Mari People
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The Mari ( ), also formerly known as the Cheremis or Cheremisses, are a Finno-Ugric people in
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
, who have traditionally lived along the
Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...
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
Russia 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 ...
. They live mostly in the
Mari El Mari El,; ; officially the Mari El Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia, European region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga River, and administratively part of the Volga Federal ...
republic, with significant minorities in
Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...
,
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 ...
,
Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
and
Udmurtia Udmurtia, officially the Udmurt Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russi ...
.


Name

The ethnic name ''mari'' derives from the
Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Iranian, also called Proto-Indo-Iranic or Proto-Aryan, is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd ...
root *''márya''-, meaning 'human', literally 'mortal', which indicates early contacts between
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 ...
and
Indo-Iranian languages The Indo-Iranian languages (also known as Indo-Iranic languages or collectively the Aryan languages) constitute the largest branch of the Indo-European language family. They include over 300 languages, spoken by around 1.7 billion speakers ...
.


Subgroups

There are two main ethnographic subgroups of Mari people: Meadow Mari, who live on the right bank of the Volga river, and Hill (or Mountain) Mari, who live on the left bank. The
ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is the formation and development of an ethnic group. This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th-century neologism that was later introduce ...
of these two subgroups, and formation of distinct dialects, probably took place in the 14th century. Meadow Mari comprise the majority of Mari, and their language variety is more widespread than the Hill Mari language. The 1995 Law on the Languages of the Republic and the Mari El constitution designate the Hill and Meadow varieties to be, along with Russian, the state languages of the republic. Since the 19th century a third subgroup has been identified, the Eastern Mari. The Eastern dialect has been considered a variant of the Meadow dialect. Eastern Mari comprise the Mari populations living east of the Vyatka and in the Ural region, particularly in
Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...
as well as
Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblastʹ, p=svʲɪrdˈlofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the c ...
and
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 ...
. This diaspora group formed after the Cheremis Wars in the 16th century, which caused migration to the east. Some scholars consider the speakers of Northwestern Mari dialects in Kirov and
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
Oblasts a separate ethnographic group. The number of Northwestern Mari was estimated to be over 7700 people in 2011. In recent decades, assimilation processes have proceeded quickly among this group, and in 2022 only 58.5% of the Mari in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast spoke the Mari language. According to Saarinen (2022), there are only a few hundred Northwestern Mari speakers.


History


Early history

Some scholars have proposed that two tribes mentioned by the Gothic writer
Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...
in his ''
Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...
'' among the peoples in the realm of Gothic king
Ermanaric Ermanaric (died 376) was a Greuthungian king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of ...
in the fourth century AD can be equated with the Mari people. However, the identification of the ''Imniscaris'' (or ''Sremniscans'') with "Cheremis", and ''Merens'' with "Mari" is controversial. As a result, there is no consensus among scholars. The first safely attested mention of the Mari people comes from
Khazar 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, an ...
sources from the 10th century, where they appear by the exonym ''tsarmis''. The old Russian name for the Mari (Cheremis) is derived from this. At that time, the Mari settlement area was along the Volga. Mari folklore mentions a legendary hero named Chotkar and the semi-legendary king Chumblat, who ruled around the year 1100. The Russians first encroached on Mari lands in the 12th century, when
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 ...
seized the stronghold of Koksharov in 1174. Around 1200,
Vladimir-Suzdal The Principality of Suzdal, from 1157 the Grand Principality of Vladimir, commonly known as Vladimir-Suzdal, or simply Suzdalia, was a medieval principality that was established during the disintegration of Kievan Rus'. In historiography, the ...
gradually took control of the
Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...
valley down to the mouth of the river Vetulga, and pressure intensified after the founding of
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
in 1221. The eastern Mari remained subjects of
Volga Bulgaria 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 ...
. Following the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, the Mari fell under the influence sphere of the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
. Many Bulgars moved north, and so Bulgar influence on the Mari grew. The new Bulgar capital,
Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
, was founded on ancient Mari lands. In the 14th century, Russian pressure grew with increased raids, while the Mari responded with attacks on territories including Vyatka and even Ustyug. As early as 1372, the Russians established an outpost at Kurmysh. In 1443, the Mari became subjects of the
Kazan Khanate The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatars, Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia Republic, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurti ...
. During this time, the Mari experienced some cultural convergence with the ruling
Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...
and the
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 ...
, which is also seen in Turkic lexical and grammatical influence on the
Mari language The Mari language (, ; rus, марийский язык, p=mɐˈrʲijskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk), formerly known as the Cheremiss language, spoken by approximately 400,000 people, belongs to the Uralic languages, Uralic language family. It is spoken pr ...
. The founding of the Russian fortress of Vasilgrad in 1523 exposed the Hill Mari to the Russians directly, while language differences weakened their cooperation with the Meadow Mari. In 1552, the territory of the Mari was incorporated into the Russian state with the Russian conquest of Kazan under
Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...
. The Hill Mari assisted with the Russian conquest, while most of the Meadow Mari continued to back the Kazan Tatars. Mari resistance continued in what is known in Russian historiography as the "Cheremis Wars", which lasted until 1584. The heaviest periods of fighting occurred during 1553–1557, 1570–1572 and 1581–1584. In 1572, the last Siberian khan, Kuchum, sent an army consisting of
Bashkirs The Bashkirs ( , ) or Bashkorts (, ; , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Russia. They are concentrated in Bashkortostan, a Republics of Russia, republic of the Russian Federation and in the broader historical region of B ...
, Khanty, Mansi and Mari vassals to carry out reconnaissance into the lands held by the Stroganovs and to devastate the settlements there. By the end of the 16th century, resistance was finally quelled, leaving a heavy toll on the Mari population. As a result of the ensuing influx of Russian settlers, and to escape forced Christianization (starting from 1700), the Mari started to settle further east in present-day
Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...
. In the following centuries under tsarist Russia, the Mari were able to retain their ethnic and cultural identity, reinforced by repeated waves of returning to their traditional pre-Christian religion.


Soviet Union

During the Soviet Era, the Mari Section was set up under the auspices of Narkomnats, the Peoples Commissariat for nationalities. Its task was to facilitate the close union of the Mari people with other people, to abolish anti-
Russia 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 ...
n mistrust and to raise the "
class consciousness In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that persons hold regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their common class interests. According to Karl Marx, class consciousness is an awa ...
" of Mari workers. In practice this involved facilitating grain requisitions by the Soviet state, the recruitment of soldiers for the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and the implementation of
Bolshevik 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, ...
control of the society. Until the 1930s, the Mari people had no cultural ties to Russia and were able to maintain its own culture and identity, as cultural interaction with Russia was "limited to the payment of tributes and taxes". However, intensive
Russification 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 ...
policies were introduced during the Soviet era - the
Mari language The Mari language (, ; rus, марийский язык, p=mɐˈrʲijskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk), formerly known as the Cheremiss language, spoken by approximately 400,000 people, belongs to the Uralic languages, Uralic language family. It is spoken pr ...
was eliminated from schools and only Russian was taught instead, many Mari people were resettled and sent to work in remote parts of the Soviet Union, and Mari communities were forcibly enlarged under the Soviet policy of eliminating "unpromising villages", leading to Russian settlement and greatly disempowering the indigenous population. The Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was subjected to one of the harshest Russification measures in the USSR. Furthermore, Bolshevik policies officially aimed at combating undue influence of nationalism in a multi-nation union, resulted in the murder of leading Mari figures, such as Sergei Čavajn and Olyk Ipai and other teachers, scientists, artists, as well as religious and community leaders.


Russian Federation

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly created republic of
Mari El Mari El,; ; officially the Mari El Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia, European region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga River, and administratively part of the Volga Federal ...
saw a revival of Mari culture and language. However, following the appointment of Leonid Markelov as Head of the republic in 2001, the government of Mari El has pursued a policy of intense
Russification 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 ...
in the region. According to Vasily Pekteyev of the Mari National Theater in Yoshkar-Ola, " arkelovhated the Mari people". He noted that the Mari language is no longer taught in villages or schools and that the republic of Mari El "has already ceased to be an ethnic republic in anything but name. We are just another
oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...
." In 2005, the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
expressed its concern over reports of repression against ethnic Mari opposition figures, journalists, and government officials that promoted Mari culture and opposed Markelov's reappointment as head of the republic that year.


Language

The
Mari language The Mari language (, ; rus, марийский язык, p=mɐˈrʲijskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk), formerly known as the Cheremiss language, spoken by approximately 400,000 people, belongs to the Uralic languages, Uralic language family. It is spoken pr ...
belongs to the
Uralic language family The Uralic languages ( ), sometimes called the Uralian languages ( ), are spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers ab ...
. It is pluricentric with two
literary standard Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, th ...
s: Hill Mari and Meadow-Eastern Mari. Both literary forms have official status in Mari El and are taught in schools. The Meadow-Eastern standard is more widely spoken than the Hill standard, although both are considered
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
. Four main vernacular dialects have been distinguished: Hill Mari, Meadow Mari, Eastern Mari, and Northwestern Mari. The Mari language began developing independently around 3,000 years ago, and was in contact with
Iranian languages The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian langu ...
by the first millennium CE. At the 2002 census, 451,033 people stated that they spoke the Mari language.


Religion

Maris have traditionally practiced a shamanistic faith that closely connected the individual with nature. According to those beliefs, nature exerts an influence over people. Nature is seen as a sacred, powerful, and living being with which people are fully intertwined. Nature also serves as a source of absolute good who always helps humans as long as they refrain from harming or opposing it. The indigenous religion of the Mari people is the most important element of their national identity and tradition; speaking of their faith, many Mari intellectuals concluded that "to kill our faith means to kill us". The
Mari native religion Mari religion (), also called Mari paganism, is the ethnic religion of the Mari people, a Volga Finns, Volga Finnic ethnic group based in the republic of Mari El, in Russia. The religion has undergone changes over time, particularly under the inf ...
also possesses a pantheon of gods who reside in the heavens, the most important of whom is known as the Great White God (Ош Кугу Юмо, ''Osh Kugu Yumo''). Other lesser gods include the god of fire (Тул Юмо, ''Tul Yumo'') and the god of wind (Мардеж Юмо, ''Mardezh Yumo''). The Mari also believe in a number of half-men, half-gods (керемет, ''keremet'') who live on earth. The most revered of these is Chumbulat (Чумбулат), or Chumbylat (Чумбылат), a renowned leader and warrior. Attempts to convert the Maris to Christianity began in the 16th century after their territory was incorporated into the Russian state during the reign of Ivan IV ("the Terrible"). Pressure to convert to Christianity and adopt Russian culture by the tsarist authorities in the 17th and 18th century led to backlash by the Maris as they faced persecution to conform. While the Mari people nominally converted to Russian Orthodoxy in the 16th century, in practice they kept to their old practices relatively unhindered, and the interaction with Christianity spurred growth of syncretic form of religions where Christian system of belief is combined with pagan traditions and rituals. The Eastern Mari in particular were able to preserve the Mari religion due to them living in isolated communities. Many Mari today still practice paganism in
syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...
forms, or purer forms adhering to organized neopagan Mari traditional religion organizations. While most Mari today are members of the
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
, pagans still comprise a significant minority of around 25%. Mari paganism is divided into three groups: ''Chimari'' are non-baptized Mari pagans who do not participate in Christian traditions; ''Marla Vera'' (also known as "dual faith") are baptized Mari who follow pagan traditions while also attending Christian services and celebrating Christian feasts; and ''Kugu Sorta'', adherents of a neopagan revivalist movement which rejects Christianity altogether in favour of purist paganism. About 60% of Mari pagans belong to the syncretic ''Marla Vera'' group, while the remaining 40% is composed of ''Chimari'' and ''Kugu Sorta'' pagans.


Culture

Mari culture has a many-stringed
zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...
called the kusle and a
bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
called the
shyuvr The shyuvr or shuvyr (chiabour in French sources, ) is a type of bagpipe of the Mari people, a Volga-Finnic people living in the Mari El Republic of central-western Russia. It is described as small bagpipe, consisting of a bag, a bone blowpipe, a ...
. Mari musical traditions include lyrics that mention the Volga and reflect the Mari adoration of nature, especially forests and rainbows.


Genetics

The most common Y-chromosomal haplogroup among Mari people is N, which is frequently found within Uralic-speaking peoples and has its roots in East Eurasia. According to the data gathered by Kristiina Tambets and others in their 2018 study, 46.4 percent of Mari men have N-M178, and 8.2 percent belong to the subclade N-P43. R1a is a clearly less yet the second most common Y-DNA haplogroup for Maris, as it is carried by 22.7 percent of them. A 2002 study about
mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...
haplogroups in the Volga-Ural region found that 40 percent of the Maris belong to the haplogroup H. About one in four carry the haplogroup U (14 percent have the subclade U5 and about 10 percent have U4). Autosomally, Mari people stand out as an ethnic group in Europe by having a high level of
Siberia 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 ...
n-related admixture. Tambets and others estimated that it is 35 percent of their ancestry. This Nganasan-like Siberian component is typical for Uralic-speaking groups.


Notable people

* Ivan Palantai, is first Mari composer * Andrei Andreyevich Eshpai, is a (Russian and Soviet) film director, screenwriter and producer * Vyacheslav Bykov, is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and a former head coach of the Russian national hockey team. *
Oleg Taktarov Oleg Nikolaevich Taktarov (; born 26 August 1967) is a Russian actor and retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He was a practitioner of Sambo (martial art), Sambo and Judo and competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride ...
, is a Russian actor and retired mixed martial artist. He was a practitioner of Sambo and Judo


See also

* Mari Ushem


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links


''MariUver''
a blog about Mari culture and issues
''Ural Mari: There Is No Death''
a project about traditional culture and beliefs of the Ural Mari * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mari People Ethnic groups in Russia Indigenous peoples of Europe Mari El Volga Finns Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic European shamanism