Among those living on the planet today there are many unique, original and even slightly mysterious peoples and nationalities. These, undoubtedly, include the Finno-Ugric peoples, who are considered the largest ethno-linguistic community in Europe. It includes 24 nations. 17 of them live in the Russian Federation.
Composition of the ethnic group
All the numerous Finno-Ugric peoples are divided by researchers into several groups:
- Baltic-Finnish, the backbone of which consists of quite numerous Finns and Estonians, who formed their own states. This also includes the Setos, Ingrians, Kvens, Vyrs, Karelians, Izhorians, Vepsians, Vods and Livs.
- Sami (Lopar), which includes residents of Scandinavia and Kola Peninsula.
- Volga-Finnish, which includes the Mari and Mordovians. The latter, in turn, are divided into Moksha and Erzya.
- Perm, which includes Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Yazvintsy, Besermyans and Udmurts.
- Ugorskaya. It includes the Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi, separated from each other by hundreds of kilometers.
Vanished Tribes
Among the modern Finno-Ugric peoples there are numerous peoples, and very small groups - less than 100 people. There are also those whose memory is preserved only in ancient chronicle sources. The disappeared, for example, include Merya, Chud and Muroma.
The Meryans built their settlements between the Volga and Oka several hundred years BC. According to some historians, this people subsequently assimilated with the East Slavic tribes and became the progenitor of the Mari people.
An even more ancient people were the Muroma, who lived in the Oka basin.
As for the Chud, this people lived along the Onega and Northern Dvina. There is an assumption that these were ancient Finnish tribes, from which modern Estonians descend.
Regions of settlement
The Finno-Ugric group of peoples today is concentrated in northwestern Europe: from Scandinavia to the Urals, Volga-Kama, West Siberian Plain in the lower and middle reaches of the Tobol.
The only people who formed their own state at a considerable distance from their brethren are the Hungarians living in the Danube basin in the Carpathian Mountains region.
The most numerous Finno-Ugric people in Russia are the Karelians. In addition to the Republic of Karelia, many of them live in the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Tver and Leningrad regions of the country.
Most of the Mordovians live in the Republic of Mordva, but many of them also settled in neighboring republics and regions of the country.
In these same regions, as well as in Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and other regions, you can also meet Finno-Ugric peoples, especially many Mari here. Although their main backbone lives in the Republic of Mari El.
The Komi Republic, as well as nearby regions and autonomous okrugs, is the place of permanent residence of the Komi people, and in the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug and the Perm region live their closest “relatives” - the Komi-Permyaks.
More than a third of the population of the Udmurt Republic are ethnic Udmurts. In addition, there are small communities in many nearby regions.
As for the Khanty and Mansi, the bulk of them live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. In addition, large Khanty communities live in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tomsk region.
Appearance type
Among the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians there were both ancient European and ancient Asian tribal communities, so in the appearance of modern representatives one can observe features inherent in both the Mongoloid and Caucasian races.
General features to distinctive features representatives of this ethnic group include average height, very blond hair, wide cheekbones with an upturned nose.
Moreover, each nationality has its own “variations”. For example, the Erzya Mordvins are much taller than average, but at the same time they have pronounced blue-eyed blondes. But the Moksha Mordvins, on the contrary, are short, and their hair color is darker.
The Udmurts and Maris have “Mongolian type” eyes, which makes them similar to the Mongoloid race. But at the same time, the vast majority of representatives of the nationality are fair-haired and light-eyed. Similar facial features are also found among many Izhorians, Karelians, Vodians, and Estonians.
But Komi can be either dark-haired with slanted eyes, or fair-haired with pronounced Caucasian features.
Quantitative composition
In total, there are about 25 million Finno-Ugric people living in the world. The most numerous of them are Hungarians, who number more than 15 million. Finns are almost three times less - about 6 million, and the number of Estonians is a little more than a million.
The number of other nationalities does not exceed a million: Mordovians - 843 thousand; Udmurts - 637 thousand; Mari - 614 thousand; Ingrians - just over 30 thousand; Kvens - about 60 thousand; Võru - 74 thousand; setu - about 10 thousand, etc.
The most small peoples are the Livs, whose number does not exceed 400 people, and the Vods, whose community consists of 100 representatives.
An excursion into the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples
There are several versions about the origin and ancient history of the Finno-Ugric peoples. The most popular of them is the one that assumes the existence of a group of people who spoke the so-called Finno-Ugric proto-language, and maintained their unity until approximately the 3rd millennium BC. This Finno-Ugric group of peoples lived in the Urals and western Urals region. In those days, the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians maintained contact with the Indo-Iranians, as evidenced by all kinds of myths and languages.
Later, the single community split into Ugric and Finno-Perm. From the second, the Baltic-Finnish, Volga-Finnish and Permian language subgroups subsequently emerged. Separation and isolation continued until the first centuries of our era.
Scientists consider the homeland of the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians to be the region located on the border of Europe with Asia in the interfluve of the Volga and Kama, the Urals. At the same time, the settlements were located at a considerable distance from each other, which may have been the reason that they did not create their own unified state.
The main occupations of the tribes were agriculture, hunting and fishing. The earliest mentions of them are found in documents from the times of the Khazar Kaganate.
For many years, Finno-Ugric tribes paid tribute to the Bulgar khans and were part of the Kazan Khanate and Rus'.
In the 16th-18th centuries, the territory of Finno-Ugric tribes began to be settled by thousands of immigrants from various regions of Rus'. The owners often resisted such an invasion and did not want to recognize the power of the Russian rulers. The Mari resisted especially fiercely.
However, despite the resistance, gradually the traditions, customs and language of the “newcomers” began to supplant local speech and beliefs. Assimilation intensified during subsequent migration, when Finno-Ugrians began to move to various regions of Russia.
Finno-Ugric languages
Initially, there was a single Finno-Ugric language. As the group divided and different tribes settled further and further from each other, it changed, breaking up into separate dialects and independent languages.
Until now, Finno-Ugric languages have been preserved by both large nations (Finns, Hungarians, Estonians) and small ethnic groups (Khanty, Mansi, Udmurts, etc.). So, in primary school a number of Russian schools where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples study the Sami, Khanty and Mansi languages.
Komi, Mari, Udmurts, Mordovians can also study the languages of their ancestors, starting from middle school.
Other peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages, may also speak dialects similar to the main languages of the group they belong to. For example, the Besermen speak one of the dialects of the Udmurt language, the Ingrians speak the eastern dialect of Finnish, the Kvens speak Finnish, Norwegian or Sami.
Currently, there are barely about a thousand common words in all the languages of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples. Thus, the “family” connection between different peoples can be traced in the word “home”, which among the Finns sounds like koti, among the Estonians - kodu. “Kudu” (Mor.) and “Kudo” (Mari) have a similar sound.
Living next to other tribes and peoples, the Finno-Ugrians adopted culture and language from them, but also generously shared their own. For example, “rich and powerful” includes Finno-Ugric words such as “tundra”, “sprat”, “herring” and even “dumplings”.
Finno-Ugric culture
Archaeologists find cultural monuments of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the form of settlements, burials, household items and jewelry throughout the entire territory inhabited by the ethnic group. Most of the monuments date back to the beginning of our era and the early Middle Ages. Many peoples have managed to preserve their culture, traditions and customs until today.
Most often they manifest themselves in various rituals (weddings, folk festivals, etc.), dances, clothing and everyday life.
Literature
Finno-Ugric literature is conventionally divided by historians and researchers into three groups:
- Western, which includes works of Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian writers and poets. This literature was influenced by literature European peoples, has the richest history.
- Russian, the formation of which begins in the 18th century. It includes works by authors of the Komi, Mari, Mordovians, and Udmurts.
- Northern. The youngest group, developed only about a century ago. It includes works by Mansi, Nenets, and Khanty authors.
At the same time, all representatives of the ethnic group have a rich heritage of oral folk art. Every nationality has numerous epics and legends about heroes of the past. One of the most famous works folk epic is the Kalevala, which tells about the life, beliefs and customs of our ancestors.
Religious preferences
Most of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugrians profess Orthodoxy. Finns, Estonians and Western Sami adhere to the Lutheran faith, while Hungarians adhere to the Catholic faith. At the same time, ancient traditions are preserved in rituals, mostly wedding ones.
But the Udmurts and Mari in some places still retain their ancient religion, just like the Samoyeds and some peoples of Siberia, they worship their gods and practice shamanism.
Features of national cuisine
In ancient times, the main food product of the Finno-Ugric tribes was fish, which was fried, boiled, dried and even eaten raw. Moreover, each type of fish had its own cooking method.
The meat of forest birds and small animals caught in snares was also used as food. The most popular vegetables were turnips and radishes. The food was richly seasoned with spices such as horseradish, onions, hogweed, etc.
The Finno-Ugric peoples prepared porridges and jelly from barley and wheat. They were also used to fill homemade sausages.
Modern Finno-Ugric cuisine, which has been strongly influenced by neighboring peoples, has almost no special traditional features. But almost every nation has at least one traditional or ritual dish, the recipe for which has been handed down to the present day almost unchanged.
A distinctive feature of the cuisine of the Finno-Ugric peoples is that in food preparation preference is given to products grown in the place where the people live. But imported ingredients are used only in the most minimal quantities.
Save and increase
In order to preserve cultural heritage Finno-Ugric peoples and the transmission of traditions and customs of their ancestors to future generations, all kinds of centers and organizations are being created everywhere.
Much attention is paid to this in the Russian Federation. One of such organizations is the non-profit association Volga Center of Finno-Ugric Peoples, created 11 years ago (April 28, 2006).
As part of its work, the center not only helps large and small Finno-Ugric peoples not to lose their history, but also introduces it to other peoples of Russia, helping to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between them.
Famous representatives
Like every nation, the Finno-Ugric peoples have their own heroes. Famous representative Finno-Ugric people - the nanny of the great Russian poet - Arina Rodionovna, who was from the Ingrian village of Lampovo.
Also Finno-Ugrians are such historical and modern personalities, like Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum (both were Mordvins), physiologist V. M. Bekhterev (Udmurt), composer A. Ya. Eshpai (Mari), athlete R. Smetanina (Komi) and many others.
1. Title
The Finno-Ugric people were an autochthonous population between the Oka and Volga rivers; their tribes, the Estonians, All, Merya, Mordovians, and Cheremis, were part of the Gothic kingdom of Germanaric in the 4th century. The chronicler Nestor in the Ipatiev Chronicle indicates about twenty tribes Ural group(Ugrofinic): Chud, Livs, waters, yam (Ӕm), all (also Severo ѿ them on the White Lake sits All), Karelians, Ugra, caves, Samoyeds, Perm (Perm), Cheremis, casting, zimigola, kors, nerom , Mordovians, Merya (and on Rostov the river Merya and on Kleshchina and the river there is a river), Muroma (and this is the place where the Volga flows into the Volga, the language of its Murom) and Meshchera. The Muscovites called all local tribes Chud from the indigenous Chud, and accompanied this name with irony, explaining it through the Muscovite weird, weird, strange. Now these peoples have been completely assimilated by Russians, they have disappeared from the ethnic map of modern Russia forever, adding to the number of Russians and leaving only a wide range of their ethnic geographical names.
These are all the names of rivers from ending-wa: Moscow, Protva, Kosva, Silva, Sosva, Izva, etc. The Kama River has about 20 tributaries, the names of which end in na-va, means "water" in Finnish. From the very beginning, the Muscovite tribes felt their superiority over the local Finno-Ugric peoples. However, Finno-Ugric place names are found not only where these peoples today make up a significant part of the population, forming autonomous republics and national districts. Their distribution area is much larger, for example, Moscow.
According to archaeological data, the settlement area of the Chud tribes in Eastern Europe remained unchanged for 2 thousand years. Beginning in the 9th century, the Finno-Ugric tribes of the European part of what is now Russia were gradually assimilated by Slavic colonists who came from Kievan Rus. This process formed the basis for the formation of modern Russian nation.
Finno-Ugric tribes belong to the Ural-Altai group and a thousand years ago were close to the Pechenegs, Cumans and Khazars, but were at a significantly lower level than the rest social development, in fact, the ancestors of the Russians were the same Pechenegs, only forest ones. At that time, these were the primitive and culturally most backward tribes of Europe. Not only in the distant past, but even at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia they were cannibals. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) called them androphages (eaters of people), and the chronicler Nestor, already during the period of the Russian state, called Samoyeds (Samoyed) .
Finno-Ugric tribes of a primitive gathering-hunting culture were the ancestors of the Russians. Scientists claim that the Moscow people received the greatest admixture of the Mongoloid race through the assimilation of the Finno-Ugric people, who came to Europe from Asia and partially absorbed the Caucasoid admixture even before the arrival of the Slavs. A mixture of Finno-Ugric, Mongolian and Tatar ethnic components contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Russians, which was formed with the participation of the Slavic tribes of the Radimichi and Vyatichi. Due to ethnic mixing with the Ugrofinans, and later with the Tatars and partly with the Mongols, Russians have an anthropological type that is different from the Kiev-Russian (Ukrainian). The Ukrainian diaspora jokes about this: “The eyes are narrow, the nose is plus - completely Russian.” Under the influence of the Finno-Ugric language environment, the formation of the Russian phonetic system (akanye, gekanya, ticking) took place. Today, “Ural” features are inherent to one degree or another in all the peoples of Russia: average height, wide face, nose, called “snub-nosed,” and sparse beard. The Mari and Udmurts often have eyes with the so-called Mongolian fold - epicanthus; they have very wide cheekbones and a thin beard. But at the same time he has blond and red hair, blue and gray eyes. The Mongolian fold is sometimes found among Estonians and Karelians. Komi are different: in those places where there are mixed marriages As they grow older, they are dark-haired and have slanting hair, others are more reminiscent of Scandinavians, but with a slightly wider face.
According to the research of Meryanist Orest Tkachenko, “In the Russian people, connected on the maternal side to the Slavic ancestral home, the father was a Finn. On the paternal side, Russians descended from the Finno-Ugric peoples.” It should be noted that according to modern research halotypes of the Y-chromosome, in fact the situation was the opposite - Slavic men married women of the local Finno-Ugric population. According to Mikhail Pokrovsky, Russians are an ethnic mixture, in which Finns belong to 4/5, and Slavs -1/5. Remnants of Finno-Ugric culture in Russian culture can be traced in such features that are not found among others Slavic peoples: women's kokoshnik and sundress, men's shirt-kosovorotka, bast shoes (bast shoes) in national costume, dumplings in dishes, style of folk architecture (tent buildings, porch), Russian bathhouse, sacred animal - bear, 5-tone singing scale, a-touch and vowel reduction, paired words like stitches-paths, arms-legs, alive and well, so-and-so, turnover I have(instead of I, characteristic of other Slavs) a fairytale beginning “once upon a time,” the absence of a rusal cycle, carols, the cult of Perun, the presence of a cult of birch rather than oak.
Not everyone knows that there is nothing Slavic in the surnames Shukshin, Vedenyapin, Piyashev, but they come from the name of the Shuksha tribe, the name of the war goddess Vedeno Ala, and the pre-Christian name Piyash. Thus, a significant part of the Finno-Ugrians was assimilated by the Slavs, and some, having converted to Islam, mixed with the Turks. Therefore, today Ugrofins do not make up the majority of the population even in the republics to which they gave their name. But, having dissolved in the mass of Russians (Rus. Russians), Ugrofins have retained their anthropological type, which is now perceived as typically Russian (Rus. Russian ) .
According to the vast majority of historians, the Finnish tribes had an extremely peaceful and gentle disposition. This is how the Muscovites themselves explain the peaceful nature of colonization, declaring that there were no military clashes because written sources they don’t remember anything like that. However, as the same V.O. Klyuchevsky notes, “in the legends of Great Russia, some vague memories of the struggle that broke out in some places survived.”
3. Toponymy
Toponyms of Meryan-Erzyan origin in Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Vologda, Tver, Vladimir, Moscow regions account for 70-80% (Vexa, Voksenga, Elenga, Kovonga, Koloksa, Kukoboy, lekht, Melexa, Nadoxa, Nero (Inero), Nux, Nuksha, Palenga, Peleng, Pelenda, Peksoma, Puzhbol, Pulokhta, Sara, Seleksha, Sonokhta, Tolgobol, otherwise, Sheksheboy, Shekhroma, Shileksha, Shoksha, Shopsha, Yakhrenga, Yakhrobol(Yaroslavl region, 70-80%), Andoba, Vandoga, Vokhma, Vokhtoga, Voroksa, Lynger, Mezenda, Meremsha, Monza, Nerekhta (flicker), Neya, Notelga, Onga, Pechegda, Picherga, Poksha, Pong, Simonga, Sudolga, Toekhta, Urma, Shunga, Yakshanga(Kostroma region, 90-100%), Vazopol, Vichuga, Kineshma, Kistega, Kokhma, Ksty, Landeh, Nodoga, Paks, Palekh, Parsha, Pokshenga, Reshma, Sarokhta, Ukhtoma, Ukhtokhma, Shacha, Shizhegda, Shileksa, Shuya, Yukhma etc. (Ivanovo region), Vokhtoga, Selma, Senga, Solokhta, Sot, Tolshma, Shuya and others. (Vologda region),"" Valdai, Koy, Koksha, Koivushka, Lama, Maksatikha, Palenga, Palenka, Raida, Seliger, Siksha, Syshko, Talalga, Udomlya, Urdoma, Shomushka, Shosha, Yakhroma etc. (Tver region), Arsemaki, Velga, Voininga, Vorsha, Ineksha, Kirzhach, Klyazma, Koloksha, Mstera, Moloksha, Mothra, Nerl, Peksha, Pichegino, Soima, Sudogda, Suzdal, Tumonga, Undol etc. (Vladimir region), Vereya, Vorya, Volgusha, Lama,
- Toponym (from the Greek “topos” - “place” and “onima” - “name”) is a geographical name.
- Russian historian of the 18th century. V.N. Tatishchev wrote that the Udmurts (formerly called Votyaks) perform their prayers “at any good tree, however, not with the pine and spruce, which have no leaves or fruit, but the aspen is revered as a cursed tree...".
Considering geographical map Russia, you can notice that in the basins of the Middle Volga and Kama river names ending in “va” and “ha” are common: Sosva, Izva, Kokshaga, Vetluga, etc. Finno-Ugrians live in those places, and in translation from in their languages "va" and "ga" mean "river", "moisture", "wet place", "water". However, Finno-Ugric place names are found not only where these peoples make up a significant part of the population and form republics and national districts. Their distribution area is much wider: it covers the European north of Russia and part of the central regions. There are many examples: the ancient Russian cities of Kostroma and Murom; the Yakhroma and Iksha rivers in the Moscow region; Verkola village in Arkhangelsk, etc.
Some researchers consider even such familiar words as “Moscow” and “Ryazan” to be Finno-Ugric in origin. Scientists believe that Finno-Ugric tribes once lived in these places, and now the memory of them is preserved by ancient names.
WHO ARE THE FINNO-UGRICS
Finns are the people who inhabit Finland, neighboring Russia (in Finnish “Suomi”), and Hungarians were called Ugrians in ancient Russian chronicles. But in Russia there are no Hungarians and very few Finns, but there are peoples who speak languages related to Finnish or Hungarian. These peoples are called Finno-Ugric. Depending on the degree of similarity of languages, scientists divide the Finno-Ugric peoples into five subgroups. The first, Baltic-Finnish, includes Finns, Izhorians, Vods, Vepsians, Karelians, Estonians and Livs. The two most numerous people This subgroup - Finns and Estonians - live mainly outside our country. In Russia, Finns can be found in Karelia, the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg; Estonians - in Siberia, the Volga region and the Leningrad region. A small group of Estonians - Setos - lives in the Pechora district of the Pskov region. By religion, many Finns and Estonians are Protestants (usually Lutherans), while the Setos are Orthodox. The small Vepsian people live in small groups in Karelia, the Leningrad region and in the north-west of the Vologda region, and the Vod (there are less than 100 people left!) - in the Leningrad region. Both Vepsians and Vods are Orthodox. Izhora people also profess Orthodoxy. There are 449 of them in Russia (in the Leningrad region), and about the same number in Estonia. The Vepsians and Izhorians have preserved their languages (they even have dialects) and use them in everyday communication. The Votic language has disappeared.
The largest Baltic-Finnish people in Russia are the Karelians. They live in the Republic of Karelia, as well as in the Tver, Leningrad, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions. In everyday life, Karelians speak three dialects: Karelian proper, Lyudikovsky and Livvikovsky, and their literary language is Finnish. Newspapers and magazines are published on it; there is a department at the Faculty of Philology of Petrozavodsk University Finnish language and literature. Karelians also speak Russian.
The second subgroup consists of the Sami, or Lapps. Most of them are settled in Northern Scandinavia, and in Russia the Sami are the inhabitants of the Kola Peninsula. According to most experts, the ancestors of this people once occupied a much larger territory, but over time they were pushed to the north. Then they lost their language and adopted one of the Finnish dialects. The Sami are good reindeer herders (in the recent past they were nomads), fishermen and hunters. In Russia they profess Orthodoxy.
The third, Volga-Finnish, subgroup includes the Mari and Mordovians. Mordva - indigenous people Republic of Mordovia, but a significant part of this people lives throughout Russia - in Samara, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Ulyanovsk regions, in the republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, etc. Even before the annexation in the 16th century. Mordovian lands to Russia, the Mordovians had their own nobility - “inyazory”, “otsyazory”, i.e. “owners of the land”. The Inyazors were the first to be baptized, quickly became Russified, and subsequently their descendants formed an element in the Russian nobility that was slightly smaller than those from the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. Mordva is divided into Erzya and Moksha; Each of the ethnographic groups has a written literary language - Erzya and Moksha. By religion, Mordovians are Orthodox; they have always been considered the most Christianized people of the Volga region.
The Mari live mainly in the Republic of Mari El, as well as in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Sverdlovsk and Perm regions. It is generally accepted that these people have two literary language- meadow-eastern and mountain-Mari. However, not all philologists share this opinion.
Even ethnographers of the 19th century. celebrated unusually high level national identity Mari They stubbornly resisted joining Russia and baptism, and until 1917 the authorities forbade them to live in cities and engage in crafts and trade.
The fourth, Perm, subgroup includes the Komi proper, Komi-Permyaks and Udmurts. The Komi (in the past they were called Zyryans) form the indigenous population of the Komi Republic, but also live in the Sverdlovsk, Murmansk, Omsk regions, in the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs. Their original occupations are farming and hunting. But, unlike most other Finno-Ugric peoples, there have long been many merchants and entrepreneurs among them. Even before October 1917 Komi in terms of literacy level (in Russian) were close to the highest educated peoples Russia - Russian Germans and Jews. Today, 16.7% of Komi work in agriculture, but 44.5% work in industry, and 15% work in education, science, and culture. Part of the Komi - the Izhemtsy - mastered reindeer husbandry and became the largest reindeer herders in the European north. Komi Orthodox (partly Old Believers).
The Komi-Permyaks are very close in language to the Zyryans. More than half of this people live in Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, and the rest - in the Perm region. Permians are mainly peasants and hunters, but throughout their history they were also factory serfs in the Ural factories, and barge haulers on the Kama and Volga. By religion, Komi-Permyaks are Orthodox.
The Udmurts are concentrated mostly in Udmurt Republic, where they make up about 1/3 of the population. Small groups of Udmurts live in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, the Republic of Mari El, Perm, Kirov, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk regions. The traditional occupation is agriculture. In cities they are most often forgotten native language and customs. Maybe that's why Udmurt language Only 70% of Udmurts, mostly residents of rural areas, consider them family. The Udmurts are Orthodox, but many of them (including baptized ones) adhere to traditional beliefs - they worship pagan gods, deities, and spirits.
The fifth, Ugric, subgroup includes the Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi. “Ugrians” in Russian chronicles called the Hungarians, and “Ugra” - the Ob Ugrians, i.e. Khanty and Mansi. Although the Northern Urals and the lower reaches of the Ob, where the Khanty and Mansi live, are located thousands of kilometers from the Danube, on the banks of which the Hungarians created their state, these peoples are closest relatives. The Khanty and Mansi are classified as small peoples of the North. The Mansi live mainly in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and the Khanty live in the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Tomsk Region. The Mansi are primarily hunters, then fishermen and reindeer herders. The Khanty, on the contrary, are first fishermen, and then hunters and reindeer herders. Both profess Orthodoxy, but they have not forgotten ancient faith. High damage traditional culture The Ob Ugrians were damaged by the industrial development of their region: many hunting grounds disappeared, the rivers were polluted.
Old Russian chronicles preserved the names of Finno-Ugric tribes that have now disappeared - Chud, Merya, Muroma. Merya in the 1st millennium AD e. lived in the area between the Volga and Oka rivers, and at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia merged with Eastern Slavs. There is an assumption that modern Mari are descendants of this tribe. Murom in the 1st millennium BC. e. lived in the Oka basin, and by the 12th century. n. e. mixed with the Eastern Slavs. Modern researchers consider the Finnish tribes who lived in ancient times along the banks of the Onega and Northern Dvina to be a miracle. It is possible that they are the ancestors of the Estonians.
WHERE DID THE FINNO-UGRICS LIVE AND WHERE DID THE FINNO-UGRICS LIVE?
Most researchers agree that the ancestral home of the Finno-Ugric peoples was on the border of Europe and Asia, in the areas between the Volga and Kama and in the Urals. It was there in the IV-III millennia BC. e. A community of tribes arose, related in language and similar in origin. To the 1st millennium AD e. the ancient Finno-Ugrians settled as far as the Baltic states and Northern Scandinavia. They occupied a vast territory covered with forests - almost the entire northern part of what is now European Russia to the Kama River in the south.
Excavations show that the ancient Finno-Ugrians belonged to the Ural race: their appearance mixed Caucasian and Mongoloid features (wide cheekbones, often a Mongolian eye shape). Moving west, they mixed with Caucasians. As a result, among some peoples descended from the ancient Finno-Ugrians, Mongoloid features began to smooth out and disappear. Nowadays, “Ural” features are characteristic to one degree or another of everyone Finnish peoples Russia: average height, wide face, nose, called “snub-nosed,” very light hair, sparse beard. But different nations these features manifest themselves in different ways. For example, the Mordovians-Erzya are tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed, while the Mordovians-Moksha are shorter, have a wider face, and have darker hair. The Mari and Udmurts often have eyes with the so-called Mongolian fold - epicanthus, very wide cheekbones, and a thin beard. But at the same time (the Ural race!) has blond and red hair, blue and gray eyes. The Mongolian fold is sometimes found among Estonians, Vodians, Izhorians, and Karelians. Komi are different: in those places where there are mixed marriages with the Nenets, they have black hair and braids; others are more Scandinavian-like, with a slightly wider face.
The Finno-Ugrians were engaged in agriculture (to fertilize the soil with ash, they burned out areas of the forest), hunting and fishing. Their settlements were far from each other. Perhaps for this reason they did not create states anywhere and began to be part of neighboring organized and constantly expanding powers. Some of the first mentions of the Finno-Ugrians contain Khazar documents written in Hebrew - state language Khazar Khaganate. Alas, there are almost no vowels in it, so one can only guess that “tsrms” means “Cheremis-Mari”, and “mkshkh” means “moksha”. Later, the Finno-Ugrians also paid tribute to the Bulgars and were part of the Kazan Khanate and the Russian state.
RUSSIANS AND FINNO-UGRICS
In the XVI-XVIII centuries. Russian settlers rushed to the lands of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Most often, settlement was peaceful, but sometimes indigenous peoples resisted the entry of their region into Russian state. The Mari showed the most fierce resistance.
Over time, baptism, writing, and urban culture brought by the Russians began to displace local languages and beliefs. Many began to feel like Russians - and actually became them. Sometimes it was enough to be baptized for this. The peasants of one Mordovian village wrote in a petition: “Our ancestors, the former Mordovians,” sincerely believing that only their ancestors, pagans, were Mordovians, and their Orthodox descendants are in no way related to the Mordovians.
People moved to cities, went far away - to Siberia, to Altai, where everyone had one language in common - Russian. The names after baptism were no different from ordinary Russian ones. Or almost nothing: not everyone notices that there is nothing Slavic in surnames like Shukshin, Vedenyapin, Piyasheva, but they go back to the name of the Shuksha tribe, the name of the goddess of war Veden Ala, the pre-Christian name Piyash. Thus, a significant part of the Finno-Ugrians was assimilated by the Russians, and some, having converted to Islam, mixed with the Turks. That is why the Finno-Ugric people do not constitute a majority anywhere - even in the republics to which they gave their name.
But, having disappeared into the mass of Russians, the Finno-Ugrians retained their anthropological type: very blond hair, blue eyes, a “bubble” nose, and a wide, high-cheekboned face. The type that writers XIX V. called the “Penza peasant”, is now perceived as typically Russian.
Many Finno-Ugric words have entered the Russian language: “tundra”, “sprat”, “herring”, etc. Is there a more Russian and by all favorite dish what dumplings? Meanwhile, this word is borrowed from the Komi language and means “bread ear”: “pel” is “ear”, and “nyan” is “bread”. There are especially many borrowings in northern dialects, mainly among the names of natural phenomena or landscape elements. They add a unique beauty to local speech and regional literature. Take for example the word "taibola", which is used in Arkhangelsk region is called a dense forest, and in the Mezen River basin - a road running along the seashore next to the taiga. It is taken from the Karelian "taibale" - "isthmus". For centuries, peoples living nearby have always enriched each other's language and culture.
Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum were Finno-Ugrians by origin - both Mordvins, but irreconcilable enemies; Udmurt - physiologist V. M. Bekhterev, Komi - sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, Mordvin - sculptor S. Nefedov-Erzya, who took the name of the people as his pseudonym; Mari composer A. Ya. Eshpai.
There is such a group of peoples - Finno-Ugric. My roots- from there (I come from Udmurtia, my father and his parents are from Komi), although I am considered Russian, and the nationality in my passport is Russian. Today I will tell you about my discoveries and research of these peoples.
To the Finnish Ugric peoples it is customary to refer to:
1) Finns, Estonians, Hungarians.
2) In Russia - Udmurts, Komi, Mari, Mordovians and other Volga peoples.
How can all these peoples belong to one group? Why do the Hungarians and Finns and Udmurts have almost mutual language, although between them there are completely alien peoples of other language groups - Poles, Lithuanians, Russians..?
I did not plan to conduct such a study, it just happened. It all started with the fact that I went on a business trip to the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug of Ugra for work. Do you feel the similarity of the name? Ugra - Finno-Ugric peoples.
Then I visited the Kaluga region, where there is a very large and long river, the Ugra, the main tributary of the Oka.
Then, quite by accident, I learned other things, until it all came together in my head into a single picture. I will introduce it to you now. Which of you is a historian, you can write a dissertation on this. I don’t need this, I already wrote and defended it at one time, albeit on a different topic and a different subject - economics (I am a Ph.D. in Economics). I’ll say right away that official versions this is not supported, and the peoples of Ugra are not classified as Finno-Ugric.
It was the 3rd-4th centuries AD. These centuries are usually called the Epoch of the Great Migration of Peoples. Peoples moved from the East (Asia) to the West (Europe). Other peoples were forced out and driven out from their homes, and they were also forced to go to the West.
While in Western Siberia, at the confluence of the Ob and Irtysh rivers, the people of Ugra lived. Then the peoples of Khanty and Mansi came to them from the East, drove them out of their lands, and the Yugra peoples had to go to the West in search of new lands. Part of the Ugra peoples, of course, remained. Until now, this district is called the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra. However, in museums and among local historians of Khanty-Mansiysk, I heard a version that the peoples of Ugra are also not local and before they were forced out by the Khanty and Mansi, they also came from somewhere in the East - from Siberia.
So, the people of Ugra crossed Ural Mountains and went out to the banks of the Kama River. Some went against the flow to the North (this is how the Komi appeared), some crossed the river and remained in the area of the Kama River (this is how the Udmurts appeared, another name for the Votyaks), and most boarded boats and sailed down the river. At that time, the easiest way for people to move was along rivers.
During their movement, first along the Kama, and then along the Volga (to the West), the peoples of Ugra settled on the banks. So all the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia today live along the banks of the Volga - these are the Mari, the Mordovians and others. And now the people of Ugra reach a fork in the road (marked on the map with a Red flag). This is the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers (now this is a city Nizhny Novgorod).
Some people are walking along the Volga to the North-West, where it reaches Finland and then Estonia, and settles there.
Some go along the Oka to the South-West. Now in the Kaluga region there is a very large river Ugra (a tributary of the Oka) and evidence of the Vyatichi tribes (aka Votyaks). The peoples of Ugra lived there for a while and, carried by the general current from the East, moved on until they reached Hungary, where all the remnants of these peoples finally settled.
In the end, peoples from the East came to Europe, to Germany, where there were barbarians, there was an overabundance of peoples in Western Europe and all this spilled out into the fact that in search of free land, the most Western peoples during this migration - the barbarian Huns led by Attila - invaded the Roman Empire, captured and burned Rome and Rome fell. Thus ended the 1200-year history of the Great Roman Empire and the Dark Middle Ages began.
And in all this, the Finno-Ugric peoples also contributed their share.
When everything settled down by the 5th century, it turned out that a tribe of Russians lived on the banks of the Dnieper, who founded the city of Kyiv and Kievan Rus. God knows where these Russians came from, they came from somewhere in the East, followed the Huns. They definitely did not live in this place before, because several million people passed through modern Ukraine (towards Western Europe) - hundreds of different peoples and tribes.
What was the reason, the impetus for the start of this Great Migration of Peoples, which lasted at least 2 centuries, scientists still do not know; they are only building hypotheses and guesses.
The peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have inhabited the territories of Europe and Siberia for more than ten thousand years, since Neolithic times. Today, the number of speakers of Finno-Ugric languages exceeds 20 million people, and they are citizens of Russia and a number of European countries - modern representatives of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group live in Western and Central Siberia, Central and Northern Europe. The Finno-Ugric peoples are an ethno-linguistic community of peoples, including the Mari, Samoyeds, Sami, Udmurts, Ob Ugrians, Erzyans, Hungarians, Finns, Estonians, Livs, etc.
Some peoples of the Finno-Ugric group created their own states (Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Latvia), and some live in multinational states. Despite the fact that the cultures of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group were significantly influenced by the beliefs of the ethnic groups living with them on the same territory and the Christianization of Europe, the Finno-Ugric peoples still managed to preserve a layer of their original culture and religion.
Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group before Christianization
In the pre-Christian era, the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group lived separately, over a vast territory, and representatives of different peoples had practically no contact with each other. Therefore, it is natural that the dialects and nuances of traditions and beliefs among different peoples of this group differed significantly: for example, despite the fact that both Estonians and Mansi belong to the Finno-Ugric peoples, it cannot be said that there is much in their beliefs and traditions general. The formation of religion and way of life of each ethnic group was influenced by conditions environment and the way of life of the people, therefore it is not surprising that the beliefs and traditions of the ethnic groups living in Siberia differed significantly from the religion of the Finno-Ugric peoples living in Western Europe.
There was no Finno-Ugric group in the religions of the peoples, so all the information about the beliefs of this ethnic group historians take from folklore - oral folk art, which was recorded in the epics and legends of different peoples. And the most famous epics, from which modern historians draw knowledge about beliefs, are the Finnish “Kalevala” and the Estonian “Kalevipoeg”, which describe in sufficient detail not only gods and traditions, but also the exploits of heroes of different times.
Despite the presence of a certain difference between the beliefs of different peoples of the Finno-Ugric group, there is much in common between them. All of these religions were polytheistic, and most of the gods were associated with either natural phenomena, or with cattle breeding and agriculture - the main occupations of the Finno-Ugrians. The supreme deity was considered the god of the sky, whom the Finns called Yumala, the Estonians - Taevataat, the Mari - Yumo, the Udmurts - Inmar, and the Sami - Ibmel. Also, the Finno-Ugrians revered the deities of the sun, moon, fertility, earth and thunder; representatives of each nation called their deities in their own way, however General characteristics The gods, besides their names, did not have too many differences. In addition to polytheism and similar gods, all religions of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have the following common characteristics:
- Ancestor cult - all representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples believed in the existence immortal soul people, and also that residents the afterlife can influence the lives of living people and, in exceptional cases, help their descendants
- Cults of gods and spirits associated with nature and earth (A nimism) - since the food of the majority of the peoples of Siberia and Europe directly depended on the offspring of farmed animals and the harvest of cultivated plants, it is not surprising that many peoples of the Finno-Ugric group had many traditions and rituals intended to appease the spirits of nature
- Elements of shamanism - as in, in the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups, the role of intermediaries between the world of people and the spiritual world was performed by shamans.
Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group in modern times
After the Christianization of Europe, as well as the increase in the number of adherents of Islam at the beginning of the first half of the second millennium AD, all more people, belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples, began to profess any of them, leaving the beliefs of their ancestors in the past. Now only a small part of the Finno-Ugric people profess traditional pagan beliefs and shamanism, the majority adopted the faith of the peoples living with them on the same territory. For example, the overwhelming majority of Finns and Estonians, as well as citizens of other European countries, are Christians (Catholics, Orthodox or Lutherans), and among the representatives of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group inhabiting the Urals and Siberia, there are many adherents of Islam.
Today, the ancient animistic religions and shamanism have been preserved in their most complete form by the Udmurts, Mari and Samoyed peoples - the indigenous inhabitants of western and central Siberia. However, it cannot be said that the Finno-Ugric people completely forgot their traditions, because they preserved a number of rituals and beliefs, and even the traditions of some Christian holidays among the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group were closely intertwined with ancient pagan customs.
