“Field Diaries” by R. G. Kuzeev 1952–1958 about Bashkirs in Interethnic Interactions

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the work lies in the demand for sources for the study of ethno- cultural processes in the Eurasian space. The purpose of the article is to analyze oral stories, legends, and legends in the “Field diaries” of R. G. Kuzeev about the interethnic interactions of the Bashkirs with the peoples of the Ural-Volga region, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan. The research method is to identify historical information from folklore materials and comparison with other materials. Results. The presence of tribal divisions Bashkir Tatars, Mishar, Suash, Kazakh, Kirghiz – is explained by two reasons. Either the Bashkirs find an abandoned child and raise it as their own, or there are inter-ethnic marriages. The attitude to the Russians formed as a mutually beneficial cooperation. The enmity with the Russian authorities was associated with the struggle for patrimonial lands, the Muslim religion, and the right to preserve the nomadic way of life. The Tatars are frequent neighbors Bashkirs, some turned into Bashkir, as well as Chuvash, Mari, after Islamization. The Cheremis described as a people who ceded land to the Bashkirs, while the Chuvash, Mordovians, Germans and Ukrainians occupied them. Kazakhs and Kyrgyz for a long time competed with the Bashkirs for the land; stealing other people’s livestock practiced until the Soviet era. However, some Bashkir villages remember their ancestors from the southern neighbors. Conclusion. Field diaries of R. G. Kuzeev characterize complex ethno-cultural processes in the Bashkir environment, provide information about their tolerant attitude to different peoples.