History of the Mari people

The vicissitudes of the formation of the Mari people, we learn more and more fully on the basis of the latest archaeological research. In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e., as well as at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. e. among the ethnic groups of the Gorodets and Azelin cultures, one can also assume the ancestors of the Mari. The Gorodets culture was autochthonous on the right bank of the Middle Volga region, while the Azelin culture was on the left bank of the Middle Volga, as well as along the Vyatka. These two branches of the ethnogenesis of the Mari people well show the double connection of the Mari within the Finno-Ugric tribes. For the most part, the Gorodets culture played a role in the formation of the Mordovian ethnos, but its eastern parts served as the basis for the formation of the Mountain Mari ethnic group. The Azelinskaya culture can be traced back to the Ananyinskaya archaeological culture, which was previously assigned a dominant role only in the ethnogenesis of the Finno-Permian tribes, although at present this issue is considered differently by some researchers: it is possible that the Proto-Ugric and ancient Mari tribes were part of the ethnic groups of new archaeological cultures. successors that arose on the site of the disintegrated Ananyino culture. The ethnic group of the Meadow Mari can also be traced back to the traditions of the Ananyino culture.

The Eastern European forest zone has extremely scarce written information about the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the writing of these peoples appeared very late, with few exceptions, only in the latest historical era. The first mention of the ethnonym "Cheremis" in the form "ts-r-mis" is found in a written source, which dates back to the 10th century, but, in all likelihood, goes back one or two centuries later. According to this source, the Mari were tributaries of the Khazars. Then Mari (in the form "Cheremisam") mentions the compiled c. early 12th century Russian annalistic code, calling the place of their settlement of the land at the mouth of the Oka. Of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Mari turned out to be most closely associated with the Turkic tribes that migrated to the Volga region. These ties are very strong even now. Volga Bulgars at the beginning of the 9th century. arrived from Great Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast to the confluence of the Kama with the Volga, where they founded the Volga Bulgaria. The ruling elite of the Volga Bulgars, using the profit from trade, could firmly hold their power. They traded honey, wax, and furs coming from the Finno-Ugric peoples living nearby. Relations between the Volga Bulgars and various Finno-Ugric tribes of the Middle Volga region were not overshadowed by anything. The empire of the Volga Bulgars was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatar conquerors who invaded from the interior regions of Asia in 1236.

Khan Batu founded a state formation called the Golden Horde in the territories occupied and subordinated to him. Its capital until the 1280s. was the city of Bulgar, the former capital of the Volga Bulgaria. With the Golden Horde and the independent Kazan Khanate that later separated from it, the Mari were in allied relations. This is evidenced by the fact that the Mari had a stratum that did not pay taxes, but was obliged to carry out military service. This estate then became one of the most combat-ready military formations among the Tatars. Also, the existence of allied relations is indicated by the use of the Tatar word "el" - "people, empire" to designate the region inhabited by the Mari. Marie still call her native land Mari El Republic.

The accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state was greatly influenced by the contacts of some groups of the Mari population with the Slavic-Russian state formations ( Kievan Rus- northeastern Russian principalities and lands - Muscovite Russia) even before the 16th century. There was a significant deterrent that did not allow to quickly complete what had been started in the XII-XIII centuries. the process of joining Russia is the close and multilateral ties of the Mari with those opposed to Russian expansion to the east Turkic states(Volga-Kama Bulgaria - Ulus Jochi - Kazan Khanate). Such an intermediate position, as A. Kappeler believes, led to the fact that the Mari, as well as the Mordovians and Udmurts who were in a similar situation, were drawn into neighboring state entities in economic and administrative terms, but at the same time retained their own social elite and their pagan religion .

The inclusion of the Mari lands in Russia from the very beginning was ambiguous. Already at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, according to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Mari (“Cheremis”) were among the tributaries of the ancient Russian princes. It is believed that tributary dependence is the result of military clashes, "tormenting". True, there is not even indirect information about the exact date of its establishment. G.S. Lebedev, on the basis of the matrix method, showed that in the catalog of the introductory part of The Tale of Bygone Years, "cherems" and "Mordovians" can be combined into one group with the whole, Merya and Muroma according to four main parameters - genealogical, ethnic, political and moral and ethical . This gives some reason to believe that the Mari became tributaries earlier than the rest of the non-Slavic tribes listed by Nestor - "Perm, Pechera, Em" and other "tongues, which give tribute to Russia."

There is information about the dependence of the Mari on Vladimir Monomakh. According to the "Word about the destruction of the Russian land", "Cheremis ... bortnichahu against the great prince Volodimer." In the Ipatiev Chronicle, in unison with the pathetic tone of the Lay, it is said that he is "most afraid of the filthy." According to B.A. Rybakov, the real enthronement, the nationalization of North-Eastern Russia began precisely with Vladimir Monomakh.

However, the testimony of these written sources does not allow us to say that tribute to the ancient Russian princes was paid by all groups of the Mari population; most likely, only the western Mari, who lived near the mouth of the Oka, were drawn into the sphere of influence of Russia.

The rapid pace of Russian colonization caused opposition from the local Finno-Ugric population, who found support from the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. In 1120, after a series of attacks by the Bulgars on the Russian cities in the Volga-Ochya in the second half of the 11th century, a series of counter-attacks of the Vladimir-Suzdal and allied princes began on the lands that either belonged to the Bulgar rulers, or were only controlled by them in the order of collecting tribute from the local population. It is believed that the Russian-Bulgarian conflict erupted primarily on the basis of the collection of tribute.

The Russian princely squads more than once attacked the Mari villages that came across on their way to the rich Bulgarian cities. It is known that in the winter of 1171/72. the detachment of Boris Zhidislavich destroyed one large fortified and six small settlements just below the mouth of the Oka, and here even in the 16th century. still lived along with the Mordovian and Mari population. Moreover, it was under the same date that the Russian fortress Gorodets Radilov was first mentioned, which was built a little higher than the mouth of the Oka on the left bank of the Volga, presumably on the land of the Mari. According to V.A. Kuchkin, Gorodets Radilov became a stronghold of North-Eastern Russia on the Middle Volga and the center of Russian colonization of the local region.

The Slavic-Russians gradually either assimilated or displaced the Mari, forcing them to migrate to the east. This movement has been traced by archaeologists since about the 8th century. n. e.; the Mari, in turn, entered into ethnic contacts with the Perm-speaking population of the Volga-Vyatka interfluve (the Mari called them odo, that is, they were Udmurts). The alien ethnic group dominated the ethnic competition. In the IX-XI centuries. The Mari basically completed the development of the Vetluzhsko-Vyatka interfluve, displacing and partially assimilating the former population. Numerous traditions of the Mari and Udmurts testify that there were armed conflicts, and mutual antipathy continued to exist between the representatives of these Finno-Ugric peoples for quite a long time.

As a result of the military campaign of 1218–1220, the conclusion of the Russian-Bulgarian peace treaty of 1220 and the foundation at the mouth of the Oka Nizhny Novgorod in 1221 - the easternmost outpost of North-Eastern Russia - the influence of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria in the Middle Volga region weakened. This created favorable conditions for the Vladimir-Suzdal feudal lords to conquer the Mordovians. Most likely, in the Russo-Mordovian war of 1226–1232. the "Cheremis" of the Oka-Sura interfluve was also drawn in.

The expansion of both Russian and Bulgarian feudal lords was also directed to the Unzha and Vetluga basins, which were relatively unsuitable for economic development. It was mainly inhabited by the Mari tribes and the eastern part of the Kostroma Mary, between which, as established by archaeologists and linguists, there was a lot in common, which to some extent allows us to talk about the ethnocultural commonality of the Vetluzh Mari and the Kostroma Mary. In 1218 the Bulgars attack Ustyug and Unzha; under 1237, another Russian city in the Trans-Volga region, Galich Mersky, was mentioned for the first time. Apparently, there was a struggle for the Sukhono-Vychegda trade and trade route and for the collection of tribute from the local population, in particular, the Mari. Russian domination was established here as well.

In addition to the western and northwestern periphery of the Mari lands, Russians from about the turn of the 12th-13th centuries. they began to develop the northern outskirts - the upper reaches of the Vyatka, where, in addition to the Mari, the Udmurts also lived.

The development of the Mari lands, most likely, was carried out not only by force, by military methods. There are such varieties of "cooperation" between the Russian princes and the national nobility as "equal" matrimonial unions, companyism, subordination, hostage-taking, bribery, "sweetening". It is possible that a number of these methods were also applied to representatives of the Mari social elite.

If in the X-XI centuries, as the archaeologist E.P. Kazakov points out, there was “a certain commonality of the Bulgar and Volga-Mari monuments”, then over the next two centuries the ethnographic image of the Mari population - especially in Povetluzhye - became different. The Slavic and Slavic-Meryansk components have significantly increased in it.

The facts show that the degree of inclusion of the Mari population in Russian state formations in the pre-Mongol period was quite high.

The situation changed in the 1930s and 1940s. 13th century as a result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. However, this did not at all lead to the cessation of the growth of Russian influence in the Volga-Kama region. Small independent Russian state formations appeared around urban centers - princely residences founded back in the period of the existence of a single Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. These are Galician (arose around 1247), Kostroma (approximately in the 50s of the XIII century) and Gorodetsky (between 1269 and 1282) principalities; at the same time, the influence of the Vyatka Land grew, turning into a special state formation with veche traditions. In the second half of the XIV century. the Vyatchans had already firmly established themselves in the Middle Vyatka and in the Tansy basin, displacing the Mari and Udmurts from here.

In the 60–70s. 14th century feudal turmoil broke out in the horde, weakening its military and political power for a while. This was successfully used by the Russian princes, who sought to break free from dependence on the khan's administration and increase their possessions at the expense of the peripheral regions of the empire.

The most notable success was achieved by the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, the successor to the principality of Gorodetsky. The first Nizhny Novgorod prince Konstantin Vasilyevich (1341–1355) “ordered the Russian people to settle along the Oka and along the Volga and along the Kuma rivers ... where anyone wants”, that is, he began to sanction the colonization of the Oka-Sura interfluve. And in 1372, his son Prince Boris Konstantinovich founded the Kurmysh fortress on the left bank of the Sura, thereby establishing control over the local population - mainly Mordovians and Mari.

Soon, the possessions of the Nizhny Novgorod princes began to appear on the right bank of the Sura (in Zasurye), where the mountain Mari and Chuvash lived. By the end of the XIV century. Russian influence in the Sura basin increased so much that representatives of the local population began to warn the Russian princes about the upcoming invasions of the Golden Horde troops.

A significant role in strengthening anti-Russian sentiments among the Mari population was played by frequent attacks by the Ushkuiniks. The most sensitive for the Mari, apparently, were the raids carried out by Russian river robbers in 1374, when they ravaged the villages along the Vyatka, Kama, Volga (from the mouth of the Kama to the Sura) and Vetluga.

In 1391, as a result of Bektut's campaign, the Vyatka Land, which was considered the refuge of the Ushkuins, was devastated. However, already in 1392 the Vyatchans plundered the Bulgarian cities of Kazan and Zhukotin (Dzhuketau).

According to the Vetluzhsky Chronicler, in 1394, “Uzbeks” appeared in the Vetluzhsky Kuguz - nomadic warriors from the eastern half of the Jochi Ulus, who “took the people for the army and took them along the Vetluga and the Volga near Kazan to Tokhtamysh.” And in 1396, a protege of Tokhtamysh Keldibek was elected kuguz.

As a result of a large-scale war between Tokhtamysh and Timur Tamerlane, the Golden Horde Empire was significantly weakened, many Bulgarian cities were devastated, and its surviving inhabitants began to move to the right side of the Kama and the Volga - away from the dangerous steppe and forest-steppe zone; in the area of ​​Kazanka and Sviyaga, the Bulgar population came into close contact with the Mari.

In 1399, the cities of Bulgar, Kazan, Kermenchuk, Zhukotin were taken by the appanage prince Yuri Dmitrievich, the annals indicate that "no one remembers only far away Rus fought the Tatar land." Apparently, at the same time, the Galich prince conquered the Vetluzh Kuguzism - this is reported by the Vetluzh chronicler. Kuguz Keldibek recognized his dependence on the leaders of the Vyatka Land, concluding a military alliance with them. In 1415, the Vetluzhans and Vyatches made a joint campaign against the Northern Dvina. In 1425, the Vetluzh Mari became part of the many thousands of militia of the Galich specific prince, who began an open struggle for the grand prince's throne.

In 1429 Keldibek took part in the campaign of the Bulgaro-Tatar troops led by Alibek to Galich and Kostroma. In response to this, in 1431, Vasily II took severe punitive measures against the Bulgars, who had already seriously suffered from a terrible famine and an epidemic of plague. In 1433 (or in 1434), Vasily Kosoy, who received Galich after the death of Yuri Dmitrievich, physically eliminated Keldibek's Kuguz and annexed the Vetluzh Kuguz to his inheritance.

The Mari population also had to experience the religious and ideological expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Mari pagan population, as a rule, negatively perceived attempts to Christianize them, although there were also reverse examples. In particular, the Kazhirovsky and Vetluzhsky chroniclers report that the Kuguzes Kodzha-Eraltem, Kai, Bai-Boroda, their relatives and close associates adopted Christianity and allowed the construction of churches in the territory they controlled.

Among the Privetluzhsky Mari population, a version of the Kitezh legend spread: allegedly, the Mari, who did not want to submit to the “Russian princes and priests”, buried themselves alive right on the shore of Svetloyar, and subsequently, together with the earth that collapsed on them, slid down to the bottom of a deep lake. The following record, made in the 19th century, has been preserved: “Among the Svetloyarsk pilgrims, one can always meet two or three Mari women dressed in sharpan, without any signs of Russification.”

By the time the Kazan Khanate appeared, the Mari of the following areas were involved in the sphere of influence of the Russian state formations: the right bank of the Sura - a significant part of the mountain Mari (this can also include the Oka-Sura "Cheremis"), Povetluzhye - the northwestern Mari, the basin of the Pizhma River and the Middle Vyatka - northern part of the meadow mari. The Kokshai Mari, the population of the Ileti river basin, the north-eastern part of the modern territory of the Republic of Mari El, as well as the Lower Vyatka, that is, the main part of the meadow Mari, were less affected by Russian influence.

The territorial expansion of the Kazan Khanate was carried out in the western and northern directions. Sura became the southwestern border with Russia, respectively, Zasurye was completely under the control of Kazan. During 1439-1441, judging by the Vetluzhsky chronicler, the Mari and Tatar soldiers destroyed all Russian settlements on the territory of the former Vetluzhsky Kuguz, the Kazan “governors” began to rule the Vetluzhsky Mari. Both the Vyatka Land and the Great Perm soon found themselves in tributary dependence on the Kazan Khanate.

In the 50s. 15th century Moscow managed to subjugate the Vyatka Land and part of the Povetluzhye; soon, in 1461-1462. Russian troops even entered into a direct armed conflict with the Kazan Khanate, during which the Mari lands on the left bank of the Volga suffered mainly.

In the winter of 1467/68. an attempt was made to eliminate or weaken the allies of Kazan - the Mari. For this purpose, two trips "to the Cheremis" were organized. The first, main group, which consisted mainly of selected troops - "the court of the prince of the great regiment" - fell upon the left-bank Mari. According to the chronicles, “the army of the Grand Duke came to the land of Cheremis, and did much evil to that land: people from the sekosh, and led others into captivity, and burned others; and their horses and every living thing that you can’t take with you, then everything is gone; and whatever was their belly, they took it all. The second group, which included warriors recruited in the Murom and Nizhny Novgorod lands, "wrestled mountains and barats" along the Volga. However, even this did not prevent the Kazanians, including, most likely, the Mari warriors, already in the winter-summer of 1468 from ruining Kichmenga with adjacent villages (the upper reaches of the Unzha and Yug rivers), as well as the Kostroma volosts and twice in a row - the vicinity of Murom. Parity was established in punitive actions, which, most likely, had little effect on the state of the armed forces of the opposing sides. The case came down mainly to robberies, mass destruction, the capture of the civilian population - the Mari, Chuvash, Russians, Mordovians, etc.

In the summer of 1468, Russian troops resumed their raids on the uluses of the Kazan Khanate. And this time, the Mari population suffered the most. The rook army, led by the voivode Ivan Run, “fought your cheremis on the Vyatka River”, plundered the villages and merchant ships on the Lower Kama, then went up to the Belaya River (“Belaya Volozhka”), where the Russians again “fighted the cheremis, and people from sekosh and horses and every animal." They learned from local residents that nearby, up the Kama, a detachment of Kazan soldiers of 200 people was moving on ships taken from the Mari. As a result of a short battle, this detachment was defeated. The Russians then followed "to Great Perm and to Ustyug" and further to Moscow. Almost at the same time, another Russian army (“outpost”), led by Prince Fedor Khripun-Ryapolovsky, was operating on the Volga. Not far from Kazan, it is "beaten by the Tatars of Kazan, the court of tsars, many good ones." However, even in such a critical situation for themselves, Kazan did not abandon active offensive operations. By bringing their troops into the territory of the Vyatka Land, they persuaded the Vyatchans to neutrality.

In the Middle Ages, there were usually no precisely defined borders between states. This also applies to the Kazan Khanate with neighboring countries. From the west and north, the territory of the khanate adjoined the borders of the Russian state, from the east - the Nogai Horde, from the south - the Astrakhan khanate and from the southwest - the Crimean khanate. The border between the Kazan Khanate and the Russian state along the Sura River was relatively stable; further, it can be determined only conditionally according to the principle of paying yasak by the population: from the mouth of the Sura River through the Vetluga basin to Pizhma, then from the mouth of Pizhma to the Middle Kama, including some areas of the Urals, then back to the Volga River along the left bank of the Kama, without going deep into the steppe, down the Volga approximately to the Samara bow, and finally, to the upper reaches of the same Sura river.

In addition to the Bulgaro-Tatar population (Kazan Tatars) on the territory of the Khanate, according to A.M. Kurbsky, there were also Mari (“Cheremis”), southern Udmurts (“Votyaks”, “Ars”), Chuvashs, Mordvins (mainly Erzya), Western Bashkirs. Mari in the sources of the XV-XVI centuries. and in general in the Middle Ages they were known under the name "Cheremis", the etymology of which has not yet been clarified. At the same time, under this ethnonym, in a number of cases (this is especially characteristic of the Kazan chronicler), not only the Mari, but also the Chuvashs and the southern Udmurts could appear. Therefore, it is rather difficult to determine, even in approximate outlines, the territory of the settlement of the Mari during the existence of the Kazan Khanate.

A number of fairly reliable sources of the XVI century. - testimonies of S. Herberstein, spiritual letters of Ivan III and Ivan IV, the Royal Book - indicate the presence of the Mari in the Oka-Sura interfluve, that is, in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Arzamas, Kurmysh, Alatyr. This information is confirmed by folklore material, as well as the toponymy of this territory. It is noteworthy that until recently, among the local Mordovians, who professed a pagan religion, the personal name Cheremis was widespread.

The Unzha-Vetluga interfluve was also inhabited by the Mari; This is evidenced by written sources, toponymy of the area, folklore material. Probably, there were also Mary's groups here. The northern boundary is the upper reaches of the Unzha, Vetluga, the Tansy basin, and the Middle Vyatka. Here the Mari were in contact with the Russians, Udmurts and Karin Tatars.

The eastern limits can be limited to the lower reaches of the Vyatka, but apart - "for 700 miles from Kazan" - in the Urals there already existed a small ethnic group of the Eastern Mari; chroniclers recorded it near the mouth of the Belaya River in the middle of the 15th century.

Apparently, the Mari, together with the Bulgaro-Tatar population, lived in the upper reaches of the Kazanka and Mesha rivers, on the Arskaya side. But, most likely, they were a minority here and, moreover, most likely, they gradually flocked.

Apparently, a large part of the Mari population occupied the territory of the northern and western parts of the current Chuvash Republic.

The disappearance of the continuous Mari population in the northern and western parts of the current territory of the Chuvash Republic can to some extent be explained by the devastating wars in the 15th-16th centuries, from which the Gornaya side suffered more than the Lugovaya (in addition to the invasions of Russian troops, the right bank was also subjected to numerous raids by steppe warriors) . This circumstance, apparently, caused the outflow of part of the mountain Mari to the Lugovaya side.

The number of Mari in the XVII-XVIII centuries. ranged from 70 to 120 thousand people.

The right bank of the Volga was distinguished by the highest population density, then - the area east of M. Kokshaga, and the least - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bsettlement of the northwestern Mari, especially the swampy Volga-Vetluzhskaya lowland and the Mari lowland (the space between the rivers Linda and B. Kokshaga).

Exclusively all lands were legally considered the property of the khan, who personified the state. Declaring himself the supreme owner, the khan demanded for the use of the land a rent in kind and cash - a tax (yasak).

The Mari - nobility and ordinary community members - like other non-Tatar peoples of the Kazan Khanate, although they were included in the category of dependent population, were actually personally free people.

According to the conclusions of K.I. Kozlova, in the 16th century. the Mari were dominated by retinue, military-democratic orders, that is, the Mari were at the stage of formation of their statehood. The emergence and development of their own state structures was hindered by dependence on the khan's administration.

The socio-political structure of the medieval Mari society is reflected in written sources rather weakly.

It is known that the main cell of the Mari society was the family (“esh”); most likely, the most widespread were "large families", consisting, as a rule, of 3-4 generations of close relatives in the male line. Property stratification between patriarchal families was clearly visible as early as the 9th-11th centuries. Parcel labor flourished, which mainly extended to non-agricultural activities (cattle breeding, fur trade, metallurgy, blacksmithing, jewelry). There were close ties between neighboring family groups, primarily economic, but not always consanguineous. Economic ties were expressed in various kinds of mutual “help” (“vyma”), that is, obligatory kindred gratuitous mutual assistance. In general, the Mari in the XV-XVI centuries. experienced a peculiar period of proto-feudal relations, when, on the one hand, individual family property was allocated within the framework of a land-related union (neighboring community), and on the other, the class structure of society did not acquire its clear outlines.

The Mari patriarchal families, apparently, united into patronymic groups (nasyl, tukym, urlyk; according to V.N. Petrov - urmats and vurteks), and those - into larger land unions - tishte. Their unity was based on the principle of neighborhood, on a common cult, and to a lesser extent - on economic ties, and even more so - on consanguinity. Tishte were, among other things, alliances of military mutual assistance. Perhaps the Tishte were territorially compatible with hundreds, uluses and fifties of the period of the Kazan Khanate. In any case, the tithe-hundred and ulus system of administration imposed from the outside as a result of the establishment of the Mongol-Tatar domination, as is commonly believed, did not conflict with the traditional territorial organization of the Mari.

Hundreds, uluses, fifties and tens were led by centurions (“shudovuy”), Pentecostals (“vitlevuy”), tenants (“luvuy”). In the 15th–16th centuries, they most likely did not have time to break with the rule of the people, and, by the definition of K.I. Kozlova, "these were either ordinary foremen of land unions, or military leaders of larger associations such as tribal ones." Perhaps the representatives of the top of the Mari nobility continued to be called, according to the ancient tradition, “kugyz”, “kuguz” (“great master”), “on” (“leader”, “prince”, “lord”). AT public life The elders - “Kuguraks” also played a big role among the Mari. For example, even Tokhtamysh's henchman Keldibek could not become a Vetluzh kuguz without the consent of the local elders. The Mari elders as a special social group are also mentioned in the Kazan History.

All groups of the Mari population took an active part in military campaigns against Russian lands, which became more frequent under the Gireys. This is explained, on the one hand, by the dependent position of the Mari in the khanate, on the other hand, by the peculiarities of the stage of social development (military democracy), the interest of the Mari warriors themselves in obtaining military booty, in an effort to prevent Russian military-political expansion, and other motives. AT last period Russian-Kazan confrontation (1521–1552) in 1521–1522 and 1534–1544 the initiative belonged to Kazan, which, at the suggestion of the Crimean-Nogai government group, sought to restore the vassal dependence of Moscow, as it was in the Golden Horde period. But already under Vasily III, in the 1520s, the task of the final annexation of the khanate to Russia was set. However, this was only possible with the capture of Kazan in 1552, under Ivan the Terrible. Apparently, the reasons for the accession of the Middle Volga region and, accordingly, the Mari region to the Russian state were: 1) a new, imperial type of political consciousness of the top leadership of the Moscow state, the struggle for the "Golden Horde" inheritance and failures in the previous practice of attempts to establish and maintain a protectorate over Kazan khanate, 2) the interests of national defense, 3) economic reasons (lands for the local nobility, the Volga for the Russian merchants and fishermen, new taxpayers for the Russian government and other plans for the future).

After the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the course of events in the Middle Volga region took on the following form. Moscow faced a powerful liberation movement, in which both former subjects of the liquidated khanate, who managed to swear allegiance to Ivan IV, and the population of peripheral regions, who did not take the oath, took part. The Moscow government had to solve the problem of preserving the conquered not according to a peaceful, but according to a bloody scenario.

The anti-Moscow armed uprisings of the peoples of the Middle Volga region after the fall of Kazan are usually called the Cheremis wars, since the Mari (Cheremis) were the most active in them. Among the sources available in scientific circulation, the earliest mention of an expression close to the term “Cheremis war” is found in Ivan IV’s tribute letter to D.F. it is indicated that the owners of the rivers Kishkil and Shizhma (near the city of Kotelnich) “in those rivers ... fish and beavers did not catch for the Kazan cheremis of war and did not pay dues.”

Cheremis War 1552–1557 differs from the subsequent Cheremis wars of the second half of the 16th century, not so much because it was the first of this series of wars, but because it had the character of a national liberation struggle and did not have a noticeable anti-feudal orientation. Moreover, the anti-Moscow rebel movement in the Middle Volga region in 1552-1557. is, in essence, a continuation of the Kazan war, and main goal its participants was the restoration of the Kazan Khanate.

Apparently, for the bulk of the left-bank Mari population, this war was not an uprising, since only representatives of the Order Mari recognized their new allegiance. In fact, in 1552-1557. the majority of the Mari waged an external war against the Russian state and, together with the rest of the population of the Kazan region, defended their freedom and independence.

All waves of the resistance movement were extinguished as a result of large-scale punitive operations of the troops of Ivan IV. In a number of episodes, the insurgency developed into the form civil war and class struggle, but the struggle for the liberation of the motherland remained character-forming. The resistance movement ceased due to several factors: 1) continuous armed clashes with the tsarist troops, which brought innumerable victims and destruction to the local population, 2) mass starvation, a plague epidemic that came from the Volga steppes, 3) the Meadow Mari lost support from their former allies - the Tatars and southern Udmurts. In May 1557, representatives of almost all groups of the meadow and eastern Mari took the oath to the Russian Tsar. Thus, the accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state was completed.

The significance of the accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state cannot be defined as unambiguously negative or positive. Both negative and positive consequences of the entry of the Mari into the system of Russian statehood, closely intertwined with each other, began to manifest themselves in almost all spheres of the development of society (political, economic, social, cultural, and others). Perhaps, main result for today, it is that the Mari people have survived as an ethnic group and have become an organic part of multinational Russia .

The final entry of the Mari Territory into Russia took place after 1557, as a result of the suppression of the people's liberation and anti-feudal movement in the Middle Volga and Urals. The process of the gradual entry of the Mari Territory into the system of Russian statehood lasted hundreds of years: during the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, it slowed down, during the years of feudal unrest that swept the Golden Horde in the second half of the 14th century, it accelerated, and as a result of the emergence of the Kazan Khanate (30-40- e years of the XV century) stopped for a long time. Nevertheless, having begun even before the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, the inclusion of the Mari in the system of Russian statehood in the middle of the 16th century. approached its final phase - to direct entry into Russia.

The accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state was part of overall process formation of the Russian multi-ethnic empire, and it was prepared, first of all, by prerequisites of a political nature. This is, firstly, a long-term confrontation between the state systems of Eastern Europe - on the one hand, Russia, on the other hand, the Turkic states (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - Golden Horde - Kazan Khanate), and secondly, the struggle for the "Golden Horde inheritance" in the final stage of this confrontation, thirdly, the emergence and development of imperial consciousness in the government circles of Muscovite Russia. The expansionist policy of the Russian state in eastbound to some extent, they were also determined by the tasks of state defense and economic reasons (fertile lands, the Volga trade route, new taxpayers, other projects for the exploitation of local resources).

The economy of the Mari was adapted to the natural and geographical conditions, and generally met the requirements of its time. Due to the difficult political situation, it was largely militarized. True, the peculiarities of the socio-political system also played a role here. Medieval Mari, despite the noticeable local features of the then existing ethnic groups, generally experienced a transitional period of social development from tribal to feudal (military democracy). Relations with the central government were built mainly on a confederal basis.

The Mari ethnic group was formed on the basis of the Finno-Ugric tribes that lived in the Volga-Vyatka interfluve in the 1st millennium AD. e. as a result of contacts with the Bulgars and other Turkic-speaking peoples, ancestors of modern, Tatars,.

The Russians used to call the Mari Cheremis. Mari are divided into three main sub-ethnic groups: mountain, meadow and eastern Mari. From the 15th century the mountain Mari fell under Russian influence. The Meadow Mari, who were part of the Kazan Khanate, for a long time offered fierce resistance to the Russians, during the Kazan campaign of 1551-1552. they were on the side of the Tatars. Part of the Mari moved to Bashkiria, not wanting to be baptized (Eastern), the rest were baptized in the XVI-XVIII centuries.

In 1920, the Mari Autonomous Region was created, in 1936 - the Mari ASSR, in 1992 - the Republic of Mari El. At present, the mountain Mari inhabit the right bank of the Volga, the meadow ones live in the Vetluzh-Vyatka interfluve, the eastern ones - east of the river. Vyatka, mainly in the territory of Bashkiria. Most of the Mari live in the Republic of Mari El, about a quarter - in Bashkiria, the rest - in Tataria, Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Sverdlovsk, Perm regions. According to the 2002 census, more than 604,000 Mari lived in the Russian Federation.

The basis of the economy of the Mari was arable. They have long grown rye, oats, barley, millet, buckwheat, hemp, flax, and turnips. Horticulture was also developed, they planted mainly onions, cabbage, radishes, carrots, hops, from the 19th century. potatoes are widely used.

The Mari cultivated the soil with a plow (step), a hoe (katman), a Tatar plow (saban). Cattle breeding was not very developed, as evidenced by the fact that manure was only enough for 3-10% of arable land. If possible, they kept horses, cattle, and sheep. By 1917, 38.7% of the Mari households were arable, beekeeping (then apiary beekeeping), fishing, as well as hunting and various forestry activities: tar smoking, logging and timber rafting, and hunting played an important role.

During hunting, the Mari until the middle of the 19th century. used bows, horns, wooden traps, flintlock guns. On a large scale, otkhodnichestvo was developed for woodworking enterprises. Of the crafts, the Mari were engaged in embroidery, wood carving, and the production of women's silver jewelry. The main means of transportation in summer were four-wheeled carts (oryava), tarantasses and wagons, in winter - sledges, firewood and skis.

In the second half of the XIX century. Mari settlements were of the street type, a log hut with a gable roof, built according to the Great Russian scheme: hut-canopy, hut-canopy-hut or hut-canopy-cage served as a dwelling. The house had a Russian stove, the kitchen was separated by a partition.

Along the front and side walls of the house there were benches, in the front corner there was a table and a chair especially for the owner of the house, shelves for icons and dishes, a bed or bunks stood to the side of the door. In the summer, the Mari could live in a summer house, which was a log building without a ceiling with a gable or single-pitched roof and an earthen floor. There was a hole in the roof for smoke to escape. A summer kitchen was set up here. In the middle of the building was placed a hearth with a hanging cauldron. To the outbuildings of an ordinary Mari estate there were a cage, a cellar, a barn, a barn, a chicken coop, a bathhouse. Wealthy Mari built two-story storerooms with a gallery-balcony. Food was stored on the first floor, utensils on the second.

The traditional dishes of the Mari were soup with dumplings, dumplings with meat or cottage cheese, boiled sausage from bacon or blood with cereals, dried horse meat sausage, puff pancakes, cheesecakes, boiled flat cakes, baked flat cakes, dumplings, pies stuffed with fish, eggs, potatoes , hemp seed. Bread was prepared by the Mari as unleavened. The national cuisine is also characterized by specific dishes from squirrel meat, hawk, owl, hedgehog, snake, viper, dried fish flour, hemp seed. From drinks, the Mari preferred beer, buttermilk (eran), mead, they knew how to drive vodka from potatoes and grain.

The traditional clothing of the Mari is considered to be a tunic-shaped shirt, trousers, an open summer caftan, a waist towel made of hemp canvas, a belt. In ancient times, the Mari sewed clothes from homespun linen and hemp fabrics, then from purchased fabrics.

The men wore small-brimmed felt hats and caps; for hunting, work in the forest, they used a mosquito net-type headgear. On their feet they wore bast shoes, leather boots, felt boots. For work in marshy places, wooden platforms were attached to the shoes. The distinctive features of the women's national costume were an apron, belt pendants, chest, neck, ear decorations made of beads, cowrie shells, sequins, coins, silver clasps, bracelets, rings.

Married women wore various headdresses:

• shymaksh - a cone-shaped cap with an occipital lobe, put on a birch bark frame;
• magpie, borrowed from the Russians;
• tarpan - a head towel with an overcoat.

Until the 19th century The most common female headdress was shurka, a high headdress on a birch bark frame, reminiscent of Mordovian and headdresses. Outerwear was straight and detachable caftans made of black or white cloth and fur coats. Traditional types of clothing are still worn by the older generation of Mari, national costumes are often used in wedding rituals. At present, modernized types of national clothes are widespread - a shirt made of white and an apron made of multi-colored fabric, decorated with embroidery and mites, belts woven from multi-colored threads, caftans made of black and green fabric.

Mari communities consisted of several villages. At the same time, there were mixed Mari-Russian, Mari-Chuvash communities. The Mari lived mostly in small monogamous families; large families were quite rare.

In the old days, the Mari had small (urmat) and larger (nasyl) tribal divisions, the latter were part of the rural community (mer). At the time of marriage, the bride's parents were paid a ransom, and they gave a dowry (including cattle) for their daughter. The bride was often older than the groom. Everyone was invited to the wedding, and it took on the character of a general holiday. Traditional features of the ancient customs of the Mari are still present in wedding rituals: songs, national costumes with decorations, a wedding train, the presence of everyone.

The Mari had a highly developed folk medicine based on ideas about the cosmic life force, the will of the gods, corruption, the evil eye, evil spirits, the souls of the dead. Before the adoption of Christianity, the Mari adhered to the cult of ancestors and gods: the supreme god Kugu Yumo, the gods of heaven, the mother of life, the mother of water and others. An echo of these beliefs was the custom of burying the dead in winter clothes (in a winter hat and mittens) and taking the bodies to the cemetery in a sleigh even in the summer.

According to tradition, nails collected during life, rosehip branches, a piece of canvas were buried with the deceased. The Mari believed that in the next world, nails would be needed in order to overcome mountains, clinging to rocks, rose hips would help drive away a snake and a dog guarding the entrance to the kingdom of the dead, and a piece of canvas, like a bridge, souls of the dead will go to the underworld.

In ancient times, the Mari were pagans. They adopted the Christian faith in the 16th-18th centuries, but, despite all the efforts of the church, the religious beliefs of the Mari remained syncretic: a small part of the Eastern Mari converted to Islam, while the rest remain faithful to pagan rites to this day.

The mythology of the Mari is characterized by the presence of a large number of female gods. There are at least 14 deities denoting mother (ava), which indicates strong remnants of matriarchy. The Mari performed pagan collective prayers in sacred groves under the guidance of priests (karts). In 1870, the Kugu Sorta sect of a modernist-pagan persuasion arose among the Mari. Until the beginning of the twentieth century. ancient customs were strong among the Mari, for example, when a husband and wife who wanted to get a divorce divorced, they were first tied with a rope, which was then cut. This was the whole rite of divorce.

In recent years, the Mari have made attempts to revive the ancient national traditions and customs, united in public organizations. The largest of them are "Oshmari-Chimari", "Mari Ushem", the Kugu Sorta (Big Candle) sect.

The Mari speak the Mari language of the Finno-Ugric group of the Ural family. In the Mari language, mountain, meadow, eastern and northwestern dialects are distinguished. The first attempts to create writing were made as early as the middle of the 16th century, in 1775 the first grammar in Cyrillic was published. In 1932-34. an attempt was made to switch to Latin graphics. Since 1938, a single graphics in Cyrillic has been established. The literary language is based on the language of the meadow and mountain Mari.

The folklore of the Mari is characterized mainly by fairy tales and songs. There is no single epic. Musical instruments are represented by a drum, a harp, a flute, a wooden pipe (puch) and some others.

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Mari, (Cheremis - the old Russian name for the Mari) Finno-Ugric people. The self-name is the name "Mari", "Mari", which translates as "husband", "man".

MARI is a people living in Russia, the indigenous population of the Republic of Mari El (312 thousand people according to the 2002 census). The Mari also live in the neighboring regions of the Volga region and the Urals. In total, there are 604 thousand Maris in the Russian Federation (data from the same census). The Mari are divided into three territorial groups: mountain, meadow (forest) and eastern. Mountain Mari live on the right bank of the Volga, meadow - on the left, eastern - in Bashkiria and the Sverdlovsk region.

The Mari language belongs to the Finno-Volga group of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic languages. About 464 thousand (or 77%) Mari speak the Mari language, the majority (97%) speak Russian. Mari-Russian bilingualism is widespread. The writing of the Mari is based on the Cyrillic alphabet.

The faith is Orthodox, but there is also a Mari faith (marla faith) - a combination of Christianity with traditional beliefs. The first written mention of the Mari (Cheremis) is found in the Gothic historian Jordanes in the 6th century. They are also mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. Close ties with the Turkic peoples played an important role in the development of the Mari ethnos.

The formation of the ancient Mari people took place in the 5th-10th centuries. In 1551-52, after the defeat of the Kazan Khanate, the Mari became part of the Russian state. In the 16th century, the Christianization of the Mari began. However, the Eastern and part of the Meadow Mari did not accept Christianity, and to this day they have preserved pre-Christian beliefs, especially the cult of ancestors.

The Mari have a lot of holidays, like any people with a long history. There is, for example, an ancient ceremonial holiday called "Sheep's Leg" (Shorykyol). It begins to be celebrated on the day of the winter solstice (December 22) after the birth of a new moon. During the holiday, a magical action is performed: pulling the sheep by the legs so that more sheep are born in the new year. By the first day of this holiday, a whole set of signs and beliefs was timed. According to the weather of the first day, they judged what the spring and summer would be like, and made predictions about the harvest.

Reference article from the almanac "Faces of Russia" from the site rusnations.ru/etnos/mari/

The Mari are one of the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples of the Middle Volga region. At present, Mari dispersed groups live in many regions of Russia.

The Mari are divided into three ethnographic groups: mountainous, meadow, eastern.

How do Mari people live?

Mountain Mari (Kyrykmars) live on the right bank of the Volga within the modern Gornomarisky district of the Republic of Mari El, as well as along the basins of the Vetluga, Rutka, Arda, Parat rivers on the left bank of the river.

Volga. The entire central and eastern part of the Republic of Mari El is inhabited by a large ethnographic group of Meadow Mari (Olyk Mari). In the XVI century. part of the Mari rushed to Zakamye to the Bashkir lands, initiating the formation of an ethnographic group of Eastern Mari.

Self-name - In the scientific literature, there is an opinion that the Mari under the name "Imniscaris" or "Scremniscans" are mentioned by the Gothic historian of the 6th century.

Jordan in "Getica" among the northern peoples subject to the IV century. to the Gothic leader Herman Rich. More reliable information about this people called "Ts-r-mis" in a letter of the X century. Khazar Khagan Joseph. The self-name of the Mari people (Mari, Mare) - originally used in the meaning of "man, man", has survived to this day and is represented in the traditional names of small territorial groups "Vyatla mare"(Vetluzh Mari), "Pizha Marais"(Pizhma Mari), "Morko Mari"(Morkin Mari).

The closest neighbors in relation to the Mari used ethnonyms "chirmesh"(Tatars), "eyarmys"(Chuvash).

Settlement - According to the 2002 census, there are 604,298 Mari people in the Russian Federation. The Mari are predominantly settled on the territory of the Volga-Ural historical and ethnographic region. 60% of the Mari population lives in the Vetluzh-Vyatka interfluve (Mari El and adjacent areas of the Kirov and Nizhny Novgorod regions), about 20% along the Belaya rivers in Ufa and in their interfluve (north-west of Bashkiria and south-west of Sverdlovsk region).

Small groups of Mari villages are found in Tataria, Udmurtia, Perm and Chelyabinsk regions. In the 20th century, especially after the Great Patriotic War, the proportion of Mari living outside the traditional areas of settlement increased.

Today, beyond the Urals, in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, in the south of the European part of Russia, in Ukraine and other places, more than 15% of the total number of Mari live.

Clothing - The traditional women's and men's costume consisted of a headdress, a tunic-like shirt, a caftan, a belt with pendants, trousers, leather shoes or bast bast shoes with woolen and canvas onuchs. The women's costume was most richly ornamented with embroidery and complemented with removable ornaments. The costume was made mainly by home methods.

Clothes and shoes were made from hemp, less often linen, home cloth and semi-cloth, dressed animal skins, wool, bast, etc. The men's clothing of the Mari was influenced by the Russian costume, which was associated with handicrafts. Traditional men's undershirt ( tuvyr, tygyr) had a tunic cut. The panel folded in half made up the front and back of the shirt, sleeves were sewn to it at right angles to the width of the canvas, and sidewalls in the form of rectangular panels were sewn under the sleeves to the camp.

Embroidery on shirts was located at the collar, at the chest incision, on the back, cuffs and hem.

Settlements - The Mari have long developed a riverine-ravine type of settlement. Their ancient habitats were located along the banks of large rivers - the Volga, Vetluga, Sura, Vyatka and their tributaries. Early settlements, according to archaeological data, existed in the form of fortified settlements ( pocket, op) and unfortified settlements ( ilem, surt) linked by family ties.

Until the middle of the XIX century. the planning of the Mari settlements was dominated by cumulus, disordered forms, which inherited the early forms of settlement by family-patronymic groups. The transition from cumulus forms to ordinary, street planning of streets took place gradually in the middle - the second half of the 19th century.

Significant changes in planning took place after the 1960s. The modern central estates of agricultural enterprises combine the features of street, block and zoned planning. The types of settlements of the Mari are villages, villages, neighborhoods, repairs, settlements.

The village is the most common type of settlement, accounting for about half of all types of settlements in the middle of the 19th century.

National Republic of Mari El

The Republic of Mari El is located in the center of the European part of Russia, in the basin of the great Russian river Volga. The area of ​​the republic is 23.2 thousand square meters. km, population - about 728 thousand people, the capital - the city of

Yoshkar-Ola (founded in 1584). From the north, northeast and east, Mari El borders with the Kirov region, from the southeast and south - with the republics of Tatarstan and Chuvashia, and in the west and northwest - with the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Guests of the republic are invariably amazed and delighted by the nature of the region. Mari El is the land of the purest springs, full-flowing rivers and beautiful lakes. The rivers Ilet, Bolshaya Kokshaga, Yushut, Kundysh are among the cleanest in Europe.

The pearls of the Mari region are the forest lakes Yalchik, Kichier, Karas, Sea Eye. The north-eastern regions of the republic have long been called "Mari Switzerland".

The culture of the Republic of Mari El is also peculiar. There are not so many regions in Russia where the Everyday life you can meet people in national clothes, where the faith of their ancestors has been preserved - paganism, where traditional culture is an integral and organic part of modern life.

Figure 1. Ancient jewelry, 4th-6th century: // Medzhitova, D.E. Mari Mari folk art = Kalik. Article: album / Medzhitova E.D. - Yoshkar-Ola 1985: .

Photo 2. Beer spoons. Travnik and mountains Mari. Kazan province, 19th century: [Photos: Tsv. 19.0x27.5 cm] // Medzhitova, D.E. Mari Mari folk art = Kalik article: album / Medzhitova E.D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985 - S. 147.

Gerasimova E.F. Traditional musical instruments of Mary in the system of primary musical education / E.

F. Gerasimova // Musical instrument of the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals: traditions and modernity. - Izhevsk, 2004 - p. 29-30.

The Art of Mary // Folk decorative skills of the peoples of the RSFSR. - M., 1957. - p. 103rd

Kryukova T.A. Mariy vez = Mariy Tu: r / T.A. Kryukov; Maris.

scientific-islo. etc. I, lit. and history, Mrs. Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR. - L., 1951. - Text par.: Rus., Marius. lang.

Mariž kalyk Art: Album / Medžitova ED - Yoshkar-Ola: Marijs. book. publishing house, 1985. - 269 p.: ill., color. ill. +Res. (7 seconds). On the road. ed. not specified. — Parallel text: Russian, Marius. lang. Residence on English language. and Hungarian. lang. — Bibliography: p. 269-270.

Model of embroidered women's T-shirts. Fragments. Herbalist Marie. Kazan region. First half of the 19th century: [Photos: color; 19.0 × 27.5 cm] // Mezhitova, E.D. Mari Mari art: Mari kalyk: album / Medzhitova E.D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985 - p. two hundred sixth

Wedding towels. Fragments. Additional weaving. Eastern Mary. Ufa province, 1920-1930s: [Photos: color; 19.0x27.5 cm] // Medzhitova, D.E. Mari Mari folk art = Kalik article: album / Medzhitova E.D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985 - S. 114.

Figure 5

Dagger married women rustles. Herbalist Marie. Vyatka province, 18th century: [Photos: tsv. 19.0 × 27.5 cm] // Medzhitova, E. Mari folk art = Mari kalyk Art: Album / Mezhitova E.D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985.

Photo 6 Herbalist Marie. Kazan province, 19th century: [Photos: Tsv. 19.0x27.5 cm] // Medzhitova, D.E. Mari Mari folk art = Kalik article: album / Medzhitova E.D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985 - S. 40.

Women's chest and back trim - shiy arshash. Herbalist Marie. Kazan region. Second half of the 19th - early 20th century: [Photos: color; 19.0 × 27.5 cm] // Medzhitova E.

D. Mari folk art = Mariy kalyk Art: Album / Medzhitova ED - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985. - P. 66.

Molotova L.N. The art of the peoples of the Volga and Urals / Molotova L.N. // Folk art of the Russian Federation: from pos. gos. Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR. - L., 1981. - p. 22-25.

Aprons. Additional weaving. Eastern Mary. Udmurt and Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, 1940-1950: [Photos: color; 19.0 × 27.5 cm] // Mezhitova, E.D. Mari art of man = Mari kalyk: album / Medzhitova E.

D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985. - S.

Marie or Cheremis

one hundred and eighteenth

Photo 9. Women's T-shirts. Additional weaving. Eastern Mary. Ufa region. The second half of the 19th century - the first half of the 20th century: [Photos: color; 19.0 × 27.5 cm] // Mezhitova, E.D. Mari art of man = Mari kalyk: album / Medzhitova E.

D. - Yoshkar-Ola, 1985. - S. 120.

Nikitin V.V. Sources of Mari Art = Mari Artistic Tungalty Children / V.V. Nikitin, T.B. Nikitin; Maris. scientific-islo. etc. I, lit. and their stories. V. M. Vasilyeva, Nauch.-Prozv. Center for the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Ministry of Culture, Press and Nationalities. Mari El Republic. - Yoshkar-Ola:, 2004. - 150, p. : sick. - The text is parallel. Russian, Marius. Residence Eng.

The book presents archaeological materials on the artistic history of the population of the Vetluz-Vatka bear from the Stone Age to the 17th century, the problems and direction of the creation and development of Mary's folk art are studied.

Mara Art Craft Fundamentals: Handmade Work for Children: For Teachers of Preschool Children.

institutions, teachers. classes, hands. Art. studio / Mari. Phil. Feder. condition. sci. Institutions "Institute of Problems of National Schools"; auth.-stat. L. E. Maikova. - Yoshkar-Ola:, 2007. - 165, p.

Solovyov, G.

I. Mari folk woodcarving / Solovieva G.I. - 2. ed., Revised. - Yoshkar-Ola: Marius. book. publishing house, 1989. - 134 p. — Bibliography: p. one hundred twenty eighth

This book is the first general edition that tells about the most widespread and traditional art form of the Mari art.

The work was written on the basis of the study of literature sources and analysis of materials collected during the expeditions of the Mari Research Institute.

Khmelnitskaya L. Traditional Mari culture and the influence of Russian cultural traditions on its territory / L. Khmelnitskaya // Ethnocultural history of the Ural people 16.-21. Centuries: problems of nationality.

identification and culture. interaction. - Yekaterinburg, 2005. - st. 116-125

The Mari were known in the past under the name "Cheremis"; this name occurs in historical monuments from the X c.1 The Mari themselves call themselves Mari, Mari, Mar (man). This self-name has been established as an ethnonym since the formation of the Mari Autonomous Region. The Mari live mainly within the Middle Volga region. Total number there are 504.2 thousand of them throughout the Soviet Union. In small groups, the Mari are scattered in the Bashkir, Tatar and Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, Kirov, Gorky, Sverdlovsk, Perm and Orenburg regions.

The bulk of the Mari (55% of their total number) lives in the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In addition to the Mari, Russians, Tatars, Chuvashs, Udmurts, Bashkirs, and Mordovians live in the Mari ASSR.

The Mari ASSR is located in the middle part of the Volga basin.

In the north and northeast, it borders on the Kirov region, in the southeast on the Tatar ASSR, in the southwest on the Chuvash ASSR, in the west on the Gorky region. The Volga divides the territory of the republic into a large low-lying left-bank plain - the forest Trans-Volga region, and the right bank, which occupies a relatively small part, is mountainous, cut by deep ravines and valleys of small rivers. The rivers of the Volga basin flow through the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic: Vetluga, Rutka, Kokshaga, Ilet, etc. There are large forests and many forest lakes on the territory of the republic.

The Mari are divided into three groups: mountain (kuryk mari), meadow (iolyk mari) or forest (kozhla mari) and eastern (mention mari).

The bulk of the mountain Mari inhabit the right, mountainous bank of the Volga, the meadow Mari live in the wooded areas of the left bank; Eastern Mari settlements are located within Bashkiria and partly in the Sverdlovsk region. and in the Tatar ASSR.

This division has existed for a long time. Already Russian chronicles distinguished between mountain and meadow "cheremis"; the same division is also found in the old cartography of the 17th century.

However, the territorial feature adopted to designate individual groups of the Mari is largely conditional. Thus, the mountain Mari, who inhabit the Gornomariysky district of the Mari ASSR, live not only on the mountainous right, but also partly on the left bank of the Volga. The main differences between these groups are in linguistic features and some originality of life.

The Mari language belongs to the eastern branch of the Finno-Ugric languages ​​and has three main dialects: meadow, eastern and mountain.

In terms of vocabulary, the first two are close, while the mountain is similar to them only by 60-70%. In all these dialects there are a number of words of common Finno-Ugric origin, for example, kid (hand), vur (blood), etc.

etc., and many words borrowed from the Russian language as a result of long-term cultural communication with the Russian people.

The Mari have two literary languages: Meadow-East and Mountain Mari, which differ mainly in phonetics: there are 8 vowel phonemes in the Meadow-East language, 10 in the mountain language. The system of consonants is basically the same; the grammatical structure is also common.

In recent years, the vocabulary of the Mari language has been enriched thanks to new word formations and the assimilation of international terms through the Russian language.

The Mari script is based on the Russian alphabet with the addition of some diacritics to more accurately convey the sounds of the Mari language.

Brief historical outline

The Mari tribes were formed as a result of the interaction of the bearers of the Pyanobor culture of the left bank of the Volga with the tribes of the Late Teoden culture living on the right bank.

The data at our disposal make it possible to see in the Mari the natives of the local region. A.P. Smirnov writes: “The Mari tribes were formed on the basis of earlier tribal groups that inhabited the interfluve of the Volga and Vyatka, and are the autochthonous population of the region.” However, it would be wrong to identify the ancient inhabitants of the territory of the Volga region with the modern Mari people, since it was formed as a result of the crossing of many tribes, from which the peoples of the Volga region were later formed.

In a letter of the Khazar king Joseph (mid-10th century), among the Volga peoples subject to him, “tsarmis” are mentioned, in which it is easy to recognize “cheremis”.

The Russian "Tale of Bygone Years" also mentions the "Cheremis" living at the confluence of the Oka into the Volga. This latest news allows us to significantly expand our understanding of the boundaries of the settlement of the Mari in the past. At the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e. Mari were influenced by the Bulgars. In the first half of the XIII century. The Bulgarian state was defeated by the Mongols and lost its independence.

The power of the Golden Horde was established on the territory of the Volga region. At the beginning of the XV century. the Kazan Khanate was formed, under whose authority the main part of the Mari turned out to be.

The Golden Horde culture also influenced the formation of the culture of the Mari. At the same time, there are obvious traces of close communication with neighboring peoples (Mordovians, Udmurts), with whom the Mari have a common origin.

Archaeological material allows us to trace the ancient connections of the Mari tribes with the Slavs, but the question of the relationship between the ancient Slavic and Mari cultures has not yet been sufficiently developed.

After the fall of Kazan (1552), the territory occupied by the Mari was annexed to the Russian state.

At that time, patriarchal-tribal relations dominated among the Mari. Traditions have been preserved about the existence of princes in the past in the Mari society.

Apparently, this concept meant representatives of the distinguished tribal elite, since there is no information about the feudal dependence of the Mari population on these princes. In the legends, the Mari princes

act as heroes - military leaders. During the period of the Kazan Khanate, some of these princes probably joined the ruling class of Tatar society, since there is evidence of the existence of Mari murzas and tarkhans.

As part of the Russian state, the Mari Murzas and Tarkhans became part of the service people and gradually merged with the Russian nobility.

The inclusion of the Mari in the population of the Russian state contributed to their familiarization with the more developed culture of the Russian people.

However, their position remained difficult. The forced introduction of Christianity, numerous requisitions, abuses of local authorities, the seizure of the best lands by monasteries and landowners, military service and various natural services laid a heavy burden on the Mari population, which more than once caused the Mari to protest against social and national oppression.

The Mari, along with other peoples of the Volga region and the Russians, took an active part in the peasant wars under the leadership of Stepan Razin and Emelyan Pugachev (XVII-XVIII centuries).

Mari peasant uprisings also broke out in the middle and at the end of the 19th century.

The Christianization of the Mari began at the end of the 16th century. and especially intensified in the middle of the XVIII century. But the Christian religion was not actually accepted even by the baptized Mari population.

The transition of the peoples of the Volga region to Orthodoxy did not supplant paganism; Christian rites were often performed under duress. Most of the Mari, who were formally Orthodox, retained many remnants of pre-Christian beliefs. In addition, there remained, mainly among the Eastern and Meadow Maris, a group of so-called Chi Maris - “real Maris”, i.e.

e. unbaptized. The Mari faced Islam even before Christianization, but its influence was insignificant, although some groups of the Mari observed certain Muslim customs, for example, they considered Friday a holiday.

The pre-Christian beliefs of the Mari are characterized by polytheism. Chief among the deities who personified the elements of nature was the good god Yumo, the god of heaven. The bearer of evil, according to the notions of the Mari, was the bait, they prayed to him and made sacrifices in special kerremet groves.

Generally slender religious system the Mari did not have. One can only speak of a complex interweaving of beliefs that arose at different stages of the development of society.

Magic occupied a significant place in the beliefs and rituals of the Mari. Magical actions were associated, for example, with the cycle of agricultural work: the plow holiday (aga-payrem), the autumn holiday of new bread (at kinde payrem).

The holiday of manuring the fields was associated in time with the rite of surem - the expulsion of an evil spirit.

The struggle of the Russian autocracy and the church with the pre-Christian beliefs of the Mari was carried out for many decades and especially intensified in the 19th century. In their actions, the administration and the church relied on the wealthy sections of the village. Repressions against the general mass of the Mari population, which did not succumb to Christianization, caused religious-nationalist sentiments among the Mari.

In the 70s of the XIX century. a sect called Kugu Sort (Big Candle) appeared, which tried to reform the old beliefs on the basis of pronounced nationalism and was extremely reactionary.

It is no coincidence that already under Soviet power, during the intensified class struggle in the countryside during the period of collectivization, sectarians actively opposed collective farms, as well as against cultural events.

By the beginning of the XX century. include organized joint actions of Russian and Mari workers - against tsarism and the exploiting classes.

National character of the Mari

This was largely due to the growth of the working class in connection with the development of industry in the Mari Territory (here in 1913, for example, 1,480 workers were already employed in industry).

As elsewhere in Russia, the Bolshevik Party stood at the head of the working masses. The first Bolshevik Social Democratic circle on the territory of the present Mari ASSR was created in the spring of 1905.

in the village of Yurino from workers of leather enterprises. He had a connection with the Nizhny Novgorod district center of the RSDLP. In 1905-1906. political demonstrations took place under his leadership.

During the revolution of 1905-1907.

The Kazan Regional Committee of the RSDLP led the joint actions of Russian, Chuvash and Mari workers and peasants against the landowners and the local bourgeoisie.

Such revolutionary uprisings took place in Zvenigovo, Kokshamary, Mariinsky Posad and other villages and towns of Kozmodemyansky and Cheboksary districts. These speeches were mercilessly suppressed by the tsarist authorities.

After the overthrow of tsarism in March 1917, the bourgeoisie seized power in the Mari region, organizing the so-called Public Security Committee in Tsarevokokshaisk (now Yoshkar-Ola).

However, the revolutionary forces also grew, and in May 1917, the seizure of privately owned lands and enterprises by the Mari workers began.

The complete liberation of the Mari people from political, economic and national oppression was carried out during the Great October Socialist Revolution. In early January 1918, Soviet power was established on the territory of the Mari Territory.

On January 30, the county congress of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies began its work. At the end of the same year, the first party cell was created. During Kolchak's offensive in the Volga region in 1919, 50% of the entire membership of the party went to the front; on the initiative of the party organization, volunteers were recruited from among the Mari workers, who were formed into companies special purpose and sent to the Eastern Front.

In the struggle against foreign invaders and internal enemies, the Mari working people marched in the same ranks with other peoples of the multinational Soviet country.

A significant date for the Mari people is November 4, 1920 - the date of publication of the decree on the formation of the Mari Autonomous Region signed by V. I. Lenin and M. I. Kalinin. The Mari Autonomous Region included the Krasnokokshaisky and part of the Kozmodemyansky district of the Kazan province, as well as volosts with the Mari population of the Iranian and Urzhum districts of the Vyatka province.

and Emaninsky volost of the Vasilsursky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province. Regional center became the city of Krasnokokshaysk, later renamed Yoshkar-Ola. At the beginning of 1921, the Mari regional party organization took shape organizationally. On June 1, 1921, the First Congress of Soviets of the Mari Autonomous Region opened, outlining practical measures to restore the national economy.

In 1936, the Mari Autonomous Region was transformed into the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

The devotion of the Mari people to the Motherland and Communist Party manifested itself with particular force in the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War, when the Mari patriots showed themselves to be courageous fighters both at the front and in the rear.

The collective farmer s. Nyrgynda, private Yeruslanov before leaving for the front: “As long as my eyes see the light, and my hands bend at the joints, my heart will not falter. If my heart trembles, let my eyes be closed forever. And the heart of the brave warrior did not falter: in 1943, his tank destroyed an entire unit of the Nazis.

The heroic feat was accomplished by the Komsomol partisan O. A. Tikhomirova, who, after the death of the commander, led the partisans on the attack. For the courage and bravery shown, forty soldiers of the Mari Republic were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and more than 10,000 soldiers were awarded military orders and medals.

fighters and commanders. During the war, the collective farms of the Mari ASSR joined the nationwide movement to help the front. They donated 1,751,737 poods of bread, 1,247,206 poods of meat, 3,488 sheepskin coats, 28,100 pairs of felt boots and 43 million rubles to the army fund. Members of the Peredovik collective farm built two aircraft at their own expense.

The post-war period in the republic, as well as throughout the Soviet Union, is characterized by an increase in the role public organizations, the further development of Soviet democracy.

The working people of the Mari ASSR take an active part in the work of the local Soviets through permanent commissions. Production conferences at enterprises and collective farms have been vested with great powers. The role of the Komsomol has increased both in the cities and in the countryside. The youth of the Mari Republic on Komsomol vouchers goes to the mines of Donbass, to Angarstroy, to the construction railways and virgin lands of Kazakhstan.

The labor exploits of the brigades of communist labor in industry and agriculture are the real contribution of the Mari people to the common cause of building a communist society.

(self-name ≈ Mari; former name ≈ Cheremis), people; live mainly in the Mari ASSR, as well as in the Bashkir ASSR, the Udmurd ASSR and the Tatar ASSR, the Kirov, Gorky, Perm and Sverdlovsk regions of the RSFSR. They are divided into 3 territorial groups: mountain, meadow (or forest), and eastern M. Mountain M. live mainly on the right bank of the Volga, meadow - on the left, eastern - in Bashkiria and the Sverdlovsk region. The total number is 599 thousand people (1970, census). M language.

Reflections on the Mari people

(see Mari language) refers to the eastern branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. After the Mari lands became part of the Russian state in the 16th century, the Christianization of M. began, but the eastern and small groups of meadow M. did not accept Christianity, they retained pre-Christian beliefs, especially the cult of ancestors, until the 20th century.

By origin, M. are closely related to the ancient population of the Volga region. The beginning of the formation of the Mari tribes dates back to the turn of BC. e., this process took place mainly on the right bank of the Volga, capturing partly the left-bank regions of the Volga region.

The first written mention of the Cheremis (Mari) is found in the Gothic historian Jordanes (6th century). They are also mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. In the process historical development M.

approached and mutually influenced the neighboring peoples of the Volga region. Migration to Bashkiria began at the end of the 16th century and was especially intense in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cultural and historical rapprochement with the Russian people began in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. After the accession of the Middle Volga region to Russia (16th century), ties expanded and strengthened. After the October Revolution of 1917, Monaco received national autonomy and formed a socialist nation.

Moscow is employed both in agriculture and in industry, which was created mainly during the years of Soviet power. Many features of the original national culture of Morocco have been further developed in modern times—folklore, decorative arts (especially embroidery), and musical and song traditions.

Arose and developed the national Mari fiction, theater, fine arts. The national intelligentsia has grown.

For the history, economy, and culture of M., see also Art. Mari ASSR.

Lit .: Smirnov I. N., Cheremisy, Kaz., 1889: Kryukova T. A., Material culture of the Mari of the 19th century, Yoshkar-Ola, 1956; Essays on the history of the Mari ASSR (From ancient times to the Great October Socialist Revolution), Yoshkar-Ola, 1965; Essays on the history of the Mari ASSR (1917 ≈ 1960), Yoshkar-Ola, 1960; Kozlov K.

I., Ethnography of the peoples of the Volga region; M., 1964; Peoples of the European part of the USSR, vol. 2, M., 1964; Origin of the Mari people, Yoshkar-Ola, 1967.

K. I. Kozlova.

Origin of people

The question of the origin of the Mari people is controversial to this day. The first theory is the scientific basis of the Mari ethnogenesis, expressed in 1845 by the famous Finnish linguist M. Castren. Marie tried to define it as a chronicle. This point of view was supported and developed by T.S. Semenov, I.N. Smirnov, S.K. Kuznetsov, A.A. Spitsyn, D.K. Zelenin, M.N. Yantemir, F.E. Egorov and many other researchers of the second half of the 19th — the first half of the 20th century.

A new hypothesis in 1949, he made an important Soviet archaeologist A.P. Smirnov find Gorodets (near Mordovian) foundations, other archaeologists Bader V.F.

However, archaeologists have been able to convincingly demonstrate that the actions and Marie, although related, are not the same people. In the late 1950s, when it became a regular act of the Mari archaeological expedition, its leaders A.H.Halikov G.A.Arhipov and developed the theory of mixed azelinskoy Gorodetsky (Volzhskofinsko-Perm), based on the Mari people.

Later GAArhipov further development of this hypothesis, the discovery and study of new archaeological sites showed that the mixed basis of the Mari is dominated by the Gorodetsky Dyakovo (Volga-Finnish) components and the creation of the ethnic Mari, which began in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, which ended in the 9th century in general. – XI century, the Mari ethnic group had already begun to divide into two main groups - the mountains and the meadow Mari (in the past, compared to the first, a stronger influence of the azelinskie (permoyazychnye) tribes).

Currently, this theory is generally supported by the majority of scientists, archaeologists who deal with this problem. Mari archaeologist V.S. Patrushev differently put forward a hypothesis that the formation of ethnic foundations and Mari Meri and Moure formed on the basis of the image of the Akhmylovskaya population. Linguists (I.S.Galkin, D.E.Kazantsev), on the basis of language data, indicate that the creation on the territory of the Mari people should not be found in the area between Vetluzhsky-Vyatsky, as archaeologists believe, and to the southwest, between Oka and Suri.

Archaeologists TBNikitina, according to data, not only archeology, linguistics, but they also came to the conclusion that the ancestral home of Mari is located in the Volga part of the interfluve of the Oka-Sura and Povetluzhe and east to Vyatka occurred in the VIII - XI centuries, during which contact was made and mixing with the Azalyan (Permian) tribes.

The source of the ethnoses "Mari" and "Cheremis"

The question of the origin of the ethnons "Mari" and "Cheremis" remains complex and unclear. The meaning of the word "Mari", the name of the name of Mary itself, many linguists come from the Indo-European term "mar", "measures" in various sound versions (translated as "man", "husband").

The word "Cheremis" (the so-called "Russian Mari" and a slightly different, but similar vowel - many other people) has many different interpretations. The first written mention of this name (in the original "c-p-MIS"), which is available in a letter from Kazar Kagan Joseph about the Scientology of the Harda Cordoba to Hasdai ibn Shaprut (960s).

Marie. History of ethnicity

The degree of elasticity Kazantsev followed the historian XIX. century. G.I. Peretyatskovich came to the conclusion that the name "Cheremisian" was given by the Maris tribe of Mordovia, and in translation this word means "a person living on the sunny side in the east." According to I.G. Ivanov, “Cheremisyan” is “a person of the Chera or Hora tribe”, in other words, the name of one of the tribes of the neighboring Mari nation, and then spread to the entire ethnic group.

The wide popular version of Mari etnografi 1920 - early 1930 and F.E. Egorova M. N. Yantemir shows that it extends to the ethnonym of the Turkish term "human warrior".

F.I. Gordeev and supports his version of I.S. Galkin to defend hypotheses about the origin of the word "Cheremisian" from the ethnonym "Sarmat" by mediation in Turkish languages. A number of other versions have been released. The problem of the etymology of the word "Cheremisian" is complicated by the fact that in the Middle Ages (until the 17th-18th centuries) in some cases it was not only the Mari, but also their neighbors - the Chuvashs and Udmurts.

links

For more details see: S.K. Svechnikov.

Methodical manual »History of people IX-XVI. Century "Yoshkar-Ola: GOU DPO (PC) C" Mari Institute of Education ", 2005

The Mari stood out as an independent people from the Finno-Ugric tribes in the 10th century. Over the millennium of its existence, the Mari people have created a unique unique culture.

The book tells about rituals, customs, ancient beliefs, folk arts and crafts, blacksmithing, the art of songwriters, guslars, folk music, includes lyrics, legends, fairy tales, legends, poems and prose of the classics of the Mari people and contemporary writers, tells about the theater and musical art, about outstanding representatives of the culture of the Mari people.

Reproductions from the most famous paintings by Mari artists of the 19th-21st centuries are included.

excerpt

Introduction

Scientists attribute the Mari to the group of Finno-Ugric peoples, but this is not entirely true. According to ancient Mari legends, this people in ancient times came from Ancient Iran, the birthplace of the prophet Zarathustra, and settled along the Volga, where they mixed with the local Finno-Ugric tribes, but retained their originality. This version is also confirmed by philology. According to the Doctor of Philology, Professor Chernykh, out of 100 Mari words, 35 are Finno-Ugric, 28 are Turkic and Indo-Iranian, and the rest are of Slavic origin and other peoples. Carefully studied the prayer texts of the ancient Mari religion, Professor Chernykh came to an amazing conclusion: the prayer words of the Mari are more than 50% of Indo-Iranian origin. It was in the prayer texts that the parent language of the modern Mari was preserved, not influenced by the peoples with whom they had contacts in later periods.

Outwardly, the Mari are quite different from other Finno-Ugric peoples. As a rule, they are not very tall, with dark hair, slightly slanted eyes. Mari girls at a young age are very beautiful and they can even often be confused with Russians. However, by the age of forty, most of them are very old and either dry out or become incredibly full.

The Mari remember themselves under the rule of the Khazars from the 2nd century BC. - 500 years, then under the rule of the Bulgars for 400 years, 400 years under the Horde. 450 - under the Russian principalities. According to ancient predictions, the Mari cannot live under someone for more than 450-500 years. But they will not have an independent state. This cycle of 450–500 years is associated with the passage of a comet.

Before the collapse of the Bulgar Khaganate, namely at the end of the 9th century, the Mari occupied vast areas, and their number was more than a million people. These are the Rostov region, Moscow, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, the territory of modern Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, modern Mari El and the Bashkir lands.

AT ancient times the Mari people were ruled by princes, whom the Mari called oms. The prince combined the functions of both a military commander and a high priest. The Mari religion considers many of them to be saints. Saint in Mari - shnuy. For a person to be recognized as a saint, 77 years must pass. If, after this period, when prayers are addressed to him, healings from diseases occur, and other miracles occur, then the deceased is recognized as a saint.

Often such holy princes possessed various extraordinary abilities, and were in one person a righteous sage and a warrior merciless to the enemy of his people. After the Mari finally fell under the rule of other tribes, they no longer had princes. And the religious function is performed by the priest of their religion - kart. The supreme kart of all Mari is elected by the council of all karts and his powers within the framework of his religion are approximately equal to the powers of the patriarch among Orthodox Christians.

Modern Mari live in the territories between 45° and 60° north latitude and 56° and 58° east longitudes in several rather closely related groups. Autonomy, the Republic of Mari El, located on the middle reaches of the Volga, in 1991 declared itself in its Constitution a sovereign state within the Russian Federation. The declaration of sovereignty in the post-Soviet era means the observance of the principle of preserving the originality of the national culture and language. In the Mari ASSR, according to the 1989 census, there were 324,349 inhabitants of the Mari nationality. In the neighboring Gorky region, 9 thousand people called themselves Mari, in the Kirov region - 50 thousand people. In addition to these places, a significant Mari population lives in Bashkortostan (105,768 people), in Tatarstan (20 thousand people), Udmurtia (10 thousand people) and in the Sverdlovsk region (25 thousand people). In some regions of the Russian Federation, the number of scattered, sporadically living Mari reaches 100 thousand people. The Mari are divided into two large dialect-ethno-cultural groups: the mountain and meadow Mari.

History of the Mari

The vicissitudes of the formation of the Mari people, we learn more and more fully on the basis of the latest archaeological research. In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e., as well as at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. e. among the ethnic groups of the Gorodets and Azelin cultures, one can also assume the ancestors of the Mari. The Gorodets culture was autochthonous on the right bank of the Middle Volga region, while the Azelin culture was on the left bank of the Middle Volga, as well as along the Vyatka. These two branches of the ethnogenesis of the Mari people well show the double connection of the Mari within the Finno-Ugric tribes. For the most part, the Gorodets culture played a role in the formation of the Mordovian ethnos, but its eastern parts served as the basis for the formation of the Mountain Mari ethnic group. The Azelinskaya culture can be traced back to the Ananyinskaya archaeological culture, which was previously assigned a dominant role only in the ethnogenesis of the Finno-Permian tribes, although at present this issue is considered differently by some researchers: it is possible that the Proto-Ugric and ancient Mari tribes were part of the ethnic groups of new archaeological cultures. successors that arose on the site of the disintegrated Ananyino culture. The ethnic group of the Meadow Mari can also be traced back to the traditions of the Ananyino culture.

The Eastern European forest zone has extremely scarce written information about the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the writing of these peoples appeared very late, with few exceptions, only in the latest historical era. The first mention of the ethnonym "Cheremis" in the form "ts-r-mis" is found in a written source, which dates back to the 10th century, but, in all likelihood, goes back one or two centuries later. According to this source, the Mari were tributaries of the Khazars. Then kari (in the form "cheremisam") mentions the composition in. early 12th century Russian annalistic code, calling the place of their settlement of the land at the mouth of the Oka. Of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Mari turned out to be most closely associated with the Turkic tribes that migrated to the Volga region. These ties are very strong even now. Volga Bulgars at the beginning of the 9th century. arrived from Great Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast to the confluence of the Kama with the Volga, where they founded the Volga Bulgaria. The ruling elite of the Volga Bulgars, using the profit from trade, could firmly hold their power. They traded honey, wax, and furs coming from the Finno-Ugric peoples living nearby. Relations between the Volga Bulgars and various Finno-Ugric tribes of the Middle Volga region were not overshadowed by anything. The empire of the Volga Bulgars was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatar conquerors who invaded from the interior regions of Asia in 1236.

Collection of yasak. Reproduction of a painting by G.A. Medvedev

Khan Batu founded a state formation called the Golden Horde in the territories occupied and subordinated to him. Its capital until the 1280s. was the city of Bulgar, the former capital of the Volga Bulgaria. With the Golden Horde and the independent Kazan Khanate that later separated from it, the Mari were in allied relations. This is evidenced by the fact that the Mari had a stratum that did not pay taxes, but was obliged to carry out military service. This estate then became one of the most combat-ready military formations among the Tatars. Also, the existence of allied relations is indicated by the use of the Tatar word "el" - "people, empire" to designate the region inhabited by the Mari. Mari still call their native land Mari El.

The accession of the Mari region to the Russian state was greatly influenced by the contacts of some groups of the Mari population with the Slavic-Russian state formations (Kievan Rus - northeastern Russian principalities and lands - Muscovite Rus) even before the 16th century. There was a significant deterrent that did not allow to quickly complete what had been started in the XII-XIII centuries. the process of joining Russia is the close and multilateral ties of the Mari with the Turkic states that opposed Russian expansion to the east (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - Ulus Jochi - Kazan Khanate). Such an intermediate position, as A. Kappeler believes, led to the fact that the Mari, as well as the Mordovians and Udmurts who were in a similar situation, were drawn into neighboring state entities in economic and administrative terms, but at the same time retained their own social elite and their pagan religion .

The inclusion of the Mari lands in Russia from the very beginning was ambiguous. Already at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, according to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Mari (“Cheremis”) were among the tributaries of the ancient Russian princes. It is believed that tributary dependence is the result of military clashes, "tormenting". True, there is not even indirect information about the exact date of its establishment. G.S. Lebedev, on the basis of the matrix method, showed that in the catalog of the introductory part of The Tale of Bygone Years, "cherems" and "Mordovians" can be combined into one group with the whole, Merya and Muroma according to four main parameters - genealogical, ethnic, political and moral and ethical . This gives some reason to believe that the Mari became tributaries earlier than the rest of the non-Slavic tribes listed by Nestor - "Perm, Pechera, Em" and other "tongues, which give tribute to Russia."

There is information about the dependence of the Mari on Vladimir Monomakh. According to the "Word about the destruction of the Russian land", "Cheremis ... bortnichahu against the great prince Volodimer." In the Ipatiev Chronicle, in unison with the pathetic tone of the Lay, it is said that he is "most afraid of the filthy." According to B.A. Rybakov, the real enthronement, the nationalization of North-Eastern Russia began precisely with Vladimir Monomakh.

However, the testimony of these written sources does not allow us to say that tribute to the ancient Russian princes was paid by all groups of the Mari population; most likely, only the western Mari, who lived near the mouth of the Oka, were drawn into the sphere of influence of Russia.

The rapid pace of Russian colonization caused opposition from the local Finno-Ugric population, who found support from the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. In 1120, after a series of attacks by the Bulgars on the Russian cities in the Volga-Ochya in the second half of the 11th century, a series of counter-attacks of the Vladimir-Suzdal and allied princes began on the lands that either belonged to the Bulgar rulers, or were only controlled by them in the order of collecting tribute from the local population. It is believed that the Russian-Bulgarian conflict erupted primarily on the basis of the collection of tribute.

The Russian princely squads more than once attacked the Mari villages that came across on their way to the rich Bulgarian cities. It is known that in the winter of 1171/72. the detachment of Boris Zhidislavich destroyed one large fortified and six small settlements just below the mouth of the Oka, and here even in the 16th century. still lived along with the Mordovian and Mari population. Moreover, it was under the same date that the Russian fortress Gorodets Radilov was first mentioned, which was built a little higher than the mouth of the Oka on the left bank of the Volga, presumably on the land of the Mari. According to V.A. Kuchkin, Gorodets Radilov became a stronghold of North-Eastern Russia on the Middle Volga and the center of Russian colonization of the local region.

The Slavic-Russians gradually either assimilated or displaced the Mari, forcing them to migrate to the east. This movement has been traced by archaeologists since about the 8th century. n. e.; the Mari, in turn, entered into ethnic contacts with the Perm-speaking population of the Volga-Vyatka interfluve (the Mari called them odo, that is, they were Udmurts). The alien ethnic group dominated the ethnic competition. In the IX-XI centuries. The Mari basically completed the development of the Vetluzhsko-Vyatka interfluve, displacing and partially assimilating the former population. Numerous traditions of the Mari and Udmurts testify that there were armed conflicts, and mutual antipathy continued to exist between the representatives of these Finno-Ugric peoples for quite a long time.

As a result of the military campaign of 1218–1220, the conclusion of the Russian-Bulgarian peace treaty of 1220, and the founding of Nizhny Novgorod in 1221 at the mouth of the Oka, the easternmost outpost of North-Eastern Russia, the influence of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria in the Middle Volga region weakened. This created favorable conditions for the Vladimir-Suzdal feudal lords to conquer the Mordovians. Most likely, in the Russo-Mordovian war of 1226–1232. the "Cheremis" of the Oka-Sura interfluve was also drawn in.

The Russian Tsar gives gifts to the mountain Mari

The expansion of both Russian and Bulgarian feudal lords was also directed to the Unzha and Vetluga basins, which were relatively unsuitable for economic development. It was mainly inhabited by the Mari tribes and the eastern part of the Kostroma Mary, between which, as established by archaeologists and linguists, there was a lot in common, which to some extent allows us to talk about the ethnocultural commonality of the Vetluzh Mari and the Kostroma Mary. In 1218 the Bulgars attack Ustyug and Unzha; under 1237, another Russian city in the Trans-Volga region, Galich Mersky, was mentioned for the first time. Apparently, there was a struggle for the Sukhono-Vychegda trade and trade route and for the collection of tribute from the local population, in particular, the Mari. Russian domination was established here as well.

In addition to the western and northwestern periphery of the Mari lands, Russians from about the turn of the 12th-13th centuries. they began to develop the northern outskirts - the upper reaches of the Vyatka, where, in addition to the Mari, the Udmurts also lived.

The development of the Mari lands, most likely, was carried out not only by force, by military methods. There are such varieties of "cooperation" between the Russian princes and the national nobility as "equal" matrimonial unions, companyism, subordination, hostage-taking, bribery, "sweetening". It is possible that a number of these methods were also applied to representatives of the Mari social elite.

If in the X-XI centuries, as the archaeologist E.P. Kazakov points out, there was “a certain commonality of the Bulgar and Volga-Mari monuments”, then over the next two centuries the ethnographic image of the Mari population - especially in Povetluzhye - became different. The Slavic and Slavic-Meryansk components have significantly increased in it.

The facts show that the degree of inclusion of the Mari population in Russian state formations in the pre-Mongol period was quite high.

The situation changed in the 1930s and 1940s. 13th century as a result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. However, this did not at all lead to the cessation of the growth of Russian influence in the Volga-Kama region. Small independent Russian state formations appeared around urban centers - princely residences founded back in the period of the existence of a single Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. These are Galician (arose around 1247), Kostroma (approximately in the 50s of the XIII century) and Gorodetsky (between 1269 and 1282) principalities; at the same time, the influence of the Vyatka Land grew, turning into a special state formation with veche traditions. In the second half of the XIV century. the Vyatchans had already firmly established themselves in the Middle Vyatka and in the Tansy basin, displacing the Mari and Udmurts from here.

In the 60–70s. 14th century feudal turmoil broke out in the horde, weakening its military and political power for a while. This was successfully used by the Russian princes, who sought to break free from dependence on the khan's administration and increase their possessions at the expense of the peripheral regions of the empire.

The most notable success was achieved by the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, the successor to the principality of Gorodetsky. The first Nizhny Novgorod prince Konstantin Vasilyevich (1341–1355) “ordered the Russian people to settle along the Oka and along the Volga and along the Kuma rivers ... where anyone wants”, that is, he began to sanction the colonization of the Oka-Sura interfluve. And in 1372, his son Prince Boris Konstantinovich founded the Kurmysh fortress on the left bank of the Sura, thereby establishing control over the local population - mainly Mordovians and Mari.

Soon, the possessions of the Nizhny Novgorod princes began to appear on the right bank of the Sura (in Zasurye), where the mountain Mari and Chuvash lived. By the end of the XIV century. Russian influence in the Sura basin increased so much that representatives of the local population began to warn the Russian princes about the upcoming invasions of the Golden Horde troops.

A significant role in strengthening anti-Russian sentiments among the Mari population was played by frequent attacks by the Ushkuiniks. The most sensitive for the Mari, apparently, were the raids carried out by Russian river robbers in 1374, when they ravaged the villages along the Vyatka, Kama, Volga (from the mouth of the Kama to the Sura) and Vetluga.

In 1391, as a result of Bektut's campaign, the Vyatka Land, which was considered the refuge of the Ushkuins, was devastated. However, already in 1392 the Vyatchans plundered the Bulgarian cities of Kazan and Zhukotin (Dzhuketau).

According to the Vetluzhsky Chronicler, in 1394, “Uzbeks” appeared in the Vetluzhsky Kuguz - nomadic warriors from the eastern half of the Jochi Ulus, who “took the people for the army and took them along the Vetluga and the Volga near Kazan to Tokhtamysh.” And in 1396, a protege of Tokhtamysh Keldibek was elected kuguz.

As a result of a large-scale war between Tokhtamysh and Timur Tamerlane, the Golden Horde Empire was significantly weakened, many Bulgarian cities were devastated, and its surviving inhabitants began to move to the right side of the Kama and the Volga - away from the dangerous steppe and forest-steppe zone; in the area of ​​Kazanka and Sviyaga, the Bulgar population came into close contact with the Mari.

In 1399, the cities of Bulgar, Kazan, Kermenchuk, Zhukotin were taken by the appanage prince Yuri Dmitrievich, the annals indicate that "no one remembers only far away Rus fought the Tatar land." Apparently, at the same time, the Galich prince conquered the Vetluzh Kuguzism - this is reported by the Vetluzh chronicler. Kuguz Keldibek recognized his dependence on the leaders of the Vyatka Land, concluding a military alliance with them. In 1415, the Vetluzhans and Vyatches made a joint campaign against the Northern Dvina. In 1425, the Vetluzh Mari became part of the many thousands of militia of the Galich specific prince, who began an open struggle for the grand prince's throne.

In 1429 Keldibek took part in the campaign of the Bulgaro-Tatar troops led by Alibek to Galich and Kostroma. In response to this, in 1431, Vasily II took severe punitive measures against the Bulgars, who had already seriously suffered from a terrible famine and an epidemic of plague. In 1433 (or in 1434), Vasily Kosoy, who received Galich after the death of Yuri Dmitrievich, physically eliminated Keldibek's Kuguz and annexed the Vetluzh Kuguz to his inheritance.

The Mari population also had to experience the religious and ideological expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Mari pagan population, as a rule, negatively perceived attempts to Christianize them, although there were also reverse examples. In particular, the Kazhirovsky and Vetluzhsky chroniclers report that the Kuguzes Kodzha-Eraltem, Kai, Bai-Boroda, their relatives and close associates adopted Christianity and allowed the construction of churches in the territory they controlled.

Among the Privetluzhsky Mari population, a version of the Kitezh legend spread: allegedly, the Mari, who did not want to submit to the “Russian princes and priests”, buried themselves alive right on the shore of Svetloyar, and subsequently, together with the earth that collapsed on them, slid down to the bottom of a deep lake. The following record, made in the 19th century, has been preserved: “Among the Svetloyarsk pilgrims, one can always meet two or three Mari women dressed in sharpan, without any signs of Russification.”

By the time the Kazan Khanate appeared, the Mari of the following areas were involved in the sphere of influence of the Russian state formations: the right bank of the Sura - a significant part of the mountain Mari (this can also include the Oka-Sura "Cheremis"), Povetluzhye - the northwestern Mari, the basin of the Pizhma River and the Middle Vyatka - northern part of the meadow mari. The Kokshai Mari, the population of the Ileti river basin, the north-eastern part of the modern territory of the Republic of Mari El, as well as the Lower Vyatka, that is, the main part of the meadow Mari, were less affected by Russian influence.

The territorial expansion of the Kazan Khanate was carried out in the western and northern directions. Sura became the southwestern border with Russia, respectively, Zasurye was completely under the control of Kazan. During 1439-1441, judging by the Vetluzh chronicler, the Mari and Tatar warriors destroyed all Russian settlements on the territory of the former Vetluzh Kuguz, Kazan "governors" began to rule the Vetluzh Mari. Both the Vyatka Land and the Great Perm soon found themselves in tributary dependence on the Kazan Khanate.

In the 50s. 15th century Moscow managed to subjugate the Vyatka Land and part of the Povetluzhye; soon, in 1461-1462. Russian troops even entered into a direct armed conflict with the Kazan Khanate, during which the Mari lands on the left bank of the Volga suffered mainly.

In the winter of 1467/68. an attempt was made to eliminate or weaken the allies of Kazan - the Mari. For this purpose, two trips "to the Cheremis" were organized. The first, main group, which consisted mainly of selected troops - "the court of the prince of the great regiment" - fell upon the left-bank Mari. According to the chronicles, “the army of the Grand Duke came to the land of Cheremis, and did much evil to that land: people from the sekosh, and led others into captivity, and burned others; and their horses and every living thing that you can’t take with you, then everything is gone; and whatever was their belly, they took it all. The second group, which included warriors recruited in the Murom and Nizhny Novgorod lands, "wrestled mountains and barats" along the Volga. However, even this did not prevent the Kazanians, including, most likely, the Mari warriors, already in the winter-summer of 1468 from ruining Kichmenga with adjacent villages (the upper reaches of the Unzha and Yug rivers), as well as the Kostroma volosts and twice in a row - the vicinity of Murom. Parity was established in punitive actions, which, most likely, had little effect on the state of the armed forces of the opposing sides. The case came down mainly to robberies, mass destruction, the capture of the civilian population - the Mari, Chuvash, Russians, Mordovians, etc.

In the summer of 1468, Russian troops resumed their raids on the uluses of the Kazan Khanate. And this time, the Mari population suffered the most. The rook army, led by the voivode Ivan Run, “fought your cheremis on the Vyatka River”, plundered the villages and merchant ships on the Lower Kama, then went up to the Belaya River (“Belaya Volozhka”), where the Russians again “fighted the cheremis, and people from sekosh and horses and every animal." They learned from local residents that nearby, up the Kama, a detachment of Kazan soldiers of 200 people was moving on ships taken from the Mari. As a result of a short battle, this detachment was defeated. The Russians then followed "to Great Perm and to Ustyug" and further to Moscow. Almost at the same time, another Russian army (“outpost”), led by Prince Fedor Khripun-Ryapolovsky, was operating on the Volga. Not far from Kazan, it is "beaten by the Tatars of Kazan, the court of tsars, many good ones." However, even in such a critical situation for themselves, Kazan did not abandon active offensive operations. By bringing their troops into the territory of the Vyatka Land, they persuaded the Vyatchans to neutrality.

In the Middle Ages, there were usually no precisely defined borders between states. This also applies to the Kazan Khanate with neighboring countries. From the west and north, the territory of the khanate adjoined the borders of the Russian state, from the east - the Nogai Horde, from the south - the Astrakhan khanate and from the southwest - the Crimean khanate. The border between the Kazan Khanate and the Russian state along the Sura River was relatively stable; further, it can be determined only conditionally according to the principle of paying yasak by the population: from the mouth of the Sura River through the Vetluga basin to Pizhma, then from the mouth of Pizhma to the Middle Kama, including some areas of the Urals, then back to the Volga River along the left bank of the Kama, without going deep into the steppe, down the Volga approximately to the Samara bow, and finally, to the upper reaches of the same Sura river.

In addition to the Bulgaro-Tatar population (Kazan Tatars) on the territory of the Khanate, according to A.M. Kurbsky, there were also Mari (“Cheremis”), southern Udmurts (“Votyaks”, “Ars”), Chuvashs, Mordvins (mainly Erzya), Western Bashkirs. Mari in the sources of the XV-XVI centuries. and in general in the Middle Ages they were known under the name "Cheremis", the etymology of which has not yet been clarified. At the same time, under this ethnonym, in a number of cases (this is especially characteristic of the Kazan chronicler), not only the Mari, but also the Chuvashs and the southern Udmurts could appear. Therefore, it is rather difficult to determine, even in approximate outlines, the territory of the settlement of the Mari during the existence of the Kazan Khanate.

A number of fairly reliable sources of the XVI century. - testimonies of S. Herberstein, spiritual letters of Ivan III and Ivan IV, the Royal Book - indicate the presence of the Mari in the Oka-Sura interfluve, that is, in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Arzamas, Kurmysh, Alatyr. This information is confirmed by folklore material, as well as the toponymy of this territory. It is noteworthy that until recently, among the local Mordovians, who professed a pagan religion, the personal name Cheremis was widespread.

The Unzha-Vetluga interfluve was also inhabited by the Mari; This is evidenced by written sources, toponymy of the area, folklore material. Probably, there were also Mary's groups here. The northern boundary is the upper reaches of the Unzha, Vetluga, the Tansy basin, and the Middle Vyatka. Here the Mari were in contact with the Russians, Udmurts and Karin Tatars.

The eastern limits can be limited to the lower reaches of the Vyatka, but apart - "for 700 miles from Kazan" - in the Urals there already existed a small ethnic group of the Eastern Mari; chroniclers recorded it near the mouth of the Belaya River in the middle of the 15th century.

Apparently, the Mari, together with the Bulgaro-Tatar population, lived in the upper reaches of the Kazanka and Mesha rivers, on the Arskaya side. But, most likely, they were a minority here and, moreover, most likely, they gradually flocked.

Apparently, a large part of the Mari population occupied the territory of the northern and western parts of the current Chuvash Republic.

The disappearance of the continuous Mari population in the northern and western parts of the current territory of the Chuvash Republic can to some extent be explained by the devastating wars in the 15th-16th centuries, from which the Gornaya side suffered more than the Lugovaya (in addition to the invasions of Russian troops, the right bank was also subjected to numerous raids by steppe warriors) . This circumstance, apparently, caused the outflow of part of the mountain Mari to the Lugovaya side.

The number of Mari in the XVII-XVIII centuries. ranged from 70 to 120 thousand people.

The right bank of the Volga was distinguished by the highest population density, then - the area east of M. Kokshaga, and the least - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bsettlement of the northwestern Mari, especially the swampy Volga-Vetluzhskaya lowland and the Mari lowland (the space between the rivers Linda and B. Kokshaga).

Exclusively all lands were legally considered the property of the khan, who personified the state. Declaring himself the supreme owner, the khan demanded for the use of the land a rent in kind and cash - a tax (yasak).

The Mari - nobility and ordinary community members - like other non-Tatar peoples of the Kazan Khanate, although they were included in the category of dependent population, were actually personally free people.

According to the conclusions of K.I. Kozlova, in the 16th century. the Mari were dominated by retinue, military-democratic orders, that is, the Mari were at the stage of formation of their statehood. The emergence and development of their own state structures was hindered by dependence on the khan's administration.

The socio-political structure of the medieval Mari society is reflected in written sources rather weakly.

It is known that the main cell of the Mari society was the family (“esh”); most likely, the most widespread were "large families", consisting, as a rule, of 3-4 generations of close relatives in the male line. Property stratification between patriarchal families was clearly visible as early as the 9th-11th centuries. Parcel labor flourished, which mainly extended to non-agricultural activities (cattle breeding, fur trade, metallurgy, blacksmithing, jewelry). There were close ties between neighboring family groups, primarily economic, but not always consanguineous. Economic ties were expressed in various kinds of mutual “help” (“vyma”), that is, obligatory kindred gratuitous mutual assistance. In general, the Mari in the XV-XVI centuries. experienced a peculiar period of proto-feudal relations, when, on the one hand, individual family property was allocated within the framework of a land-related union (neighboring community), and on the other, the class structure of society did not acquire its clear outlines.

The Mari patriarchal families, apparently, united into patronymic groups (nasyl, tukym, urlyk; according to V.N. Petrov - urmats and vurteks), and those - into larger land unions - tishte. Their unity was based on the principle of neighborhood, on a common cult, and to a lesser extent - on economic ties, and even more so - on consanguinity. Tishte were, among other things, alliances of military mutual assistance. Perhaps the Tishte were territorially compatible with hundreds, uluses and fifties of the period of the Kazan Khanate. In any case, the tithe-hundred and ulus system of administration imposed from the outside as a result of the establishment of the Mongol-Tatar domination, as is commonly believed, did not conflict with the traditional territorial organization of the Mari.

Hundreds, uluses, fifties and tens were led by centurions (“shudovuy”), Pentecostals (“vitlevuy”), tenants (“luvuy”). In the 15th–16th centuries, they most likely did not have time to break with the rule of the people, and, by the definition of K.I. Kozlova, "these were either ordinary foremen of land unions, or military leaders of larger associations such as tribal ones." Perhaps the representatives of the top of the Mari nobility continued to be called, according to the ancient tradition, “kugyz”, “kuguz” (“great master”), “on” (“leader”, “prince”, “lord”). In the public life of the Mari, the elders - "Kuguraks" also played an important role. For example, even Tokhtamysh's henchman Keldibek could not become a Vetluzh kuguz without the consent of the local elders. The Mari elders as a special social group are also mentioned in the Kazan History.

All groups of the Mari population took an active part in military campaigns against Russian lands, which became more frequent under the Gireys. This is explained, on the one hand, by the dependent position of the Mari in the khanate, on the other hand, by the peculiarities of the stage of social development (military democracy), the interest of the Mari warriors themselves in obtaining military booty, in an effort to prevent Russian military-political expansion, and other motives. In the last period of the Russian-Kazan confrontation (1521-1552) in 1521-1522 and 1534-1544. the initiative belonged to Kazan, which, at the suggestion of the Crimean-Nogai government group, sought to restore the vassal dependence of Moscow, as it was in the Golden Horde period. But already under Vasily III, in the 1520s, the task of the final annexation of the khanate to Russia was set. However, this was only possible with the capture of Kazan in 1552, under Ivan the Terrible. Apparently, the reasons for the accession of the Middle Volga region and, accordingly, the Mari region to the Russian state were: 1) a new, imperial type of political consciousness of the top leadership of the Moscow state, the struggle for the "Golden Horde" inheritance and failures in the previous practice of attempts to establish and maintain a protectorate over Kazan khanate, 2) the interests of national defense, 3) economic reasons (lands for the local nobility, the Volga for the Russian merchants and fishermen, new taxpayers for the Russian government and other plans for the future).

After the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the course of events in the Middle Volga region, Moscow faced a powerful liberation movement, in which both former subjects of the liquidated khanate, who managed to swear allegiance to Ivan IV, and the population of peripheral regions, who did not take the oath, participated. The Moscow government had to solve the problem of preserving the conquered not according to a peaceful, but according to a bloody scenario.

The anti-Moscow armed uprisings of the peoples of the Middle Volga region after the fall of Kazan are usually called the Cheremis wars, since the Mari (Cheremis) were the most active in them. Among the sources available in scientific circulation, the earliest mention of an expression close to the term “Cheremis war” is found in Ivan IV’s tribute letter to D.F. it is indicated that the owners of the rivers Kishkil and Shizhma (near the city of Kotelnich) “in those rivers ... fish and beavers did not catch for the Kazan cheremis of war and did not pay dues.”

Cheremis War 1552–1557 differs from the subsequent Cheremis wars of the second half of the 16th century, not so much because it was the first of this series of wars, but because it had the character of a national liberation struggle and did not have a noticeable anti-feudal orientation. Moreover, the anti-Moscow rebel movement in the Middle Volga region in 1552-1557. is, in essence, a continuation of the Kazan war, and the main goal of its participants was the restoration of the Kazan Khanate.

Apparently, for the bulk of the left-bank Mari population, this war was not an uprising, since only representatives of the Order Mari recognized their new allegiance. In fact, in 1552-1557. the majority of the Mari waged an external war against the Russian state and, together with the rest of the population of the Kazan region, defended their freedom and independence.

All waves of the resistance movement were extinguished as a result of large-scale punitive operations of the troops of Ivan IV. In a number of episodes, the insurrectionary movement developed into a form of civil war and class struggle, but the struggle for the liberation of the motherland remained character-forming. The resistance movement ceased due to several factors: 1) continuous armed clashes with the tsarist troops, which brought innumerable victims and destruction to the local population, 2) mass starvation, a plague epidemic that came from the Volga steppes, 3) the Meadow Mari lost support from their former allies - the Tatars and southern Udmurts. In May 1557, representatives of almost all groups of the meadow and eastern Mari took the oath to the Russian Tsar. Thus, the accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state was completed.

The significance of the accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state cannot be defined as unambiguously negative or positive. Both negative and positive consequences of the entry of the Mari into the system of Russian statehood, closely intertwined with each other, began to manifest themselves in almost all spheres of the development of society (political, economic, social, cultural, and others). Perhaps the main result for today is that the Mari people have survived as an ethnic group and have become an organic part of multinational Russia.

The final entry of the Mari Territory into Russia took place after 1557, as a result of the suppression of the people's liberation and anti-feudal movement in the Middle Volga and Urals. The process of the gradual entry of the Mari Territory into the system of Russian statehood lasted hundreds of years: during the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, it slowed down, during the years of feudal unrest that swept the Golden Horde in the second half of the 14th century, it accelerated, and as a result of the emergence of the Kazan Khanate (30-40- e years of the XV century) stopped for a long time. Nevertheless, having begun even before the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, the inclusion of the Mari in the system of Russian statehood in the middle of the 16th century. approached its final phase - to direct entry into Russia.

The accession of the Mari Territory to the Russian state was part of the general process of the formation of the Russian multi-ethnic empire, and it was prepared, first of all, by prerequisites of a political nature. This is, firstly, a long-term confrontation between the state systems of Eastern Europe - on the one hand, Russia, on the other hand, the Turkic states (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - Golden Horde - Kazan Khanate), and secondly, the struggle for the "Golden Horde inheritance" in the final stage of this confrontation, thirdly, the emergence and development of imperial consciousness in the government circles of Muscovite Russia. The expansionist policy of the Russian state in the eastern direction was also to some extent determined by the tasks of state defense and economic reasons (fertile lands, the Volga trade route, new taxpayers, other projects for the exploitation of local resources).

The economy of the Mari was adapted to the natural and geographical conditions, and generally met the requirements of its time. Due to the difficult political situation, it was largely militarized. True, the peculiarities of the socio-political system also played a role here. Medieval Mari, despite the noticeable local features of the then existing ethnic groups, generally experienced a transitional period of social development from tribal to feudal (military democracy). Relations with the central government were built mainly on a confederal basis.

Beliefs

The Mari traditional religion is based on faith in the forces of nature, which a person must honor and respect. Before the spread of monotheistic teachings, the Mari worshiped many gods known as Yumo, while recognizing the supremacy of the Supreme God (Kugu Yumo). In the 19th century, the image of the One God Tun Osh Kugu Yumo (the One Light Great God) was revived.

The Mari traditional religion helps to strengthen the moral foundations of society, achieve interfaith and interethnic peace and harmony.

Unlike the monotheistic religions created by one or another founder and his followers, the Mari traditional religion was formed on the basis of an ancient folk worldview, including religious and mythological ideas related to the relationship of man to the natural environment and its elemental forces, veneration of ancestors and patrons of agricultural activities. The formation and development of the traditional religion of the Mari was influenced by the religious beliefs of the neighboring peoples of the Volga and Ural regions, the foundations of the doctrine of Islam and Orthodoxy.

Adherents of the traditional Mari religion recognize the One God Tyn Osh Kugu Yumo and nine of his assistants (manifestations), read a prayer three times daily, take part in a collective or family prayer once a year, conduct a family prayer with a sacrifice at least seven times during their life, they regularly hold traditional commemorations in honor of deceased ancestors, observe Mari holidays, customs and rituals.

Prior to the spread of monotheistic teachings, the Mari worshiped many gods known as Yumo, while recognizing the supremacy of the Supreme God (Kugu Yumo). In the 19th century, the image of the One God Tun Osh Kugu Yumo (the One Light Great God) was revived. One God (God - the Universe) is considered to be eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and all-righteous God. It manifests itself both in material and spiritual form, appears in the form of nine deities-hypostases. These deities can be conditionally divided into three groups, each of which is responsible for:

Tranquility, prosperity and empowerment of all living things - the god of the bright world (Tynya yumo), the life-giving god (Ilyan yumo), the deity of creative energy (Agavirem yumo);

Mercy, righteousness and consent: the god of fate and predestination of life (Pyrsho yumo), the all-merciful god (Kugu Serlagysh yumo), the god of consent and reconciliation (Mer yumo);

All-goodness, rebirth and inexhaustibility of life: the goddess of birth (Shochyn Ava), the goddess of the earth (Mlande Ava) and the goddess of abundance (Perke Ava).

The universe, the world, the cosmos in the spiritual understanding of the Mari are presented as a continuously developing, spiritualizing and transforming from century to century, from epoch to epoch, a system of diverse worlds, spiritual and material natural forces, natural phenomena, steadily striving towards its spiritual goal - unity with the Universal God , maintaining an inseparable physical and spiritual connection with the cosmos, the world, nature.

Tun Osh Kugu Yumo is an endless source of being. Like the universe, the One Light Great God is constantly changing, developing, improving, involving the entire universe, the entire surrounding world, including humanity itself, in these changes. From time to time, every 22 thousand years, and sometimes even earlier, by the will of God, some part of the old world is destroyed and a new world is created, accompanied by a complete renewal of life on earth.

The last creation of the world happened 7512 years ago. After each new creation of the world, life on earth improves qualitatively, and humanity also changes for the better. With the development of mankind, there is an expansion of human consciousness, the boundaries of the world and God perception are moving apart, the possibility of enriching knowledge about the universe, the world, objects and phenomena of the surrounding nature, about man and his essence, about ways to improve human life is facilitated.

All this, ultimately, led to the formation of a false idea among people about the omnipotence of man and his independence from God. The change in value priorities, the rejection of the God-established principles of community life required divine intervention in people's lives through suggestions, revelations, and sometimes punishments. In the interpretation of the foundations of knowledge of God and worldview, an important role began to be played by holy and righteous people, prophets and God's chosen ones, who in the traditional beliefs of the Mari are revered as elders - terrestrial deities. Possessing the opportunity to periodically communicate with God, to receive His revelation, they became conductors of knowledge invaluable to human society. However, often they reported not only the words of revelation, but also their own figurative interpretation of them. The divine information obtained in this way became the basis for the emerging ethnic (folk), state and world religions. There was also a rethinking of the image of the One God of the Universe, the feelings of connectedness and direct dependence of people on Him were gradually smoothed out. A disrespectful, utilitarian-economic attitude to nature was asserted, or, conversely, a reverent veneration of the elemental forces and phenomena of nature, represented in the form of independent deities and spirits.

Among the Mari, echoes of a dualistic worldview have been preserved, in which important place occupied by faith in the deities of the forces and phenomena of nature, in the animation and spirituality of the surrounding world and the existence in them of a rational, independent, materialized being - the owner - a double (vodyzh), a soul (chon, ort), a spiritual hypostasis (shyrt). However, the Mari believed that the deities, everything around in the world and the person himself are part of the one God (Tun Yumo), his image.

The deities of nature in folk beliefs, with rare exceptions, were not endowed with anthropomorphic features. The Mari understood the importance of the active participation of man in the affairs of God, aimed at the preservation and development of the surrounding nature, constantly sought to involve the gods in the process of spiritual ennoblement and harmonization of everyday life. Some leaders of the Mari traditional rites, having a sharpened inner vision, by an effort of their will could receive spiritual enlightenment and restore the image of the forgotten single God Tun Yumo at the beginning of the 19th century.

One God - the Universe embraces all living things and the whole world, expresses itself in revered nature. The living nature closest to man is his image, but not God himself. Man can only make general idea about the Universe or its part, knowing it in oneself on the basis and with the help of faith, having experienced a living sensation of the divine incomprehensible reality, having passed the world of spiritual beings through one’s own “I”. However, it is impossible to fully know Tun Osh Kugu Yumo - the absolute truth. Mari traditional religion, like all religions, has only an approximate knowledge of God. Only the wisdom of the Omniscient encompasses the entire sum of truths in itself.

The Mari religion, being more ancient, turned out to be closer to God and absolute truth. It has little influence of subjective moments, it has undergone less social modification. Taking into account the steadfastness and patience in preserving the transmitted by the ancestors ancient religion, selflessness in observing customs and rituals, Tun Osh Kugu Yumo helped the Mari to preserve true religious ideas, protected them from erosion and rash changes under the influence of all kinds of innovations. This allowed the Mari to maintain their unity, national identity, survive under the social and political oppression of the Khazar Khaganate, Volga Bulgaria, the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the Kazan Khanate and defend their religious cults during the years of active missionary propaganda in the 18th–19th centuries.

The Mari people are distinguished not only by divinity, but also by kindness, responsiveness and openness, readiness to help each other and those in need at any time. The Mari are at the same time a freedom-loving people, loving justice in everything, accustomed to living a calm, measured life, like the nature around us.

The traditional Mari religion directly affects the formation of the personality of each person. The creation of the world, as well as of man, is carried out on the basis and under the influence of the spiritual principles of the One God. Man is an inseparable part of the Cosmos, grows and develops under the influence of the same cosmic laws, is endowed with the image of God, in him, as in all Nature, the bodily and divine principles are combined, kinship with nature is manifested.

The life of every child long before his birth begins with the celestial zone of the Universe. Initially, she does not have an anthropomorphic form. God sends life to earth in a materialized form. Together with a person, his angels-spirits also develop - patrons, represented in the form of the deity Vuyumbal yumo, the corporeal soul (chon, ya?) and twins - figurative incarnations of a person ort and shyrt.

All people are equally human dignity, the power of the mind and freedom, human virtue, contain all the qualitative fullness of the world. A person is given the opportunity to regulate his feelings, control behavior, realize his position in the world, lead an ennobled lifestyle, actively create and create, take care of the higher parts of the Universe, protect the animal and plant world, the surrounding nature from extinction.

Being a rational part of the Cosmos, man, like the constantly improving one God, is forced to constantly work on self-improvement in the name of his self-preservation. Guided by the dictates of conscience (ar), correlating his actions and deeds with the surrounding nature, achieving the unity of his thoughts with the co-creation of material and spiritual cosmic principles, a person, as a worthy owner of his land, strengthens and diligently manages his economy with his tireless daily work, inexhaustible creativity, ennobles the world around, thereby improving itself. This is the meaning and purpose of human life.

Fulfilling his destiny, a person reveals his spiritual essence, ascends to new levels of being. Through the improvement of oneself, the fulfillment of the intended goal, a person improves the world, achieves the inner splendor of the soul. The traditional religion of the Mari teaches that a person receives a worthy reward for such activities: he greatly facilitates his life in this world and fate in the afterlife. For a righteous life, the deities can endow a person with an additional guardian angel, that is, affirm the existence of a person in God, thereby ensuring the ability to contemplate and experience God, the harmony of divine energy (shulyk) and the human soul.

Man is free to choose his actions and deeds. He can lead his life both in the direction of God, harmonizing his efforts and the aspirations of the soul, and in the opposite, destructive direction. The choice of a person is predetermined not only by divine or human will, but also by the intervention of the forces of evil.

The right choice for every life situation can only be done by knowing oneself, commensurate one's life, everyday affairs and actions with the Universe - the One God. Having such a spiritual guide, the believer becomes the true master of his life, gains independence and spiritual freedom, calmness, confidence, insight, prudence and measured feelings, steadfastness and perseverance in achieving the goal. He is not disturbed by the hardships of life, social vices, envy, self-interest, selfishness, the desire for self-affirmation in the eyes of others. Being truly free, a person gains prosperity, peace, a reasonable life, and will protect himself from any encroachment by ill-wishers and evil forces. He will not be frightened by the dark tragic aspects of material existence, the bonds of inhuman torment and suffering, hidden dangers. They will not prevent him from continuing to love the world, earthly existence, rejoice and admire the beauty of nature, culture.

In everyday life, believers of the traditional Mari religion adhere to such principles as:

Constant self-improvement by strengthening the inextricable connection with God, his regular involvement in all the most important events in life and active participation in divine affairs;

Aiming at ennobling the surrounding world and social relations, strengthening human health through the incessant search and acquisition of divine energy in the process of creative work;

Harmonization of relations in society, strengthening collectivism and cohesion, mutual support and unity in upholding religious ideals and traditions;

Unanimous support of their spiritual mentors;

The obligation to preserve and pass on to future generations the best achievements: progressive ideas, exemplary products, elite varieties of grain and livestock breeds, etc.

Traditional religion of the Mari main value in this world, he considers all manifestations of life and calls for the sake of its preservation to show mercy even in relation to wild animals, criminals. Kindness, kindness, harmony in relationships (mutual assistance, mutual respect and support of friendly relations), careful attitude to nature, self-sufficiency and self-restraint in the use of natural resources, the pursuit of knowledge are also considered important values ​​in the life of society and in regulating the relationship of believers with God.

In public life, the traditional religion of the Mari seeks to maintain and improve social harmony.

The Mari traditional religion unites believers of the ancient Mari (Chimari) faith, admirers of traditional beliefs and rituals who have been baptized and attend church services (marla vera) and adherents of the Kugu Sorta religious sect. These ethno-confessional differences were formed under the influence and as a result of the spread of the Orthodox religion in the region. The religious sect "Kugu Sorta" took shape in the second half of the 19th century. Certain discrepancies in beliefs and ritual practices that exist between religious groups do not play a significant role in the daily life of the Mari. These forms of the traditional Mari religion form the basis of the spiritual values ​​of the Mari people.

The religious life of adherents of the traditional Mari religion takes place within the village community, one or more village councils(lay community). All Maris can take part in all-Mari prayers with sacrifice, thereby forming a temporary religious community of the Mari people (national community).

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Mari traditional religion acted as the only social institution for rallying and uniting the Mari people, strengthening their national identity, and establishing a national original culture. Together with that, folk religion never called for the artificial separation of peoples, did not arouse confrontation and confrontation between them, did not assert the exclusivity of any people.

The current generation of believers, recognizing the cult of the One God of the Universe, is convinced that this God can be worshiped by all people, representatives of any nationality. Therefore, they consider it possible to attach to their faith any person who believes in his omnipotence.

Any person, regardless of nationality and religion, is part of the Cosmos, the Universal God. In this regard, all people are equal and worthy of respect and fair treatment. The Mari have always been distinguished by their religious tolerance and respect for the religious feelings of the Gentiles. They believed that the religion of every nation has the right to exist, is worthy of reverence, since all religious rites are aimed at ennobling earthly life, improving its quality, expanding people's capabilities and contributing to the introduction of divine powers and divine grace to everyday needs.

A clear evidence of this is the way of life of adherents of the ethno-confessional group "Marla Vera", who observe both traditional customs and rituals, and Orthodox cults, visit the temple, chapels and Mari sacred groves. Often they perform traditional prayers with sacrifices in front of an Orthodox icon specially brought for this occasion.

Admirers of the Mari traditional religion, while respecting the rights and freedoms of representatives of other faiths, expect the same respectful attitude towards themselves and their cult activities. They believe that the worship of the One God - the Universe in our time is very timely and quite attractive for the modern generation of people interested in spreading the environmental movement, in preserving the pristine nature.

The traditional religion of the Mari, including in its worldview and practice the positive experience of centuries of history, sets as its immediate goals the establishment of truly fraternal relations in society and the education of a man of an ennobled image, defends itself with righteousness, devotion to the common cause. She will continue to defend the rights and interests of her believers, protect their honor and dignity from any encroachment on the basis of the legislation adopted in the country.

Adherents of the Mari religion consider it their civil and religious duty to comply with the legal norms and laws of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Mari El.

The traditional Mari religion sets itself the spiritual and historical tasks of uniting the efforts of believers to protect their vital interests, the nature around us, animals and flora, as well as the achievement of material prosperity, worldly well-being, moral regulation and a high cultural level of relations between people.

sacrifices

In the bubbling universal life cauldron human life proceeds under vigilant supervision and with the direct participation of God (Tun Osh Kugu Yumo) and his nine hypostases (manifestations), personifying his inherent mind, energy and material wealth. Therefore, a person should not only reverently believe in Him, but also deeply revere, strive to be rewarded with His mercy, goodness and protection (serlagysh), thereby enriching himself and the world around him with vital energy (shulyk), material wealth (perke). A reliable means of achieving all this is the regular holding of family and public (village, worldly and all-Mari) prayers (kumaltysh) in sacred groves with sacrifices to God and his deities of domestic animals and birds.

And, I tell you, he still brings bloody sacrifices to God.

At the invitation of the organizers of the international conference dedicated to languages ​​in computers, I visited the capital of Mari El - Yoshkar Ola.

Yoshkar is red, and ola, I already forgot what it means, since the city in the Finno-Ugric languages ​​\u200b\u200bis just "kar" (in the words Syktyvkar, Kudymkar, for example, or Shupashkar - Cheboksary).

And the Mari are Finno-Ugric, i.e. are related in language to the Hungarians, Nenets, Khanty, Udmurts, Estonians and, of course, the Finns. Hundreds of years of living together with the Turks also played a role - there are many borrowings, for example, in his welcoming speech, a high-ranking official called the founding enthusiasts of the only radio broadcasting in the Mari language radio batyrs.

The Mari are very proud of the fact that they put up stubborn resistance to the troops of Ivan the Terrible. One of the brightest Mari, oppositionist Laid Shemyer (Vladimir Kozlov) even wrote a book about the defense of Kazan by the Mari.

We had something to lose, unlike some of the Tatars, who were related to Ivan the Terrible, and actually changed one khan for another, - he says (according to some versions, Wardaakh Uybaan did not even know Russian).

This is how Mari El appears from the train window. Swamps and Mary.

Somewhere there is snow.

This is me and my Buryat colleague in the first minutes of entering the Mari land. Zhargal Badagarov - participant of the conference in Yakutsk, which took place in 2008.

We are examining the monument to the famous Mari - Yivan Kyrla. Remember Mustafa from the first Soviet sound film? He was a poet and an actor. Repressed in 1937 on charges of bourgeois nationalism. The reason was a fight in a restaurant with tipsy students.

He died in one of the Ural camps from starvation in 1943.

On the monument he rides on a trolley. And he sings a Mari song about a marten.

And we are met by the hosts. Fifth from the left is a legendary figure. The same radio batyr - Andrey Chemyshev. He is famous for having once written a letter to Bill Gates.

“How naive I was then, I didn’t know much, I didn’t understand much ... - he says, - but there was no end to journalists, I already started to pick and choose - again the first channel, but do you have a BBC there ... "

After the rest, we were taken to the museum. which was opened especially for us. By the way, in the letter, the radio batyr wrote: “Dear Bill Gates, we paid you by purchasing the Windows license package, so we ask you to include five Mari letters in the standard fonts.”

It is surprising that Mari inscriptions are everywhere. Although they did not come up with special gingerbread sticks, and the owners do not bear any responsibility for not writing a sign in the second state language. Employees of the Ministry of Culture say that they just have a heart-to-heart talk with them. Well, they said in secret that the chief architect of the city plays a big role in this matter.

Here is such an Aivika. In fact, I don’t know the name of the charming guide, but the most popular female name among the Mari is Aivika. The stress is on the last syllable. And also Salika. There is even a TV movie in Mari with Russian and English subtitles of the same name. I brought this as a gift to one Yakut Mari - his aunt asked.

The excursion is built curiously - it is proposed to get acquainted with the life and culture of the Mari by tracing the fate of the Mari girl. Of course her name is Aivika))). Birth.

Here Aivika seemed to be in the cradle (not visible).

This is a holiday with mummers, such as carols.

The "bear" also has a birch bark mask.

Do you see Aivika blowing into the chimney? It is she who announces to the district that she has become a girl and it is time for her to get married. A rite of passage. Some hot Finno-Ugric guys))) immediately also wanted to notify the district of their readiness ... But they were told that the pipe was in another place))).

Traditional three-layer pancakes. Bake for the wedding.

Pay attention to the bride's monists.

It turns out that having conquered the Cheremis, Ivan the Terrible forbade blacksmithing to foreigners - so that they would not forge weapons. And the Mari had to make decorations from coins.

One of the traditional occupations is fishing.

Beekeeping - collecting honey from wild bees - is also an ancient occupation of the Mari.

Livestock.

Here are the Finno-Ugric peoples: a representative of the Mansi people in a sleeveless jacket (takes pictures), in a suit - a man from the Komi Republic, behind him is a bright one - an Estonian.

End of life.

Pay attention to the bird on the poles - the cuckoo. A link between the worlds of the living and the dead.

That's where our "cuckoo, cuckoo, how much do I have left?"

And this is a priest in a sacred birch grove. Kart or card. Until now, they say, about 500 sacred groves have been preserved - a kind of temples. Where the Mari sacrifice to their gods. Bloody. Usually chicken, goose or lamb.

An employee of the Udmurt Institute for Advanced Training of Teachers, the administrator of the Udmurt Wikipedia Denis Sakharnykh. As a true scientist, Denis is a supporter of a scientific, non-captive approach to promoting languages ​​on the web.

As you can see, the Mari make up 43% of the population. The second largest after the Russians, of which 47.5%.

The Mari are mainly divided by language into mountain and meadow. Mountain people live on the right bank of the Volga (towards Chuvashia and Mordovia). The languages ​​are so different that there are two wikipedias - in Highland Mari and Meadow Mari.

Questions about the Cheremis wars (30 years of resistance) are asked by a Bashkir colleague. The girl in white in the background is an employee of the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, she calls her area of ​​​​scientific interest - what would you think? - Identity of the Ilimpi Evenks. This summer he is going to Tura in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and maybe even visit the village of Essey. We wish good luck to the fragile city girl in the development of the polar expanses, which are difficult even in summer.

Picture next to the museum.

After the museum, in anticipation of the beginning of the meeting, we walked around the city center.

This slogan is extremely popular.

The city center is being actively rebuilt by the current head of the republic. And in the same style. Pseudo-Byzantine.

They even built a mini-Kremlin. Which, they say, is almost always closed.

On the main square, on one side, there is a monument to the saint, on the other - to the conqueror. The guests of the city chuckle.

Here is another attraction - a clock with a donkey (or a mule?).

Mariyka tells about the donkey, how it became the unofficial symbol of the city.

Soon it will strike three o'clock - and the donkey will come out.

We love the donkey. As you understand - the donkey is not simple - he brought Christ to Jerusalem.

Participant from Kalmykia.

And this is the same "conqueror". The first imperial governor.

UPD: Pay attention to the coat of arms of Yoshkar-Ola - they say it will be removed soon. Someone in the City Council decided to make the elk horned. But maybe that's idle talk.

UPD2: The coat of arms and the flag of the Republic have already been changed. Markelov - and no one doubts that it was he, although the parliament voted - replaced the Mari cross with a bear with a sword. The sword is looking down and sheathed. Symbolic, right? In the picture - the old Mari coat of arms has not yet been removed.

Here it was plenary session conferences. No, a sign in honor of another event)))

Curious thing. In Russian and Mari ;-) In fact, everything was correct on other plates. Street in Mari - urem.

Shop - kevyt.

As one colleague who once visited us sarcastically remarked, the landscape resembles Yakutsk. It is sad that our native city appears to guests in such a guise.

A language is alive if it is in demand.

But we still need to provide the technical side - the ability to print.

Our wiki is among the first in Russia.

Absolutely correct remark of Mr. Leonid Soames, CEO of Linux-Ink (Peter): the state does not seem to notice the problem. By the way, Linux-Ink is developing a browser, spell checker and office for independent Abkhazia. Naturally in the Abkhazian language.

Actually, the participants of the conference tried to answer this sacramental question.

Pay attention to the amounts. This is for building from scratch. For the whole republic - a mere trifle.

An employee of the Bashkir Institute for Humanitarian Research reports. I am acquainted with our Vasily Migalkin. Linguists of Bashkortostan began to approach the so-called. language corpus - a comprehensive codification of the language.

And on the presidium sits the main organizer of the action, an employee of the Mari Ministry of Culture, Eric Yuzykain. Fluent in Estonian and Finnish. He mastered his native language already as an adult, in many respects, he admits, thanks to his wife. Now she teaches the language to her children.

DJ "Radio Mari El", admin of the Lugovoi Mari wiki.

Representative of the Word Foundation. A very promising Russian fund that is ready to support projects for minority languages.

Wikimedists.

And these are the same new buildings in the quasi-Italian style.

It was Muscovites who started to build casinos, but the decree on their ban arrived just in time.

In general, when asked who finances the entire "Byzantium", they answer that the budget.

If we talk about the economy, there were (and probably still are) military factories in the republic for the production of the legendary S-300 missiles. Because of this, earlier Yoshkar-Ola was even a closed territory. Like our Tiksi.