Kazan Tatars Research Articles

On some controversial issues of the early history of Kazan

The article examines the history of the state of Kazan Tatars at the end of the 14th century based on a comparison of information from the “Daftar-i Chingis-name” and Russian chronicles. The author suggests that the first ruler of the Kazan yurt was Altyn-bek, the son of the Bulgar Khan Abdullah, and offers his own version of the etymology of the name “Kazan”. He also puts forward the thesis that before Iske Kazan, the predecessor of modern Kazan was another city – Kashan (Koshan), located on the Kama River. For citation: Sanachin S.P. On some controversial issues of the early history of Kazan. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2024, vol.14, no.3, pp.20–33. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2024-14-3.20-33 (In Russian)

Н.И. Воробьев и его роль в формировании академического татароведения в отечественной этнологии

The most important role in the formation of academic Tatar studies in domestic ethnology belongs to the outstanding scholar of the early-mid 20th century, Professor N.I. Vorobyev. With his works, he laid the foundations for a systematic approach to the study of the culture and life of the people, especially the reference group of the ethnic group – the Kazan Tatars. The use of data from related historical and geographical disciplines allowed him to pose and solve a number of important questions in the ethnic and ethnocultural history of the people. In his landmark monograph The Kazan Tatars (1953), special attention is given to their close root connection with the local Bulgarian civilisation – the ethnocultural prehistory of the people. The systematic approach consisted of the creation of N.I. Vorobyev’s first ethnocultural differentiation of the Volga-Ural Tatars, which was based on the cultural, everyday and linguistic differences within the ethnic group studied at that time. It was also manifested in the application of typological approaches to the classification of ethnographic material, which allowed him to present stable varieties of material culture (types) in dynamics, to outline analogues for them in other neighbouring and distant ethnic groups of Eurasia, and thereby to resolve a number of issues related to the cultural genesis of the people. The systematic approach was applied and improved in the research and scientific and organizational activities of his students and followers, including the authors of the volume “Historical and ethnographic atlas of the Tatar people”. Fundamental works of N.I. Vorobyev on the ethnography of the Volga-Ural Tatars laid the foundation for the formation of the Turkic-Tatar vector of academic ethnology in the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are an invaluable resource for current and future generations of researchers.

Book review “N.I. Vorobyev. Kazan Tatars. Kazan: Tatgosizdat, 1953”

The work under review is devoted to the characteristics of the material culture of the Kazan Tatars of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The author set himself the task to identify the main elements of the Kazan Tatars’ material culture, trace the history of its formation, and analyse its characteristic territorial and class differences. The work is based on the monograph of the same author, Material Culture of the Kazan Tatars, published in 1930. Since that time, the author has accumulated new material, critically revised previous conclusions, and essentially produced a new work (cit.: Smirnov A.P. (1954) N.I. Vorobyev. The Kazan Tatars. Tatgosizdat, Kazan, 1953. Sovetskaya etnografiya [Soviet Ethnography]. No. 3: 168–172. (In Russ.)).

К юбилею профессора Н.И. Воробьева: введение

The article opens a special issue of the Historical Ethnology journal dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the outstanding scholar Nikolay Iosifovich Vorobyev, geographer, historian and Turkologist, Honored Scientist of the Tatar ASSR, Honorary Member of the USSR Geographical Society, founder of ethnographic Tatar studies and one of the leading researchers of the ethno- and cultural genesis of the Chuvash people. Professor Vorobyev is the author and editor of such fundamental works as the Fundamentals of Physical Geography of the Tatar Republic (Kazan, 1936); The Kazan Tatars: Ethnographic Study of the Material Culture of the Pre-October Period (Kazan, 1953); The Chuvashes. Ethnographic Study (Cheboksary, 1956); Tatars of the Middle Volga and Ural Regions (Moscow: Nauka, 1967), as well as other academic publications. The paper outlines important milestones in the biography, the main areas of the scientist’s research activities, starting with his student passion for the ethnic culture of the peoples of Siberia to academic maturity – fundamental research on the ethnography of the Turkic peoples of the Volga and Ural regions. The article presents vectors of his teaching work at Kazan State University, at the Kazan Eastern Pedagogical Institute (KSPI), as well as administrative and expeditionary practice within the walls of the Central Museum of the Tatar ASSR and the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Clothing of the Kazan tatars in the artworks of M.K. Tilke: revisiting the representation of a visual source

An artwork as a scientific unit in the study of the works of M.K. Tilke is an important source category when studying the material aspects of the Tatar heritage. The goal of the research is to study, systematize and introduce visual sources that reproduce the costume complex of the Tatars into scientific circulation. During the research the following tasks were solved: certain types of clothing reproduced in sketches were identified and described; graphic, written sources and surviving material heritage in museum collections were analyzed. The method of historical and ethnographic research was used. The conclusions: each of the artist’s artworks is ethnographically accurate, since the main goal was to reveal the uniqueness, significance and features of the costume complex. Participation in scientific expeditions, consistent study and comparison of graphic, written sources and preserved material heritage in museum collections revealed an accurate reproduction of the cut features. As a researcher, he tried to draw parallels with other peoples, those close in culture, or simply those in interaction with the Tatars. Turning to early historical and ethnographic sources, M. Tilke tried to identify the general and specific in the details of the Tatar women's and men's costume complex.

Татар кызлары Россия империясе югары уку йортларында (XIX гасыр ахыры – XX гасыр башы)

This article provides archival information about Tatar girls who studied at Russian universities at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It informs about the educational institutions they attended, admission to schools and the learning environment conditions. During that period, women received education mainly in St. Petersburg. Raziya Kutluyarova was the first among Tatar ladies to study at higher medical courses. It is also known that Amina Batyrshina studied at that school, who later became famous as a doctor and public figure in the city of Baku. In addition, young Tatar women studied specialties related to various sectors of the national economy – polytechnics, trade, literary history, and natural sciences. Higher courses open to women were financed by private donations and from students’ income. Therefore, not everyone could study there. It is known that in 1906–1918 twelve Tatar ladies studied at the Faculty of History and Philology of Kazan Higher Courses. The article also touches on the issue of social activities of Tatar girls who received higher education. Among the girls who completed the courses, there are those who continued to receive higher education and engage in science. One of them, Maryam Gubaidullina, studied at the Kazan North-Eastern Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, gave lectures on the topic “Ethnography of the Kazan Tatars.” As an appendix to the article, a list of Tatar ladies who studied at women's higher courses before the October Revolution is presented.

Проблема становления татарского сословия в Казанском ханстве (конкретно-исторические и теоретические аспекты)

The purpose of the study: Despite the publication of a significant number of works on the history of the Kazan Khanate, including the rethinking of old approaches to the study of the feudal class of this state, directly related to the Golden Horde Tatars, the problem of the formation and development of this state-forming stratum, which ascended in the Kazan yurt to the Tatars of Bulgar Vilayet Ulus Jochi, is still far from a final consensus. In this study, we focused on the analysis of the entire complex of issues related to the formation of the Tatar layer of the state that controlled it, and also on how both in the Kazan Khanate and in its political predecessor in the person of the Bulgar Vilayet, the ruling class was built on a clan basis. The system of power itself was based on the institution of Karacha-beks. The system of Karacha-beks, originally based on 4 leading clans, existed both in the Bulgar vilayet and in the Kazan Khanate, although the composition of the ruling clans in them differed. But in order to reveal the peculiarities of the clan composition of these two polities, a detailed – as far as the sources allow – analysis of the totality of information regarding the clans present there was carried out. In addition, the question of the ratio of nomadic and settled economy among the Tatars of the Kazan Khanate was also clarified. Research materials: the data of Russian chronicles, the Tatar source “Daftar-i Chingiz-name”, the works of Utemish-hadzhi, Abdulgaffar Kyrimi, Kadyr Ali-bek, materials of diplomatic correspondence of the 16th century, epigraphic materials, historical legends, and genealogical data were used in the work, associated with noble Tatars.Results and novelty of the study: The study showed that the Kazan Khanate did not inherit the former clan composition of the Tatar population of the time of the Bulgar vilayet, it was different, characteristic of the right wing of the Golden Horde and later the Greater Horde-Crimean polity. In addition, research of issues related to the formation of the Tatar stratum (estate) of the Kazan Khanate made it possible to formulate a hypothesis that it partially continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle throughout the entire period of the existence of this yurt, being in a complex interaction with the Tatars of the Nogai Horde. That allows us to take a new look in general at the question of the formation of the ethnic community of the “Kazan Tatars”, including such aspects as its territorial borders.

Татарская застежка-ожерелье яка чылбыры: вопросы генезиса и этнокультурных взаимосвязей

The article is devoted to the history of the formation of the ethnospecific jewelry of the Kazan Tatars – a collar clasp-necklace called yaka chylbyry. This piece of jewelry in its classic look had formed by the early-middle 19th century. However, the artistic image of the constituent elements of this multicomponent product, as well as the techniques of its manufacture, go back to medieval traditions. The publication focuses on an earlier constructive analogue of the yaka chylbyry – a clasp for a woman's camisole in the shape of double sheep larvae. The functional reorientation – the use of a clasp for a doublet as a collar clasp-necklace occurred at the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. The ram's face is considered by the authors as a result of the historical transformation of the "scarab" image typical for Russian caftan fasteners of the 16th–19th centuries. Echoes of the stylized motif of the ram can be seen on the classic yaka chylbyry up to the early-middle of the 20th century.

Этнографические материалы о татарах в полевых дневниках Р.Г. Кузеева

The article is devoted to the identification of information about the Tatars in the field diaries of ethnographic expeditions of 1953-1982 by the outstanding Bashkir ethnographer R.G. Kuzeev. The main method of research is comparative historical analysis and systematization of the collected sources. It was established that the materials were collected by scientists in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan regions at the specified time. Although the main purpose of the expeditions was to study the tribal structure of the Bashkirs, along the way R.G. Kuzeev recorded information on other ethnic groups, including Tatars. The field records of the scientist contain information about the history and ethnography of the Tatars in general, their ethnographic groups – in particular, namely the Kazan Tatars, Mishars and Teptyars. According to the informants, possible places of exodus of Tatars, interethnic contacts with Bashkirs, a complex structure (the presence of ethnic divisions), multiplicity and dynamics of ethnic identity are indicated. The process of Bashkirization of Tatars and Tatarization of Bashkirs in the zones of active ethnic contacts is described. The materials on the formation of the ethnocultural community of Bashkirs and Tatars as a result of joint settlement, economic activity, interethnic marriages are presented. Information about the Tatars contained in the field diaries of R.G. Kuzeeva give the opportunity to use them in the study of the mechanisms of formation of common and preservation of traditional cultures.

The experience of representation of the traditional culture of the ethnographic groups of the Tatars (Kryashens and Mishars, Kazan Tatars) in the creativity of the stage designer Tan Enikeyev in the Tatar theater

The experience of representation of the traditional culture of the ethnographic groups of the Tatars (Kryashens and Mishars, Kazan Tatars) in the creativity of the stage designer Tan Enikeyev in the Tatar theater

RUSYA TÜRKLERİNDE KADIN HAKLARI MESELESİ

Türk tarihi açısından kadının sahip olduğu konum yüzyıllar boyunca mutlak surette değişikliklere uğramıştır. İslam öncesi Türk toplumlarına bakıldığı zaman kadının erkekle beraber toplumsal hayat içerisinde aktif olarak yer aldığı, kılıç kuşanıp ata bindiği ve sürekli bir şekilde talim yaptığı görülmektedir. İslamiyet’in Türk toplumuna girmesinin ardından da kadınlar sahip olduğu çoğu hakkı ilk başta korumuş fakat İslam dininin yanlış bir şekilde yorumlanması ve etkileşim içerisinde bulunulan Arap kültürünün tesiri altında kalınması sonucunda kadının statüsünde bir düşme görülerek toplumsal hayat başta olmak üzere pek çok alanda ikinci plana atılmıştır. Kadın hakları meselesi mevzu bahis olduğu zaman da tüm dünyada olduğu gibi Rusya Türkleri arasında da bu husus üzerinde hassasiyetle durularak çalışmalar yürütülmüştür. İsmail Gaspıralı öncülüğünde ortaya çıkan Usul-i Cedit hareketi doğrultusunda kızların eğitimi için tamamen onlara tahsis edilen kız okulları yenileşme çabaları içerisinde önemli bir yere sahiptir. Basının toplum üzerindeki etkisinin farkında olan İsmail Gaspıralı uzun uğraşlar sonucunda çıkarttığı Tercüman Gazetesi’nde, kadın haklarına yönelik yazılara yer vermiş olsa da bunu dönem içerisinde yeterli görmemiştir. İsmail Gaspıralı’nın imtiyaz sahibi olduğu ve kızı Şefika Gaspıralı’nın editörlüğünü üstlendiği Âlem-i Nisvân Dergisi ise Rusya Türkleri arasında çıkarılan ilk kadın dergisi olma özelliği taşımaktadır. Âlem-i Nisvân’ın açtığı bu yolda, ondan sonra Işık, Süyüm Bike, Azat Hanım ve Şark Kızı gibi birçok dergi yayınlanmıştır.
 Siyasi açıdan kadın hareketlerinin oluşumu ise Rus İhtilali’nin 1905 yılında gerçekleşmesiyle birlikte Çar’ın Rus olmayan azınlıklara kendi örgütlerini kurabilme hakkı tanıyan 1906 tarihli geçici kararnamesi ile açılan kadın cemiyetleri sayesinde mümkün olmuştur. Düzenlenen Rusya Müslümanları Kongreleri de kadınların ait olduğu toplumsal statüye ulaşabilmeleri için önem arz etmektedir. Kadınlar açısından aktif bir mücadele döneminin başladığı 1917 yılında toplanan Rusya Müslüman-Türk Kadınları Kongresi de kadınların kendileri hakkında son derece dikkat çekici kararlar aldıkları bir oluşum olarak görülmektedir. Daha sonra Rusya genelinde yaşayan tüm Türk ve Müslümanların katılımıyla gerçekleştirilen Bütün Rusya Müslümanları Kongreleri, sunulan konular sebebiyle karşılaşılan muhalefetlere rağmen Müslüman-Türk kadınının haklarını savunan aydınların mücadeleleri sonucunda kadın-erkek eşitliğinin sağlanması ve siyasi alanda kadının hak ettiği noktaya gelebilmesi için Türk Kadın Hareketine büyük katkı sağlamıştır.
 Bu çalışmada tarihi süreç içerisinde Rusya Türkleri arasında kadın ve kadın hakları meselesi ele alınacaktır. Türk Kadın Hareketine dair ilk gelişmelerin Kazan Tatarları tarafından kadınların konumunu iyileştirmeye yönelik başlamasıyla birlikte bu konuya desteğini esirgemeyen Türk aydınları ve onların yapmış oldukları faaliyetler hakkında birçok bilgi çalışmanın kapsamına girmektedir. Meselenin gidişatı açısından son derece önemli olan gazete ve dergiler kadın hareketine sunduğu katkı sebebiyle üzerinde durulan hususlar arasında yer almaktadır. Kadın cemiyetlerinin oluşumu ve düzenlenen çeşitli kongreler de incelenen konuların temelini oluşturmaktadır.

The Living Space of the Kazan Tatars as a Unique Phenomenon at the Turn of the 19-20 Centuries

The article considers the living space of Kazan as a unique phenomenon in the history of Tatar culture. The structural consistency of all the elements that can be united in a single ensemble, organically combining a utilitarian and spiritual function are the main feature. All elements of the estate complex are considered from the perspective of a general ideological concept. The period of development of Kazan Tatars housing at the turn of the XIX - beginning of XX centuries is covered. Separate ownership with a complex of buildings for residential and household purposes is considered, this period of development of the city coincides with the replacement of classic style by various eclectic styles. Beginning in 1917, the social revolution turned the history of architecture in a different direction, so this work was decided to limit this research range. The same time frame is limited to the main fund of preserved historical documents on the history of Tatar settlements.
 The nature and resources, the development of the region, the practical skills of the owner, his interests and spiritual needs, traditions in the family and in the region - these qualitative characteristics played a decisive role in the development and transformation of the living space of the Tatars. The identity of each apartment building was determined by a whole range of conditions, a new vision of the living environment in connection with the surrounding nature was established. The owner of the house sought to realize idea of ​​the perfect arrangement of the world in his small surrounding area, as well as in rituals and rules of conduct, ways of spending time and doing activities, the way of haking care the household, where all the elements of the arrangement obeyed the plan of the apartment building, they thought carefully over and the consequence was that there was nothing accidental. Connection, unity in the awareness of nature, social principles and religious beliefs are the main feature and uniqueness of the entire national Tatar way, spirituality, mentality. Inimitable and unique national Tatar space of a residential building can be considered the material form of this association.

Juchid Heritage in the Jewelry Traditions of the Kazan Tatars: The Art of Chasing

Juchid Heritage in the Jewelry Traditions of the Kazan Tatars: The Art of Chasing

Взгляды Н.Н. Поппе на праязык и этническую историю чувашей

Writings of N.N. Poppe, associate member of Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1897–1991) dedicated to the study of the Chuvash language were published in the 20th of the 20th century. The article contains analysis of his seven articles and three brochures in the Russian and the German languages. One article published in 1974 in German is a reproduction of and addition to articles and brochures written earlier. Poppe’s main objectives were to identify the Proto-Chuvash language and determine the role of linguistic parameters in ethnic history. How important and essential are his views from the standpoint of today’s science? The author of the article being published tries to give answers to this question. As it happens, Poppe made no secret of the fact that the source of his ideas was the writings of Finnish linguist Gustaf Ramstedt. However, while Ramstedt attributed the Chuvash language and history to West-Hun branch, Poppe thought that the Chuvash is a bulgar-speaking people. At the same time, Chuvash people as native speakers of r/l language stand in stark contrast to Turkic-speaking peoples which are native speakers of z/sh language. He noted pronouns, stresses, and morphological peculiarities as other signs which make the Chuvash different from Turkic. As regards the existence of a large number of Turkic words in the Chuvash language, this is the result of centuries-old borrowings from the language of Kazan Tatars. In addition, there are few Mongolian loan words. Nevertheless, the Chuvash language “processed” all those borrowings according to its own phonetic laws. While Ramstedt dated the beginning of Turkic-Chuvash language contacts to the 4th–6th centuries, Poppe dated them earlier. On the basis memorials and linguistic relationships, the author takes up the position that such contacts occurred in the 6th century at the earliest.

THE WORKS OF SPIRIDON MIKHAILOV (YANDUSH) IN THE ASPECT OF SOME HISTORICAL ETHNOLOGY PROBLEMS

S.M. Mikhailov (Yandush) distinguished two ethnographic groups and two dialects of the Chuvash ethnos. The scientist attributed the population of Kozmodemyansky and the northern part of Yadrinsky uyezds to the upper (Virjal) Chuvash, and that of Tsivisky and Cheboksary uyezds of Kazan province – to the lower (Anatri) ones. Starting with the works of G.I. Komissarov, a third (middle-level) group began to be allocated from the lower group. According to the scientist, the Chuvash, being a separate community of Turkic-speaking peoples, used to live in Zakamye, where they had migrated from Siberia. He developed the Turkic-Bulgarian theory of the Chuvash language origin and the main ethnographic groups (middle lower and lower) of the Chuvash ethnos. He considered the upper dialect to be a mixed group, in whose culture, in addition to Turkic-Bulgar elements he found many elements of the Finno-Ugrians (the mountain Mari and the Mordvins-Erzya), and partly Kazan Tatars. Prior to annexation of the Chuvash Region to the Moscow state, two ethnographic groups of the mountain Chuvash functioned on the right bank of the Volga – the upper and the middle lower. After settling the southern steppe regions, in the process of cultural dialogue with the Mishar Tatars, a third ethnographic group was formed, known to the middle lower Chuvash as the khirti “steppe”. In Modern times, the geographical location of the ethnographic groups of the Chuvash ethnos contributed to penetration of the ideas of the European-Russian Enlightenment in the Chuvash Region (from the western territories to the eastern and southern ones). In the 1950s of the XX century the ideas of the Chuvash enlightenment were first formulated by S.M. Mikhailov, and later they began to spread in the academic circles of the entire Volga region. His works remain a valuable source for identifying the adaptive scheme of the ethnos, which the Chuvash built by localizing the “evil” principle outside of themselves, their society, ethnos.

The “Shaman Warrior” Aleksandr Gabyshev: Identity at the Intersection of Two Cultures

The article examines the process of dissemination of the Orthodox faith among the Tatars of the Vyatka-Kama region. In the 18th century, the attention of the religious and civil authorities of Russia was drawn to the Tatar population of the Volga region and the Urals. The Kazan Tatars were under the closest scrutiny. The Tatars of the Vyatka province found themselves at the periphery of Russian policy making. There was no sustained missionary activity in relation to the Vyatka Tatars on the part of the Orthodox clergy in the mid-18th century. The adoption of the Orthodox Faith by the Tatars of the Vyatka-Kama region was conditioned by the benefits provided by the tsarist decrees. After the abolition of the Novokreschenskaya office, the process of Christianization of the Vyatka Tatars did not stop. By the end of the 18th century, the number of baptized Tatars remained small, which can be attributed to the fact that baptized Tatars and Muslim Tatars still mixed and lived together, the lack of special training among the clergy, and the rather firm ideological attitudes of the Tatars.

UDMURT-TURKIC ETHNO-CULTURAL INTERACTION AND THE BESERMYAN PROBLEM IN THE LIGHT OF THE LATEST FIELD RESEARCH

The article is devoted to the phenomena of traditional material culture, reflecting the ethno-cultural interaction of the Udmurt people with the Turks - the Bulgars, the Kazan Tatars and the Bashkirs. Different ethnic and ethnographic groups of the Udmurt people find past sustainable conservatism in relation to such significant subject as a women’s headwear on a birch bark base. A similar phenomenon was observed in the Komi, the Mari and the Mordvins. Close cooperation with the Turks led to the loss of the headwear on the birch bark base and its replacement with a cloth cap with an open top. In the tradition of a number of ethnographic subdivisions of Udmurtia, the shirt has retained the oldest tunic-like style with a right-shifted breast cut, also known among the Komi and the Meadow Mari. As a result of ethnocultural interaction with the Turks, in the traditions of the besermyan subethnos and some Udmurt ethnographic units there appeared a tunic-like shirt with a central breast section and a low breastplate kykrak . Turkic influence reflected an appearance of pants with a wide pitch in some Southern Udmurts and Besermyans, which replaced pants with a narrow pitch. The sets of traditional decorations from silver coins of the Besermyans and many ethnographic subdivisions of the Udmurts included a sash borrowed from various Turkic ethnoses, which was reflected in the names of this object. The process resulted in the formation of the Besermyan subethnos and was reflected in the appearance of traditional costume forms closely resembling the traditions of the Turkic peoples. Similar processes took place in various ethnographic and ethnic subdivisions of the Udmurt people. They are also reflected in the forms of traditional dress.

Folk Costume traditions in the modern culture of the Volga-Ural Tatars

The article is based on the materials of the Historical and Ethnografic Atlas of the Tatar People (volume “Folk Costume”) prepared at the Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. In the pre-national period of the Tatar’s history there were many various local, ethno-confessional and other complexes of costume. Its formation was closely linked to the characteristic properties of the complex ethno-cultural history of the local groups of Tatars (the Kazan Tatars, the Mishar Tatars, and the Christian Tatars or Kryashens), as well as their religion (Islam, Christianity, Heathenism). In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, during the development of economic and cultural communications between Tatars of Russia’s separate regions, the common national Tatar costume was formed. City traditions of the Kazan Tatars have lie at the core of its formation. These traditions were distinguished by the style of a costume tendency to change – from archaic monumental national forms to more refined, corresponding to directions of the all-European fashion of that time. The “secondary folklore forms” characterize the present stage of transformation of the Tatar national costume as a whole – the aspiration of professionals to use national traditions in professional culture (graphic, arts and crafts arts, theatre, scenic folklore, modern modeling, museum expositions as a symbol of reconstruction of ethnic identity). Several trends present folk costume traditions in the modern festive culture of the Volga-Ural Tatars: the ethnographic (authentic) Tatar costume; the folkloristic (neo-folklore) variation of traditional costume; the so-called symbolical national sign the avant-garde costume. As the element of the ethnic culture, the national costume is the most important related to the individual. It represents a symbolical sign-category, an original social-cultural code and transmits the ethnic information from the past to the future.

Image of Muslim characters by the author of «Kazan Chronicle»

One of the features of ‟Kazan Chronicle” – the manuscript of the three hundred year history of relations between Russia and Kazan Khanate – is the unusual attitude of the author, a supporter of the policy of Ivan the Terrible, to the Kazan Tatars (the latter ones in some cases are portrayed sympathetically by him), is discussed in the article; examples of the destruction of literary etiquette in the ‟Chronicle” are given, the reasons for such descriptions, hidden in the biography of the unnamed author of ‟Kazan Chronicle”, are explained. Episodes about violation of the contract with the fugitive Crimean tsar Ulanus, about the stay of the latter at the borders of Russia, by Vasily II the Blind, the Grand Prince of Moscow (Chapter 9), about treason of Kazan Khan Muhammad Amin against Ivan III the Great and about the further repentance of the former (Chapter 12), the perfidy of Shahghali, Khan of Kazan, who was Moscow's appointee, and killing by him of Chura, son of Naryk, Kazan nobleman who had saved him (Chapter 25), are discussed in the article in this aspect. In all those episodes of ‟Kazan Chronicle”, what is reflected is not only the circumstances of the personal sympathy towards Kazan Tatars from the side of the author of the ‟Chronicle”, who had lived for twenty years as a prisoner in Kazan, but also the destruction of literary etiquette, which was a trend characteristic of the 16th century literature.

The composition of microbial communities in inflammatory periodontal diseases in young adults Tatars.

Host susceptibility and environmental factors are important for the development of gingivitis and periodontitis, but bacterial biofilms attached to the teeth and gingival tissues play a crucial role. We have analyzed and compared the subgingival microbial communities between subjects with dental plaque biofilm-induced generalized chronic gingivitis (CG), localized initial (Stage I) periodontitis (IP) and healthy controls (HC) of young people aged 18–19 years permanently residing in the city of Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia). The results showed that the α-diversity in groups with CG and IP was higher than in the healthy group. In a course of periodontal disease, a decrease in the relative abundance of dominates genera Rothia and Streptococcus was observed along with increase of class TM7-3 (Candidatus Saccharibacteria phylum) representatives. Also, the increase of red complex representatives Porphyromonadeceae, Treponema and Tannerella was detected together with statistically significant increase of Filifactor, Parvimonas, Peptostreptococcaceae, Veillonellaceae, Tissierelaceae and Mogibacteriaceae. Analysis of our data suggests that transition from HC to IP may be accompanied by a decrease in microbial diversity and a reduction in the abundance of family Rs-045 (Candidatus Saccharibacteria phylum), Desulfovibrionaceae Corynebacterium, Campylobacter and Selenomonas in young adults Kazan Tatars.