Siberian Tatars

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Siberian Tatars
Сибиртар / Sibirtar
Regions with significant populations
 Russia 6,779[1]- 210,000[2] (among Tatars)
Languages
Siberian Tatar, Russian, Tatar
Religion
Sunni Islam, Shamanism

Siberian Tatars (Sybyrtatar:Сыбыртар; Sybyrtar) refers to the indigenous Siberian population of the forests and steppes of South Siberia stretching from somewhat east of the Ural Mountains to the Yenisey river in Russia. The Siberian Tatars call themselves Top Ierli Khalk or older inhabitants to distinguish themselves from newer Volga Tatar immigrants to the region.[3]

Some non-Muslim Turkic people of Siberia (Chulyms, Khakas people, Shors, Teleuts) still call themselves “tatar” or “tadar” as self-designation, but do not consider themselves as a part of Tatar nation.

Anthropology

Siberian Tatars represent a mixture of two races, Uraloid and Mongoloid. Ethnogenetic processes during the Middle Ages and later periods make Siberian Tatars anthropologically close to Sarts, Kazakhs and Bashkirs.

Population

Siberian Tatars historically lived in the wide valleys between the Ural mountains and Yenisei river. According to the Siberian Khanate ruler Yediger Khan’s ambassadors who visited Moscow in 1555, the population of “the black people” (in many Turkic languages: lieges) without the aristocracy were 30,700. In a decree concerning tribute issued by Ivan the Terrible the number shown as 40,000.

Due to the results of the 1897 All-Russia Census there were 56,957 Siberian Tatars in Tobolsk guberniya. This was the last true information about the population of the Siberian Tatars, as in the other censuses the other Tatar immigrants from the other regions of Russia were also included. It should also be noticed that the Siberian Tatars were trying to avoid the census by all means as they thought that it is another try to force them to pay Yasak.[4] Their population in the territory of the current Tyumen Oblast in 1926 was 70,000, 72,306 in 1959, 102,859 in 1970, 136,749 in 1979, 227,423 in 1989 and 242,325 in 2002. According to the results of Russian Census (2002) there were 385,949 Tatars living in the oblasts shown above (their territory roughly corresponds to the historical territory of the Siberian Khanate). Of these Tatars only 9,289 identified themselves as Siberian Tatars.

2002 Russian Census revealed only 9,611 Siberian Tatars in Russia. Whereas in some publications there number is shown in the range of 190,000-210,000.[5] Such significant discrepancy is explained by the fact that the self-identification of the Siberian Tatars is still a matter of discussion. Part of them agree with the official point of view and consider themselves as a part of united Tatar nation and their language as the eastern dialect of the Tatar language, but the other part consider themselves as distinct ethnic group with its own language and culture.[6][7][8]

Origin

The term Siberian Tatar covers three autochthonous groups, all Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi madhab, found in southern Siberia. They are remnants of the Khanate of Sibir, which was conquered by Russia in 1582. Geographically, the Siberian Tatars are divided into three main groups, each speaking their own dialect.[3] Although the Siberian Tatar language has been sometimes considered a dialect of Tatar; detailed study demonstrates that Siberian Tatar idioms are quite remote from Volga Tatar by origin. Siberian Tatars' ancestry was partly from Turkic, Ugric, Mongolic, Ket and Samoyedic [9] tribes, but their main ancestors were the Kypchaks.

Ethnogenesis and ethnic history

Part of the Siberian Tatars’ ancestry was Kypchak, who also took part in ethnogenesis of many Turkic people. During their long and complicated ethnogenesis Siberian Tatars were in touch with Ugric people, Samoyedic peoples, Kets, people of Altai-Sayan (see: Siberian Turkic languages), Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

The closest people to Siberian Tatars (by ethnogenetics) are Kazakhs, Bashkirs and Turkic people of Altai-Sayan region. Despite the cultural similarities among Volga Tatars, Astrakhan Tatars and Siberian Tatars, anthropologists differ Siberian group as an independent ethnic group. Since Tatarstan had become the center of Tatar culture, the impact of Volga Tatars on other Tatar subgroups led to cultural consolidation of all Tatar subgroups. Literature and media which is made in Tatarstan and is available all over Russia made the local differences minimal.

Nevertheless, some Siberian Tatars feel close ties to Kazakhs and difference from other Tatar groups. However, the relations between them and other Tatars groups are usually friendly.

Language

Siberian Tatar language belongs to Kipchak–Nogay group of the Kypchak languages.[10] There are some elements of the Karluk, Kipchak–Bolgar and Eastern Kipchak languages in grammar and vocabulary. Such type of interpenetration of elements of different Turkic groups and subgroups is characteristically nearly for all Turkic languages.

Siberian Tatar language has different dialects.[10] Since the penetration of Islam until 1920s Siberian Tatars, like all Muslim nations, were using alphabet that had been based on Arabic script. In 1928 they adopted an alphabet based on Latin script, in 1939 based on Cyrillic script. The Siberian Tatars use Tatar language, which is based on the grammar rules of Volga Tatars, as written language. But Siberian Tatar language is widely used in communication and has no tendency for active leveling with other languages. At the same time, the urban Siberian Tatar population shift to Russian language (only language, not self-identification).

The first person who seriously researched Siberian Tatar language was Soviet Tatar linguist and an organizer of science Gabdulkhay Akhatov

Sub - groups

The main sub-groups of the Siberian Tatars are as follows:

Tobol-Irtysh Tatars

They live in the Tyumen, Kurgan and Omsk Oblasts.

Baraba Tatars

Their self-designation is Baraba, and they are found mainly in the steppe of Baraba, in the Novosibirsk Oblast. In 1926, there were 7,528 Baraba Tatars.

Tom Tatars

The Tom Tatars are indigenous population of Tomsk, Kemerovo and to some extent Novosibirsk Oblasts.

Siberian Bukharans

The Bukhalyks, literally those from the city of Bukhara are descendents from 15th and 16th Century fur merchant colonies from Central Asia. These settlers have now merged entirely with Siberian Tatars. In 1926, they numbered 11,659 individuals.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity (Russian)
  2. ↑ Russian Museum of Ethnography
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Siberian Tatars in Muslims of the Soviet empire : a guide / Alexandre Bennigsen [and] S. Enders Wimbush pages 231 to 232 Bloomington : Indiana UP, 1986 ISBN 0-253-33958-8
  4. ↑ Valeev F.T. Siberian Tatars. Kazan, 1993. (in Russian)
  5. ↑ Siberian Tatars. Historical reference (in Russian)
  6. ↑ http://www.islam.ru/pressclub/vslux/narodedin/
  7. ↑ The Siberian Tatar writers decided to be a distinct ethnic group (in Russian)
  8. ↑ Ishakova, Valeev— The problems of revival of the national language of the Siberian Tatars (in Russian)
  9. ↑ Levinson, David (1996). Encyclopedia of World Cultures. G.K. Hall. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-8161-1808-3. Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Tumasheva D.G.. Dialects of the Siberian Tatar language: experience of the comparative research. Kazan, 1977 (in Russian)

External links

References

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