Tatars

Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar/????????) is a collective name applied to the Turkic people of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The name is derived from Ta-ta or Dada, a Mongolian tribe that inhabited present Northeast Mongolia in the 5th cent A.D. First used to describe the peoples that overran parts of Asia and Europe under Mongol leadership in the 13th century A.D., it was later extended to include almost any Asian nomadic invader, whether from Mongolia or the fringes of Western Asia. Before the 1920s Russians used the name Tatar to designate a numerous peoples from the Azerbaijani Turks to tribes of the Siberia.

Russian 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:

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Tatars - Tatarlar or ????????. In modern English only Tatar is used to refer to Euroasian Tatars; Tartar has an offensive connotation, corrupted from Tatar from associations with the Tartarus of Greek mythology. In Europe the term Tartar is generally only used in the historical context for Mongolian people who appeared in the 13th century (the Mongol invasion) and assimilated into the local population later.

Related Topics:
Tartarus - Mongolian - Mongol invasion

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Volga Tatars

Kazan (Qazan) Tatars

Kazan (Qazan) Tatars are the main population of Tatarstan.

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During the 11-16th centuries, most Turkic tribes lived in what is now Russia and Kazakhstan. The Kazan (Qazan) Tatars are descendants of the Volga Bulgars, who settled on the Volga in the 8th century. There they mingled with Finnic and Scythian stems and partly with descendants of the Kipchaks, who settled on the Volga in the 13th century. After the Mongol invasion Bulgaria was defeated and ruined. Note that the most of the population of Volga Bulgaria survived: while they hadn't kept their language, their old culture and religion - Islam - remained intact. (The Bulgars had converted to Islam in 922 during the missionary work of Ahmad ibn Fadlan). There was very little mixing Mongol and Turkic aliens after the conquest of Volga Bulgaria, especially in the northern regions (nowadays Tatarstan).

Related Topics:
Volga Bulgars - 8th century - Finnic - Scythian - Kipchaks - 13th century - Mongol invasion - Islam - 922 - Ahmad ibn Fadlan - Tatarstan

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Interestingly, in some places the Kazan Tatars called themselves Volga Bulgars. Even today some Tatars (see Bulgarism) do not recognize the word Tatar as a name for their nation.

Related Topics:
Volga Bulgars - Bulgarism

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Kazan Tatars form the ethnic majority in Tatarstan (nearly 2 million), one of the constituent republics of Russia.

Related Topics:
Tatarstan - Republics of Russia

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In the 1910s they numbered about half a million in the government of Kazan (Tatarstan, the Kazan Tatars' historical motherland), about 400,000 in each of the governments of Ufa, 100,000 in Samara and Simbirsk, and about 30,000 in Vyatka, Saratov, Tambov, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Orenburg. Some 15,000 belonging to the same stem had migrated to Ryazan, or had been settled as prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries in Lithuania (Vilnius, Grodno and 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 Plock.

Related Topics:
1910s - Kazan - Tatarstan - Ufa - Samara - Simbirsk - Vyatka - Saratov - Tambov - Penza - Nizhny Novgorod - Perm - Orenburg - Ryazan - Lithuania - Vilnius - Grodno - Podolia - St. Petersburg - Plock

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The Kazan Tatars speak a pure Turkic dialect (with a big complement of Russian and Arabic words). They are middle-sized, broad-shouldered and strong, and the majority have black eyes, a straight nose and salient cheek bones. Because their ancestors number not only Turkic peoples, but Scythians and Slavs as well, many Kazan Tatars tend to have Euroasian faces. Kazan Tatars practice Sunni Islam.

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Before 1917, polygamy was practised only by the wealthier classes and was a waning institution. Excellent farmers and gardeners, they are hard-working and hold a good reputation for honesty. They live on the best of terms with their Russian peasant neighbours. The Bashkirs who live between the Kama, Ural and Volga speak a language similar to Tatar and have converted to Sunni Islam.

Related Topics:
1917 - Bashkirs - Kama - Ural - Volga - Similar to Tatar - Sunni Islam

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Because it is understandable to all groups of Russian Tatars, as well as to the Chuvash and Bashkirs, the language of the Kazan Tatars became a literary one in the 15th century (iske tatar tele). The old literary language included a lot of Arabic and Persian words. Nowadays the literary language includes European and Russian words instead of Arabic.

Related Topics:
Chuvash - Bashkirs - Iske tatar tele

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Kazan Tatars number nearly 6 millions, mostly in Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union. While the bulk of the population is to be found in (Tatarstan and neighbouring regions), significant numbers of Kazan Tatars live in Central Asia, Siberia and the Caucasus, but they never mix with local Tatar tribes. Outside of Tatarstan, urban Tatars usually speak Russian as their first language (in cities such as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, cities of the Ural and western Siberia).

Related Topics:
Soviet Union - Tatarstan - Russian - Moscow - Saint-Petersburg - Ural - Siberia

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A significant number of Tatars emigrated during the Russian Civil War, mostly to Turkey and Harbin, China, but resetled to European countries later. Some of them speak Turkish at home.

Related Topics:
Russian Civil War - Harbin

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See also: Tatar language

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Noqrat Tatars

Kazan Tatars live in Russia's Kirov Oblast.

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Perm Tatars

Kazan Tatars live in Russia's Perm Oblast. Some of them also have an admixture of Komi blood.

Related Topics:
Perm Oblast - Komi

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Kerä?en Tatars

Some Kazan Tatars were Christianized by Ivan the Terrible during the 16th century.

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Some scientists suppose that Suars were ancestors of the Kerä?en 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 Chuvash (mostly Christians) and Kazan Tatars (mostly Muslims).

Related Topics:
Suars - Armenians - 6th century - Volga Bulgars - Chuvash

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Kerä?en Tatars live all over Tatarstan.

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Interestingly, some Turkic (Kuman) tribes in Golden Horde were converted to Christ in 13th-14th centuries (Catholicism and Nestorianism). Some prayers, written in that time in the Codex Cumanicus, sound like modern Kerä?en prayers, but there is no information about the connection between Christian Kumans and modern Kerä?ens.

Related Topics:
Kuman - Golden Horde - Catholicism - Nestorianism - Codex Cumanicus

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Na?aybäks

Tatars who became Cossacks (border keepers). Russian Orthodox. They live in the Urals, the Russian border with Kazakhstan during the 17th-18th century.

Related Topics:
Cossack - Russian Orthodox - Urals - Kazakhstan

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The biggest Na?aybäk village is Parizh, Russia, named after French capital Paris, due Na?aybäk's participation in Napoleonic wars.

Related Topics:
Parizh - Russia - Paris - Napoleonic wars

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Tiptär Tatars

Like No?aybaqs, although they are Sunni Moslems. Some Tiptär Tatars speak Russian or Bashkir. According some scientists, Tiptärs are part of the Mi?ärs.

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Kazan Tatar language dialects

There are 3 dialects: Eastern, Central, Western.

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The Western dialect (Misher) is spoken mostly by Mishärs, the Middle dialect is spoken by Tatarstan and Astrakhan Tatars ("Volga Bulgarians"), and the Eastern (Siberian) dialect is spoken by some groups of Tatars in Russia's Tyumen Oblast. This latter, which was isolated from other dialects, is related to Chulym, and some scientists believe that the Eastern dialect is an independent language. The Bashkir language, for example, is better understood by Kazan Tatars, than is the Eastern dialect of the Siberian Tatars.

Related Topics:
Volga Bulgaria - Russia - Tyumen Oblast - Chulym - Bashkir

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Middle Tatar is the base of literary Kazan Tatar Language. The Middle dialect also has subdivisions.

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Mi?är Tatars

(or Mishers)

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Mi?är Tatars are a group of Tatars speaking a dialect of the Kazan Tatar language. They are descendants of Kipchaks in the Middle Oka and Meschiora where they mixed with the local Finno-Ugric tribes and Russians. Nowadays they live in Tambov, Penza, Ryazan oblasts of Russia and in Mordovia.

Related Topics:
Kazan Tatar language - Kipchaks - Oka - Finno-Ugric - Tambov - Penza - Ryazan - Mordovia

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Qasím Tatars

Western Tatars capital is the town of Qasím (Kasimov in Russian transcription) in Ryazan Oblast with Tatar population of 500. See "Qasim Khanate" for their history.

Related Topics:
Kasimov - Ryazan Oblast - Qasim Khanate

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Astrakhan Tatars

Text from Britannica 1911:

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:The Astrakhan Tatars number about 10,000 and are, with the Mongol Kalmucks, 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.

Related Topics:
Astrakhan - Kalmucks - Kundrovsk

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While Astrakhan (Ästerxan) Tatar is a mixed dialect, around 43,000 have assimilated to the Middle (i.e., Kazan) dialect. Their ancestors are Khazars, Kipchaks and some Volga Bulgars. (Volga Bulgars had trade colonies in the Astrakhan and Volgograd oblasts of Russia.)

Related Topics:
Khazars - Kipchaks - Volga Bulgars - Astrakhan - Volgograd

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Volga Tatars in the world

Places where Volga Tatars live include:

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• Ural and Upper Kama (since 15th century) 15th century - colonization, 16th - 17th century - re-settled by Russians, 17th - 19th - 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 – 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 Mi?ärs) - 19th – Russian military forces officers and soldiers.
• Central Asia (since 19th century) (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang ) – 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 (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
• England, 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)

Tatars of Crimea, Ukraine and Poland

Crimean Tatars

Main article: Crimean Tatars.

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The Crimean Tatars constituted the Crimean Khanate 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 Tatars; they abandoned their admirably irrigated fields and gardens and moved to Turkey.

Related Topics:
Crimean Tatars - Crimean Khanate - 1783 - 1853 - 1860 - 63 - 1874 - Turkey

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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, presenting the Tatar type at its best. The mountain Tatars closely resemble those of Caucasus, while those of the steppes–the Nogais–are decidedly of a mixed origin with Turks and Mongols.

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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 Asia and other lands of the Soviet Union. Many died of disease and malnutrition. Although a 1967 Soviet decree absolved the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for lost lives and confiscated property. Today more than 250,000 Crimean Tatars are back in their homeland, struggling to reestablish their lives and reclaim their national and cultural rights against social and economic obstacles.

Related Topics:
World War II - Stalin - 1944 - Central Asia - 1967

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Lithuanian Tatars

After Tokhtamysh was defeated by Tamerlane, some of his clan sought refuge in Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They were given land and nobility in return for military service and were known as Lipka Tatars. They are known to take part in the Battle of Grunwald.

Related Topics:
Tokhtamysh - Tamerlane - Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Lipka Tatars - Battle of Grunwald

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Official site

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Another group appeared in Jagoldai Duchy (Lithuania's vassal) near modern Kursk in 1437 and disappeared later.

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Polish Tatars

Some ethnic Tatars live in Poland but they are unrecognizable from the Slavic-stock Poles. Most of their ancestors were Crimean or Nogay soldiers in the Polish service in the 15th-16th centuries. Others were Lipka Tatars who helped the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeat the Teutonic Order in 1410. They settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the status of nobility while remaining Muslim. Still other ancestors were Kazan Tatars (16th-17th century). Many Polish muslims were murdered in World War II.

Related Topics:
Slavic - Poles - Nogay - Lipka Tatars - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Teutonic Order - 1410 - Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Kazan Tatars - World War II

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Because all of these people had different origins and did not share a common language, they adapted to Polish.

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Nowadays Polish Tatars have forgotten their language and most of them are Catholics. They often have a Muslim surname with a Polish ending: Ryzwanowicz, Jakubowicz. According to the 2002 Polish Census, only 500 people declared Tatar nationality.

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A small community of Polish speaking Tartars settled in Brooklyn, New York in the early 1900's. They established a mosque that is still in use today.

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Polish Tatars

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