The Kalmak Tatars (

Siberian Tatar Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states sin ...

: ''калмактар'') are one of the three subgroups of

Tom group TOM Group Limited () is a technology and Media listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. TOM Group's technology platform and investment-related businesses encompass Mobile Internet, E-Commerce, Fintech and Advanced Data An ...

Siberian Tatars Siberian Tatars () are the Indigenous peoples of Siberia, indigenous Turkic languages, Turkic-speaking population of the forests and steppes of southern Western Siberia, originating in areas stretching from somewhat east of the Ural Mountains to ...

. Their traditional areas of settlement are northeastern parts of

Kemerovo Oblast Kemerovo Oblast (, ), also known as Kuzbass (, ), after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Kemerovo is the administrative center and largest city of the oblast. Kemerovo Oblast is one of Rus ...

, close to the town of

Yurga Yurga () is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River and the Trans-Siberian Railway. Population: History It was founded in 1886. Work settlement status was granted to it in 1942; town status was granted in 1949. Administr ...

. The origins of the Kalmaks trace back to the 17th century, when a group of

Teleuts Teleuts () are a Turkic Indigenous people of Siberia living in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. According to the 2010 census, there were 2,643 Teleuts in Russia. They speak the Teleut language/dialect of Southern Altai language. In the Soviet years ...

from the central parts of Kemerovo Oblast migrated to the north. Kalmaks adopted Islam in the 18th century due to mainly Tatar influence. These factors created an

endogamous Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

barrier between Kalmaks and

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, which helped Kalmaks to preserve their identity. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Kalmaks inhabited mainly Zimnik, Bolshoy Ulus close to the town of Yurga, and Yurty-Konstantinovy (Тумаел) in the

Yashkinsky District Yashkinsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the nineteen in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.Law #215-OZ As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Yashkinsky Municipal District.Law #104-OZ It is located in the northwest of th ...

to the northeast of Yurga, close to

Tomsk Oblast Tomsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited loca ...

Culture

The Kalmaks are considered to be mostly assimilated but retain their Teleut roots. They speak a local dialect of the

Siberian Tatar language Siberian Tatar () is a Turkic language spoken by about 140,000 people in Western Siberia, Russia, primarily in the oblasts of Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, but also in Sverdlovsk and Kurgan Oblasts. According to Marcel E ...

. However some sources consider the language of the Kalmaks to be a separate variety of Tatar, or even a dialect of the Teleut language, as it differs greatly from other Siberian Tatar varieties. The Kalmaks are Sunni Muslims. They converted to Islam around the late 18th century under the influence of Volga Tatars and

Siberian Bukharans The Siberian Bukharans (self-designation: ''Poğarlı'') are an ethnographic and sociocultural group in Siberia. They constituted a significant part of the Tobol-Irtysh and Tom groups of Siberian Tatars. The legend has it that their ancestors cam ...

Genetics

The majority of Kalmak Tatars belong to

Y-DNA The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms. Along with the X chromosome, it is part of the XY sex-determination system, in which the Y is the sex-determining chromosome because the presence of the Y ...

haplogroup N1c1-Y16311 which originates from N1c1-F4205, like

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

and

Kalmyks 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 ...

. This differentiates them from Teleuts, from whom some scholars believe the Kalmak Tatars descent.

References

Siberian Tatars Khanate of Sibir Kemerovo Oblast {{Ethno-group-stub