Astrakhan Tatars () are an

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

subgroup of the

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

. In the 15th to 17th-centuries, the Astrakhan Tatars inhabited the

Astrakhan Khanate The Khanate of Astrakhan was a Tatar rump state of the Golden Horde. The khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, around the modern city of Astrakhan. Its khans claimed patrilineal de ...

(1459–1556), which was also inhabited by the

Nogai Horde The Nogai Horde was a confederation founded by the Nogais that occupied the Pontic–Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by the Kalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called the Manghuds con ...

, and the Astrakhan Tatars exerted a profound effect on

Nogais The Nogais ( ) are a Kipchaks, Kipchak people who speak a Turkic languages, Turkic language and live in Southeastern Europe, North Caucasus, Volga region, Central Asia and Turkey. Most are found in Northern Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, as well ...

. Since the 17th century, there has been an increased interaction and ethnic mixing of the Astrakhan Tatars with

Volga Tatars The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars (; ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of western Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. ...

Population

The Astrakhan Tatars (around 60,000) are a group of Tatars, descendants of the

's nomadic population, who live mostly in

Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast (; ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southern Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,010,073. Geography Astrakhan's southern border is the ...

. For the Russian Census in 2010, most Astrakhan Tatars declared themselves simply as Tatars and few declared themselves as Astrakhan Tatars. A large number of Volga Tatars live in Astrakhan Oblast and differences between them have been disappearing. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, writing in 1911, "The

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) 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 Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

Tatars (about 10,000) are, with the Mongol

Kalmucks Kalmyks (), archaically anglicised as Calmucks (), are the only Mongolic ethnic group living in Europe, residing in the easternmost part of the European Plain. This dry steppe area, west of the lower Volga River, known among the nomads as I ...

, all that now remains of the once so powerful Astrakhan empire. They also are agriculturists and gardeners..." While Astrakhan (Ästerxan) Tatar is a mixed dialect, around 43,000 have assimilated to the Middle (i.e., Kazan) dialect. Their ancestors are

Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

and some

Volga Bulgars Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...

. (Volga Bulgars had trade colonies in modern

and

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

oblasts of Russia.) The Astrakhan Tatars also assimilated the Agrzhan. The Astrakhan Tatars are further divided into the Kundrov, Yurt and Karagash Tatars. The latter are also at times called the Karashi Tatars.Olson, James S., ''An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires''. (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994) p. 55

Culture

20th century

To 1917, the

- one of the major centers of Tatar cultural and social life. Some Kazan Tatars settled in Astrakhan. In 1892, the functioning madrassas "lower classes." The newspaper "Azat Halyk" (1917-1919), "Irek" (1917), "Islah" (1907), "tartysh" (1917-1919), "Idel" (1907 - 1914, renewed in 1991). News magazines "Azat Khanum" (1917-1918), "Magarif" (1909), "Wheel" (1907), etc. Since 1907, he has worked Tatar folk theater. In 1919, organized by Astrakhan Tatar drama school.

Present

At present, the company operates the Astrakhan region of the Tatar national culture "Duslyk" and Tatar youth center "Umid" (founded in 1989). Parallel works "Center of preservation and development of the Tatar culture" at the nonprofit Partnershi
Tatar business center
(NP TDC)

Notable Astrakhan Tatars

Alex Battler Alex Battler (born ''Rafik Shagi-Akzamovich Aliyev'' () on December 10, 1946), known in Russia under the pen name Oleg Alekseyevich Arin (), is a Soviet-born Russian-Canadian scholar and political writer. He is a member of the organization «De ...

– Russian-Canadian scholar and political writer. *

Rinat Dasayev Rinat Fayzrakhmanovich Dasayev (, ; born 13 June 1957) is a Russian football coach and a former goalkeeper. Throughout his club career, he played for Volgar Astrakhan, Spartak Moscow and Sevilla. At international level, he played at three Wo ...

– Russian football coach and a former Soviet goalkeeper. *

Renat Davletyarov Renat Favarisovich Davletyarov (; born August 17, 1961, Astrakhan, USSR) is a Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter. President of the Guild of Producers of Russia. Biography Davletyarov was born to a Tatars, Tatar father and Russ ...

- Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter. (Tatar father) * Marziyya Davudova – Russian-born Soviet Azerbaijani actress

Sources

* DM Iskhakov. ''Астраханские татары: этническое расселение и динамика численности в XVIII – начале XX вв.'' (The Astrakhan Tatars: Ethnic Settlement and Population Dynamics from the 18th to Beginning of the 20th Century). Kazan, 1992. - pp. 5-33. * The Tartars. The people of Russia. Encyclopedia. - Moscow, 1994. - pp. 320–321.

References

External links

First site Astrakhan Tatars
{{Authority control Tatar people Astrakhan Khanate