FINNO-UGRIC-TURKIC ETHNOCULTURAL COMMUNITY IN THE FUNERAL RITES OF THE BASHKIRS

Abstract

The article studies the different stages of formation and development of Bashkir funeral rites in the Ural-Volga region of the Finno-Ugric-Turkic community. The first stage (2000 BC - the first half of the first millennium AD) is characterized by the formation of the Finno-Ugric ethnic base of the population in the region, which maintained ties with neighboring Eastern regions and eventually expanded contacts with southern regions, including the areas of ancient Bashkir tribes. The author discusses examples reflecting the ethnic and cultural ties of Bashkir ancestors to the peoples of Siberia, the similarities of their mythological concepts, such as the ways of passing through cremation, burial ceremonies, ground-based burial and burial mounds, which is supported by the archaeological material. The second stage (early Bulgar, the period of Volga-Bulgaria and the Kazan Khaganate) is considered a Finno-Ugric-Turkic ethnocultural community. In different geographical areas Bashkir, Udmurt and Mari peoples used the same type of burial structures (log, wooden). In the third stage (the second half of the 16 century - beginning of the 20 century) the community of the peoples in question strengthened through the process of Islamization, Turkification, and the shift to a Bashkir ethnic identity of the Finno-Ugric population. In the fourth stage (Soviet and post-Soviet era), the momentum of the previous tendencies continued. The influence of Turkic neighbors reflected in the funeral rites of the "pagans" (orienting the faces of the buried to the East, grave niches). At the same time, Bashkirs maintained pre-Islamic customs, or rejected Sharia norms for practical reasons (grave niches were not built because the soil was too loose). The Soviet period also led to the emergence of a common layer of culture.