Tatar
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Who are the Tatars?
The Tatars are a group of Turkic-speaking peoples primarily residing in west-central Russia, along the Volga and Kama rivers, and extending east to the Ural Mountains. Their name originated from nomadic tribes in northeastern Mongolia and around Lake Baikal. After integrating with the armies of Genghis Khan, a fusion of Mongol and Turkic elements occurred, leading Europeans to refer to these invaders as Tatars.
Historically, the Tatars were associated with the Golden Horde, a western part of the Mongol Empire, where they converted to Islam in the 14th century. Following the Golden Horde's disintegration, independent Tatar khanates emerged, including Kazan, Astrakhan, Sibir, and Crimea. Russia conquered the first three, while the Crimean khanate eventually became part of Russia. The Tatars developed a complex social structure and economy based on farming, herding, craftsmanship, and trade.
The Tatar language is a northwestern Turkic language spoken in Tatarstan, Russia, and also in Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and China. Its major dialects include Kazan Tatar and Western or Misher Tatar. The Crimean Tatars have a distinct history, including a mass deportation in the mid-20th century and a subsequent return to Crimea in the 1990s.
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Where do most Tatars live today?
Most Tatars live in west-central Russia, primarily along the Volga and Kama rivers, and extend east to the Ural Mountains. A significant population also resides in Kazakhstan and, to a lesser extent, western Siberia.
Historically, the name "Tatar" became associated with Turkic-speaking peoples who fused with Mongol invaders in the 13th century. After the breakup of Genghis Khan's empire, Tatars became identified with the Golden Horde, converting to Islam in the 14th century. The subsequent disintegration of the Golden Horde led to the formation of independent Tatar khanates, which were eventually conquered by Russia.
In modern times, over 1.5 million Kazan Tatars, also known as Volga Tatars, inhabit the Volga and Urals regions, making up about half the population of Tatarstan. They are considered the wealthiest and most industrially advanced Tatar group. Additionally, nearly a million Tatars live in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, while Siberian Tatars number around 100,000 and are scattered across western Siberia. Crimean Tatars, after a period of deportation, have been returning to Crimea since the early 1990s.
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What language do Tatars speak?
The Tatar language is a northwestern Turkic language spoken primarily in the republic of Tatarstan in west-central Russia. It is also spoken in Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and China. The major dialects include Kazan Tatar, spoken in Tatarstan, and Western or Misher Tatar. Kazan Tatar serves as the literary language. The Tatar language belongs to the Turkic language family, which is part of the Altaic language group.
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What is a common religion among Tatars?
The Tatars are a Turkic-speaking people, and the majority of them are Muslims, primarily of the Sunni branch, following the \u1e24anaf\u012b school. Historically, their conversion to Islam occurred in the 14th century when they were part of the Golden Horde. While Islam is their predominant religion, their adherence has often been tempered with folk practices. In terms of intellectual and religious life, the influence of Tatar culture on Russian society was minimal.
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What are some important traditions or customs of the Tatars?
The Tatars, a Turkic-speaking people primarily residing in west-central Russia, have a rich history and distinct traditions. Historically, they were converted to Sunnite Islam in the 14th century. Their economy has long been based on mixed farming and herding, complemented by a strong tradition of craftsmanship in wood, ceramics, leather, cloth, and metal. Tatars have also been recognized for their skills as traders. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they served as commercial and political agents, teachers, and administrators within the expanding Russian Empire.
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How has Tatar history influenced their culture today?
The Tatar people's history has significantly shaped their culture, particularly through their conversion to Sunnite Islam in the 14th century. This religious foundation influenced their social organization and intellectual life, though direct cultural influence from the Golden Horde on Tatar religion and intellectual spheres was limited. However, a distinct subculture emerged in secular spheres, involving shared administrative techniques and chancellery practices with the Golden Horde, utilizing Turkic language. This historical fusion of Turkic and Mongol elements, along with interactions with other groups like the Volga Bulgars, has contributed to the diverse Tatar identity seen today.
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Tatar, any member of several Turkic-speaking peoples that collectively numbered more than 5 million in the late 20th century and lived mainly in west-central Russia along the central course of the Volga River and its tributary, the Kama, and thence east to the Ural Mountains. The Tatars are also settled in Kazakhstan and, to a lesser extent, in western Siberia.
The name Tatar first appeared among nomadic tribes living in northeastern Mongolia and the area around Lake Baikal from the 5th century ce. Unlike the Mongols, these peoples spoke a Turkic language, and they may have been related to the Cuman or Kipchak peoples. After various groups of these Turkic nomads became part of the armies of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan in the early 13th century, a fusion of Mongol and Turkic elements took place, and the Mongol invaders of Russia and Hungary became known to Europeans as Tatars (or Tartars).
After Genghis Khan’s empire broke up, the Tatars became especially identified with the western part of the Mongol domain, which included most of European Russia and was called the Golden Horde. These Tatars were converted to Sunnite Islām in the 14th century. Owing to internal divisions and various foreign pressures, the Golden Horde disintegrated late in the 14th century into the independent Tatar khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan on the Volga River, Sibir in western Siberia, and Crimea. Russia conquered the first three of these khanates in the 16th century, but the Crimean khanate became a vassal state of the Ottoman Turks until it was annexed to Russia by Catherine the Great in 1783.
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In their khanates the Tatars developed a complex social organization, and their nobility preserved its civil and military leadership into Russian times; distinct classes of commoners were merchants and tillers of the soil. At the head of government stood the khan of the foremost Tatar state (the Kazan khanate), part of whose family joined the Russian nobility by direct agreement in the 16th century. This stratification within Tatar society continued until the Russian Revolution of 1917.
During the 9th to 15th centuries, the Tatar economy became based on mixed farming and herding, which still continues. The Tatars also developed a tradition of craftsmanship in wood, ceramics, leather, cloth, and metal and have long been well known as traders. During the 18th and 19th centuries, they earned a favoured position within the expanding Russian Empire as commercial and political agents, teachers, and administrators of newly won Central Asian territories.
More than 1.5 million Kazan Tatars still live in the Volga and Urals regions, and they constitute about half the population within the republic of Tatarstan. They are now known as Volga Tatars and are the wealthiest and most industrially advanced of the Tatar groups. Almost a million more Tatars live in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, while the Siberian Tatars, numbering only about 100,000, live scattered over western Siberia.
The Crimean Tatars had their own history in the modern period. They formed the basis of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was set up by the Soviet government in 1921. This republic was dissolved in 1945, however, after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin accused the approximately 200,000 Crimean Tatars of having collaborated with the Germans during World War II. As a result, the Crimean Tatars were deported en masse to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where their use of the Tatar language was forbidden. They regained their civil rights in 1956 under the de-Stalinization program of Nikita Khrushchev, but they were not allowed to return to Crimea, which had been incorporated into the Ukrainian S.S.R. in 1954. It was not until the early 1990s that many Crimean Tatars, taking advantage of the breakup of the Soviet central government’s authority, began returning to settle in Crimea after nearly five decades of internal exile. In the early 21st century, they numbered about 250,000.
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