Tatar Community Research Articles

The attitude of the Tatars of the Kirov region (Russia) to religious rites

In modern Russia, much attention is paid to the preservation of cultural traditions of different peoples and faiths, but at the same time many aspects remain undisclosed in research. A rich material for study exists in the multiethnic and multicultural Kirov region. Tatars occupy the second largest population in the region and have their own rich cultural traditions based on Islam and influencing the culture of the region. The purpose of the research is to study the attitude of Tatars to religious rituals on the example of the Kirov region. To achieve this goal, ethnosociological expeditions were undertaken in 2018-2023 to the Malmyzhsky and Kilmezsky districts of the Kirov region as one of the most representative areas where the Tatar population lives. Within the framework of the expeditions, methods of included observation were used, as well as interviews in the form of interviews. As a result, the attitude of the Tatars towards such religious ceremonial as the obligatory observance of prayer, marriage (nikyah), the prohibition on eating pork, as well as the special position of women was revealed. As the study showed, Tatars in the Kirov region do not have a canonical manifestation of the foundations of Islam, but a folk faith characterized by a simplified perception of these foundations: not all Tatars observe the fivefold prayer, some of them also eat pork. It remains important for the Tatar population to observe the nikyah rite at marriage, but at the same time there is a relaxation in choosing a partner – he can be of any nationality, but must be a Muslim or convert to Islam. There are certain changes in the situation of women: there are no restrictions on their rights and freedoms, and not all Muslim women adhere to a strict and closed style of dress. In addition, the Tatars' desire to combine the traditional way of life with the modern dominant culture, as well as with other national cultures of the region ("neighborly mutual assistance", holding various festivals of traditional cultures, assimilation of Tatars) was revealed. It was concluded that the attitude towards traditional confessional rituals in the Tatar community is softened and does not imply strictness in observance. The results of the study are useful for building intercultural communications between various stakeholders (government, business, non-profit organizations).

TATARNESS REIMAGINED: LANGUAGE, MEMORY, AND IDENTITY IN POST-CIVIL WAR TAJIKISTAN

This paper examines the transformation of ethnic identity among the Tatar community in Tajikistan in the wake of the Tajik Civil War. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it analyses how the war and subsequent dispersion and migration have reconfigured Tatar ethnic ties and fostered the emergence of a hybrid identity. The findings reveal a complex process of identity formation, where the loss of homeland and language intertwines with the development of a Tajikistani national identity and the experience of differentiation through labour migration. The paper argues that the Tatar community’s self-definition as ‘Tatar of Tajikistan’ epitomises the resilience of people navigating multiple contexts and transcending conventional categories of ethnicity and migration. It offers insights into the dynamics of identity politics amidst post-socialist transition and war.

The tradition of the formation of religious communities among the Tatars of the Volga and Ural regions

The article discusses the foundations of the formation of the Tatar community of the mahalla. According to the author, the Tatar mahalla has two foundations: they are 1. The tribal, 2. The Religious. The community of Tatars was formed during the formation of tribal relations. Over time, tribal ties were consolidated by the religious choice of community members. The article gives an attempt to find out the reasons for the transition of the tribal system of community organization to the religious system. According to the author, religion has become a cementing element for a deeper strengthening of religious ties. The religion of Islam has become the basis of educational work in the community. The election of a religious-legal school was also strongly influenced by neighboring kindred peoples who could be related. Religion plays the role of institutionalizing the community elite and legalizing the powers of the elders and the community imam. It also played a role in the religious practice and rituals of the community.

Kaunas Tatar Community and Organization in 1918–1940: Structure and Work

After World War I Tatars in Lithuania had to reorganize and institutionalize their parishes. Though Kaunas Tatars didn’t accomplish much in spheres of culture and education, they managed to build a new mosque in Kaunas this way leaving their mark. The main goal of Kaunas Tatar community was creating religious central institution. In 1925 in Vilnius polish Tatar community established institution of Mufti. Kaunas Tatars tried to establish similar organizations thorough all interwar period. Sadly, the conflicts between Muslim parishes in Lithuania constantly stopped this process. Kaunas Tatar Association tried to become dominating institution in Lithuanian Muslim community. This initiative was supported by Lithuanian Government but Tatars of Raižiai and Vinkšnupiai parishes wanted to function independently.

Эволюция инфраструктур и практик распространения исламских знаний: кейс мусульманского сообщества г. Бор Нижегородской области

The paper investigates the process of the genesis and establishment of infrastructural ideas that contribute to the dissemination of Islamic knowledge in the local Muslim community in the town of Bor, Nizhny Novgorod region in the period of the 1930s — early 2020s. The author analyzes how the infrastructure affects the practices of spreading Islamic knowledge in the local Islamic community and how the local Muslim community changes in the period of creation of infrastructure. The paper focuses on exploring the infrastructures for spreading Islamic knowledge in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods of the community’s life. The study is based on ethnographic material, interviews and archival materials, and presents how the creation of infrastructures changed the practices of spreading Islamic knowledge and the configuration of the local Muslim community. These changes exacerbated issues of power relations and the identifying of behaviour patterns within the community. Simultaneously new ideas were born within the community about community development, new infrastructure for disseminating Islamic knowledge and the formation of Muslim personalities. The Tatar community who initiated and organized the building of the Mosque has lost control over it, and it has become part of urban public space, a source of Islamic knowledge available to any Muslim in the town of Bor.

Fur Processing in Raižiai in the 20th Century: Craft and Image

Fur Processing in Raižiai in the 20th Century: Craft and Image

Ученый, муфтий и политик – три «жизни» Якуба Шинкевича

The article deals with the biography of the outstanding representative of the Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian Tatar community – Jakub Szynkiewicz, whose life path fell on the first half of the 20th century, full of political upheavals and turning points. Being endowed by nature with great abilities, he left a significant mark in all areas and affairs in which he happened to be engaged. Both in the area of science and in the religious and administrative field, he achieved great success, leaving behind a significant legacy and a good memory. Perhaps only his political activity causes censure and various interpretations in modern literature, since it was based on the dubious basis of cooperation with a totalitarian, criminal regime. At the same time, this choice was partly predetermined by the political realities that dominated Eastern Europe at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s.
 In this article, the main attention is paid to the scholarly component of Jakub Szynkiewicz’s biography, which fell on the Berlin period of his life in the first half-mid-1920s. At the same time, it is reasonable to make a complete review of the main stages of his life, which allows one to enter the “scholarly” part in a broader historical context and show what caused this or that strategic choice of life trajectory, in which extremely sharp and fateful turns were sometimes made. Although Jakub Szynkiewicz never acted as an “armchair” scholar engaged in “pure science”, but rather was a quite politicized person. Nevertheless, his contribution to the world of Oriental studies is very significant and is associated both with the study of “kitabistics” and Turkological studies of the writings of Rabghuzi and other medieval texts. In general, scholarly activity should not be obscured by the religious-administrative or political actions of Jacub Szynkiewicz. Keywords: Jakub Szynkiewicz (Jakub Schinkewitsch), Polish-Lithuanian Tatars, University of Berlin, Oriental studies, Turkology, Rabghuzi’s work, Rzeczpospolita (The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), Vilna, muftiate.

‘When there is an opportunity, I’ll try to write it down in Tatar’: National Identity as Constructed in the Diary of High-School Student Fathima Kashafutdinova, 1917-1920

The author examines the process of construction of national identity by high-school student Fathima Kashafutdinova based on her diary entries of 1917-1920 in the context of sociocultural, economic and political changes at the turn of the 20th century and as a result of the Great Russian Revolution (1917-1922). The author analyzes how elements of the Tatar national discourse developed in Fathima’s diary over time and how they were used to express her self-reflection and her identification with other people. Through their research, the author has discovered that Fathima’s had initially needed to construct her national identity as a Tatar, which can be clearly traced through the earlier pages of the diary. Nevertheless, by May 1918, any sign of a “Russians/Tatars” dichotomy disappeared in her text. However, this dichotomy was not completely resolved since she was influenced by both cultural and intellectual processes in the Tatar community as well as by the Russian-speaking urban cultural and social space.

V. V. Velyaminov-Zernov on Islam: Ryazan Local Lore Studies of the 19th Century

The article analyzes the four-volume work of the orientalist of the XIX century V. V. Velyaminov-Zernov “Research on the Kasimov tsars and tsarevichs” (1863–1887), dedicated to the history of the Kasimov Khanate. The main attention is paid to the local history material about the city of Kasimov of the 17–19th centuries, including its Muslim district. The paper reveals novelty of the scientist’s approaches to history of Kasimov Tatar community. The first paragraph examines the conclusions of V. V. Velyaminov-Zernov regarding medieval fortresses located around Kasimov, the scientist concludes that these fortresses belonged to Tatar rulers during the period of the Kasimov Khanate. The second paragraph reveals the orientalist’s views on Orthodox-Muslim interaction in Kasimov in the 17–18th centuries. According to V. V. Velyaminov-Zernov, until the beginning of the 17th century there were two equivalent authorities in the city: the voivodeship court and the court of the Kasimov rulers. The article considers the history of Tatar heritage in Kasimov. The third paragraph is devoted to the 19th century. Velyaminov-Zernov’s research is useful for local historians dealing with the history of the Ryazan region.

Specifics of the dastan genre structure in variants of “Tahir and Zukhra” and “Leyla and Majnun”: Creative techniques and their forms in Tatar romanic dastans

The relevance of this study is due to insufficient study of the peculiarities of the structure of Tatar romantic dastans. The object of the research is romanic dastans featuring Tahir and Zukhra, and Leyla and Majnun, recorded or rewritten by informants in Tatar communities. The study also analyses other Turkic-language variants as well as medieval literary poems were attracted as background phenomenon. The purpose of the article is to consider the structural features of Tatar romanic dastans. In order to achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: the paths and stylistic tools in the Tatar dastans "Tahir and Zuhra" and "Leyla and Majnun" were identified, different variants were compared in terms of their contents and forms. In this article comparative and structural-descriptive research methods were used. The Tatar romanic dastans often use metaphors, epithets, epiphors, hyperbolas, and rhetorical questions. Despite the frequent use of expressive means, folklore variants are inferior to literary versions of these dastans. This is due to the fact that the monuments were simplified, passing from generation to generation.

Russian class and madrasah in 1870–1917: the history of confrontation (on the example of the city of Chistopol, Kazan province)

In 1870, special rules for organizing the system of education for non-Russian schoolchildren appeared in the Russian Empire. This was a sign of the beginning of intensive work aimed to integrate the Tatars into the general imperial social and cultural system. One of the articles of the law on March 26, 1870 called for the opening of Russian classes at the madrasah. In 1875, 11 Russian classes functioned at the different madrasahs in the Kazan province. But most of the Russian classes worked in Kazan. In the city of Chistopol, where a large Tatar community lived and the famous madrasah worked under the patronage of Muhammad-Zakir Kamalov, the Russian class was opened only in 1881. Kamalov perceived the new changes negatively, so in Chistopol, in the 1880–1890s, there was a conflict arosed between the supporters of a religious figure and the officials of educational control. One of the participants in the conflict was Mir-Sa‘id Yunusov, the teacher of the Russian class. In the article, we reconstructed his family and work cases on the basis of archival documents. Besides, we used Qayyum Nasiri's memories of the experience of organizing the Russian class in Kazan as an analogy. The writers Fatih Karimi and ‘Ayadh Ishaqi also studied at the Chistopol Madrasah in the late 1880s and early 1890s, so we used materials related to their lives for our work. The author concludes that the Russian-class madrasah of Chistopol case was mainly caused by the arrow of age and personality problems.

Books Briefly

Books Briefly

Turko-Tatar Population of Tomsk Province at End of 19<sup>th</sup> Century (First General Census of 1897)

The historical-demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of the Tatar population of the Tomsk province at the end of the 19th century are presented. The ethno-demographic and urbanization processes that took place during this period are considered on the basis of the materials of the First General Census of the Russian Empire in 1897. The class, professional structure of the Tatar population of the province is described. Particular attention is paid to the problem of ethnic differentiation of the indigenous Turkic-Tatar population of the region. The scientific novelty of the study is largely determined by the poor knowledge of the issue. The relevance of the study is due to the need for further study of the stages and factors of the formation of this large group of Western Siberia population, denoted by the common ethnonym ‘Tatars’. It is shown that the Turkic-Tatar population of the Tomsk province was characterized by the heterogeneity of its composition. It is noted that the complexity of the ethnic picture in the Tomsk province was determined by the diversity of the indigenous Turkic population. It is emphasized that over 90 thousand people indicated Tatar as their native language, but not all of them subsequently became part of the emerging Tatar community. It was revealed that the Tatars of the Tomsk province, as well as the Tatar community of Western Siberia as a whole, were characterized by a weak involvement in the all-Russian economic processes.

Татары-мусульмане Некрашунской парафии: история и современность

The article follows the Nekrashun parish of Tatar-Muslim origin on various deep historical processes, from its origin to the present day. The purpose of the article is the observe features of the social and cultural life of the Tatars of the Nekrashun parish, to consider the role of Islamic traditions and the local mosque in the life of the population. The material for the study was the information revealed in the Lithuanian State Historical Archive, in the archive of the Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion. Much attention is paid to genealogy as a method of historical research, personal history. The work provides biographical information of imams, muezzins, active figures of the Tatar community.The authors analyze the historical stage of the infection of the Nekrashun parish in the period from the 15th-16th centuries to the present day, special attention is paid to the interwar period of infection of the twentieth century. It was revealed that Nekrashun people and its outskirts were the site of an ancient settlement of the Tatar-Muslims in the Belarusian lands. The time of the most active development of the Nekrashun parish was the interwar period, accompanied by the development of the policy of the Polish state. At that time, the mosque, which was destroyed during the First World War, was rebuilt, a Muslim school and a parish house were builded. The mosque is about high density for the local Tatar-Muslim population. It performed a consolidating function, leading to the preservation of the Tatar community. Religion is a consequence of the emergency, preventing the assimilation of the population living in an integral Muslim environment.

Totoristika Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių bibliotekos fonduose

Tatar documentary heritage collections held in various holdings of the Wroblewski Library shed light on the history of one of the oldest national minorities in Lithuania, the Tatars. This article aims to look at old documents and Tatar printed heritage held in the Wroblewski Library, and at modern Tatar studies. It is particularly important to find and study iconography and egodocuments, which can provide researchers with plenty of valuable information. The first knowledge about the Tatars can be found in old chronicles, as well as travel accounts, historical works, and extant manuscript documents such as privileges, legal or religious papers. The Tatars assimilated linguistically, but retained their religious individuality – they remained Muslims and used Arabic script. Their written culture is closely related to religion – khamails, dalawars, kitabs, and semikitabs were needed to perform religious rites. The Tatar manuscripts were written in Arabic characters in the local languages, the prayer books served as a testimony to a family’s history. The Wroblewski Library holds a number of unique religious documents, starting with the kitab of Ivan Lutskevich and a khamail (prayer book) from the mid-19th century, and ending with recently-acquired copies of Tatar manuscript documents from a private collection. In the 19th century, a scholarly interest in the Tatar community grew; the numbers of intellectuals in their midst increased, and the Tatar identity strengthened. The Tatar publishing in Lithuania, developing along with the ethnic revival of the Tatar community, flourished in the first half of the 20th century. Vilnius gradually became the center of Tatar intellectual activity: the acclaimed scholar Prof. Stefan Bazarewski taught at Vilnius University; here existed the Turkology study circle led by Prof. Seraya Shapshal; it is in Vilnius that Tatar societies were founded and a museum was opened in 1929, and it is here that a number of works in Tatar studies and periodicals were published. The Vilnius Muftiate also engaged in publishing pursuits. From this period, the Wroblewski Library has numerous photographs featuring religious objects (mosques, cemeteries) and group photographs showing Tatar community members. World War II interrupted Lithuanian Tatars’ cultural and educational activity, their intellectuals were scattered or killed. Much of their valuable religious and cultural heritage was lost. Because of the war, the smallish Tatar community was divided into several even smaller ones, and their living and working conditions in Lithuania, Belarus and Poland differed. A considerable number of Tatars reassimilated, this time due to the influence of the Russian language. In the late 20th – early 21st century, the state of the Tatar community improved again, as there appeared new opportunities for education, culture, and religion. The Wroblewski Library houses one of the largest collections of Tatar documentary heritage in Lithuania, which is divided between the Main Collection, Rare Books Department and the Manuscripts Department. It consists of early Tatar documents, examples of their written culture and religious literature, and iconographic materials. These items have been copiously used by scholars. The library has also amassed a large number of recent works in Tatar studies in Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, and other languages, as well as research published across the world, whose variety of topic will hopefully attract the attention of the Tatar community, scholars, and all interested in Tatar studies. Keywords: Tatars; written culture; historical memory; Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences; manuscripts.

The Role of Associations in the Organization of the Muslim Community. The Case of the Association of Graduates of the Muslim Seminary in Dobrudja

This paper addresses an aspect of the institutional history of the Muslim community in Romania. It aims to present how the Association of Graduates of the Muslim Seminary in Dobrudja was established and analyze its purpose and activities. The role of the Association is considered from two perspectives. The establishment of the Association was linked to Emel magazine and the group that published it. This group supported the creation of a Crimean Tatar state in Crimea. However, some of its members tried to solve the problems the Turks and the Tatars in Romania faced. In my paper, I explained the role of the Association in the organization system of Islam in Romania. The organization of the Muslim community was established in the first years after the Russo‑Ottoman War of 1877–1878, after which Dobrudja became part of the Romanian state. Thus, an organizational system similar to the Ottoman one continued after this year. Its central institution was the Muftiate, under whose subordination were the Muslim Communities and the Kadiates. The Muslim Seminary held a special place in this system. It was the only educational institution whose role was to train imams and Turkish language teachers of the Turkish and Tatar community in Romania, recognized and supported by local and central authorities. In this sense, the establishment of the Association of Graduates of the Muslim Seminary in Dobrudja was also a response of the Muslim community members to the new political, demographic, and cultural realities.

Культовое строительство татар-мусульман Беларуси на примере Некрашунской парафии

This article is devoted to the cult construction of the Tatar-Muslims of the Nekrashun parafia. The author introduces into science materials from the collections of the Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion concerning the mosque in Nekrashuntsy. The article notes that this mosque is one of the ancient religious buildings of the Tatar-Muslims of Belarus. It was completely destroyed in 1915, then in the interwar period it was rebuilt anew. The mosque in Nekrashuntsy was of great importance for the local Tatar-Muslim population. It performed a consolidating function, contributed to the preservation of the Tatar community. The mosque was repaired and reconstructed more than once, but, unfortunately, it was destroyed in the 1950s, which contributed to the extinction of religious life. At the present day, only the preserved mizars (tombs) are evidence about existence of a once significant Tatar-Muslim settlement here.

The Conversion of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars from Islam to Christianity in the Nineteenth Century. A Typology and an Effort to Evaluate the Phenomenon

This article is an attempt to present the problem of abandoning the Muslim religion in favor of Christianity. The article is based on materials collected and stored in the archives of Russia (Saint Petersburg), Lithuania (Vilnius), and Belarus (Grodno). These mostly contain either surviving records of baptisms sent to the consistory or police reports. The cases of conversion among nineteenth-century Muslims in the territory of the Russian Empire cited in the article have served as the basis for this phenomenon’s typology in the Muslim Tatar community. Moreover, they have provided the basis for analyzing whether it is possible to fit them into pre-existing conversion models in social sciences. The examples quoted in the text show the kinds of life problems that prompted Muslim Tatars to abandon the religion of their ancestors, e.g., terminal illness, the issue of marriage, or the likelihood of rejection by one’s group. It should be mentioned that there had already been conversions among Muslim Tatars in the early period of their settlement. However, this trend has never taken on a mass character, as evidenced by the relatively good condition of the Muslim community living in the former territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The Tatars In Lithuania and Their Ethnohistory

This article focuses on the interpretation and re-interpretation of the history of the Tatar community in Lithuania. It is the result of field studies conducted in 2012, 2015 and 2016 and draws the reader’s attention to Tatar ethnohistory, understood as a story of the past, tracing its main narratives: the settlement of Tatars in this region of Europe, their past and their family genealogies. The analysis finds that the mythology of the settlement is heroic, the central role in it is played by the great prince Vytautas, and the ancestors are presented as noble and loyal warriors. In its main elements (plot, characters), Tatar mythography follows the trajectory of the dominant national narrative, emphasizing the heroic and dignified participation of Tatars in it.

Plague Epidemic of 1770–1771 and the Tatar Sloboda in Moscow

The article deals with the history of the Tatar Sloboda in Moscow at the end of the 18th century, when a small Tatar Muslim community of the second Russian capital experienced upheavals in connection with the plague epidemic of 1770–1771. As a result of the epidemic, the number of the community and of the Tatar households in Moscow has significantly decreased; the old cemetery behind the Kaluga Gate was taken from the Tatars. In addition, this group of the population, which developed as an ethnoconfessional one, lost its sacred center — a mosque in Ovchinnaya Sloboda on Tatarskaya Street. The scientific novelty of the article consists in the publication of archival documents from the repositories of Moscow, including the first published document from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts with the data of the census of the Tatar Sloboda in 1773.