Tatar de Khourzouk. Grove, Florence Craufurd. Le Caucase. 1899. P.16.png
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The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar". Initially, the ethnonym ''Tatar'' possibly referred to the
Tatar confederation Middle Mongol: , conventional_long_name = TatarNine Tatars , common_name = Tatar , , era = High Middle Ages , status = Nomadic confederation , empire = Turkic Khaganate , status_text = , today = MongoliaCh ...
. That confederation was eventually incorporated into the Mongol Empire when Genghis Khan unified the various steppe tribes. Historically, the term ''Tatars'' (or ''
Tartars Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...
'') was applied to anyone originating from the vast Northern and
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
n landmass then known as
Tartary Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...
, a term which was also conflated with the Mongol Empire itself. More recently, however, the term has come to refer more narrowly to related ethnic groups who refer to themselves as ''Tatars'' or who speak languages that are commonly referred to as ''Tatar''. The largest group amongst the Tatars by far are the
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 ...
, native to the
Volga-Ural region Idel-Ural ( tt-Cyrl, Идел-Урал, translit=Idel-Üral, russian: Идель-Урал), literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means ''Volga-Urals'' in the Tatar language. T ...
(
Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
and
Bashkortostan The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик ...
), who for this reason are often also known as "Tatars" in Russian. They compose 53% of the population in Tatarstan. Their language is known as the Tatar language. , there were an estimated 5.3 million ethnic Tatars in Russia. Many noble families in the
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
and
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
had Tatar origins.


Etymology

''Tatar'' became a name for populations of the former
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
in Europe, such as those of the former
Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...
,
Crimean Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
,
Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
,
Qasim Qasim, Qasem or Casim may refer to: * Qasim (name), a given name of Arabic origin and the name of several people * Port Qasim, port in Karachi, Pakistan * ''Kasım'' and ''Casim'', respectively the Ottoman Turkish and Romanian names for General To ...
, and Siberian Khanates. The form ''Tartar'' has its origins in either
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
or French, coming to Western European languages from Turkish and the
Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken a ...
(, "mounted messenger"). From the beginning, the extra ''r'' was present in the Western forms and according to the
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
this was most likely due to an association with ''
Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; grc, , }) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's ''Gorgias'' (), souls are judg ...
''. The Persian word is first recorded in the 13th century in reference to the hordes of Genghis Khan and is of unknown origin, according to ''
OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' "said to be" ultimately from ''tata''. The
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
word for Tatars is . Tatars themselves wrote their name as or . ''Tatar'' is usually used to refer to the people, but ''Tartar'' has since come to refer to derived terms such as
tartar sauce Tartar sauce (French: ''sauce tartare''; spelled tartare sauce in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, South Africa) is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped pickles and/or relish, capers, and herbs such as tarragon and dill. Tart ...
,
steak tartare Steak tartare or tartar steak is a dish of raw ground (minced) beef. It is usually served with onions, capers, mushrooms, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, often presented separately, to be added to taste. It is often ser ...
, and the Tartar missile."Tartar, Tatar, n.2 (a.)"
(1989). In ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Retrieved 11 September 2008, from Oxford English Dictionary Online.
All Turkic peoples living within the Russian Empire were named ''Tatar'' (as a Russian
exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
). Some of these populations still use ''Tatar'' as a self-designation, others do not. * Kipchak groups ** Kipchak–Bulgar branch or "
Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different
" in the narrow sense ***
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 ...
**** Astrakhan Tatars *** Lipka Tatars ** Kipchak–Cuman branch ***
Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
**** Dobrujan Tatars ***
Karachays The Karachays ( krc, Къарачайлыла, Qaraçaylıla or таулула, , 'Mountaineers') are an indigenous Caucasian Turkic ethnic group in the North Caucasus. They speak Karachay-Balkar, a Turkic language. They are mostly situa ...
and
Balkars The Balkars ( krc, Малкъарлыла, Malqarlıla or Таулула, , 'Mountaineers') are a Turkic people of the Caucasus region, one of the titular populations of Kabardino-Balkaria. Their Karachay-Balkar language is of the Ponto-Ca ...
: ''Mountain Tatars'' ***
Kumyks , image = Abdul-Wahab son of Mustafa — a prominent Kumyk architect of the 19th century. , population = near 600,000 , region1 = , pop1 = 503,060 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 ...
: ''Daghestan Tatars'' ***
Crimean Karaites The Crimean Karaites or Krymkaraylar (Crimean Karaim: Кърымкъарайлар, ''Qrımqaraylar'', singular къарай, ''qaray''; Trakai dialect: ''karajlar'', singular ''karaj''; he, קראי מזרח אירופה; crh, Qaraylar; ), a ...
: ''Crimean Karaite Tatars / Karaite Tatars'' ***
Krymchaks The Krymchaks ( Krymchak: , , , ) are Jewish ethno-religious communities of Crimea derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Rabbinic Judaism.Nogais The Nogais ( Nogai: Ногай, , Ногайлар, ) are a Turkic ethnic group who live in the North Caucasus region. Most are found in Northern Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, as well as in Karachay-Cherkessia and Astrakhan Oblast; some als ...
: ''Nogai Tatars'' ***
Siberian Tatars Siberian Tatars ( sty, , ), the ethnographic and ethnoterritorial group of Tatars of Western Siberia, the indigenous Turkic-speaking population of the forests and steppes of Western Siberia, originate in areas stretching from somewhat east o ...
* Siberian branch: **
Altaians The Altai people ( alt, Алтай-кижи, Altai-kizhi), also the Altaians ( alt, Алтайлар, Altailar), are a Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia. Several thousand of the Alta ...
: ''Altai Tatars'', including the
Tubalar The Tubalars are an ethnic subgroup of the Altaians native to the Altai Republic in Russia. According to the 2010 census, there were 1,965 Tubalars in Russia. In 2002 they were listed by the authorities within the indigenous small-numbered peopl ...
or ''Chernevo Tatars'' **
Chulyms The Chulyms, also Chulym Tatars (self-designation: Татарлар, ''Tatarlar''), are a Turkic people in the Tomsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were 656 Chulyms in Russia. History The Chulym Tatars ...
or ''Chulym Tatars'' **
Khakas The Khakas (also spelled Khakass; Khakas: , ''khakas'', , ''tadar'', , ''khakastar'', , ''tadarlar'') are a Turkic indigenous people of Siberia, who live in the republic of Khakassia, Russia. They speak the Khakas language. The Khakhassian ...
: ''
Yenisei The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук, ...
Tatars'' (also ''Abakan Tatars'' or ''Achin Tatars''), still use the ''Tatar'' designation **
Shors Shors or Shorians ( Shor: , ''shor-kizhi'', , ''tadar-kizhi'', , ''shor'', , ''tadar'', , ''shor-kizhiler'', , ''tadar-kizhiler'', , ''shorlar'', , ''tadarlar'') are a Turkic ethnic group native to Kemerovo Oblast of Russia. Their self design ...
: '' Kuznetsk Tatars'' * Oghuz branch ** Azerbaijanis: ''Caucasus Tatars'' (also ''Transcaucasia Tatars'' or ''Azerbaijan Tatars'') The name ''Tatar'' is also an endonym to a number of peoples of
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
and
Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...
, namely the
Khakas people The Khakas (also spelled Khakass; Khakas: , ''khakas'', , ''tadar'', , ''khakastar'', , ''tadarlar'') are a Turkic indigenous people of Siberia, who live in the republic of Khakassia, Russia. They speak the Khakas language. The Khakhassian ...
.


Languages

11th century
Kara-khanid The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...
scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari noted that the historical Tatars were bilingual, speaking other Turkic languages besides their own language. The modern Tatar language, together with the Bashkir language, forms the Kypchak-Bolgar (also "Uralo-Caspian") group within the
Kipchak languages The Kipchak languages (also known as the Kypchak, Qypchaq, Qypshaq or the Northwestern Turkic languages) are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family spoken by approximately 28 million people in much of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, spanni ...
(also known as Northwestern Turkic). There are two Tatar dialects—Central and Western. The Western dialect (Misher) is spoken mostly by Mishärs, the Central dialect is spoken by Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars. Both dialects have subdialects. Central Tatar furnishes the base of literary Tatar. The
Siberian Tatar language Siberian Tatar language (себертатар теле, көнбатыш себер татарлары теле)) is a Turkic language spoken in Western Siberia region of Russia, primarily in the oblasts of Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Omsk but also in To ...
is independent of Volga–Ural Tatar. The dialects are quite remote from Standard Tatar and from each other, often preventing mutual comprehension. The claim that Siberian Tatar is part of the modern Tatar language is typically supported by linguists in Kazan and denounced by Siberian Tatars. Crimean Tatar is the indigenous language of the Crimean Tatar
people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
. Because of its common name, Crimean ''Tatar'' is sometimes mistakenly seen in Russia as a dialect of Kazan Tatar. Although these languages are related (as both are Turkic), the Kypchak languages closest to Crimean Tatar are (as mentioned above) Kumyk and
Karachay-Balkar Karachay-Balkar (, ), or Mountain Turkic (, ), is a Turkic language spoken by the Karachays and Balkars in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia, European Russia, as well as by an immigrant population in Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. ...
, not Kazan Tatar. Still, there exists an opinion ( E. R. Tenishev), according to which the Kazan Tatar language is included in the same Kipchak-Cuman group as Crimean Tatar.


Contemporary groups and nations

The largest Tatar populations are the
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 ...
, native to the
Volga-Ural Idel-Ural ( tt-Cyrl, Идел-Урал, translit=Idel-Üral, russian: Идель-Урал), literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means ''Volga-Urals'' in the Tatar language. T ...
region, and the
Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
of
Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
. Smaller groups of Lipka Tatars and Astrakhan Tatars live in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and the
Siberian Tatars Siberian Tatars ( sty, , ), the ethnographic and ethnoterritorial group of Tatars of Western Siberia, the indigenous Turkic-speaking population of the forests and steppes of Western Siberia, originate in areas stretching from somewhat east o ...
in Asia.


Volga Tatars

The
Volga Bulgars 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 wi ...
, who settled on the
Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
river in the 7th century AD and converted to Islam in 922 during the missionary work of
Ahmad ibn Fadlan Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Rāšid ibn Ḥammād, ( ar, أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد بن حماد; ) commonly known as Ahmad ibn Fadlan, was a 10th-century Muslim traveler, famous for his account of hi ...
, inhabited the present-day territory of
Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
. After the Batu Khan invasions of 1223–1236, the Golden Horde annexed Volga Bulgaria. Most of the population survived, and a certain degree of mixing between it and the Kipchaks of the Horde ensued. The group as a whole accepted the
exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
"Tatars" (finally in the end of the 19th century; although the name Bulgars persisted in some places; the majority identified themselves simply as ''the Muslims'') and the language of the Kipchaks; on the other hand, the invaders eventually converted to Sunni Islam ( 14th century). As the Golden Horde disintegrated in the 15th century, the area became the territory of the
Kazan khanate 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 155 ...
, which Russia ultimately conquered in the 16th century. Some Volga Tatars speak different dialects of the Tatar language. Accordingly, they form distinct groups such as the Mişär group and the Qasim group: * Mişär-Tatars (or Mishars) are a group of Tatars speaking a Mishar dialect of the Tatar language. They live in the
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...
,
Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...
,
Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-la ...
,
Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...
and Nizhegorodskaya oblasts of Russia and in
Bashkortostan The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик ...
and
Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...
. They live on the right bank of the
Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...
, in Tatarstan. * The Western Tatars have their capital in the town of Qasím (
Kasimov Kasimov (russian: Каси́мов; tt-Cyrl, Касыйм;, Ханкирмән,Ханкирмән, Хан-Кермень, means "Khan's fortress" historically Gorodets Meshchyorsky, Novy Nizovoy) is a town in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, located on the ...
, ru , Касимов) in
Ryazan Oblast Ryazan Oblast ( rus, Рязанская область, r=Ryazanskaya oblast, p=rʲɪˈzanskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Ryazan, which is the oblast's largest city. Geo ...
, with a Tatar population of 1100. A minority of Christianized Volga Tatars are known as Keräşens. The Volga Tatars used the Turkic
Old Tatar language The Old Tatar ( imlâ: يسكى تاتار تلى, translit. tt-Cyrl, иске татар теле, translit=İske Tatar Tele, Volga Turki; ba, Урал-Волга буйы төрки теле) was a literary language used by some ethnic grou ...
for their literature between the 15th and 19th centuries. It was written in the İske imlâ variant of the Arabic script, but actual spelling varied regionally. The older literary language included many Arabic and Persian loanwords. However, the modern literary language (generally written using a Cyrillic alphabets, Cyrillic alphabet), often has Russian- and other European-derived words instead. Outside of Tatarstan, urban Tatars usually speak Russian language, Russian as their first language (in cities such as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Tashkent, Almaty, and in cities of the Ural (region), Ural region and western Siberia) and other languages in a worldwide diaspora. In the 1910s the Volga Tatars numbered about half a million in the Kazan Governorate in
Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
, their historical homeland, about 400,000 in each of the governments of Ufa, 100,000 in Samara, Russia, Samara and Simbirsk, and about 30,000 in Kirov, Kirov Oblast, Vyatka, Saratov, Tambov, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Russia, Perm and Orenburg. An additional 15,000 had migrated to Ryazan or were settled as prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries in Lithuania (Vilnius, Hrodna, Grodno and Podolia). An additional 2000 resided in St. Petersburg, Russia, St. Petersburg. Most Kazan Tatars practise Islam. The Kazan Tatars speak Kazan (normal) tatar language, with a substantial amount of Russian and Arabic loanwords. Before 1917, polygamy was practiced only by the wealthier classes and was a waning institution. An ethnic nationalist movement among Kazan Tatars that stresses descent from the Bulgars is known as Bulgarism—graffiti have appeared on the walls in the streets of Kazan with phrases such a
"Bulgaria is alive" (Булгария жива)


Astrakhan Tatars

The Astrakhan Tatars (around 80,000) are a group of Tatars, descendants of the Astrakhan Khanate's population, who live mostly in Astrakhan Oblast. In the Russian Census (2010), Russian census of 2010 most Astrakhan Tatars declared themselves simply as "Tatars" and few declared themselves as "Astrakhan Tatars". Many Volga Tatars live in Astrakhan Oblast, and differences between the two groups have been disappearing.


Crimean Tatars

Crimean Tatars are a relatively recent ethnic layer in
Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
. They displaced the Greek speaking Byzantines and the remains of the Gothic populations settled there in the 3rd Century AD. Crimean tatars gain a distinct identity during the 13th–17th centuries, They incorporated many invading Turkic people, including the Cumans that settled in Crimea in the 10th century and other contributions from the peoples who inhabited Crimea before (Greeks, Scythians, and Goths). At the beginning of the 13th century, Crimea, where the majority of the population was already composed of a Turkic peoples, Turkic people—Cumans, became a part of the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
. The Crimean Tatars mostly adopted Islam in the 14th century and thereafter Crimea became one of the centers of Islamic civilization in Eastern Europe. In the same century, trends towards separatism appeared in the Crimean Ulus of the Golden Horde. De facto independence of Crimea from the Golden Horde may be counted since the beginning of princess (khanum) Canike's, the daughter of the powerful Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh and the wife of the founder of the Nogai Horde Edigey, reign in the peninsula. During her reign she strongly supported Hacı I Giray, Hacı Giray in the struggle for the Crimean throne until her death in 1437. Following the death of Сanike, the situation of Hacı Giray in Crimea weakened and he was forced to leave Crimea for Lithuania. In 1441, an embassy from the representatives of several strongest clans of Crimea, including the Golden Horde clans Shırın and Barın and the Cumanic clan—Kıpçak, went to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to invite Hacı Giray to rule in Crimea. He became the founder of the Giray dynasty, which ruled until the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by Russia in 1783. Hacı I Giray was a Jochid descendant of Genghis Khan and of his grandson Batu Khan of the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
. During the reign of Meñli I Giray, Hacı's son, the army of the Great Horde that still existed then invaded Crimea from the north, Crimean Khan won the general battle, overtaking the army of the Horde Khan in Takht-Lia, where he was killed, the Horde ceased to exist, and the Crimean Khan became the Khagan, Great Khan and the successor of this state. Since then, the Crimean Khanate was among the strongest powers in Eastern Europe until the beginning of the 18th century. The Khanate officially operated as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, with great autonomy after 1580, because of being a Muslim state, the Crimean Khanate just could not be separate from the Ottoman caliphate, and therefore the Crimean khans had to recognize the Ottoman caliph as the supreme ruler, in fact, the viceroy of God on earth. At the same time, the Nogai hordes, not having their own khan, were vassals of the Crimean one, Muskovy and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth paid annual tribute to the khan (until Treaty of Constantinople (1700), 1700 and Treaty of Karlowitz, 1699 respectively). In 1711, when Peter I of Russia went on a campaign with all his troops (80,000) to gain access to the Black Sea, he was surrounded by the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet II Giray, finding himself in a hopeless situation. And only the betrayal of the Ottoman vizier Baltacı Mehmet Pasha allowed Peter to get out of the encirclement of the Crimean Tatars. When Devlet II Giray protested against the vizier's decision, his response was: "You might know your Tatar affairs. The affairs of the Sublime Porte are entrusted to me. You do not have the right to interfere in them." Treaty of the Pruth was signed, and 10 years later, Russia declared itself an empire. In 1736, the Crimean Khan Qaplan I Giray was summoned by the Turkish Sultan Ahmed III to Persia. Understanding that Russia could take advantage of the lack of troops in Crimea, Qaplan Giray wrote to the Sultan to think twice, but the Sultan was persistent. As it was expected by Qaplan Giray, in Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739), 1736 the Russian army invaded Crimea, led by Burkhard Christoph von Münnich, Münnich, devastated the peninsula, killed civilians and destroyed all major cities, occupied the capital, Bakhchisaray, and burnt the Bakhchisaray Palace, Khan's palace with all the archives and documents, and then left Crimea because of the epidemic that had begun in it. One year after the same was done by another Russian general—Peter Lacy.Gayvoronsky, 2007 Since then, the Crimean Khanate had not been able to recover, and its slow decline began. The Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774 resulted in the defeat of the Ottomans by the Russians, and according to the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) signed after the war, Crimea became independent and the Ottomans renounced their political right to protect the Crimean Khanate. After a period of political unrest in Crimea, Imperial Russia violated the treaty and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire, annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783. Due to the oppression by the Russian administration, the Crimean Tatars were forced to immigrate to the Ottoman Empire. In total, from 1783 till the beginning of the 20th century, at least 800 thousand Tatars left Crimea. In 1917, the Crimean Tatars, in an effort to recreate their statehood, announced the Crimean People's Republic—the first democratic republic in the Muslim world, where all peoples were equal in rights. The head of the republic was the young politician Noman Çelebicihan. However, a few months later the Bolsheviks captured Crimea, and Çelebicihan was killed without trial and thrown into the Black Sea. Soon in Crimea, Soviet power was established. Through the fault of the Soviet government, which exported bread from Crimea to other regions of the country, in Russian famine of 1921–22, 1921–1922, at least 76,000 Crimean Tatars died of starvation, which became a disaster for such a small nation. In 1928, the first wave of repression against the Crimean Tatar intelligentsia was launched, in particular, the head of the Crimean ASSR :ru:Ибраимов, Вели, Veli Ibraimov was executed in a fabricated case. In 1938, the second wave of repression against the Crimean Tatar intelligentsia was started, during which many Crimean Tatar writers, scientists, poets, politicians, teachers were killed (Asan Sabri Ayvazov, Usein Bodaninsky, :ru:Хаттатов, Сеитджелиль Усеинович, Seitdzhelil Hattatov, :ru:Тархан, Ильяс Умерович, Ilyas Tarhan and many others). In May 1944, the USSR State Defense Committee Deportation of the Crimean Tatars, ordered the total deportation of all the Crimean Tatars from Crimea. The deportees were transported in cattle trains to Central Asia, primarily to Uzbekistan. During the deportation and in the first years of being in exile, 46% of Crimean Tatars died. In 1956, Khrushchev exposed Stalin's cult of personality and allowed deported peoples to return to their homeland. The exception was the Crimean Tatars. Since then, a powerful national movement of the Crimean Tatars, supported abroad and by Soviet dissidents, began, and in 1989 the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was made to condemn the ethnic cleansing, deportation of Crimean Tatars from their motherland as inhumane and lawless. Crimean Tatars began to return to their homeland. Today, Crimean Tatars constitute approximately 12% of the population of Crimea. There is a Crimean Tatar diaspora, large diaspora in Turkey and Uzbekistan, but most (especially in Turkey) of them do not consider themselves Crimean Tatars. Still, there remains a diaspora in Dobruja, where most of the Tatars keep identifying themselves as Crimean Tatars. Nowadays, the Crimean Tatars comprise three sub-ethnic groups: * the Crimean Tatars#Sub-ethnic groups, Tats (not to be confused with Tat people (Caucasus), Tat people, living in the Caucasus region) who used to inhabit the Crimean Mountains before 1944 * the Yaliboylu, Yalıboylu who lived on the southern coast of the peninsula * the Noğays who used to live in the northern part of the Crimea


Crimean Tatars in Dobruja

Some Crimean Tatars have lived in the territory of today's Romania and Bulgaria since the 13th century. In Romania, according to the 2002 census, 24,000 people declared their ethnicity as Tatar, most of them being Crimean Tatars living in Constanța County in the region of Dobruja. Most of the Crimean Tatars, living in Romania and Bulgaria nowadays, left the Crimean peninsula for Dobruja after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire. Dobrujan Tatars have been present in Romania since the 13th century. The Tatars first reached the mouths of the Danube in the mid-13th century at the height of the power of the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
. In the 14th and 15th centuries the Ottoman Empire colonized Dobruja with
Nogais The Nogais ( Nogai: Ногай, , Ногайлар, ) are a Turkic ethnic group who live in the North Caucasus region. Most are found in Northern Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, as well as in Karachay-Cherkessia and Astrakhan Oblast; some als ...
from Budjak. Between 1593 and 1595 Tatars from Nogai and Budjak were also settled to Dobruja. Toward the end of the 16th century, about 30,000 Nogai Tatars from the Budjak were brought to Dobruja.Robert Stănciugel and Liliana Monica Bălaşa, ''Dobrogea în Secolele VII–XIX. Evoluţie istorică'', Bucharest, 2005, p.147 After the Russo-Turkish War, 1768–1774, Russian annexation of Crimea in 1783
Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
began emigrating to the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman coastal provinces of Dobruja (today divided between Romania and Bulgaria). Once in Dobruja most settled in the areas surrounding Medgidia, Mecidiye, Babadag, Constanţa, Köstence, Tulcea, Tulça, Silistra, Silistre, Beștepe, Tulcea, Beştepe, or Varna, Bulgaria, Varna and went on to create villages named in honor of their abandoned homeland such as Şirin, Yayla, Akmecit, Yalta, Kefe or Beybucak. Tatars together with Albanians served as Bashi-bazouk, gendarmes, who were held in high esteem by the Ottomans and received special tax privileges. The Ottomans additionally accorded a certain degree of autonomy for the Tatars who were allowed governance by their own kaymakam, Khan Mirza. The Giray dynasty (1427–1878) multiplied in Dobruja and maintained their respected position. A Dobrujan Tatar, Kara Hussein, was responsible for the destruction of the Janissary corps on orders from Sultan Mahmut II.


Lipka Tatars

The Lipka Tatars are a group of Turkic languages, Turkic-speaking Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians. Towards the end of the 14th century Grand Duke Vytautas the Great of Lithuania (ruled 1392–1430) invited another wave of Tatars—Muslims, this time—into the Grand Duchy. These Tatars first settled in Lithuania proper around Vilnius, Trakai, Hrodna and Kaunas and spread to other parts of the Grand Duchy that later became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. These areas comprise parts of present-day Lithuania, Belarus and Poland. From the very beginning of their settlement in Lithuania they were known as the Lipka Tatars. From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Grand Dukes of Lithuania especially promoted the migrations because of the Tatars' reputation as skilled warriors. The Tatar settlers were all granted ''szlachta'' (nobility) status, a tradition that survived until the end of the Commonwealth in the late-18th century. Such migrants included the Lipka Tatars (13th–14th centuries) as well as Crimean and Nogai people, Nogay Tatars (15th–16th centuries), all of which were notable in Polish military history, as well as
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 ...
(16th–17th centuries). They all mostly settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Various estimates of the Tatars in the Commonwealth in the 17th century place their numbers at about 15,000 persons and 60 villages with mosques. Numerous royal privileges, as well as internal autonomy granted by the monarchs, allowed the Tatars to preserve their religion, traditions, and culture over the centuries. The Tatars were allowed to Interethnic marriage, intermarry with Christians,a practice uncommon in Europe at the time. The Constitution of May 3, 1791, May Constitution of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sejm (parliament). Although by the 18th century the Tatars had adopted the local language, the Islamic religion and many Tatar traditions (e.g. the sacrifice of bulls in their mosques during the main religious festivals) survived. This led to the formation of a distinctive Muslim culture, in which the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with religious tolerance formed a relatively liberal society. For instance, the women in Lipka Tatar society traditionally had the same rights and status as men, and could attend non-segregated schools. About 5,500 Tatars lived within the inter-war boundaries of Second Polish Republic, Poland (1920–1939), and a Tatar cavalry unit had fought for the country's independence. The Tatars had preserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including Tatar archives and a museum in Vilnius. The Tatars suffered serious losses during World War II and furthermore, after the Polish–Soviet border agreement of August 1945, border change in 1945, a large part of them found themselves in the Soviet Union. It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars live in present-day Poland, of which about 500 declared Tatar (rather than Polish) nationality in the 2002 census. There are two Tatar villages (Bohoniki and Kruszyniany) in the north-east of present-day Poland, as well as urban Tatar communities in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Białystok, and Gorzów Wielkopolski. Tatars in Poland sometimes have a Muslim surname with a Polish ending: ''Ryzwanowicz''; another surname sometimes adopted by more assimilated Tatars is ''Tatara'' or ''Tataranowicz'' or ''Taterczyński'', which literally mean "son of a Tatar". The Tatars played a relatively prominent role for such a small community in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth military as well as in Polish and Lithuanian political and intellectual life. In modern-day Poland, their presence is also widely known, due in part to their noticeable role in the historical novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916), which are universally recognized in Poland. A number of Polish intellectual figures have also been Tatars, e.g. the prominent historian Jerzy Łojek. A small community of Polish-speaking Tatars settled in Brooklyn, New York City, in the early-20th century. They established a mosque that remained in use .


Siberian Tatars

The
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
n Tatars occupy three distinct regions: * a strip running west to east from Tobolsk to Tomsk * the Altay Mountains, Altay and its spurs * South Yeniseisk They originated in the agglomerations of various indigenous North Asian groups which, in the region north of the Altay, reached some degree of culture between the 4th and 5th centuries, but were subdued and enslaved by the Mongols. The Russian Census (2010), 2010 census recorded 6,779 Siberian Tatars in Russia. According to the 2002 census there are 500,000 Tatars in Siberia, but 400,000 of them are
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 settled in Siberia during periods of colonization.


Gallery

;Flags File:Nogai flag.svg, Flag of the Nogai Horde File:Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg, Flag of the Crimean Tatars File:Flag of Tatarstan.svg, Flag of
Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
File:Flag of the Kazan Khanate.svg, Flag of the Kazan Khanate File:COA Crimean Khanate.svg, Flag of the Crimean KhanatePierre Duval: Le monde ou La géographie universelle. (1676)
/ref> File:Golden Horde flag 1339.svg,
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
flag File:Tartary flag.jpg,
Tartary Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...
flag
;Pictures File:Crimean Tatars.jpg, Crimean Tatar men and boys File:Crimean-tatar-women.jpg, Crimean Tatar women, early 1900s ;Paintings File:Tatar.jpg, Tatar elder and his horse. File:Tatar woman XVIII century.jpg, Tatar woman File:Markov EL Tatar girl 1890.jpg, Crimean Tatar woman File:Costumes de Differents Pays, 'Femme Tatar Tobolsk' LACMA M.83.190.220.jpg, Tatar woman File:Fullarton, A. & Co. Caucausus & Crimea. 1872 (T).jpg, Crimean Tatar woman File:Costumes de Differents Pays, 'Femme Tatar Kastchintz' LACMA M.83.190.226.jpg, Tatar woman File:Markov EL Tatar shepherd-boy 1972.jpg, Crimean Tatar shepherd-boy File:Tartares lituaniens en reconnaissance.jpg, Lithuanian Tatars of Napoleonic army File:Семья крымских татар.jpg, Crimean Tatar family, 1840 File:Крымская татарка.jpg, Crimean Tatar girl from Morske, Crimea, Kapsikhor File:Tatar de Khourzouk. Grove, Florence Craufurd. Le Caucase. 1899. P.16.png, Daghestani Tatar elder File:Soyembika.jpg, Tatar family File:Mercier. Famille Tartare (Asie). Auguste Wahlen. Moeurs, usages et costumes de tous les peuples du monde. 1843.jpg, Tatar family in 1843 File:Карло Боссоли. Татарский танец.jpg, Dance of Crimean Tatars. Crimea, 1856 File:Кримські татари і мулла.jpg, Crimean Tatar family and a mullah File:Tatarka.jpg, Crimean Tatar princess in 1682 File:Nicolae Tonitza - Micuta tataroaica.jpg, Tatar child ca. 19th century File:Vasnetsov Tatary Idut.jpg, Tatars' raid on Moscow File:Recovery of Tartar captives.PNG, Recovery of Tatar captives. File:Крымскотатарский эскадрон.jpg, Crimean Tatar squadrone of the Russian empire File:Yeget-1.jpg, Tatar costumes. File:MarkovEL Akmulla 1872.jpg, Crimean Tatar elder inviting guests. File:Markov EL Suuksu 1872.jpg, Tatar horsemen File:Танец крымских татар, 1790-е годы.jpg, Crimean Tatar's national dance File:Ryszkiewicz Tatars in the vanguard.jpg, Tatars in the vanguard of the Ottoman army File:Tatar peopleы1862.jpg, Kazan Tatars 1862 ;Language File:Qur'an book made by tartars.JPG, Quran of the Tatars. Kazan Millennium tamğa.svg, The word ''Kazan, Qazan'' – قازان is written in Yaña imlâ alphabet, Yaña imlâ in the semblance of a Zilant. Borongi bolgarlar Gaziz cover.jpg, Cover page of Tatar Yana imla book, printed with Separated Tatar language in Arabic script in 1924. Хальфин Азбука татарского языка 1778.pdf, A Tatar alphabet book printed in 1778. Arabic script is used, Cyrillic text is in Russian
Хальфин, Сагит. Азбука татарского языка. — М., 1778. — 52 с.
Nizhny-Novgorod-Mosque-inscription-C0274.jpg, Tatar sign on a madrasah in Nizhny Novgorod, written in both Arabic language, Arabic and Cyrillic Tatar scripts.


See also

* List of Tatars * List of conflicts in Europe during Turco-Mongol rule * Tatarophobia * Tatar name * Uhlan * Serving Tatars


References


External links

*
The American Turko-Tatar Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatar Tatar peoples, Ethnic groups in Azerbaijan Ethnic groups in Dagestan Ethnic groups in Kazakhstan Ethnic groups in Poland Ethnic groups in Russia Ethnic groups in Turkey Ethnic groups in Ukraine Ethnic groups in Uzbekistan Muslim communities of Russia Turkic peoples of Europe Turkic peoples of Asia Tatar diaspora Tatar people,