The question of the origin of the Chuvash people in the light of archaeological data. Viryal (Chuvash Mari or Mari Chuvash)

Until the middle of the 18th century. The Chuvash retained a folk (pagan) religion, which contained elements adopted from the Zoroastrianism of ancient Iranian tribes, Khazarian Judaism, and Islam in the Bulgarian and Golden Horde-Kazan Khan times. The ancestors of the Chuvash believed in independent existence human soul. The spirit of the ancestors patronized the members of the clan and could punish them for their disrespectful attitude.

Chuvash paganism was characterized by dualism, adopted mainly from Zoroastrianism: belief in the existence, on the one hand, of good gods and spirits led by Sulti Tura (supreme god), and on the other - evil deities and spirits led by Shuittan (devil) . The gods and spirits of the Upper World are good, those of the Lower World are evil.

The Chuvash religion in its own way reproduced the hierarchical structure of society. At the head of a large group of gods stood Sulti Tura with his family. Apparently, initially the heavenly god Tura (“Tengri”) was revered along with other deities. But with the advent of the “sole autocrat” he already becomes Asla tura (Supreme God), Sulti Tura (Supreme God).
The Almighty did not directly interfere in human affairs, he controlled people through an assistant - the god Kebe, who was in charge of the destinies of the human race, and his servants: Pulyokhsyo, who assigned people's fate, happy and unlucky lots, and Pihampara, who distributed spiritual qualities to people, who communicated prophetic visions to the yumzyas. was also considered the patron saint of animals. In the service of Sulti Tur there were deities whose names reproduced the names of the officials who served and accompanied the Golden Horde and Kazan khans: Tavam yra - the good spirit who sat in the divan (chamber), Tavam sureteken - the spirit in charge of the affairs of the divan, then: guard, gatekeeper, keeper and etc.

Funeral rites
The complex of memorial and funeral rites among the pagan Chuvash testifies to the developed cult of ancestors. The dead were buried with their heads facing west, a temporary monument made of flat wood in the form of a figure was placed on the grave (salam yupi - “farewell column”), in the fall in Yupa Uyakh (“month of pillar, monument”) an anthropomorphic yupa was built on the grave of the deceased during the past year - a monument made of stone or wood - male - oak, female - linden. The funeral of the pagan Chuvash was accompanied by ritual songs and dancing to a bubble (shapar) or bagpipes (kupas) to appease the deceased and make his stay in the grave pleasant; Fires were lit and sacrifices were made. Scientists (A. A. Trofimov and others) have found out that the funeral and memorial rituals of the Chuvash, the construction of cemeteries (masars) with an indispensable bridge laid across a stream or ravine (a bridge for the transition to the world of ancestors), and the construction of burial monuments of the Yupa in in the form of a pillar (the act of creation of the universe), lighting a bonfire during funerals and wakes (where they threw not only sacrificial food, but also embroidered headdresses surpanas, alka, ama decorations, etc.), finally, the compositional and figurative structure of cult sculptures has more than expressive connection with the ethnic groups of the Indo-Iranian cultural circle and are fully consistent with the teachings of Zara-tushtra. Apparently, the main defining features of the pagan religion of the Chuvash were formed by their ancestors - the Bulgarian-Suvar tribes - even during their stay in the territory of Central Asia and Kazakhstan and subsequently in the North Caucasus.

Gods and spirits
The Chuvash also revered gods personifying the sun, earth, thunder and lightning, light, lights, wind, etc. But many Chuvash gods “dwelt” not in heaven, but directly on earth.

Evil deities and spirits were independent of Sulti Tur: other gods and deities and were at enmity with them. The god of evil and darkness, Shuittan, was in the abyss and chaos. Directly from Shuittan “descended”:

Esrel is the evil deity of death, carrying away the souls of people, Iye is the brownie and bone crusher, Vopkan is the spirit that inflicts epidemics, and Vupar (ghoul) caused severe illnesses, night suffocation, lunar and solar eclipses.

A certain place among the evil spirits was occupied by Iyoroh, whose cult dates back to matriarchy. Iyoroh was a doll in the form of a woman. It was passed down from generation to generation through the female line. Iyoroh was the patron of the family.

The most harmful and evil deities were considered kiremeti, who “dwelled” in every village and brought countless misfortunes to people (illness, childlessness, fires, droughts, hail, robberies, disasters from landowners, clerks, puyans, etc.). kiremets allegedly transformed the souls of villains and oppressors after their death. The name kiremeti itself comes from the Muslim cult of saints “karamat”. Each village had at least one kiremetis, and there were kiremets common to several villages. The place of sacrifice of the kiremets was fenced off, and a small building was built inside three-walled, facing open side to the East. The central element of the kiremetische was a lonely old, often withered tree (oak, willow, birch). The peculiarity of Chuvash paganism was the tradition of propitiating both good and evil spirits. Sacrifices were made with domestic animals, porridge, bread, etc. Sacrifices were made in special temples - religious buildings, which were usually located in forests and were also called ki-remets. They were looked after by machaurs (machavar). They, together with the leaders of prayers (kyolopusyo), performed rituals of sacrifices and prayers.

To the good gods and the Chuvash dedicated public and private sacrifices and prayers to the deities. Most of these were sacrifices and prayers associated with the agricultural cycle: uy chukyo (prayer for the harvest), etc.
Forests, rivers, especially whirlpools and ponds, according to Chuvash beliefs, were inhabited by arsuri (a type of goblin), vutash (water) and other deities.

Well-being in the family and household was ensured by the hurtsurt, a female spirit; a whole family of patron spirits of domestic animals lived in the barnyard.

All outbuildings had patron spirits: the guardians of the cage (koletri yra), the cellar (nukhrep khusi), and the guardian of the barn (avan ketusho). In the bathhouse huddled the malicious spirit Iye - a kind of bone-breaking brownie.
« Afterworld"seemed to the pagan Chuvash to be a continuation of earthly life. The “prosperity” of the dead depended on how generously their living relatives treated them at the funeral.

Materials taken from the book:
"Chuvash. Ethnic history and traditional culture."
Authors and compilers: V. P. Ivanov, V. V. Nikolaev,
V. D. Dmitriev. Moscow, 2000.

Chuvash ( self-name - chăvash, chăvashsem) - the fifth largest people in Russia. According to the 2010 census, 1 million 435 thousand Chuvash live in the country. Their origin, history and peculiar language are considered very ancient.

According to scientists, the roots of this people are found in the ancient ethnic groups of Altai, China, and Central Asia. The closest ancestors of the Chuvash are considered to be the Bulgars, whose tribes inhabited a vast territory from the Black Sea region to the Urals. After the defeat of the Volga Bulgaria state (14th century) and the fall of Kazan, part of the Chuvash settled in the forest regions between the Sura, Sviyaga, Volga and Kama rivers, mixing there with Finno-Ugric tribes.

The Chuvash are divided into two main sub- ethnic groups in accordance with the current of the Volga: riding (Viryal, Turi) in the west and north-west of Chuvashia, grassroots(anatari) - in the south, besides them in the center of the republic there is a group middle grassroots (anat enchi). In the past, these groups differed in their way of life and material culture. Now the differences are becoming more and more smoothed out.

The self-name of the Chuvash, according to one version, directly goes back to the ethnonym of a part of the “Bulgar-speaking” Turks: *čōš → čowaš/čuwaš → čovaš/čuvaš. In particular, the name of the Savir tribe ("Suvar", "Suvaz" or "Suas"), mentioned by Arab authors of the 10th century (Ibn Fadlan), is considered by many researchers to be a Turkic adaptation of the Bulgarian name "Suvar".

In Russian sources, the ethnonym “Chuvash” first appears in 1508. In the 16th century, the Chuvash became part of Russia, and at the beginning of the 20th century they received autonomy: since 1920, the Autonomous Region, since 1925 - the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Since 1991 - the Republic of Chuvashia as part of the Russian Federation. The capital of the republic is Cheboksary.

Where do the Chuvash live and what language do they speak?

The bulk of the Chuvash (814.5 thousand people, 67.7% of the region’s population) live in the Chuvash Republic. It is located in the east of the East European Plain, mainly on the right bank of the Volga, between its tributaries Sura and Sviyaga. In the west the republic borders with Nizhny Novgorod region, in the north - with the Republic of Mari El, in the east - with Tatarstan, in the south - with the Ulyanovsk region, in the southwest - with the Republic of Mordovia. Chuvashia is part of the Volga Federal District.

Outside the republic, a significant part of the Chuvash live compactly in Tatarstan(116.3 thousand people), Bashkortostan(107.5 thousand), Ulyanovskaya(95 thousand people) and Samara(84.1 thousand) regions, in Siberia. A small part is outside the Russian Federation,

The Chuvash language belongs to Bulgarian group of the Turkic language family and represents the only living language of this group. In the Chuvash language, there is a high ("pointing") and a lower ("pointing") dialect. Based on the latter, it was formed literary language. The earliest was the Turkic runic alphabet, replaced in the X-XV centuries. Arabic, and in 1769-1871 - Russian Cyrillic, to which special characters were then added.

Features of the appearance of the Chuvash

From an anthropological point of view, most Chuvash belong to the Caucasoid type with a certain degree of Mongoloidity. Judging by research materials, Mongoloid features dominate in 10.3% of the Chuvash. Moreover, about 3.5% of them are relatively pure Mongoloids, 63.5% belong to mixed Mongoloid-European types with a predominance of Caucasoid features, 21.1% represent various Caucasoid types, both dark-colored and fair-haired and light-eyed, and 5.1 % belong to the sublaponoid type, with weakly expressed Mongoloid characteristics.

From a genetic point of view, the Chuvash are also an example of a mixed race - 18% of them carry the Slavic haplogroup R1a1, another 18% carry the Finno-Ugric N, and 12% carry the Western European R1b. 6% have the Jewish haplogroup J, most likely from the Khazars. The relative majority - 24% - bears haplogroup I, characteristic of northern Europe.

Elena Zaitseva

There is some truth in this statement. Any change of ethnonym is associated with the genetic drift of the people. Today's Chuvash are not only Suvars, they are also Bulgars - descendants of the Huns (Vunnogurs, etc.), they are also the awakened Mari (Viryal) and fragments of various nations that have merged into the sphere of Chuvash culture. Geneticists have recognized that the middle Chuvash are genetically close to the early Turks, that is, the Huns. But what about the rest of the Chuvash? Today the anthropological school of Chuvashia has been destroyed, but it was the anthropologists who claimed: “The Chuvash are 98% Caucasian; Mari, Mordovians by 82%, and Tatars and Bashkirs by 60%.” If the Chuvash are Turks, then why is there such a big difference in the indicators of Caucasianness in relation to the Turks (Tatars and Bashkirs)?
Watching a film about the Chuvash-Turks, the following thoughts arise:
- the film postulates the idea that the Turks are not an anthropological, but a cultural community, this explains the difference in the anthropology of the Chuvash and other Turkic peoples. But in this case, how can we explain the powerful cultural difference between the Chuvash and the Turkic peoples: in religion, art, way of life? In addition, historically the Turks descend from a very specific ancestor - the Hun tribe Tyukue (Tyugyu), which means, after all, anthropology is a key indicator of the unity of the Turkic community.
- The film shows the rituals around the Abashevo mounds. From an archaeological point of view, the Abashevites are not the ancestors of the Chuvash. True, from the point of view of the attitude of the Chuvash to the mounds, as to “Ulăp tapri”, such filming is possible, but the Chuvash did not perform rituals near such places, except perhaps only in those cases when there was a kiremet on the hill.
- During the rituals, beer was not thrown into the fire. Beer, as well as offerings, were left at the cult site. The Mari offer sacrifices to the fire.
- The film tells about the developed hop growing in Chuvashia, but everyone should understand that there is no industrial farming in the republic after the reign of former Head The administration of Chuvashia no longer needs to talk. It would be worth saying that every village farmstead used to have its own brewery. All Russian names associated with brewing are Bulgaro-Chuvash: hops, malt, wort, etc.
- The ritual of “nime” (mutual assistance) was usually carried out during the construction of a house or during field work and was associated with personal participation in the work. Under the former Head of the Administration of Chuvashia, this ritual was reduced to the level of “voluntary-forced” monetary collections. The connection between the “nime” ritual and the autumn gatherings “kĕr sari” is not clear.
- Historically, yeast began to be added to beer at a later time, during the period of the nation’s drinking.
- It is believed that beer is a common Turkic drink. Judging by the name “săra” among the Chuvash and Altai, it may indeed seem so, however, who influenced whom? It is known that brewing originated in Mesopotamia in the 5th millennium BC, and not in Far East. Name at least one Turkic people, where brewing was also widely developed?
- If the Chuvash are Turkic-speaking, then why do the basic words of the people not fit into the Turkic vocabulary: for example: hevel (“sun” Chuv.) – helios (Greek). Why are the Turks nomads and the Chuvash ancient farmers? (D.F. Madurov. Type of way of life of the Chuvash people and its role in the ecosystem of the Volga-Kama region // Ecological Bulletin of the Chuvash Republic. - Cheboksary: ​​2000. - Issue 20. D.F. Madurov. Verification of the way of the Chuvash people using the example of cultural artifacts // From the history of nature to the history of society: the past in the present and future: Supplement to the Russian Bulletin philosophical society. Materials of the scientific conference. M.: 2000. - part 1) Why all the Turks worshiped Tengrikhan, but the Chuvash have no traces of this cult. The Chuvash worship Tura. This is the name of a god of Central Asian origin. More details about this in the article (D.F. Madurov. Near Asian-Chuvash cultural parallels. P.360-382 // Scientific and pedagogical heritage of V.F. Kakhovsky and problems of history and archeology. Materials of the scientific-practical conference. December 19-20 2006 Book 2. – Cheboksary, ChGIGN, 2009).
- Listening to the Chuvash song in the film, I involuntarily remembered the Ukrainian one: “A birch tree grew on my pidvirya, Give us vodka hey ho, give us vodka hey ho. A birch tree grew on my pidvirya.” So who copied this song from whom?
- It’s a pity that there are few representations in the film silver jewelry Chuvash. Embroideries with flowers embroidered with aniline threads look terrible. The height of vulgarity, this tradition appeared in the 50s, during the period of cultivation of the denial of national culture and imitation of Russian. A woman in a girl’s headdress simply looks funny, and the combination of glasses and an ethnographic costume also looks ridiculous.
- The film claims that the Chuvash who converted to Islam began to be called Tatars. This phrase reveals the meaning of the kinship of the Turkic-speaking Chuvash and Tatars. One should be aware that these processes took place during the period of Tatar domination in the region and their maximum cultural influence. Exactly the same processes are taking place today, and from this point of view, most of the Orthodox Russian-speaking population can also point to their Chuvash (Bulgaro-Suvar) roots. At the same time, in the Chuvash environment there are traces of genetic input from neighboring peoples.
- I am surprised to learn that the Chuvash language exists and will exist thanks to the translation of the Bible into it. Actually scriptures in the “Hunnic language” were published back in 530, but this in no way affected the preservation of the language and the translations themselves. Of course, we can only thank the Russian Institute of Bible Translation for another large (by our standards) financial contribution. Let us remember that with a grant from the English Bible Society, missionary-educator I.Ya. Yakovlev built the Chuvash Simbirsk school. Only the main goal of this mission was not the development of the national culture of the Chuvash, but purely missionary tasks, not for nothing, according to the recollections of the students of the Simbirsk school, it was forbidden to sing Chuvash folk songs. And from the point of view of the Orthodox (Orthodox) Church, even folk costume is “pagan”, as the Cheboksary News newspaper has already written about in its propaganda articles. So, it turns out that they slipped us another “Trojan” (“Trojan horse”).
After watching the film, you get the feeling that this film was created to further divide our people, or that it was created by people incompetent in these matters.

What facial features distinguish the Chuvash from other nations.

1. The Chuvshi are 1000% smarter than the Tatars, that’s why they are under our yoke,
2. slightly Mongoloid facial features, but everything has to be taken together: skin color and manner of communication
3. Chubby, slightly slanted. I noticed it when I was shapushkare ;-)))
4. Chuvash and Russian are the same
5. Chuvash are easy to distinguish from Russians. Chuvash (Volga-Bulgarian type) They combine a lot of ethnic characteristics taken from other peoples: Caucasians, Mari, Udmurts, partly Mordvins-Erzi, Slavs, but many of them are similar to typical Turks and mostly Mongols, that is, representatives of the Ural type. There are not many Caucasians, but they are also found. The peoples closest in appearance are the Kazan Tatars, Mari and Udmurts.
6. Sharply protruding Chuvashas
7. The Mongol invasion and the events that followed it (the formation and collapse of the Golden Horde and the emergence on its ruins of the Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian Khanates, the Nogai Horde) caused significant movements of the peoples of the Volga-Ural region, led to the destruction of the consolidating role of the Bulgarian statehood, and accelerated the formation of individual Chuvash ethnic groups , Tatars and Bashkirs, In the 14th and early 15th centuries. , under conditions of oppression, about half of the surviving Bulgarian-Chuvash moved to Prikazanye and Zakazanye, where the Chuvash Daruga was formed from Kazan east to the middle Kama.
   Formation of the Chuvash people

   girl in national Chuvash costume

   Chuvash (self-name Chavash); It also includes peoples close to the main ethnic group: Viryal, Turi, Anatri, Anatenchi, a people with a total number of 1840 thousand people. Main countries of settlement: Russian Federation - 1773 thousand people. , including Chuvashia - 907 thousand people. Other countries of settlement: Kazakhstan - 22 thousand people. , Ukraine - 20 thousand people. , Uzbekistan - 10 thousand people. Language - Chuvash. The main religion is Orthodox Christianity, the influence of paganism remains, and there are Muslims.
   The Chuvash are divided into 2 groups:
   Upper Chuvash (Viryal, Turi) north and northeast of Chuvashia;
   lower Chuvash (anatri) south of Chuvashia and beyond.
   Sometimes the meadow Chuvash (anat enchi) are distinguished in the center and southwest of Chuvashia.
   Chuvash language. He is the only living representative of the Bulgaro-Khazar group Turkic languages. It has two dialects: lower (pointing) and upper (pointing). Many Chuvash speak Tatar and Russian.
   Well, in fact, the answer to the question: Anthropological types of the Urals and Volga region (Komi, Mordovians, Chuvash, Bashkirs, etc.), occupying an intermediate position between Caucasoids and Mongoloids, in their morphological characteristics are characterized by a complex of characteristics that includes both Caucasoid , and Mongoloid features. They are characterized by medium and short stature, the pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes is somewhat darker than that of northern and central Caucasians, the hair is coarser, with a predominance of straight shape, however, compared to the Mongoloids, the pigmentation is lighter and the hair is softer. The face is short, the protrusion of the cheekbones is medium and strong, but less than in the Mongoloid groups, the bridge of the nose is medium and low, the nose is short, often with a concave dorsum, and epicanthus is found.
   Most likely the word Chuvashaly is some kind of local dialect, I would be grateful if you could explain what it is.
   the link is blocked by decision of the project administration
   BY THE WAY
   Chapaev was born on January 28 (February 9), 1887 in the village of Budaika (now the territory of Cheboksary), into a poor family. Erzya by nationality (erz. chapoms chop (log house)). The Chapaevs' ancestors went around the villages for hire, cut log houses and decorated houses. According to the version widespread in Chuvashia, Chapaev’s nationality is Chuvash (Chuv. chap goodness, beauty), in other sources it is Russian.

8. only shupashkarami))
9. This is probably sad, but the peoples of the Volga region, Chuvash (Moksha and Erzya) and Kazan Tatars, according to epidemiological studies, in terms of major histocompatibility complex (HLA) antigens, do not differ from Russians living in the same places, while Russians living in other areas differ from Russians living in these republics.
   That is, the population is genetically homogeneous, but the language and culture are of course different.
   Therefore, there is no need to talk seriously about physiognomic differences among the Chuvash. I can only say that the people from your krav are very nice, even beautiful and good-natured.
10. The Chuvash are a national team, a mixture of EUROPE and ASIA. My mother was fair-haired, my father had very dark hair ( Pontic type). Both are Caucasians.
11. I wouldn’t say that Russians and Chuvashs are the same. Now, let's arrange them in descending order. From Caucasoid to Mongoloid peoples of the Volga region: Kershennr, Tatar-mishrlr (62 Pontids, 20 CE, 8 Mongoloids, 10 sublapponoids), Mordovian-Moksha (close to the Mishars not only in culture, but also in anthropology), Mordovian-Erzya, Kazanla ( Kazan Tatarlars), Chuvash (11 - pronounced Mongoloids, of which 4% are pure, 64 are transitional between Mongolides and Caucasians, with a preponderance of Euro-, 5% - sublapponoids, 20% - pontids (among the lower classes), SE, Baltids
12. On my father’s side I am Chuvash, so if my grandmother had Asian facial features, then my grandfather had a European face..
13. I haven’t seen the Chuvash. Maybe Chapaev is Chuvash?
14. no

Chuvash (Chavash) - a Turkic-speaking people of Suvaro-Bulgar origin in the Russian Federation, the titular nation Chuvash Republic(capital - Cheboksary). The total number is about 1.5 million, of which in Russia - 1 million 435 thousand (according to the results of the 2010 census).

Approximately half of all Chuvash people in Russia live in Chuvashia; significant groups are settled in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Saratov, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Kemerovo regions and Krasnoyarsk Territory; a small part is outside the Russian Federation ( largest groups in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine).

The Chuvash language is the only living representative of the Bulgarian group of Turkic languages; it has two dialects: the upper one (the okaya dialect) and the lower one (the ukaya dialect). The main religion of the religious part of the Chuvash is Orthodox Christianity; there are adherents of traditional beliefs and Muslims.

The Chuvash are a distinctive ancient people with a rich, monolithic ethnic culture. They are the direct heirs of Great Bulgaria and later of Volga Bulgaria. The geopolitical location of the Chuvash region is such that many spiritual rivers of the east and west flow through it. IN Chuvash culture there are features similar to both Western and eastern cultures, there are Sumerian, Hittite-Akkadian, Sogdo-Manichaean, Hunnic, Khazar, Bulgaro-Suvar, Turkic, Finno-Ugric, Slavic, Russian and other traditions, but it is not identical to any of them. These features are reflected in the ethnic mentality of the Chuvash.

Chuvash people, having absorbed culture and traditions different nations, “reworked” them, synthesized positive customs, rites and rituals suitable for the conditions of their existence, ideas, norms and rules of behavior, methods of management and everyday life, preserved a special worldview, and formed a unique national character. Undoubtedly, the Chuvash people have their own identity - “chavashlah” (“Chuvashness”), which is the core of their uniqueness. The task of researchers is to “extract” it from the depths of the people’s consciousness, analyze and identify its essence, and record it in scientific works.

Reconstruction of the deep foundations of the mentality of the Chuvash people is possible using fragments of ancient Chuvash runic writing, the structure and lexical composition of the modern Chuvash language, traditional culture, patterns and ornaments of national embroidery, clothing, utensils, religious rites and rituals, based on materials from mythology and folklore. A review of historical, ethnographic and literary and artistic sources also allows us to look into the past of the Bulgaro-Chuvash people, to understand their character, “nature,” etiquette, behavior, and worldview.

Each of these sources has been touched upon by researchers only partially to date. The curtain of the history of the post-Nostratic Sumerian stage of language development (IV-III millennium BC), the Hunnic period, has been slightly opened, some gaps of the Proto-Bulgar period (I century BC - III century AD) of the ancient Suvazian ancestors have been restored , broke away from the rest of the Hunnic-Turkic tribes and migrated to the southwest. The Old Bulgar period (IV-VIII centuries AD) is known for the transition of the Bulgar tribes to the Caucasus, Danube, and the Volga-Kama basin.

The pinnacle of the Middle Bulgarian period is the state of Volga Bulgaria (9th-13th centuries). For the Suvar-Suvaz of Volga Bulgaria, the transition of power to Islam was a tragedy. Then, in the 13th century, having lost everything during the Mongol invasion - their name, state, homeland, book, writing, Keremets and Kerems, over the course of centuries emerging from the bloody abyss, the Suvaz Bulgars formed the Chuvash ethnos proper. As can be seen from historical research, the Chuvash language, culture, and traditions are much older than the ethnonym of the Chuvash people.

Many travelers of past centuries noted that the Chuvash were noticeably different in character and habits from other peoples. In the notes of famous and frequently cited researchers F. J. T. Stralenberg (1676-1747), V. I. Tatishchev (1686-1750), G. F. Miller (1705-1783), P. I. Rychkov (1712- 1777), I. P. Falka (1725-1774), I. G. Georgi (1729-1802), P.-S. Pallas (1741-1811), I. I. Lepekhin (1740-1802), “preacher of the Chuvash language” E. I. Rozhansky (1741-?) and other scientists who visited in the 18th-19th centuries. The mountainous side of the Kazan province, there are many flattering reviews about the “Chuvashens” and “Chuvashans” as hardworking, modest, neat, handsome, savvy people.

The diary entries of the foreigner Tovius Koenigsfeld, who visited the Chuvash in 1740 among the participants in the journey of the astronomer N.I. Delisle, confirm these ideas (cited from: Nikitina, 2012: 104): “Most Chuvash men are of good height and physique. Their heads are black-haired and shaved. Their clothes are close in style to the English, with a collar, with a sash hanging behind the back and trimmed in red. We saw several women. With whom one could make acquaintances, who were not at all unsociable and even had pleasant shapes... Among them there are quite beautiful ones with delicate features and an elegant waist. Most of them are black-haired and very neat ..." (Record dated October 13).

“We spent several hours with these kind people. And the hostess, a smart young woman, prepared us dinner, which we liked. Since she was not averse to joking, we chatted casually with her with the help of our translator, who was fluent in the Chuvash language. This woman had thick black hair, a wonderful physique, pretty features and looked a little like an Italian" ( Entry dated October 15 in the village of Maly Sundyr (now Cheboksary district of the Chuvash Republic).

“Now I’m sitting with my Chuvash friends; I really love these simple and meek people... This wise people, so close to nature, sees all things from a positive point of view and judges worth by their results... Nature produces more people good rather than evil” (A. A. Fuks) (Chuvash..., 2001: 86, 97). “All Chuvash are natural balalaika players” (A. A. Korinfsky) (ibid.: 313). “... The Chuvash people by nature are as trusting as they are honest... The Chuvash are often in complete purity of soul... almost do not even understand the existence of lies, for whom a simple handshake replaces a promise, a guarantee, and an oath” (A. Lukoshkova) ( ibid: 163, 169).

The basis of the Chuvash centuries-old ethnic mentality is made up of several supporting elements: 1) “the teaching of the ancestors” (Sardash ethnoreligion), 2) a mythological worldview, 3) a symbolic (“readable”) embroidery ornament, 4) collectivism (community) in everyday life, 5 ) respectful attitude towards ancestors, admiration for motherhood, 6) the authority of the native language, 7) loyalty to the fatherland, oath and duty to the homeland, 8) love for the earth, nature, and wildlife. The Chuvash worldview as a type of spiritual activity of society is presented in the system of children's play school (serep), oral folk art, morality, features of the state structure, in customs and rituals that capture important and theoretically fundamental provisions. The assimilation of works of oral folk art, myths, legends, traditions and fairy tales, proverbs and sayings is a specific school of the Chuvash worldview and a way not only of storing knowledge, but also of developing the mind in a traditional society.

The turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. is the beginning of the Christian educational period in the cultural and historical life of the Chuvash people. Over four centuries, Orthodox ideology was closely intertwined with the traditions, beliefs, mentality and worldview of the Chuvash, but the values ​​of the Russian-Byzantine church did not become basic in the ethnomentality of the Chuvash. This is evidenced, in particular, by the facts of the careless, careless attitude of the Chuvash peasants of the 19th century. to churches, priests, icons of Orthodox saints. M. Gorky in a letter to the head of the editorial board of the magazine “Our Achievements” V. T. Bobryshev wrote: “The originality of Chuvashia is not only in trachoma, but in the fact that back in the 1990s. peasants, as a reward for good weather, smeared the lips of Nicholas of Myra with sour cream, and for bad weather, they took him out into the yard and put him in an old bast shoe. This is after a good hundred years of teaching Christianity. And in this case, devotion to pagan antiquity is commendable as a sign of the people’s awareness of their dignity.” (Moscow. 1957. No. 12. P. 188).

In the largest and most valuable work “Christianity among the Chuvash of the Middle Volga region in the XVI-XVIII centuries. Historical sketch" ( 1912 ) the outstanding Chuvash ethnographer, folklorist, historian Professor N.V. Nikolsky explored the most decisive and turning point period of the New Bulgar (actually Chuvash) era ethnic history, when there was a transformation of the traditional religious consciousness of the Chuvash, the destruction of the structure of the Chuvash universe, and the forcibly introduced Orthodoxy served only as an ideological justification for the colonization of the Chuvash region by Muscovy.

Contrary to his initial missionary goals, Nikolsky negatively assessed the results of the Christianization of the Chuvash. For him, discrimination against the Chuvash, violence, the disappearance of the “foreign service class,” and methods of forced Russification and Christianization were unacceptable. He especially emphasized that “the Chuvash, alien to Christianity in life, did not want to be one by name... The neophytes wish that the government would not consider them Christians.” In Orthodoxy they saw the “grown tene” (Russian faith), i.e., the ideologized religion of the oppressors. Further, analyzing this period, the scientist notes the facts of spiritual and physical resistance of the Chuvash to oppression and lawlessness and summarizes that “cultural and educational events were not adapted to folk life, why they didn’t leave a significant mark among the Chuvash” (see: Nikolsky, 1912). The Chuvash peasants, who were isolated in their communities until the twentieth century. There were no cases of mass Russification. Prominent Chuvash historian V.D. Dimitriev writes that “the Chuvash national culture has been preserved without deformation until recently...” (Dimitriev, 1993: 10).

National identity, character, mentality of the Chuvash people in the twentieth century. experienced several significant transformations that were caused by popular revolutions, wars, national movement and state and social reforms. The technical achievements of modern civilization, especially computerization and the Internet, have significantly contributed to the change in ethnomentality.

In the revolutionary years of the beginning of the twentieth century. within one generation, society, its consciousness and behavior changed beyond recognition, and documents, letters, works of art clearly recorded spiritual, economic, political, social transformations, uniquely reflecting the features of the renewed national mentality.

The creation of Chuvash statehood in 1920, the famines of 1921, 1933-1934, repressions of 1937-1940. and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. left noticeable imprints on the traditional mentality of the people. Obvious changes in the mentality of the Chuvash were observed after the creation of an autonomous republic (1925) and after the unprecedented scale of repression. The spirit of the nation, liberated by the October Revolution, was purposefully supplanted by the ideology of 1937, which was begun precisely in the Chuvash Republic by the authorized control commission under the Central Committee of the party, headed by M. M. Sakhyanova.

Positive features of traditional Chuvash mentality were especially pronounced during the Great Patriotic War. It was the inner convictions and mental spirit that became the reason for the heroic behavior of the nation. The creation of the presidential Chuvash Republic and the organization of the world Chuvash National Congress (1992) became a new milestone in the development of self-awareness and spiritual and moral consolidation of the people.

Each generation of an ethnic group, over time, develops its own version of mentality, allowing an individual and the population as a whole to adapt and function optimally in the current environment. It can no longer be said that the core qualities, fundamental values, and mental attitudes have remained unchanged. The first and main social attitude for the Chuvash people - the belief in the correctness of the covenant of their ancestors (“vattisem kalani”), a rigid set of rules of behavior and laws of ethnic existence - has lost its relevance among young people, unable to withstand competition with the polyvariity and diversity of existence social networks Internet.

The process of erosion of the traditional mentality of the Chuvash and other small peoples is obvious. Afghan and Chechen war, perestroika in society and state 1985-1986. entailed serious metamorphoses in various spheres of modern Russian life. Even the “dead” Chuvash village has undergone global changes in its socio-cultural appearance before our eyes. The historically established and geographically determined everyday orientations of the Chuvash were supplanted by Western television norms. Chuvash youth, through the media and the Internet, borrow foreign ways of behavior and communication.

Not only the lifestyle, but also the attitude towards the world, worldview, and mentality have changed dramatically. On the one hand, the modernization of living conditions and mental attitudes is beneficial: the new generation of Chuvash is learning to be bolder, more self-confident, more sociable, and is gradually getting rid of the inferiority complex inherited from their “foreign” ancestors. On the other hand, the absence of complexes and remnants of the past is equated to the eradication of moral and ethical taboos in a person. As a result, massive deviations from norms of behavior become a new standard of life.

At present, some positive qualities have been preserved in the mentality of the Chuvash nation. There is no ethnic fanaticism or ambition in the Chuvash environment today. Despite the noticeable poverty of living conditions, the Chuvash are strong in their adherence to traditions, and have not lost their enviable quality of tolerance, “aptramanlah” (inflexibility, survival, resilience) and exceptional respect for other peoples.

Ethnonihilism, very characteristic of the Chuvash mentality of the second half of the 20th century, is now not so clearly expressed. Obvious neglect native history and culture, rituals and rituals, there is no feeling of ethnic inferiority, disadvantage, or shame for representatives of one’s native ethnic group; a positive national identity becomes normal for the Chuvash. This is confirmed by the real demand among the Chuvash population for studying the Chuvash language and culture in kindergartens, schools, and universities of the republic.

A generalized list of the main features of the Chuvash mentality at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. is found in one of the first experiments specifically devoted to the characteristics of the mentality of the Chuvash - the material of T. N. Ivanova (Ivanova, 2001), collected during many years of work at retraining courses for teachers at the Chuvash Republican Institute of Education in 2001:

- hard work;

- patriarchal, traditional;

- patience, patience;

- respect for rank, high power distance, law-abidingness;

- envy;

— prestige of education;

— collectivism;

- peacefulness, good neighborliness, tolerance;

- persistence in achieving goals;

- low self-esteem;

- touchiness, resentment;

- stubbornness;

— modesty, the desire to “keep a low profile”;

- respect for wealth, stinginess.

The teachers noted that on the issue of national self-esteem, the dualistic Chuvash mentality is characterized by “a combination of two extremes: heightened national self-awareness among the elite and the erosion of national traits among the common people.”

How much of this list remains ten years later? The Chuvash mentality, as before, is not characterized by the desire to destroy everything to the ground and then build again from scratch. On the contrary, it is preferable to build on what is available; even better - next to the previous one. Such a trait as immensity is not typical. Is moderation in everything (in deeds and thoughts, behavior and communication) the basis of the Chuvash character (“Don’t jump ahead of others: don’t lag behind the people”)? Of the three components - feelings, will, reason - reason and will predominate in the structure of the Chuvash national consciousness. It would seem that the poetic and musical nature of the Chuvash should be based on a sensual-contemplative principle, but observations show the opposite. Apparently, the experience of previous centuries of joyless existence, deeply stored in the memory of the people, makes itself felt, and reason and the rational nature of comprehending the world come to the fore.

Psychologist E. L. Nikolaev and teacher I. N. Afanasyev based on comparative analysis personality profiles of typical Chuvash and typical Russians conclude that the Chuvash ethnic group is characterized by modesty, isolation, dependence, suspicion, naivety, conservatism, conformity, impulsiveness, tension (Nikolaev, Afanasyev, 2004: 90). The Chuvash do not recognize any exceptional merits for themselves (although they possess them); they voluntarily submit themselves to the requirements of general discipline. Chuvash children are taught to limit their own needs in accordance with the existing material conditions of life, treat all people with respect, show the necessary tolerance for the minor shortcomings of others, and at the same time be critical of their own merits and shortcomings.

In educational practice, the dominant attitude is that man, as a natural being, is frail, but as a social being, he is strong by belonging to his people, therefore modesty is a form of individual awareness of his responsibilities to the people around him. From childhood, tactfulness is purposefully cultivated in the Chuvash - the ability, which has grown into a habit, to observe moderation in communication, avoiding actions and words that may be unpleasant to the interlocutor or people around him, especially older people.

However, generally accepted positive distinctive characteristics Chuvash, such as hard work (gendarmerie Colonel Maslov), kind soul and honesty (A. M. Gorky), thoroughness (L. N. Tolstoy), hospitality, cordiality and modesty (N. A. Ismukov), are killed by the pragmatic demands of capitalist times , these spiritual qualities become unnecessary in a consumer society.

From time immemorial the special attitude of the Chuvash to military service. There are legends about the fighting qualities of the Chuvash warrior ancestors during the times of the commanders Mode and Attila. "IN national character The Chuvash have excellent qualities, especially important for society: the Chuvash diligently fulfills the once accepted duty. There were no examples of a Chuvash soldier escaping or fugitives hiding in a Chuvash village with the knowledge of the residents” (Otechestvovedenie…, 1869: 388).

Loyalty to the oath is an outstanding feature of the Chuvash mentality, which has survived to this day and deserves close attention when forming units of modern Russian army. It was not for nothing that I.V. Stalin, during a conversation with the Yugoslav delegation on April 19, 1947, noted this feature of the character of the Chuvash people.

"IN. Popovic (Ambassador of Yugoslavia to the USSR):

— Albanians are very brave and loyal people.

I. Stalin:

— Our Chuvash were so loyal. Russian tsars took them as personal guards" (Girenko, 1991) .

In a curious way, two specific traditional worldviews responded in the mentality of modern Chuvashs - the recognition by Chuvash elders of just revenge through one of the types of suicide “tipshar” and the cult of virginity, which distinguished the Chuvash in the past and still distinguishes them from other, even neighboring peoples.

The Chuvash “tipshar” belongs to the category of personal revenge, an everyday form of passive punishment of a scoundrel fellow tribesman through one’s own death. “Tipshar” is the defense of name and honor at the cost of one’s life, which corresponds to the teachings of the Sardash ethnoreligion. In its pure form in the 21st century. Among the Chuvash it is extremely rare, remaining only as a personal trial of crimes in the sphere of intimate relationships between girls and men.

Manifestations of “tipshara” with other motivations are found among adolescents and mature men. In addition to social reasons, in our opinion, shortcomings in the educational process partly affected this. Chuvash philologists were mistaken when the course of Chuvash literature studied in high school, built on examples of self-sacrifice. The literary heroines Varussi Y.V. Turkhan, Narspi K.V. Ivanov, Ulkki I.N. Yurkin commit suicide, the poems of M.K. Sespel, N.I. Shelebi, M.D. Uipa, the story of L. Y. Agakova “Song”, story “Jaguar” by D. A. Kibek.

Turning to suicide is also closely related to gender, age, marital status person. However, all other things being equal, social diseases, primarily alcoholism, play a fatal role. Chuvash doctors explain the increase in the number of suicides by difficult living conditions, bureaucratic oppression, and unsettled everyday life (the situation is very similar to the situation of the Chuvash in the 19th century, as written by S. M. Mikhailov and the Simbirsk gendarme Maslov), the consequence of which is strained relationships in the family, alcoholism , drug addiction.

Suicides are rare among Chuvash women. Chuvash women are infinitely patient with financial and everyday difficulties, feel more acutely the responsibility for children and family, and try to get out of trouble by any means. This is a manifestation of ethnomentality: the role of wife and mother in the Chuvash family, as before, is incredibly high.

The problem of suicide is closely intertwined with the problem of preserving virginity before marriage and gender relations: girls with violated honor, who have experienced deception and hypocrisy on the part of men, often resorted to “tipshar”. Until the 20th century The Chuvash believed that the loss of a girl’s honor before marriage is a tragedy that promises nothing other than shame and general condemnation and lifelong ordeal. Life for the girl was losing value, there were no prospects for respect, for finding a normal, healthy family, which every Chuvash woman aspired to have.

For a long time, the preserved family-clan relations among the Chuvash were an effective means of containing negative factors in their gender consciousness and behavior. This is precisely what can explain the rare cases of abandonment of a born child or the developed practice among the Chuvash of guardianship over orphaned children even by distant relatives. However, today the tradition of public attention to the relationship between girls and boys and their sex education is being replaced by social and ethical indifference on the part of elders: personal freedom, freedom of speech and active protection of property rights have turned into permissiveness and individualism. Oddly enough, Chuvash literature of the 21st century. praises precisely the boundless disorder and anarchy in relationships and in life.

Among the negative character traits of the Chuvash, spiritual isolation, secrecy, envy are preserved - these qualities developed during the tragic periods of the history of the people and became entrenched in the harsh conditions of their environment. warlike peoples, over the centuries and especially now, under neoliberalism, are aggravated by unemployment and poor material security for the majority of the region’s residents.

In general, in studies of the early 2000s. (Samsonova, Tolstova, 2003; Rodionov, 2000; Fedotov, 2003; Nikitin, 2002; Ismukov, 2001; Shabunin, 1999) it was noted that the mentality of the Chuvash at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. characterized by almost the same basic features as the mentality of the Chuvash in the 17th-19th centuries. The focus of Chuvash youth on a healthy family life remains, and women, as before, take responsibility for the well-being of home and family. Despite the wild laws of the market, the natural tolerance of the Chuvash, the desire for accuracy and good morals, has not disappeared. The attitude “don’t get ahead of people, don’t lag behind the people” is relevant: Chuvash youth are inferior to Russians in their attitude to be active life position, in terms of self-confidence and independence.

Judging by new sociological and statistical data (Chuvash Republic..., 2011: 63-65, 73, 79), at present the mental characteristics of the Chuvash people are based on basic values ​​of a universal human nature, but at the same time ethnic characteristics are preserved. The majority of the population of the Chuvash Republic, regardless of nationality, supports traditional values: life, health, law and order, work, family, respect for established customs and traditions. However, values ​​such as initiative and independence are less popular in Chuvashia than in Russia as a whole. The Chuvash, more than the Russians, have a noticeable orientation toward settlement and regional identity (“for 60.4% of the Chuvash, the inhabitants of their settlement are their own, while for Russians this figure is 47.6%”).

Among rural residents of the republic, according to the presence of persons with postgraduate, higher and incomplete higher education The Chuvash are ahead of three other ethnic groups (Russians, Tatars, Mordovians). The Chuvash (86%) are characterized by the most pronounced positive attitude towards interethnic marriage (Mordovians - 83%, Russians - 60%, Tatars - 46%). In Chuvashia as a whole, there are no preconditions that could in the future lead to increased interethnic tension. Traditionally, the Chuvash are tolerant of representatives of other faiths, they are distinguished by a restrained expression of their religious feelings, and they have historically been characterized by an external, superficial perception of Orthodoxy.

There is no particular difference in mentality between rural and urban Chuvash. Although it is believed that in rural areas traditional folk culture is better and longer preserved in its original form, without generally losing archaic elements and national specifics, in the context of the Chuvash province, the “city-village” border is recognized by some researchers (Vovina, 2001: 42) as conditional. Despite the strong processes of urbanization and the recent increase in migration flows to the cities, many Chuvash city dwellers maintain connections with the village not only through family relations, but also through spiritual aspirations and ideas about the origins and roots of their family, ties with their native land.

Thus, the main features of the mentality of modern Chuvash are: a developed sense of patriotism, trust in their relatives, recognition of the equality of all before the law, adherence to traditions, non-conflict and peacefulness. It is obvious that the core mental characteristics of the Chuvash people have changed little, contrary to what is observed in modern world the process of leveling national cultures.

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Prepared by E. V. Nikitina