Komi Permyaks
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The Komi ( also ) are a
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...
ethnic group who are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit a region around the basins of the
Vychegda The Vychegda (; ) is a river in the European part of Russia, a tributary of the Northern Dvina. Its length is about . Its source is approximately west of the northern Ural Mountains. It flows roughly in a western direction, through the Komi Re ...
,
Pechora Pechora (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Pechora (river), Pechora River, west of and near the northern Ural Mountains. The area of the town is . Population: History Pechor ...
and
Kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका ...
rivers in northeastern
European Russia European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russia, Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia ...
. They mostly reside in the
Komi Republic The Komi Republic (; ), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the northeast of European Russia. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Syktyvka ...
,
Perm Krai Perm Krai (, ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a Krais of Russia, krai), located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is Perm, Russia, Perm. The population of the krai was 2,532,405 (2021 Russian census, 2021 ...
,
Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...
,
Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, also known as Khanty-Mansia (Khantia-Mansia), is a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug of Tyumen Oblast). It has a population of 1,532,243 as of the 2010 Census. Its administrative center is lo ...
, and
Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (; ) also known as Nenetsia ( ) is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Naryan-Mar. It has an area of and a population of 42,090 ...
in the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.


Name

There have been at least three names for the Komi: ''Permyaks'' (), ''Zyrians'' (), and ''Komi'' (). The name ''Permyaks'' first appeared in Russian sources in the 10th century and came from the ancient name of the land between the Mezen and
Pechora Pechora (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Pechora (river), Pechora River, west of and near the northern Ural Mountains. The area of the town is . Population: History Pechor ...
rivers – ''Perm'' or ''
Great Perm Great Perm, or Perm Land, also known as the Principality of Perm (1451–1505), is a historical region and former principality along the Kama River in Russia. The city of Cherdyn was the center of the region. The region is first mentioned in 1 ...
'' (). Several origins of the name have been proposed, but the most accepted is from Veps ''Peräma'' "back, outer or far-away land". In
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
and
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
, it was known as ''
Bjarmaland Bjarmaland (also spelled ''Bjarmland'' and ''Bjarmia'') was a territory mentioned in sagas from the Viking Age and in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually understood to have referred to the southern shores of the Whit ...
'' and ''Beormas'' respectively, but those Germanic names designate a wider area than the Russian ''Perm'', extending into
Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...
. Since the 20th century, the name has been applied only to the southern Komi (Komi-Permyaks) in Perm Krai. In Russia, ''permyak'' also means "an inhabitant of Perm or Perm Krai", regardless of ethnicity. The name for the northern Komis – ''Zyryans'' – has a more contradictory origin. It exists since at least the 14th century and has many different forms in various Russian sources such as ''Seryan'' (серьяне), ''Siryan'' (сирьяне), ''Syryan'' (сыряне), and ''Suryan'' (суряне), as well as ''Ziryan'' (зиряне), ''Ziranian'', and ''Zyryan'' (зыряне), but the latter finally became predominant. Turkin believed that it may come from a small tribe of the Komi (probably named ''saran'') which was first met by the Russians, who used the name for all northern Komi. The neighbouring Uralic-speaking peoples use similar names for the Komi:
Khanty The Khanty (), also known in older literature as Ostyaks (), are a Ugric Indigenous people, living in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as " Yugra" in Russia, together with the Mansi. In the autonomous okrug, the K ...
''sərän, sərån, săran, sārån'',
Mansi Mansi may refer to: * Mansi people, an Indigenous people of Russia ** Mansi language *Mansi (name), given name and surname *Mansi Junction railway station * Mansi Township, Myanmar ** Mansi, Myanmar, a town in the Kachin State of Myanmar (Burma) * ...
''sarän'',
Nenets The Nenets (; ), in the past also called 'Samoyeds' or 'Yuraks', are a Samoyedic ethnic group native to Arctic Russia, Russian Far North. According to the latest census in 2021, there were 49,646 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them l ...
''sānnğr, saran'', and Udmurt ''sara-kum''. The name ''Komi'' is the
endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
for all subgroups of the people. It was first recorded by ethnographers in the 18th century. It originates from a
Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...
word meaning "man, human": Komi ''kom'', Udmurt ''kum'', Mansi ''kom, kum'', Khanty ''xum'', Selkup ''qum'', and Hungarian ''hím'' "male". The theory that stated the word came from the name of the
Kama River The Kama ( , ; ; ), also known as the Chulman ( ; ), is a long«Река КАМА»
Russian St ...
has been disproven, though some scholars like Paula Kokkonen favour this version.


Subgroups and geographic distribution

The Komi are divided into two main groups, which are the Zyryans (northern Komi) and the Permyaks (southern Komi). These are divided into 8 subgroupings (9 if counting the almost completely
russified Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...
Komi of the Upper Kama), which are further divided into even smaller subgroups. The Komi have been traditionally named after the rivers where they live: *Komi-Zyryans ** Komi-Izhma of the
Izhma River The Izhma () is a river in the Komi Republic of Russia. It is a left tributary of the Pechora. It is long, with a drainage basin of . At a point from its mouth, it has an average discharge of . The river freezes over in November, and stays icebo ...
( Komi: Изьватас, ''Iźvatas'';
Nenets The Nenets (; ), in the past also called 'Samoyeds' or 'Yuraks', are a Samoyedic ethnic group native to Arctic Russia, Russian Far North. According to the latest census in 2021, there were 49,646 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them l ...
: нысма, ''nysma'') ***Komi of the
Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...
***Komi of the
Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (; ) also known as Nenetsia ( ) is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Naryan-Mar. It has an area of and a population of 42,090 ...
***Komi of the Lower Ob and Lyapin Rivers **Komi of the
Vashka The Vashka () is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left and the biggest tributary of the Mezen. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal ...
and
Mezen River The Mezen (; Komi: ''n'') is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and in Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. Mezen is one of the biggest rivers ...
s (Komi: Удораса, ''Udorasa'') **Komi of the
Vym River The Vym (; ) is a river in the Komi Republic, Russia. It is a tributary of the Vychegda in the basin of the Northern Dvina. It is long, and its drainage basin covers . Its average discharge is . The Vym has its sources in the southern foothills ...
(Komi: Емватас, ''Emvatas'') **Komi of the
Pechora River The Pechora (; Komi: Печӧра; Nenets: Санэроˮ яха) is the sixth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Northwest Russia and into the Arctic Ocean, it lies mostly in the Komi Republic but the northernmost part crosses the Nenets A ...
(Komi: Печораса'', Pećorasa'') **Komi of the
Vychegda River The Vychegda (; ) is a river in the European part of Russia, a tributary of the Northern Dvina. Its length is about . Its source is approximately west of the northern Ural Mountains. It flows roughly in a western direction, through the Komi Repub ...
(Komi: Эжватас, ''Ežvatas'') **Komi of the
Sysola River The Sysola (; ) is a river located mainly in the Komi Republic in northwest Russia, although its two branches have their sources in Kirov Oblast and Perm Oblast. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The Sysola is a tributary of the larger Vyc ...
(Komi: Сыктывсаяс, ''Syktyvsayas'') **Komi of the Letka and Luza Rivers (Komi: Лузса, ''Lusza'') *Komi-Permyaks **Komi of the Yazva River (Komi: Ёдзва, ''Yodzva; Yazva: Пермякйӧз, ''Permyakyöz'') **Komi of the Upper Kama River (nearly fully assimilated into Russians) The majority of the Komi live in the Komi Republic as a separate national-administrative entity of the Russian Federation, numbering 256,000 as of the beginning of the 21st century, roughly 30% of the Republic's population. About 60% (607,000) are Russians, about 6% (62,000) are Ukrainians, 1.5% (15,500) are Tatars, and 1.4% (15,000) are Belarusians. Most of the population of the Komi Republic resides in urban centres but a notable minority continues to live in villages. The Komi population in the countryside tends to be higher than that of Komi in urban areas, where ethnic Russians make up the majority of the population. Like the rest of the
Finno-Ugric peoples Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century ...
of Russia, the population continues to steadily decrease - the 2010 census recorded only 228,235 people who indicated their nationality as "Komi", as compared to the 336,309 recorded as Komi in the 1989 census.


Language

The
Komi language Komi (, ), also known as Zyran, Zyrian or Komi-Zyryan (),. is the native language of the Komi (Zyrians). It is one of the Permian languages; the other regional varieties are Komi-Permyak, which has official status, and Komi-Yazva. Komi is s ...
belongs to the Permian branch of the Uralic family. There is limited mutual intelligibility with Udmurt. There are two main dialects: Zyrian in the Komi Republic and Permyak in the
Komi-Permyak Okrug Komi-Permyak Okrug (, ''Komi-Permyatsky okrug''; , -), or Permyakia was a territory with special status within Perm Krai, Russia. Its administrative center was the town of Kudymkar. Population: It was a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous ...
, which have been traditionally treated as separate languages. They are mutually intelligible, and can also be considered to form a single language with two regional language standards. The two separate standards were created in the early Soviet era partly because of the traditional administrative borders, and partly to hinder pan-Komi nationalistic aspirations. Until the 18th century, Komi was written in the
Old Permic script The Old Permic script (, ), sometimes known by its initial two characters as Abur or Anbur, is a "highly idiosyncratic adaptation" of the Cyrillic script once used to write medieval Komi (a member of the Permic branch of Finno-Ugric languages ...
(Komi: Важ Перым гижӧм, 𐍮𐍐‎𐍕 𐍟‎𐍔‎𐍠𐍨𐍜 𐍒‎𐍣‎𐍕𐍩𐍜‎, ''Važ Perym gižöm''), also known as Anbur in reference in reference to its first 2 letters, which was created by Saint Stephen of Perm in the 14th century, seeing use up to the 16th century after which it saw use as a
cryptographic Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...
writing system for Russian speakers.
Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
was used from the 19th century and briefly replaced by the Latin alphabet between 1932 and 1936. The Komi language is currently written in Cyrillic, adding two extra letters - Іі and Ӧӧ - to represent vowel sounds which do not exist in Russian. The first book to be printed in Komi (a vaccination manual) appeared in 1815.


History

Based on
linguistic reconstruction Linguistic reconstruction is the practice of establishing the features of an unattested ancestor language of one or more given languages. There are two kinds of reconstruction: * Internal reconstruction uses irregularities in a single language t ...
, the prehistoric
Permians The Permians are the peoples who speak the Permic languages, a branch of the Uralic language family, which includes Komis, Udmurts, and Besermyans. History The ancestors of the Permians originally inhabited the land called Permia covering t ...
are assumed to have split into two peoples during the first millennium BC: the Komi and the
Udmurts The Udmurts (, ) are a Permian (Finno-Ugric) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. They mainly live in the republic of Udmurtia in Russia. Etymology The name ''Udmurt'' comes from * 'meadow people,' where the first part ...
. By the 16th–17th centuries, the Komi further divided into the Komi-Permyaks (who remained in the
Kama River The Kama ( , ; ; ), also known as the Chulman ( ; ), is a long«Река КАМА»
Russian St ...
basin) and the Komi-Zyryans (who migrated north). From the 12th century, the Russians began to expand into the Perm region and the Komi came into contact with
Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
. Novgorodian traders travelled to the region in search of furs and animal hides. The Novgorodians referred to the southern Komi region as "the
Great Perm Great Perm, or Perm Land, also known as the Principality of Perm (1451–1505), is a historical region and former principality along the Kama River in Russia. The city of Cherdyn was the center of the region. The region is first mentioned in 1 ...
". Komi dukes unified the Great Perm with its centre at the stronghold of Cherdyn. As the Middle Ages progressed, Novgorod gave way to Moscow as the leading Russian power in the region. Although Novgorod claimed the territory, it had little control and formally gave up its rights in 1471. In 1365,
Dmitry Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (; 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389) was Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 until his death. He was the heir of Ivan II. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol ...
, the prince of Moscow, gave
Stephen of Perm Stephen of Perm (; ; – 26 April 1396) was a Russian Orthodox bishop, painter and missionary. He is known as being one of the most successful missionaries of the Russian Orthodox Church. Stephen is credited with the conversion of the Komi peopl ...
the task of converting the region to Christianity. Stephen's mission led to the creation of the
eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...
of Perm in 1383. After his death, Stephen became the patron saint of the Komi. He also devised an alphabet for the Komi language. Despite this, Great Perm remained unconverted for another century. The Komi-Permyaks later took part in Moscow-led campaigns against Yugra and the
Mansi Mansi may refer to: * Mansi people, an Indigenous people of Russia ** Mansi language *Mansi (name), given name and surname *Mansi Junction railway station * Mansi Township, Myanmar ** Mansi, Myanmar, a town in the Kachin State of Myanmar (Burma) * ...
. At the same time, Great Perm was subject to attacks by the Mansi,
Ostyak Ostyak () is a name formerly used to refer to several Indigenous peoples and languages in Siberia, Russia. Both the Khanty people and the Ket people were formerly called Ostyaks, whereas the Selkup people were referred to as Ostyak-Samoyed. Kh ...
s and
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 ...
. Some Komi resisted Christianisation, notably the shaman Pama. The first attempt at Christianising the Komi-Permyaks in 1455 was unsuccessful. The duke of Perm accepted baptism only in 1470 (he was given the Christian name Mikhail), possibly in an attempt to stave off Russian military pressure in the region. Mikhail's conversion failed to stop an attack by Moscow which seized Cherdyn in 1472. Mikhail was allowed to keep his title of duke but was now a vassal of Moscow. The duchy survived only until 1505, when Mikhail's son Matvei was replaced by a Russian governor and Komi independence came to an end. In the 1500s, many Russian migrants began to move into the region, beginning a long process of colonisation and attempts at assimilating the Komis.
Syktyvkar Syktyvkar (, , ; , ) is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the administrative center of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as Ust-Sysolsk after the Sysola, Sysola River. Ety ...
(''Ust-Sysolsk'' before 1930) was founded as the chief Russian city in the region in the 18th century. The Russian government established penal settlements in the north for criminals and political prisoners. There were several Komi rebellions in protest against Russian rule and the influx of Slav settlers, especially after large numbers of freed serfs started arriving in the region in the 1860s. A national movement to revive Komi culture also emerged. Russian rule in the area collapsed after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and the revolutions of 1917. In the subsequent
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
, the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
fought the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
for control of the region. The Allied forces encouraged the Komi to set up their own independent state with the help of political prisoners freed from the local penal colonies. After the Allies withdrew in 1919, the Bolsheviks took over. They promoted Komi culture with the policy of ''
korenizatsiya Korenizatsiia (, ; ) was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet republics. In the 1920s, the policy promoted representatives of the titular nation, and ...
'', but increased industrialisation damaged the Komi traditional way of life and the landscape of the republic.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's purges of the 1930s devastated the Komi
intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
, who were accused of "bourgeois nationalism". The remote and inhospitable region was also regarded as an ideal location for
gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
s. The influx of political prisoners and the rapid industrialisation of the region as a result of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
left the Komi a minority in their own lands. Stalin carried out further purges of the Komi intellectual class in the 1940s and 1950s, and Komi language and culture were suppressed. Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Komi have reasserted their claims to a separate identity.


Culture


Architecture

The Komi settlements were set-up with large, multi-courtyard churchyards and villages, which were typically constructed along or close to a river. Since the Komi people inhabit territories densely covered with forests, the main material for the construction of houses and farm buildings has traditionally been wood. Komi dwellings in many respects resemble North Russian houses in their internal structure. 2 major types of house types exist among the Komi, the Sysol house type (Сысольский тип) and the Vym house type (Bымский тип). The Sysol home is in a square-shaped, divided internally between a commercial section and the private section for its residents. The Vym house type is not very easy to distinguish from the Sysol home, its major differences lying in the windows and internal arrangement. The Izhma Komi, living in sparsely-wooded areas live in chum tents. The efforts of Stephen of Perm to convert the Komi people to Orthodoxy had allowed the Komi to begin constructing and experimenting with church architecture, creating many churches with the tented-roof style similarly to the constructions happening in Northern Russia and Pomorye. While most churches in the territory of the republic were constructed with wood, select churches and monasteries featured stone construction. The republic had over 430 churches in 1917, but this number has fallen down to just 130, 31 of which are registered under heritage programs.


Clothing

The national dress of the Komi people is quite diverse and has numerous local variants. While men's clothing had remained mostly similar throughout the territories inhabited by the Komi people (excluding the winter costumes of Komi males), women's clothing has more variety, each region having its own distinct clothing type. These differences lie in the embroidery technique, type of fabrics and ornamentation. In general, the traditional clothing of the southern and central Komi closely resembles that of the Northern Russians and other Finno-Ugric groups, while the costume of the Izhma Komi has many common features with the
Nenets The Nenets (; ), in the past also called 'Samoyeds' or 'Yuraks', are a Samoyedic ethnic group native to Arctic Russia, Russian Far North. According to the latest census in 2021, there were 49,646 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them l ...
.


Cuisine

Hunting, gathering and fishing have long been the main source of food for the Komi people, displayed through the dominance of meat, fish, berries and mushrooms in most Komi diets. Meat dishes were more common in the diet of the northern Komi, while dishes utilizing berries were more common in the south. Popular dishes of Komi cuisine are grain pies with fish, various porridges, Serbanka, other sour soups, cold soups based on bread,
kvass Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based, low-alcoholic beverage of cloudy appearance and sweet-sour taste. Kvass originates from northeastern Europe, where grain production was considered insufficient for beer to become a daily drink. The first wr ...
, etc. The popular Russian dumpling dish ''
pelmeni Pelmeni (, '' pel’meni'', ; pelmen, , '' pel’men’'', ) are dumplings of Russian cuisine that consist of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough. They are considered to be a national dish. Pelmeni became a staple of Russian cuisine dur ...
'' likely has its origins in the cuisine of the Komi and Udmurt peoples, its name (пельнянь, ''pel'n'an) meaning "ear bread" in both languages.


Folklore and religion

Most Komi myths are related to shamanism and paganism. The most widespread myths are about the creation of the world as a result of the struggle of two gods, En (Komi: Ен) and Omöl' (Komi: Омöль). These 2 deities are regarded as creator-gods in the Komi mythos, who created all life in the world (though it was En who would vivify them). As the Komi were gradually Christianized, the depictions of En & Omöl began to mirror those of God and Satan, in which Omöl would be depicted as the latter due to his efforts to hamper En's creation process. Even with the Christianization of the Komi, there are relatively few Christian legends and tales in the folklore of the Komi, but tales of c''hudins'', who are pagans and flee away from the new order to the forests, have become widespread. Some notable characters from Komi mythology include Jirkap (Йиркап) from Sindor, who is thought by the Komi to have invented
ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...
s, Joma (Ёма) who is regarded to be a Komi equivalent to the
Baba Yaga Baba Yaga is a female character (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) from Slavic folklore who has two contrasting roles. In some narratives, she is described as a repulsive or ferocious-looking old woman who fries and eats children, ...
and Pera (Пера) who is a character from the tales of the Komi-Permyaks known for his courage. Information regarding the pre-Christian Komi religion is not well researched, with formal research by Russian ethnologists only beginning during the later half of the 19th century. Klavdij Alekseevich Popov (1874), Alexandr Vasilevich Krasov (1896), and (1901) all made attempts to reconstruct the ancient religion of the Komi-Zyryans. Nikolai Abramovich Rogov (1858, 1860), Nikolai Dobrotvorsky (1883), Ivan Nikolaevich Smirnov (1891), and Vladimir Mikhailovich Yanovich (1903) made reconstructions of the aspects of the Komi religion focusing on the natural world. According to ''The Life of Saint Stefan, the Bishop of Perm'' (1897) by Epiphany the Wise, the Komi ancestors had many deities, whose wooden images stood in dedicated cult sanctuaries for higher-ranking deities, while those of domestic deities were kept in Komi dwellings.


Genetics


Uniparental lineages

More than half of Komi-Zyryan men have haplogroup N, which is typical for the Uralic-speaking peoples. 37% carry its subclade N1c and 18.5 percent belong to subgroup N-P43. The second most common Y-haplogroup for Komi is R1a (27.4%). Among the mtDNA haplogroups, the most common is H (33%). About one in four have the haplogroup U. 13.6% belong to its subgroup U4 and 9.9% belong to subgroup U5. Haplogroup T is found with a frequency of 13.3%.


Autosomal DNA

A study on northeastern European populations, published in March 2013, found that Komi-Zyryans form a distinct pole of genetic diversity. According to a 2018 study, approximately 19% of Komi autosomal ancestry can be estimated to be Nganasan-like. This Siberian-related component is typical for Uralic populations.


Notable people

*
Pitirim Sorokin Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (; ; – 10 February 1968) was a Russian American sociologist and political activist, who contributed to the social cycle theory. Sorokin was a professor at Saint Petersburg Imperial University, three times impris ...
, was a russian American sociologist * Peter Sorokin, american Russian physicist *
Konstantin Zyryanov Konstantin Georgiyevich Zyryanov (; born 5 October 1977) is a Russian football manager and a former player of Komi descent. Club career Early career and Amkar Perm Zyryanov started to play football in local club Zvezda Perm. His professional ...
, russian football manager and a former player * Katya Shchekina, russian model


See also

*
Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
*
Nenets people The Nenets (; ), in the past also called 'Samoyeds' or 'Yuraks', are a Samoyedic ethnic group native to Arctic Russia, Russian Far North. According to the latest census in 2021, there were 49,646 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them l ...
*
Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...


References


Sources

* * * * * *


Further reading

* * ;Folktale compilations: * (study on the folktale corpus collected from the Komi) * .
Зыряношя Сказки
. In: "". Vol. 17, 1908, Tome 2. pp. 232–242. * * * * * * "Коми народные сказки"
omi Folk Tales Omi or OMI may refer to: Organisations * Optical Mechanics, Inc., a US telescope company * Ottico Meccanica Italiana, an Italian company * Original Musical Instrument Company, manufacturers of resonator guitars * Open Music Initiative, a digital r ...
Составитель ompiler ëdor Plesovsky Сыктывкар: Коми книжное издательство, 1975.


External links


English


Komi-Izhemtsy against World Bank

Komi

Finno-Ugric media centre


Russian

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Komi Peoples Permians Nomadic groups in Eurasia Indigenous peoples of Europe Ethnic groups in Russia Modern nomads History of Ural