Tatar Women Research Articles

Crimean Tatar women in Crimean Education during the 1920-1941 based on the materials of the State Archive of the Republic of Crimea

The object of this research is the Crimean Tatar female residents of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the 1920-1941. The subject of this research is their engagement in the education system of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The goal is to introduce new facts about the Crimean Tatar women involved in this sphere of social activity of the period under review, broaden the knowledge on the role they played therein, discuss the positions they held, and how their role changed over time. The author publishes and analyzes the previously unpublished materials discovered in the State Archive of the Republic of Crimea. The author reveals the new biographical records of the number of Crimean Tatar women engaged in the education system of the Crimean ASSR during the indicated historical period. If the records of 1920s depict a Crimean Tatar female pedagogue as an illiterate teacher of traditional crafts, then in the 1930s it is a women with professional education in geography, philology, natural sciences, or elementary school teachers. Some cases indicate that such woman could be the head of an orphanage or school; the author picks Zuledzha Adzheredinova is a bright example. Female pedagogues worked in the publishing industry. It is worth noting the high labor mobility of these women: frequent relocation from villages to cities or the other way around.

Смертность мусульманского населения Южного Урала в 1860–1910-е гг. (особенности половозрастной структуры)

Introduction. The article discusses the sex and age structure of deceased Muslim individuals in Orenburg and Ufa Governorates in the mid-19th – early 20th centuries. Goals. The study aims to identify certain characteristics of sex and age structure thereof during the period under consideration. Materials and Methods. The paper mainly analyzes statistical data published by the Central Statistical Committee affiliated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. Statistical, descriptive, and comparative-historical research methods were employed. Results. The study shows that the mortality rate of Muslim population of the Southern Urals in the examined period was significantly determined by infant and child mortality. Statistical data show that the level of infant mortality among Muslims was much lower than that among Orthodox Christians. This is explained by that Bashkir and Tatar women fed infants with breast milk all the way up to the age of 2, and introduced complementary feeding at relatively late stages. However, high child mortality rates resulted in high birth rates. In childhood, boys tended to die more often than girls. The situation changed after the age of 15. At the age of 15-45, mortality rates among Muslim women turned higher than those among men. Still, after the age of 45, male mortality increased again. Characteristic features of mortality among Muslims were as follows: a relatively low level of infant mortality (compared to that of Orthodox Christians), a high level of child mortality, increased mortality among fertile-aged women which sometimes proved several times as large as that among men of the same age, and others. Conclusions. The research materials demonstrate that mortality rates of Muslim population of the Orenburg and Ufa Governorates in the mid-19th – early 20th centuries were consistently lower than those of the entire population of the region, including Orthodox Christians. It is concluded that the demographic transition, i.e. the transition from a large to small family, among the Muslim peoples of the region had not yet begun then.

Ethno-religious communication as a mechanism for shaping the social status of women in women’s voluntary organizations

The paper considers the issues on the influence of ethno-confessional communications on the formation of the women’s social status in public women's organizations of the Republic of Tatarstan. For many, ethno-confessional identity has become defining. Women's organizations also emerged and co-opted more and more members every year. This social tendency eventually caused the need to study the phenomenon of "ethno-confessional communication" by the example of the culture of organization and the activities of women's public organizations. The issue requires a theoretical substantiation for the features of manifestation of ethno-confessional communication in the context of the socio-cultural phenomenon of women's public organizations in modern Russian society. The paper is intended for researchers of the problems concerning the culture of communications for researching ethno-confessional communications as a condition for the formation of a woman's social status by the example of modern public organizations of Muslim Tatar women in the Republic of Tatarstan.

THE NATIONAL PROBLEM AND THE PROBLEM OF WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ACTIVATION IN THE CHUVASH AUTONOMOUS REGION ON THE EXAMPLE OF LIFE OF TATAR WOMEN OF BATYREVSKY UYEZD IN THE FIRST YEARS OF THE SOVIET POWER

The article examines the national policy of the Soviet state in the early years of the Soviet power. It shows as well the importance of this issue for the state, the attention paid to it by supreme management bodies. The basic principles and directions of activity carried out by the Communist Party of Bolsheviks for implementing the national policy in the regions of the country are noted; successes and failures in implementing the Communist ideology are shown. The authors of the article indicate that the leadership of the state understood that success in building a new world can be achieved only due to the rise of the culture among the representatives of national minorities to the level of Russian regions inhabitants. It pursued this goal, structuring the policy in the sphere of national-state building. The authors examine the issues of improving tolerant ideas in the international relations on the example of women and youth movement activation in the Chuvash autonomous region in the first half of the 1920s. The analysis of the final materials of the report made by the RC of the ACP (b) representative, Bikchantaev, seconded to Batyrevsky uyezd to establish women’s social movement, shows the efforts of the party apparatus to promote the ideas of equality and freedom among Tatar women. It shows as well the importance of this issue for the state, the attention paid to it by supreme management bodies.

Татарские женщины в социальной жизни Туркестана

The article presents information about Tatar women who played an important role in the social life of Turkestan in late 19th and early 20th centuries, for instance, how they founded charities and organised theatrical charity shows. The money received from the shows was donated to the funds rendering financial and moral support to injured soldiers, as well as the development of the medical sector in the country and the opportunity for local women to receive qualified medical care. The article highlightes other details which reveal the place of Tatar women in the social life of the region.

Ризаэддин Фахреддин и его биографический труд «Мәшһүр хатыннар» («Знаменитые женщины»)

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze a prominent 19th century Tatar scholar Rizaeddin Fakhreddin’s two voluminous biographic works – the printed book “Mashkhur Khatynnar” (“Famous Women”), published in 1904 in Orenburg, as well as a manuscript version of the same book written in 1934. The second book is more extensive in its content than the first version; it has extended due to Tatar women’s added biographies, mainly contemporaries of the author. The study examines the printed book structure and reveals the features and remarkable aspects of one or another of its sections. “Mashkhur Khatynnar” (“Famous Women”) is a serious and multifaceted biographic composition of encyclopedic format. In compiling it, the author used materials from Ibn al-Jawzi, at-Tabari, Aristotle, A. Schopenhauer, and other famous luminaries of world science of a diverse thematic spectrum, including history, geography, natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, etc. In the book, especially in the preface part, the female question is sharply discussed. The author focuses on the issue of providing women with full education and upbringing in the best Muslim traditions. This work is unique because neither before Fakhreddin nor after him, similar works on biographies of women known in the Islamic world has not written in the Tatar world.

Mugallima: Tatar women’s new social and professional role in the early 20th century

In this article, the author discusses a new social group within the Tatar secular intelligentsia - the female teachers ( mugallima s) of the national primary schools. The study is based on personal documents, in particular memories and autobiographies. At the turn of the 20th century, the issue of female education became particularly important in Tatar society. The author shows the transformation of the role of the ostazbika - the imam’s wife who traditionally used to teach the girls of the Muslim community - and presents an overview of the first Tatar girl schools. Pointing out the sources of the formation of mugallima as a separate social group, the author also identifies an intermediate variant of this social group. Furthermore, attention is paid to the problem of advanced training of the mugallima, the legal regulation of Tatar female teachers’ activities, and to their official duties as well as their material conditions. The author studied the mugallima’s position in the Muslim society in relation to the gender role of an average woman, considering the everyday behavior of the mugallima, the mugallima’s image in Tatar literature as well as the way different social groups perceived this profession. The author concludes that in Tatar society the professional status of the mugallima was legalized only during World War I, and the social perception of the mugallima remained ambivalent. While traditional Muslim society continued to disapprove of independent women, the national intelligentsia supported a positive image of the mugallima. However, the issue of combining pedagogical work and family remained open. Tatar feminists of the revolutionary epoch considered the work of the mugallima as an alternative to family life and put the interests of the nation before their private life.

Female Muslim Factor in Preservation of Ethnocultural Traditions of the Tatar Society (XIX - XX Centuries)

The article discusses a range of issues related to the role of the female Muslim factor in the preservation and development of the ethnocultural traditions of Tatar society in the late XIX - XX centuries. The article discusses a range of issues related to the role of the female Muslim factor in the preservation and development of the ethnocultural traditions of Tatar society in the late XIX - XX centuries. The evolution of the ideas of Tatar Muslim theologians about the role of women in the family and society is noted. In the context of the specific changes in the life principles of Russian Muslim women, the content of the dichotomy of cadimism and jadidism is revealed: in the form of rivalry between the obsolete form of religious and cultural life (cadimism), on the one hand, and the renewed system of spiritual values (Jadidism), on the other. The importance of new educational practices in the emancipation of Muslim women is shown. Shows the origins of the formation of social institutions and organizations of Muslim women, the process of changing their traditional way of life and forms of self-identification within the framework of the ethnic and religious tradition. The features of the ethnocultural life of Tatar women under the dictates of the political and ideological system of the Soviet period and the main trends in the manifestation of the female factor in the processes of ethnic and religious revival of the peoples of Russia in the post-Soviet period are highlighted.

Female Muslim Factor in Preservation of Ethnocultural Traditions of the Tatar Society (XIX - XX Centuries)

Abstract The article discusses a range of issues related to the role of the female Muslim factor in the preservation and development of the ethnocultural traditions of Tatar society in the late XIX - XX centuries. The article discusses a range of issues related to the role of the female Muslim factor in the preservation and development of the ethnocultural traditions of Tatar society in the late XIX - XX centuries. The evolution of the ideas of Tatar Muslim theologians about the role of women in the family and society is noted. In the context of the specific changes in the life principles of Russian Muslim women, the content of the dichotomy of cadimism and jadidism is revealed: in the form of rivalry between the obsolete form of religious and cultural life (cadimism), on the one hand, and the renewed system of spiritual values (Jadidism), on the other. The importance of new educational practices in the emancipation of Muslim women is shown. Shows the origins of the formation of social institutions and organizations of Muslim women, the process of changing their traditional way of life and forms of self-identification within the framework of the ethnic and religious tradition. The features of the ethnocultural life of Tatar women under the dictates of the political and ideological system of the Soviet period and the main trends in the manifestation of the female factor in the processes of ethnic and religious revival of the peoples of Russia in the post-Soviet period are highlighted.

Polish Tatar Women as Official Leaders of Muslim Religious Communities and the Sources of their Authority

The history of the Islamic presence in Poland goes back over 300 years. In the past, Muslim Tatar women played an important role in their communities by preserving and passing on the faith. In the twentieth century their role expanded, with a substantial number of women present at the highest levels of Muslim leadership. The article presents a case study of seven Polish Tatar women who have held the post of official elected presidents of local Muslim communities. These examples are presented in order to research the source of authority on which female leadership is based. The article uses three kinds of authority distinguished by Max Weber: legalrational, charismatic and traditional authority. The article is based on interviews with these female presidents and other members of their communities in order to reconstruct their authority as social and religious leaders and their impact on their respective communities.

Association of obesity susceptibility gene variants with metabolic syndrome in women

Aim. The aim of the study was a replicative analysis of the association of polymorphic variants of genes associated with obesity revealed by results of wide-genomic studies (GWAS) with the development of a cluster of metabolic syndrome risk parameters in women of Bashkir and Tatar ethnicity. The polymorphic markers of the following genes were analyzed: SEC16B, FADS1, KCTD15, MAF, MAP2K5, NEGR1, BDNF, TMEM18.
 Materials and methods. The study involved 243 women with metabolic syndrome and 298 women without the metabolic syndrome. Amplification of DNA fragments was performed using real-time PCR and TaqMan technique.
 Results. We found the association the metabolic syndrome with genetic markers of genes MAF and TMEM18 from Tatar. Protective informative marker of the metabolic syndrome among Tatar and Bashkir was the TT haplotype TMEM18 gene (rs2860323 and rs6548238) (р=0.005 and р=0.001, respectively). We identified the association marker rs2241423 MAP2K5 gene with the level of waist circumference (p=0.003) and with the level of cholesterol (p=0.014), the marker rs11084753 KCTD15 gene with glucose levels after exercise (p=0.002), the level of triglycerides (p=0.003) and HDL (p=0.0008) among Tatar women. We identified the association rs2241423 MAP2K5 gene marker to glycated hemoglobin level (p=0.002) and a marker gene rs174550 FADS1 with triglyceride levels (p=0.02) among Bashkir women.
 Conclusion. It can be assumed that the polymorphic variants FADS1, KCTD15, MAF, MAP2K5, TMEM18 genes are an important part of the genetic structure of predisposition to metabolic syndrome and/or to a cluster of clinical and biochemical indicators of the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Анализ роли полиморфных вариантов генов, ассоциированных с ожирением, в развитии метаболического синдрома у женщин

Aim . The aim of the study was a replicative analysis of the association of polymorphic variants of genes associated with obesity revealed by results of wide-genomic studies (GWAS) with the development of a cluster of metabolic syndrome risk parameters in women of Bashkir and Tatar ethnicity. The polymorphic markers of the following genes were analyzed: SEC16B, FADS1, KCTD15, MAF, MAP2K5, NEGR1, BDNF, TMEM18. Materials and methods . The study involved 243 women with metabolic syndrome and 298 women without the metabolic syndrome. Amplification of DNA fragments was performed using real-time PCR and TaqMan technique. Results . We found the association the metabolic syndrome with genetic markers of genes MAF and TMEM18 from Tatar. Protective informative marker of the metabolic syndrome among Tatar and Bashkir was the TT haplotype TMEM18 gene (rs2860323 and rs6548238) (р=0.005 and р=0.001, respectively). We identified the association marker rs2241423 MAP2K5 gene with the level of waist circumference (p=0.003) and with the level of cholesterol (p=0.014), the marker rs11084753 KCTD15 gene with glucose levels after exercise (p=0.002), the level of triglycerides (p=0.003) and HDL (p=0.0008) among Tatar women. We identified the association rs2241423 MAP2K5 gene marker to glycated hemoglobin level (p=0.002) and a marker gene rs174550 FADS1 with triglyceride levels (p=0.02) among Bashkir women. Conclusion . It can be assumed that the polymorphic variants FADS1, KCTD15, MAF, MAP2K5, TMEM18 genes are an important part of the genetic structure of predisposition to metabolic syndrome and/or to a cluster of clinical and biochemical indicators of the risk of metabolic syndrome.

REPARATION SYSTEM GENES: POPULATION DIFFERENCES IN HEREDITARY OVARIAN AND BREAST CANCER DETERMINED BY NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING

Introduction . Development of hereditary ovarian cancer (OC) and breast cancer (BC) is caused by genetic abnormalities in the DNA reparation system consisting of more than 100 genes. However, currently in the majority of medical centers in Russia, diagnosis of hereditary OC and BC consists of determination of the most frequent mutations (8 points) in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Moreover, these mutations are common in Slavic population while in other populations they are rare or altogether absent. The study objective is to perform a population analysis of mutations in the reparation system genes which must be considered during chemotherapy prescription. Materials and methods . Using next-generation sequencing (NGS), we analyzed reparation system genes in 139 blood samples of Tatar female patients with hereditary OC and BC. To compare mutation rates, 67 blood samples from Slavic female patients examined at the Federal Research Clinical Center FMBA (Moscow) in 2014-2016 were analyzed by real-time PCR. Results . Real-time PCR has shown a 5382insC (NM_007300.3:c.5329dup) mutation in 36 % of Slavic patients. The same mutation was observed only in 7 % of Tatar women. Performed NGS analysis of 139 Tatar female patients with hereditary BC and OC has identified 61 mutations in the reparation system genes, one third of which (28 %) didn’t belong to the BRCA1/BRCA2 genes. Conclusion . The NGS method allowed to identify rare mutations characterizing different ethnic groups facilitating prescription of optimal chemotherapy.

170P - Germline BRCA screening in breast cancer patients in Tatar women population

170P - Germline BRCA screening in breast cancer patients in Tatar women population

(Re)constructing Muslim Identities from the Soviet Past: Muslim Tatar Women’s Stories of Soviet Moral Selves

The revival of Islam in the central Russian republic of Tatarstan has transformed the daily landscape and the very notion of Muslim piety in the region. While a growing number of historically Muslim Tatars of all ages are embracing embodied piety, an older generation’s turn to religion is often perceived as late in coming and insincere. Based on ethnographic research and personal narratives of practicing Muslim Tatar women, I explore the ways the older women (re)construct their Muslim identities in the context of Tatars’ recent interest in Islam. Specifically, I analyze two older Tatar women’s stories about their paths to Islam. My analysis suggests that by tapping into the Soviet past, the women strive to create a continuously moral self that can serve as a solid basis for their present-day Muslim piety.

Bukhara and the Muslims of Russia: Sufism, Education, and the Paradox of Islamic PrestigeBy Allen J. Frank

In the mid-nineteenth century, Allen Frank tells us, in his richly detailed study of the relationship between Russian Muslims and the city of Bukhara, Siberian Tatar women used to observe the Transoxianan fashion of blackening their teeth and painting their fingernails yellow and red; among their menfolk, it was the custom to shave one’s head with a Bukharan razor. Whether as a trendsetter in grooming styles or a revered centre of piety and learning, Bukhara has long enjoyed a prominent standing in Russian Muslim life. In Bukhara and the Muslims of Russia, Frank ably evokes for us the shifting contours of Bukhara’s prestige among Tatars and Bashkirs over the last few centuries: and if the book ultimately ends up raising more questions than it answers, it thereby does the invaluable service of helping to stimulate our thinking about the dynamics of status and the popular imagination. As Frank observes, early in ch. 2, ‘The Religious and Social Foundations of Bukharan Prestige’ (ch. 1 comprising a discussion of sources), the status which Bukhara came to enjoy among Russian Muslims in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was initially in large part aetiological, reflecting a belief in sacred bonds tying Russian Muslim communities to a Transoxianan point of origin. Such bonds, Frank shows, were embodied in various forms, whether charter narratives ascribing communal descent to a saintly Central Asian ancestor, family genealogies tracing descent from a Central Asian sayyid, or accounts of communal conversion at the hands of Central Asian saintly missionaries. Increasingly from the early eighteenth century onwards, meanwhile, Bukhara acquired a more worldly significance in the life of Russian Muslims, as Central Asian mercantile groups implanted themselves in such cities as Astrakhan, Orenburg, Petropavlovsk and Semipalatinsk, lured by lucrative Russian tax exemptions aimed at stimulating long-distance trade across the Volga–Ural region and western Siberia. Their legal and fiscal immunities contributing in no small part to their success, these Central Asian merchant communities were a highly visible element in Russian Muslim life, their native tastes—amongst other things, in distinctively Central Asian fabrics, eyeliner, and plov—becoming signifiers of privilege amongst the wider Muslim population.

Association of polymorphic variants of FTO and MC4R genes with obesity in a Tatar population

Obesity is a chronic relapsing disease that leads to numerous ailments and requires lifelong treatment. Genetic predisposition is one of the mostly discussed aspects of obesity development, and genome-wide association studies have provided evidence that several variants of the FTO and MC4R genes are significantly associated with obesity. In this study the association of FTO (rs9939609, rs7202116, and rs9930506) and MC4R (rs12970134 and rs17782313) genes' SNPs with obesity in Tatar women has been analyzed. In the investigation 340 women with obesity (Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2) and 330 women from a control group (BMI up to 24.9 kg/m2) took part. The FTO rs9939609 (p = 0.0002) and rs9930506 (p = 0.0005) SNPs were shown to be associated with obesity risk following an additive model, while the MC4R rs12970134 (p = 0.0076) and rs1778231 (p = 0.021) SNPs were associated by a recessive model. We also showed an association of quantitative parameters (age, weight, and BMI) with two the FTO rs9939609 and rs9930506 SNPs and the association of age and the MC4R rs12970134 SNP. Our study demonstrates the role of genetic variability in FTO and MC4R genes in obesity development in Tatar women from Russia.

“Piety Stories”: Muslim Tatar Women’s Identity Performance, Negotiation, and Transformation through Storytelling

This article examines “piety stories”—Muslim Tatar women’s narratives about adopting daily Islamic practices, such as five prayers or headscarves, in Tatarstan, Russia. I argue that sharing piety stories is a communicative way of performing identities, negotiating group memberships, and reaffirming one’s commitment to Muslim piety. These narratives provide a discursive way for the speaker to practice being a Muslim and for the audience, a blueprint for becoming one. By detailing a way of being where Muslim piety becomes one’s moral compass and source of agency, piety stories illustrate a culturally meaningful relationship among identity, Muslim piety, and local communicative practices.

“Islam as a Pillar”: Muslim Tatar Women's Narratives on Tatars' Identity and the Future

Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Tatarstan, Russia, this article explores a particular vision of Tatar identity that is gaining recognition among an increasing number of Tatars. Such vision reflects both the older generation's concern for preserving Tatar ethnicity and the younger generation's search for a moral compass. The author concludes that this vision reflects both Tatars' growing interest in Islam and their collective concerns over their identity and the future in light of the Tatar Muslim revival in a country that is struggling to define its national identity and role in the world arena.

Muslim Revival in Tatarstan

This article examines post-Soviet Muslim revival among the Volga Tatars, historically Sunni (Hanafi) Muslims, in the central Russian Republic of Tatarstan. Drawing on ethnographic research among practicing Muslim Tatar women and discourse analysis of their piety stories, I argue that at the heart of the revival is the Tatars’ debate over the extent and nature of Islam that should be part of Tatar identity. In this debate, sources of Islamic knowledge and physical manifestations of Muslim piety function as the primary, if inaccurate, indicators of one’s Muslim identity. I conclude that practicing Muslim Tatars are aware of the role their religious education and physical practices play in others’ (often stereotypical) perceptions of them, and they deal with such perceptions by (re)negotiating their religious identities in personal narratives.