Tatars (
TatarThe Tatar language is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars.-Geographic distribution:Tatar is spoken in Russia , Central Asia, Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland and Turkey....
: Tatarlar/Татарлар), sometimes spelled
Tartars, are a
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
ethnic group mainly inhabiting
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
,
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
,
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
,
KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east....
,
TajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east...
,
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
,
TurkmenistanRepublic of Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic...
and
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
. They numbered 10 million in the late 20th Century, which includes all subgroups of Tatar people, such as
Crimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
and
Volga TatarsVolga Tatars are a group of Tatars, most of whom occupy the central portion of the Ural Mountains.-Kazan Tatars:The majority of Volga Tatars are Kazan Tatars. They are the majority of the population of Tatarstan, one of the constituent republics of Russia.During the 11th-16th centuries, numerous...
. Russia is home to the majority of ethnic Tatars, around 5,500,000.
The original Ta-ta inhabited the north-eastern Gobi in the 5th century and, after subjugation in the 9th century by the
KhitansThe Liao Dynasty , 907-1125, also known as the Khitan Empire , was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper...
, migrated southward. In the 13th century, they were subjugated by the
Mongol EmpireThe Mongol Empire was an empire from the 13th and 14th century spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia. It is the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world...
under
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan , ; 1162–1227), born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history....
. Under the leadership of his grandson
Batu KhanBatu Khan Batu Khan Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler of the Ulus of Jochi (or Golden Horde), the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire, and the founder of the Blue Horde. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
, they moved westwards, driving with them many stems of the
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
Ural-Altayans towards the plains of Russia.
In Europe, they were assimilated by the local populations or their name spread to the conquered peoples:
KipchaksKipchaks were an ancient Turkic people who originally formed part of the group of Kimäks in Siberia along the middle reaches of Irtysh or along the Ob. Around the middle of the eleventh century they split off from the bulk of the Kimaks and departed in the direction of Europe...
, Volga Bulgars,
AlansThe Alans or Alani were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan — Greek: Αλανοί, Αλαννοί; Chinese: 阿蘭聊...
, Kimaks and others; and elsewhere with
Finno-UgricFinno-Ugric is a group of languages in the Uralic language family, comprising Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian and related languages.It comprises the Finno-Permic and Ugric language families.-Status:...
speaking peoples, as well as with remnants of the ancient Greek colonies in the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
and Caucasians in the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
.
Siberian TatarsThe Siberian Tatars are a sub-group of the Tatars, sometimes considered a separate ethnic group. They speak Siberian Tatar, which is a dialect of Tatar. Their ancestry was partly from Turkic, Ugric, Mongolic and Samoyedic tribes, but their main ancestors were the Kypchaks...
are survivors of the
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
population of the
UralUral is a geographical region around the Ural Mountains, mostly within Russia but also including a part of northwestern Kazakstan. This is a historical, not an official entity, with the boundaries overlapping its western Volga and eastern Siberia neighbor regions...
-
AltaicThe Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace...
region, mixed to some extent with the speakers of
Uralic languagesThe Uralic languages constitute a language family of 39 languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
, as well as with
MongolsThe Mongolic languages are a group of languages spoken in Central Asia, notably including Mongolian.Mongolic is sometimes grouped with Turkic and Tungusic as part of the larger Altaic family....
. Later, each group adopted Turkic languages and many adopted
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. The two ethnic descendants of the original 13th-century westward migration are
Volga TatarsVolga Tatars are a group of Tatars, most of whom occupy the central portion of the Ural Mountains.-Kazan Tatars:The majority of Volga Tatars are Kazan Tatars. They are the majority of the population of Tatarstan, one of the constituent republics of Russia.During the 11th-16th centuries, numerous...
and
Crimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
.
Due to the very loose utilization of the name Tatar, current day Tatars comprise a spectrum of physical appearance, ranking from Mongoloid to Caucasoid. As to the original Tatars from Mongolia, they most likely shared characteristics with the Mongol invaders from Central Asia.
Name
The name
Tatar initially appeared amongst the nomadic
Turkic peoplesThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
of northeastern
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
in the region around
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
in the beginning of the 5th century. These people may have been related to the
CumansCumans were a nomadic Turkic people who inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea known as Cumania along the Volga River. They eventually settled to the west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia...
or the
KipchaksKipchaks were an ancient Turkic people who originally formed part of the group of Kimäks in Siberia along the middle reaches of Irtysh or along the Ob. Around the middle of the eleventh century they split off from the bulk of the Kimaks and departed in the direction of Europe...
. The Chinese term is Dada and is a comparatively specific term for nomads to the north, emerging in the late Tang. Other names include Dadan and Tatan.
As various of these nomadic groups became part of
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan , ; 1162–1227), born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history....
's army in the early 13th century, a fusion of Mongol and Turkic elements took place, and the invaders of
RusKievan Rus , usually written simply Kievan Rus and sometimes Kyivan Rus, was a medieval state which existed from approximately 880 to the middle of the 13th century...
and
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
became known to Europeans as Tatars (or Tartars). After the break up of the
Mongol EmpireThe Mongol Empire was an empire from the 13th and 14th century spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia. It is the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world...
, the Tatars became especially identified with the western part of the empire, which included most of European Russia and was known as the
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
.
The form
Tartar has its origins in either
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
or
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, coming to Western European languages from the
TurkishTurkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
and
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
Tātār ("mounted courier, mounted messenger; postrider"). From the beginning the extra
r was present in the Western forms, and according to the
Oxford English DictionaryThe Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language...
this was most likely due to an association with
TartarusIn classic mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received...
(
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
in
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
), though some claimed that the name
Tartar was in fact used amongst the Tatars themselves. Nowadays
Tatar is usually used to refer to the people, but
Tartar is still almost always used for derived terms such as
tartar sauceTartare sauce is a thick white sauce made from mayonnaise and finely chopped pickled cucumber, capers, onions , and fresh parsley. Chopped hard-boiled eggs, olives, and horseradish are sometimes added, and dijon mustard is often used as an emulsifier. It is frequently used to season fried seafood...
or
steak tartareSteak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef or horse meat. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits and spicing it to taste, and then chilling it...
.
Tatars
The discrimination of the separate stems included under the name is still far from complete. The following subdivisions, however, may be regarded as established:
Tatars -
Tatarlar or
Татарлар. In modern English only
Tatar is used to refer to Eurasian Tatars;
Tartar has offensive connotations as a confusion with the
TartarusIn classic mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received...
of Greek mythology, due in part to the popular association of the ferocity of the Mongol tribes with the Greek sub-underworld. In Europe the term
Tartar is generally only used in the historical context for
Mongolian people who appeared in the 13th century (the
Mongol invasionsThe Mongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire covering much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300....
) and assimilated into the local population later.
Volga Tatars
Volga Tatars live in the central and eastern parts of European Russia and in western
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
. In today's Russia the term
Tatars is used to describe
Volga Tatars only. During the census of 2002, Tatars, or Volga Tatars, were officially divided into common Tatars, Astrakhan Tatars, Keräşen Tatars, and Siberian Tatars. Other ethnic groups, such as
Crimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
and
ChulymsThe Chulyms, also Chulym Tatars, are a Turkic people in the Tomsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia.-History:...
, were not officially recognized as a part of the multi-ethnic Tatar group and were counted separately. Anthropologically 38,2% of Volga Tatars belongs to Southern Caucasoid, 22,9% to Lapponoid, 19,5% to Mongoloid and 19,4% to Northern Caucasoid.
Kazan (Qazan) Tatars
During the 11-16th centuries, most
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
tribes lived in what is now Russia and Kazakhstan. The present territory of Tatarstan was inhabited by the
Volga BulgarsVolga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia. Today, both the Republics of Tatarstan and Chuvashia are considered to be descendants of Volga...
who settled on the Volga in the 8th century and converted to Islam in 922 during the missionary work of
Ahmad ibn FadlanAhmad ibn Fadlān ibn al-Abbās ibn Rašīd ibn Hammād was a 10th century Arab Muslim writer and traveler who wrote an account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad to the king of the Volga Bulgars, the Kitāb ilā Mulk al-Saqāliba...
. On the Volga, the Bulgars mingled with Scythian and Finno-Ugric speaking peoples. After the
Mongol invasionThe Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria lasted from 1223 to 1236.-The Mongol campaigns:In 1223, after defeating Russian and Kipchak armies at the Battle of Kalka, a Mongol army under the generals Subutai and Jebe was sent to subdue Volga Bulgaria. At that point in history Genghis Khan's troops were...
, Bulgaria was defeated, ruined and incorporated in the
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
. Much of the population survived, and there was a certain degree of mixing between it and the Kipchak Tatars of the Horde during the ensuing period. The group as a whole accepted the ethnonym "Tatars" (finally in the end of 19th century; although the name
BulgarsThe Bulgars were originally semi-nomadic people, probably of Turkic descent, originating in Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards conquered different parts of Europe...
persisted in some places; the majority identified themselves simply as
the Muslims) and the language of the Kipchaks; on the other hand, the invaders eventually converted to Islam. As the Horde disintegrated in the 15th century, the area became the territory of the Kazan khanate, which was
ultimately conquered by Russiathumb|300px|[[St. Basil's Cathedral]] is a monument to the Russian conquest of Kazan in 1552.The Russo-Kazan Wars was a series of wars fought between the Khanate of Kazan and Muscovite Russia in the 15th and 16th centuries, until Kazan was finally captured by Ivan the Terrible and absorbed into...
in the 16th century.
There is some debate among scholars about the extent of that mixing and the "share" of each group as progenitors of the modern Kazan Tatars. It is relatively accepted that demographically, most of the population was directly descended from the Bulgars. Nevertheless, some emphasize the contribution of the Kipchaks on the basis of the ethnonym and the language, and consider that the modern Tatar ethnogenesis was only completed upon their arrival. Others prefer to stress the Bulgar heritage, sometimes to degree of equating modern Kazan Tatars with Bulgars. They argue that although the Volga Bulgars had not kept their language and their name, their old culture and religion -
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
- have been preserved. According to scholars who espouse this view, there was very little mixing with Mongol and Turkic aliens after the conquest of Volga Bulgaria, especially in the northern regions that ultimately became
TatarstanRepublic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
. Some voices even advocate the change of the ethnonym from "Tatars" to "Bulgars" - a movement known as
BulgarismBulgarism is a political movement for the use of the Bolgar ethnonym among Kazan Tatars. It rejects the use of Tatar in favor of the Volga Bulgars, who are considered to be the ancestors of modern-day Volga Tatars. Therefore, Bulgarism is a narrow term for those Volga Tatars refusing to be called...
.
In the 1910s they numbered about half a million in the
Kazan GovernorateThe Kazan Governorate or Government of Kazan was a governorate of Imperial Russia from 1708–1920, with the city of Kazan as its capital.-History:...
(
TatarstanRepublic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
, the Kazan Tatars' historical motherland), about 400,000 in each of the governments of
UfaUfa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia Ufa is the one of the largest cities of Russia, administrative, political, economic, scientific and cultural center of the republic. Population: 1,021,500 ; 1,042,437...
, 100,000 in
SamaraSamara is one of the largest cities in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia, the Volga Federal District. Samara is the capital of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Togliatti-Syzran within Samara Region constitutes the population of more...
and Simbirsk, and about 30,000 in
VyatkaVyatka may refer to:*Vyatka River, a river in Russia*Vyatka, former name of the city of Kirov, Kirov Oblast, Russia*Vyatka Region, an informal name of Kirov Oblast of Russia*Vyatka Motor Scooter, a Russian copy of Italy's Vespa Motor Scooter...
,
SaratovSaratov is a major city in southern Russia. It is the administrative center of Saratov Oblast and a major port on the Volga River. Population: In addition to ethnic Russians, the city also has many Tatar, Ukrainian, Jewish and German residents.-History:...
,
TambovTambov is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tambov Oblast. It is located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers 480 km south-east of Moscow at . Population: 291,852 ; 293,658 ; 304,600...
,
PenzaPenza is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Penza Oblast in the Volga Federal District. It stands on the Sura River, 625 km south-east of Moscow. The city is served by Penza Airport. Population: 518,025 .-History:...
,
Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened as Nizhny, is the fourth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk...
,
PermPerm is a city and administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia. It is situated on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains....
and
OrenburgOrenburg is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast in the Volga Federal District of Russia. It lies 1,478 km southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 542,700 ; 549,361 . Highest point: 154.4 m. International dialing...
. Some 15,000 belonging to the same stem had migrated to
RyazanRyazan is a city in the Central Federal District of Russia and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast. It is on the Oka River south-east of Moscow. Its population is 521,560 ; 514,638...
, or had been settled as prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries in
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
(
VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
,
GrodnoHrodna or Grodno , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 325,164 inhabitants...
and
PodoliaThe region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova is also a part of Podolia...
). Some 2000 resided in St. Petersburg, where they were mostly employed as coachmen and waiters in restaurants. In Poland they constituted 1% of the population of the district of Płock. Later they were never counted as separate group of the Tatars.
The Kazan Tatars speak a
TurkicThe Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken by some...
language (with a big complement of Russian and Arabic words; see
Tatar languageThe Tatar language is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars.-Geographic distribution:Tatar is spoken in Russia , Central Asia, Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland and Turkey....
). They have been described as generally middle-sized, broad-shouldered, and the majority have brown and green eyes, a straight nose and salient cheek bones
http://www.xacitarxan.narod.ru/antropos.htm. Because their ancestors number not only Turkic peoples, but
Finno-UgricFinno-Ugric can refer to:* Finno-Ugric languages* Finno-Ugric peoples...
and Eastern Iranian peoples as well, many Kazan Tatars tend to have Caucasoid faces. Around 33.5% belong to Southern Caucasoid, 27.5% to Northern Caucasoid, 24.5% to Lapponoid and 14.5% to Mongoloid
http://www.xacitarxan.narod.ru/antropos.htm. Most Kazan Tatars practice
Sunni IslamSunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. It is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short...
.
Before 1917 in Russia, polygamy was practised only by the wealthier classes and was a waning institution. The
BashkirsThe Bashkirs, are Turkic people indigenous to Bashkortostan, Russia. Groups of Bashkirs also live in the republic of Tatarstan, as well as in Perm Krai and Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Samara, and Saratov Oblasts of Russia.-Overview:...
who live between the
KamaKama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....
and
UralThe Ural , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi...
speak the
Bashkir languageThe Bashkir language is a Turkic language.-Speakers:Speakers of the Bashkir language mostly live in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Substantial number of the speakers also live in Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Samara and Kurgan Oblasts, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug—Yugra, Tatarstan...
, which is similar to Tatar, and have converted to
Sunni IslamSunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. It is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short...
.
Because it is understandable to all groups of Russian Tatars, as well as to the
ChuvashThe Chuvash are a Turkic-speaking people. According to the Russian census of 2002, the Chuvash population in Russia numbered 1 637 200; 889 268 of these lived in Chuvashia...
and
BashkirsThe Bashkirs, are Turkic people indigenous to Bashkortostan, Russia. Groups of Bashkirs also live in the republic of Tatarstan, as well as in Perm Krai and Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Samara, and Saratov Oblasts of Russia.-Overview:...
, the language of the Volga Tatars became a literary one in the 15th century (
İske Tatar teleOld Tatar language was a literary language used among the Muslim Tatars from the Middle Ages till the 19th century....
). (However,
being written in Arabic alphabetİske imlâ is a variant of the Arabic alphabet, used for the Tatar language before 1920 and the Old Tatar language. This alphabet can be referred to as old only to contrast it with Yaña imla....
, it was spelled variously in the different regions). The old literary language included a lot of Arabic and Persian words. Nowadays the literary language includes European and Russian words instead of Arabic.
Volga Tatars number nearly 8 millions, mostly in Russia and the republics of the former
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. While the bulk of the population is to be found in
TatarstanRepublic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
(nearly 2 million) and neighbouring regions, significant numbers of Kazan Tatars live in Central Asia, Siberia and the Caucasus. Outside of Tatarstan, urban Tatars usually speak
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
as their first language (in cities such as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod,
TashkentTashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million. According to unofficial data, the population is more than 3 million.- History :...
,
AlmatyAlmaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1,348,500 , which represents 9% of the population of the country....
, and cities of the
UralUral is a geographical region around the Ural Mountains, mostly within Russia but also including a part of northwestern Kazakstan. This is a historical, not an official entity, with the boundaries overlapping its western Volga and eastern Siberia neighbor regions...
and western Siberia) and other languages in a worldwide diaspora.
A significant number of Tatars emigrated during the
Russian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Soviets under the domination of the Bolshevik party assumed power, first in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a multi-party war that...
, mostly to Turkey and
Harbin' , is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, China, but resettled to European countries later. Some of them speak Turkish at home.
According to the Chinese government, there are still 51,000 Tatars living in Xinjiang province (see
Chinese TatarsThe Chinese Tatars form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.Their ancestors are Volga Tatar tradesmen who settled mostly in Xinjiang....
).
See also:
Tatar languageThe Tatar language is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars.-Geographic distribution:Tatar is spoken in Russia , Central Asia, Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland and Turkey....
Perm Tatars
Tatars live in Russia's
Perm KraiPerm Krai is a federal subject of Russia that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 referendum on the merger of Perm Oblast and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug...
. Some of them also have an admixture of
KomiKomi peoples live in the Komi Republic, Perm Krai, Murmansk Oblast, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. Their northernmost subgroup is also known as the Komi-Izhemtsy or Iz'vataz...
blood.
Keräşen Tatars
Some Tatars were forcibly Christianized by
Ivan the TerribleIvan IV Vasilyevich , known in English as Ivan the Terrible was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533. The epithet "Grozny" is associated with might, power and strictness, rather than poor performance, horror or cruelty...
during the 16th century and later in the 18th century.
Some scientists suppose that
SuarsThe Suars were a Turkic-speaking people, probably of Hunnish descent, who lived in Eastern Europe in Middle Ages....
were ancestors of the Keräşen Tatars, and they had been converted to Christianity by Armenians in the 6th century, while they lived in the Caucasus. Suars, like other tribes (which later converted to Islam) became Volga Bulgars and later the modern
ChuvashChuvash may refer to:*Chuvash people*Chuvash language*Chuvashia, a republic in Russia*Çuvaş, Azerbaijan...
(mostly Christians) and Tatars (mostly Muslims).
Keräşen Tatars live all over
TatarstanRepublic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
and in
UdmurtiaUdmurt Republic or Udmurtia is a federal subject of Russia . The direct romanization of the Republic's Russian name is Udmurtskaya Respublika or Udmurtiya; Udmurt name: Udmurt Respublika. Its size is almost 42,000 km² with a population of 1,600,000...
, Bashkiria and
Chelyabinsk OblastChelyabinsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Chelyabinsk. Population: 3,603,339 ; -Time zone:...
. Some of them did assimilate among
ChuvashThe Chuvash are a Turkic-speaking people. According to the Russian census of 2002, the Chuvash population in Russia numbered 1 637 200; 889 268 of these lived in Chuvashia...
and Tatars with Sunni Muslim self-identification. Eighty years of
AtheistAtheism can be either the rejection of theism,or the position that deities do not exist.In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities....
ic Soviet rule made Tatars of both confessions not as religious as they were. As such, differences between Tatars and Keräşen Tatars now is only that Keräşens have Russian names.
Some Turkic (
KumanKuman may refer to:*Küman, a municipality in Azerbaijan*Cumans, an ancient people*Cuman language, their language*Kuman language in Papua New Guinea*Kuman language in Uganda...
) tribes in
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
converted to Christianity in the 13th and 14th centuries (
CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
and
NestorianismNestorianism is the doctrine that the two individual natures of Christ, the human and the divine, are joined in conjunction rather than in hypostatic union. The doctrine is identified with Nestorius , Archbishop of Constantinople...
). Some prayers, written in that time in the
Codex CumanicusThe Codex Cumanicus was a linguistic manual of the Middle Ages, designed to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cumans, a nomadic Turkic people. It is currently housed in the Library of St. Mark, in Venice ....
, sound like modern Keräşen prayers, but there is no information about the connection between Christian Kumans and modern Keräşens.
Nağaybäks
Tatars who became
CossackCossacks were originally members of military communities in the uninhabited borderland areas in the steppe that lies North of Black Sea...
s (border keepers) and converted to
Russian OrthodoxyRussian Orthodoxy in Christianity may refer to:*Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church descended from the Imperial Church of the Byzantine Empire*Old Believers*Russian Orthodox Church*Western Rite Orthodoxy...
. They live in the Urals, the Russian border with
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
during the 17th-18th century.
The biggest Nağaybäk village is
ParizhParizh is a village in Nagaybaksky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the south border of the district. Population: 2,390 ....
, Russia, named after French capital Paris, due to Nağaybäk's participation in
Napoleonic warsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
.
Tiptär Tatars
Like Noğaybaqs, although they are Sunni Muslims. Some Tiptär Tatars speak Russian or
BashkirThe Bashkir language is a Turkic language.-Speakers:Speakers of the Bashkir language mostly live in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Substantial number of the speakers also live in Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Samara and Kurgan Oblasts, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug—Yugra, Tatarstan...
. According to some scientists, Tiptärs are part of the Mişärs.
Mişär Tatars
Mişär Tatars (or Mishers) are a group of Tatars speaking a dialect of the
Tatar languageThe Tatar language is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars.-Geographic distribution:Tatar is spoken in Russia , Central Asia, Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland and Turkey....
. They are descendants of
KipchaksKipchaks were an ancient Turkic people who originally formed part of the group of Kimäks in Siberia along the middle reaches of Irtysh or along the Ob. Around the middle of the eleventh century they split off from the bulk of the Kimaks and departed in the direction of Europe...
in the Middle
Oka RiverOka is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as to the town of Kaluga. Its length exceeds 1500 km...
area and Meschiora where they mixed with the local
SlavicThe Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
and
Finno-UgricFinno-Ugric can refer to:* Finno-Ugric languages* Finno-Ugric peoples...
tribes. Nowadays they live in
TambovTambov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tambov.Population was estimated at 1,144,800 as of 2005, down from 1,320,763 recorded by the 1989 Census. The 2002 Census number was 1,178,443. Area 34,300 km
2.-Time zone:Tambov Oblast is...
,
PenzaPenza Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the Volga Federal District. The administrative center is Penza.Area: 43,200 km²; population: 1,452,941 .-Time zone:...
,
RyazanRyazan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It has an area of 39,600 km² and a population of 1,227,910...
, Nizhegorodskaya oblasts of Russia and in
BashkortostanThe Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkiria is a federal subject of Russia . It is located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains...
and
MordoviaRepublic of Mordovia or Mordvinia is a federal subject of Russia . The direct romanization of the republic's name is Respublika Mordoviya....
. They lived near and along the Volga River, in Tatarstan.
Qasím Tatars
The Western Tatars have their capital in the town of Qasím (
KasimovKasimov is a town in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, the administrative center of Kasimovsky District. The town is situated on the left bank of the Oka River...
in Russian transcription) in
Ryazan OblastRyazan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It has an area of 39,600 km² and a population of 1,227,910...
, with a Tatar population of 1100. See "
Qasim KhanateQasim Khanate or Kingdom of Qasim was a Tatar territorial formation , vassal of Russia, which existed from 1452 till 1681 in the territory of modern Ryazan Oblast in Russia with its capital Kasimov, in the middle stream of the Oka River...
" for their history.
Astrakhan Tatars
The Astrakhan Tatars (around 80,000) are a group of Tatars, descendants of the
Astrakhan KhanateThe Khanate of Astrakhan was a Tatar feudal state that appeared after the collapse of the Golden Horde. The Khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, where the contemporary city of Astrakhan/Hajji Tarkhan is now located.The Khanate was...
's agricultural population, who live mostly in
Astrakhan OblastAstrakhan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan.-Time zone:Astrakhan Oblast is located in the Moscow Time Zone...
. For the 2000 Russian census 2000, most Astrakhan Tatars declared themselves simply as Tatars and few declared themselves as Astrakhan Tatars. A large number of Volga Tatars live in Astrakhan Oblast and differences between them have been disappearing.
The Astrakhan Tatars are further divided into the Kundrov Tatars and the Karagash Tatars. The latter are also at times called the Karashi Tatars.
Text from Britannica 1911:
- The Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea. Population: 502,800 ; 504,501 ; 509,210 .-Medieval history:Astrakhan' is situated in the Volga Delta, rich...
Tatars number about 10,000 and are, with the Kalmyks, all that now remains of the once so powerful Astrakhan empire. They also are agriculturists and gardeners; while some 12,000 Kundrovsk Tatars still continue the nomadic life of their ancestors.
While Astrakhan (Ästerxan) Tatar is a mixed dialect, around 43,000 have assimilated to the Middle (i.e., Kazan) dialect. Their ancestors are
KhazarsThe Khazars were a semi-nomadic Turkic people who dominated the Pontic steppe and the North Caucasus from the 7th to the 10th century CE. The name 'Khazar' seems to be tied to a Turkic verb form meaning "wandering"....
,
KipchaksKipchaks were an ancient Turkic people who originally formed part of the group of Kimäks in Siberia along the middle reaches of Irtysh or along the Ob. Around the middle of the eleventh century they split off from the bulk of the Kimaks and departed in the direction of Europe...
and some Volga Bulgars. (Volga Bulgars had trade colonies in modern
AstrakhanAstrakhan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan.-Time zone:Astrakhan Oblast is located in the Moscow Time Zone...
and
VolgogradVolgograd Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Volgograd.Area: 113,900 km²; population: 2,699,223 .-External links:...
oblasts of Russia.)
The Astrakhan Tatars also assimilated the
AgrzhanThe Agrzhan were a group of Muslim merchants from India who operated in Astrakhan. In 1857 they numbered 107. Since then they have assimilated into the Astrakhan Tatar population.-Sources:...
.
Volga Tatars in the world
Places where Volga Tatars live include:
- Ural
Ural is a geographical region around the Ural Mountains, mostly within Russia but also including a part of northwestern Kazakstan. This is a historical, not an official entity, with the boundaries overlapping its western Volga and eastern Siberia neighbor regions...
and Upper KamaKāma is pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, the aesthetic enjoyment of life in Sanskrit. In Hinduism, kāma is regarded as the third of the four goals of life : the others are duty , worldly status and salvation...
(since 15th century) 15th century - colonization, 16th - 17th century - re-settled by Russians, 17th - 19th century - exploring of Ural, working in the plants
- West Siberia (since 16th century): 16th - from Russian repressions after conquering of Khanate of Kazan by Russians, 17th - 19th century - exploring of West Siberia, end of 19th - first half of 20th - industrialization, railways constructing, 1930s - Stalin's repressions, 1970s - 1990s oil workers
- Moscow (since 17th century): Tatar feudals in the service of Russia, tradesmen, since 18th - Saint-Petersburg
- Kazakhstan (since 18th century): 18th – 19th centuries - Russian army officers and soldiers, 1930s – industrialization, since 1950s - settlers on virgin lands - re-emigration in 1990s
- Finland (since 1804): (mostly Mişärs) - 19th - from a group of some 20 villages in the Sergach region on the Volga River. See Finnish Tatars
The Finnish Tatar community, about 800 people, is recognized as a national minority by the government of Finland, which considers their language as a non-territorial language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages....
.
- Central Asia (since 19th century) (Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
, TurkmenistanRepublic of Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic...
, TajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east...
, KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east....
, XinjiangXinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China and also claimed by the territory of the Republic of China.-Names:Older English-language reference works often refer to the area as Chinese Turkestan, Sinkiang, East...
) - 19th Russian officers and soldiers, tradesmen, religious emigrants, 1920-1930s - industrialization, Soviet education program for Central Asia peoples, 1948, 1960 - help for Ashgabat and Tashkent ruined by earthquakes - re-emigration in 1980s
- Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
(since 19th century) - oil workers (1890s), bread tradesmen
- Northern China (since 1910s) - railway builders (1910s) - re-emigrated in 1950s
- East Siberia (since 19th century) - resettled farmers (19th), railroad builders (1910s, 1980s), exiled by the Soviet government in 1930s
- Germany and Austria - 1914, 1941 - prisoners of war, 1990s - emigration
- Turkey, Japan, Iran, China, Egypt (since 1918) - emigration
- UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Mexico - (1920s) re-emigration from Germany, Turkey, Japan, China and others. 1950s - prisoners of war from Germany, which did not go back to the USSR, 1990s - emigration after the break up of USSR
- Sakhalin, Kaliningrad, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Karelia - after 1944-45 builders, Soviet military personnel
- Murmansk Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Northern Poland and Northern Germany (1945 - 1990) - Soviet military personnel
- Israel - wives or husbands of Jews (1990s)
Crimean Tatars
The
Crimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
constituted the
Crimean KhanateThe Crimean Khanate or the Khanate of Crimea was a Crimean Tatar state from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was Crimean Yurt The Crimean Khanate or the Khanate of Crimea was a Crimean Tatar state from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was Crimean Yurt...
which was annexed by Russia in 1783. The war of 1853 and the laws of 1860-63 and 1874 caused an exodus of the
Crimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
. The area that was
Little TartaryLittle Tartary is a historical designation for areas north of the Black Sea under the suzerainty of the Crimean Khanate and inhabited by nomadic Tatars of the Lesser Nogai Horde from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Little Tartary was designated such vis-à-vis Tartary, areas of central and...
is currently part of Ukraine and Russia.
Those of the south coast, mixed with Scyth, Greeks and Italians, were well known for their skill in gardening, their honesty, and their work habits, as well as for their fine features. The mountain Tatars closely resemble those of Caucasus, while those of the
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
s - the Nogais - are decidedly of a mixed origin with Turks and Mongols.
During World War II, the entire Tatar population in Crimea fell victims to Stalin's oppressive policies. In 1944 they were accused of being Nazi collaborators and deported en masse to
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
and other lands of the Soviet Union. Many died of disease and malnutrition. Since the 1980s late, about 250,000 Crimean Tatars have returned to their homeland in the Crimea .
Lithuanian Tatars
After
TokhtamyshTokhtamysh , was the last khan of the White Horde, who unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan. - Early campaigns :...
was defeated by Tamerlane, some of his clan sought refuge in
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
. They were given land and nobility in return for military service and were known as
Lipka TatarsThe Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
. They are known to have taken part in the
Battle of GrunwaldThe Battle of Grunwald took place on July 15, 1410 with the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led by the king Jogaila , ranged against the knights of the Teutonic Order, led by the Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen...
.
Another group appeared in
JagoldaiJagoldai, Cağalday – little Tatar tyumen in today Kursk Oblast of Russia, vassal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 15th-16th century. It was founded in 1438 by Tatars of Golden Horde....
Duchy (Lithuania's vassal) near modern
KurskKursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. Kursk was a key turning point of the Russian-German war during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in World War II...
in 1437 and disappeared later.
Belarusian Tatars
Islam spread in Belarus from the 14th to the 16th century. The process was encouraged by the Lithuanian princes, who invited Tatar Muslims from the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
and the
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
as guards of state borders. Already in the 14th century the Tatars had been offered a settled way of life, state posts and service positions. By the end of the 16th century over 100,000 Tatars settled in Belarus and
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
, including those hired to government service, those who moved there voluntarily, prisoners of war, etc.
Tatars in Belarus generally follow Sunni
HanafiThe Hanafi school is one of the four schools of law or jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , and his legal views were preserved primarily by his two most...
Islam. Some groups have accepted
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
and been assimilated, but most adhere to Muslim religious traditions, which ensures their definite endogamy and preservation of ethnic features. Interethnic marriages with representatives of Belarusian, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian nationalities are not rare, but do not result in total assimilation.
Originating from different ethnic associations, Belarusian (and also Polish and Lithuanian) Tatars back in ancient days lost their native language and adopted Belarusian, Polish and Russian. However, the liturgy is conducted in the
Arabic languageArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
, which is known by the clergymen. There are an estimated 5,000-10,000 Tatars in Belarus.
Polish Tatars
- Main articles: Lipka Tatars
The Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
and Islam in PolandThe first noticeable presence of Islam in Poland began in the 14th century. From this time it was primarily associated with the Tatars, many of whom settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth while continuing their traditions and religious beliefs. The first significant non-Tatar groups of...
From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the
Polish-Lithuanian commonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
.
This was promoted especially by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, because of their deserved reputation as skilled warriors. The Tatar settlers were all granted with
szlachtaSzlachta is the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the increasingly polonized territories under their control . The nobility arose in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 20th century...
(nobility) status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. They included the
Lipka TatarsThe Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
(13-14 centuries) as well as Crimean and Nogay Tatars (15th-16th centuries), all of which were noticeable in Polish military history, as well as
Volga TatarsVolga Tatars are a group of Tatars, most of whom occupy the central portion of the Ural Mountains.-Kazan Tatars:The majority of Volga Tatars are Kazan Tatars. They are the majority of the population of Tatarstan, one of the constituent republics of Russia.During the 11th-16th centuries, numerous...
(16th-17th centuries). They all mostly settled in the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
, lands that are now in
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
and
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
.
Various estimates of the number of Tatars in the Commonwealth in the 17th century range from 15,000 persons to 60 villages with mosques. Numerous royal privileges, as well as internal autonomy granted by the monarchs allowed the Tatars to preserve their religion, traditions and culture over the centuries. The Tatars were allowed to intermarry with Christians, a thing uncommon in Europe at the time. The
May ConstitutionA constitution adopted in May:*the Constitution of Poland adopted on May 3, 1791*the Constitution of Czechoslovakia adopted on May 19, 1948....
of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish
SejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. Each member of Sejm is called Poseł.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the King. It was commonly termed a three-estate parliament...
.
Although by the 18th century the Tatars adopted the local language, the Islamic religion and many Tatar traditions (e.g. the sacrifice of bulls in their mosques during the main religious festivals) were preserved. This led to formation of a distinctive Muslim culture, in which the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with religious tolerance and a relatively liberal society. For instance, the women in Lipka Tatar society traditionally had the same rights and status as men, and could attend non-segregated schools.
About 5,500 Tatars lived within the inter-war boundaries of Poland (1920-1939), and a Tatar cavalry unit had fought for the country's independence. The Tatars had preserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including a Tatar archives, and a museum in Wilno (
VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
).
The Tatars suffered serious losses during World War II and furthermore, after the border change in 1945 a large part of them found themselves in the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars live in present-day Poland, of which about 500 declared Tatar (rather than Polish) nationality in the 2002 census. There are two Tatar villages (
BohonikiBohoniki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sokółka, within Sokółka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It lies approximately east of Sokółka and north-east of the regional capital Białystok. The village has a population of...
and
KruszynianyKruszyniany is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krynki, within Sokółka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus....
) in the north-east of present-day Poland, as well as urban Tatar communities in
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
,
GdańskGdańsk, also known by its German name Danzig , is a city on the Baltic coast in northern Poland, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area....
, Białystok, and
Gorzów WielkopolskiGorzów Wielkopolski is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river, with 125,780 inhabitants . Since 1999, it is one of the two capitals of Lubusz Voivodeship ; previously, it was the capital of the Gorzów Voivodeship .The biggest oil fields in Poland are located near Gorzów.- Etymology :The...
. Tatars in Poland sometimes have a Muslim surname with a Polish ending:
Ryzwanowicz; another surname sometimes adopted by more assimilated Tatars is
Taterczynski, literally "son of a Tatar".
The Tatars were relatively very noticeable in the Commonwealth military as well as in Polish and Lithuanian political and intellectual life for such a small community. In modern-day Poland, their presence is also widely known, due in part to their noticeable role in the historical novels of
Henryk SienkiewiczHenryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist...
, which are universally recognized in Poland. A number of Polish intellectual figures have also been Tatars, e.g. the prominent historian Jerzy Łojek.
A small community of Polish speaking Tatars settled in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, New York City in the early 1900s. They established a mosque that is still in use today.
Dobruja Tatars
- Main articles: Tatars of Romania, Crimean Tatars in Romania
The roots of the Crimean Tatar diaspora community in Romania began with the Cuman migration in the 10th century. Even before the Cumans arrived other Turkic people like the Huns and the Bulgars settled in this region. A distinct Tatar ethnic identity first emerged following the Golden Horde's...
and Crimean Tatars in BulgariaAfter 1241 , the year of the earliest recorded Tatar invasion of Bulgaria, the Second Bulgarian Empire maintained constant political contacts with the Tatars. In this early period , "Tatar" was not an ethnonym but a general term for the armies of Genghis Khan’s successors...
Tatars were present on the territory of today's
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
and
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
since the 13th century. In Romania, according to the 2002 census, 24,000 people declared their ethnicity as Tatar, most of them being Crimean Tatars living in
Constanţa CountyConstanţa is the name of a county in the Dobruja region of Romania, its capital city is also named Constanţa.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 715,151 and the population density was 101/km². The degree of urbanization is much higher than the Romanian average. In recent years the...
in the region of
DobrujaDobruja, or Dobrudja , is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast....
. The Crimean Tatars were colonized there by the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
beginning with the 17th Century.
Caucasian Tatars
These are Tatars who inhabit the upper
KubanKuban River is a river in Russia, in the North Caucasus region. It flows through the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Stavropol Krai, Krasnodar Krai, and the Republic of Adygea....
, the
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
s of the lower Kuma and the
KuraKura may refer to:* Kura River in Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan* Kura River in Russia* Kura Test Range in Kamchatka Krai, Russia, a major ICBM testing site during the Cold War* Kura, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Kano State...
, and the Araks. In the 19th century they numbered about 1,350,000. This number includes a number of Tatar oil workers who came to the Caucasus from the Middle Volga in the end of the 19th century. Also many Tatars came to
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
which is Turkic-Tatar country.
Now this term is used to describe Tatars, settled in Caucasus. Other explanations, like followers, can be found only in historical context.
Nogais on the Kuma
The Nogais on the
Kuma RiverThe Kuma is an 802 km long river in southern Russia. Its drainage basin is 33 500 square km. Its source is in the Greater Caucasus, in the republic Karachay-Cherkessia, west of Kislovodsk...
show traces of a mixture with Kalmyks. They are nomads, supporting themselves by cattle-breeding and fishing; a few are agriculturists.
Today Nogais is an independent ethnos, living in the North of
DagestanThe Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject—republic—of the Russian Federation, located in the North Caucasus region....
, where they lived after
Nogai HordeThe Nogai Horde was a confederation of Turkic nomads that occupied the Pontic-Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed south by the Russians in the 17th century. 'Nogai' is more of an ethnonym than an ethnic group...
's defeating in war against Russia and settling Kalmyks in their lands in 17th century. Nogais was replaced to
Black Lands in the North of Daghestan. Another part merged with
KazakhsThe Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
.
In 16th century Nogais supported
Crimean KhanateThe Crimean Khanate or the Khanate of Crimea was a Crimean Tatar state from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was Crimean Yurt The Crimean Khanate or the Khanate of Crimea was a Crimean Tatar state from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was Crimean Yurt...
and
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, but sometimes robbed
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
n, Tatar and
BashkirBashkir may refer to:*Bashkirs, an ethnic group in Russia*Bashkir language, a Turkic language spoken by the Bashkirs*Bashkir Curly, a horse*Stephen Bashkir, a character in Eoin Colfer's novel The Supernaturalist...
lands, although their rulers supported them. In 16th-17th century some defensive walls was constructed in modern
TatarstanRepublic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
and
Samara OblastSamara Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the Volga Federal District. The administrative center is the city of Samara...
.
In the 1770s and 1780s Catherine the Great resettled approximately 120,000 Nogais from
BessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west...
and areas northeast of the
Sea of AzovThe Sea of Azov is the world's shallowest sea, linked by the Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south. It is bounded on the north by Ukraine, on the east by Russia and on the west by the Crimean peninsula. The Don River flows into it.-Geology and bathymetry:The sea is long and wide and has...
to the Kuban and the Caucasus.
One of the Tatar national heroes, Söyembikä, was Nogai.
Qundra Tatars
Some groups of Nogais emigrated to Middle Volga, where were (are) assimilated by Volga Tatars (in terms of language).
Siberian Tatars
The
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
n Tatars occupy three distinct regions—a strip running west to east from
TobolskTobolsk is a historic capital of Siberia, now part of the Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of rivers Tobol and Irtysh...
to
TomskTomsk is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal District, Russia, the administrative centre of Tomsk Oblast. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400
th anniversary in 2004...
—the
AltayThe Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace...
and its spurs—and South Yeniseisk. They originated in the agglomerations of Turkic stems that, in the region north of the Altay, reached some degree of culture between the 4th and the 5th centuries, but were subdued and enslaved by the Mongols. According to the 2002 census there are 500,000 Tatars in Siberia, but 300,000 of them are
Volga TatarsVolga Tatars are a group of Tatars, most of whom occupy the central portion of the Ural Mountains.-Kazan Tatars:The majority of Volga Tatars are Kazan Tatars. They are the majority of the population of Tatarstan, one of the constituent republics of Russia.During the 11th-16th centuries, numerous...
who settled in Siberia during periods of colonization.
Baraba Tatars
The Baraba Tatars take their name from one of their stems (Barama). After a strenuous resistance to Russian conquest, and much suffering at a later period from Kyrgyz and Kalmyk raids, they now live by agriculture—either in separate villages or along with Russians.
After colonisation of Siberia by Russians and Volga Tatars, Baraba Tatars used to call themselves
people of Tomsk, later
Moslems, and came to call themselves
Tatars only in 20th century.
They numbered at least 150,000 in 1990.
Tatar language dialects
There are 3 dialects: Eastern, Central, Western.
The Western dialect (Misher) is spoken mostly by Mishärs, the Middle dialect is spoken by Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars, and the Eastern (Sibir) dialect is spoken by some groups of Tatars in western
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
. All three dialects have subdialects.
Middle Tatar is the base of literary Tatar Language.
Generic meaning
The name Tatars was originally applied to both the Turkic and Mongolic tribes which invaded Europe six centuries ago, and gradually extended to the Turkic tribes mixed with Mongolian or Uralic-speaking peoples in
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
. It is used at present in two senses:
- Quite loosely, to designate any of the Muslim tribes whose ancestors may have spoken Uralic or Altaic languages. Thus some writers talk of the Manchu Tatars.
- In a more restricted sense, to designate Muslim Turkic-speaking tribes, especially in Russia, who never formed part of the Seljuk or Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, but made independent settlements and remained more or less cut off from the politics and civilization of the rest of the Islamic world.
- Tatars are partly descendants of the Volga Bulgars. Volga Bulgars were a mixed people, whose ancestors may have included speakers of Scythian, Turkic and Finno-Ugric languages. After coming to the Middle Volga, Bulgars mixed with Finno-Ugric speaking tribes.
- Bashkirs
The Bashkirs, are Turkic people indigenous to Bashkortostan, Russia. Groups of Bashkirs also live in the republic of Tatarstan, as well as in Perm Krai and Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Samara, and Saratov Oblasts of Russia.-Overview:...
speak a language very similar to Tatar languageThe Tatar language is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars.-Geographic distribution:Tatar is spoken in Russia , Central Asia, Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland and Turkey....
. Nowadays, BashkortostanThe Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkiria is a federal subject of Russia . It is located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains...
's officials pursue a policy of forced "Bashkirization" of Tatars. However, the number of Tatars in Bashkortostan is almost as high as the number of BashkirsThe Bashkirs, are Turkic people indigenous to Bashkortostan, Russia. Groups of Bashkirs also live in the republic of Tatarstan, as well as in Perm Krai and Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Samara, and Saratov Oblasts of Russia.-Overview:...
in their own republic. (the 2002 Russian Federation census lists 990,000+ people as self identifying as Tatars in Bashkortostan compared to 1,221,302 self identifying Bashkir. http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/English/4-2.xls)
Various scattered articles on Tatars will be found in the Revue orientale pour les Etudes Oural-Altaïques, and in the publications of the
university of KazanKazan State University is located in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. It was founded in 1804. The famous Russian mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky was its rector from 1827 until 1846...
. See also E. H. Parker, A Thousand Years of the Tartars, 1895 (chiefly a summary of Chinese accounts of the early Turkic and Tatar tribes), and Skrine and Ross, Heart of Asia (1899). (P. A. K.; C. EL.)
See also
- Tatar language
The Tatar language is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars.-Geographic distribution:Tatar is spoken in Russia , Central Asia, Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland and Turkey....
- Tatar alphabet
Two scripts are currently used for the Tatar language: Cyrillic and Latin.-Introduction:While a Tatar version of the Latin alphabet called Jaŋalif had been in use during the 1930s, there is controversy in the matter of Latin-based Tatar alphabet for İdíl-Ural Tatar. One dimension of the...
- Tatarstan
Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
- Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia. Today, both the Republics of Tatarstan and Chuvashia are considered to be descendants of Volga...
- Tartary
Tartary or Great Tartary was a name used by Europeans from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century to designate a great tract of northern and central Asia stretching from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean inhabited by Turkic and Mongol peoples of the Mongol Empire who...
- Little Tartary
Little Tartary is a historical designation for areas north of the Black Sea under the suzerainty of the Crimean Khanate and inhabited by nomadic Tatars of the Lesser Nogai Horde from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Little Tartary was designated such vis-à-vis Tartary, areas of central and...
- Crimea
Crimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
- Finnish Tatars
The Finnish Tatar community, about 800 people, is recognized as a national minority by the government of Finland, which considers their language as a non-territorial language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages....
- Lipka Tatars
The Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
- Islam in Poland
The first noticeable presence of Islam in Poland began in the 14th century. From this time it was primarily associated with the Tatars, many of whom settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth while continuing their traditions and religious beliefs. The first significant non-Tatar groups of...
- List of Tatars
- Steak tartare
Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef or horse meat. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits and spicing it to taste, and then chilling it...
- Tatar nobility
Morza was a noble title in Tatar states, such as Khanate of Kazan, Khanate of Astrakhan and others, and in Russian Empire later....
- Chinese Tatars
The Chinese Tatars form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.Their ancestors are Volga Tatar tradesmen who settled mostly in Xinjiang....
- Graeco-Tatars/Urums
Urums, singular Urum is a broad historical term that was used by some Turkic-speaking peoples to define Greeks who lived in Muslim states, particularly in the Ottoman Empire and Crimea...
External links