Appearance of the Chuvash: characteristic features and characteristics. Indigenous population of the Chuvash Republic. Chuvash people

Chuvash ( self-name - chăvash, chăvashsem) - the fifth largest people in Russia. According to the 2010 census, 1 million 435 thousand Chuvash live in the country. Their origin, history and peculiar language are considered very ancient.

According to scientists, the roots of this people are found in the ancient ethnic groups of Altai, China, and Central Asia. The closest ancestors of the Chuvash are considered to be the Bulgars, whose tribes inhabited a vast territory from the Black Sea region to the Urals. After the defeat of the Volga Bulgaria state (14th century) and the fall of Kazan, part of the Chuvash settled in the forest regions between the Sura, Sviyaga, Volga and Kama rivers, mixing there with Finno-Ugric tribes.

The Chuvash are divided into two main subethnic groups according to the course of the Volga: riding (Viryal, Turi) in the west and north-west of Chuvashia, grassroots(anatari) - in the south, besides them in the center of the republic there is a group middle grassroots (anat enchi). In the past, these groups differed in their way of life and material culture. Now the differences are becoming more and more smoothed out.

The self-name of the Chuvash, according to one version, directly goes back to the ethnonym of a part of the “Bulgar-speaking” Turks: *čōš → čowaš/čuwaš → čovaš/čuvaš. In particular, the name of the Savir tribe (“Suvar”, “Suvaz” or “Suas”), mentioned by Arab authors of the 10th century (Ibn Fadlan), is considered by many researchers to be a Turkic adaptation of the Bulgarian name “Suvar”.

In Russian sources, the ethnonym “Chuvash” first appears in 1508. In the 16th century, the Chuvash became part of Russia, and at the beginning of the 20th century they received autonomy: since 1920, the Autonomous Region, since 1925 - the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Region Socialist Republic. Since 1991 - the Republic of Chuvashia as part of the Russian Federation. The capital of the republic is Cheboksary.

Where do the Chuvash live and what language do they speak?

The bulk of the Chuvash (814.5 thousand people, 67.7% of the region’s population) live in the Chuvash Republic. It is located in the east of the East European Plain, mainly on the right bank of the Volga, between its tributaries Sura and Sviyaga. In the west, the republic borders with the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the north - with the Republic of Mari El, in the east - with Tatarstan, in the south - with the Ulyanovsk region, in the southwest - with the Republic of Mordovia. Chuvashia is part of the Volga Federal District.

Outside the republic, a significant part of the Chuvash live compactly in Tatarstan(116.3 thousand people), Bashkortostan(107.5 thousand), Ulyanovskaya(95 thousand people) and Samara(84.1 thousand) regions, in Siberia. A small part is outside the Russian Federation,

The Chuvash language belongs to Bulgarian group Turkic language family and represents the only living language of this group. In the Chuvash language, there is a high ("pointing") and a lower ("pointing") dialect. Based on the latter, it was formed literary language. The earliest was the Turkic runic alphabet, replaced in the X-XV centuries. Arabic, and in 1769-1871 - Russian Cyrillic, to which special characters were then added.

Features of the appearance of the Chuvash

From an anthropological point of view, most Chuvash belong to the Caucasoid type with a certain degree of Mongoloidity. Judging by research materials, Mongoloid features dominate in 10.3% of the Chuvash. Moreover, about 3.5% of them are relatively pure Mongoloids, 63.5% belong to mixed Mongoloid-European types with a predominance of Caucasoid features, 21.1% represent various Caucasoid types, both dark-colored and fair-haired and light-eyed, and 5.1 % belong to the sublaponoid type, with weakly expressed Mongoloid characteristics.

From a genetic point of view, the Chuvash are also an example of a mixed race - 18% of them carry the Slavic haplogroup R1a1, another 18% carry the Finno-Ugric N, and 12% carry the Western European R1b. 6% have the Jewish haplogroup J, most likely from the Khazars. The relative majority - 24% - bears haplogroup I, characteristic of northern Europe.

Elena Zaitseva

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, the 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 existence, aesthetic preferences, as well as ethnic group and ethno-territorial characteristics 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 downwards. 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.

IN late XIX century, in the lower group of Anatri, shirts made of colored homespun canvases in ulach in blue or red checks spread. 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 used to special kind swinging ritual clothing such as 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 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. On ordinary days, a similar-shaped, but narrower headband puç tutri (or surpan tutri) was tied over the surpan, and on holidays - an elegant headdress khushpu, which was distinguished by rich coin decoration and the presence of a vertical dorsal 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 - high accordion boots. 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. Traditions folk costume develop in the work 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 to preserve the value of handcraft and natural materials. The most active and talented people participate in prestigious competitions modern fashion at the regional and Russian levels.

Rural craftsmen make holiday costumes for holding national weddings in villages and cities. Such “updated” outfits sometimes use authentic hushpu 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 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

CHUVASH , chăvash (self-name) - people, number in Russia is 1637.2 thousand people, in Chuvash. Rep. – 889.3 thousand people. (2002). They live mainly in Middle. Volga and Urals regions. In Rep. Tatarstan 126.5 thousand people, Rep. Bashkortostan 117.3 thousand, Ulyanov. region 111.3 thousand, Samar. 101.4 thousand, Orenburg. 17.2 thousand, Saratov. 16.0 thousand, Moscow. 12.5 thousand, Sverdlov. 11.5 thousand, Nizhny Novgorod. region 11.4 thousand people Significant Ch. groups are settled: in Siberia - in Tyumen. region 30.2 thousand people, Krasnoyar. region 16.9 thousand people, Irkut. region 7.3 thousand people; in cities - Moscow 16.0 thousand people, St. Petersburg 6.0 thousand people. They live in the CIS and Baltic states (see. ). Just outside Chuvash. Rep. there are 45.7% of all Ch. The share of townspeople among them in Russia. Fed. in 2002 it was 51.3%.

The following stand out: : (northern and northwestern regions of the Chuvash Republic); (south of the republic, territories beyond its borders); (northeastern and central regions of Chuvashia). refers to Bulgarians. Turkic group languages, differences in (upper, lower, middle) insignificant. Most of belongs to the lower cultural and linguistic area, They have mainly features of a lower dialect, but they also contain features of other dialects; in some dialects, features of the upper or middle ones predominate. As an independent researchers have identified , , , , , . Believers confess , groups preserved different interpretations. There are also adherents of tradition. , living in the beginning. 21st century in more than 40 villages of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Samara. region and other regions, and is not numerous. ethno-confessional. group of Chuvash Muslims.

According to anthropologist. In appearance, the bulk of Ch. is classified as subural. like Ural. transition. race, which was formed as a result of the interaction of Mongoloid and Caucasian components. The Mongoloid complex is more pronounced in the north. regions of Chuvashia, southeast. Ch. gravitate toward Caucasian groups. These features bring the northern Czechs closer to the neighboring Mari, and the southern ones to the Mordovians and Tatars. See also in Art. .

According to historians and linguists, Ch.’s ancestors came from the ancient Turkic people. ethnolinguistic community formed in Central. Asia in 3 thousand BC, and more late period(border AD) - from the Proto-Bulgarian unity (see. , ). In the 1st half. 1 thousand AD Onoguro-Bulgarians and Savirs settled in the North. Caucasus, where states were formed and the Savir kingdom. After their collapse (7th century) part And migrated during the 7th–8th centuries. on Wednesday Volga and founded a new state - . The Bulgarian period (10th–13th centuries) played an important role in the formation of ethnocultures. appearance of Ch.: the foundations of contacts with the Finno-Ugric were laid. population of the region, as a result of the merger with the Crimea, a group of horseback Ch. was formed. History of Ch. after the defeat of the Volga. Bulgaria by the Mongol-Tatars (see. ) associated with , , from ser. 16th century – from Rus. by the state. Formation of a unified Chuvash. ethnicity went on in the 13th–16th centuries. based on the consolidation of groups of Bulgarians. population who migrated to the right bank. regions of the Volga, and assimilated Finno-Ugric. population. From the 16th century Ch. were involved in the all-Russian. political process. , colonization of the east. lands, Peter's reforms - all these historical. events affected Ch. directly and led to significant changes in their distribution and character ethnic culture. Construction in the 16th–17th centuries. to the southeast Chuvashia has created conditions for secondary settlement . The government actively resettled Ch. in the Volga region, to the newly annexed lands to the east. outskirts of the state: on the territory of modern. Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Ulyanov, Samar. and Orenburg. regions. The formation of ethnoterritorials began. groups.

Ch.'s ancestors used runich. by letter (see ). Old man. writing (see ) based on Russian graphics and rudiments professional. go back to the middle 18th century (the first printed products in the Chuvash language appeared in 1758, the first Chuvash odes - in the 1760s). created in 1871. Bourgeois. reforms 2nd half. 19th century prepared the conditions for book publishing at the national level. languages, development , teacher training. frames. Educational activities of I.Ya. Yakovleva, introduction of the system To school. training, church sermons in Chuvash. language led to the appearance in the 2nd half. 19 – beginning 20th centuries Chuvash. national the elite represented by the intelligentsia and merchants.

In the beginning. 20th century took organized forms , speaking out against unequal rights. provisions of Ch. in political, legal, cultural, linguistic and religious. relationships. Chuvash. intelligentsia led by newspaper started publishing (1906). Were created (1917), (together with representatives of other Volga peoples) and other public. organizations. In the end 19 – beginning 20th centuries Chuvash development centers. national the cities of Kazan and Simbirsk became cultures. After education (1920) educational, cultural, scientific, and media institutions were created in Cheboksary. Engineering, technical, cultural, scientific, and medical fields were formed. and managerial national. frames. Chuvash were used. language as a state language, indigenization of the administrative and managerial apparatus in the republic, the creation of a national. pedagogical technical schools, development of the Chuvash. press, publisher activities in regions of compact Chuvash residence. diaspora. Since the 1930s under the conditions of the administrative-command system, the use of the Chuvash was narrowed. language in the sphere of government. appeals were crowded out and eroded traditionally. standards of life. Without national textbook establishments and printing. publications remained Chuvash. diaspora, ties with the republic have weakened.

Democratization of socio-political. life in the end 1980s – 1990s created the prerequisites for the preservation and development of the original culture and language of Chuvash, and the resumption of the publication of Chuvash. press in the regions where the Chuvash live. diaspora, the emergence of national cultures. public organizations. Chuvash. The language on the territory of the republic, along with Russian, received the status of a state language (1990). Formed : (CHOCTs, 1989), (ChNK, 1992), , societies in regions, cities and villages. areas, unions of local historians. But in the beginning 21st century in general education Chuvash schools populated points in a number of regions, there was a tendency to oust the Chuvash. language and literature.

Traditional Ch.'s most common occupation was arable farming. . The fundamentals of agriculture - rotational farming systems, heavy and light arable tools, a variety of crops and cultivation techniques - were laid down by Ch. back in the Bulgarians. period of their history. The Finno-Ugric heritage was noticeable in the methods of cultivating the land, tools, cultivated crops, and agricultural terminology. and Volga-Bulgarians. complexes. The product of a joint invention between the Bulgarians and the East. the plow appeared to the Slavs. They mainly cultivated rye, oats, barley, spelt, millet, flax, hemp and certain other crops. Crop rotation until the 20th century. was two-field and three-field, from the 20th century. multifield. Ch. have a long tradition . Vegetables were cultivated in meadows near ponds (cabbage, cucumbers), farmsteads (onions, garlic, carrots, beets, pumpkin), in clearings and forest glades(turnip, radish). From time immemorial we have been engaged . Gardening spread in the 19th century. and was similar to Russian technology. peasants An integral part of economic the complex was . They kept the heads. arr. horses, cows, sheep, pets. poultry, pigs, bees were raised. Volzh. Bulgarians in significant degrees were cattle breeders, as agriculture became the leading branch of the economy, went to the background. role, the forest and forest steppe gradually developed. type of livestock farming. The horse was a draft force, the basis for plowing and arable land. agriculture. Wild honey collection developed in , replaced in the 17th–18th centuries. . Traditional types of occupations were also , , processing of rural products. farming, making clothes, tools, household items. household goods, transport. funds. Ch. used forest techniques; in open spaces they used steppe methods. hunting. Before massive deforestation in the 18th century. significant Hunting for fur-bearing animals became widespread. Before securing the fisherman. lands for the treasury, fishing for residents of the rivers. and Priozer. areas was important. They were engaged in fish farming, setting up crucian carp ponds and dams. Before the tsarist government banned metal processing in the 17th century. among the Ch. there were blacksmiths and jewelers. At 19 – beginning. 20th centuries various were developed. And – forestry, woodworking, pottery, textile weaving, etc. At Chuvash classes and crafts. masters reflected the processes of interaction with neighbors. peoples.

The main type of settlement in Ch. was . Patronymic families (groups of male relatives) formed a neighborhood, a nest of households. Budding of daughters. villages from mothers. occurred intensively in the 17th–18th centuries. As a result of this process to the north. zone of Chuvashia, a nesting type of settlement was formed with a common generic name for the nest. For southeast parts are characteristic linear type resettlement. Settlements arose mainly along rivers and streams. To the north. parts of Chuvashia, where the fragmentation of villages took place, they were small, in the south they were multi-yard. The settlements had public buildings and private institutions (church, school, shops, store cages, mills, grain mills, etc.), in large ones there were up to 10–15 objects. Construction of churches began in mid. 18th century During the 20th century. The settlement structure and infrastructure of villages have changed significantly. For 2nd floor. 20th century There is a tendency towards a decrease in overcrowding and an outflow of population to cities. In the end 20 – beginning 21st centuries implemented villages, housing intensified. construction. People live mainly in monoethnic villages.

Traces of the existence of a felt yurt with a prefabricated lattice frame in Ch. are reflected in folklore. Since 2 thousand AD the main type became the above-ground house; to the 17th–18th centuries. - a one- or two-chamber hut located in the middle and the door faces east; were built on the estate . In the forest-steppe. In the areas of Ch.'s settlement, adobe, adobe, and less often stone buildings were also built. the buildings. After its introduction in the 19th century. street plan, the hut began to face the , peasants. architecture took on new forms. In the beginning. 20th century have become widespread in modern times. architecture decorations, stylistic directions emerged. Starting from the 2nd half. 20th century Ch. is modified, changes , features and techniques are developing .

Ch. represents a single complex, but at the same time it reflects ethnographic. and ethnoterritorial. peculiarities. The basis of women and husband clothing consisted of a white shirt made of hemp (hemp) canvas. They wore white trousers with a wide leg, ankle length or longer. Women shirts had a length of 115–120cm , on both sides of the chest incision, along the sleeves, along the length. The seams and hem were decorated with embroidery. The outline of the patterns was made with black threads, their color was dominated by red, chapters. were patterns or . They girded themselves with 1–2 belts and covered the back of the figure with pendants of various types: , , on the sides - in pairs . Husband. The shirts were decorated along the chest with stripes of an embroidered pattern and red ribbons. In the end 19th century among the lower Ch., shirts made of motley (ulach) became widespread; wives decorated with stripes, 1-2 frills, and an ornamented apron made of white canvas or motley was tied over it. The riding Chuvash women wore a white apron with a bib over their shirts.

Various types of clothing were used as demi-season clothing. , winter - fur coats and sheepskin coats. Until the 20th century There was a special type of swinging ritual clothing - a white straight-back shupăr with rich ornamentation created by a combination of embroidery and appliqué. Men wore cloth hats with brims and fur hats. Women headdresses were varied: girls wore round hats , decorated with beaded embroidery and silver. coins; married women covered their heads with a white strip of thin canvas with ornamented ends ( ), a headband (puç tutri) was tied on top, on holidays. days wore , which had rich coin decoration and vertical. dorsal part. A single ensemble with elegant headdresses consisted of head, neck, shoulder, chest, waist from coins, beads, beads, corals and cowrie shells, which had functional, aesthetic and symbolic meaning. Girls' jewelry sets differed from women's; There were also differences among individual ethnoterritorials. and ethnographic groups and subgroups.

Casual If there were bast shoes woven from linden bast, the riders wore them with black cloth. onuchami, grassroots with white wool or cloth. stockings Holiday shoes - leather boots or shoes, in the riding group - high accordion boots. From the end 19th century tall women appeared. leather lace-up boots. In winter they wore white, gray or black felt boots.

Since the 1930s traditional clothing began to be replaced by city clothing. type. In the beginning. 21st century used as a holiday. and ritual clothing, in folklore and stage performances. activities. Its traditions develop in the works of artists and craftsmen , in the work of artistic enterprises. industries.

traditional predominantly plant-based. Basic : , donuts (khăpartu), flatbreads made from sour and unleavened dough, pancakes, ritual , pastries with filling ( , pies, and etc.). Prepared soups and etc.), (from spelled, millet, buckwheat). From the most common were , Varenets ( turăkh, tu-răkh uyranĕ), oil, etc. ( , etc.) were consumed infrequently, meat was obligatory. component of ritual food. Some of the food elements of Ch. have parallels in the traditions of the Turkic language. and Iranian speaking. peoples; the other is Finno-Ugric, the influence of Russian is also noticeable. kitchens. They were ritual , non-alcoholic drink maxăma, . National dishes kitchens are a real feature of modern. Ch's lifestyle

During the Kazan period. khanates and before 18th century within Russia, Ch. belonged to the categories And , from the 18th century. And . Duration At that time, patriarchal-tribal and communal traditions existed. Sat down. , which formed the basis of social. organization, had economic and fiscal. functions, was the organ of the places. self-government, which resolved issues of land use, taxation, and recruitment. set. Valid . On the village gathering that regulated the timing of agricultural works, community service rituals performed by the primary fate functions and voting rights were given to men - heads of families. The isolated villages formed one complex community with a mother community and common lands. area.

Patronomic heritage the organization of farming was complex from several married couples. Main economic unit in the 19th century. was two generations. monogamous family (polygamy disappeared after Ch.’s conversion to Christianity). property was carried out by husband. lines. built on the power of the head of the family, to whom its members were subordinate, rested on his authority, traditionally. standards , as a rule, was concluded by mutual agreement of the parties, which was carried out . Family associated with the main moments of a person’s life ( , , ) and calendar. cycle. Occupied an important place in customs . Rituals dedicated to ancestors were most holistically preserved among the unbaptized Ch. Traditions of weddings, births, funerals and memorials. rituals in the beginning 21st century combined with modern. norms. Kinship traditions have been preserved. and neighborly mutual assistance.

Holidays and rituals, covering all spheres of life, were closely connected with agriculture, animal husbandry, and religion. views and were divided into spring-summer and autumn-winter cycles. Rituals related to production. activities, there were more than 30. The most significant. the complex consisted of rituals of agriculture and animal husbandry. With the adoption of Orthodoxy traditionally. holidays and rituals are intertwined with Christian holidays and some of them continue to exist in this form [ , , , wow and văyă( ), , , ], others in the 20th century. ousted from relevance. spheres [ , avan pătti (rite at the end of threshing), , , , , , , , , , and other rituals]. In the holidays of Ch. various expressions were found. types of people creativity: music, , , costume, elements of drama; were used

Links

• Chuvash (ethnonym) // Wikipedia

29 Yasak Chuvash (Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Tatars, Russians) are the tax population of the Middle Volga region, in the 16th-18th centuries. paying the feudal state yasak - rent-tax.

Nikolaev G. A. Comments and notes // Nikolsky N.V.. - Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash. book publishing house, 2007. - pp. 411-412

81 Serving Chuvash (Tatars, Mari, Udmurts, Mordovians) - in the 16th-18th centuries. category of small military service people from the Volga peoples who performed abattoir and military service. Under Peter I, they were included in the category of state peasants (decrees of 1719-1724).

Nikolaev G. A. Comments and notes // Nikolsky N.V. Collected works. Volume II. Works on the history of Christianization and Christian education of the Chuvash

Among the dependent population there were also Russian peasants. In our opinion, Russian peasants in the Scribe Book are hidden under the term “peasant household.” The heavy non-Russian population of local origin was usually called “Chuvash”, and the non-Russian population of the western regions was called “Latvians”. Peasant households (Russian peasants) on the farms of feudal lords are indicated separately from “Chuvash” and “Latvian”.

The term “yasak Chuvasha” fixed class affiliation: the name “chuvasha” (šüäš), according to the authoritative conclusion of the linguist R. G. Akhmetyanov, meant “plowman, farmer” ( Akhmetyanov).

The so-called yasak Chuvash - Besermen were localized in the main territory of the Kazan Khanate, professing Islam in the 15th-16th centuries. spoke the Tatar language. Their numbers significantly exceeded the actual “Tatar” part of the dominant ethnic group in the Khanate.

In June, unrest began in Kazan. “Chuvash Arskaya” (apparently Arsky Votyaks) came to the capital to the Khan’s court “to fight the Crimeans” and demanded submission to Russian demands (“why don’t you beat the sovereign with your forehead”), but the government of Oglan Kuchak dispersed the crowd of rebels - “ They fought with them and beat the Chuvash.”

Nikolaev G. A. Comments and notes // Nikolsky N.V. Collected Works. Volume II. Works on the history of Christianization and Christian education of the Chuvash. - Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash. book publishing house, 2007. - P. 410

77 Yasak - rent-tax in favor feudal state, collected from yasak people of the Middle Volga region in money and bread from a fixed area of ​​land. See: Dimitriev V.D. About yasak taxation in the Middle Volga region in the 17th century quarter XVIII centuries // Dimitriev V.D. Chuvashia in the era of feudalism (XVI- early XIX centuries). - pp. 241-269.

Nikolaev G. A. Comments and notes // Nikolsky N.V. Collected works. Volume II. Works on the history of Christianization and Christian education of the Chuvash. - Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash. book publishing house, 2007. - P. 416.

80 Newly baptized servicemen (Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts, Tatars) - former servicemen who converted to Orthodoxy, stationed in the second half of the 16th-17th centuries. in the cities of the Middle Volga region and carried out military service in cities and counties. Had small land, in some cases they complained with bread and money.

Nikolaev G. A. Comments and notes // Nikolsky N.V. Collected works. Volume II. Works on the history of Christianization and Christian education of the Chuvash. - Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash. book publishing house, 2007. - P. 416.

A Chuvashenin who has accepted Muhammadanism is already ashamed to be called a Chuvashenin and speak Chuvash, but calls himself a Tatar. “I’m not a Chuvashe, that is. not a pagan,” he thinks: “I am a Tatar, i.e. true believer.

Dictionaries

Elistratov V. S. Dictionary of Russian argot (materials from 1980-1990). - M.: Russian dictionaries, 2000. - 694 p.

Trishin V. N. Large dictionary-directory of synonyms of the Russian language of the ASIS system, version 8.0, July 3, 2012 for 431 thousand words.

Dal V. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: In 4 volumes / Vladimir Ivanovich Dal. - M.: Rus. language - Media, 2003.-T. 4: P - Ѵ . - 2003. - 688 pp., 1 portrait.

additional literature

Chernyshev E. I. Tatar village second half XVI and XVII centuries. // Yearbook on Agrarian History of Eastern Europe 1961 - Riga, 1963. - pp. 174-176.

Chernyshev E. I. Villages of the Kazan Khanate. // Questions of ethnogenesis of the Turkic-speaking peoples of the Middle Volga region. Kazan, 1971. - pp. 282-283.

Iskhakov D. M. From medieval Tatars to modern Tatars. - Kazan, 1998. - P. 58-60, 80-102.

Dimitriev V. D. ABOUT last stages ethnogenesis of the Chuvash. //Bulgarians and Chuvashs. - Cheboksary: ​​ChNII, 1984. - pp. 39-43.

Skvortsov M. I. Chuvash language material in the “Scribe book of the Kazan district of 1602-1603”. // Interlinguistic interactions in the Volga-Kama region. - Cheboksary: ​​ChSU, 1988. - P. 89-101.

List of scribe books for the city of Kazan and the district. - Kazan, 1877.

List from the scribe and boundary book of the city of Sviyazhsk and the district. - Kazan, 1909.

Faces of Russia. “Living together while remaining different”

The multimedia project “Faces of Russia” has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature which is the ability to live together while remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for the countries of the entire post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, within the framework of the project, we created 60 documentaries about representatives of different Russian ethnic groups. Also, 2 cycles of radio programs “Music and Songs of the Peoples of Russia” were created - more than 40 programs. Illustrated almanacs were published to support the first series of films. Now we are halfway to creating a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a snapshot that will allow the residents of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a legacy for posterity with a picture of what they were like.

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"Faces of Russia". Chuvash. "Chuvash "Treasure"", 2008

CHUVASH'I, Chavash (self-name), Turkic people in the Russian Federation (1773.6 thousand people), the main population of Chuvashia (907 thousand people). They also live in Tatarstan (134.2 thousand people), Bashkiria (118.6 thousand people), Kazakhstan (22.3 thousand people) and Ukraine (20.4 thousand people). The total number is 1842.3 thousand people. According to the 2002 Census, the number of Chuvash living in Russia is 1 million 637 thousand people, according to the results of the 2010 census - 1,435,872 people.

The Chuvash language is the only living representative of the Bulgarian group of Turkic languages. They speak Chuvash language Turkic group Altai family. Dialects are lower ("pointing") and upper ("pointing"), as well as eastern. Subethnic groups are the upper (viryal, turi) in the north and north-west, the middle lower (anat enchi) in the central and north-eastern regions and the lower Chuvash (anatri) in the south of Chuvashia and beyond. The Russian language is also widespread. The Chuvash began writing a long time ago. It was created based on Russian graphics. In 1769, the first grammar of the Chuvash language was published.

Currently, the main religion of the Chuvash is Orthodox Christianity, but the influence of paganism, as well as Zoroastrian beliefs and Islam, remains. Chuvash paganism is characterized by duality: belief in existence, on the one hand, good gods and spirits led by Sulti Tura (supreme god), and on the other - evil deities and spirits led by Shuittan (devil). The gods and spirits of the Upper World are good, those of the Lower World are evil.

The ancestors of the riding Chuvash (Viryal) are Turkic tribes of Bulgarians who came in the 7th-8th centuries from the North Caucasus and Azov steppes and merged with the local Finno-Ugric tribes. The self-name of the Chuvash, according to one version, goes back to the name of one of the tribes related to the Bulgarians - Suvar, or Suvaz, Suas. They are mentioned in Russian sources since 1508. In 1551 they became part of Russia. By the mid-18th century, the Chuvash were mostly converted to Christianity. Some of the Chuvash who lived outside Chuvashia converted to Islam and became Tatars. In 1917, the Chuvash received autonomy: Autonomous Okrug from 1920, Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1925, Chuvash SSR from 1990, Chuvash Republic from 1992.

The Chuvash joined Russia in the mid-16th century. In the formation and regulation of the moral and ethical standards of the Chuvash people, the public opinion villages (yal men drip - “what will fellow villagers say”). Immodest behavior, foul language, and even more so drunkenness, which was rare among the Chuvash until the beginning of the 20th century, are sharply condemned. Lynchings were carried out for theft. From generation to generation, the Chuvash taught each other: “Chavash yatne an sert” (don’t disgrace the name of the Chuvash).

Series of audio lectures “Peoples of Russia” - Chuvash

The main types of settlements are villages and hamlets (yal). The earliest types of settlement are riverine and ravine, the layout is cumulus-nested (in the northern and central regions) and linear (in the south). In the north, the village is typically divided into ends (kasas), usually inhabited by related families. The street layout has been spreading since the 2nd half of the 19th century. From the 2nd half of the 19th century, dwellings of the Central Russian type appeared. The house is decorated with polychrome painting, saw-cut carvings, applied decorations, the so-called “Russian” gates with a gable roof on 3-4 pillars - bas-relief carvings, later painting. There is an ancient log building (originally without a ceiling or windows, with an open hearth), serving as a summer kitchen. Cellars (nukhrep) and baths (muncha) are common. A characteristic feature of the Chuvash hut is the presence of onion trim along the roof ridge and large entrance gates.

Traditional food is dominated by plant products. Soups (yashka, shurpe), stews with dumplings, cabbage soup with seasonings made from cultivated and wild greens - hogweed, hogweed, nettle, etc., porridge (spelt, buckwheat, millet, lentil), oatmeal, boiled potatoes, jelly from oatmeal and pea flour, rye bread (khura sakar), pies with cereals, cabbage, berries (kukal), flatbreads, cheesecakes with potatoes or cottage cheese (puremech). Less often they prepared khupla - a large round pie with meat or fish filling. Dairy products - turah - sour milk, uyran - churning, chakat - curd cheese. Meat (beef, lamb, pork, among the lower Chuvash - horse meat) was a relatively rare food: seasonal (when slaughtering livestock) and festive. They prepared shartan - a sausage made from a sheep's stomach stuffed with meat and lard; tultarmash - boiled sausage stuffed with cereal, minced meat or blood. They made mash from honey, and beer (sara) from rye or barley malt. Kvass and tea were common in areas of contact with the Tatars and Russians.

A rural community could unite residents of one or several settlements with a common land plot. There were nationally mixed communities, mainly Chuvash-Russian and Chuvash-Russian-Tatar. Forms of kinship and neighborly mutual assistance (nime) were preserved. Family ties were steadily preserved, especially within one end of the village. There was a custom of sororate. After the Christianization of the Chuvash, the custom of polygamy and levirate gradually disappeared. Undivided families were already rare in the 18th century. The main type of family in the 2nd half of the 19th century was the small family. The husband was the main owner of family property, the wife owned her dowry, independently managed income from poultry farming (eggs), livestock farming (dairy products) and weaving (canvas), and in the event of the death of her husband, she became the head of the family. The daughter had the right of inheritance along with her brothers. In economic interests, the early marriage of a son and the relatively late marriage of a daughter were encouraged (therefore, the bride was often several years older than the groom). The tradition of the minorate is preserved ( younger son remains with his parents as an heir).

The most developed genre of folklore is songs: youth, recruit, drinking, funeral, wedding, labor, lyrical, and also historical songs. Musical instruments - bagpipes, bubble, duda, harp, drum, and later - accordion and violin. Legends, fairy tales and tales are widespread. Elements of ancient Turkic runic writing can be traced in generic tamgas and in ancient embroidery. Arabic writing was widespread in Volga Bulgaria. In the 18th century, writing was created based on Russian graphics of 1769 (Old Chuvash writing). Novochuvash writing and literature were created in the 1870s. The Chuvash national culture is being formed.

T.S. Guzenkova, V.P. Ivanov

They don’t carry firewood into the forest, they don’t pour water into the well.

“Where are you going, gray caftan?” “Shut up, you wide mouth!” Don't be alarmed, this is not the talk of some drunken hooligans. This is a Chuvash folk riddle. As they say, you can’t guess it without a hint. And the hint is this: the action of this riddle does not take place in modern house, but in an old hut. Over time, the stove in the hut turned gray... Warm, warm...

Here is the answer: smoke coming out of the open door of the smoking hut.

Have you warmed up? Here are a couple more dashing Chuvash riddles.

Clay mountain, on the slope of a clay mountain there is a cast iron mountain, on the slope of a cast iron mountain there is green barley, a polar bear is lying on the green barley.

Well, it's not that much complex riddle, if you strain yourself and give free rein to your imagination, then it will be easy to guess. This is baking pancakes.

Don’t think that the Chuvash came up with riddles a hundred or two hundred years ago. They still don’t mind composing them. Here's a good example of a modern riddle.

At first, like a pillow. Then, like a cloud. What is this?

Well, okay, let's not torture. This is: a parachute.

We learned something about the Chuvash. They found out what was on their minds.

To find out more, listen to the fairy tale.

It’s called: “Shirt made of hemline fabric.”

One young widow was haunted by an evil spirit. This way and that way the poor woman tried to free herself from him. She’s exhausted, but the evil spirit isn’t far behind—and that’s all. She told her neighbor about her trouble, and she said:

“And you hang the door with a shirt made of linen - it won’t let an evil spirit into the hut.”

The widow listened to her neighbor, sewed a long shirt from the timber and hung it on the door to the hut. At night an evil spirit came, and the shirt said to him:

- Wait a minute, listen to what I had to see and experience in my lifetime.

“Well, speak,” answered the evil spirit.

“Even before I was born,” the shirt began its story, “there was so much trouble with me.” In the spring, the land was plowed, harrowed, and only after that, hemp was sown. Some time passed and I was blocked again. Only then did I ascend and appear into the world. Well, when I appeared, I grow, I reach for the sun...

“Well, that’s enough, I guess,” says the evil spirit. “Let me go!”

“If you start listening, let me finish,” the shirt answers. “When I grow up and mature, they pull me out of the ground...”

“I understand,” the evil spirit interrupts again. “Let me go!”

“No, I haven’t understood anything yet,” his shirt won’t let him in. “Listen to the end... Then they thresh me, separate the seeds...

- Enough! - the evil spirit loses patience. - Let him go!

But at this time a rooster crows in the yard, and the evil spirit disappears without ever visiting the widow.

- So where did I stop? - she says. “Oh yes, on the seeds.” My seeds are peeled, winnowed, stored, and what the seeds grew on - hemp - is first put in stacks, and then soaked in water for a long time, three whole weeks.

“Well, is that all?” asks the evil spirit. “Let it go!”

“No, not all,” the shirt answers. “I’m still lying in the water.” Three weeks later they pull me out of the water and put me out to dry.

- Enough! - the evil spirit begins to get angry again. - Let him go!

“You haven’t heard the most important thing yet,” the shirt answers. “You don’t know how they crush and break my bones... So, they break and crush me until my whole body is cleared of bones.” Not only that: they also put it in a mortar and let three or four of us pound it with pestles.

- Let me go! — the evil spirit begins to lose patience again.

“They knock all the dust out of me,” the shirt continues, “they leave only a clean body.” Then they hang me on a comb, separate me into thin hairs and spin them. The strained threads are wound on a reel and then dipped into the liquor. Then it’s difficult for me, my eyes are filled with ash, I can’t see anything...

- And I don’t want to listen to you anymore! - says the evil spirit and already wants to go into the hut, but at this time the rooster crows, and he disappears.

And on the third night an evil spirit appeared.

“Then they wash me, dry me, make skeins out of me and put me through a reed, weave it, and it turns out to be canvas,” the shirt continues its story.

- That's it now! - says the evil spirit. - Let him go!

“There’s still quite a bit left,” the shirt answers. “Listen to the end... The canvas is boiled in alkaline water, laid on green grass and washed so that all the ash comes out.” And again, for the second time, three or four of them push me so that I become soft. And only after that they cut off as much as necessary from the piece and sew it. Only then does the seed placed in the ground become the shirt with which the door is now hung...

Then again the rooster crowed in the yard, and again evil spirit Having eaten no salt, I had to go home.

In the end, he got tired of standing in front of the door and listening to the shirts' stories, from then on he stopped flying to this house and left the young widow alone.

An interesting fairy tale. With a lot of meaning. The entire process of making a shirt is laid out in detail in this fairy tale. It is useful to tell this fairy tale to adults and children, but especially to students of agricultural universities and textile institutes. In the first year, of course.

And now we move from fairy-tale affairs to historical affairs. There is also something to tell about the Chuvash themselves. It is known that the Chuvash joined Russia in the middle of the century. Currently, there are 1,637,200 Chuvash in the Russian Federation (according to the 2002 census). Almost nine hundred thousand of them live in Chuvashia itself. The rest live in several regions of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, in the Samara and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as in Moscow, Tyumen, Kemerovo, Orenburg, Moscow regions of Russia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

The Chuvash language is Chuvash. It is the only living language of the Bulgaro-Khazar group of Turkic languages. It has two dialects - low (“pointing”) and high (“pointing”). The difference is subtle, but clear and noticeable.

The ancestors of the Chuvash believed in independent existence human soul. The spirit of the ancestors patronized the members of the clan and could punish them for their disrespectful attitude.

Chuvash paganism was characterized by duality: belief in the existence, on the one hand, of good gods and spirits led by Sulti Tura (supreme god), and, on the other, of evil deities and spirits led by Shuittan (devil). The gods and spirits of the Upper World are good, those of the Lower World are evil.

The Chuvash religion in its own way reproduced the hierarchical structure of society. At the head of a large group of gods stood Sulti Tura with his family.

In our time, the main religion of the Chuvash is Orthodox Christianity, but the influence of paganism, as well as Zoroastrian beliefs and Islam, remains.

The Chuvash began writing a long time ago. It was created based on Russian graphics. In 1769, the first grammar of the Chuvash language was published.

In the formation and regulation of the moral and ethical standards of the Chuvash, the public opinion of the village has always played and continues to play a large role (yal men drip - “what will fellow villagers say”). Immodest behavior, foul language, and even more so drunkenness, which was rare among the Chuvash until the beginning of the 20th century, are sharply condemned. Lynchings were carried out for theft. From generation to generation, the Chuvash taught each other: “Chavash yatne an sert” (don’t disgrace the name of the Chuvash).

Orthodox Chuvash people celebrate all Christian holidays.

Unbaptized Chuvash have their own holidays. For example, Semik, which is celebrated in the spring. By this day, you need to have time to eat seven different plants, for example, sorrel, dandelion, nettle, hogweed, lungwort, caraway seeds, and squash.

Nettle is especially revered, because if you eat nettle before the first thunder, then whole year you won't get sick. It is also good for your health to run outside during thunder and shake your clothes.

For Semik, the Chuvash bake pies, brew beer and kvass, and also prepare brooms from young birch.

On the day of the holiday, they wash in the bathhouse, certainly before sunrise. By lunchtime, festively dressed, everyone goes to the cemetery to invite deceased relatives to visit their home. Moreover, men call men, women call women.

After Christianization, baptized Chuvash especially celebrate those holidays that coincide in time with the pagan calendar (Christmas with Surkhuri, Maslenitsa and Savarni, Trinity and Semik), accompanying them with both Christian and pagan rituals. Under the influence of the church, the everyday life of the Chuvash became widespread. patronal feasts. By the beginning of the 20th century, Christian holidays and rituals became predominant in the everyday life of baptized Chuvash people.

Chuvash youth also have their own holidays. For example, in the spring-summer period, the youth of the entire village, or even several villages, gather for outdoors for round dances.

In winter, gatherings are held in huts where the older owners are temporarily absent. At gatherings, the girls are engaged in spinning, but with the arrival of the boys, games begin, the participants of the gatherings sing songs, dance, and have playful conversations.

In the middle of winter, the Maiden Beer festival takes place. The girls work together to brew beer, bake pies and, together with the boys, organize a youth party in one of the houses.

Among the Chuvash, three forms of marriage were common: 1) with full wedding ceremony and matchmaking, 2) wedding by “walking away” and 3) kidnapping of the bride, often with her consent.

The groom is escorted to the bride's house by a large wedding train. Meanwhile, the bride says goodbye to her relatives. She is dressed in girl's clothes and covered with a blanket. The bride begins to cry and lament.

The groom's train is greeted at the gate with bread and salt and beer.

After a long and very figurative poetic monologue, the eldest of the friends is invited to go into the courtyard to the laid tables. The meal begins, greetings, dances and songs of the guests sound.

The next day the groom's train leaves. The bride is seated astride a horse, or she rides while standing in a wagon. The groom hits her three times (for fun) with a whip to “drive away” the spirits of his wife’s clan from the bride (Turkic nomadic tradition). The fun in the groom's house continues with the participation of the bride's relatives.

The newlyweds spend their first wedding night in a cage or other non-residential premises. According to custom, the young woman takes off her husband’s shoes. In the morning, the young woman is dressed in a woman’s outfit with a women’s headdress “hush-poo”. First of all, she goes to bow and makes a sacrifice to the spring, then she begins to work around the house and cook food.

The young wife gives birth to her first child with her parents.

In a Chuvash family, the man dominates, but the woman also has authority. Divorces are extremely rare. There was a custom of the minority - the youngest son always remained with his parents.

Many are surprised that, seeing off the deceased in last way, the unbaptized Chu-Washi sing not only funeral songs, but also cheerful ones, even wedding songs. There is an explanation for this. Pagans consider themselves children of nature. And therefore they are not afraid of death. It is not something terrible and scary for them. It’s just that a person goes to another world, and they see him off. Songs. Cheerful and sad.

Chuvash songs are really different. There are folk songs. In turn, they are divided into everyday ones (lullabies, children's, lyrical, table, comic, dance, round dance). There are ritual songs, labor songs, social songs, and historical songs.

Among the folk musical instruments, the following are common: shakhlich (pipe), bagpipes of two types, kesle (harp), warkhan and palnaya (reed instruments), parappan (drum), khankarma (tambourine). The violin and accordion have long become familiar.

The Chuvash also love fairy tales in which truth and reality are easily intertwined. Fairy tales with more fiction than truth. If you use modern language, then these are fairy tales with elements of the absurd. When you listen to them, they clear your mind!

One day my grandfather and I went hunting. They saw a hare and began to chase it. We hit with a club, but we cannot kill.

Then I hit him with a Chernobyl rod and killed him.

Together with my grandfather, we started to lift it, but we couldn’t lift it.

I tried one - picked it up and put it on the cart.

Our cart was harnessed by a pair of horses. We whip the horses, but they cannot move the cart.

Then we unharnessed one horse and drove the other.

We arrived home, my grandfather and I began to remove the hare from the cart, but we couldn’t remove it.

I tried one and took it off.

I want to bring it in through the door, but it won’t fit, but it went through the window freely.

We were going to cook a hare in a cauldron - it didn’t fit, but we put it in the cauldron - there was still room left.

I asked my mother to cook the hare, and she began to cook, but didn’t follow: the water began to boil violently in the pot, the hare jumped out, and the cat - right there - ate it.

So we never had to try the hare meat.

But we good fairy tale composed!

Finally, try to guess another Chuvash riddle. It is very complex, multi-stage: on an unplowed fallow field, next to an ungrown birch tree, lies an unborn hare.

The answer is simple: lies...

Do you feel what the wise Chuvash are getting at? An unborn lie is still much better than a born lie...