The Besermyan, Biserman, Besermans or Besermens (russian: бесермяне, besermyane singular: besermyanin, udm, бесерманъёс, tt-Cyrl, бисермәннәр, translit=bisermännär) are a numerically small Finnic people in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The

Russian Empire Census The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...

of 1897 listed 10,800 Besermans. There were 10,000 Besermans in 1926, but the Russian Census of 2002 found only 3,122 of them. The Besermyan live in the districts of

Yukamenskoye Yukamenskoye (russian: Юкаменское, udm, Юкаменск, ''Jukamensk'') is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Yukamensky District, Udmurtia, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a t ...

Glazov Glazov ( rus, Глазов, p=ˈɡlazəf; udm, Глаз, ''Glaz'') is a town in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located along the Trans-Siberian Railway, on the Cheptsa River. Population: History It was first mentioned in the 17th century chr ...

, Balezino, and

Yar Yar, Yare or Yars may refer to: Geography * Yar, Russia, name of several inhabited localities in Russia * Babi Yar, a ravine in Kyiv where mass murders took place during World War II * Eastern Yar, a river on the Isle of Wight, England * Wester ...

in the northwest of

Udmurtia Udmurtia (russian: Удму́ртия, r=Udmúrtiya, p=ʊˈdmurtʲɪjə; udm, Удмуртия, ''Udmurtija''), or the Udmurt Republic (russian: Удмуртская Республика, udm, Удмурт Республика, Удмурт � ...

. There are ten villages of pure Besermyan ethnicity in Russia, and 41 villages with a partial Besermyan population.

History

The Besermyan are of Turkic origin, and are likely the result of a group of

Volga Tatars The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after ...

who were assimilated by the Udmurts. In the 13th century during his travel to Mongolia, papal envoy

Plano Carpini Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, variously rendered in English as ''John of Pian de Carpine'', ''John of Plano Carpini'' or ''Joannes de Plano'' (c. 11851 August 1252), was a medieval Italian diplomat, archbishop and explorer and one of the firs ...

claimed that the Besermyan were subjects of the Mongols. Russian chronicles sometimes made mention of the Besermyan but it's unclear whether the term was meant to denote the modern group as it was a common derivation of the term "musulman" (Muslim). It is likely that the term had broader usage before it became an

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and us ...

Culture

The language of the Besermyan is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

of the

Udmurt language Udmurt is a Permic language spoken by the Udmurt people who are native to Udmurtia. As a Uralic language, it is distantly related to languages such as Finnish, Estonian, Mansi, Khanty, and Hungarian. The Udmurt language is co-official with Ru ...

with

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

influences. Although they speak a dialect of Udmurt, the Besermyan consider themselves a distinct people. Some Besermyan traditions differ from other Udmurtian customs due to the Islamic influence during the

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state ...

and

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan ( tt, Казан ханлыгы, Kazan xanlıgı; russian: Казанское ханство, Kazanskoye khanstvo) was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552 ...

periods. According to scholar

Shirin Akiner Shirin Akiner (16 June 1943 – 6 April 2019) was a scholar of Central Asia and Belarus. She was a research associate at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Life Shirin Akiner was born in 1943 in Dacca, British In ...

, most Besermyan practice Sunni Islam. Some Besermyan practice Christianity.

References

kominarod.ru: Бесермяне
* {{authority control Udmurtia Udmurt people Ethnic groups in Russia Permians