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Tatars ( of Eastern Europe and Central Asia . The name is derived from Ta-ta or Dada, a Mongolia n tribe that inhabited present Northeast Mongolia in the 5th Century . It was first used to describe the peoples that overran parts of Asia and Europe under Mongol leadership in the 13th Century . 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 numerous peoples from the Azeris to tribes of the Siberia . Most current day Tatars live in the central and southern parts of Russia (the majority in Tatarstan ), Ukraine , Poland and in Bulgaria , China , Kazakhstan , Romania , Turkey , and Uzbekistan . They collectively numbered more than 10 million in the late 20th Century . Most Tatars are Sunni Muslim s. The majority—in European Russia —are descendants of Eastern European Volga Bulgars who were conquered by the Mongol Invasion of the 13th Century and kept the name of their conquerors. Tatars of Siberia are survivors of the once numerous Turkic-Mongolian population of the Ural - Altaic region, mixed to some extent with the speakers of Uralic Languages , as well as with Mongols. The name is derived from that of the Ta-ta Mongols , who in the 5th century inhabited the north-eastern Gobi , and, after subjugation in the 9th Century by the Khitans , migrated southward, there founding the Mongol empire under Genghis Khan . Under the leadership of his grandson Batu Khan they moved westwards, driving with them many stems of the Turkic Ural-Altayans towards the plains of Russia . On the Volga they mingled with remnants of the old Bulgarian empire ( Volga Bulgaria ), and elsewhere with Finno-Ugric speaking peoples, as well as with remnants of the ancient Greek Colonies in the Crimea and Caucasians in the Caucasus . The name of Tatars, given to the invaders, was afterwards extended so as to include different stems of the same Turkic-Mongoloid branch in Russia, and even the bulk of the inhabitants of the high plateau of Asia and its northwestern slopes, described under the general name of Tartary . This name has almost disappeared from geographical literature, but the name Tatars, in the above limited sense, remains in full use. The present Tatar inhabitants of Eurasia form three large groups:
Due to the vast movements and intermingling of peoples along with the very loose utilization of the name Tatar, current day Tatars include ethnic groups that look Mongoloid at one end and Caucasoid at the other. As to the original Tatars from Mongolia, they most likely shared characteristics with the Mongol invaders from Central Asia. EUROPEAN 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 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. Volga Tatars See Also: Volga Tatars Volga Tatars live in the central and Eastern European parts of Russia. In today's Russia the term Tatars refers to describe '''Volga Tatars''' only. During the cenus 2002, Tatars, or Volga Tatars were officially divided into common Tatars, Astrakhan Tatars, Keräşen Tatars. Siberian Tatars were incorporated into the census as Tatars. Other ethnic groups, such as Crimean Tatars and Chulyms , were not officially recognized as a part of Tatars and were counted separately. Kazan (Qazan) Tatars The majority of Volga Tatars are Kazan (Qazan) Tatars. They are the main and indigenious population of Tatarstan . During the 11-16th centuries, most Turkic tribes lived in what is now Russia and Kazakhstan. The Kazan (Qazan) Tatars are descendants of the - 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 ). 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. Kazan Tatars form the ethnic majority in Tatarstan (nearly 2 million), one of the constituent Republics Of Russia . 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 . The Kazan Tatars speak a Turkic dialect (with a big complement of Russian and Arabic words; see Tatar Language ). They have been described as generally middle-sized, broad-shouldered, and the majority have black eyes, a straight nose and salient cheek bones. Because their ancestors number not only Turkic peoples, but Slavs as well, many Kazan Tatars tend to have Euroasian faces. Kazan Tatars practice Sunni Islam . Before 1917 , polygamy was practised only by the wealthier classes and was a waning institution. The Bashkirs who live between the Kama , Ural and Volga speak the Bashkir Language , which is similar to Tatar, and have converted to Sunni Islam . 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. Kazan Tatars number nearly 7 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. Outside of Tatarstan, urban Tatars usually speak Russian as their first language (in cities such as Moscow , Saint-Petersburg , Nizhniy Novgorod , Ufa , and cities of the Ural and western Siberia). 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. See also: Tatar Language =Noqrat Tatars Kazan Tatars live in Russia's Kirov Oblast . =Perm Tatars Kazan Tatars live in Russia's Perm Krai . Some of them also have an admixture of Komi blood. =Keräşen Tatars Some Kazan Tatars were forcibly Christianized by Ivan The Terrible during the 16th century, and later, in 18th century. Some scientists suppose that Suars 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 Chuvash (mostly Christians) and Kazan Tatars (mostly Muslims ). Keräşen Tatars live all over Tatarstan . Now they tend to be assimilated anong Russians , Chuvash and Tatars with Sunni Muslim self-identification. Eighty years of Atheist ic Soviet rule made Tatars of both confessions not as religious as they were. So, differences between Tatars and Keräşen Tatars now is only that Keräşens have Russian names. Some Turkic ( Kuman ) tribes in Golden Horde were converted to Christianity in the 13th–14th centuries ( Catholicism and Nestorianism ). Some prayers, written in that time in the '' Codex Cumanicus '', sound like modern Keräşen prayers, but there is no information about the connection between Christian Kumans and modern Keräşens. =Nağaybäks See Also: Nağaybäk Tatars who became Cossack s (border keepers). Russian Orthodox . They live in the Urals , the Russian border with Kazakhstan during the 17th-18th century. The biggest Nağaybäk village is Parizh , Russia, named after French capital Paris , due Nağaybäk's participation in Napoleonic Wars . =Tiptär Tatars Like Noğaybaqs, although they are Sunni Muslims. Some Tiptär Tatars speak Russian or Bashkir . According some scientists, Tiptärs are part of the Mişärs. =Kazan 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 Tatarstan and Astrakhan Tatars (" Volga Bulgaria ns"), 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. Middle Tatar is the base of literary Kazan Tatar Language. The Middle dialect also has subdivisions. Mişär Tatars Mişär Tatars (or Mishers) 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 . They lived near and along the Volga River, in Tatarstan. 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. Astrakhan Tatars Astrakhan Tatars (nearly 70,000) is a group of Tatars, descanders of Astrakhan Khanate 's agricultural population, living mostly in Astrakhan Oblast . During the cenus 2000 of Russia, most of Astrakhan Tatars determined themselves as common Tatars and few determined themselves as Astrakhan Tatars. A large number of common Volga Tatars (Kazan Tatars) are living in Astrakhan Oblast and differences between them tend to disappear. Text from Britannica 1911: :The Astrakhan Tatars number about 10,000 and are, with the Mongol 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 Khazars , Kipchaks and some Volga Bulgars . (Volga Bulgars had trade colonies in modern Astrakhan and Volgograd oblasts of Russia.) Volga Tatars in the world Places where Volga Tatars live include:
Tatars of Crimea, Ukraine and Poland Crimean Tatars See Also: Crimean Tatars 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 . 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 Steppe 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 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. The exact number of Crimean Tatars (most of them in Turkey) is currently unknown. Emel estimates approximately 6 million and Sel estimates at least 4 to 5 million. It should be noted that these estimates are based on calculations by the activists' researchers, based on the confirmed 1 million initial immigrants and multiplying it with their birth rate. Other analysts have deemed their estimates excessive {Link without Title} . Lithuanian Tatars (right). This was a common occurrence until the 18th century.]] 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 have taken part in the Battle Of Grunwald . Official site Another group appeared in Jagoldai Duchy (Lithuania's vassal) near modern Kursk in 1437 and disappeared later. Belarusian Tatars Polish Tatars Main articles: Lipka Tatars and Islam In Poland From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . 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 Szlachta (~ nobility) status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. They included the Lipka Tatars (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 Kazan Tatars (16th-17th centuries). They all mostly settled in the Grand Duchy Of Lithuania , lands that are now in Lithuania and Belarus . 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 Constitution of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish Sejm . 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 fought for the contry's independence. The Tatars had prserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including a Tatar archives, and a museum in Wilno ( Vilnius ). 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 Union . 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 (Bohoniki and Kruszyniany) in the north-east of present-day Poland, as well as urban Tatar communities in Warsaw , Gdansk , Bialystok , and Gorzow Wielkopolski . Tatars in Poland sometimes have a Muslim surname with a Polish ending: ''Ryzwanowicz, Jakubowicz''. The Tatars were relatively very noticeable in the Commonwealth military as well as in Polish and Lithuanian political and intelectual 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 Sienkiewicz , which are universally recognized in Poland. A number of Polish intelectual figures have also been Tatars, e.g. the prominent historian Jerzy Łojek. A small community of Polish speaking Tartars settled in Brooklyn, New York in the early 1900s. They established a mosque that is still in use today. Polish Tatars CAUCASIAN TATARS These are Tatars who inhabit the upper Kuban , the Steppe s of the lower Kuma and the Kura , and the Araks . In the 19th Century they numbered about 1,350,000. This number includes a number of Kazan Tatar oil workers who came to the Caucasus from the Middle Volga in the end of the 19th century. Now this term is used to describe Volga Tatars, settled in Caucasus. Other explanations, like followers, can be found only in historical context. Nogais on the Kuma The Nogais on the Kuma River 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 Dagestan , where they lived after Nogai Horde 's defeating in was 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 Kazakh s. In 16th century Nogais supperted Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire , but sometimes robed Crimea n, Kazan Tatar and Bashkir lands, even they rulers supported them. In 16th-17th century some defensive walls was constructed in modern Tatarstan and Samara Oblast . One of the Kazan Tatars national heros, Söyembikä , was ethnically Nogai. Today ''Nogais'' are not included to ''Tatars'' term, ''Nogais'' are independent ethnos. Qundra Tatars Some groups of Nogais emigrated to Middle Volga, where were (are) assimilated by Volga Tatars (in terms of language). Karachays The Karachays who number 18,500 in the upper valleys about Elburz live by agriculture. Today Karachays are the independent ethnos, one of the main nation in Karachay-Cherkessia . Mountain Tatars The mountain Tatars number about 850,000 (1911), and they are divided into many tribes and of an origin still undetermined, and are scattered throughout Azerbaijan , Armenia , Georgia and Dagestan . They are certainly of a mixed origin, and present a variety of ethnological types, all the more so as all who are neither Armenians nor Russians, nor belong to any distinct Caucasian tribe, are often called Tatars (for example, in the 19th century Chechens were often called Tatars by Russians). Some of these people are not even Turkic, mountain Tatars thus being more of an umbrella term. As a rule, they are well built and little behind their Caucasian brethren. They are celebrated for their excellence as gardeners, agriculturists, cattle-tenders and artisans. Although most fervent Shi'ites , they are on very good terms both with their Sunnite and Russian Orthodox neighbours. Today the term ''Mountain Tatars'' is obsolete, and all the peoples have their own names. See # Balkars # Kumyks # Ossetians # Circassians SIBERIAN TATARS See Also: Siberian Tatars The Siberia n Tatars were estimated ( 1895 ) at 80,000 of Turkic stock, and about 40,000 had Uralic or Ugric ancestry. They occupy three distinct regions—a strip running west to east from Tobolsk to Tomsk —the Altay 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 . They are difficult to classify for they are the result of somewhat recent minglings of races and customs, and they are all, more or less, in process of being assimilated by the Russians, but the following subdivisions may be accepted provisionally. Baraba Tatars The Baraba Tatars take their name from one of their stems (Barama) and number about 50,000 in the government of Tobolsk and about 5000 in Tomsk . After a strenuous resistance to Russian conquest, and much suffering at a later period from Kirghiz and Kalmuck raids, they now live by agriculture—either in separate villages or along with Russians. After colonisation of Siberia by Russian and Kazan Tatars, Baraba Tatars used to call themselves ''people of Tomsk'', later ''Moslems'', and came to call themselves ''Tatars'' only in 20th century. Chulym Tatars See Also: Chulyms The Chulym, or Cholym Tatars live on the Chulym , and both of the rivers Yus . They speak a Turkic language with many Mongol and Yakut words and are more like Mongols than Turks . In the 19th century they paid a tribute for 2550 arbaletes, but they now are rapidly becoming fused with Russians. See: Chulym Language Abakan Tatars The Abakan (or ''Minusinsk'') Tatars occupied the steppes on the Abakan and Yus in the 17th century, after the withdrawal of the Kirghiz es, and represent a mixture with Kaibals (whom Castrén considers as partly of Ostiak and partly Samoyed ic origin) and Beltirs —also of Finnic origin. Their language is also mixed. They are known under the name of Sagais , who numbered 11,720 in 1864 , and are the purer Turkic stem of the Minusinsk Tatars, Kaibals , and Kizil (or ''Red'') Tatars . Formerly shamanists, they now are, nominally at least, adherents of the Greek Orthodox Church and support themselves mostly by cattle-breeding. Agriculture is spreading, but slowly, among them. They still prefer to plunder the stores of bulbs of ''Lilium martagon, Paeonia'', and '' Erythronium dens-canis'' laid up by the steppe mouse (''Mus socialis''). The Soyotes (or ''Soyons'') , of the Sayan Mountains (estimated at 8000), who are Finns mixed with Turks ; the Uryankhes of north-west Mongolia , who are of Turkic origin but follow Buddhism ; and the Karagasses , also of Turkic origin and much like the Kirghizes , but reduced now to a few hundreds, are akin to the above. Today ''Abakan Tatars'' of ''Kirghiz'' terms are extinct, used own names only. See more: Khakass , Tuvans , Altays Northern Altay Tatars The Tatars of the northern slopes of the Altay (nearly 20,000 in number) are of Finnish origin. They comprise some hundreds of Kumandintses, the Lebed Tatars, the Chernevyie or Black-Forest Tatars and the Shors (11,000), descendants of the Kuznetsk or Iron-Smith Tatars. They are chiefly hunters, passionately loving their taiga, or wild forests, and have maintained their shaman religion and tribal organization into suoks. They also live partly on Pine Nut s and Honey collected in the forests. Their dress is that of their former rulers, the Kalmucks, and their language contains many Mongol words. Altayans The Altay Tatars, or ''Altayans'', comprise
Term ''Tatars'' is also extinct for this peoples. Although Turkestan and Central Asia were formerly known as Independent Tartary it is not now usual to call the Sarts, Kirghiz and other inhabitants of those countries Tatars. Nor is the name usually given to the Yakuts of Eastern Siberia. GENERIC MEANING It is evident from the above that the name Tatars was originally applied to both the Turkic and Mongol stems which invaded Europe six centuries ago, and gradually extended to the Turkic stems mixed with Mongolian or Uralic-speaking peoples in Siberia . It is used at present in two senses:
AUTHORITIES The literature of the subject is very extensive, and bibliographical indexes may be found in the Geographical Dictionary of P. Semenov, appended to the articles devoted respectively to the names given above, as also in the yearly Indexes by M. Mezhov and the Oriental Bibliography of Lucian Scherman. Besides the well-known works of Castren, which are a very rich source of information on the subject, Schiefner ( St Petersburg Academy Of Sciences ), Donner, Ahlqvist and other explorers of the Uralic and Altaic languages and peoples, as also those of the Russian historians Soloviev , Kostomarov , Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Schapov, and Ilovaiskiy , the following containing valuable information may be mentioned:
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 Kazan . 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.) CHINESE TATARS The Tatars (塔塔尔族) form one of the 56 Ethnic Groups officially recognized by the People's Republic Of China . Chinese Tatar's ancestors are Volga Tatar tradesmen who settled mostly in Xinjiang . Note that the Chinese had often used the term Tartars or Tazi/Dazi in Chinese in a derogatory manner to generalize non-Han groups from the North, such as the Mongols and Jurchens / Manchus especially during periods where China was invaded by these groups, for example during the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty . SEE ALSO
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