Ethnic groups of Udmurts. Udmurt people

Udmurts live in the regions of the Western Urals, located in the Kama and Vyatka basins. Self-name - Udmurt, or Udmort (Ud is a proper name, murt is a person). In Russian written monuments of the XVI-XVII centuries. The Udmurts are referred to under the names "Ari", "Aryans", "Otyaks". In tsarist Russia they were called votyaks.

The number of Udmurts, according to the 1959 census, is 624,794 people, of which 76% live in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Outside the republic, the Udmurts live in small groups in the Tatar, Mari, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, in the Kirov and Perm regions. The Udmurt language belongs to the Permian group of Finno-Ugric languages ​​and is close to the language of the Komi and Komi-Permyaks; it is divided into two dialects - southern and northern, the differences between which are insignificant. In Soviet times, a literary language was formed from intermediate dialects between the northern and southern dialects and a written language was created, which was based on the Russian alphabet.

The Udmurt people include an ethnographic group of Besermens who live in the Glazovsky and Balezinsky districts of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The Besermyans speak the Udmurt language, but with the inclusion of a significant amount of Tatar words, as in the southern dialect of the Udmurt language. They retain their self-name Besermen and, until recently, differed from the Udmurts in some features of material and spiritual culture. Their costume and ornament were especially peculiar. The cut of clothes, embroideries and headdresses of the Besermians are somewhat reminiscent of the Chuvash ones. The songs and melodies of the Besermyans are original. In the terminology of kinship, Turkic features are traced. In folk beliefs, along with ancient animistic ideas and magic, the influence of Islam was felt.

The Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which is part of the RSFSR, is located in the northeast of the European part of the Soviet Union and borders in the north and west on the Kirov region, in the east on the Perm region, in the south on the Bashkir and Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics.

The climate of the Udmurt ASSR is continental. It is characterized by frosts in late spring and early autumn. Soils in most areas are podzolic and loamy, in the central part - sandy and sandy loam, in river floodplains - silt and peat. Of the minerals, peat deposits are the most significant; there are deposits of oil shale, copper ores, brown iron ore, quartz sand, limestone and red clays, as well as coal and oil. AT last years searches are underway for oil fields suitable for industrial development.

There are no large navigable rivers on the territory of the republic, with the exception of the Kama, a small section of which washes Udmurtia from the east. The largest rivers - Cheptsa, Kilmez, Vala - are used mainly for timber alloy. Forests occupy 43% of the total area of ​​the republic. Coniferous species predominate: spruce, fir, pine, birch, aspen and linden are common among deciduous species. The main forest area is concentrated in the central part of the republic. Fauna - typical for the forest regions of Eastern Europe.

In addition to the Udmurts, Russians and Tatars live in the republic; among the workers employed in industry, there are many visitors from Belorussia, Ukraine and other republics and regions of the Soviet Union.

Brief historical outline

The first information about the Udmurts in Russian written sources dates back to the end of the 15th century. At that time, the Udmurts occupied approximately the same territory of the Kama-Vyatka interfluve, where they are settled now. Soviet data historical science allow you to see the ancestors of the Udmurts in the natives of the Vyatka region. Links seen in material culture Udmurts IX-X centuries. n. e. with earlier cultures of the same area, they say that the Udmurts formed in the Vyatka and Cheptsa basins on the basis of the most ancient population that created the Ananyino and Pyanobor cultures of the 1st millennium BC. e. and first centuries AD. e. The territory on which the monuments of the Ananyino culture were found occupies the basins of the middle and upper reaches of the Kama, Vyatka, lower reaches of the river. Belaya, extends to part of the Volga region to the river. Vetluga and enters the right bank of the Volga in the Kazan region. The area of ​​the Pyanobor culture is somewhat smaller than that of the Ananyino culture. This is also evidenced by the data of the language, indicating that the Udmurt language, which was part of the Permian linguistic community, at that time separated from the language of the Komi peoples.

In IV-VIbb.h. e. The influx of pastoral tribes from the South Ural and Volga steppes to the Kama left bank caused a partial displacement of the ancient population in the Vyatka and Kama basins. As archaeological data indicate, it was during this period and somewhat later, in the 6th-7th centuries. d Cheptse, Kilmezyu, Izhu and Valya settlements arose whose inhabitants, descendants of the bearers of the Pyanobor culture, can be considered the ancestors of modern Udmurts.

Archaeological materials of the VIII - IX centuries. allow you to identify areas with local differences in the culture of the population (in particular, in clothing, hats, jewelry). These differences were due to the process of formation of the peoples of the Urals and their separation from the general earlier cultural environment.

In the X-XIV centuries. the settlements of the ancestors of the northern Udmurts were concentrated on the territory of the modern Glazov region, as evidenced by the splits of the settlements of Dondy-Kar, Gurya-Kar, Idna-Kar, etc. The ancestors of the southern Udmurts during this period lived along the Kama and its tributary Izha, partly along the Vale rivers and Kilmezu. The settlements in which the ancestors of the Udmurts lived were fortified with ramparts and ditches. Log buildings with hearths inside served as dwellings. The basis of the economy of the population was arable farming, which in the forest regions of the region developed on the basis of the slash-and-burn system; An important role in the economy was also played by cattle breeding and hunting, mainly for fur-bearing animals. The remains of forges and numerous finds of iron objects in the monuments of the X-XV centuries. indicate that the ancestors of the Udmurts in this period were familiar with the smelting of iron. They also knew pottery making and weaving.

At the head of the administration was a council of elders, which included representatives of the most influential families; when solving important issues, a people's assembly was convened - kenesh, in which adult male warriors took part.

Approximately in the XII-XIII centuries. the population of the Kama region was in the process of disintegration of the tribal system. Separate families began to stand out, who settled together with families from another clan in open, unfortified settlements. The tribal community was gradually replaced by a territorial, neighboring community.

In the memory of the people, legends have been preserved about the clashes that took place between ordinary farmers and the tribal elite - tribal elders and military leaders. However, developed feudal relations did not develop among the Udmurts.

The disintegration of tribal relations among the Udmurt tribes proceeded far more evenly. So, on Chepts and Kama, the population lived in their family nests - fortified settlements - until the 14th century, on Vyatka the settlements were abandoned in the 13th century, and on the Kama right bank, near the mouth of the river. Vyatka - back in the XII century. Such unevenness is explained by the degree of economic and cultural impact on individual tribal groups of the Udmurts from the Volga-Kama Bulgaria and the principalities of North-Eastern Russia.

The Bulgarian state, which, as is known, at the end of the 1st - the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e. existed on the territory along the middle reaches of the Volga, for several centuries maintained close ties with the surrounding tribes: Mordovian, Mari, etc., and extended its political and economic influence to them. The Udmurts were also included in the sphere of Bulgar influence. They were tributaries of the Bulgars, supplied them with a military militia, traded with them, for which they enjoyed freedom of movement in the Bulgar lands and protection of the borders by the Bulgars from the attacks of the steppe nomads. On the territory of the Udmurt ASSR, monuments of the Bulgar period have been preserved in the form of settlements, tombstones and burial grounds, in which there are Bulgar coins and other objects of Bulgar origin.

The Bulgars carried on a lively trade with their neighbors, including the Udmurts, exchanging imported oriental fabrics, ornaments and tools for leather, honey and furs. The latter was especially valued, as it was the main subject of trade with other peoples. The names "ares", "Arsk land" were given to the Udmurts and their territories by the Kama Bulgars. The Udmurt tribes had close ties with the city of Bilyar, which in the XII century. became the capital of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. The term "bilyar" (in the pronunciation of the Udmurts biger) was extended by the Udmurts to the entire Turkic population of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria, and later to the Kazan Tatars. The term “biger” is used by the Udmurts to this day to call the Tatars.

The Udmurts, who lived on the territory bordering on the Bulgars, under the onslaught of the latter, often left their settlements and moved north into the depths of the forests. One of these settlements, known as "Devil's Settlement", the Bulgars turned into their fortified outpost.

The Bulgars, who already had feudal relations, not only contributed to the decomposition of the tribal system among the Udmurts, but also influenced their way of life and language.

Relations between the Udmurt tribes and the Slavs can be traced from the 9th-13th centuries. A significant number of items Slavic origin of this time, found on settlements and in burial grounds in Vyatka, testifies to the early and extensive exchange ties between the natives of the region and the Russians. Fortified in the 12th century Russians began to penetrate the Vladimir-Suzdal principality to the northeast.

Apparently, the origin of the Besermians is connected with the Bulgars, although this issue is still a subject of dispute between scientists and has not been finally resolved. An analysis of the old culture of the Besermians allows us, it seems to us, to consider them the descendants of some ancient Turkic, in all likelihood, the Bulgar population, who lived in small groups among the natives of the region in the basin of the river. Caps. The existence of ancient Bulgar settlements in the basin of this river is confirmed by archaeological monuments of Bulgar origin, found in the areas of the modern habitation of the Besermians (for example, the Bulgar burial in the village of Gordino).

The ethnonym "Besermen" appears in written sources from the middle of the 13th century. According to Plano Carpini, among the peoples conquered by the Tatar-Mongols were Trukhmens, Mordvins and Besermens. According to the Russian chronicles, in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), Mamai also had a Besermen army in the army sent by the conquered peoples.

Living for a long time on the territory of the Vyatka-Kama interfluve, the Besermyans were subjected over a number of centuries to cultural impact from the Udmurts and partly Tatars, mixed with them, adopted the language of the Udmurts, many elements of their culture and now represent an ethnographic group that has almost completely merged with the Udmurt people.

At the end of XIII - early XIV in. the Udmurts became tributaries of the Tatar-Mongols. Having settled along the middle reaches of the Volga, the Tatar-Mongols at first had little interest in the Udmurts and did not seek to penetrate into the northern Kama region, but gradually, like all of Russia, the Udmurts became dependent on the Tatar-Mongols and became the object of cruel exploitation on their part. On the territory of Udmurtia, the Tatars created feudal principalities, which retained their independence until the defeat of Kazan, and in fact much longer. The southern part of Udmurtia was a special administrative-taxable unit for the Tatars - the Arskaya daruga; the Tatar murzas who ruled here were called Arsk princes. In the Vyatka land, in Karino, located 15-20 km from the mouth of the river. Caps, settled at the end of the XIV century. (1391) Karin murzas, who extended their power to the entire surrounding Udmurt population.

The Udmurts were taxed with yasak, but, in addition to the contribution of yasak, the population performed numerous other duties in favor of the Tatars: the supply of fodder, yamshchina, etc. The Udmurts had to perform military service and fight in the detachments of the khan and murz.

The legends and songs that have come down to us often tell about the humiliations and insults that the Tatar feudal lords subjected the local Udmurt population to.

By the end of the XV century. almost all the Udmurt tribes have already completed the disintegration of the tribal system. Udmurts yashli in settlements - herds of large families, not related to each other by consanguinity. To manage such a neighboring community, a bro was elected, usually from a more affluent family. Such representatives of rural communities communicated with the central government. From about that time on, one can speak of the Udmurts as an established people.

Territorially and administratively Udmurts in the XV-XVI centuries. did not represent a single whole, but were divided into several groups. Northern Udmurts (Karinsky and Chepetsky), who lived in the Cheptsa basin along its right and left tributaries, were part of the Vyatka land; the southern ones, which occupied the territory along the middle reaches of the Kama and Izhu, partly Vyatka and Kilmezyu, were part of the Kazan Khanate.

Vyatka land in 1489 became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Together with the Russians, the Udmurts also became part of this principality. They were involved in the construction and defense of cities, participated in the campaigns of the Grand Duke against the Kazan Khan. Settled in the bulk on the territory of Khlynovsky, Slobodsky and partly Kotelnichesky camps (counties) of the Vyatka province, the Udmurts were equated with the black-haired draft peasantry and were ruled by the grand princely governor.

The Udmurts, who lived in the neighborhood, but on the territory of the Karinsky camp, were in feudal serf dependence on the Tatar murzas. Having annexed the Vyatka land, the Moscow princes, wishing to attract the Karin Tatars to their side and use them as service people, retained their feudal rights to “judge and control” the Udmurts who lived on these lands.

Under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, by a charter of 1588, one part of the northern Udmurts was finally freed from serfdom from the Karinsky murzas, and the other part - the black-haired peasantry - was separated from the Vyatka administration in tax and service terms. Instead of the previous, quite numerous duties, the Udmurts were subject to a certain monetary dues, the layout of which they themselves did, from 1619 they began to pay dues in Moscow. In all court cases (with the exception of robbery and red-handed litigation), it was also decided not to apply to local authorities, but to hold court in Moscow, the Udmurts were supposed to appear once a year - on February 2. These features in the management of the northern Udmurts persisted throughout the 17th century. up to the reforms of Peter the Great.

The southern Udmurts, who were part of the Kazan Khanate, after the fall of Kazan (1552), went to the Muscovite state and began to pay Moscow the same yasak as before to the Kazan khans. The collection of yasak was usually assigned to service people from the Tatars, who for this purpose traveled around the Udmurt lands and, threatening with weapons, mercilessly robbed the population.

At the beginning of the XVIII century. the tsarist government equalized the Udmurts with the Russian population in tax terms. In 1717-1718. the Udmurt households were rewritten, and a household tax was imposed on the Udmurts, which, from 1723, was replaced by a poll tax. Other duties also spread to the Udmurts. Especially difficult was lashmanstvo - work on the harvesting of ship timber. In 1719, the supply of recruits was introduced. And much earlier, shortly after the fall of Kazan, the Russian authorities took measures to strengthen the Kama region: they began to build fortresses (Sarapul, etc.). guarded by garrisons, distribute land to Russian colonists and especially generously to monasteries. Up to 50 thousand peasants were assigned to the monasteries, who were subjected to cruel exploitation. In the second half of the XVIII century. with the development of the mining and metallurgical industry, the distribution of Udmurt lands intensified.

In 1729, the merchant Grigory Vyazemsky founded in the Vyatka province on the river. Kirsi is the first iron-making - Kirsinsky - plant. In 1759, in the north of Udmurtia, the Pudemsky plant arose, and in the more southern, Kamsky, region, in the same year, P.I. Shuvalov founded on the river. Votka Botkinsky plant; a year later he built on the river. Izhe Izhevsk ironworks, which later became one of the largest plants in the Urals.

Ural breeders were large landowners. In Udmurtia, Shuvalov's Kama factories, by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, were allotted about 700 thousand acres of forest for a period of 100 years. Serfs and ascribed peasants worked at the factories; in the 1760s, there were up to 18 thousand peasants at the Kama factories. Entire Udmurt volosts were assigned to the factories; Udmurts were used by breeders for the most difficult jobs: logging, charcoal burning, iron ore mining. Numerous extortions from the tsarist government, bribery of the administration, heavy factory work, cruelty of the factory authorities, humiliation of national dignity, persecution of religion, national culture - all this created unbearable living conditions and repeatedly prompted the Udmurts to revolt. More than once the Udmurts acted together with the Russian peasantry. So, for example, unrest occurred among the Udmurts during the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov (1606-1607). Udmurts participated in peasant wars led by Stepan Razin (1670-1671) and Emelyan Pugachev (1773-1775).

In the first half of the XIX century. Udmurts, together with the Russian peasantry, took an active part in the so-called potato riots.

The reform of 1861 worsened the position of the Udmurt peasantry. As a result of the reform, the Udmurts lost 44% of their pre-reform allotments, while at the same time taxes from the peasants increased.

The process of class stratification of the Udmurt countryside intensified noticeably: due to the ruin of the bulk of the peasantry, the kulaks were enriched and strengthened. Arrears and other debts of peasants in the Vyatka region in the 1880s amounted to over 16 million rubles. The discontent of the peasants grew, pouring out into mass uprisings. A major unrest of the peasants broke out in 1888 in the Malmyzh district, it covered 68 villages. However, this uprising, like others that preceded it, as well as disparate actions ended in cruel reprisals against the rebels.

Popular unrest was exacerbated by protest against the 17th century. increased implementation of Orthodoxy among the Udmurts. The Christianization of the Udmurts took on a particularly large scale in the 18th century. since the organization in 1740 of a special "office of newly baptized affairs" in Kazan. Parishes were created and cadres of missionaries who knew the Udmurt language were selected. The newly baptized received a number of benefits: they were exempted from taxes, duties and recruitment. While creating the appearance of voluntary conversion to Christianity of "the pagans who had seen the light," the missionaries at the same time used violent measures to eradicate popular beliefs: they destroyed religious buildings (kuala), cut down sacred groves (lud), etc. Ultimately, missionary activity among the Udmurts gave few results. Orthodoxy forever remained alien to the worldview of the Udmurts, and they stubbornly continued to perform their rituals and prayers in sacred groves and kuals, sometimes replacing the names of old deities with the names of Orthodox saints and timing their prayers to the church calendar.

The religious ideas of the Udmurts included a diverse set of beliefs that arose at different stages of social development. Along with the remnants of totemism, expressed in the veneration of certain animals and birds - a horse, a bull, a bear, a swan - the Udmurts developed worship of the forces of nature. In the sacred box of the vorshud, which was considered the place of residence of the spirit of the ancestral ancestor, squirrel skins, hazel grouse and black grouse feathers, dried fish, and sometimes metal plates depicting animals were kept as relics. Pre-Christian Udmurt names often coincided with the names of animals and birds: Dukya - capercaillie, Yus - swan, Hubert - starling, Koiyk - elk, Gondyr - bear, Zhaki - jay, etc.

In the religious beliefs of the Udmurts, echoes of tribal relations were preserved. So, the names of Vorshud - a tribal deity - coincided with the names of the genera. In some tribal groups, the idea of ​​a female tribal deity was identified with the concept of Vorshud, which was associated with the remnants of the maternal clan. Each tribal group in the past had its own kuala, in which prayers were performed. Ritual treats at the holidays were distributed according to tribal groups. Members of the clan came to the tribal prayers from very remote places (up to 100 km or more). When part of the family moved to another place, they took ashes from the family kuala to lay a new one.

An important role in the religious beliefs of the Udmurts was played by the cult of ancestors. The Udmurts believed that the dead lead the same life in afterlife like living people on earth. Therefore, various things that the deceased used during his lifetime were put in the coffin: a bowler hat, an ax, a knife; dead women were given needles and threads. With the dead, clothes and food were also buried in the grave: bread, salt, meat, pancakes, home-made vodka (kumyshka). It was believed that members of the same clan and family continued to live together after death, so the deceased relatives were buried in family cemeteries, while visitors were buried in separate plots. The tradition obligated living relatives to take care of the dead, celebrating a wake for them in the cemetery. In addition to commemorations for the recently deceased, on certain days of the year - on the eve of some holidays - a general commemoration was held for all the dead. Previously, all members of a certain tribal group took part in the commemoration, later they were performed by individual families at the graves of their loved ones.

The pantheon of the Udmurt deities reflected the dualism of the Udmurt religious views. Inmar was considered the main good deity, who, according to the ideas of the Udmurts, lives in the sun; he was opposed to the evil deity, or shaitan, supposedly bringing harm to people, he had to be cajoled by sacrifices. In addition to the main deities, in the ideas of the Udmurts, there were secondary deities inhabiting the surrounding nature. They believed that Vumurt (water) lives in the water, Nyulesmurt lives in the forest. They also revered two goddesses - Shunda Mu we and Gudyri Mu we (mothers of the sun and thunder).

The ritual side of the cult was very complex. Priestly duties were performed first by the eldest in the clan, and with the disintegration of the clan and the establishment of the rural community, the position of priest (vdsyas) became elective. Over time, in connection with the property differentiation of the peasants, the functions of the priests passed in most cases to the most prosperous. The priests were in a privileged position: they were exempted from all public duties, enjoyed the right of priority public assistance in agricultural work, and it was forbidden to lynch them, unlike ordinary members of the rural community.

To eradicate the ancient beliefs of the Udmurts to the tsarist government and Orthodox clergy failed. Repeatedly, the performances of the Udmurts, their struggle for national culture took on the character of religious movements. There were cases of mass refusal of baptized Udmurts from Orthodox Church(for example, during peasant war under the direction of Emelyan Pugachev). They hid in the forests to escape religious persecution.

By the end of the XIX century. all the Udmurts of the Vyatka lips. formally considered to be Orthodox, in fact, they developed a religious syncretism - a combination of the rites of the Orthodox Church and pre-Christian beliefs. The Udmurts who lived in the Perm and Ufa provinces did not accept Christianity.

Part of the Udmurts who lived in the border areas with the modern Tatar and Bashkir republics, as well as the Besermyans, were exposed to Islam, which affected some rituals. They invited the dead mullah, celebrated Friday and other Muslim holidays, observed Muslim fasts.

The tsarist government, seeking to divert the masses of Russia from the ever-increasing revolutionary movement, deliberately incited ethnic hatred, resorted to blatant slander against the oppressed peoples, staged lawsuits against them. Such a court case, in which an entire people was accused, was the Multan case, which was tried from 1892 to 1896. It gained wide popularity and agitated the entire advanced society of tsarist Russia. The essence of the Multan process was that 10 Udmurts from the village. Old Multan of the Malmyzhsky district of the Vyatka province. were accused of killing the beggar Matyunin, allegedly committed for a ritual purpose - to be sacrificed in order to "propitiate" the gods. The case was reviewed three times in remote district towns of tsarist Russia: Malmyzhe, Yelabuga, Mamadysh. The defendants were twice sentenced to hard labor and only after the third trial were they acquitted. Representatives of the advanced public of tsarist Russia took part in their defense, among them the writer V. G. Korolenko, ethnographers S. K. Kuznetsov and Gr. Vereshchagin, attorney at law N. P. Korabchevsky, correspondents O. M. Zhirnov, A. N. Baranov and many others.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when the labor movement led by the Bolsheviks developed widely in Russia, the struggle of the Udmurt workers entered a new stage. In 1904-1905. in Glazov, Vyatka, Izhevsk, and then in Votkinsk, Sarapul, Yelabuga, Malmyzh and some Udmurt villages, Social Democratic circles began to work. In 1905, the Bureau of the Kama Group was organized, renamed in 1906 into the Bureau of the Kama Union of the RSDLP, which united the social democratic organizations of Udmurtia. In October 1905 political demonstrations were held in Izhevsk, Votkinsk, Sarapul, Yelabuga, Malmyzh and in several villages against the false tsar's manifesto of 17 October. In November 1905, the workers of Izhevsk elected a Soviet of Workers' Deputies consisting of 146 people. In the revolution of 1905-1907. the Udmurt peasantry and the Udmurt working class, which had begun to take shape, also took part. In with. Kai (now the Kirov region), where in 1898-1899. F. E. Dzerzhinsky was in exile, the peasants, having disarmed the police, seized power and formed the “Kai Republic”, which lasted for some time. In the same year, the peasants of the Malmyzh, Sarapul and Glazov counties at meetings and rallies demanded the transfer of forests and lands to them, the abolition of the guards, the restriction of the arbitrariness of the priests and the election of their representatives to the volost, zemstvo and other bodies without distinction of nationality. The peasants refused to pay taxes to the treasury and to supply recruits for the royal service. The government brutally cracked down on the rebellious peasants.

During the years of the revolutionary upsurge, Bolshevik work in the region became significantly more active. In February 1917, under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, a general strike of Izhevsk workers took place, which engulfed the entire working population of the city. The Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was organized in Izhevsk in March 1917; at first, the majority were Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, but in August the leadership of the Executive Committee of the Izhevsk Soviet passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks.

At the First All-Russian Workers' and Peasants' Congress of the Udmurts in Yelabuga (June 1918), the Udmurt workers expressed their desire to establish autonomy within the Russian Federation. Under the People's Commissariat for Nationalities Affairs, the Udmurt Department was established, which, together with the party organizations of Udmurtia, began to create the autonomy of the Udmurt people. This work has become more difficult over the years. civil war when the territory of Udmurtia became the scene of hostilities. Only in 1919 the Red Army, with the active support of the Udmurt people under the leadership of the Communist Party, cleared the territory of Udmurtia from the rebels and White Guards. During the defeat of the Kolchak troops in the battles for Sarapul, Agryz and Izhevsk, the famous 28th Infantry Division under the command of V. Azin, which included many Udmurts, operated.

In September 1919, the II All-Russian Workers' and Peasants' Congress of the Udmurts took place in Sarapul, which decided to transfer the Udmurt department from Moscow to Sarapul and to organize a Commissariat to develop issues of Udmurt autonomy. On November 4, 1920, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR issued a decree on the formation of an autonomous region of the Udmurt people with a center in the city of Glazov; it included five districts of the Vyatka lips. (without a few hairs). In 1921 the regional center was moved to Izhevsk.

The first years of the existence of the Udmurt (Votsk) Autonomous Region were difficult. The region was depleted by the civil war. The difficult situation was exacerbated by a drought that caused famine. The first measures of the Soviet government were aimed at restoring the economy and eliminating the consequences of the civil war and famine. The region was allocated for this large sums of money.

The selfless struggle of the working people of Udmurtia under the leadership of the Communist Party and with the support of the Soviet government by the 1930s was crowned great success in all areas of socialist construction. Collectivization successfully passed throughout Udmurtia Agriculture. By 1934, 81.3% of the peasant households had united in collective farms. Great shifts have taken place in the field of culture. On December 28, 1934, the region was transformed into the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

With the formation of the republic, the Udmurts received new opportunities for raising the economy and culture. During the years of the pre-war five-year plans, hundreds of new industrial enterprises, the life of the collective farm village and cities has changed. A national working class was formed, and the cadres of the Udmurt intelligentsia grew. During the Great Patriotic War, the development of industry in Udmurtia not only did not stop, but became even more powerful. The working people of Udmurtia exerted every effort to ensure the victory of the Red Army. The people of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic took an active part in the struggle against the Nazi barbarians not only by supplying weapons, bread and fodder, but also by the exploits of their sons and daughters. Over 60 thousand warriors - natives of Udmurtia - were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union for courage, valor and courage. 79 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

archaeological culture Language Religion Racial type Included in Related peoples ethnic groups Origin

ethnic history

The Udmurt people arose as a result of the collapse of the Proto-Permian ethnolinguistic community, and is an autochthonous population of the northern and middle Cis-Urals and the Kama region. In the language and culture of the Udmurts, the influence of Russians is noticeable (especially among the northern Udmurts), as well as various Turkic tribes - carriers and Z-Turkic languages ​​​​(the influence of the Tatar language and culture is especially noticeable among the southern Udmurts).

The ancestors of the southern Udmurts from the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. were under the rule of Bulgaria, and later - the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. The North Udmurt lands became part of Russia with the final annexation of the Vyatka land in 1489. The final entry of the Udmurt lands into the Russian state occurs after the fall of Kazan (the official dates - or 1558 - are conventionally accepted in local historiography).

The emergence of Udmurt statehood is associated with the formation in 1920 of the Votskaya Autonomous Region (since 1932 - Udmurt Autonomous Okrug, s - Udmurt ASSR, s - Udmurt Republic).

Main occupations

The traditional occupations of the Udmurts are arable farming, animal husbandry, gardening played a lesser role. For example, in 1913, in the total crops, grains accounted for 93%, potatoes - 2%. Crops: rye, wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, millet, hemp, flax. Raised livestock, cows, pigs, sheep, poultry. Cabbage, rutabaga, and cucumbers were cultivated in vegetable gardens. An important role was played by hunting, fishing, beekeeping and gathering.

Crafts and crafts were developed - logging, timber harvesting, tar smoking, flour milling, spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery. Fabrics for the needs of the family were completely produced at home (Udmurt canvases were valued in the market). Since the 18th century, metallurgy and metalworking have developed.

The main social unit is the neighboring community ( buskel). It is several associations of kindred families. Small families predominated, but there were also large ones. Such a family had common property, a land allotment, a joint household, and lived on the same estate. Some were separated, but at the same time elements of a common economy were preserved, that is, kindred mutual assistance.

Anthroponymy

The level of education

The 2010 census showed that the level of education of Russian Udmurts is much lower than that of the general population of the Russian Federation. According to the 2010 census, only 11.1% of Udmurts had higher or postgraduate education (23,526 out of 211,472 Udmurts aged 15 and over who indicated their level of education). At the same time, among the inhabitants of Russia of all nationalities, the share of people with higher education in 2010 was 23.4% (among people aged 15 years and older who indicated the level of education) .

Life and traditions

A typical settlement is a village (udm. gurt), located in a chain along the river or near springs, without streets, with a cumulus layout (until the 19th century). Dwelling - ground log building, hut ( crust), with cold vestibules. The roof is gable, board, placed on the males, and later on the rafters. The corners were cut into oblo, the grooves were laid with moss. In the 20th century, wealthy peasants began to build five-wall houses, with winter and summer halves, or 2-story houses, sometimes with a stone bottom and a wooden top.

Kuala (more precisely, "kua", -la - the suffix of the local case) is a special ritual building, which was obviously known to many Finno-Ugric peoples ("kudo" - among the Mari, "kudo", "kud" - among the Mordovians, kota - among the Finns, "koda" - among the Estonians, Karelians, Vepsians, Vodi). Usually they stood in the courtyard of the priest or in the forest outside the outskirts. In appearance, pokchi and bydym kua almost did not differ (only in size): this is a log structure with a gable roof on males.

In the houses there was an adobe stove ( gur), with a cauldron suspended from the northern Udmurts, and smeared like the Tatars. Diagonal from the stove was a red corner, with a table and a chair for the head of the family. Along the walls are benches and shelves. They slept on beds and on bunks. The yard included a cellar, barns, sheds, storerooms.

The North Udmurt women's costume included a shirt ( derem), with straight sleeves, cutout, removable bib, bathrobe ( short derem), a belt. A red cloth bib, sheathed with braid and velvet, is attached to the shirt under the camisole. Clothes are white. The southern white clothes were ritual, household - colored, decorated. It's the same shirt, sleeveless saestem), or camisole, a woolen caftan. Shoes - patterned stockings and socks, shoes, felt boots, bast shoes ( kut).

Headbands were worn on the head yyrkerttet), towel ( turban, vesyak swarms), a high birch bark hat trimmed with canvas with decorations and a bedspread ( aishon). Girls' attire - ukotug, scarf or bandage, takya, hat with decorations. Among the northern Udmurts, embroidery, beads, beads prevailed from jewelry, among the southern - coins. Jewelry - chains ( housing), earrings ( pel ugy), rings ( sundes), bracelets ( poskes), necklace ( the whole).

• Tolsur ("winter beer") - Christmas
• Vozhodyr ("time of Christmas evil spirits") - Svyatki.
• Gyryny poton (“plow exit”) or akashka - Easter, the beginning of the spring season.
• Gerber - Peter's day.
• Vyl ӝuk ("new porridge") - Ilyin's day, cooking porridge and bread from the new crop.
• Sazyyl yuon ("autumn feast") - the end of the harvest.
• Vyl shud, sӥl siyon - the beginning of the slaughter.

The opening of the rivers (yo kelyan) and the appearance of the first thawed patches (guzhdor shyd) were also celebrated.

spiritual culture

From folklore, the Udmurts created myths, legends, fairy tales (magical, about animals, realistic), riddles. The main place is occupied by the lyrical song creativity. The epic genre is poorly developed, represented by scattered legends about the Dondinsk heroes, attempts were made to combine these legends into a cycle like Kalevipoeg.

There is folk music and dance creativity. Dancing - the simplest - walking in a circle with dance movements (krugen ekton), pair dancing (vache ekton), there are dances for three and four.

Historical musical instruments: gusli (krez), vargan (ymkrez), flute and flute from grass stems (chipchirgan, uzy gumy), bagpipes (byz), etc. In our time, they have been replaced by balalaika, violin, accordion, guitar.

Folk mythology close to the mythologies of other Finno-Ugric peoples. It is characterized by antagonistic cosmogony (the struggle between good and evil principles), a three-part division of the world (upper, middle and lower), a cult of Heaven endowed with personality as the Creator. The supreme deity is Inmar (Kyldysin was also considered one of the main gods). An evil spirit, Inmar's rival is Shaitan. The deity of the hearth, the keeper of the family - vorshud. Numerous are the lower spirits: vumurt, vukuzyo - water spirit, gidmurt - the spirit of the barn, nyulesmurt - the spirit of the forest, tӧlperi - the spirit of the wind, nyulesmurt, telkuze - the goblin, yagperi - the spirit of the forest, ludmurt - the spirit of the meadow and field, kutas - the evil spirit that sends the disease , etc. The influence of folk Christianity and Islam (religious calendar, mythological subjects) is very significant.

The pagan clergy were developed - a priest (vӧsyas), a carver (parchas), a healer (tuno). Conditionally, a toro, a respected person who is present at all ceremonies, can be reckoned among the clergy.

Images of folk deities are unknown, although ethnographers of the 19th century mention the presence of Udmurt "idols" (made of wood or even silver).

The sacred grove (lud) was revered; some trees had a sacred meaning (birch, spruce, pine, mountain ash, alder).

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Notes

3. According to the 1989 census, there were 714,833 Udmurts with Besermen in the RSFSR ()
4. (.rar)
5. According to the 1989 census, there were 15,855 Udmurts in Kazakhstan ()
7. Napolskikh V.V. Introduction to historical Uralistics. Izhevsk: Udmiiyal, 1997. S. 48-54.
8. Belykh S.K., Napolskikh V.V.// Linguistica Uralica. T. 30, No. 4. Tallinn, 1994; Sakharnykh D. M.. - Izhevsk: Portal "Udmurtology", 2008.
9. There.
10. www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-13.pdf
11. www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol3/pub-03-01.pdf
12. Churakov V. S.. - Izhevsk: Journal "Idnakar: methods of historical and cultural reconstruction", 2007. - No. 1. - pp. 51-64. from the original on January 4, 2012.

Literature

• Pimenov V.V. Udmurts: Ethnosociological essays. - Izhevsk, 1976. (Co-author: L. S. Khristolyubova)
• Pimenov V.V. Udmurts: An experience of the component analysis of the ethnos. - L., 1977.
• Peoples and Religions of the World: An Encyclopedia. M ., 1998.
• Myths of the peoples of the world: Encyclopedia: in 2 volumes. M ., 1980.
• Peoples of Russia: Encyclopedia / Ed. V. A. Tishkova, M., 1994.
• Peoples of Russia: Picturesque Album. St. Petersburg, printing house of the Association "Public Benefit", December 3, 1877, art. 141
• Korobeinikov A. V., Volkova L. A. ISBN 978-5-7029-0374-3
• Sadikov R. R. Traditional religious beliefs and ritualism of the Zakama Udmurts (history and modern development trends). Ufa: Center for Ethnological Research, USC RAS, 2008.
• Article "Udmurts" // Peoples of Russia. Atlas of cultures and religions. - M.: Design, Information. Cartography, 2010. - 320 p.: with illustrations. ISBN 978-5-287-00718-8
• Vladykin V. E., Khristolyubova L. S. History of the ethnography of the Udmurts: A brief historiographic essay with bibliography / Ed. cand. philosophy Sciences, Assoc. UdGU L. N. Lyakhova; Reviewers: Dr. history. sciences, prof. V. E. Mayer, Ph.D. history Sciences M. V. Grishkin. - Izhevsk: Udmurtia, 1984. - 144, p. - 2000 copies.(in trans.)
• // / Council of Administration of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Public Relations Department; ch. ed. R. G. Rafikov; editorial board: V. P. Krivonogov, R. D. Tsokaev. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - Krasnoyarsk: Platinum (PLATINA), 2008. - 224 p. - ISBN 978-5-98624-092-3.

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1892. - Vol. VII. - S. 324-328.
• // Encyclopedic Lexicon: In 17 vols. - St. Petersburg. : Type of. A. Plushara, 1838. - T. XII: VOO-VYAZ. - S. 116-117.

Volga Perm Baltic Saami Northern Finnish 3 Ugry

More than 10 million people From 1 to 10 million people From 500 thousand to 1 million people From 200 thousand to 500 thousand people From 100 thousand to 200 thousand people From 30 thousand to 100 thousand people From 10 thousand to 30 thousand people

An excerpt characterizing the Udmurts

A crowd of peasants and servants walked across the meadow, with open heads, approaching Prince Andrei.
- Well, goodbye! - said Prince Andrei, bending over to Alpatych. - Leave yourself, take away what you can, and the people were told to leave for Ryazanskaya or Moscow Region. - Alpatych clung to his leg and sobbed. Prince Andrei carefully pushed him aside and, touching his horse, galloped down the alley.
At the exhibition, just as indifferent as a fly on the face of a dear dead man, the old man sat and tapped on a block of bast shoes, and two girls with plums in their skirts, which they picked from greenhouse trees, fled from there and stumbled upon Prince Andrei. Seeing the young master, the older girl, with fright expressed on her face, grabbed her smaller companion by the hand and hid behind a birch together with her, not having time to pick up the scattered green plums.
Prince Andrei hastily turned away from them in fright, afraid to let them notice that he had seen them. He felt sorry for this pretty, frightened girl. He was afraid to look at her, but at the same time he had an irresistible desire to do so. A new, gratifying and reassuring feeling came over him when, looking at these girls, he realized the existence of other, completely alien to him and just as legitimate human interests as those that occupied him. These girls, obviously, passionately desired one thing - to carry away and finish eating these green plums and not be caught, and Prince Andrei together with them wished the success of their enterprise. He couldn't help but look at them again. Considering themselves to be safe, they jumped out of the ambush and, holding their hemlines in thin voices, ran merrily and quickly across the grass of the meadow with their tanned bare legs.
Prince Andrei refreshed himself a little, having left the dusty area of ​​​​the high road along which the troops were moving. But not far beyond the Bald Mountains, he again drove onto the road and caught up with his regiment at a halt, by the dam of a small pond. It was the second hour after noon. The sun, a red ball in the dust, was unbearably hot and burned his back through his black coat. The dust, still the same, stood motionless over the voice of the humming, halted troops. There was no wind. In the passage along the dam, Prince Andrei smelled of the mud and freshness of the pond. He wanted to get into the water, no matter how dirty it was. He looked back at the pond, from which cries and laughter were coming. A small muddy pond with greenery, apparently, rose a quarter by two, flooding the dam, because it was full of human, soldier, naked white bodies floundering in it, with brick-red hands, faces and necks. All this naked, white human meat, with laughter and a boom, floundered in this dirty puddle, like crucian carp stuffed into a watering can. This floundering echoed with merriment, and therefore it was especially sad.
One young blond soldier - even Prince Andrei knew him - of the third company, with a strap under the calf, crossed himself, stepped back to take a good run and flounder into the water; the other, a black, always shaggy non-commissioned officer, waist-deep in water, twitching his muscular frame, snorted joyfully, watering his head with his black hands. There was slapping and screeching and hooting.
On the banks, on the dam, in the pond, everywhere there was white, healthy, muscular meat. Officer Timokhin, with a red nose, wiped himself on the dam and felt ashamed when he saw the prince, but decided to turn to him:
- That's good, your Excellency, you would please! - he said.
“Dirty,” said Prince Andrei, grimacing.
We'll clean it up for you. - And Timokhin, not yet dressed, ran to clean.
The prince wants.
- Which? Our prince? - voices began to speak, and everyone hurried so that Prince Andrei managed to calm them down. He thought it better to pour himself in the barn.
“Meat, body, chair a canon [cannon fodder]! he thought, looking at his naked body, and shuddering not so much from the cold as from incomprehensible disgust and horror to himself at the sight of this huge number of bodies basking in a dirty pond.
On August 7, Prince Bagration wrote the following in his camp at Mikhailovka on the Smolensk road:
“Dear sir, Count Alexei Andreevich.
(He wrote to Arakcheev, but he knew that his letter would be read by the sovereign, and therefore, as far as he was capable of doing so, he considered his every word.)
I think that the Minister has already reported on leaving Smolensk to the enemy. It hurts, sadly, and the whole army is in despair that the most important place was abandoned in vain. I, for my part, asked him personally in the most convincing way, and finally wrote; but nothing agreed with him. I swear to you on my honor that Napoleon was in such a bag as never before, and he could lose half the army, but not take Smolensk. Our troops have fought and are fighting like never before. I held on with 15,000 for over 35 hours and beat them; but he did not want to stay even 14 hours. It's a shame and a stain on our army; and he himself, it seems to me, should not live in the world. If he conveys that the loss is great, it is not true; maybe about 4 thousand, no more, but not even that. At least ten, how to be, war! But the enemy lost the abyss ...
What was it worth to stay two more days? At least they would have left; for they had no water to drink for men and horses. He gave me his word that he would not retreat, but suddenly sent a disposition that he was leaving into the night. Thus, it is impossible to fight, and we can soon bring the enemy to Moscow ...
Rumor has it that you think about the world. To reconcile, God forbid! After all the donations and after such extravagant retreats, make up your mind: you will turn the whole of Russia against you, and each of us, out of shame, will make him wear a uniform. If it has already gone like this, we must fight while Russia can and while people are on their feet ...
You have to lead one, not two. Your minister may be good in the ministry; but the general is not only bad, but trashy, and he was given the fate of our entire Fatherland ... I, really, go crazy with annoyance; Forgive me for writing boldly. It can be seen that he does not love the sovereign and wishes the death of all of us who advise to make peace and command the army to the minister. So, I am writing you the truth: prepare the militia. For the minister in the most skillful way leads the guest to the capital. Adjutant Wolzogen is giving the whole army a big suspicion. He, they say, is more Napoleonic than ours, and he advises everything to the minister. I am not only courteous against him, but I obey like a corporal, although older than him. It hurts; but, loving my benefactor and sovereign, I obey. It’s only a pity for the sovereign that he entrusts such a glorious army. Imagine that with our retreat we lost people from fatigue and more than 15 thousand in hospitals; and if they had attacked, it would not have happened. Say for God's sake that our Russia - our mother - will say that we are so afraid and why we give such a good and zealous Fatherland to bastards and instill hatred and shame in every subject. What to be afraid of and who to be afraid of?. It's not my fault that the minister is indecisive, a coward, stupid, slow and everything has bad qualities. The whole army is crying completely and scolding him to death ... "

Among the innumerable subdivisions that can be made in the phenomena of life, one can subdivide them all into those in which the content predominates, others in which the form predominates. Among these, in contrast to rural, zemstvo, provincial, even Moscow life, can be attributed life in St. Petersburg, especially salon life. This life is unchangeable.
Since 1805 we have been reconciling and quarreling with Bonaparte, we have made constitutions and butchered them, and the salon of Anna Pavlovna and the salon of Helene were exactly the same as they had been one seven years, the other five years ago. In the same way, Anna Pavlovna spoke with bewilderment about the successes of Bonaparte and saw, both in his successes and in the indulgence of European sovereigns, a malicious conspiracy, with the sole purpose of unpleasantness and anxiety of that court circle, of which Anna Pavlovna was a representative. In the same way, with Helen, whom Rumyantsev himself honored with his visit and considered a remarkably intelligent woman, just as in 1808, so in 1812, they spoke with enthusiasm about a great nation and a great person and looked with regret at the break with France, which, according to the people who gathered in the salon Helen, should have ended in peace.
AT recent times, after the arrival of the sovereign from the army, there was some excitement in these opposing circles in the salons and some demonstrations were made against each other, but the direction of the circles remained the same. Only inveterate legitimists from the French were accepted into Anna Pavlovna's circle, and here the patriotic idea was expressed that it was not necessary to go to the French theater and that the maintenance of the troupe cost as much as the maintenance of the whole building. The military events were eagerly followed, and the most beneficial rumors for our army were spread. In Helen's circle, Rumyantsev, French, rumors about the cruelty of the enemy and the war were refuted and all Napoleon's attempts at reconciliation were discussed. In this circle, those who advised too hasty orders to prepare for departure to Kazan court and women's educational institutions, under the auspices of the Empress mother, were reproached. In general, the whole matter of the war was presented in Helen’s salon as empty demonstrations that would very soon end in peace, and the opinion of Bilibin, who was now in St. think they'll solve the problem. In this circle, ironically and very cleverly, although very carefully, they ridiculed the Moscow delight, the news of which arrived with the sovereign in St. Petersburg.
In Anna Pavlovna's circle, on the contrary, they admired these delights and talked about them, as Plutarch says about the ancients. Prince Vasily, who occupied all the same important positions, was the link between the two circles. He went to ma bonne amie [his worthy friend] Anna Pavlovna and went dans le salon diplomatique de ma fille [to his daughter's diplomatic salon] and often, during incessant moving from one camp to another, he got confused and said to Anna Pavlovna that it was necessary to speak with Helen, and vice versa.
Shortly after the arrival of the sovereign, Prince Vasily began talking with Anna Pavlovna about the affairs of the war, cruelly condemning Barclay de Tolly and being indecisive about whom to appoint as commander in chief. One of the guests, known as un homme de beaucoup de merite [a man of great merit], told that he saw Kutuzov, who was now elected head of the St. Petersburg militia, sitting in the state chamber to receive warriors, cautiously expressed the assumption that that Kutuzov would be the person who would satisfy all the requirements.
Anna Pavlovna smiled sadly and noticed that Kutuzov, apart from troubles, had given nothing to the sovereign.
“I spoke and spoke in the Assembly of the Nobility,” interrupted Prince Vasily, “but they did not listen to me. I said that his election to the head of the militia would not please the sovereign. They didn't listen to me.
“It’s all some kind of mania to frond,” he continued. - And before whom? And all because we want to ape stupid Moscow delights, ”said Prince Vasily, confused for a moment and forgetting that Helen had to laugh at Moscow delights, while Anna Pavlovna had to admire them. But he immediately recovered. - Well, is it proper for Count Kutuzov, the oldest general in Russia, to sit in the chamber, et il en restera pour sa peine! [His troubles will be in vain!] Is it possible to appoint a man who cannot sit on horseback, falls asleep at the council, a man of the most bad morals! He proved himself well in Bucarest! I'm not talking about his qualities as a general, but is it possible at such a moment to appoint a decrepit and blind person, just blind? The blind general will be good! He doesn't see anything. Play blind man's blind man... sees absolutely nothing!
Nobody objected to this.
On the 24th of July it was absolutely right. But on July 29, Kutuzov was granted the princely dignity. Princely dignity could also mean that they wanted to get rid of him - and therefore the judgment of Prince Vasily continued to be correct, although he was in no hurry to express it now. But on August 8, a committee was assembled from General Field Marshal Saltykov, Arakcheev, Vyazmitinov, Lopukhin and Kochubey to discuss the affairs of the war. The committee decided that the failures were due to differences of command, and, despite the fact that the persons who made up the committee knew the sovereign's dislike for Kutuzov, the committee, after a short meeting, proposed appointing Kutuzov as commander in chief. And on the same day, Kutuzov was appointed plenipotentiary commander of the armies and the entire region occupied by the troops.
On August 9, Prince Vasily met again at Anna Pavlovna's with l "homme de beaucoup de merite [a person of great dignity]. L" homme de beaucoup de merite courted Anna Pavlovna on the occasion of the desire to appoint Empress Maria Feodorovna as a trustee of the women's educational institution. Prince Vasily entered the room with the air of a happy winner, a man who had achieved the goal of his desires.
– Eh bien, vous savez la grande nouvelle? Le prince Koutouzoff est marechal. [Well s, you know the great news? Kutuzov - field marshal.] All disagreements are over. I'm so happy, so glad! - said Prince Vasily. – Enfin voila un homme, [Finally, this is a man.] – he said, significantly and sternly looking around at everyone in the living room. L "homme de beaucoup de merite, despite his desire to get a place, could not help but remind Prince Vasily of his previous judgment. (This was impolite both in front of Prince Vasily in Anna Pavlovna's drawing room, and in front of Anna Pavlovna, who was just as joyfully received the news; but he could not resist.)
- Mais on dit qu "il est aveugle, mon prince? [But they say he is blind?] - he said, reminding Prince Vasily of his own words.
- Allez donc, il y voit assez, [Eh, nonsense, he sees enough, believe me.] - said Prince Vasily in his bassy, ​​quick voice with a cough, that voice and cough with which he resolved all difficulties. “Allez, il y voit assez,” he repeated. “And what I am glad about,” he continued, “is that the sovereign has given him complete power over all the armies, over the entire region, a power that no commander in chief has ever had. This is another autocrat,” he concluded with a victorious smile.
“God forbid, God forbid,” said Anna Pavlovna. L "homme de beaucoup de merite, still new to court society, wishing to flatter Anna Pavlovna, shielding her former opinion from this judgment, said.
- They say that the sovereign reluctantly transferred this power to Kutuzov. On dit qu "il rougit comme une demoiselle a laquelle on lirait Joconde, en lui disant: "Le souverain et la patrie vous decernent cet honneur." [They say that he blushed like a young lady who would have read Joconde, while told him: "The sovereign and the fatherland reward you with this honor."]
- Peut etre que la c?ur n "etait pas de la partie, [Maybe the heart did not quite participate,] - said Anna Pavlovna.
“Oh no, no,” Prince Vasily interceded fervently. Now he could not give in to Kutuzov to anyone. According to Prince Vasily, not only Kutuzov was good himself, but everyone adored him. “No, it cannot be, because the sovereign was so able to appreciate him before,” he said.
“God only grant that Prince Kutuzov,” said Anpa Pavlovna, “takes real power and does not allow anyone to put spokes in his wheels – des batons dans les roues.”
Prince Vasily immediately realized who this nobody was. He whispered:
- I know for sure that Kutuzov, as an indispensable condition, said that the heir to the Tsarevich should not be with the army: Vous savez ce qu "il a dit a l" Empereur? [Do you know what he said to the sovereign?] - And Prince Vasily repeated the words, as if said by Kutuzov to the sovereign: “I cannot punish him if he does badly, and reward him if he does well.” O! this is the smartest man, Prince Kutuzov, et quel caractere. Oh je le connais de longue date. [and what character. Oh, I've known him for a long time.]
“They even say,” said l “homme de beaucoup de merite, who still did not have court tact, “that the most illustrious made it an indispensable condition that the sovereign himself did not come to the army.
As soon as he said this, in an instant Prince Vasily and Anna Pavlovna turned away from him and sadly, with a sigh at his naivety, looked at each other.

While this was happening in Petersburg, the French had already passed Smolensk and were moving closer and closer to Moscow. The historian of Napoleon Thiers, like other historians of Napoleon, says, trying to justify his hero, that Napoleon was unwittingly drawn to the walls of Moscow. He is right, as are all historians who seek an explanation of historical events in the will of one person; he is just as right as the Russian historians who assert that Napoleon was attracted to Moscow by the skill of the Russian generals. Here, in addition to the law of retrospectiveness (recurrence), which represents everything that has passed as a preparation for an accomplished fact, there is also reciprocity that confuses the whole thing. A good player who loses at chess is sincerely convinced that his loss was due to his mistake, and he looks for this mistake at the beginning of his game, but forgets that in his every step, throughout the whole game, there were such mistakes that no one his move was not perfect. The error to which he draws attention is noticeable to him only because the enemy took advantage of it. How much more complicated than this is the game of war, taking place under certain conditions of time, and where not only the will directs lifeless machines, but where everything springs from the innumerable clash of different arbitrariness?

Udmurts they never fought with anyone, never conquered anyone, everyone speaks well of them, all neighboring peoples get along with them and say only good things about the Udmurts.

Nevertheless, in modern Udmurtia, where the number of Udmurts barely reaches 28%, being an Udmurt is far from being an honor, and ideas about the Udmurt mentality are very negative. To be an Udmurt means to be considered a narrow-minded person with a very limited outlook and great ambitions, while having an inexpressive appearance. The Udmurts are mostly not spread rot Russians , a Tatars, which in Udmurtia, although 6%, but who, according to old memory, consider themselves to be the highest race in relation to the Udmurts.

Udmurts, formerly named votyaks, these are foreigners of the Permian group of the Finnish tribe. The etymology of the word " udmort"The self-name of the Udmurts is usually raised to the Proto-Slavic phrase" Oud-mard", « Mard"it's like you remember from here, it's a man, well Oud this is a member - not necessarily a sexual one, but also a sexual one. In addition, the word "oud" is translated as a branch, sprout, shoot, growth, and now this root is part of the word "fishing rod") and "mort" - a person. How these two concepts are combined in one word, and why the Udmurts took this exonym as a self-name for science, remains a mystery to this day.
In modern Udmurtia, the word " votyak” refers to an uneducated, uncultured, primitive, narrow-minded, backward person. Calling someone a votyak, teasing does not indicate nationality, but some kind of situation or act.

The Udmurts also have a sub-ethnos besermyan. Besermyans recently considered a separate people.

More than half of the Udmurts - 56% - are carriers of haplogroup N1c1.

The first information about the Udmurts in Russian written sources dates back to the end of the 15th century. At that time, the Udmurts occupied approximately the same territory of the Kama-Vyatka interfluve, where they are settled now. The data of Soviet archeology indicate that the Udmurts were formed in the Vyatka and Cheptsa basins on the basis of the most ancient population that created the Ananyino and Pyanobor cultures of the 1st millennium BC. e. and first centuries AD. e. The territory on which the monuments of the Ananyino culture were found occupies the basins of the middle and upper reaches of the Kama, Vyatka, lower reaches of the river. Belaya, extends to a part of the Volga region up to the Vetluga River and enters the right bank of the Volga in the Kazan region.
At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. Udmurts became tributaries of the Tatar-Mongols. Having settled along the middle reaches of the Volga, the Tatar-Mongols at first had little interest in the Udmurts and did not seek to penetrate into the northern Kama region (not to be confused with the Zamkadye), but gradually, like all of Russia, the Udmurts became dependent on the Tatar-Mongols and became the object of cruel exploitation from their sides. On the territory of Udmurtia, the Tatars created feudal principalities, which retained their independence until the defeat of Kazan, and in fact much longer. The southern part of Udmurtia was a special administrative-taxable unit for the Tatars - the Arskaya daruga; the Tatar murzas who ruled here were called Arsk princes. In the Vyatka land, in Karino, located 15-20 km from the mouth of the river. Caps, settled at the end of the XIV century. (1391) Karin murzas, who extended their power to the entire surrounding Udmurt population.
The Udmurts were taxed with yasak, but, in addition to the contribution of yasak, the population performed numerous other duties in favor of the Tatars: the supply of fodder, yamshchina, etc. The Udmurts had to perform military service and fight in the detachments of the khan and murz.
Territorially and administratively Udmurts in the XV-XVI centuries. did not represent a single whole, but were divided into several groups. Northern Udmurts (Karinsky and Chepetsky), who lived in the Cheptsa basin along its right and left tributaries, were part of the Vyatka land; the southern ones, which occupied the territory along the middle reaches of the Kama and Izhu, partly Vyatka and Kilmezyu, were part of the Kazan Khanate. In 1489 the northern Udmurts became part of the Muscovite state. The accession of the Udmurts to the Russian state was completed by 1558.
Traditional forms of economy: arable farming (rye, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, peas, millet, spelt, hemp, flax) and animal husbandry (draft cattle, cows, pigs, sheep, poultry). Horticulture played a relatively small role. Cabbage, cucumbers, rutabaga, radishes, etc., were grown for home consumption. In total crops, for example, in 1913, cereals accounted for 93%, flax - 4.1%, potatoes - 2%, perennial grasses - 0.1%. Traditional occupations - hunting, fishing, beekeeping, gathering have long served as an important support. Integral part The traditional economy of the Udmurts included crafts and trades (including logging and logging, tar smoking, charcoal burning, woodworking, as well as flour milling, carting, etc.). Lagoon crafts have not received much development. The common occupations of women were spinning, knitting, embroidery and weaving. Fabrics for the needs of the family were completely home-made, some of the fabrics were sold, Udmurt canvases were valued in the market. Since the 18th century, a developed metallurgical and metalworking industry has developed in Udmurtia (Izhevsk, Votkinsk and other plants), but Udmurts were used only for auxiliary work.
The main social unit of the traditional Udmurt society was the landed neighborhood community (buskel). The community usually consisted of several associations of kindred families. With the predominance of small families, large undivided families remained. Such a family had common property, a land allotment, ran a joint household, and lived on the same estate. During the partition, those who separated settled in the neighborhood, forming family nests (bolyak, iskavyn), some elements of the common economy were preserved (sore fields, threshing floors, baths), relative and neighborly mutual assistance (veme) was widely used when cooperation of a large number of workers was necessary.
The settlements (herd) of the Udmurts were located mainly in a chain along rivers, near springs. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Udmurt herds were built up without streets: each family group was built around the family estate, forming a cumulus settlement layout. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, according to government decrees, street planning was introduced, while relatives settled in the neighborhood, forming a street or ends with a patronymic name. The historically established types of settlements in the Udmurts were villages, villages, repairs.
The traditional dwelling of the Udmurts - ground log cabin(crust) with cold vestibules. The gable board roof was placed first on the males, later on the rafters. The corners were cut into a cloud, the grooves were laid with moss or tow. At the beginning of the 20th century, wealthy families set up five-wall houses, from the winter and summer halves, or two-story houses with a brick bottom. The Udmurt hut corresponded to the North Central Russian layout. An adobe oven (gur) was placed at the entrance with a mouth to the front wall. A hearth was arranged on the hearth - the northern Udmurts with a hanging cauldron, the southern ones, like the Tatars, with a smeared cauldron. Diagonal from the stove was a red corner, where there was a table and a chair for the head of the family. Massive benches stretched along the walls, shelves above them. They slept on bunks and beds. In the summer they lived in an unheated one- or two-story cage (kenos, chum) with a gallery. They were often placed under the same roof with the hut, connecting them with a passage, or separately, opposite the hut, on the other side of the yard. In each courtyard there was a religious building (kua) for family prayers. It also served as a summer kitchen. Of the other outbuildings on the estate of an Udmurt peasant, there was a cellar with a shed or a log house - a pantry above it, sheds for firewood and household equipment. The stables and barnyard, separated by a fence, adjoined a clean yard.
The North-Udmurt women's costume of the early 20th century consisted of a white canvas tunic-shaped shirt (derem) with straight sleeves with gussets, with a triangular or oval neckline on the chest, closed with a removable embroidered bib (kabachi). Over the shirt is a canvas robe (shortderem) with short sleeves. They were belted with a woven or woven belt and an apron without a breast. By this time, the southern Udmurts kept white clothes only as ritual ones; The chest of the shirt was decorated with an appliqué made of red calico and colored chintz. A camisole sewn into the waist or a sleeveless jacket (saestem) was put on a shirt. The southern Udmurts sewed an apron with a high breast. Outerwear- half-woolen and woolen caftans and fur coats. Shoes - patterned stockings, knitted or sewn canvas socks, bast shoes (kut) with patterned woolen frills, shoes, felt boots.
Headdresses for the Udmurts were a forehead bandage (yyrkerttet), a head towel with woven ends lowered onto the back (turban, veyak kyshet), a high birch bark hat trimmed with canvas and decorated with coins, beads, shells (ayshon) - an analogue of the Russian kokoshnik. An embroidered veil (syulyk) was thrown over it. Girls' hats - a scarf, a headband (ukotug), a small canvas hat decorated with embroidery, beads, metal plaques or small coins (takya). Women's adornments: pectorals made of coins, beads, cross-shouldered kamali bandages, butmar, earrings (pelugs), chains (veins), rings, rings (zundes), bracelets (poskes), beads, necklaces (all). White canvas clothes were decorated with embroidery along the hem, on the chest and sleeves. The girls wove braids (yyrsi punet) with coins and beads. In the decorations of the northern Udmurts, embroidery, beads and beads prevailed, in the southern ones - coins.
Men's clothing - white, later variegated shirt-kosovorotka, variegated trousers, often blue with white stripes. Belted with belts or woolen woven belts. Men's hats - felted hats, sheepskin hats. Shoes - canvas or woolen onuchi, bast shoes, boots, felt boots. Outer warm clothes did not differ from women's.
The basis of Udmurt nutrition is vegetable products in combination with animals. They actively include wild gifts of nature in their diet: mushrooms, berries, various herbs. Traditional bakery products: sour hearth bread (nyan), sour cakes with milk gravy (zyreten taban), pancakes with butter and porridge (mily), unleavened dough cheesecakes with various fillings - meat, mushroom, cabbage, etc. One of the favorite foods is meat, cabbage, potato, cottage cheese dumplings, etc. Various soups (shyd): with sour dough, noodles, mushrooms, peas, cereals and cabbage; ear; cabbage soup from wild greens. Okroshka with horseradish and radish are popular. Traditional porridge from different cereals, sometimes mixed with peas. Dairy foods: curdled milk, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese. Butter and sour cream in the past were festive and ritual food, as well as eggs. Sweet foods - from honey, hemp seed. The most characteristic drinks are bread and beet kvass (syukas), beer (sur), mead (musur), moonshine, berry fruit drinks. The meat was consumed dried, baked, but mostly boiled. After slaughtering cattle, they made blood sausage (virtyrem), jelly (kualekyas).
An important place in the life of the Udmurt village was played by calendar and ritual holidays associated with important stages of agricultural work. The ritual content of the calendar holidays consisted of sacrifices, prayer and song spells, various magical actions designed to ward off misfortunes and failures, ensure the fertility of the land and livestock, the health of family members, in general economic and family well-being peasant. After the official ritual part, an entertaining part followed: a fun folk festival with round dances, games, and dances. The preparation and holding of holidays were sanctioned by the community.

Udmurts preserve folk music, song and dance art. Musical instruments: gusli (cut), vargan (ymkrez, ymkubyz), flute and flute made from plant stems (chipchirgan, uzy gumy), bagpipes (byz, kubyz). There were also whistles (shulan, chipson), rattles (takyrton), horns (tutekton). Ancient instruments are gradually replacing the accordion, violin, balalaika, and guitar. The musical folk group from the village of Buranovo, Malopurginsky district of Udmurtia, performing Udmurt and Russian folk songs, as well as various hits of famous Russian and foreign performers, singing them in their native Udmurt language, represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, as a result of which took second place. January 2, 2014 by one of the relay torchbearers Olympic flame Winter Olympic Games in Sochi was the 75-year-old member of the team "Buranovskiye Babushki" Galina Koneva.

1. History of the Udmurts

The Udmurts are one of the indigenous peoples of the Middle Urals. The basis for the formation of the Udmurt ethnos was the local Finno-Permian tribes, which at different times were influenced by the Scythians, Ugrians, Turks and Slavs.

The oldest self-name of the Udmurts is Ary, that is, “man”, “man”. From here comes the ancient name of the Vyatka land - the Arsk land, the inhabitants of which, almost until the very revolution, the Russians called Permyaks, Votyaks (along the Vyatka River) or the Votsk Chud. Today, Udmurts consider these names offensive.

Until the middle of the 16th century, the Udmurts were not a single people. The northern Udmurts quite early became part of the Vyatka land, which was developed by Russian settlers. After the Mongol invasion, the Vyatka land became the patrimony of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal princes, and in 1489 became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

The southern Udmurts fell under the rule of the Volga Bulgaria, later - the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. It is generally accepted that their accession to Russia was completed by 1558.

Thus, during the life of three or four generations, the Udmurts changed their citizenship several times, and many of them were assimilated: northern Udmurts - by Russians, southern - by Tatars.

However, it is precisely Russian state made it possible for the Udmurt tribes not only to survive, but also to form as a people. Here are dry figures: if only 48 thousand Udmurts were counted in the Petrine era, now there were 637 thousand people - a 13-fold increase in numbers over 200 years.

The ethnonym "Udmord" itself was first published by the Russian scientist Rychkov in 1770. Its origin has not been fully elucidated. Only the Indo-Iranian base is transparent enough - murt, mort, which means the same as "ary" - a man, a husband. Officially, the self-name of the Udmurt people was recognized in 1932, when the Votskaya Autonomous Region was renamed Udmurtskaya.

Russian philologists also created the Udmurt script - based on the Russian alphabet, but with the addition of some letters and signs. The first grammar was published in 1775. The Komi language is closest to the Udmurt language - they correlate approximately the same as Russian and Polish languages. Today, the Udmurt language, along with Russian, is the state language of the Udmurt Republic. The indigenous population makes up about a third of its inhabitants.

2. Spiritual culture and religion of the Udmurts

Udmurt paganism is in many ways similar to the beliefs of other Ural peoples, which are characterized by a struggle between good and evil principles. The supreme deity of the Udmurts was called Inmar. His rival was an evil spirit - Shaitan.

Udmurt cosmogonic representations considered the main element - water. “There used to be water all over the world,” says one of the legends. “The wind was blowing, gathering the earth into one heap, the rain was pouring, tearing up the earth collected by the wind with water. And so the mountains and valleys happened, ”says another legend.

The mass conversion of the Udmurts to Christianity took place only in the 18th century. Most of the baptism was carried out by force. All external signs of paganism were literally burned out with a red-hot iron. The resulting image pagan gods disappeared without a trace. That, however, does not prevent a significant part of the people from stubbornly holding on to paganism.

A large place in the folklore of the Udmurts is occupied by epics, legends, fairy tales. The plots of many of them echo the plots of Russian folk tales. This is understandable: after all, the Udmurts have long been living in close cooperation with the Russian people. Here, for example, is the beginning of one of the fairy tales: "In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, oats did not rise." The analysis begins, why such a disaster happened. According to the priest, the peasants did not pay tax to Ilya Antonovich (Ilya the Prophet). In addition, it turns out that disorder reigns in the heavenly office: no one knows who is responsible for what, so there was no rain for a long time and the oats did not rise.

It is impossible to imagine the folk art of the Udmurts without songs - many-voiced, melodic and melodic. Most of the old Udmurt songs are sad and heartbreaking.
Probably, this is one of the most singing nations. The Udmurt wedding did not begin until one of the stewards gave the opening song. Song contests were organized to see who would sing whom. People who couldn't sing were mockingly called "pallyan kyrzas" (literally, "singing to the left"), they say, what to take from him, even if he can't sing.

3. national character and traditions of the Udmurts

In anthropological terms, the Udmurts are classified as a small Ural race, which is distinguished by the predominance of Caucasoid features with some Mongoloidity. There are many redheads among the Udmurts. On this basis, they can compete with the world champions in golden hair - the Celts-Irish.

Outwardly, the Udmurts are strong and hardy, although not of a heroic physique. They are very patient. Modesty, shyness, reaching shyness, restraint in the manifestation of feelings are considered typical features of the Udmurt character. Udmurts are laconic. “His tongue is sharp, but his hands are blunt,” they say. However, strength is valued apt expression: "The wind destroys the mountains, the word of the people raises"; "A heartfelt word warms for three winters."

Travelers of the 18th century noted the great hospitality and cordiality of the Udmurts, their peacefulness and meek disposition, "the tendency to more fun than sadness."

Radishchev in his "Diary of a Journey from Siberia" noted: "The Votyaks are almost like Russians ... A common fate, common worries and hardships brought the two peoples together, gave rise to friendship and trust between them."
Perhaps the most expressive building in the Udmurt peasant yard was a two-story kenos-barns. How many daughters-in-law there were in the family, there were so many kenos in the yard. This word itself comes from the Udmurt "ken" - daughter-in-law.

The traditional Udmurt women's costume was one of the most complex and colorful in the Volga region. The Udmurts have achieved the highest mastery in "linen folklore".

In the traditional ethnic culture of the Udmurts, the classical color triad is used: white-red-black. It is no coincidence that it is she who is the basis of the Coat of Arms and the Flag of the Udmurt Republic.

During the years of collectivization and Stalinist repressions rural culture Udmurts suffered enormous damage. The most enterprising, enterprising part of the people perished. The case was completed by the famous Udmurt moonshine - "kumyshka". The Udmurts have always stubbornly defended their right to brew moonshine, guided by the belief that they inherited "kumyshka" from their ancestors as a ritual drink. To stop its production means to betray the faith, to betray one's gods. Therefore, the Udmurt village today, alas, looks as depressing as the Russian one.

Udmurts

UDMURT-ov; pl. Nation, the main population of Udmurtia; representatives of this nation, country. Legends of the Udmurts.

◁ Udmurt, -a; m. Udmurtka, -i; pl. genus.-current, dates- weaves; and. Udmurt, th, th. W. language.

Udmurts

(self-name - Udmurt, obsolete name - Votyak), people in Russia, the indigenous population of Udmurtia (496.5 thousand people). The total number is 714.8 thousand people (1998). Udmurt language. Believers are Orthodox.

UDMURT

UDMURTs (obsolete - Votyaks), people in the Russian Federation, the indigenous population of Udmurtia (460.5 thousand people), also live in Tataria (24.2 thousand people), Bashkiria (22.6 thousand people), as well as Perm (26.2 thousand people), Kirov (17.9 thousand people), Sverdlovsk (17.9 thousand people) regions, Southern (12.5 thousand people), Siberian (13, 5 thousand people) federal districts. The total number in the Russian Federation is 636.9 thousand people (1992).
Among the Udmurts, the Besermen stand out as a special ethnic group, they have features in the material culture and language, which was influenced by Tatar language. Sometimes the Besermians are singled out as an independent people, and in the 2002 census, the Besermians were counted separately from the Udmurts. The number of Besermen in Russia is 3.1 thousand people. The Udmurt language belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group. There are several dialects in the Udmurt language - northern, southern, Besermian and median dialects. 70% of Udmurts consider their native National language. The writing of the Udmurt language was created on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet.
The majority of Udmurt believers are Orthodox, but a significant proportion adhere to traditional beliefs. On the religious beliefs Udmurts living among Tatars and Bashkirs were influenced by Islam. The Udmurts are the descendants of the autochthonous population of the Volga-Kama region, which is associated with the Ananyino archaeological culture. The Chepetsk archaeological culture (9th-15th centuries) is directly associated with the Udmurts. In Russian sources, the Udmurts have been mentioned since the 14th century under the name of Aryans, Arsk people, and also Votyaks, before that they were part of the collective name "Perm". Under their own name, the Udmurts were first mentioned in 1770 in the work of the Russian scientist N.P. Rychkov. The northern Udmurts became part of the Russian state at the end of the 15th century, and the southern ones - in the middle of the 16th century after the annexation of the Kazan Khanate. In 1920, the Votskaya Autonomous Region was created. In 1932 it was renamed the Udmurt Autonomous Region, which in 1934 was transformed into an autonomous republic.
Among the traditional occupations of the Udmurts, the leading role was played by agriculture, which is characterized by a combination of undercutting and fallow with three fields. The land was plowed with plows of various types or with a Saban plow. Mostly frost-resistant crops were grown - rye, barley, oats, as well as wheat, buckwheat, industrial crops - hemp, and later flax. Garden crops played a smaller role - cabbage, cucumbers, radish. They bred cows, horses, sheep, pigs, poultry, but they kept few livestock due to lack of pastures, its breeds were unproductive, they grazed animals in the forest without the supervision of shepherds. Ancillary activities were varied: hunting - squirrel, ermine, hare, fox, fishing, beekeeping, forestry - logging, charcoal, tar smoking, woodworking, as well as spinning, weaving, leather, blacksmithing.
Udmurt clothes were sewn from canvas, cloth and sheepskin, until the beginning of the 20th century, almost all were home-made. In clothing, two options stand out - northern and southern. The North-Udmurt women's costume consisted of a white tunic-shaped canvas shirt with a removable embroidered bib; a white canvas robe with a belt and an apron without a breast were worn over the shirt. The clothes of the South Udmurt women included a shirt, over which they put on a camisole sewn into the waist or a sleeveless jacket and an apron with a high chest, pants were worn under the shirt. Over the women wore woolen and half-woolen caftans and sheepskin coats. Shoes were woven bast shoes, shoes or felt boots. Girls' and women's hats were very diverse, they reflected the age and marital status- Scarves, hats, bandages. Numerous were ornaments made of beads, beads, coins.
Men's clothing consisted of a tunic-shaped kosovorotka shirt with a low standing collar, it was worn with a wicker or leather belt, motley pants on a leather or woolen belt, a felted hat or sheepskin hat was a headdress, and bast shoes, boots, felt boots were shoes. Men wore a leather bag (tyldursy) with flint and tinder. The upper men's clothing was a white canvas robe or a cloth zipun cut off at the waist, as well as a sheepskin coat.
For rural settlements Udmurts were characterized by a cumulus layout, from the second half of the 19th century - street. The size of the villages were small - a few dozen households. In the settlements there were public buildings - sanctuaries, grain warehouses, threshing floors, wells, most of the territory was occupied by family estates. Kindred groups occupied separate streets or ends of the village. There were two types of estate building - U-shaped in the northern regions and free - in the south. traditional dwelling Udmurts had a log hut with a cold vestibule under a gable roof. Wealthy families lived in five-wall houses with winter and summer halves or two-story houses with a brick bottom. The oven was adobe with a cast-in or suspended cauldron; a red corner was located diagonally from it, where a table was placed. In the summer, they moved to an unheated one- or two-story cage (kenos, chum) with a gallery, where rooms were allocated for married couples. In the courtyard there was a religious building for family prayers (kua, kuala), which also served as a summer kitchen. It had a small size, a gable roof and an earthen floor, there were no windows and a ceiling. In the center was a hearth with a cauldron above it, smoke escaping through a gap between the slopes of the roof. The building had a shelf on which bones and feathers of sacrificial animals and birds were laid. The yard buildings also included barns, sheds, sheds for household equipment, and a cellar.
The traditional diet of the Udmurts was dominated by agricultural and livestock products - sour hearth bread, which was usually baked from barley flour with the addition of various surrogates, other flour products - pancakes, pancakes, flat cakes, unleavened cheesecakes, pies, dumplings. Soups were varied (for example, shid - stew with cereals and peas), cereals, drinks - kvass, beer, mead, sherbet (water with honey), sur (beer). The meat was used as a condiment, after the slaughter of cattle they made black pudding. Milk and dairy products were consumed in small quantities.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the agricultural community of the neighboring type, headed by the council - kenesh, played an important role in the social life of the rural population. There were both large (up to 50 people) and small families, and along with them nests of related families (bolyak, iskavyn) with common fields, threshing floors, baths, forms of mutual assistance were widely used. For a long time, tribal divisions of the Udmurts - Vorshuds - were preserved. The names of Vorshuds often coincided with the names of birds and other living creatures, which is explained by totemistic ideas. Each clan had its own kuala, where prayers were made; tamgas - signs of ownership, which marked forest plots, domestic animals, things.
Marriages among the Udmurts were made by matchmaking, but the kidnapping of a girl was also practiced, usually with the consent of her parents. After the wedding, the young woman returned to her parents' house for six months or more. The archaic beliefs of the Udmurts were reflected in the funeral rituals, in the custom of putting various things in the coffin - bread, salt, pancakes, a bowler hat, an ax, a knife. The deceased relatives were buried in family cemeteries.
Christian views have not completely replaced traditional beliefs and ideas. Many family and tribal cults were preserved, in particular, the veneration of Vorshuds, which meant both the clan itself and its sacred relics (they were kept in a kuala). About 70 vorshuds were recorded among the Udmurts. The religion of the Udmurts was characterized by a numerous pantheon of deities, spirits and mythological creatures, among them Inmar - the god of heaven, Kaldysin - the god of the earth, Shundy-mumma - the Mother of the sun, there were about 40 of them in total. . Worship played an important role in the cult. sacred groves and trees. There was a priesthood that led the rituals.
In the spiritual life of the Udmurts, calendar and ritual holidays with sacrifices and prayer spells played an important role. On the days of the winter solstice, the holiday of tolsur was celebrated with mummers, fortune-telling, the wire of evil spirits. Many ceremonial actions were associated with household chores: gery potton - the feast of the removal of the plow, vyl zhuk - the ritual eating of porridge from the grain of the new crop. Since the 19th century, the celebration of many holidays began to coincide with the dates of the Christian calendar - Christmas, Easter, Trinity. Song and dance arts were widely developed among the Udmurts, singing and dancing were accompanied by playing traditional musical instruments- harp, pipes, bagpipes.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .