The Chuvash are what a group of peoples. Myths and beliefs of the ancient Chuvash

And behavior. The Chuvash people live in the center of the European part of Russia. Character traits character are integrally linked with the traditions of these amazing people.

Origins of the people

About 600 kilometers from Moscow is the city of Cheboksary, the center of the Chuvash Republic. Representatives of a colorful ethnic group live on this land.

There are many versions about the origin of this people. It is most likely that the ancestors were Turkic-speaking tribes. These people began migrating west as early as the 2nd century BC. e. Seeking a better life, they came to the modern territories of the republic back in the 7th-8th centuries and three hundred years later created a state that was known as Volga Bulgaria. This is where the Chuvash came from. The history of the people could have been different, but in 1236 the state was defeated by the Mongol-Tatars. Some people fled from the conquerors to the northern lands.

The name of this people is translated from Kyrgyz as “modest”, according to the old Tatar dialect - “peaceful”. Modern dictionaries They claim that the Chuvash are “quiet”, “harmless”. The name was first mentioned in 1509.

Religious preferences

The culture of this people is unique. Elements of Western Asia can still be traced in rituals. The style was also influenced by close communication with Iranian-speaking neighbors (Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans). The Chuvash adopted not only their everyday life and economy, but also their manner of dressing. Their appearance, costume features, character and even religion were obtained from their neighbors. So, even before joining the Russian state, these people were pagans. The supreme god was called Tura. Later, other faiths began to penetrate into the colony, in particular Christianity and Islam. Those who lived on the lands of the republic worshiped Jesus. Allah became the head of those who lived outside the area. In the course of events, Muslims became dissatisfied. Still today most of representatives of this people profess Orthodoxy. But the spirit of paganism is still felt.

Merging two types

Various groups influenced the appearance of the Chuvash. Most of all - the Mongoloid and Caucasian races. That is why almost all representatives of this people can be divided into fair-haired Finns and representatives of dark hair. Blonde hair is characterized by light brown hair, gray eyes, pallor, a wide oval face and a small nose, the skin is often covered with freckles. At the same time, they are somewhat darker in appearance than Europeans. Brunettes' locks are often curled, their eyes are dark brown and narrow in shape. They have poorly defined cheekbones, a depressed nose and a yellow skin type. It is worth noting here that their features are softer than those of the Mongols.

The Chuvash differ from neighboring groups. Characteristic for both types are a small oval head, a low bridge of the nose, narrowed eyes, and a small, neat mouth. Average height, not prone to obesity.

Casual look

Each nationality has a unique system of customs, traditions and beliefs. It was no exception, and from ancient times these people made cloth and canvas independently in every house. Clothing was made from these materials. Men were supposed to wear a linen shirt and trousers. If it became cool, a caftan and a sheepskin coat were added to their look. The Chuvash had patterns unique to themselves. The woman’s appearance was successfully emphasized by unusual ornaments. All things were decorated with embroidery, including the wedged shirts that the ladies wore. Later, stripes and checks became fashionable.

Each branch of this group had and still has its own preferences for the color of clothing. Thus, the south of the republic has always preferred rich shades, and northwestern fashionistas loved light fabrics. Each woman's outfit included wide Tatar trousers. A mandatory element is an apron with a bib. It was especially diligently decorated.

In general, the appearance of the Chuvash is very interesting. The description of the headdress should be highlighted in a separate section.

Status determined by helmet

Not a single representative of the people could walk with his head uncovered. This is how a separate movement in the direction of fashion arose. Such things as tukhya and hushpu were decorated with special imagination and passion. The first one was worn on the head unmarried girls, the second was only for married women.

At first, the hat served as a talisman, a talisman against misfortune. Such an amulet was treated with special respect and decorated with expensive beads and coins. Later, such an object not only decorated the appearance of the Chuvash, it began to speak about the social and marital status of a woman.

Many researchers believe that the shape of the headdress resembles Others provide a direct link to understanding the design of the Universe. Indeed, according to the ideas of this group, the earth had a quadrangular shape, and in the middle stood the tree of life. The symbol of the latter was a bulge in the center, which distinguished a married woman from a girl. Tukhya had a pointed conical shape, hushpu was round.

The coins were chosen with special care. They had to be melodic. Those that hung from the edges hit each other and rang. Such sounds scared away evil spirits - the Chuvash believed in this. The appearance and character of a people are directly related.

Ornament code

The Chuvash are famous not only for their soulful songs, but also for their embroidery. The skill grew over generations and was passed down from mother to daughter. It is in the ornaments that one can read the history of a person, his belonging to a separate group.

The main embroidery is clear geometry. The fabric should only be white or gray. It’s interesting that girls’ clothes were decorated only before the wedding. There was not enough time for this in family life. Therefore, what they did in their youth was worn for the rest of their lives.

Embroidery on clothes complemented the appearance of the Chuvash. It contained encrypted information about the creation of the world. Thus, the tree of life and eight-pointed stars, rosettes or flowers were symbolically depicted.

After the popularization of factory production, the style, color and quality of the shirt changed. The older people grieved for a long time and assured that such changes in the wardrobe would bring disaster to their people. And indeed, over the years, true representatives of this genus are becoming fewer and fewer.

World of traditions

Customs say a lot about a people. One of the most colorful rituals is a wedding. The character and appearance of the Chuvash, traditions are still preserved. It is worth noting that in ancient times wedding ceremony no priests, shamans or government officials were present. Guests of the event witnessed the creation of a family. And everyone who knew about the holiday visited the homes of the newlyweds’ parents. Interestingly, divorce was not perceived as such. According to the canons, lovers who married in front of their relatives should be true friend friend for the rest of my life.

Previously, the bride had to be 5-8 years older than her husband. When choosing a partner, the Chuvash put their appearance last. The character and mentality of these people required that, first of all, the girl be hardworking. They gave the young lady in marriage after she mastered housekeeping. An adult woman was also tasked with raising a young husband.

Character is in customs

As previously mentioned, the very word from which the name of the people comes is translated from most languages ​​as “peace-loving”, “calm”, “modest”. This meaning absolutely corresponds to the character and mentality of this people. According to their philosophy, all people, like birds, sit on different branches of the big tree of life, each is a relative of the other. Therefore, their love for each other is limitless. The Chuvash people are very peaceful and kind people. The history of the people does not contain information about attacks on the innocent and arbitrariness against other groups.

The older generation keeps traditions and lives according to the old pattern, which they learned from their parents. Lovers still get married and swear fidelity to each other in front of their families. Often arranged mass celebrations, in which the Chuvash language sounds sonorously and melodiously. People wear the best suits, embroidered according to all the canons. They cook traditional lamb soup - shurpa, and drink home-made beer.

The future is in the past

IN modern conditions With urbanization, traditions in villages are disappearing. At the same time, the world is losing its independent culture and unique knowledge. Nevertheless, the Russian government is aimed at maximizing the interest of contemporaries in the past different nations. The Chuvash are no exception. Appearance, features of life, color, rituals - all this is very interesting. To show the younger generation the culture of the people, university students of the republic hold impromptu evenings. Young people speak and sing in the Chuvash language.

The Chuvash live in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, so their culture is successfully breaking through into the world. Representatives of the people support each other.

Recently it was translated into Chuvash language main book Christians - the Bible. Literature is flourishing. The ornaments and clothing of the ethnic group inspire famous designers to create new styles.

There are still villages where they still live according to the laws of the Chuvash tribe. The appearance of men and women in such gray hair is traditionally folk. The great past is preserved and revered in many families.

At different times, scientists put forward various theories of the origin of the Chuvash - either from the Khazars (A. A. Fuks, P. Hunfalvi), then from the Burtas (A. F. Rittich, V., A. Sboev), then from the Huns (V. V. . Bartold), then from the Finno-Ugric peoples (N.M. Karamzin, I.A. Firsov), then from the ancient Avars (M.G. Khudyakov), then from the Volga Bulgarians (V.N. Tatishchev, N.I. Ashmarin, 3. Gombots), then from the Sumerians (N. Ya. Marr), etc. In total, they come down to the following concepts:

1) the basis of the Chuvash people (ethnic group) is the local Finno-Ugric (Mari) population, which experienced strong cultural and especially linguistic influence from the alien Turkic-speaking Bulgarian-Suvar tribes;

2) as an ethnic group, the Chuvash were formed mainly on the basis of the pre-Bulgarian Turks, who supposedly penetrated in large numbers into the Middle Volga region until the 6th century. n. e., that is, before the Bulgarians and Suvars appeared here;

3) The so-called Kazan school. Some Kazan researchers are searching for evidence of the hypothesis about the beginning of the formation of the Chuvash ethnic group on the basis of Turkic-speaking tribes that allegedly penetrated the region in the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e. She claimed that the ancestors of the Chuvash appeared earlier than the Volga Bulgarians.

The first of these concepts (“autochthonous theory”) did not stand up to criticism and is now not supported by anyone, since its supporters ignored the role of Turkic-speaking tribes - one of the main ethnic components of the Chuvash - and in their research were limited to the territory of the Chuvash region and the later stages of ethnic history.

As for the second concept, it began to be actively developed only in the last twenty years. A number of prominent scientists (R. G. Kuzeev, V. A. Ivanov, etc.) attribute the time of mass penetration of the Turks into the Volga-Ural region to the last centuries of the 1st millennium AD. e. and they connect this precisely with the migration of Bulgarian tribes from the North Caucasus and the Azov region. At the same time, one of the convincing evidence of the late migration of the Turks to the Middle Volga region is the weak and unclear identification of ethnic groups among the newcomer Turks in comparison with the neighboring Finno-Ugric peoples. The ethnic differentiation of the Chuvash, Tatars, Bashkirs - that is, those peoples who were closely connected with the Volga Bulgarians in their history - into independent nationalities ended relatively late, only in the 13th-16th centuries.

The question arises, what exactly is the Bulgarian heritage of the Chuvash? The most fundamental argument is language, for Chuvash is the only surviving language of the Bulgarian branch. It differs from all other Turkic languages ​​in that the sound “z” in them in the Chuvash language corresponds to the sound “r” (so-called rhotacism), and the sound “sh” corresponds to the sound “l” (lambdaism). Rhotacism and lambdaism are also characteristic of the Bulgarian language. For example, Chuv. kher "girl" - common Turkic. kyz; Chuv. khel "winter" - common Turkic. - shoo, etc.

In the development of the Bulgarian theory of the origin of the Chuvash, a huge role was played by the discovery of Chuvash words in the texts of the Volga-Bulgarian tombstone inscriptions of the 13th-16th centuries, made in the 19th century. Kazan researcher X. Feyzkhanov, and the discovery of elements of the Chuvash type language in the ancient Slavic-Bulgarian source - “The Name Book of the Bulgarian Princes”. The similarity of the economy, life and culture of the Chuvash and Bulgarians is also evidenced by numerous archaeological studies. The first ones inherited from their rural ancestors the types of dwellings, the layout of the estate, the location of the house inside the estate with a blank wall facing the street, rope ornaments for decorating gate posts, etc. According to experts, white women's clothing, headdresses (tukhya, hushpu, surban), jewelry (belts, braids), which were common among the Chuvash until recently, were common among the Bulgarians, including the Danube. In the pre-Christian religion of the Chuvash, constituting the most important part of the ethnic specificity of spiritual culture, the Old Bulgarian pagan cults, containing some features of Zoroastrianism - the religions of the ancient ethnic groups of Iran and Central Asia.

The concept of Bulgarian-Chuvash ethnic continuity is believed to be confirmed, further developed and specified in modern research on archaeology, ethnography, linguistics, folklore and art of the peoples of the region. To date, significant material has been accumulated and partially published, characterizing the main stages of ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the Chuvash people. Of great value are the works of V. F. Kakhovsky, V. D. Dimitriev, M. F. Fedotov and A. A. Trofimov, in which, unlike some other works, problems Chuvash history, culture and language are considered taking into account many factors. In recent decades, major studies by Chuvash scientists have appeared on various aspects of the traditional culture of the people, economic activity, public and family life, features of folk knowledge and philosophy, artistic creativity, modern social and ethnic processes.

The ancestors of the Bulgarian tribes, like all Turks, came from Central Asia. On this vast territory since the 3rd millennium BC. e. The ancient ancestors of the Turkic-speaking peoples, the Huns, were widely settled. In the neighborhood lived also Mongolian, Tungus-Manchu, Finno-Ugric, Indo-European tribes, who in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. e. were conquered by the Huns. The Huns were under strong linguistic and cultural influence from China. Some scholars consider the Chuvash unity language to be a remnant of the language of the ancient Huns. A closer ethnic group from which the Bulgarians came are considered to be the Oguro-Onogurs, who lived in the northern ostrogans of the Tien Shan and in the upper reaches of the Irtysh. The area of ​​formation of sabirs (suvars) also lay in the regions of the Irtysh. The time of stay of the ancestors of the Bulgarian and Suvar tribes in Central Asia was imprinted so clearly that it is no less reflected in the culture, especially the language of the Chuvash. The Chuvash have a number of strong parallels with the Turkic peoples of Altai and Southern Siberia, in particular the Khakass, Uighurs, Shors, Tuvinians, and Altaians. Manifests itself in the commonality of elements of utensils, housing, ornaments, etc. In addition, the main elements ancient religion The Sayan-Altai Turks are manifested in the complex of the pagan cult of the Chuvash. The Chuvash language has preserved the most ancient words used in the era of weak isolation of the Turkic and Mongolian languages.

Chuvash (Chuvash. chăvashsem) - Turkic people, the main population of the Chuvash Republic (Russia). The number is about 1.5 million, of which in Russia 1 million 435 thousand according to the results of the 2010 census. Approximately half of all Chuvash living in Russia live in Chuvashia, the rest live in almost all regions of Russia, and a small part lives outside the Russian Federation, largest groups in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
According to recent research, the Chuvash are divided into three ethnographic groups:
riding Chuvash (viryal or turi) - northwestern Chuvashia;
middle-low Chuvash (anat enchi) - northeast Chuvashia;
lower Chuvash (anatri) - the south of Chuvashia and beyond;
Steppe Chuvash (Khirti) are a subgroup of the lower Chuvash, identified by some researchers, living in the southeast of the republic and in adjacent regions.

Traditional clothing clearly reflects historical development, social and natural conditions of existence, aesthetic preferences, as well as ethnic group and ethno-territorial characteristics of the Chuvash people. The basis of women's and men's clothing was the white kĕpe shirt.
It was made from one piece of hemp (hemp) canvas, folded in half and sewn along the longitudinal line. The sides were covered with straight inserts and wedges that extended the silhouette of the shirt downward. Straight and narrow sleeves 55-60 cm long were sewn in at right angles and complemented by a square gusset.

Women's shirts had a height of 115-120 cm and a central chest slit. They were decorated with embroidered patterns on both sides of the chest, along the sleeves, along the longitudinal seams and along the hem. The outline of the patterns was made with black threads, their colors were dominated by red, with additional colors being green, yellow and dark blue. The main patterns were chest rosettes kĕskĕ or diamond-shaped suntăkh figures (pushtĕr, konchĕk, kĕsle) made of red homespun or chintz ribbons.
Men's shirts were 80 cm high and were more modestly decorated. The right-sided chest section was highlighted by stripes of an embroidered pattern and red ribbons, as well as a triangular red patch.

At the end of the 19th century, shirts made of colored homespun ulach canvas in blue or red checks spread among the lower group of Anatri. They were decorated with chintz stripes along the chest and shoulders, and along the hem with 1-2 frills made of colored factory fabric or colored homespun canvas. An apron was tied over the shirt - ornamented, made of white canvas or colored, made of red, blue, green motley. The riding Chuvash wore a white sappun apron with a bib, decorated with patterns on the hem.
They girded themselves with 1-2 pikhhi belts and covered the back of the figure with pendants different types: antique decorations made of pipes and black fringe khÿre, embroidered sară accessories, on the sides - paired bright pendants. Until the 20th century, the Chuvash had a special type of swinging ritual clothing like a traditional robe - a white straight-backed shupăr. It featured long narrow sleeves and rich ornamentation with a combination of embroidery and appliqué at the top, along the sides and along the hem. A mandatory accessory for women's and men's clothing were white yĕm trousers with a wide leg, ankle-length or longer.

Festive and ritual headdresses are varied and decorative. Girls wore rounded tukhya hats, decorated with beadwork and silver coins. Married women They always covered their heads with surpan - a white strip of thin canvas with ornamented ends that went down to the shoulder and along the back. IN common days over the surpan they tied a similar-shaped but narrower headband puç tutri (or surpan tutri), and on holidays - an elegant headdress khushpu, which was distinguished by rich coin decoration and the presence of a vertical back part. Based on their shape, 5-6 local types of hushpu can be distinguished: cylindrical, hemispherical, round with a small apex, like a high or low truncated cone, as well as a tight-fitting hoop.

A single ensemble with elegant headdresses consisted of decorations made of coins, beads, beads, corals and cowrie shells. They had a symbolic, functional and aesthetic meaning, differing in women's and girls', and according to their location on the figure - head, neck, shoulder, chest, waist.

Outerwear and shoes
Pustav robes and săkhman caftans were used as demi-season clothing; fitted kĕrĕk fur coats were used for winter; for long trips they wore long, voluminous sheepskin sheepskin coats or straight-back cloth chapans. Men's hats were not very diverse: there were cloth hats with brims and fur hats.

Everyday shoes were bast shoes (çăpata) woven from linden bast, which the upper Chuvash wore with black cloth onuchs, and the lower ones - with white woolen or cloth stockings (tăla chălkha). Festive footwear was leather boots or shoes, in the riding group - Wellingtons into an accordion. Since the end of the 19th century, high women's leather lace-up boots began to appear. White, gray and black felt boots served as winter footwear.
Like most peoples of the Volga region, children's clothing was similar to adult clothing, but did not have rich ornamentation and iconic decorations.

Since the 1930s, traditional clothing has been widely replaced by urban clothing. However, in the rural environment, national complexes have been preserved to this day almost everywhere, especially in remote areas. They are mainly used as festive and ritual clothing, as well as in folklore and stage activities. The traditions of folk costume are developing in the creativity of many folk craftsmen and artists, in the work of folk arts and crafts enterprises.

Modern fashion designers do not reconstruct traditional outfits, but create costumes based on associative ideas and the study of museum originals. They strive to understand the origins and meaning of patterns and preserve the value of handcraft and natural materials. The most active and talented ones participate in prestigious contemporary fashion competitions at the regional and Russian levels.

Rural craftsmen make festive costumes for national weddings in villages and cities. Such “updated” outfits sometimes use authentic khushpu headdresses and jewelry. They still retain their significance as the most important semantic, aesthetic and sacred center of the Chuvash costume.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads.
Official portal of the authorities of the Chuvash Republic
Brief Chuvash Encyclopedia
Ashmarin N. I. Bulgarians and Chuvashs - Kazan: 1902.
Ashmarin N. I. Ancient Bulgarians. — Kazan: 1903.
Braslavsky L. Yu. Orthodox churches of Chuvashia - Chuvash book publishing house. Cheboksary, 1995
Dimitriev V. D. Peaceful annexation of Chuvashia to the Russian state Cheboksary, 2001
Ivanov L. M. Prehistory of the Chuvash people
Ivanov V.P., Nikolaev V.V., Dimitriev V.D. Chuvash: ethnic history and traditional culture Moscow, 2000
Kakhovsky V.F. Origin of the Chuvash people. — 2003.
Nikolaev V.V., Ivanov-Orkov G.N., Ivanov V.P. Chuvash costume: from antiquity to modern times / Scientific and artistic publication. - Moscow - Cheboksary - Orenburg, 2002. 400 p. Ill.
Nikolsky N.V. A short course in the ethnography of the Chuvash. Cheboksary, 1928.
Nikolsky N.V. Collected works. — In 4 volumes — Cheboksary: ​​Chuv. book publishing house, 2007—2010.
Peoples of Russia: pictorial album, St. Petersburg, printing house of the Public Benefit Partnership, December 3, 1877, Art. 317
Petrov-Tenekhpi M.P. About the origin of the Chuvash.
Chuvash // Bashkortostan (Atlas). — M.: Design. Information. Cartography, 2010. - 320 p. — ISBN ISBN 5-287-00450-8
Chuvash // Peoples of Russia. Atlas of cultures and religions. — M.: Design. Information. Cartography, 2010. - 320 p. — ISBN 978-5-287-00718-8

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………2

Bulgaro-Suvar theory……………………………………..3-4

Bulgarian theory……………………………………………………………...5-6

Suvar theory……………………………………………………………....7-8

Pre-Bulgaro-Turkic theory……………………………………..9-10

Bulgaro-Mari theory……………………………………..11

Autochthonous theory…………………………………………………………….12-17

Criticism of the autochthonous theory………………………………….17-19

Conclusion………………………………………………………20

Introduction

The Chuvash people were first mentioned only in the 16th century, in connection with the campaigns of Moscow troops against Kazan. But this does not mean that the people did not exist before this, although they were not mentioned by any source. It follows from this that the Chuvash people existed under a different name.

In the scientific community, it is customary to classify the Chuvash as the Volga Bulgars and Chuvash; the Chuvash themselves also identify themselves with these peoples in their legends. Nevertheless, there are several theories about the origin of the Chuvash people: Bulgaro-Suvar, Bulgar, Suvar, pre-Bulgaro-Turkic, Bulgaro-Mari, autochthonous, Scythian-Sarmatian, Finno-Ugric, Mari, Vedas, Suvaz. Let's take a closer look at them.

Bulgaro-Suvar theory

According to historians A.B. Bulatov and V.D. Dimitriev, one of the proofs of the position about the decisive role of the Bulgaro-Suvars in the ethnogenesis of the Chuvash is the existence of direct parallels between religion and family relations of the Suvars (Savirs) of the 7th century. and Chuvash of later times, as well as the existence of similar forms of religion among the Bulgars of the 8th-13th centuries. .

The works of V. N. Almantai have made a great contribution to the popularization of the Suvaro-Bulgar theory in recent years. He in his work “Who are we Suvaro-Bulgars or Chuvash?” explores in detail historical data regarding the history of the Chuvash people. According to his theory, the name “Chuvash” was not attached to the people immediately, but gradually during the historical development of the nation. “Chuvash” at first called people of Tatar origin, the small peasantry, later “Chuvash” was the name for pagans, and this word was synonymous with “atheism.” Since the Bulgaro-Suvars were previously pagans, this name was attached to them, although they did not suspect it until the 18th century.

There is another theory that the Bulgaro-Suvars were forced to hide their origin. Almantay writes: “In mid-18th century century, the situation of the peasants becomes unbearable. In addition to all sorts of burdensome taxes, landowners, monasteries, churches and clergy took land from peasants and forced them to collect money for the construction of churches. The local clergy did everything to offend the national feelings of the Suvars, who adhered to their ethnic religion. It was for this reason that those who had something to lose left their homes. Many moved to the Volga region, the steppe regions of Bashkiria and other places.

For many, hatred of the exploiters overflowed the cup of patience. When the Peasant War began under the leadership of E.I. Pugachev, riots broke out in the Middle Volga region. The Suvaro-Bulgar peasants came out under their natural self-name “sapir”; it, like a talisman, united the people to fight injustice. Apparently, the Suvars never forgot their origin, which was reflected in the epigraphic monuments of the 17th-18th centuries.

In August 1774, the combined forces of the tsarist punitive forces defeated the Suvar rebels, the number of killed was more than a hundred people. This was the last united uprising on the territory of the modern Chuvash Republic. After its suppression, persecution and reprisals against the rebels begin. Their most distinguished representatives were hanged on the gallows, quartered, executed on the scaffold, and many were sent into exile.

As a result, the same thing happened after the devastation of Volga Bulgaria by the Mongol-Tatars was repeated: people were forced to hide their own self-name “suvar” or “sapir”, the very mention of which infuriated the punitive forces. Thus, the people had to renounce their Suvaro-Bulgar ancestral roots for the second time in their history, suppress and hide their origin.”

Bulgarian theory

For the first time, V.V. wrote about the Bulgarian origin of the Chuvash in the 18th century. N. Tatishchev in his work “Russian History”: “Chuvash, Bulgarian people, near Kazan”; "The remaining Bulgarian peoples of the Chuvash".

In the 40s XIX century Czech scientist P.I. Safarik, citing data from historical sources, concluded that the Chuvash are descendants of the Volga Bulgarians.

In 1863, the Tatar scientist Hussein Feyzkhanov published an article “Three Bulgarian funerary inscriptions,” in which he presented to the scientific community the results of deciphering Bulgarian epitaphs in Chuvash words.

Based on the data presented by Kh. Feyzkhanov, N. I. Ilminsky published an article about Chuvash words in the Bulgarian language.

After the publication in 1866 of “The Name Book of the Bulgarian Tsars,” Academician A. A. Kunik stated in the press that in the Chuvash he sees the remnants of the Volga Bulgarians, that the Chuvash “long before the invasion of the Tatars” settled in the Middle Volga region, and “the Khagan-Bulgars on the Danube, the black Bulgarians in the Kuban” are associated with the Chuvash.

Professor of Kazan University I. N. Smirnov, in the book “Cheremis”, studied the Chuvash words borrowed by the Eastern and Western Mari. In his conclusions, he indicated that the Bulgarian language corresponded to the Chuvash language.

In 1897, the Finnish scientist H. Paasonen published the work “Turkic words in the Mordovian language,” in which he examined mainly Chuvash borrowings, indicating Bulgarian influence.

In the historical and linguistic research of N.I. Ashmarin “Bulgars and Chuvashs”, published in 1902, summarizes everything known by the beginning of the twentieth century. The following conclusions were drawn from the Bulgarakhi:

1) “The language of the Volga Bulgarians is identical with modern Chuvash”;

2) “The Chuvash of our time are nothing more than direct descendants of the Volga Bulgarians”;

3) “The mixing of Turkic Bulgarians with the Finns who lived next door to them and turning them into a special mixed race, which however preserved the Bulgarian language and the Bulgarian national name (Chuvash), began very early, at least before the 10th century... There will be no obstacles to considering those Bulgarians who lived on the Volga... very close in their ethnic composition to modern Chuvash people."

In his work “Volga Bulgarians,” written in 1904, I. N. Smirnov came to the conclusion that the Bulgarian language is an ancient Chuvash language, Volga Bulgaria is an ancient Chuvash state, and Bulgarian culture is an ancient Chuvash culture.

Suvar theory

The identification of the Chuvash with the Suvars is found in the historical and ethnographic essay of Aristarkh Speransky, published in Kazan in 1914. He believed that the Mohammedan Bulgarians merged with the Mohammedan Tatars. The aristocratic Kazan kingdom was formed, in which the military class consisted of Tatars, the trading class of Bulgarians, and the agricultural class of Chuvash-Savars. The Tsar's power extended to the foreigners of the region, who began to convert to Mohammedanism. This continued until 1552, when Kazan was taken and conquered by Moscow, but the transition of foreigners to Mohammedanism continues to this day. This explains the fact that the Turkic type in the Tatars is very weak, and the Finnish-Chuvash one is very significant.

N. Ya. Marr also wrote about the Suvar origin of the Chuvash. At the same time, he did not oppose the Suvar and the Bulgars, calling them “people of the same breed.”

“Suvar - such a tribal name existed under the Bulgarians and that by this name we must understand the Chuvash, as is now revealed by Japhetic linguistics, namely our specific Chuvash from the right bank of the Volga,” he writes.

At a special session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Moscow, April 1946) to substantiate the genetic connection of the Volga Bulgars with the Kazan Tatars, Kazan historian and archaeologist N. F. Kalinin put forward the Suvar hypothesis of the ethnogenesis of the Chuvash in which there was no longer a place for the Bulgars. He believes that the monuments of writing of the Chuvash population are epitaphs of the “second style” widespread in Tatarstan with “Chuvashisms” and with simplified Kufic traditional graphics. This is a manifestation of special ethnic group, who originally lived in Bulgaria, which can be called Turkic-Chuvash or Suvar, which in earlier centuries had its own political center (the city of Suvar), its own feudal nobility. With the loss of Suvar's previous position, with the rise of the city of Bulgar, and then with the Mongol conquest and a strong reshuffling of the population, in particular the descendants of the Suvar nobility, who had lost political influence, found themselves in the position of the former aristocracy, adhering to old traditions in language and customs.

In 2011, the modern Tatar historian A.G. Mukhamadiev also turned to the hypothesis of N.F. Kalinin to deny the Bulgaro-Chuvash ethnic and linguistic continuity. At the same time, the change of name from “Suvara” to “Savashi”-“Chavashi”, according to the assumption of A.G. Mukhamadiev, occurred during the time of Great Bulgaria.

“Suvars, apparently, became “Savash”-“Chavash” much later, during the formation of the state of Great Bulgaria in the Middle and Lower Volga, inclusive, although it should be mentioned that on the monuments of the 2nd style the letter “s” is usually written in the original way: s three dots below. This is a clear sign that this letter had a peculiar pronunciation: something between “s” and “ch”. By the way, phonetic variants of the hydronyms “savir”, “suvar” in the form “chumar”, “shuvar”, that is, close in pronunciation to the modern Chuvash language, were recorded between Badakhshan and the Lower Volga,” he writes in his work “A New Look at History Huns, Khazars, Great Bulgaria and the Golden Horde."

Pre-Bulgaro-Turkic hypothesis

In 1971, the Institute of Language, Literature and History. G. Ibragimov of the Kazan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences published a collection of articles in which questions of the origin of the Turkic-speaking peoples of the Middle Volga region were raised and a historical interpretation of some archaeological monuments was given.

In 1972, reviews of this collection were published, prepared by G. E. Kornilov and A. P. Smirnov.

The problems raised in the collection “Questions of the ethnogenesis of the Turkic-speaking peoples of the Middle Volga region” are of fundamental importance. Their study and solution are by no means caused by the fact that “there is a long-standing dispute between Tatar and Chuvash historians and archaeologists about the Bulgarian heritage,” as A.P. Smirnov is trying to present.

In his response article, A.P. Smirnov once again criticized the article of the Tatar archaeologist A.Kh. Khalikov, pointing out his lack of evidence confirming any significant resettlement of Turkic tribes to the Middle Volga region in the pre-Bulgar era.

V. A. Oborin is right in noting the excessive exaggeration of the role of the Ugric and Turkic population in the Kama region in the works of V. F. Gening and A. X. Khalikov. “The material we have allows us to believe that the Turks began to actively penetrate to the north only from the era of the Khazar Kaganate and Volga Bulgaria, which was reflected in written sources, as well as in jewelry and ceramics, not to mention weapons - swords and arrows . These introductions had a significant impact on the composition of the local population, as we can judge from anthropological data.”

“Currently, we do not have data that allows us to talk about the early Turkization of the population of the Western Urals. Turkic elements, which can be identified in Transbaikalia, on the territory of Tuva, and Central Asia, appear in the Middle Volga only in the Bulgar era. We have no reason to talk about this for an earlier time,” Smirnov answers the group of researchers.

In 2001, Tatar historians D.M. Iskhakov and I.L. Izmailov again “raised” the ideas of A.Kh. Khalikov, writing that in the 5th century in the forests of the Oka-Sviyazhsk interfluve, that is, in the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Mordovian and Chuvash Republics, groups of nomadic Ogur-Turkic tribes settled, giving rise to the formation of the Chuvash ethnic group. It is not possible to verify the assumptions of these Tatar historians due to the lack of references to sources of information.

The power of the European Huns, which arose in Pannonia, apparently included the European steppes up to the Volga. The conglomerate of multilingual peoples was fragile. Soon after the death of their leader Attila (452), the power collapsed, and the rebel peoples defeated the Huns in the Battle of Nedao (454), forcing the Akatsir Hun tribe to retreat to the Volga region (Jordan. pp. 37, 262-263), where they were absorbed by a new force - Bulgarians. Perhaps it was at this time or somewhat earlier that one of the groups of Ogur-Turkic tribes, defeated in the steppe, retreated into the forests of the Oka-Sviyazhsk interfluve, giving rise to the formation of modern Chuvash.

Bulgaro-Mari hypothesis.

In his Ph.D. thesis, I.V. Antonov suggests that the emergence of the Chuvash ethnic group is associated with the mixing of a small part of the Bulgars with the former Mari population of the territory of modern Chuvashia. “The bulk of the surviving Bulgar population, along with the alien nomads and Finno-Ugric peoples of the Kama region, joined the ethnic community of the Kazan Tatars, while in the Sursko-Sviyazhsk interfluve in the 13th century. A small part of the Bulgars moved out, the result of their mixing with the former Mari population was the emergence of the Chuvash ethnos.”

Autochthonous hypothesis.

The formation of the autochthonous hypothesis is associated with the publication of the Resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of August 9, 1944 “On the state and measures to improve mass-political and ideological work in the Tatar party organization” and the subsequent decisions adopted at a special session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences USSR (Moscow, April 1946) and a scientific session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Chuvash Research Institute (Moscow, January 1950).

The materials of the scientific session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Chuvash Research Institute (Moscow, January 1950) were published in the journal Soviet Ethnography.

The main provisions of the autochthonous hypothesis of Chuvash ethnogenesis were determined by the Bulgaro-Tatar hypothesis of the ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars, which received official status at a special session organized on April 25-26, 1946 by the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences together with the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. P. N. Tretyakov wrote about this: “The question of the origin of the Chuvash people can receive a satisfactory solution only if it is considered in inextricable connection with the question of the origin of all other peoples of the Volga-Kama region and, first of all, with the question of the origin Tatar people."

In the article “Ethnogenesis of the Chuvash according to language data,” Turkologist V. G. Egorov suggested that the local autochthonous population, who had lived in the Volga-Kama region since time immemorial and consisted of heterogeneous and multilingual forest tribes of Scythian-Sarmatian origin with hunting and fishing, mixed with Turkic pastoralists, forming a pre-Bulgarian Chuvash tribal association in which Turks were numerically dominant and the Turkic language was dominant. Subsequently, the Chuvash were assimilated by the Bulgars.

“When the Bulgar-Turks later came to the Volga, the Chuvash tribal association, due to the common language and some everyday characteristics, easily assimilated with them. This alone can explain why the neighbors of the Chuvash, like the Mari, the Udmurts, and partly the Mordovians, who, along with the Chuvash, were part of the Bulgarian kingdom, did not at all succumb to assimilation with the newcomers, preserved their language in purity, and limited themselves to only borrowing a few dozen Bulgarian words, and the Chuvash were finally Turkified,” he writes in his work “Ethnogenesis of the Chuvash according to language data.”

“...the Chuvash people were formed on the current territory gradually by mixing the aborigines of the local region with the newcomers, more cultured Bulgars. The local autochthonous population, who lived in the Volga-Kama region from time immemorial, apparently consisted of heterogeneous and multilingual forest tribes of Scythian-Sarmatian, and partly, perhaps, steppe tribes of Turkic origin who came here later. In its Turkic layer, it very easily succumbed to mixing with the alien Bulgar-Turks. It is very possible that by the 9th-10th centuries. from their mixing, a fairly strong and numerous tribal association was formed, with the large commercial and industrial city of the same name. The great economic importance of the city of Suvar is already evidenced by the fact that he minted coins, of which coins minted in the 10th century are known. in the period of time between 931 and 992. In all likelihood, the Bulgarian ethnic element was deposited in the Chuvash people as a rather powerful creative layer; it imparted the Turkic structure of speech and Turkic vocabulary to the Chuvash language.”

In the article “On the issue of the origin of the Chuvash and their language,” V. G. Egorov placed a special section “The theory of the autochthony of the Chuvash in the territory of the Middle Volga region” and, polemicizing with supporters of the Bulgarian theory of the origin of the Chuvash, declares that archaeological excavations on the territory of Chuvashia and those obtained during excavations paleoanthropological materials indicate that the Chuvash are not an alien element, but an autochthonous, original population of the local region, that they settled here long before the Bulgars. It can be assumed that the distant ancestors of the Chuvash in prehistoric times were a small isolated group of Finno-Ugric tribes.

Thus, the autochthonous, who lived in the Volga-Kama region from time immemorial, the heterogeneous and multilingual forest Scythian-Sarmatians, by 1953, V. G. Egorov turned into a no less autochthonous, primordially inhabiting the Volga-Kama region since prehistoric times, a small a separate group of Finno-Ugric tribes.

The orientalist A.P. Kovalevsky saw the ancestors of the Chuvash in the “Suvaz” tribe mentioned in the “Notes” of Ahmed ibn Fadlan: “... if on the one hand we take into account that the names Săvaz-Săvaç and Chăvash are only modifications of the same word, and on the other hand On the other hand, to pay attention to the remarkable fact pointed out by P. G. Grigoriev that the Chuvash, just like the Suvaz in 922, stubbornly refused to accept Islam for many centuries, one cannot help but see a close connection between both peoples.”

At the same time, A.P. Kovalevsky considered the Suvaz to be a non-Bulgar people of local origin, who adopted the Bulgar language from the Bulgars, but retained some dialectical features, including the presence of the sound “z” or “ç” in place of some Bulgar “r”, and also, probably , with a predominance of voiceless consonants.

With the adoption of Islam, the final Bulgarization of the nobility of the Săvaz tribe occurs, which is also reflected in the name of the new city Săvar with the final “r”. Subsequently, Săvar loses his political independence and finally submits to the Bulgar. Meanwhile, the bulk of the tribe, apparently, still refused to submit to the new orders and began to gradually move to the right bank of the Volga, where part of the tribe had probably lived before. At the same time, she retained her pagan religion and some features of her dialect. From the mixing of this part of the “people of Săvaz” or “Tsăvaz” with the local population of the right bank of the Volga, the Chuvash people were formed.

Such free interpretations of the text of “Notes” by A.P. Kovalevsky caused comments from V.D. Dimitriev, who considered that A.P. Kovalevsky’s conclusion was not supported and could not be supported by any factual data: “Kovalevsky took liberties: supposedly suvaz, having refused convert to Islam and migrated to the right bank of the Volga. In fact, ibn Fadlan writes about the Suvaz tribe, reports not about the crossing of the Suvaz to the right bank of the Volga, but only about their temporary migration from the site of King Almas and indicates that the Suvaz soon converted to Islam,” writes Dimitriev in his work “On the Justification N.I. Ashmarin’s theory of Bulgarian-Chuvash linguistic and ethnic continuity.”

The editors of the publication “Chuvash and Bulgars according to Ahmed Ibn-Fadlan” also gave several comments to A.P. Kovalevsky.

They were confused by the author’s statement that “the Suvaz tribe did not belong to the Bulgar tribes, it was of local origin.” What also remains unclear in the work is that the author does not explain why the local Suvaz tribe refused native language and mastered one of the dialects of the Bulgarian language. In this case, he limits himself only to the following remark: “the Suvaz people were not included in the composition of the real Bulgar tribes. But this, of course, does not mean that the Suvaz at that time did not speak one of the dialects of the Bulgarian language.”

It is possible that the reasons that prompted A.P. Kovalevsky to make such statements are related to the official theories of the ethnogenesis of the Tatars and Chuvash, adopted at the sessions of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1946 and 1950, especially since A.P. Kovalevsky in 1938 was convicted under Article 58 and was released only in 1945.

In the book “Volga Bulgars and Their Descendants,” written by him in collaboration with Ya. F. Kuzmin-Yumanadi in 1993, Tatar philologist M. Z. Zakiev suggested that certain Suas, a certain people who spoke Mongol, participated in the ethnogenesis of the Chuvash -Turkic mixed language and Mari. As a result, a Chuvash ethnos with a new language was formed, which chose a Finno-Ugric word meaning “river” or “water” as its self-name.

“The second part of the Suas, long before the formation of the Bulgar nation, mixed with the early ancestors of the Chuvash, who spoke a special Mongol-Turkic mixed language (possibly with the Khazar Kabars), as well as with part of the Mari. As a result of this, a new ethnic group was formed, differing in language from the early ancestors of the Chuvash, from the Suas and from the Mari. It is clear that this happened in ancient times, because the mixing of languages ​​(i.e., the formation of a third language from two) is possible only before the emergence of a class society, i.e., before the formation of a nationality. In a class society, mixing languages ​​is no longer possible; only assimilation is possible. The neighboring Mari, formed from three multilingual tribes, began to call the new tribal association suaslamari, i.e. people, men (in Suass, Mari - man, man), maybe also Mari in Suass. This ethnonym, as we already know, is used by the Mari today to designate the Chuvash. This origin of the Chuvash is also confirmed by the fact that at the initial stage of mixing the Mari part of the Suaslamari, imitating the Suas part, which called themselves river Ases, began to call themselves river Ases, using for this the Finno-Ugric word after (vede) 'river, water'. The ethnonym Veda has long served as one of the self-names of the ancestors of modern Chuvash. Referring to irrefutable evidence, Academician M. N. Tikhomirov convincingly connects the history of the Chuvash with the Vedas. Based on this and other historical facts, as well as on the materials of a modern ethnographic-linguistic expedition, the Mordovian scientist N. F. Mokshin comes to the conclusion: “The most correct opinion seems to be M. N. Tikhomirov, who pointed out the identity of the Chuvash with the Veda, the latter is mentioned in particular, in “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land”, along with the Burtases, Cheremis and Mordovians: “Burtasi, Cheremis, Veda and Mordovians fought against the great Prince Volodymyr.” An important proof that the Chuvash in the Middle Ages were indeed known in Rus' under the name Veda is the existence of this ethnonym among the Mordovians, and the Mordovians call the Chuvash by this name right up to the present time.”

M.Z. Zakiev explains the differences between the Chuvash language and the Turkic languages ​​proper by the influence of the Mongolian and Finno-Ugric languages.

“Meanwhile, objective history connects the ethnic roots of the Chuvash with the Vedas, who spoke the Finno-Ugric language of the Mari type. Apparently, even in ancient times, their language was very strongly influenced by the Mongolian language. The Vedas in the Volga region communicated very closely with the common Turkic-speaking Suas (one of the ancestors of the Bulgaro-Tatars), under the influence of this language, the Finno-Ugric language of the Veda people gradually took on the features of the Suas language, and adopted from them a new ethnonym Suas/Suvas/Chuvas/Chuvash,” writes Zakiev in “History of the Tatar people”.

Philologist M.Z. Zakiev explains the significance of his ideological and theoretical concepts on historical topics by the need to protect the national interests of the Tatar people in matters of the founding of the city of Kazan and the original ownership of the lands of modern Tatarstan.

Chuvash philologist N.I. Egorov, in contrast to M.Z. Zakiev, suggests that Veda (vyada) was not a self-name, but a Mordovian exoethnonym of the Chuvash, under which the latter were allegedly known already in the 13th century: “Author of the “Word” "mentions the vyada between the Cheremis and the Mordovians. Therefore, by vyada we should mean the Chuvash, for the Mordovians still call them vetke. This name was reflected on the map of the Moscow state of the early 17th century, compiled by the Dutch traveler Isaac Massa. V.N. Tatishchev wrote that “Mordovian Chuvash... are called vetke” (Tatishchev, 1963, II, 201). Member of the Academic Expedition of 1768-1774. I. G. Georgi stated that he calls the Chuvash Vidkas, and the Cheremis Kurke Mars. In Mordovian folklore, Chuvashia is called Vetken mastor - “Chuvash land”. Consequently, the Chuvash under the Mordovian name vyada were first mentioned in the first half of the 13th century.”

The hypothesis of M.Z. Zakiev was developed by Izhevsk Finno-Ugric scholars V.V. Napolskikh and V.S. Churakov. In their opinion, the Vedas were related to the Mari, lived on the right bank of the Volga, including the territory of today’s Chuvashia, and took part in the ethnogenesis of the Chuvash along with the Mordovians, Burtases and other Finno-Ugric and Turkic population groups of Volga Bulgaria.

Balanovo culture

Log culture

Abashevo culture

Ananyinskaya culture

Gorodets culture

Hun Empire (434 - 6th century)

Khazar Khaganate (650-969)

Volga Bulgaria (X century - 1240)

Golden Horde (1240 - 1438)

Khanate of Kazan (1438 - 1552)

Kazan Kingdom (1552 - 1708)

Kazan province (1708 - 1920)

Simbirsk province (1796 - 1924)

Chuvash Autonomous Region (1920 - 1925)

Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1925 - 1990)
Chuvashia in Stalin era(1920s - 1953)

Chuvash SSR (1990 - 1992)

Chuvash Republic (Since 1992)

The first people within modern Chuvashia appeared approx. 80 thousand years ago, during the Mikulin interglacial period: the Urazlinskaya site of this time was discovered on the territory of Chuvashia. Neolithic era (4-3 thousand BC) The Middle Volga region was inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes - the ancestors of the Mari and Mordovian peoples. In Chuvashia, Mesolithic (13-5 thousand BC) and Neolithic sites have been discovered along the rivers.

• 1 Bronze Age
• 2 Origin of the Chuvash
• 3 Chuvash as part of the Russian state
• 4 Formation of statehood
• 5 Notes
• 6 Literature
• 7 See also
• 8 Links

Bronze Age

A shift in social development occurred in the Bronze Age - in 2 thousand BC. e. Cattle breeding spread.

Origin of the Chuvash

At first new era The Turkic-speaking tribes of the Bulgars and Suvars began to move west along Semirechye and the steppes of present-day Kazakhstan, reaching in the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e. North Caucasus. Centuries-old communication with the Iranian-speaking Scythians, Saks, Sarmatians and Alans enriched the culture of the Chuvash ancestors - their economic activities, life, religion, clothing, hats, jewelry, ornaments.

In the 30-60s. VII century in the Northern Black Sea region there was public education Great Bulgaria, but under the attack of Khazaria, it disintegrated. 70s Bulgarians moved to the Volga-Kama region. The Suvars on the territory of modern Dagestan had their own principality, which since the 60s. 7th century until the 30s 8th century was dependent on the Khazar Kaganate. After the invasion in 732-37. The Suvars moved to their lands of the Arabs into the Middle Volga region and settled south of the Bulgarians. VIII century In the Middle Volga region, a Bulgarian union of tribes arose, which, under the leadership of the Bulgarians, included the Suvars and local Volga-Finnish tribes. end of the 9th century the union develops into the Volga Bulgaria, which occupied vast territories of the Middle Volga region from the Samara Luka in the south to the river. Vyatka in the north, from the Middle Kama in the east to the river. Sura in the West. The main economic activities in Volga Bulgaria were arable farming and animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, and beekeeping. Cities arose: Bolgar (capital in the 10th-11th centuries), Bilyar (capital in the 12th - early 13th centuries), Suvar, Oshel, Nokhrat. Crafts and internal and transit trade developed. Volga Bulgaria paid attention to the development of science and education; the official language was the Bulgarian language.

In X - beginning XIII century in the process of uniting the Bulgar and Suvar tribes, who spoke a language with “rotacism” (the use, unlike other Turkic languages, “r” instead of “z”), and their assimilation of part of the Finno-Ugric population, a new Volga-Bulgarian nationality was formed.

In 1236, Volga Bulgaria was devastated by the Mongol-Tatars under the leadership of Khan Batu (Batu). The territory of the Middle Volga region was included in the vassal Golden Horde Bulgar ulus. The population was constantly subjected to violence and physical destruction. According to historian V.D. Dimitriev, in the XIII - early XV centuries. About 80% of the inhabitants of the former Volga Bulgaria died. Some people moved to Prikazanye, Zakazanye, as well as to the central and northern regions of the modern territory of Chuvashia. In 1438, the Kazan Khanate broke away from the Golden Horde, which included, in addition to the Kazan Tatars, the ancestors of the Chuvash, Mari, Erzyans, Udmurts and Bashkirs.

On the territory of modern Chuvashia, as well as in the Prikazan-Zakazan region, in the Chuvash Daruga, as a result of the repeated mixing of the Bulgars with the Mari, the modern Chuvash nation was formed by the end of the 15th century. The basis of the nation was the Bulgars.

Chuvash as part of the Russian state

The Chuvash lands, located on the border between the Principality of Moscow and the Kazan Khanate, were often subject to attacks and raids from both sides.

In 1523, the troops of Shah Ali, a Moscow protege and pretender to the Kazan throne, marched from Nizhny Novgorod to the Mountain Side. His warriors ravaged the Chuvash and Cheremis lands between the Sura and Sviyaga rivers and began building a fortification at the mouth of the Sura in preparation for the capture of Kazan.

“Appeal of the Chuvash and Mountain Mari to Shah-Ali and the Russian governors.” Miniature from “The History of the Kazan Kingdom” (1551)

In 1545, the Kazan Khan Safa-Girey, who was extremely unpopular on the Mountain Side, was overthrown, who transferred the right to collect yasak from the Chuvash lands to the Kazan and Crimean feudal lords and thereby placed the Chuvash princes and Tarkhans in a humiliating and subordinate position. A year later, Safa-Girey, who had secured the support of the Nogais in exchange for transferring the Mountain Side to them, regained the Kazan throne. Soon after this, mass protests began by the right-bank Chuvash and mountain Mari, who did not want to submit to the Nogais. The rebels called on Russian troops for help. In the summer of 1551, during the founding of the city of Sviyazhsk by the Russians, the Chuvash of the Mountain Side were annexed into the Russian state (see Annexation of Chuvashia to Russia).

After the fall of Kazan in 1552 and the suppression of the anti-Moscow uprisings of 1552-57, the Chuvash who lived on the Lugovaya Side also became subjects of Moscow. Some believe that by becoming part of Russia, the Chuvash got rid of Islamic-Tatar assimilation and preserved themselves as a people. Chuvashia built the fortified cities of Cheboksary (first mentioned in chronicles in 1469, founded as a fortified city in 1555), Alatyr, Tsivilsk, Yadrin, which soon became trade and craft centers. In the 2nd half of the 16th and 17th centuries, the southern and southwestern parts of Chuvashia, abandoned in the 14th and early 15th centuries due to the robbery of the Nogai Tatars, were settled. Chuvashia became widespread land ownership Rus. light. and spirits. feudal lords (in the mid-18th century there were more than 200 landowners and 8 monastic estates in the region), the number of Russians grew (in 1795 they made up 19.2% of the total population). The right bank settlement area became the center of consolidation and growth of the Chuvash people. In the 16th-17th centuries, a significant part of the Chuvash of the Order and Zakazan moved to the Lower Trans-Kama region and Bashkiria, the other part moved to the right bank of Chuvashia, and the Chuvash who remained in place merged with the Tatars. In the 2nd half of the 16-17 centuries, the right bank Chuvash settled in the south-eastern part of Chuvashia, in the 17-18 centuries they moved to the Lower Trans-Kama region, Bashkiria, Simbirsk, Samara, Penza, Saratov, and Orenburg regions. 1795 out of 352.0 thousand of all Chuvash in Russia, 234.0 thousand (66.5%) lived on the territory of the future Chuvashia, and 118.0 thousand people lived outside its borders.

Chuvashia became an area of ​​relatively high agricultural culture. The main occupational traditions of the population are arable farming, animal husbandry, hop growing, and beekeeping. Crafts for processing wood, leather, wool, fiber, etc. became widespread. In order to suppress the production of weapons used in popular movements, the tsarist government at the beginning of the 17th century. prohibited the Chuvash and other Volga peoples from engaging in blacksmithing and silversmithing (until the 19th century). In the 2nd half. 17th century Tanneries, distilleries, and lard distilleries arose in the cities of Chuvashia. and other entrepreneurs rus. merchants. K ser. 19th century in Chuvashia there were approx. 150 brick, copper casting, spinning, silk belt and other small enterprises. 18 - 1st floor. 19th century There were up to 15 patrimonial tanneries and cloth tanneries in the region. and other manufactories, there were glasses. and cloth. f-ki.

Chuvash. the peasants paid to the tsar. treasury of money and bread. yasak, carried out labor duties, delivered to the Russian Federation. an army of one warrior from 3 yasaks (from 6 households). 20s 18th century they were included in the category of state peasants, yasak was replaced by poll tax and quitrent, the size of which was in the 18th - 1st floor. 19th century grew systematically. Chuvash. peasants were exploited by Russians. and Tatars. merchants and moneylenders, proper. patriarchal-feudal. layer - puyans and chestnuts. 17th century Chuvash. surrounding princes, hundreds and tenths princes and Tarkhans gradually thinned out; in 1718-23, together with the serving Chuvash, by decree of Peter I they were equalized with the state. peasants and assigned to perform lashman. duties. 1830s OK. 100 thousand Chuvash. the peasants were transferred to the department of appanages - the king became serfs. surnames. The Chuvash were called up for military service. service in Russian army, participated in Livon. war (1558-83), the fight against the Polish-Swedish. intervention (1611-14), Polish campaigns, Russian-Turkish wars 18th century Fatherland During the war of 1812, thousands of Chuvash selflessly fought against the Napoleons. hordes

In the middle of the 18th century. The Chuvash were subjected to Christianization, but until the 70s. 19th century their baptism was of a formal nature, sermons were conducted to the Old Slavs. and Russian languages ​​and were incomprehensible to the Chuvash. In fact, they remained adherents of pre-Christians. faith.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. the territory of Chuvashia was governed by the Order of the Kazan Palace, in the beginning. XVIII century included in the Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod provinces; according to the administrative reform of 1775, it became part of the Kazan and Simbirsk provinces. Exploitation, arbitrariness and excesses of officials, the forced imposition of Orthodoxy led to resistance from the population. The Chuvash participated in all major uprisings of the people that affected the Middle Volga region in the 16th-19th centuries: in 1571-1573, at the beginning of the 17th century, in 1634, the peasant uprisings of S. T. Razin and E. I. Pugachev . In 1842, there was an armed uprising of the Chuvash and Mari peasants (the so-called Akramov War) against the reforms of P. D. Kiselev of the state administration. peasants, up to 10 thousand people took part in the uprising.

In the 19th century, especially after the abolition of the fortress. rights, capitalist relations are developing in Chuvashia, social stratification of the village is taking place, and a small trade and industrial sector is emerging. bourgeoisie. However, compared to the central regions of Russia, this process was much slower, with a predominance of primary cap forms. entrepreneurship. By the time of the abolition of serfdom, the industry of the Chuvash region was represented by two cloth factories and three distilleries, which, with the exception of one cloth factory, belonged to landowners. In addition to them, there were small potash, glass, and silk belt manufactories. late XIX - early XX centuries. Up to three dozen factories and factories were operating, a small proletariat was formed: approx. 6 thousand people

In the timber industry and logging at the end of the 19th century. Tens of thousands of people were employed annually in seasonal work. Since the 80s XIX century Factory sawmilling is developing, up to mid. 90s XIX century 6 sawmills operated. More than 8% of the male working population of the region was employed in waste industries.

The transport network developed. The Druzhina steamship company founded a mechanical plant in 1860 in the Zvenigovsky backwater of the Cheboksary district for the construction and repair of ships. Cheboksary pier in the 1860s. sold more than 28,000 tons of goods, and at the beginning of the 20th century. - OK. 16,700 t. 1891-1894 The construction of the Alatyr - Shikhrany (Kanash) - Kazan railway line of the Moscow-Kazan Railway was underway. Woodworking enterprises arose along it, which late XIX V. became the main industry sector of the Chuvash region. 1894 The Alatyr railway workshops came into operation, becoming the largest enterprise in the region.

The absolute majority of the population of Chuvashia (approx. 96%) lived in rural areas. Its number increased from 436 thousand in 1859 to 660 thousand in 1897. During the post-reform period, agriculture gradually acquired the features of a capitalist economy. In 1905, the treasury and appanage owned 36.4% of the land, landowners and clergy - 5.4%, merchants and burghers - 1%, communal peasants - 54%, peasant owners - 2.7%, others - 0.5 %. Allotment peasant land was at the disposal of the rural community, which hampered the development of capitalist relations. The results of the Stolypin agrarian reform in Chuvashia were insignificant.

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. in Nar. Social Democratic ideas penetrate the masses. The revolutionary unrest of 1905-1907 and the subsequent decade were marked by protests by workers and peasants against the autocracy, the abolition of arrears and indirect taxes, and against the implementation of the Stolypin agrarian reform. A movement for national uplift is emerging, the national self-awareness of the people is growing. This was facilitated by the first Chuvash newspaper “Khypar” (“News”), published in 1906-1907.

During the First World War, the peasantry experienced great difficulties. Farms whose heads were mobilized went bankrupt. Dissatisfaction with the war grew. In the fall of 1916, anti-war protests began.

After the February coup, Soviets were organized in the cities and some volosts of Chuvashia, together with the bodies of the Provisional Government, most of which were headed by the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. June 1917 in Simbirsk, at the all-Chuvash congress, the Chuvash national society(ChNO), which supported the Provisional Government. The Socialist-Revolutionaries were at the head of the Black Ops. Another wing national movement did not have a completed organizational structure and was mainly represented by national organizations of soldiers and sailors at the place of service, which adhered to Bolshevik views. These two directions diverged after the October Revolution and during Civil War.

Formation of statehood

The formation of Chuvash statehood is associated with the name of the Chuvash public and political figure D. S. Elmen (1885-1932). At a meeting of Chuvash communists held on January 12, 1919 in Kazan, Elmen called on representatives of the Chuvash intelligentsia to join the work of the Chuvash department at the People's Commissariat for Nationalities of the RSFSR, of which Stalin was the people's commissar, to develop cultural construction. On January 3, 1920, a memorandum from the Chuvash department was sent to the commissariat, which officially raised the issue of autonomy for the Chuvash. In February 1920, the First All-Russian Congress of Chuvash Communists took place, discussing the issue of organizing Soviet autonomy for the Chuvash people.

On June 24, 1920, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a decree on the formation of the Chuvash Autonomous Region within the RSFSR with its center in the city of Cheboksary, which included 7 districts of the Kazan and Simbirsk provinces. The resolution was signed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR V.I. Lenin, the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee M.I. Kalinin and the Secretary of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee A.S. Enukidze. On the same day, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) considered the issue of the composition of the Chuvash Revolutionary Committee (Revkom), the chairman of which was D.S. Elmen. The Revolutionary Committee was approved as the Soviet body to lead the new administrative unit. On July 1, 1920, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) formed a temporary Chuvash regional committee of the RCP (b), whose executive secretary was also Elmen, who held this position intermittently until 1924. On August 20, 1920, on the initiative of the Revolutionary Committee in Cheboksary, in honor of the proclamation of the Chuvash Autonomous Region, a meeting was held with the participation of public organizations, guests from the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic formed on May 27, 1920, and a number of provinces of the RSFSR.

The I Chuvash Regional Congress of Trade Unions (September 6-7, 1920) and the I Chuvash Regional Conference of the RKSM (October 1920) formalized the trade union and Komsomol organizations of the Chuvash Autonomous Okrug. On October 6-9, 1920, the First Chuvash Regional Party Conference was held, which completed the formalization of the regional party organization.

On June 24, 1920, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the Chuvash Autonomous Region was formed, and on April 21, 1925, by decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, it was transformed into the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In June of the same year, the city of Alatyr with three volosts was included in its composition.

In the 1920s, the idea of ​​changing the name of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic into the Bulgarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and renaming the Chuvash into Bulgarians, following the renaming of the Cheremis into Mari, was discussed. The proposal of local historians did not receive the support of the leadership and population of the republic.

“... Chuvash bourgeois nationalists who sought to use the Bulgarian theory of the origin of the Chuvash people for their own hostile political purposes.

In a number of works published by them in the 1920s, they propagated the assertion that the Chuvash are the only, direct and pure descendants of the Volga-Kama Bulgarians, and allowed for a bourgeois-nationalist idealization of the era of the state of Volga Bulgaria.

In the works of D. P. Petrov (Yuman), M. P. Petrov, A. P. Prokopiev-Milli and other local historians, the Bulgarian period was depicted as a “golden age” in the history of the Chuvash people, social-class contradictions and the presence of oppression of exploiters in this state. During these same years, bourgeois nationalists launched a campaign to rename the Chuvash as Bulgarians, and they proposed calling the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic “Bulgarian.”

Denisov P.V. Ethnocultural parallels of the Danube Bulgarians and Chuvashs. - Cheboksary, 1969. - P. 10

The first years of the existence of the ChuvAO, and then the Czech Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, were marked by difficulties and trials, the peak of which occurred in 1921: first, a peasant uprising, brutally suppressed by the Bolsheviks, then a disastrous crop failure and a terrible famine. The Civil War in Russia caused enormous damage. With a total population of less than 1 million people. About 200 thousand people were mobilized for the war. (almost the entire working-age male population after the mobilization of the 1st World War) and about 100 thousand did not return.

In 1929-1936, the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was part of the Nizhny Novgorod (from 1932 - Gorky) region. After recovery National economy, devastated by the civil war, it was subordinated to the formation of a powerful industrial sector. potential. During the pre-war five-year plans, Chuvashia experienced to the full all the hardships of industrialization and collectivization. In the republic, woodworking, chemical, food industry, and mechanical engineering enterprises were built (Kanash Car Repair Plant, Kozlovsky House-Building Plant (now a van plant), the Sumerlinsky Tanning Extract Plant (chemical plant) and a furniture plant (van plant). In 1939, the construction of a single-track railway was completed. branch of Kanash-Cheboksary. The share of Chuvash among industrial workers reached 44% against 9.5% in 1926. By the end of the 30s, the literacy of the population was about 90%, there were about 7.5 thousand representatives of the “intelligentsia”. "Up until the 30s, the national statehood was being strengthened; there were Chuvash sections and departments in the central party, state, cultural institutions. In places of compact settlement of the Chuvash in other republics and regions, magazines and newspapers in Chuvash were published. language, prepared ped. personnel, Chuvash theaters are functioning. 1935 Chuvash Republic for outstanding achievements in the development of the people. economy and culture was awarded the Order of Lenin.

At the same time, in the 30s. The formation of administrative teams was actively completed. management system, and Chuvashia became its component element. Supporters of other views were brutally persecuted. It is assumed that in the republic. from the end 20s By 1953, more than 14 thousand people were repressed. As in plural national-state formations, most of the victims were accused of bourgeois-nationalist actions.

During the Great Patriotic War, more than 208 thousand natives of Chuvashia fought the Nazis. Of these, St. 100 thousand died. OK. 54 thousand people awarded orders and medals. Chuvashia occupies a prominent place in the number of Heroes Soviet Union. More than 80 natives of the Czechoslovak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic were awarded this high title. Natives of the Czech Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic fought selflessly in various sectors of the front. For example, according to data that has not yet been fully clarified, about 1,000 natives of the Czech Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic arrived to serve in the garrison of the Brest Fortress on the eve of the fighting. Almost all of them laid down their lives in that unequal duel. A large number of natives of the Chuvash Republic participated in the partisan movement. Many of them fought against fascist invaders on the territory of other states. From the western and central regions of the USSR, 70.5 thousand people were accepted into Chuvashia, more than 20 industrial workers were relocated. enterprises. During the war years, the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic received the challenge Red Banner of the State Defense Committee three times.

In the 50-80s. The average annual growth rate of the total volume of industrial output in Chuvashia was ahead of the all-Russian rate. 50-60s Chuvashia from agrarian-industrial. became industrial-agrarian. republic. By 1970, 26 large industrial plants had been built and put into operation. enterprises in Cheboksary: ​​cotton mill, electrical factories. performer mechanisms, electrical measuring instruments plant, tractor spare parts plant. parts, "Chuvashkabel", Alatyr plants "Electropribor", "Electroavtomat", Kanash factories of electric forklifts, paint and varnish and plastic products, etc. In 1970, the construction of the Cheboksary hydroelectric power station began, in 1972 - the Cheboksary industrial plant. tractors. These same years are notable for the strengthening of the directive nature of economics. relationships. People's reforms households did not touch upon the foundations of strict centralized planning. K con. 90s St. 80% of production capacity turned out to be concentrated. in Cheboksary and Novocheboksarsk. In rural areas, industry is mainly represented. small food and wood processing enterprises. industries. the industrial structure remained high. weight of production of means of production, which amounted to 78% in 1985 in the machine-building complex. the weight of products at the global level in 1985 was 8%.

Intensive the growth of industry led to significant population migration to cities, especially to Cheboksary. Some “unpromising” villages were liquidated. It was constantly going, especially in the mountains. terrain, narrowing of the functions of the Chuvash. language From the beginning 60s schools rep. We switched to teaching students from grades 5-7 in Russian. language This innovation helped some schoolchildren to better master Russian. language, made it easier to study in technical schools and universities. But the sudden withdrawal of the native language. from education process led to the loss of the basics of literacy by the majority of its speakers, among many. I retained the ability to explain myself only at the everyday level. Representatives of the Chuvash found themselves in a particularly difficult position. diaspora. In 2013, UNESCO experts classified the Chuvash language as endangered.

The search for a way out of the current situation, which began actively, but ill-considered, in April. 1985, did not produce tangible results in the economy. Since 1991, production volumes began to decline in absolute terms. expression. Failure. attempts to root reforms of the country's economy undertaken in the beginning. 90s, brought people. economy to a systemic crisis. esp. Regions that do not have rich natural resources find themselves in a difficult situation. resources and enterprises for their processing.

Unresolved and aggravated socio-economic, national, cultural and everyday problems in the context of weakening of strict ideological. and state dictatorship contributed to the emergence of societies. movements that advocated expanding the rights of republics and peoples. con. 1989 Chuvash was created. social-cultural center (CHOKTs), in March 1991 - the Chuvash party. National Revival (CHAP), 8-9 Oct. 1993 organized the Chuvash National Congress (CHNC), whose delegates represented the Chuvash. population of the republic and Chuvash. diaspora. At the beginning 2001 in Chuvash. Rep. 39 registered polit. associations, there are 12 national cultural societies. centers, but their activities did not prevent a further rapid decrease in the number of Chuvash. as a result of the socio-economic processes that took place in the period from 1991 to 2010. the number of Chuvash in the Russian Federation decreased by almost 446 thousand people (24% of the 1989 level). The number of Chuvash in the Russian Federation decreased especially quickly in the period from 2002 to 2010 - by almost 202 thousand. people (by 14% over 8 years - up to 1,435,872 people, i.e. up to the level of 1955), incl. in the Czech Republic by 75 thousand people. This is comparable to the losses of the Czech Republic in the 2nd World War or the Civil War (for comparison: the losses of the USSR in the Second World War were 13.6% -27 million people).

Notes

1. Dimitriev V.D. Main milestones in the history of the Chuvash people and region of the X-XVII centuries.

   “In the second half of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. 32 cities and about 2000 villages of the Bulgarian land were destroyed by the Golden Horde khans and emirs, nomadic hordes, Tamerlane, who made campaigns here in 1391 and 1395, but mainly by the nomadic Mangyt yurt of Edigei in 1391-1419. According to calculations taking into account archaeological, written and numismatic information, no more than one fifth of the Bulgarians survived. Elite, urban population were almost completely destroyed. The territory of the Bulgarian land turned into a wild field where the Mangyts (Nogais) began to roam.”

2. 1 2 Dimitriev, V. D. Entry of Chuvashia into the Russian state. Chuvash encyclopedia. Retrieved October 31, 2012. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012.

   “On the Mountain Side, the Chuvash and Mountain Mari suffered from continuous wars. clashes between Russians and Kazan. troops."

3. Ryabchikov, Maxim. Voluntary annexation of the Mountain Side is a myth, Irӗklӗ Sӑmakh (10.22.2012). Retrieved October 31, 2010.
4. Denisov P.V. Ethnocultural parallels of the Danube Bulgarians and Chuvashs / ​​author. preface I. D. Kuznetsov. - Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash. book publishing house, 1969. - 176 pp.: fig.
5. In February 1918, the national congress of the Mari decided to abolish the name “Cheremisy” due to its non-national origin and replace it with the historical national self-name “Mari” (Formation of the Mari Autonomous Region - Yoshkar-Ola, 1966. - P. 39).

Literature

• Historia ecclesiastica Zachariae Bhetori vulgo adscripta edidit E. W. Brooks, v. II, 1.12, cap. 7, r. 214; Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium. Scriptores Syri, series tertia, t. VI
• Procopius of Caesarea. War with the Persians
• Theophanes the Confessor. Chronography.
• Theophylact Simocatta. Story.
• Movses Kalankatuatsi. History of the country Aluanq.
• Nina Pigulevskaya. A NOTE ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN BYZANTIUM AND THE HUNS IN THE 6th century.
• Notes of Ahmed Ibn Fadlan
• V. P. Ivanov, V. V. Nikolaev, V. D. Dmitriev. Chuvash. Ethnic history and traditional culture. Moscow, 2000.
• V. P. Ivanov, Chuvash ethnos. Cheboksary, 1998.
• V.V. Nikolaev, History of the ancestors of the Chuvash. XXX century BC e. - XV century n. e., Cheboksary, 2005.
• V. F. Kakhovsky, Origin of the Chuvash people, Cheboksary, 2003.
• Gury Komissarov (Kuri Vanter), Chăvash halăkh istoriiĕ, Shupashkar, 1990.
• Culture of the Chuvash region, Cheboksary, 1995.
• Chuvash folk tales, Cheboksary, 1993.
• Ponomareva A., Ivanova M. Memory.-Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash Book Publishing House.-1996.-T.2.-P.17-19

see also

• Chronology of Chuvashia
• Chuvashia during the Stalinist period

Links

• http://www.archives21.ru/default.aspx?page=./4220/4227/4481/4965
• http://chuvash.gks.ru/download/VOV/Chuv%20v%20VOV.htm
• http://www.mar-pamiat.narod.ru/ctr5.htm

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