in the folklore of the Komi and Sami, as well as the Mansi, Siberian Tatars, Altaians and Nenets. To explain in a nutshell, the white-eyed chud is a vanished civilization. Following these beliefs, the legendary white-eyed chud lived in the north of the European part of Russia and the Urals. In the descriptions of this tribe there are descriptions of people of short stature who live in caves and deep underground. In addition, Chud, Choud, Shud - a monster, and meant a giant, often a cannibalistic giant with white eyes. People are often called Chud. who, with the adoption of Christianity in Rus', did not accept the new religion and went underground. Thus, it turns out that the white-eyed Chud is a demonized tribe that did not accept Christianity and is therefore considered unclean.
One of the legends, which was recorded in the village of Afanasyevo, Kirov region, says: " And when other people began to appear along the Kama, this miracle did not want to communicate with them. They dug a large hole, and then cut down the pillars and buried themselves. This place is called - Peipus Coast". The mistress of the copper mountain, the tale of which was told to us by the Russian writer P.P. Bazhov, is considered by many to be one of that same Chudi.
Judging by the legends, a meeting with representatives of the white-eyed miracle, who sometimes appeared out of nowhere, came out of caves, appeared in the fog, could bring good luck to some and misfortune to others. They live underground, where they ride dogs and herd mammoths or earthen deer. The mythical representatives of the white-eyed miracle are considered to be good and skilled blacksmiths, metallurgists and excellent warriors, which can be compared with the belief of the Scandinavian tribes in gnomes, who are also short in stature, are good warriors and skilled blacksmiths. Chud white-eyed (they are also Sirtya, Sikhirtya) can steal a child, cause damage, and scare a person. They know how to suddenly appear and disappear just as suddenly.
Testimonies from missionaries, researchers and travelers have been preserved about the earthen settlements of Chud. For the first time, A. Shrenk spoke about orphans in 1837, who discovered Chud caves with the remains of a certain culture in the lower reaches of the Korotaikha River. Missionary Benjamin wrote: " The Korotaikha River is remarkable for its abundance of fisheries and Chud earthen caves, in which, according to Samoyed legends, Chud once lived in ancient times. These caves are ten miles from the mouth, on the right bank, on a slope, which from ancient times was called Sirte-sya in Samoyed - “Chudskaya Mountain”". I. Lepekhin wrote in 1805: " The entire Samoyed land in the Mezen district is filled with desolate dwellings of the once ancient people. They are found in many places: near lakes, on the tundra, in forests, near rivers, made in mountains and hills like caves with openings like doors. In these caves they found ovens and found fragments of iron, copper and clay household items.". This same question was once puzzled by V.N. Chernetsov, who wrote about the Chud in his reports of 1935-1957, where he collected many legends. In addition, he discovered monuments of the Sirtya in Yamal. Thus, the existence of a tribe that actually existed in these places at one time, it is documented. The Nenets, whose ancestors witnessed the existence of a mysterious tribe in these places, claim that it went underground (into the hills), but did not disappear. And to this day you can meet people of small stature and with. with white eyes, and this meeting most often does not bode well.
After the Chud went underground, after other tribes came to their lands, whose descendants live here to this day, they left many treasures. These treasures are enchanted and, according to legend, only the descendants of the miracle itself can find them. These treasures are guarded by miracle spirits, who appear in a variety of guises, for example, a hero on a horse, a bear, a hare and others. Due to the fact that many would like to penetrate the secrets of the underground inhabitants and take possession of untold riches, some are still taking various steps to search for these caches full of gold and jewelry. There are a huge number of legends, tales and stories about daredevils who decided to search for miracle treasures. All, or most of them, end, alas, in tears for the main characters. Some of them die, others remain crippled, others go crazy, and others go missing in a dungeon or caves.
He also writes about the legendary miracle Roerich in his book "Heart of Asia". There he describes his meeting with an Old Believer in Altai. This man took them to a rocky hill where there were stone circles of ancient burials and, showing them to the Roerich family, told the following story: " This is where Chud went underground. When the White Tsar came to Altai to fight and as the white birch blossomed in our region, Chud did not want to stay under the White Tsar. Chud went underground and blocked the passages with stones. You can see their former entrances yourself. But Chud is not gone forever. When the happy time returns and people from Belovodye come and give great science to all the people, then Chud will come again, with all the treasures obtained". A year earlier (1913) of these events, Nicholas Roerich, being an excellent artist, painted the painting “The Chud went underground.” Be that as it may, the mystery of the Chud tribe still remains open. The official history in the person of archaeologists, ethnographers, and local historians believe Chud are ordinary tribes, for example, Ugrians, Khanty, Mansi, who were not different in anything special and left their habitats due to the arrival of other tribes on their lands. Others consider the White-Eyed Chud to be a great people who have the gift of magic and magic, who live deeply. in caves and underground cities, which from time to time appear on the surface to warn people, warn, punish or protect their treasures, the hunters for which will never decrease.
"“But somewhere to this day,” says Vasily, “the Lapps believe not in Christ, but in “chud.” There is a high mountain from where they throw deer as sacrifices to the god. There is a mountain where a noid (sorcerer) lives, and deer are brought there to him. There they cut them with wooden knives, and hang the skin on poles. The wind shakes her, her legs move. And if there is moss or sand below, then the deer seems to be walking. Vasily has met such a deer more than once in the mountains. Just like alive! It's scary to watch. And it can be even more terrible when in winter a fire sparkles in the sky and the abysses of the earth open, and monsters begin to emerge from the graves."
Chud Zavolochskaya- this is the ancient pre-Slavic population of Zavolochye, which to this day is in some way a historical mystery. This term was put into use by the 11th century chronicler Nestor in The Tale of Bygone Years. Listing the peoples of Eastern Europe in his work, he named this nation among other Finno-Ugric tribes of that time: “... in the Afetov part there are Rus, Chud and all the pagans: Merya, Muroma, Ves, Mordva, Zavolochskaya Chud, Perm, Pechera , Yam, Ugra"
Residence map of Chudi Zavolochskaya.
Historians claim that they were an unliterate people and did not leave behind them any chronicles or any other documents.
They did not survive as a people, they did not leave their customs or language to this day, the Chud disappeared without a trace among the Russian newcomers and neighboring peoples. Only legends and names once given to the rivers and lakes among which they lived remind us of the Chud tribes.
We know that the people, called the Chud of Zavolotsk by the Novgorodians, lived in the basins of the Mezen and northern Dvina rivers, along the banks of the Luza, South, and Pushma. In terms of language and culture, the Chud belonged to the Finno-Ugric peoples. Once upon a time, Finno-Ugric peoples inhabited the entire northeast of Europe, the Urals and part of Asia.
They spoke a language close to the language of modern Vepsians and Karelians.
All information about the life, clothing and appearance of the Chud tribes is known only from the results of archaeological excavations. Archaeologists usually search in areas with some “wonderful” name. They find either traces of a settlement, or a settlement, or a Chud burial ground - an ancient cemetery. Based on the finds, one can determine whether it was a Chud, or another Finno-Ugric tribe, or the Scandinavians and Slavs who came to this land later.
Chud and other Finns can be confidently distinguished from others by two types of finds: by the remains of their pottery and by jewelry. Clay dishes are usually molded without a potter's wheel, by hand, with thick walls; often they have not a flat, but a round bottom, because food was cooked in them not in stoves, but in hearths, over an open fire. The outside of such dishes is decorated with ornaments pressed into wet clay using sticks and special stamps; such an ornament is called pit-comb and is found only among the Finno-Ugric peoples.
These were people of average and above average height, presumably fair-haired and with light eyes, in appearance most reminiscent of modern Karelians and Finns.
Because of its appearance, there is another name for this people - white-eyed Chud.
The Chud tribes were masters of pottery and blacksmithing, and knew how to weave and process wood and bone. They were familiar with metal not so long ago: many tools made of bone and flint are found in settlements.
They lived by hunting and fishing. They were also engaged in agriculture, growing unpretentious northern crops: oats, rye, barley, flax. They kept domestic animals, although during excavations of settlements in Zavolochye they find more bones of wild animals than domestic ones. They hunted not only for meat, they also hunted fur-bearing animals. In those days, fur was in use along with money. It was also just a commodity; it was traded with Novgorod, and with Scandinavia, and with Volga Bulgaria.
In connection with the development of trade in Zavolochye, ancient portage routes arose. Most likely, they were laid not by Russian newcomers, but by the local population, and only then they were used by the Novgorodians and Ustyug residents.
Chud disappeared with the advent of Christianity. Their own religion was pagan.
All the legends about the miracle say something like this. Chud lived in the forest, in dugouts, and had her own faith. When they were asked to convert to Christianity, they refused. And when they wanted to baptize them by force, they dug a large hole and made an earthen roof on the pillars, and then everyone went in there, cut down the pillars, and they were covered with earth. So the ancient miracle went underground.
In fact, the Chud of Zavolotsk shared the fate of the Finnish tribes, who disappeared among the Russian newcomers and neighboring peoples: the Muroms, Meri, Narovs, Meshchers, Vesi. They were all once mentioned in Russian chronicles next to the miracle. Some of them that resisted the Russian invasion were apparently exterminated; some accepted the Christian faith and merged with the Russian population, gradually losing their language and almost all customs; and a considerable part united with neighboring, largely related peoples.
