What did Udmurt women do in ancient times. Udmurt people: culture, traditions and customs

Udmurts, Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Permyaks, whose languages ​​are extremely close (perhaps they are outwardly even closer to each other than the Baltic-Finnish ones) and come from a single Permian proto-language, isolated from other Finno-Ugric languages ​​​​known to us for a long time (probably at least three thousand years ago), form Permian a group of peoples united not only by a common origin of their languages, but also by a common historical destinies. In the literature, in relation to Permians, the term is sometimes incorrectly used Finno-Permian peoples, which is impermissible, since the name Finno-Permian has long and legitimately been used to designate all Finno-Ugric languages ​​​​and peoples, excluding the Ugrians, that is, from the Baltic Finns to Permians inclusive. Even less successful are such sometimes occurring names of Permians as Permian Finns or eastern finns, because to Finns these peoples have a very distant relationship (with the same success, Russians, for example, could be called “East Germans”).

The early stages of the genesis of Permians are traditionally associated with Ananyino archaeological culture (more precisely, a cultural and historical community), common in the VIII-III centuries. BC. in the basins of the Kama, Vyatka, Vychegda, in the Kazan and Mari Volga regions and had a strong influence on the ethnic history of the entire forest zone of Eastern Europe (up to Scandinavia) in the Early Iron Age. Probably, at least in some part of the Ananyin tribes, one can see carriers of the Permian proto-language at its early stage. Apparently, agriculture became the basis of the economy of the Permians immediately from the post-Ananyin period, which determined the development of their material and spiritual culture.

Anthropologically, the Permian peoples are heterogeneous, in the genesis of their racial types, apparently, two directions of connections prevailed: the western one, expressed in distribution among all groups of the Komi-Zyryans (to the greatest extent - among the western and northern) White Sea(less - East Baltic) type White Sea-Baltic race, which brings them closer to the Baltic-Finnish peoples and the Mordvin-Erzei, in particular - with the Veps and Karelians - and the southern one, associated with the spread among the Udmurts, Komi-Permyaks, and some southern and central groups of the Komi-Zyryans of a peculiar anthropological type, called subural(according to V.P. Alekseev) or sublaponoid(according to K. Mark) - meaning its proximity to Ural race and to laponoid type; in modern literature, these options are combined under the name sublanonoid Volga-Kama. The sublaponoid type combines the named Permian groups with the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga region: Mordvins-Mokshas, ​​Maris; from actually Uralo-laponoid race it is separated by a clear deviation towards Europeanism, which is apparently due to a significant mixture of types in the past ancient Ural race with Caucasians in the Volga and Ural regions. At the same time, the Old Ural component, which was included in the composition of the Udmurts, was distinguished by a feature (according to G.M. Davydova) of the structure of the nasal skeleton: a higher nose bridge and the absence of a concave nasal bridge.

self-name udmurt(dial. options - urtmurt, udmort, ukmort) is a composite, the second component of which is udm. Murt means “man, man; alien” and, together with the Komi mort“man, man”, goes back to the Perm-Mordovian *mertch , borrowed from the Indo-Iranian languages: In. - Ir. *mbta-"mortal, human." About the first component, ud-, it should be said that, in all likelihood, this is the ancient self-name of the people, reflected in exoethnonyms - cf .: Mar. oIo-(marij)"Udmurt", Russian. votyak< otyak(a form used until the 18th century, where -yak- suffix, another early version - otin, with another suffix)< *ot- . Concerning the origin of the ancient Udmurt *odг- (< *ontг- ) “удмурт (самоназвание)” существуют две версии. Согласно первой (К.Редеи), этот корень сохранён в удмуртском языке в виде нарицательного существительного ud (< * ontg ) “sprout, shoots” and goes back to the Perm-Mari * ontg “shoot, sprout, shoot, young grass, shoots”, which, in turn, is a borrowing from the Indo-Iranian languages ​​- cf. other ind. andha-"grass, greenery, shoot." The transition of the meaning “sprout, shoot, shoots” > ethnonym K. Redei explains by reconstructing the hypothetical (not fixed either in the Udmurt itself, or for related words in other Finno-Ugric languages, or in the Aryan languages) meaning “meadow” for the ancient Udm. *odg- and assuming (again, without factual grounds) that the ancestors of the Udmurts called themselves "meadow people" - like the meadow Mari. The tension of this hypothesis prompted me, in collaboration with S.K. Belykh, to express an alternative hypothesis, according to which the ancient mind. * odr-mort is a composite entirely borrowed from some Iranian language, which in the source language could have the form *ant(a)-mart(a) and literally meant “a person on the outskirts, a resident of the border” (cf. Ossetian addch, andch “outside , outside”, Avest. antkm “extreme”, other ind. anta - "edge, limit, frontier").

Written sources of Udmurts are recorded late. Except for the obviously erroneous ones (such as identifying the people with them Veda“Words about the death of the Russian land”, under which the Mordovian name of the Chuvash is actually hidden - veTke, (gen. pad.) veDeN) or very dubious assumptions, the first mention of the Udmurts, more precisely, of the Udmurt land (Voyatka land), subject to the Kazan Khan should be considered the Russian chronicle story about the campaign of Ivan III to Kazan in 1469. From the middle of the 16th century, the southern Udmurts under the name (c) otyaki or even cheremis, calling otyaki already constantly appear in Russian documents relating to the territory of the Kazan Khanate. Northern Udmurts (more precisely, Nizhnechepetsk) are mentioned under the name (c) otyaki in Russian documents relating to the Vyatka land, since 1521.

Tatars call Udmurts ar . Some researchers (M. Zhirai, V.K. Kelmakov) consider this word to come from the Turkic root *ar “male, husband, man” in the Bulgarian vowel (cf. Chuv. ar “husband, man” with Tatar ir “husband” ), however, from a historical and semantic point of view, this comparison seems at least strange, which casts doubt on its validity. More plausible is the hypothesis of S.K. Belykh, who deduces tat. ar "Udmurt" from Tat. arК “that (opposite) side (of the river)” - through the intermediate form ar(К)lar (plural) “inhabitants of that side”. The attempts of some researchers to see in Aryans, Aryan princes, Aryan people, recorded by Russian documents of the 15th-16th centuries in the Lower Kama region - Prikazan and on the Lower Chepts, Udmurts, on the basis of the similarity of these names with the Tatar name of Udmurts ar, are untenable: these names clearly mean the Ar and Karin (Chepetsk) Tatars, residents or immigrants from the region cities Arska(Tat. arVa - by art-Va “rear, rear”) - the old specific center of the Volga Bulgaria, and then the Kazan Khanate. Of course, one cannot exclude the possibility of being among Aryan people some groups of Udmurts who were dependent on the Arsk Tatar princes, but there are no real indications of this in the sources (see also below).

The formation of the Udmurts went on the basis of the South Permian tribes - the descendants of the creators Ananyino archaeological culture. In the III century BC. on the basis of the late Ananyin in the south is formed Pianoborskaya cultural community, the territory of distribution of which covered areas from the middle reaches of the river. Belaya in the southeast to the Vyatka-Vetluzhsky interfluve in the northwest. Based Pianoborskaya communities in the Vyatka basin (“monuments of the Khudyakov type”) develops azeline culture III-VI centuries. AD, surviving in its late version (“Emanaev culture”) until the 9th century and having a further continuation in the Vyatka monuments such as the Kocherginsky burial ground. These cultures are considered by many researchers as an archaeological analogue of the gradually separating South Permian groups that formed the basis of the Udmurt people: it is on the right bank of the Vyatka and in the Vyatka-Vetluzh interfluve that the ancient contacts of the Mari with the people are localized (March) o I o.

Udmurt tribal legends also testify to the Vyatka basin as the original habitat of the Udmurts. Even in the last century, many groups of Udmurts kept the memory of their belonging to one of the two large Udmurt territorial associations - fleece or Calmez(Today, the names of these associations and the memory of the border between them have been preserved practically only among some groups of northern Udmurts, in particular, among those living in the Uninsky district of the Kirov region, according to which fleece live in villages located along the tributaries of the river. Caps (primarily in the basin of the Kosa River), and kalmes - along the tributaries Kilmez). Vatka in the 19th century inhabited the Cheptsy basin and, according to their legends, came there from the lower reaches of this river, from the middle Vyatka (this is also indicated by the very name of the association - cf. Udm. vatka kam "Vyatka", where kam - "big river" In legends Kalmez(perhaps etymologically related to Udm. k2Lemez “remainder” - the version of S.K. Belykh) the memory of the struggle of their heroes with the people has been preserved Por(Udm. por - “Mari; alien, hostile people”). Kalmez originally settled in the basin of the Kilmez River, by the 19th century they spread quite widely: from the middle reaches of the Cheptsa in the north to the southern (southwestern) regions of Udmurtia in the south. Judging by some toponyms, it is Kalmez the ethnonym od(o) originally existed as a self-name - perhaps due to the settlement of the Kalmezes, who retreated under the pressure of the Mari from the lower Vyatka, this ethnonym of southern origin (see above) penetrated at the end of the first - beginning of the second millennium AD. to all groups of Udmurts and became, in the end, the self-name of the consolidating nationality.

In addition to the Vyatka South Permian tribes (archaeological - the creators Khudyakovo-Azelinsky Emanaevsko-Kocherginsky monuments) also included other Perm (proto-Udmurt) groups - the creators of the post-Ananyin medieval cultures in the north (Polomskaya and emerged on its basis with the participation of Vyatka-Kilmez groups Chepetskaya culture) and in the south (monuments Upper Utchansko-Chumoytlinsky circle) Udmurtia.

In the isolation of the ancestors of the Udmurts from their northern relatives in language, the ancestors of the Komi, the most important role was played by the connections of the South Permian (proto-Udmurt) groups with the Turks. Contacts with the Bulgars and their direct linguistic descendants, the Chuvash, continued from the time they appeared in the Middle Volga region in the 7th-8th centuries. AD and at least until the 14th century (the names of Moscow ( musko ) and Kazan ( kuzon ) in voicing, indicating rather a Chuvash than a Tatar or Russian source) and were reflected in the presence of about two hundred "Bulgarian"(Bulgaro-Chuvash) borrowings in the Udmurt language (at the same time, no more than three dozen such borrowings penetrated into the Komi languages, which indicates either that the final “disintegration” of the Permian proto-language occurred already in the era of early Bulgar-Permian contacts, or, which is more likely - about the fact that Bulgarisms penetrated into Old Komi dialects through the Old Udmurt dialects, and already in the first centuries of the 2nd millennium AD in the north of the Permian area, not the Turkic, but the Old Russian cultural and linguistic influence became dominant, which prevented the assimilation of Turkisms from the south). Contacts of the Udmurts with the Turks speaking the languages ​​of the Kipchak group, primarily the Volga Tatars, began no later than the 14th century and continue to this day. Initially, these contacts took place in two centers: in the south, in the Order, near the city of Arsk (see above), relative to which the Zavyat Udmurts (living on the right bank of the lower Vyatka, in the Kukmor and Baltasinsky regions of Tatarstan and the Mari-Turek region of Mari El ) legends have been preserved that udmurt eksej “Udmurt king” lived there, which may indicate the former stay of a part of the Udmurts in feudal dependence on the Tatar princes of Arsk, and in the north, in the lower and middle reaches of the Cheptsa River, where at least from the beginning of the XU centuries are documented Aryan princes - the ancestors of the Karin or Chepetsk Tatars, who until 1588 had local Udmurts as dependents. Perhaps the penetration of the Turkic feudal lords from Arsk up the Vyatka to Cheptsa took place even in the Bulgar era - in any case, this is evidenced by a find in the Cheptsa basin, in the village of Gordino, Balezinsky district of Udmurtia, of a stone with a Bulgarian epitaph of 1323.

The origin of besermyan(udm. beSerman) - an ethnographic group (in 1993 officially recognized as an independent nationality by the Supreme Council of the Udmurt Republic), living in the north and northwest of Udmurtia. The dialect of the Udmurt language spoken by the Besermen stands apart in the system of modern Udmurt dialects, approaching in various ways with the northern (neighboring), southern and peripheral southern dialects. Features of the material culture of the Besermians (primarily the traditional women's costume) indicate their extremely close ties in the past with the Chuvashs. Therefore, it is obviously not accidental that in the 16th-17th centuries the ancestors of the Besermians who lived along the river. Cap, called in Russian documents Chuvash. At the same time, some features of the spiritual culture of the Besermians (for example, the use of the Arabic formula of addressing Allah in traditional pagan Besermian prayers) may indicate their close contacts in the past with Muslims or even (which, however, is unlikely) about the former confession of Islam by their ancestors. At the same time, it is important that despite the small number and dispersed settlement of this group, they very clearly separate themselves (more precisely, they distance themselves to a certain extent) from the surrounding peoples - the Udmurts and Tatars.

In the word beSerman one should see a distorted ty. * busurman / *b7s7rmen, originating from the Persian moschlmyan < араб. moslem(un) “Muslim” - cf., for example, dialect forms such as Turkmen. muscleman, Turkish. musurman, Kumyk, Balkar busurman, hung. (obsolete, from Turkic) boszormeny, Russian (mouth, from Turkic) Busurman"Muslim". This word came to the Volga Bulgars from Central Asia (cf. name besermini, applied to the inhabitants of Khorezm by the papal nuncio br. John de Plano Carpini in the 13th century) during their adoption of Islam in the 9th century and served until the 15th century as a designation of part of the population of the Volga Bulgaria and the Kazan Khanate ( besermens Russian sources of the XIV-XV centuries), most likely - the descendants of the Bulgars. Some part of the Bulgarian besermen became part of the Karin (Chepetsk) Tatars, as evidenced by historical documents and data from Tatar genealogical legends shedzhere. Their origin should be associated with the areas of Zakazany (Arsk), from where the Besermens came from in the XIV-XVI centuries, fleeing from feudal strife in the Golden Horde, raids by Russian ushkuins and princes, and, finally, as a result of the defeat of the Golden Horde and - including - the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria by Tamerlane at the end of the XIV century, moved up the Vyatka, to the lower reaches of the Cheptsa.

Since 1511, along with Aryans(apparently - the ancestors of the Chepetsk Tatars, immigrants from the Arsk land) and (a little later) votyaks(Udmurts) as dependent on the Arsk princes of the population of the vicinity of the village. Carino on the lower Cap are mentioned in Russian documents Chuvash or (since 1547) Chuvash Arskaya; in the 17th century, this name was gradually replaced by Besermen - we are talking about the ancestors of the modern Besermyans.

Obviously, even on the territory of the Arsk land Bulgars-Besermens must have had close contacts with the southern groups of Udmurts, the ancient inhabitants of these places (see above). It is possible that some part of the southern Udmurts, who were with bssermens in especially close contact, adopted from the ruling group certain features of material and spiritual culture (including some elements of Islam) and an ethnonym, starting to call itself beSerman . It was such an Udmurt group that could be known under the name Chuvash Arskaya Russian documents relating both to the Arsk land and to the lower Cheptsa (see above), and it is with it that the origin of the Besermians can be associated.

If from the south the Udmurts had close ties with the Turks, then in the north, in the middle Vyatka (the region of the cities of Vyatka, Slobodskoy, Nikulitsyn), they came into contact with the Russians quite early. Judging by the archaeological data, the penetration of Russians into the territory of the Vyatka land began in pre-Mongolian times. Both Russian and Udmurt legends testify that the cities of the Vyatka land were founded on the site of the Udmurt “towns”. Apparently, already from the 13th century, it was the pressure of the Russians that forced the Udmurts to unite fleece leave Vyatka up the Cheptsa to the east. Although in the early Russian sources relating to Vyatka and more northern regions (primarily Perm), the Udmurts are not specifically mentioned under any name (for the first mention, see above), one should think that as part of the multinational population of the Vyatka land - which arose in the Middle Vyatka, by the end of the 13th century, an independent state with a veche form of government - the northern Udmurts were present, especially since today the Udmurts live in a number of villages of Slobodsky, Uninsky and neighboring districts of the Kirov region. Since that time (XIII century), we can talk about the beginning of Russian influence on the northern Udmurts, comparable to the Turkic (from about the same time - already actually Tatar) influence on the southern Udmurts, which ultimately led to the final formation of noticeable differences in language and culture northern and southern Udmurts. Naturally, one should not forget about the interaction of the southern Udmurts with the Russians (the first contacts with groups of Eastern Slavs who lived on the territory of the Volga Bulgaria could have taken place as early as the Bulgar time), and about the connections of the northern Udmurts with the Chepetsk Tatars. It should be noted that until the 18th century there were no real attempts to Christianize the Udmurts, even in the north, and the vast majority of them remained pagans.

After the conquest of Vyatka by Moscow in 1489 and after the capture of Kazan by the Russians in 1552, all the Udmurt lands were united as part of the Muscovite state. After 1552, part of the southern Udmurts (mainly - zavyatsky, that is, living on the right, western bank of the Vyatka), fleeing the danger of forced Christianization, like the Mari (and probably together with them) moved to the east, mainly to the lands of the northeast of modern Bashkiria. This is how groups are formed. Zakama Udmurts living today in the south of the Perm region, in Bashkiria, in the Bavlinsky district of Tatarstan and in the Krasnoufimsky district of the Sverdlovsk region, whose dialects, together with the dialects of the Zavyat Udmurts, make up peripheral south dialect of the Udmurt language. A significant part of these Udmurts were not even formally baptized, they adhered to paganism, and their culture and language developed under the strongest Turkic (Tatar and Bashkir) influence.

The mass conversion of the Udmurts to Christianity took place only in the 18th century, while, without touching at all on some southern groups, it had a formal character. Bi-confidence persisted almost everywhere. Until the beginning of the 20th century (in some places still), most of the Udmurts retained the memory of their belonging to territorial-clan religious associations - vorshudam(udm. vorAud, option - Aud vordiS , letters. "guardian of happiness"). The reaction to the growing social and national oppression in the mid-19th - early 20th centuries was the repeated conversion of the Udmurts to Islam, attempts to return to a reformed pagan religion (sects "Lip worshipers", "Vlepyrisey" - from udm. v2Le p2riS "re-entering").

At the end of the 19th century, the Udmurts took part in the migration of the peasant population of Russia to the Urals and Siberia, and these migrations continued into the 20th century. Today there are Udmurt villages and whole clusters of villages in the Urals, Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

refer to Finno-Ugric group of peoples Russia. On the territory of our country, there are about 640 thousand residents. Most of them live in their historical homeland - in Udmurtia. Part of the Udmurts live in the states of the former Soviet Union: in Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine.

Historical roots

Numerous Volga-Kama tribes served as the historical basis for the formation of the ancestors of the Udmurts. Mixing with representatives of other tribes - with the Ugrians and Slavs, Indo-Iranians and late Turks - was reflected in the culture of the ethnos. Noticeable changes in the structure of the Udmurt ethnic group occurred under the influence of the Russian people. Vyatka lands were developed by Russian settlers. Already in the 15th century, the Udmurts were part of the Russian state. The Udmurts living in the southern territories became dependent on the Volga Bulgaria, and only after the fall of the Kazan Khanate did they become part of the Russian state. In history, this event dates back to 1558. From a brief historical background, the conclusion easily suggests itself: the Udmurts fell under the rule of other states several times. Being under the rule of foreign citizenship, the Udmurts inevitably assimilated, i.e. "mixed": the southern tribes with the Russians, and the northern Udmurts with the Tatars. However, thanks to Russian patronage, the Udmurts survived as a nation.

Where did the word "Udmurt" come from?

The Russians gave the nickname to the Udmurts - " votyaks”, by the name of the place of their settlement. Historians still cannot determine exactly where the word "Udmurts" came from then. Some scientists have suggested that "oud" is green seedlings in the meadows, translated from the Mari dialect. " Murt” in translation from Indo-Iranian - a man, a man.

National character of the Udmurts

The ancestors of the Udmurts led a traditional way of life: men worked in the fields and in the forests, and women followed the family life, knitted, spun, embroidered. An interesting version was put forward by researchers about the psychotype of the Udmurts. In their opinion, the Udmurt is a calm, balanced person with an unflappable temperament. The historical way of occupation of the Udmurt settlements influenced the national character. For a long time I had to spend in the forest harvesting wood. The work required responsibility, a measured approach, and excluded fuss.

Holidays and rituals

Family affairs were especially revered by the Udmurts, so many customs are associated with the most significant episodes: the birth of the first child, a wedding celebration, and the commemoration of the dead. Calendar and ceremonial rituals were carried out in order to appease nature in order to subsequently receive a rich harvest. Pagan roots can be traced in many customs: spells, sacrifices, magical rites. Holiday Tolsur- This is the Udmurt Harvest Day. Funny games, songs and dances, a rich festive table with treats are in every home. Maslenitsa is popularly called howl of holes. In addition to traditional pancakes, costumed dressing up, “bear dances”, horseback riding, fortune telling are arranged here. The ritual of expelling Shaitan means fighting an evil spirit that can harm loved ones. On holiday Akayashka, which lasts three days, they try to free the dwelling from evil spirits.

Treats of the Udmurts

In the Udmurt kitchen, the hostess lovingly prepares treats for guests. Feeding a guest is a tradition of the people. The aroma of fresh bread, crispy national pancakes shanezhki”, pies with different fillings will make you hungry as soon as you cross the threshold of the Udmurt house. Pork is not popular in these places, beef, lamb, duck meat are more valued. And the story of everyone's favorite dumplings began, by the way, right here. People called them " bear's ear”, and in the capital of Udmurtia there is even a monument dedicated to this dish. In addition to the traditional minced meat, the Udmurts use different fillings for dumplings in cooking: minced mushrooms, vegetable mixture, fish pate. But there are not enough desserts and sweet treats in the national cuisine. The abundance of fragrant berries, fragrant honey, pastries filled this niche. Kvass was made from honey, honey drinks were added to flour products.

The second place in terms of numbers in the group of Finno-Ugric peoples is occupied by the Udmurts. According to official statistics, more than half a million of them live in Russia - in and in neighboring regions. The culture of this people has been formed over many centuries, in the northern part of Udmurtia Russian prevails, and in the southern - Turkic.

As for the question of what religion the Udmurts profess, there are several branches here, most of the people profess the Orthodox faith, but there are also those who. Moreover, it is worth paying attention that paganism was widespread here for quite a long time.

Paganism in Udmurtia

Udmurtia, like other Finno-Ugric republics, was predisposed to paganism. Christianity began to penetrate in the XIII century in the northern regions of Udmurtia. However, it was not fully accepted by the local population because of the rituals of baptism they did not understand, the reading of rather long and complex prayers, and ignorance of the language of worship. Therefore, most of the population remained pagans for quite a long period of time. But it was all in the northern part, where there was the influence of Rus'.

The southern part of Udmurtia was under Turkic pressure for a very long time, until the defeat of the Kazan Khanate. Particular pressure on religion was felt by the Udmurts, who were part of the Volga Bulgaria, and a little later they were part of the Golden Horde. But the Udmurts were so devoted to paganism that even with the strong pressure of Islam, most of the population did not change their faith.

Development of Christianity

The first document testifying to the appearance of Christianity in Udmurtia is dated 1557. At that time, immediately 17 families of Udmurtia were baptized and became Orthodox, in response to this, Ivan the Terrible granted them some privileges with a royal charter.

Then, a little over 100 years later, on the territory of Udmurtia, there was an attempt to enlist this people into Orthodoxy on a massive scale. The government of that time decided to build a fairly large number of Orthodox churches in Udmurtia. Missionaries were sent to the settlements, who were engaged in propaganda and the construction of not only churches, but also schools.

But it is worth noting that, nevertheless, the pagan religion of the Udmurts was firmly entrenched in the blood, and for several more centuries the Christianization of the population was carried out with harsh measures. Many people who worshiped paganism were subjected to repression, their cemeteries and sacred groves were destroyed, and the process of Christianization itself was very, very slow.

Orthodoxy in the XVIII-XIX centuries

In 1818, for the first time, a Bible committee was opened here, where not only priests from Russia worked, but also Udmurt priests were involved in the affairs. Over the next five years, colossal work was done, resulting in the translation of the four Gospels.

It is worth noting that they did not violently resist Orthodoxy, as, for example, it was in Mordovia. Most of the population remained pagans, but the resistance was passive and closed.

During these years, there was a gradual Christianization without serious obstacles and struggle of the population. However, according to historical data, two anti-Christian communities operated on the territory of Udmurtia.

Fighters against Orthodoxy

In the 19th century, there were two movements in the republic at once, the main idea of ​​which was to turn the local population against Christianity. One of them was a sect - "Vylepyrisi". The heads of this community were priests and magicians, they were engaged in intimidation of the population and furiously urged everyone to join them. If they do not do this, then a black streak will come in their life, full of troubles.

This new religion of the Udmurts was opposed to everything Russian, and everyone in this community was forbidden to wear red clothes, moreover, it was impossible to have any contact with Russians.

In the middle of the 19th century, another sect appeared - "Lip worshipers", which was against all other faiths, including paganism, popular among the people. This community did not recognize anything but the use of kumyshka (national vodka) and beer near the sacred linden, and there was also a complete ban on communicating with people of other faiths.

A turning point in religion

Thanks to the Multan case, paganism in Udmurtia began to decline. In 1892, several young people were accused of committing human sacrifice. It was then that most of the population realized that this type of worship had become obsolete.

Many convinced citizens still believe that this case was falsified by the government of that time so that the local population eventually became Orthodox. But many people changed their minds about faith, and some were still steadfast in their beliefs.

In 1917, a fairly large number of Russian settlers lived on the territory of modern Udmurtia. Thanks to this, among the Udmurt people there were even more people who were Christians. A very popular person at that time was Grigory Vereshchagin, an Udmurt priest. Divine services of that time were held in Russian and Udmurt.

It is worth noting that most of the population of that time were two-believers. That is, they attended churches, but at the same time combined pagan concepts with Orthodox ones. There were not so many true fans of paganism at that time. But those who were, became inactive and did not propagate their beliefs among the local population.

Religion of the 20th century in Udmurtia

In the 1920s, the Udmurt Autonomous Republic was created. Quite educated people and the so-called intelligentsia appear in this place. All who are faithful to paganism are not despised, and there is no pressure on them from the authorities. However, after only about 10 years, the persecution and destruction of the local intelligentsia began again in this area. The priests instantly became enemies of the people, and everyone who fell into the hands of the authorities was repressed.

It was forbidden to arrange prayers, village and family sanctuaries were destroyed, sacred groves were cut down. During many persecutions, the state of the republic became simply deplorable. There were colossal rates of alcoholism among the local population, the birth rate was lower than that of Russians. In the cities, everything possible was done to Russify them, and the native Udmurts were rather low-skilled specialists.

Such oppression lasted for about 50 years, and only with the onset of the 80s did a large number of cultural movements appear in the republic that want to revive their nation. The search for religion is going on in the restoration of the nationality, for several years there was some uncertainty in this regard in the republic, but with the onset of 1989, a wave of Orthodoxy still begins here.

Archbishops of the Republic

At that time, Archbishop Palladius came to the diocese, who began the restoration of Orthodoxy, but was not very active in this difficult task. After 4 years, the diocese was headed by Archbishop Nicholas, who achieved incredible success in a few years.

In just three years, the number of parishioners increased exponentially, educated people began to appear, and at that time three convents were opened, which are still working today. Moreover, a Sunday school was launched, and the first issues of the newspaper "Orthodox Udmurtia" began to appear. Archbishop Nicholas established cooperation with local authorities and most of the intelligentsia. The Orthodox religion of the Udmurts of that time was going through its best times.

Culture of Udmurtia

As already reported, the culture of this people was formed under the influence of two different factors. Thanks to this, this region has special costumes, traditions and customs.

National costumes

Even 100 years ago, the national costumes of this people were made at home from materials such as sheepskin and cloth. An Udmurt woman from the northern region wore a white linen shirt with an embroidered bib (somewhat similar to a tunic). She wore a large dressing gown with a belt.

In the southern part of the republic, the national dress is different. A linen shirt is also present here, but sleeveless jackets or a camisole are put on it. Pants must be worn under the shirt. All clothes must be colored, as white was only for special occasions. It could be decorated with embroidery on the arms and chest.

Hats

Women's hats are distinguished by their diversity. From these clothes, you can determine a lot about the owner: age, marital status, status.

Married women are required to wear "yyrkerttet" - a head towel with the ends rolled up. A distinctive feature of such a headdress is that the ends of the towel should go down to the back. Also, married women can wear a high birch bark hat with a bedspread, it should be sheathed with canvas, and also decorated with coins.

Girls wear a headband - “ukotug”, or a canvas hat (it should be small).

Cuisine of Udmurtia

The most common food among this people is bread, soups and cereals. In the old days, meat and dairy dishes were considered winter food, and they were prepared only in autumn and winter. Various vegetables were also popular, they were consumed in almost any form: raw, boiled, baked, stewed.

If there was any holiday, then honey, sour cream and eggs were served on the table. By the way, one of the most popular which has survived to this day is dumplings.

It is worth noting that thanks to the Eurovision Song Contest and the performances of Buranovskiye Babushki, several national recipes have come out into the world, for example, baked goods, which previously could only be tasted on the territory of Udmurtia.

The national drink of this people was bread and beet kvass, beer and mead. Of course, each nationality has its own national alcoholic drink, the Udmurts have kumyshka (bread moonshine).

Religion and customs of the Udmurts

It is worth noting that Udmurtia is a republic in which there were a lot of pagans who existed throughout the entire time, they succumbed to persecution and repression, but never gave up. At present, the religion of the Udmurts is Orthodoxy, but in the countryside one can still meet a fairly large number of the population, which to this day are pagans.

People with such faith perform various ritual acts. So, for example, before each family had a “kuala” building in the yard. The local population believed that a vorshud lives in it - the patron spirit of the clan. All families sacrificed various foods to him.

On holidays in Kuala, the priests performed various rituals to honor the gods, and families also participated in them. During their ritual, the priests asked the gods for good weather, harvest, health, material well-being, and much more. After that, ritual porridge was prepared on the cauldron, which was first sacrificed to the gods, and then it was eaten by all participants in this ritual. This action is quite popular in Udmurtia, and it is believed that every family should ask the spirits for well-being and sacrifice various gifts to them.

Be sure to have a sacred grove in every village, where various rituals and prayers could be held several times throughout the year. It was possible to visit it only on specially allotted days, and it was strictly forbidden to collect berries and other fruits from it. It was also not allowed to graze cattle in the sacred grove, in general, no one was allowed to visit this place, only for rituals, on specially designated days.

In the center of this place was a tree, to the roots of which various gifts were buried for sacrifice to their spirits living underground. Usually the victims were birds or animals. It is worth noting that in some villages to this day prayer days are held in sacred groves.

Conclusion

Udmurtia is a republic that has been moving towards the formation of Orthodoxy for a long time. However, the head of the Udmurt Republic (now temporarily in this post declares that paganism has recently been reviving again, according to statistics, today 7% of the population are pagans.

Therefore, the church is trying not to miss what it has been achieving for centuries, in every possible way trying to protect modern youth from old beliefs. The head also said that such a trend is not observed in cities, and paganism is being revived only in small settlements.

Udmurts are a Finno-Ugric people in Russia, the indigenous population of Udmurtia. According to the 2002 census, 637,000 Udmurts live in the Russian Federation. In addition to Udmurtia, this people lives in Belarus.
The Volga-Kama tribes served as the basis for the formation of the ancient Udmurts. Subsequently, there was a mixture of Udmurts with Indo-Iranians, Ugrians, Slavs, late Turks, and so on. In the north, the Russians had a noticeable influence on the Udmurts, in 1489 the northern Udmurts became part of the Russian centralized state.

The southern Udmurts fell under the rule of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria, later - the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate, and with the fall of the latter in 1552 they were annexed to the Russian state. In 1920, the Votskaya Autonomy was formed, renamed in 1932 into the Udmurt Autonomous Okrug, since 1991 - the Udmurt Republic.

The Udmurt women's costume of the early 20th century consisted of a white canvas shirt with straight sleeves with gussets, with a triangular or oval neckline on the chest, closed with a removable embroidered bib. A short-sleeved white linen robe was worn over the shirt. They were belted with a woven or woven belt and an apron.

Southern Udmurts at the beginning of the twentieth century wore white clothes in exceptional cases, during ritual actions, for all other cases they sewed derems from motley, expanding to the bottom and ending in a frill. The chest of the shirt was decorated with an appliqué of colored chintz. A camisole or sleeveless jacket was worn over a shirt. The southern Udmurts sewed an apron with a high breast. Outerwear - semi-woolen and woolen caftans and fur coats. Shoes - patterned stockings, knitted or sewn canvas socks, bast shoes with patterned woolen frills, or felt boots.

Hats- a headband, a kind of towel with woven ends that go down to the back, a high birch bark hat trimmed with canvas and decorated with coins, beads, shells - an analogue of the Russian kokoshnik. An embroidered veil was thrown over him. The girls wore a headscarf, a headband, a small canvas cap decorated with embroidery, beads, metal plaques or small coins on their heads.

Women's jewelry: pectorals made of coins, beads, cross-shoulder kamali bandages, butmar, earrings, rings, rings, bracelets, beads, necklaces. White canvas clothes were decorated with embroidery along the hem, on the chest and sleeves. The girls wove braids with coins and beads. In the decorations of the northern Udmurts, embroidery, beads and beads prevailed, in the southern ones - coins.

Men's clothing: white, later variegated shirt-kosovorotka, trousers from variegated, more often blue with white stripes. Belted with belts or woolen woven belts. Men's hats - felted hats, sheepskin hats. Shoes - canvas or woolen onuchi, bast shoes, boots, felt boots. Outer warm clothes did not differ from women's.

Since ancient times, the Udmurts had only two main forms of economy: agriculture and animal husbandry. The soil on the territory occupied by the Udmurts was perfect for growing erysipelas, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, peas, millet, hemp, flax and other things. Of course, in almost every yard there was a garden where residents grew vegetables and berries, but this was only of a domestic nature.

Udmurt men were excellent hunters, fishermen and beekeepers. Their villages were located near the forest, so there was no shortage of animals. In addition, crafts and crafts have been well developed since ancient times: woodworking, timber harvesting, tar smoking, charcoal burning, flour milling, and the like. Women were mainly engaged in the manufacture of cloth, spun, wove, embroidered, knitted. Almost all clothes were made by hand at home. Some of the products were sold to other villages.

In the eighteenth century, the metalworking industry quickly began to develop in Udmurtia, which led to the fact that part of the population left their usual occupations and switched to production. At first, the Udmurts were involved only in auxiliary work, but over time their status increased significantly.

Traditional Udmurt food

The diet of the Udmurts consisted of vegetable products in combination with animals. Being engaged in gathering, Udmurts prepare food from mushrooms, berries and herbs.

Baking is dominated by: sour bread, sour cakes with milk gravy, pancakes with butter and porridge, unleavened dough cheesecakes with various fillings - meat, mushroom, cabbage, and so on.

The most favorite dish of the Udmurts are meat, cabbage, potato, cottage cheese and other stuffed dumplings. Soups are often cooked: with sour dough, noodles, mushrooms, peas, cereals and cabbage; ear; cabbage soup from wild greens. Okroshka with horseradish and radish are popular.

Traditional porridge from different cereals, sometimes mixed with peas. Dairy foods: curdled milk, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese. Sweet foods - from honey, hemp seed. Udmurts drink bread and beet kvass, beer, mead, moonshine, berry fruit drinks. The meat was consumed dried, baked, but mostly boiled.

The main social unit of the traditional Udmurt society was the neighborhood community, consisting of several of several associations of kindred families. Such a family had common property, ran a joint household, and lived on the same estate. During the division, those who separated settled in the neighborhood, forming related nests. Relative and neighborly mutual assistance was widely used when it was necessary to build a house in a short time, harvest crops, sow fields, and the like.

The settlements of the Udmurts (they were called "herd") were located mainly in a chain along rivers, near springs. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Udmurt herds were built around the family estate, forming a cumulus settlement layout. In the second half of the 19th century, according to government decrees, street planning was introduced, while relatives settled in the neighborhood, forming a street.

The traditional dwelling of the Udmurts is a ground log hut with a vestibule. The corners of the house were cut “in the cloud”, the grooves were laid with moss or tow. At the beginning of the 20th century, wealthy families set up five-wall houses, consisting of winter and summer halves, or two-story houses. The Udmurt hut corresponded to the North Central Russian layout. An adobe oven (gur) was placed at the entrance with a mouth to the front wall. On the hearth they arranged a hearth with a cauldron for cooking.

Massive benches stretched along the walls, shelves above them. They fell on the bunk. In the summer they lived in an unheated one- or two-story cage (chum). They were often placed under the same roof with the hut, connecting them with a passage, or separately, opposite the hut, on the other side of the yard. In each courtyard there was a religious building for family prayers. It also served as a summer kitchen.

The typical layout of the estate was in the form of the letter "P", less often "G". The street side of the estate was made up of the facade of the house and the blank wall of the household barn, connected by a fence with a gate. The platbands of the windows and the pillars of the gates were decorated with solar patterns using the technique of trihedral notched carving.

The life of the Udmurt villages was based on calendar and ritual holidays, which were closely connected with important stages of agricultural work.

Each of the holidays has always been accompanied by ritual sacrifices, prayer and song spells, various magical actions designed to ward off misfortunes and failures, ensure the fertility of the land and livestock, and the like. But the holiday had a continuation. After performing all the ritual actions, the people arranged a fun festivity with round dances, games, and dances. The village community led the preparation and holding of the holidays.

In the nineteenth century, the Udmurts adopted Orthodoxy, and this fact significantly changed their lives and traditional holidays. At the end of the 19th century, their holding was more often timed to coincide with the days of church holidays, for example, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and so on. Gradually, the names of traditional Udmurt holidays were replaced by church ones or were used on a par with them. Until now, the Udmurts include elements of pre-Christian rituals in the celebration.