Orthodox Finno-Ugric people. Development of Finno-Ugric culture in Russia

Finno-Ugrians are not the largest language group in terms of numbers, but they are quite large in terms of the number of peoples. Most peoples live partially or completely on the territory of Russia.
Some number hundreds of thousands (Mordvins, Mari, Udmurts), while others can be counted on one hand (as of 2002, only 73 people calling themselves Vods were registered in Russia). However, most of the speakers of Finno-Ugric languages live outside of Russia. First of all, these are Hungarians (about 14.5 million people), Finns (about 6 million) and Estonians (about a million).

Our country represents the largest diversity of Finno-Ugric peoples. These are primarily the Volga-Finnish subgroup (Mordovians and Mari), the Perm subgroup (Udmurts, Komi-Permyaks and Komi-Zyrians) and the Ob subgroup (Khanty and Mansi). Also in Russia there are almost all representatives of the Baltic-Finnish subgroup (Ingrians, Setos, Karelians, Vepsians, Izhorians, Vodians and Sami).
Old Russian chronicles preserved the names of three more peoples that have not reached our time and, apparently, were completely assimilated by the Russian population: the Chud, who lived along the banks of the Onega and Northern Dvina, the Merya, in the area between the Volga and Oka rivers, and the Murom, in the Oka basin.

Also, the archaeological and ethnographic expedition of the Dalnekonstantinovsky Museum of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Nizhny Novgorod University is now studying in detail another ethnic subgroup of the Mordovians that disappeared quite recently - the Teryukhans, who lived in the south of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
The most numerous Finno-Ugric peoples have their own republics and autonomous okrugs within Russia - the republics of Mordovia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Karelia, Komi and Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug).

Where do they live?

Originally living in the Urals and Western Siberia, the Finno-Ugrians eventually settled west and north of their ancestral lands - right up to modern Estonia and Hungary. At the moment, there are four main areas of their settlement: the Scandinavian, Kola Peninsulas and the Baltic states; the middle reaches of the Volga and the lower reaches of the Kama; Northern Urals and Northern Ob region; Hungary. However, over time, the boundaries of Finno-Ugric settlement become less and less clear. This is especially evident in the last 50 years, and this process is connected with labor migration both within the country (from villages to cities) and interstate (especially after the creation of the European Union).

Languages and Anbur

Language is actually one of the main characteristics of this community, otherwise it is hardly possible to say simply by appearance that Hungarians, Estonians and Mansi are relatives. There are about 35 Finno-Ugric languages in total, divided into just two subbranches:
Ugric - Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi; Finno-Perm - all the rest, including the dead Murom, Meryan, Meshchera, Kemi-Sami and Akkala languages. According to researchers and linguists, all current Finno-Ugric languages had common ancestor, called Proto-Finno-Ugric language for linguistic classification. The oldest known written monument (late 12th century) is the so-called “Funeral Oration and Prayer,” which is written in Latin in Old Hungarian.
We will be more interested in the so-called Anbur - ancient Permian writing, which was used on the territory of Perm the Great in the 14th–17th centuries by the peoples inhabiting it: Komi-Permyaks, Komi-Zyryans and Russians. It was created by the Russian Orthodox missionary, Ustyug resident Stefan of Perm in 1372 on the basis of the Russian, Greek alphabets and tamga - runic Perm symbols.
Anbur was necessary for the Muscovites to communicate with their new neighbors in the east and northeast, since the Moscow state systematically and quite quickly expanded in the direction, as usual, baptizing new citizens. The latter, by the way, were not particularly against it (if we are talking about Permians and Zyryans). However, with the gradual expansion of the Moscow principality and the inclusion of all of Perm the Great, Anbur is completely replaced by the Russian alphabet, since, in general, all literate people in those places already speak Russian. In the 15th–16th centuries, this writing was still used in some places, but as secret writing - it was a kind of cipher, with which a very limited number of people were familiar. By the 17th century, Anbur completely went out of circulation.

Finno-Ugric holidays and customs

Currently, the majority of Finno-Ugric peoples are Christians. Russians are Orthodox, Hungarians are mostly Catholics, and the Baltic peoples are Protestants. However, there are many Finno-Ugric Muslims in Russia. Also, traditional beliefs have recently been revived: shamanism, animism and the cult of ancestors.
As usually happens during Christianization, the local holiday calendar coincided with the church calendar, churches and chapels were erected on the site of sacred groves, and the cult of locally revered saints was introduced.
The pre-Christian religion of the Finno-Ugrians was polytheistic - there was a supreme god (usually the god of the sky), as well as a galaxy of “smaller” gods: the sun, earth, water, fertility... All peoples had different names for the gods: in the case of the supreme deity, god The sky was called Yumala among the Finns, Taevataat among the Estonians, and Yumo among the Mari.
Moreover, for example, among the Khanty, who were mainly engaged in fishing, the “fish” gods were more revered, but among the Mansi, who were mainly engaged in hunting, various forest animals (bear, elk) were revered. That is, all peoples set priorities depending on their needs. Religion was quite utilitarian. If the sacrifices made to some idol did not have an effect, then the same Mansi could easily flog him with a whip.
Also, some of the Finno-Ugrians still practice dressing up in animal masks during holidays, which also takes us back to the times of totemism.
The Mordovians, who are mainly engaged in agriculture, have a highly developed cult of plants - the ritual significance of bread and porridge, which were obligatory in almost all rituals, is still great. Traditional holidays of the Mordovians are also associated with agriculture: Ozim-Purya - a prayer for harvesting grain on September 15, a week later for Ozim-Purya the Molyans of Keremet, near Kazanskaya they celebrate Kaldaz-Ozks, Velima-biva (secular beer).

The Mari celebrate U Ii Payrem (New Year) from December 31 to January 1. Shortly before this, Shorykyol (Christmastide) is celebrated. Shorykyol is also called "sheep's foot". This is because on this day the girls went from house to house and always went into the sheepfolds and pulled the sheep by the legs - this was supposed to ensure well-being in the household and family. Shorykyol is one of the most famous Mari holidays. It is celebrated during the winter solstice (from December 22) after the new moon.
Roshto (Christmas) is also celebrated, accompanied by a procession of mummers led by the main characters - Vasli kuva-kugyza and Shorykyol kuva-kugyza.
In the same way, almost all local traditional holidays are timed to coincide with church holidays.

It should also be noted that it was the Mari who gave a strong rebuff to Christian missionaries and still visit sacred groves and sacred trees on traditional holidays, conducting rituals there.
Among the Udmurts, traditional holidays were also timed to coincide with church, as well as agricultural work and the days of the winter and summer solstices, spring and autumn equinoxes.
For Finns, the most important are Christmas (as for decent Christians) and Midsummer (Juhannus). Juhannus in Finland is the holiday of Ivan Kupala in Rus'. As in Russia, the Finns believe that this is a holiday in honor of John the Baptist, but it is immediately clear that this is a pagan holiday that was never able to eradicate itself, and the church found a compromise. Like ours, on Midsummer's Day young people jumped over the fire, and girls threw wreaths on the water - whoever catches the wreath will be the groom.
This day is also revered by Estonians.

The Karsikko ritual among the Karelians and Finns is very interesting. Karsikko is a tree that is cut or felled in a special way (necessarily coniferous). The ritual can be associated with almost any significant event: wedding, death of an important and respected person, good hunting.
Depending on the situation, the tree was cut down or all its branches were completely cut off. They could have left one branch or just the tip. All this was decided on an individual basis, known only to the performer of the ritual. After the ceremony, the tree was monitored. If his condition did not worsen and the tree continued to grow, this meant happiness. If not - grief and misfortune.

Finno-Ugric peoples are one of the largest ethno-linguistic communities in Europe. In Russia alone there live 17 peoples of Finno-Ugric origin. The Finnish Kalevala inspired Tolkien, and Izhora fairy tales inspired Alexander Pushkin.

Who are the Finno-Ugrians?

Finno-Ugrians are one of the largest ethno-linguistic communities in Europe. It includes 24 nations, 17 of which live in Russia. The Sami, Ingrian Finns and Seto live both in Russia and abroad.
Finno-Ugric peoples are divided into two groups: Finnish and Ugric. Their total number today is estimated at 25 million people. Of these, there are about 19 million Hungarians, 5 million Finns, about a million Estonians, 843 thousand Mordovians, 647 thousand Udmurts and 604 thousand Mari.

Where do Finno-Ugric people live in Russia?

Taking into account the current labor migration, we can say that everywhere, however, the most numerous Finno-Ugric peoples have their own republics in Russia. These are peoples such as Mordovians, Udmurts, Karelians and Mari. There are also autonomous okrugs of the Khanty, Mansi and Nenets.

The Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, where Komi-Permyaks were in the majority, was united with the Perm region into the Perm Territory. The Finno-Ugric Vepsians in Karelia have their own national volost. Ingrian Finns, Izhoras and Selkups do not have an autonomous territory.

Is Moscow a Finno-Ugric name?

According to one hypothesis, the oikonym Moscow is of Finno-Ugric origin. From the Komi language “mosk”, “moska” is translated into Russian as “cow, heifer”, and “va” is translated as “water”, “river”. Moscow in this case is translated as “cow river”. The popularity of this hypothesis was brought by its support by Klyuchevsky.

Russian historian of the 19th-20th centuries Stefan Kuznetsov also believed that the word “Moscow” was of Finno-Ugric origin, but assumed that it came from the Meryan words “mask” (bear) and “ava” (mother, female). According to this version, the word “Moscow” is translated as “bear”.
Today, these versions, however, are refuted, since they do not take into account the ancient form of the oikonym “Moscow”. Stefan Kuznetsov used data from the Erzya and Mari languages; the word “mask” appeared in the Mari language only in the 14th-15th centuries.

Such different Finno-Ugrians

The Finno-Ugric peoples are far from homogeneous, either linguistically or anthropologically. Based on language, they are divided into several subgroups. The Permian-Finnish subgroup includes the Komi, Udmurts and Besermyans. The Volga-Finnish group is the Mordovians (Erzyans and Mokshans) and the Mari. The Balto-Finns include: Finns, Ingrian Finns, Estonians, Setos, Kvens in Norway, Vods, Izhorians, Karelians, Vepsians and descendants of the Meri. Also, the Khanty, Mansi and Hungarians belong to a separate Ugric group. The descendants of the medieval Meshchera and Murom most likely belong to the Volga Finns.

The peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have both Caucasian and Mongoloid characteristics. The Ob Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi), part of the Mari, and the Mordovians have more pronounced Mongoloid features. The rest of these traits are either equally divided, or the Caucasian component is dominant.

What do haplogroups say?

Genetic studies show that every second Russian Y chromosome belongs to haplogroup R1a. It is characteristic of all Baltic and Slavic peoples (except for the southern Slavs and northern Russians).

However, among the inhabitants of the North of Russia, the characteristic Finnish group peoples haplogroup N3. In the very north of Russia, its percentage reaches 35 (the Finns have an average of 40 percent), but the further south you go, the lower this percentage is. In Western Siberia, the related N3 haplogroup N2 is also common. This suggests that in the Russian North there was not a mixing of peoples, but a transition of the local Finno-Ugric population to the Russian language and Orthodox culture.

What fairy tales were read to us?

The famous Arina Rodionovna, Pushkin’s nanny, is known to have had a strong influence on the poet. It is noteworthy that she was of Finno-Ugric origin. She was born in the village of Lampovo in Ingria.
This explains a lot in understanding Pushkin's fairy tales. We have known them since childhood and believe that they are originally Russian, but their analysis suggests that the storylines of some Pushkin's fairy tales go back to Finno-Ugric folklore. For example, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is based on the fairy tale “Wonderful Children” from the Vepsian tradition (Vepsians are a small Finno-Ugric people).

Pushkin's first major work, the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". One of its main characters is Elder Finn, a wizard and sorcerer. The name, as they say, speaks volumes. Philologist Tatyana Tikhmeneva, compiler of the book “The Finnish Album,” also noted that the connection of the Finns with witchcraft and clairvoyance was recognized by all nations. The Finns themselves recognized the ability for magic as superior to strength and courage and revered it as wisdom. It is no coincidence that the main character of Kalevala, Väinemöinen, is not a warrior, but a prophet and poet.

Naina, another character in the poem, also bears traces of Finno-Ugric influence. In Finnish, woman is "nainen".
Another interesting fact. Pushkin, in a letter to Delvig in 1828, wrote: “By the new year, I will probably return to you in Chukhlyandia.” This is what Pushkin called St. Petersburg, obviously recognizing the primordial Finno-Ugric peoples on this land.

The peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have inhabited the territories of Europe and Siberia for more than ten thousand years, since Neolithic times. Today, the number of speakers of Finno-Ugric languages exceeds 20 million people, and they are citizens of Russia and a number of European countries - modern representatives of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group live in Western and Central Siberia, Central and Northern Europe. The Finno-Ugric peoples are an ethno-linguistic community of peoples, including the Mari, Samoyeds, Sami, Udmurts, Ob Ugrians, Erzyans, Hungarians, Finns, Estonians, Livs, etc.

Some peoples of the Finno-Ugric group created their own states (Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Latvia), and some live in multinational states. Despite the fact that the cultures of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group were significantly influenced by the beliefs of the ethnic groups living with them on the same territory, and the Christianization of Europe, the Finno-Ugric peoples still managed to preserve a layer of their original culture and religion.

Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group before Christianization

IN pre-Christian era The peoples of the Finno-Ugric group lived separately, over a vast territory, and representatives of different peoples had practically no contact with each other. Therefore, it is natural that the dialects and nuances of traditions and beliefs among different peoples of this group differed significantly: for example, despite the fact that both Estonians and Mansi belong to the Finno-Ugric peoples, it cannot be said that there is much in their beliefs and traditions general. The formation of the religion and way of life of each ethnic group was influenced by environmental conditions and the way of life of the people, so it is not surprising that the beliefs and traditions of the ethnic groups living in Siberia differed significantly from the religion of the Finno-Ugric peoples living in Western Europe.

There was no Finno-Ugric group in the religions of the peoples, so historians take all information about the beliefs of this ethnic group from folklore - oral folk art, which was recorded in the epics and legends of different peoples. And the most famous epics, from which modern historians draw knowledge about beliefs, are the Finnish “Kalevala” and the Estonian “Kalevipoeg”, which describe in sufficient detail not only gods and traditions, but also the exploits of heroes of different times.

Despite the presence of a certain difference between the beliefs of different peoples of the Finno-Ugric group, there is much in common between them. All of these religions were polytheistic, and most of the gods were associated with either natural phenomena, or with cattle breeding and agriculture - the main occupations of the Finno-Ugrians. The supreme deity was considered the god of the sky, whom the Finns called Yumala, the Estonians - Taevataat, the Mari - Yumo, the Udmurts - Inmar, and the Sami - Ibmel. Also, the Finno-Ugrians revered the deities of the sun, moon, fertility, earth and thunder; Representatives of each nation called their deities in their own way, but the general characteristics of the gods, besides their names, did not have too many differences. In addition to polytheism and similar gods, all religions of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have the following common characteristics:

Ancestor cult - all representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples believed in the existence of the immortal soul of man, as well as in the fact that residents of the afterlife can influence the lives of living people and, in exceptional cases, help their descendants
Cults of gods and spirits associated with nature and earth (A nimism) - since the food of the majority of the peoples of Siberia and Europe directly depended on the offspring of farmed animals and the harvest of cultivated plants, it is not surprising that many peoples of the Finno-Ugric group had many traditions and rituals intended to appease the spirits of nature
Elements of shamanism - as in, in the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups, the role of intermediaries between the world of people and the spiritual world was performed by shamans.

Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group in modern times

After the Christianization of Europe, as well as an increase in the number of adherents of Islam at the beginning of the first half of the second millennium AD, more and more people belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples began to profess any of them, leaving the beliefs of their ancestors in the past. Now only a small part of the Finno-Ugric people profess traditional pagan beliefs and shamanism, while the majority have adopted the faith of the peoples living with them on the same territory. For example, the overwhelming majority of Finns and Estonians, like citizens of other European countries, are Christians (Catholics, Orthodox or Lutherans), and among the representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples inhabiting the Urals and Siberia, there are many adherents of Islam.

Today, ancient animistic religions and shamanism are in the most full form preserved by the Udmurts, Mari and Samoyed peoples - the indigenous inhabitants of western and central Siberia. However, it cannot be said that the Finno-Ugric people completely forgot their traditions, because they retained a number of rituals and beliefs, and even the traditions of some Christian holidays among the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group were closely intertwined with ancient pagan customs.

Finno-Ugric peoples

Number and range
Settlement of Finno-Ugur peoples
Total: 25,000,000 people 9 416 000 4 849 000 3 146 000—3 712 000 1 888 000 1 433 000 930 000 520 500 345 500 315 500 293 300 156 600 40 000 250—400

Finno- Ugric peoples -

After Slavic and Turkic this group of peoples is the third largest among everyone peoples Russia . Out of 25 million Finno-Ugrians There are more than 3 million planets now living on territories Russia. In our country they are represented by 16 nations, five of which have their own national-state, and two - national-territorial entities. The rest are dispersed throughout the country.

According to the 1989 census, in Russia there were 3,184,317 representatives Finno-Ugric peoples Of these, the number of Mordvins was 1,072,939 people, Udmurts - 714,833, Mari- 643698, Komi - 336309, Komi - Permyaks - 147269, Karelians - 124921, Khanty - 22283, Vepsians - 12142, Mansi- 8279, Izhorians - 449. In addition, 46390 Estonians, 47102 Finns, 1835 Sami, 5742 Hungarians, and other representatives of small numbers lived here Finno-Ugric peoples and ethnic groups, such as Setos, Livs, water etc.

A significant part Finno-Ugrians lives in "titular" subjects Federation : republics Karelia, Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, Udmurt Republic, Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, Khanty- Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. There are diasporas in Vologda, Kirovskaya , Leningradskaya , Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Penza, Perm, Pskov, Samara, Saratovskaya , Sverdlovsk, Tverskoy, Tomsk , Ulyanovskaya regions, as well as in the Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous okrugs, republics Bashkortostan , Tatarstan , Chuvashia .

Russian Finno- Ugric peoples, except for the Komi-Permyaks, have one thing in common: living in a nationally mixed environment where they are a minority. For their ethnocultural, linguistic And social Development factors such as compactness of settlement and share in national administrative entities are also important.

Subjects of the Federation in which they are represented Finno- Ugric peoples, federal organs authorities, pay a lot of attention to the development of cultures and languages of these peoples. Laws on culture, in a number of republics - about languages (the Komi and Mari El republics), in other republics, bills on languages are at the preparation stage. Regional programs for the national and cultural development of peoples have been prepared and are in effect, in which significant place take specific actions on issues national culture, education, languages.

The history of Finno-Ugric peoples and languages goes back many millennia. The process of formation of modern Finnish, Ugric and Samoyed peoples was very complex. The real name of the Finno-Ugric or Finno-Ugric family of languages was replaced by Uralic, since the Samoyed languages belonged to this family was discovered and proven.

The Uralic language family is divided into the Ugric branch, which includes the Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi languages (the latter two are united under the general name “Ob-Ugric languages”), into the Finno-Permian branch, which unites the Perm languages (Komi, Komi- Permyak and Udmurt), Volga languages (Mari and Mordovian), the Baltic-Finnish language group (Karelian, Finnish, Estonian languages, as well as the languages of the Vepsians, Vodi, Izhora, Livs), Sami and Samoyed languages, within which the northern branch (Nganasan) is distinguished , Nenets, Enets languages) and the southern branch (Selkup).

The number of peoples speaking Uralic languages is about 23 - 24 million people. The Ural peoples occupy a vast territory that stretches from Scandinavia to the Taimyr Peninsula, with the exception of the Hungarians, who, by the will of fate, found themselves apart from the other Ural peoples - in the Carpathian-Danube region.

Most of the Ural peoples live in Russia, with the exception of Hungarians, Finns and Estonians. The most numerous are the Hungarians (more than 15 million people). The second largest people are the Finns (about 5 million people). There are about a million Estonians. On the territory of Russia (according to the 2002 census) live Mordovians (843,350 people), Udmurts (636,906 people), Mari (604,298 people), Komi-Zyryans (293,406 people), Komi-Permyaks (125,235 people), Karelians (93,344 people) , Vepsians (8240 people), Khanty (28678 people), Mansi (11432 people), Izhora (327 people), Vod (73 people), as well as Finns, Hungarians, Estonians, Sami. Currently, the Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Komi-Zyrians, and Karelians have their own national-state entities, which are republics within the Russian Federation.

Komi-Permyaks live on the territory of the Komi-Permyak Okrug of the Perm Territory, the Khanty and Mansi - the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra of the Tyumen Region. Veps live in Karelia, in the northeast of the Leningrad region and in the northwestern part of the Vologda region, the Sami live in the Murmansk region, in the city of St. Petersburg, the Arkhangelsk region and Karelia, the Izhoras live in the Leningrad region, the city of St. Petersburg, the Republic of Karelia . Vod - in the Leningrad region, in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia

Finno-Ugric peoples

Documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament:

The situation of the Finno-Ugric and Samoyed peoples. Report. Committee on Culture, Science and Education. Reporter: Katrin Saks, Estonia, socialist group (Doc. 11087, 26 October 2006): http://www.mari.ee/rus/scien/topical/Katrin_Saks_Report.html

Resolution 1171 (1989). The cultures of the Ural national minorities are in danger (in English): http://www.suri.ee/doc/reso_1171.html

The institute’s statement, signed by an employee of the Institute of Human Rights, linguist, Professor Mart Rannut, notes that the diversity of nationalities and cultures is a global wealth, and therefore it is necessary to stop the forced assimilation of ethnic minorities speaking Finno-Ugric languages by officials and the educational and administrative system of Russia.

“Until now, the participation of Finno-Ugric people in public life is limited folk art, the state funding of which is carried out according to not entirely clear criteria, which allows Russian officials to carry out everything at their own request, without taking into account the needs of the national minorities themselves,” the institute reports.

The Institute draws attention to the fact that in 2009 the opportunity to take the state exam in Finno-Ugric languages was eliminated; in addition, national minorities do not have the opportunity to take part in decision-making that concerns them; There is also no legislative basis for studying the languages of national minorities and using them in public life.

“Local toponyms are very rarely used in Finno-Ugric territories; in addition, conditions for the development and viability of the linguistic environment of national minorities have not been created in cities. The share of television and radio programs in minority languages is decreasing, which leads to a forced change of language in many areas of life.

The Russian Federation has so far consistently prevented national minorities from using alphabets other than Cyrillic, although this is one of the fundamental rights of national minorities,” the statement notes.

The institute emphasizes that over the past ten years the Finno-Ugric population of Russia has decreased by almost a third. Discrimination against national minorities and their languages continues, interethnic hatred and intolerance are inflamed.

“The above direct violations of human rights have been documented by many international human rights organizations, including in the report of the Council of Europe,” the statement noted.

The Institute of Human Rights calls on the Russian Federation to respect the rights of national minorities, including the rights of the Finno-Ugric peoples, and to comply with its obligations under international treaties in this area.

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I told you 3 fantastic stories, and this is not science fiction, but fantasy (from English. fantasy- “fantasy”), science fiction[English] science fiction< science - наука, fiction>- fiction; fiction, fantasy]. None of the named countries not only sent their troops into the territory of the Russian Federation, but did not even plan to do so, although they have exactly the same reasons for this as Russia for sending troops into the territory of sovereign Ukraine.

I would like to ask questions to the Russian-speaking readers of "7x7 Komi", who, like myself, are not part of the indigenous nationality of our Republic, who have been living in it for a long time, and many for their entire lives: How many of us know the Komi language? Do we have a desire to know the language of the people on whose land we live, their customs and culture? Why? Why is it that in any of the national republics of the Russian Federation, knowledge of the Russian language is mandatory for all residents of this republic, including the indigenous population, but knowledge of the language of the indigenous population is not mandatory for its non-indigenous population? Isn’t this a manifestation of Russian imperial thinking? Why does any “guest worker” who comes to any place in the Russian Federation try to master the Russian (but not local) language? Why does the Russian-speaking population of Crimea, which has been part of Ukraine for 60 years, consider the obligation to know its state language a violation of their rights, and the population Western Ukraine after its entry into the USSR (let me remind you that this “entry” took place when the USSR was an ally of Hitler’s Germany) was it obliged to study and know the Russian language? Why does any Russian who has moved for permanent residence to any country in the non-post-Soviet space consider it natural to first of all master the language of that country, but living in the former Soviet republics does not think so? Why does Russia still consider them, including Ukraine, its patrimony, to which it can dictate its terms from a position of strength?

The Komi language is part of the Finno-Ugric language family, and with the closest Udmurt language it forms the Perm group of Finno-Ugric languages. In total, the Finno-Ugric family includes 16 languages, which in ancient times developed from a single base language: Hungarian, Mansi, Khanty (Ugric group of languages); Komi, Udmurt (Perm group); Mari, Mordovian languages - Erzya and Moksha: Baltic - Finnish languages - Finnish, Karelian, Izhorian, Vepsian, Votic, Estonian, Livonian languages. A special place in the Finno-Ugric family of languages is occupied by the Sami language, which is very different from other related languages.

Finno-Ugric languages and Samoyed languages form Ural family languages. The Amodian languages include Nenets, Enets, Nganasan, Selkup, and Kamasin languages. Peoples speaking Samoyed languages live in Western Siberia, except for the Nenets, who also live in northern Europe.

Hungarians moved to the territory surrounded by the Carpathians more than a thousand years ago. The self-name of the Hungarians Modyor has been known since the 5th century. n. e. Writing in the Hungarian language appeared at the end of the 12th century, and the Hungarians have a rich literature. The total number of Hungarians is about 17 million people. In addition to Hungary, they live in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Austria, Ukraine, Yugoslavia.

Mansi (Voguls) live in the Khanty-Mansiysk district of the Tyumen region. In Russian chronicles, they, together with the Khanty, were called Yugra. The Mansi use a written language based on Russian graphics and have their own schools. The total number of Mansi is over 7,000 people, but only half of them consider Mansi their native language.

The Khanty (Ostyaks) live on the Yamal Peninsula, lower and middle Ob. Writing in the Khanty language appeared in the 30s of our century, but the dialects of the Khanty language are so different that communication between representatives of different dialects is often difficult. Many lexical borrowings from the Komi language have penetrated into the Khanty and Mansi languages

The Baltic-Finnish languages and peoples are so close that speakers of these languages can communicate with each other without a translator. Among the languages of the Baltic-Finnish group, the most widespread is Finnish, it is spoken by about 5 million people, the self-name of the Finns is Suomi. In addition to Finland, Finns also live in the Leningrad region of Russia. Writing arose in the 16th century, and in 1870 the period of the modern Finnish language began. The epic "Kalevala" is written in Finnish, and a rich original literature has been created. About 77 thousand Finns live in Russia.

Estonians live on the east coast Baltic Sea, the number of Estonians in 1989 was 1,027,255 people. Writing existed from the 16th century to the 19th century. Two literary languages developed: southern and northern Estonian. In the 19th century these literary languages became closer based on the Central Estonian dialects.

Karelians live in Karelia and the Tver region of Russia. There are 138,429 Karelians (1989), a little more than half speak their native language. The Karelian language consists of many dialects. In Karelia, Karelians study and use the Finnish literary language. The most ancient monuments of Karelian writing date back to the 13th century; in Finno-Ugric languages, this is the second oldest written language (after Hungarian).

Izhora is an unwritten language and is spoken by about 1,500 people. Izhorians live on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of Finland, on the river. Izhora, a tributary of the Neva. Although the Izhorians call themselves Karelians, in science it is customary to distinguish an independent Izhorian language.

Vepsians live on the territory of three administrative-territorial units: Vologda, Leningrad regions of Russia, Karelia. In the 30s there were about 30,000 Vepsians, in 1970 there were 8,300 people. Due to the strong influence of the Russian language, the Vepsian language is noticeably different from other Baltic-Finnish languages.

The Votic language is on the verge of extinction, because there are no more than 30 people who speak this language. Vod lives in several villages located between the northeastern part of Estonia and the Leningrad region. The Votic language is unwritten.

The Livs live in several seaside fishing villages in northern Latvia. Their number has sharply decreased over the course of history due to the devastation during World War II. Now the number of Livonian speakers is only about 150 people. Writing has been developing since the 19th century, but currently the Livs are switching to the Latvian language.

The Sami language forms a separate group of Finno-Ugric languages, since there are many specific features in its grammar and vocabulary. The Sami live in the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are only about 40 thousand people, including about 2000 in Russia. The Sami language has much in common with the Baltic-Finnish languages. Sami writing develops on the basis of different dialects in Latin and Russian graphic systems.

Modern Finno-Ugric languages have diverged so much from each other that at first glance they seem completely unrelated to each other. However, a deeper study of the sound composition, grammar and vocabulary shows that these languages have many common features that prove the former common origin of the Finno-Ugric languages from one ancient parent language.

Turkic languages

Turkic languages belong to the Altaic language family. Turkic languages: about 30 languages, and with dead languages and local varieties, the status of which as languages is not always indisputable - more than 50; the largest are Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kazakh, Uyghur, Tatar; total number speaking Turkic languages is about 120 million people. The center of the Turkic range is Central Asia, from where, in the course of historical migrations, they also spread, on the one hand, to southern Russia, the Caucasus and Asia Minor, and on the other - to the northeast, to eastern Siberia up to Yakutia. The comparative historical study of Altai languages began in the 19th century. Nevertheless, there is no generally accepted reconstruction of the Altaic proto-language; one of the reasons is the intensive contacts of the Altaic languages and numerous mutual borrowings, which complicate the use of standard comparative methods.

Ethnogenesis of the Finnish race.

In modern science, it is customary to consider the Finnish tribes together with the Ugric ones, uniting them into a single Finno-Ugric group. However, research by the Russian professor Artamonov on the origins of the Ugric peoples shows that their ethnogenesis took place in an area covering the upper reaches of the Ob River and the northern coast of the Aral Sea. It should be noted that the ancient Paleosian tribes, related to the ancient population of Tibet and Sumer, acted as one of the ethnic substrates for both the Ugric and Finnish tribes. This relationship was discovered by Ernst Muldashev with the help of a special ophthalmological study (3). This fact allows us to talk about the Finno-Ugric people as a single ethnic group. However, the main difference between the Ugrians and Finns is that different tribes acted as the second ethnic component in both cases. This is how the Ugric peoples were formed as a result of the mixing of ancient Palaisians with the Turks central Asia, while the Finnish peoples were formed as a result of the mixing of the former with the ancient Mediterranean (Atlantic tribes) supposedly related to the Minoans. As a result of this mixture, the Finns inherited a megalithic culture from the Minoans, which died out in the middle of the second millennium BC due to the destruction of its metropolis on the island of Santorini in the 17th century BC.

Subsequently, the settlement of the Ugric tribes occurred in two directions: downstream of the Ob and to Europe. However, due to the low passionarity of the Ugric tribes, they only in the 3rd century AD. reached the Volga, crossing the Ural ridge in two places: in the area of modern Yekaterinburg and in the lower reaches of the great river. As a result of the Baltic territory Ugric tribes reached only by the 5th-6th century AD, i.e. just a few centuries before the arrival of the Slavs on the Central Russian Upland. While Finnish tribes lived in the Baltic region at least since the 4th millennium BC.

Currently, there is every reason to believe that the Finnish tribes were carriers of an ancient culture, which archaeologists conventionally call the “funnel beaker culture.” This name arose due to the fact that the characteristic feature of this archaeological culture are special ceramic cups not found in other parallel cultures. Judging by archaeological data, these tribes were mainly engaged in hunting, fishing and raising small livestock. The main hunting weapon was a bow, the arrows of which were tipped with bone. These tribes lived in the floodplains of large European rivers and, during the period of their greatest expansion, occupied the northern European lowlands, which were completely freed from the ice sheet in about Vth thousand. BC The famous archaeologist Boris Rybakov describes the tribes of this culture as follows (4, p. 143):

In addition to the agricultural tribes mentioned above, who moved to the territory of the future “ancestral home of the Slavs” from the Danube south, because of the Sudetes and the Carpathians, foreign tribes also penetrated here from North Sea and Baltic. This is the “funnel cup culture” (TRB), associated with megalithic structures. It is known in Southern England and Jutland. The richest and most concentrated finds are concentrated outside the ancestral home, between it and the sea, but individual settlements are often found along the entire course of the Elbe, Oder and Vistula. This culture is almost synchronous with the Pinnacle, Lendel, and Trypillian, coexisting with them for more than a thousand years. Peculiar and enough high culture funnel-shaped cups are considered the result of the development of local Mesolithic tribes and, in all likelihood, non-Indo-European, although there are supporters of attributing it to Indo-European community. One of the centers of development of this megalithic culture probably lay in Jutland.

Judging by linguistic analysis languages of the Finnish group, they do not belong to the Aryan (Indo-European) group. Famous philologist and writer, professor at Oxford University D.R. Tolkien devoted a lot of time to studying this ancient language and came to the conclusion that it belongs to a special language group. It turned out to be so isolated that the professor constructed on the basis of the Finnish language the language of the mythological people - the elves, whose mythical history he described in his fantasy novels. For example, the name of the Supreme God in mythology English professor sounds like Iljuvatar, while in Finnish and Karelian it is Ilmarinen.

By their origin, the Finno-Ugric languages are not related to the Aryan languages, which belong to a completely different language family - Indo-European. Therefore, numerous lexical convergences between the Finno-Ugric and Indo-Iranian languages testify not to their genetic relationship, but to deep, diverse and long-term contacts between the Finno-Ugric and Aryan tribes. These connections began in the pre-Aryan period and continued in the pan-Aryan era, and then, after the division of the Aryans into “Indian” and “Iranian” branches, contacts were carried out between Finno-Ugric and Iranian-speaking tribes.

The range of words borrowed by Finno-Ugric languages from Indo-Iranian languages is very diverse. This includes numerals, kinship terms, animal names, etc. Particularly characteristic are words and terms related to the economy, the names of tools and metals (for example, “gold”: Udmurt and Komi - “zarni”, Khanty and Mansi - “sorni”, Mordovian “sirne”, Iranian “zaranya” ", modern Osetinsk - "zerin"). A number of correspondences have been noted in the field of agricultural terminology (“grain”, “barley”); Words used in various Finno-Ugric languages for cow, heifer, goat, sheep, lamb, sheep skin, wool, felt, milk and a number of others were borrowed from Indo-Iranian languages.

Such correspondences, as a rule, indicate the influence of more economically developed steppe tribes on the population of the northern forest regions. Also indicative are examples of borrowing into Finno-Ugric languages from Indo-European languages terms related to horse breeding (“foal”, “saddle”, etc.). The Finno-Ugrians became acquainted with the domestic horse, apparently as a result of connections with the population of the steppe South. (2, 73 pages).

A study of basic mythological subjects shows that the core of Finnish mythology differs significantly from the common Aryan one. The most complete presentation of these stories is contained in Kalevala, a collection of Finnish epics. The main character of the epic, unlike the heroes of the Aryan epic, is endowed not only and not so much with physical, but magical power, allowing him to use a song to build, for example, a boat. The heroic duel again boils down to competitions in magic and poetry. (5, p. 35)

He sings – and Joukahainen
I went thigh-deep into the swamp,
And up to the waist in the quagmire,
And up to the shoulders in loose sand.
That's when Joukahainen
I could comprehend with my mind,
That I went the wrong way
And took the journey in vain
Compete in chants
With the mighty Väinämöinen.

The Scandinavian “Saga of Halfdan Eisteysson” also reports about the outstanding witchcraft abilities of the Finns (6, 40):

In this saga, the Vikings meet in battle with the leaders of the Finns and Biarms - terrible werewolves.

One of the Finnish leaders, King Floki, could shoot three arrows at once from a bow and hit three people at once. Halfdan cut off his hand so that it flew into the air. But Floki exposed his stump, and his hand grew to it. Another Finnish king, meanwhile, turned into a giant walrus, which simultaneously crushed fifteen people. The king of the Biarms, Harek, turned into a fearsome dragon. With great difficulty, the Vikings managed to deal with the monsters and take possession of the magical country of Biarmia.

All these and many other elements indicate that the Finnish tribes belong to some very ancient race. It is the antiquity of this race that explains the “slowness” of its modern representatives. After all, what ancient people, the more life experience accumulated by him, and the less he is vain.

Elements of the culture of the Finnish race are found mainly among the peoples living along the shores of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, the Finnish race can also be called the Baltic race. It is characteristic that the Roman historian Tacitus in the 1st century AD. pointed out that the Aestii people, living on the shores of the Baltic Sea, have many similarities with the Celts. This is a very important remark, because it is through Celtic culture the ancient Finnish nation managed to preserve its historical heritage. In this sense, the Frisian tribe is of greatest interest from the point of view of studying ancient Finnish history. In ancient times, this people lived on the territory of modern Denmark. The descendants of this tribe still live in this territory, although they have long lost their language and culture. However, the Frisian chronicle “Hurray Linda Brook” has survived to this day, which tells how the ancestors of the Frisians sailed to the territory of modern Denmark after a terrible catastrophe - the flood that destroyed Plato’s Atlantis. This chronicle is often cited by atlantologists as confirmation of the existence legendary civilization. As a result, the version of the antiquity of the Baltic race receives further confirmation.

Each nation can also be identified by the nature of its burials. The main funeral rite of the ancient Balts is the laying of stones over the body of the deceased. This ritual has been preserved in both Ireland and Scotland. Over time, it was modified and was reduced to installing a tombstone on the grave.

Such a ritual indicates a direct cultural connection between the Finnish/Baltic race and the megalithic structures found mainly in the Baltic Sea basin and surrounding areas. The only place that falls outside this range is the North Caucasus, however, there is an explanation for this fact, which, however, cannot be given within the framework of this work.

As a result, we can state the fact that one of the essential elements of the ethnic substrate of the modern Baltic peoples is the ancient Finnish race, whose origin is lost in the depths of millennia. This race went through its own history of development, different from the Aryans, as a result of which it formed a unique language and culture, which are part of the genetic heritage of the modern Balts and Finns.

Individual tribes.

The overwhelming number of ethnographers agree that the tribes that inhabited northeastern Europe and adjacent territories, immediately before the start of the Slavic and Germanic colonization of this region, in their own way ethnic composition were Finno-Ugric, i.e. to the 10th century AD Finnish and Ugric elements the local tribes mixed quite a lot. Most famous tribe, who lived on the territory of modern Estonia, after whom the lake located on the border of the Slavic and German colonization zones is named, Chud. According to legend, miracles possessed various witchcraft abilities. In particular, they could suddenly disappear in the forest, or they could remain under water for a long time. It was believed that the white-eyed miracle knew the spirits of the elements. During the Mongol invasion, the Chud went into the forests and disappeared forever from the annals of Rus'. It is believed that it is she who inhabits the legendary Kitezh-grad, located at the bottom of Beloozero. However, in Russian legends, the Chud are also called the more ancient dwarf people who lived in prehistoric times, and in some places lived as a relic until the Middle Ages. Legends about dwarf people are usually common in areas where there are clusters of megalithic structures.

In Komi legends, these short and dark-skinned people, for whom the grass seems like a forest, sometimes acquire animal features - they are covered with hair, and miracles have pig legs. The miracles lived in a fabulous world of abundance, when the sky was so low above the earth that the miracles could reach it with their hands, but they do everything wrong - they dig holes in the arable land, feed the cattle in the hut, mow the hay with a chisel, reap the bread with an awl, store threshed grain in stockings, pounding oatmeal in an ice hole. The strange woman insults Yen because she stains the low sky with sewage or touches it with a rocker. Then En (the demiurge god of the Komi) raises the sky, tall trees grow on the ground, and tall white people do not replace the miracles: the miracles leave them in their holes underground, because they are afraid of agricultural tools - the sickle, etc...

...There is a belief that miracles have turned into evil spirits that hide in dark places, abandoned dwellings, baths, even under water. They are invisible, leave behind traces of birds' paws or children's feet, harm people and can replace their children with their own...

According to other legends, Chud are, on the contrary, ancient heroes, which include Pera and Kudy-osh. They also go underground or turn to stone, or end up trapped in the Ural Mountains after Russian missionaries spread a new Christian religion. Ancient settlements (kars) remained from the Chud; the Chud giants could throw axes or clubs from settlement to settlement; sometimes they are credited with the origin of lakes, the founding of villages, etc. (6, 209-211)

The next large tribe was “Vod”. Semenov-Tianshansky in the book “Russia. Complete geographical description our Fatherland. Lake Region" in 1903 wrote about this tribe as follows:

“In the east of the miracle there once lived water. This tribe, ethnographically, is considered transitional from the western (Estonian) branch of the Finns to other Finnish tribes. Vody settlements, as far as can be judged by the prevalence of Votic names, occupied a vast area ranging from the river. Narova and to the river. Msta, reaching in the north to the Gulf of Finland, and in the south going beyond Ilmen. Vod participated in the alliance of tribes that called the Varangian princes. It was first mentioned in the “Charter of Bridges”, attributed to Yaroslav the Wise. The colonization of the Slavs pushed this tribe to the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The leader lived amicably with the Novgorodians, participating in the campaigns of the Novgorodians, and even in the Novgorod army a special regiment consisted of “leaders”. Subsequently, the area inhabited by Vodya became part of one of the five Novgorod regions under the name “Vodskaya Pyatina”. From the middle of the 12th century, the Swedes began crusades in the land of water, which they called “Vatland”. A number of papal bulls are known to encourage Christian preaching here, and in 1255 a special bishop was appointed for Watland. The connection of the Vod with the Novgorodians, however, was stronger; the Vod gradually merged with the Russian and became strongly channelized. The remnants of the Vodi are considered to be the small tribe “Vatyalayset”, living in the Peterhof and Yamburg districts.”

It is also necessary to mention the unique Setu tribe. Currently it lives in the Pskov region. Scientists believe that it is an ethnic relic of the ancient Finnish race, which was the first to populate these lands as the glacier melted. Some national characteristics this tribe is allowed to think so.

The Karela tribe managed to preserve the most complete collection of Finnish myths. Thus, the basis of the famous Kalevala (4) - the Finnish epic - is mostly based on Karelian legends and myths. The Karelian language is the most ancient of the Finnish languages, containing a minimal number of borrowings from languages belonging to other cultures.

Finally, the most famous Finnish tribe, which has preserved its language and culture to this day, is the Livs. Representatives of this tribe live in the territory of modern Latvia and Estonia. It was this tribe that was the most civilized in the initial period of the formation of the Estonian and Latvian ethnic groups. Occupying territory along the coast of the Baltic Sea, representatives of this tribe came into contact with the outside world earlier than others. For several centuries, the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia was called Livonia, after the estate of this tribe.

Comments.

It can be assumed that the description of this ethnic contact, which occurred in ancient times, was preserved in the Kalevala in the second rune. (1), where it is indicated that a short hero in copper armor came out of the sea to help the hero Väinämöinen, who then miraculously turned into a giant and cut down a huge oak tree that covered the Sky and eclipsed the Sun.

Literature.

Tolkien John, The Silmarilion;
Bongard-Levin G.E., Grantovsky E.A., “From Scythia to India” M. “Mysl”, 1974
Muldashev Ernst. "From whom did we come?"
Rybakov Boris. "The paganism of the ancient Slavs." – M. Sofia, Helios, 2002
Kalevala. Translation from Finnish by Belsky. – St. Petersburg: Publishing house “Azbuka-classics”, 2007.
Petrukhin V.Ya. “Myths of the Finno-Ugric peoples”, M, Astrel AST Transitbook, 2005

Finno-Ugric peoples

Finno-Ugric peoples: history and culture. Finno-Ugric languages

Komi

The people of the Russian Federation number 307 thousand people. (2002 census), in the former USSR - 345 thousand (1989), indigenous, state-forming, titular people Komi Republic (capital - Syktyvkar, former Ust-Sysolsk). A small number of Komi live in the lower reaches of the Pechora and Ob, in some other places in Siberia, on the Karelian Peninsula (in the Murmansk region of the Russian Federation) and in Finland.

Komi-Permyaks

There are 125 thousand people in the Russian Federation. people (2002), 147.3 thousand (1989). Until the 20th century were called Permians. The term "Perm" ("Permians") is apparently of Vepsian origin (pere maa - "land lying abroad"). IN ancient Russian sources the name "Perm" was first mentioned in 1187.

Livs

Along with skalamiad - “fishermen”, randalist - “inhabitants of the coast”), ethnic community Latvia, the indigenous population of the coastal part of the Talsi and Ventspils regions, the so-called Liv coast - the northern coast of Courland.

Muncie

people in the Russian Federation, the indigenous population of the Khanty-Mansiysk (from 1930 to 1940 - Ostyak-Vogulsky) Autonomous Okrug of the Tyumen Region (the district center is the city of Khanty-Mansiysk). The number in the Russian Federation is 12 thousand (2002), 8.5 thousand (1989). The Mansi language, which, together with Khanty and Hungarian, forms the Ugric group (branch) of the Finno-Ugric language family.

Mari

The people of the Russian Federation numbering 605 thousand people. (2002), indigenous, state-forming and titular people of the Republic of Mari El (capital - Yoshkar-Ola). A significant part of the Mari live in neighboring republics and regions. In Tsarist Russia they were officially called Cheremis; under this ethnonym they appear in Western European (Jordan, 6th century) and Old Russian written sources, including in the “Tale of Bygone Years” (12th century).

Mordva

The people in the Russian Federation, in terms of numbers the largest of its Finno-Ugric peoples (845 thousand people in 2002), are not only indigenous, but also the state-forming, titular people of the Republic of Mordovia (capital - Saransk). Currently, a third of the total Mordovian population lives in Mordovia, the remaining two-thirds live in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Estonia, etc.

Nganasans

The people of the Russian Federation, in pre-revolutionary literature - “Samoyed-Tavgians” or simply “Tavgians” (from the Nenets name Nganasan - “tavys”). The number in 2002 was 100 people, in 1989 - 1.3 thousand, in 1959 - 748. They live mainly in the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Nenets

People in the Russian Federation, indigenous people European North and the north of Western Siberia. Their number in 2002 was 41 thousand people, in 1989 - 35 thousand, in 1959 - 23 thousand, in 1926 - 18 thousand. The northern border of the Nenets settlement is the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the southern border is forests, eastern - the lower reaches of the Yenisei, western - the eastern coast of the White Sea.

Sami

People in Norway (40 thousand), Sweden (18 thousand), Finland (4 thousand), Russian Federation (on the Kola Peninsula, according to the 2002 census, 2 thousand). The Sami language, which is divided into a number of widely divergent dialects, constitutes a separate group of the Finno-Ugric language family. Anthropologically, the laponoid type predominates among all Sami, formed as a result of contact between the Caucasoid and Mongoloid great races.

Selkups

The people in the Russian Federation number 400 people. (2002), 3.6 thousand (1989), 3.8 thousand (1959). They live in the Krasnoselkupsky district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of the Tyumen region, in some other areas of the same and Tomsk region, in the Turukhansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, mainly in the interfluve of the middle reaches of the Ob and Yenisei and along the tributaries of these rivers.

Udmurts

The people of the Russian Federation number 637 thousand people. (2002), indigenous, state-forming and titular people of the Udmurt Republic (capital - Izhevsk, udm. Izhkar). Some Udmurts live in neighboring and some other republics and regions of the Russian Federation. 46.6% of Udmurts are city dwellers. Udmurt language belongs to the Perm group of Finno-Ugric languages and includes two adverbs.

Finns

The indigenous people of Finland (4.7 million people) also live in Sweden (310 thousand), the USA (305 thousand), Canada (53 thousand), and the Russian Federation (34 thousand, according to the 2002 census). ), Norway (22 thousand) and other countries. They speak Finnish, a language of the Baltic-Finnish group of the Finno-Ugric (Uralic) language family. Finnish writing was created during the Reformation (XVI century) based on the Latin alphabet.

Khanty

The people of the Russian Federation numbering 29 thousand people. (2002), lives in Northwestern Siberia, along the middle and lower reaches of the river. Ob, on the territory of the Khanty-Mansiysk (from 1930 to 1940 - Ostyak-Vogulsky) and Yamalo-Nenets national (since 1977 - autonomous) districts of the Tyumen region.

Enets

People in the Russian Federation, the indigenous population of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug, numbering 300 people. (2002). The district center is the city of Dudinka. The native language of the Entsy people is Entsy, which is part of the Samoyedic group of the Ural language family. The Enets do not have their own written language.

Estonians

People, indigenous population of Estonia (963 thousand). They also live in the Russian Federation (28 thousand - according to the 2002 census), Sweden, the USA, and Canada (25 thousand each). Australia (6 thousand) and other countries. The total population is 1.1 million. They speak Estonian, a language of the Baltic-Finnish group of the Finno-Ugric language family.

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Peoples of the Finno-Ugric language group

The Finno-Ugric language group is part of the Ural-Yukaghir language family and includes the peoples: Sami, Vepsians, Izhorians, Karelians, Nenets, Khanty and Mansi.

Sami live mainly in the Murmansk region. Apparently, the Sami are the descendants of the oldest population of Northern Europe, although there is an opinion about their migration from the east. For researchers the biggest mystery represents the origin of the Sami, since the Sami and the Baltic-Finnish languages go back to a common base language, but anthropologically the Sami belong to a different type (Uralic type) than the Baltic-Finnish peoples, who speak languages that are most closely related to them, but mainly thus having a Baltic type. To resolve this contradiction, many hypotheses have been put forward since the 19th century.

The Sami people most likely descend from the Finno-Ugric population. Presumably in the 1500-1000s. BC e. The separation of the proto-Sami begins from a single community of native language speakers, when the ancestors of the Baltic Finns, under Baltic and later German influence, began to move to a sedentary lifestyle as farmers and cattle breeders, while the ancestors of the Sami in Karelia assimilated the autochthonous population of Fennoscandia.

The Sami people, in all likelihood, were formed by the merger of many ethnic groups. This is indicated by anthropological and genetic differences between the Sami ethnic groups living in different territories. Genetic studies in recent years have revealed that modern Sami have common features with the descendants of the ancient population of the Atlantic coast of the Ice Age - the modern Basque Berbers. Such genetic traits were not found in more southern groups Northern Europe. From Karelia, the Sami migrated further and further north, fleeing the spreading Karelian colonization and, presumably, tribute. Following the migrating herds of wild reindeer, the ancestors of the Sami, at the latest during the 1st millennium AD. e., gradually reached the coast of the Arctic Ocean and reached the territories of their current residence. At the same time, they began to move to breeding domesticated reindeer, but this process reached a significant extent only in the 16th century.

Their history over the past one and a half millennia represents, on the one hand, a slow retreat under the onslaught of other peoples, and on the other hand, their history is an integral part of the history of nations and peoples that have their own statehood in which an important role is given to the imposition of tribute on the Sami. A necessary condition Reindeer husbandry was that the Sami wandered from place to place, driving herds of reindeer from winter pastures to summer ones. In practice, nothing prevented people from crossing state borders. The basis of the Sami society was a community of families, which were united on the principles of joint ownership of land, which gave them the means to subsist. Land was allocated by family or clan.

Figure 2.1 Dynamics of the population of the Sami people 1897 – 2010 (compiled by the author based on materials).

Izhorians. The first mention of Izhora occurs in the second half of the 12th century, where it speaks of pagans who, half a century later, were already recognized in Europe as strong and even dangerous people. It was from the 13th century that the first mentions of Izhora appeared in Russian chronicles. In the same century, the Izhora land was first mentioned in the Livonian Chronicle. At dawn of a July day in 1240, the elder of the Izhora land, while on patrol, discovered the Swedish flotilla and hastily sent a report on everything to Alexander, the future Nevsky.

Obviously, at this time the Izhorians were still very close ethnically and culturally to the Karelians who lived on the Karelian Isthmus and in the Northern Ladoga region, north of the area of the supposed distribution of the Izhorians, and this similarity persisted until the 16th century. Quite accurate data on the approximate population of the Izhora land were first recorded in the Scribe Book of 1500, but the ethnicity of the residents was not shown during the census. It is traditionally believed that the inhabitants of the Karelian and Orekhovetsky districts, most of whom had Russian names and nicknames of Russian and Karelian sound, were Orthodox Izhorians and Karelians. Obviously, the boundary between these ethnic groups passed somewhere on the Karelian Isthmus, and perhaps coincided with the border of Orekhovetsky and Karelian counties.

In 1611, Sweden took possession of this territory. During the 100 years that this territory became part of Sweden, many Izhorians left their villages. Only in 1721, after the victory over Sweden, Peter I included this region in the St. Petersburg province of the Russian state. IN late XVII I, at the beginning of the 19th centuries, Russian scientists begin to record the ethno-confessional composition of the population of the Izhora lands, then already included in the St. Petersburg province. In particular, to the north and south of St. Petersburg, the presence of Orthodox residents is recorded, ethnically close to the Finns - Lutherans - the main population of this territory.

Veps. At present, scientists cannot finally resolve the question of the genesis of the Veps ethnic group. It is believed that by origin the Vepsians are associated with the formation of other Baltic-Finnish peoples and that they separated from them, probably in the 2nd half. 1 thousand n. e., and by the end of this thousand settled in the southeastern Ladoga region. The burial mounds of the 10th-13th centuries can be defined as ancient Vepsian. It is believed that the earliest mentions of the Vepsians date back to the 6th century AD. e. Russian chronicles from the 11th century call this people the whole. Russian scribe books, lives of saints and other sources more often know the ancient Vepsians under the name Chud. The Vepsians lived in the interlake area between Lakes Onega and Lake Ladoga from the end of the 1st millennium, gradually moving east. Some groups of Vepsians left the inter-lake region and merged with other ethnic groups.

In the 1920s and 30s, Vep national districts, as well as Vep rural councils and collective farms, were created in places where people lived compactly.

In the early 1930s, the introduction of teaching the Veps language and a number of educational subjects Vepsian language textbooks based on Latin script appeared in this language in elementary school. In 1938, Vepsian-language books were burned, and teachers and other public figures were arrested and expelled from their homes. Since the 1950s, as a result of increased migration processes and the associated spread of exogamous marriages, the process of assimilation of the Vepsians has accelerated. About half of the Vepsians settled in cities.

Nenets. History of the Nenets in the 17th-19th centuries. rich in military conflicts. In 1761, a census of yasak foreigners was carried out, and in 1822, the “Charter on the Management of Foreigners” was put into effect.

Excessive monthly exactions and arbitrariness of the Russian administration repeatedly led to riots, accompanied by the destruction of Russian fortifications; the most famous is the Nenets uprising in 1825-1839. As a result of military victories over the Nenets in the 18th century. first half of the 19th century The area of settlement of the tundra Nenets expanded significantly. TO end of the 19th century V. The territory of Nenets settlement has stabilized, and their numbers have increased compared to the end of the 17th century. approximately doubled. Throughout the Soviet period total number According to census data, the number of Nenets also increased steadily.

Today the Nenets are the largest of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North. The share of Nenets who consider the language of their nationality to be their native language is gradually decreasing, but still remains higher than that of most other peoples of the North.

Figure 2.2 Number of Nenets peoples 1989, 2002, 2010 (compiled by the author based on materials).

In 1989, 18.1% of Nenets recognized Russian as their native language, and in general were fluent in Russian, 79.8% of Nenets - thus, there is still a fairly noticeable part of the language community, adequate communication with which can only be ensured by knowledge of the Nenets language. It is typical that young people retain strong Nenets speech skills, although for a significant part of them the Russian language has become the main means of communication (like other peoples of the North). A certain positive role is played by the teaching of the Nenets language at school, the popularization of national culture in the media, and the activities of Nenets writers. But first of all, the relatively favorable language situation is due to the fact that reindeer husbandry - the economic basis of Nenets culture - was generally able to survive in its traditional form despite all the destructive trends of the Soviet era. This view production activities remained entirely under the control of the indigenous population.

Khanty- a small indigenous Ugric people living in the north of Western Siberia.

Volga region center of cultures of Finno-Ugric peoples

There are three ethnographic groups of Khanty: northern, southern and eastern, and the southern Khanty mixed with the Russian and Tatar population. The ancestors of the Khanty penetrated from the south into the lower reaches of the Ob and settled the territories of modern Khanty-Mansi and the southern regions of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and from the end of the 1st millennium, based on the mixing of aborigines and alien Ugric tribes, the ethnogenesis of the Khanty began. The Khanty called themselves more by rivers, for example “people of Konda”, “people of the Ob”.

Northern Khanty. Archaeologists associate the genesis of their culture with the Ust-Polui culture, localized in the river basin. Ob from the mouth of the Irtysh to the Ob Bay. This is a northern, taiga fishing culture, many of whose traditions are not followed by modern northern Khanty.
From the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. The northern Khanty were strongly influenced by the Nenets reindeer herding culture. In the zone of direct territorial contacts, the Khanty were partially assimilated by the tundra Nenets.

Southern Khanty. They spread upward from the mouth of the Irtysh. This is the territory of the southern taiga, forest-steppe and steppe and culturally it gravitates more to the south. In their formation and subsequent ethnocultural development, the southern forest-steppe population played a significant role, layering on the general Khanty base. The Russians had a significant influence on the southern Khanty.

Eastern Khanty. They settle in the Middle Ob region and along the tributaries: Salym, Pim, Agan, Yugan, Vasyugan. This group in to a greater extent, than others, retains North Siberian cultural features dating back to the Ural population - draft dog breeding, dugout boats, predominance swing clothes, birch bark utensils, fishing economy. Within the modern territory of their habitat, the Eastern Khanty interacted quite actively with the Kets and Selkups, which was facilitated by belonging to the same economic and cultural type.
Thus, in the presence of common cultural features characteristic of the Khanty ethnic group, which is associated with the early stages of their ethnogenesis and the formation of the Ural community, which, along with the mornings, included the ancestors of the Kets and Samoyed peoples, the subsequent cultural “divergence”, the formation of ethnographic groups, to a greater extent was determined by the processes of ethnocultural interaction with neighboring peoples. Muncie– small people in Russia, the indigenous population of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. Closest relatives of the Khanty. They speak the Mansi language, but due to active assimilation, about 60% use Russian in everyday life. As an ethnic group, the Mansi were formed as a result of the merger of local tribes of the Ural culture and Ugric tribes moving from the south through the steppes and forest-steppes of Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan. The two-component nature (a combination of the cultures of taiga hunters and fishermen and steppe nomadic herders) in the culture of the people persists to this day. Initially, the Mansi lived in the Urals and its western slopes, but the Komi and Russians in the 11th-14th centuries forced them out into the Trans-Urals. The earliest contacts with Russians, primarily Snovgorodians, date back to the 11th century. With the annexation of Siberia to the Russian state at the end of the 16th century, Russian colonization intensified, and already at the end of the 17th century the number of Russians exceeded the number of the indigenous population. The Mansi were gradually forced out to the north and east, partially assimilated, and were converted to Christianity in the 18th century. The ethnic formation of Mansi was influenced by various peoples.

In the Vogul cave, located near the village of Vsevolodo-Vilva in Perm region traces of the presence of Voguls were discovered. According to local historians, the cave was a temple (pagan sanctuary) of the Mansi, where ritual ceremonies were held. In the cave, bear skulls with traces of blows from stone axes and spears, shards of ceramic vessels, bone and iron arrowheads, bronze plaques of the Permian animal style with an image of a moose man standing on a lizard, silver and bronze jewelry were found.

Finno-Ugrians or Finno-Ugric- a group of peoples with related linguistic features and formed from the tribes of northeastern Europe since the Neolithic, inhabited Western Siberia, the Trans-Urals, the northern and middle Urals, the territory north of the upper Volga, the Volgookska interfluve and the middle Volga region until midnight modern Saratov region in Russia.

1. Title

In Russian chronicles they are known under the unifying names Chud and Samoyeds (self-name suomaline).

2. Settlement of Finno-Ugric ethnic groups in Russia

On the territory of Russia there live 2,687,000 people belonging to the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups. In Russia, Finno-Ugric peoples live in Karelia, Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, and Udmurtia. According to chronicle references and linguistic analysis of toponyms, the Chud united several tribes: Mordva, Muroma, Merya, Vesps (All, Vepsians) etc.

The Finno-Ugric people were an autochthonous population between the Oka and Volga rivers; their tribes, the Estonians, the Merya, the Mordovians, and the Cheremis, were part of the Gothic kingdom of Germanaric in the 4th century. The chronicler Nestor in the Ipatiev Chronicle indicates about twenty tribes of the Ural group (Ugric Finians): Chud, Livs, Vodi, Yam (Ӕm), all (also Severo ѿ of them on Belya ѡzerѣ sѣdѧt Vѣs), Karelians, Yugra, caves, Samoyeds, Permyaks (Perm ), Cheremis, casting, Zimgola, Cors, Norom, Mordovians, Meria (and on the Rostov ѡzere, and on the tick -blessed and ѡzer - the same), Murom (and ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕs The Muscovites called all local tribes Chud from the indigenous Chud, and accompanied this name with irony, explaining it through the Muscovite weird, weird, strange. Now these peoples have been completely assimilated by Russians, they have disappeared from the ethnic map of modern Russia forever, adding to the number of Russians and leaving only a wide range of their ethnic geographical names.

These are all the names of rivers from ending-wa: Moscow, Protva, Kosva, Silva, Sosva, Izva, etc. The Kama River has about 20 tributaries, the names of which end in na-va, means "water" in Finnish. The Muscovite tribes from the very beginning felt their superiority over the locals Finno-Ugric peoples. However, Finno-Ugric place names are found not only where these peoples today make up a significant part of the population, form autonomous republics and national districts. Their distribution area is much larger, for example, Moscow.

According to archaeological data, the settlement area of the Chud tribes in Eastern Europe remained unchanged for 2 thousand years. Starting from the 9th century, the Finno-Ugric tribes of the European part of present-day Russia were gradually assimilated by Slavic colonists who came from Kievan Rus. This process formed the basis for the formation of modern Russian nation.

Finno-Ugric tribes belong to the Ural-Altai group and a thousand years ago were close to the Pechenegs, Cumans and Khazars, but were at a significantly lower level than the rest social development, in fact, the ancestors of the Russians were the same Pechenegs, only forest ones. At that time, these were the primitive and culturally most backward tribes of Europe. Not only in the distant past, but even at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia they were cannibals. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) called them androphages (eaters of people), and the chronicler Nestor, already during the period of the Russian state, called Samoyeds (Samoyed).

Finno-Ugric tribes of a primitive gathering-hunting culture were the ancestors of the Russians. Scientists claim that the Moscow people received the greatest admixture of the Mongoloid race through the assimilation of the Finno-Ugric people, who came to Europe from Asia and partially absorbed the Caucasoid admixture even before the arrival of the Slavs. A mixture of Finno-Ugric, Mongolian and Tatar ethnic components contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Russians, which was formed with the participation of the Slavic tribes of the Radimichi and Vyatichi. Due to ethnic mixing with the Ugrofinans, and later with the Tatars and partly with the Mongols, Russians have anthropological type, different from Kiev-Russian (Ukrainian). The Ukrainian diaspora jokes about this: “Narrow eyes, plus nose - completely Russian"Under the influence of the Finno-Ugric language environment, the formation of the Russian phonetic system took place (akanie, gekanya, tickkanie). Today, "Uralic" features are inherent to one degree or another in all the peoples of Russia: average height, wide face, nose, called "snub-nosed", a sparse beard. The Mari and Udmurts often have eyes with the so-called Mongolian fold - epicanthus, they have very wide cheekbones, a thin beard. But at the same time, blond and red hair, blue and gray eyes are sometimes found among Estonians and Karelians. Komi are different: in those places where there are mixed marriages As they grow older, they are dark-haired and have slanted hair, while others are more reminiscent of Scandinavians, but with a slightly wider face.

According to the research of Meryanist Orest Tkachenko, “In the Russian people, connected on the maternal side with the Slavic ancestral home, the father was a Finn. On the paternal side, Russians descended from the Finno-Ugric peoples.” It should be noted that according to modern studies of Y-chromosome halotypes, in fact the situation was the opposite - Slavic men married women of the local Finno-Ugric population. According to Mikhail Pokrovsky, Russians are an ethnic mixture, in which Finns belong to 4/5, and Slavs -1/5. Remnants of Finno-Ugric culture in Russian culture can be traced in such features that are not found among others Slavic peoples: women's kokoshnik and sundress, men's kosovorotka shirt, bast shoes (bast shoes) in national costume, dumplings in dishes, style of folk architecture (tent buildings, porch), Russian bathhouse, sacred animal - bear, 5-tone singing scale, a-touch and vowel reduction, paired words like stitches-paths, arms-legs, alive and well, so-and-so, turnover I have(instead of I, characteristic of other Slavs) a fairytale beginning “once upon a time,” the absence of a rusal cycle, carols, the cult of Perun, the presence of a cult of birch, not oak.

Not everyone knows that there is nothing Slavic in the surnames of Shukshin, Vedenyapin, Piyashev, but they come from the name of the Shuksha tribe, the name of the war goddess Vedeno Ala, and the pre-Christian name Piyash. Thus, a significant part of the Finno-Ugrians was assimilated by the Slavs, and some, having converted to Islam, mixed with the Turks. Therefore, today Ugrofins do not make up the majority of the population even in the republics to which they gave their name. But, having dissolved in the mass of Russians (Rus. Russians), Ugrofins have retained their anthropological type, which is now perceived as typically Russian (Rus. Russian) .

According to the vast majority of historians, the Finnish tribes had an extremely peaceful and gentle disposition. This is how the Muscovites themselves explain the peaceful nature of colonization, declaring that there were no military clashes, because written sources do not remember anything like that. However, as the same V.O. Klyuchevsky notes, “in the legends of Great Russia, some vague memories of the struggle that broke out in some places survived.”

3. Toponymy

Toponyms of Meryan-Erzyan origin in Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Vologda, Tver, Vladimir, Moscow regions account for 70-80% (Vexa, Voksenga, Elenga, Kovonga, Koloksa, Kukoboy, lekht, Melexa, Nadoxa, Nero (Inero), Nux, Nuksha, Palenga, Peleng, Pelenda, Peksoma, Puzhbol, Pulokhta, Sara, Seleksha, Sonokhta, Tolgobol, otherwise, Sheksheboy, Shekhroma, Shileksha, Shoksha, Shopsha, Yakhrenga, Yakhrobol(Yaroslavl region, 70-80%), Andoba, Vandoga, Vokhma, Vokhtoga, Voroksa, Lynger, Mezenda, Meremsha, Monza, Nerekhta (flicker), Neya, Notelga, Onga, Pechegda, Picherga, Poksha, Pong, Simonga, Sudolga, Toekhta, Urma, Shunga, Yakshanga(Kostroma region, 90-100%), Vazopol, Vichuga, Kineshma, Kistega, Kokhma, Ksty, Landeh, Nodoga, Paks, Palekh, Parsha, Pokshenga, Reshma, Sarokhta, Ukhtoma, Ukhtokhma, Shacha, Shizhegda, Shileksa, Shuya, Yukhma etc. (Ivanovo region), Vokhtoga, Selma, Senga, Solokhta, Sot, Tolshma, Shuya and others. (Vologda region), "Valdai, Koy, Koksha, Koivushka, Lama, Maksatikha, Palenga, Palenka, Raida, Seliger, Siksha, Syshko, Talalga, Udomlya, Urdoma, Shomushka, Shosha, Yakhroma etc. (Tver region), Arsemaki, Velga, Voininga, Vorsha, Ineksha, Kirzhach, Klyazma, Koloksha, Mstera, Moloksha, Mothra, Nerl, Peksha, Pichegino, Soima, Sudogda, Suzdal, Tumonga, Undol etc. (Vladimir region), Vereya, Vorya, Volgusha, Lama, Moscow, Nudol, Pakhra, Taldom, Shukhroma, Yakhroma etc. (Moscow region)

3.1. List of Finno-Ugric peoples

3.2.
FINNO-UGRIAN PEOPLES

Personalities

Ugrofinams by origin were Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum - both Mordovians, Udmurts - physiologist V. M. Bekhterev, Komi - sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, Mordvins - sculptor S. Nefedov-Erzya, who adopted the name of the people as his pseudonym; Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin is a Russified Merya, his real name sounds Meryan - Pugorkin, composer A.Ya. Eshpai is a Mari, and many others:

Sources

Notes

Map of the approximate settlement of Finno-Ugric tribes in Art. 9.

Stone gravestone with the image of a warrior. Ananyinsky burial ground (near Yelabuga). VI-IV centuries BC

The history of the Russian tribes that inhabited the Volga-Oka and Kama basins in the 1st millennium BC. e., is distinguished by significant originality. According to Herodotus, the Boudins, Tissagets and Irki lived in this part of the forest line. Noting the difference between these tribes from the Scythians and Sauromatians, he points out that their main occupation was hunting, which supplied not only food, but also furs for clothing. Herodotus especially notes the horse hunting of the hirks with the help of dogs. The information of the ancient historian is confirmed by archaeological sources indicating that hunting really occupied a large place in the life of the studied tribes.

However, the population of the Volga-Oka and Kama basins was not limited only to those tribes mentioned by Herodotus. The names he gives can only be attributed to the southern tribes of this group - the immediate neighbors of the Scythians and Sauromatians. More detailed information about these tribes began to penetrate into ancient historiography only at the turn of our era. Tacitus probably relied on them when he described the life of the tribes in question, calling them Fenians (Finns).

The main occupation of the Finno-Ugric tribes in the vast territory of their settlement should be considered cattle breeding and hunting. Swidden farming played a minor role. Characteristic feature production among these tribes was that, along with iron tools, which came into use around the 7th century. BC e., bone tools were used here for a very long time. These features are typical of the so-called Dyakovo (interfluve of the Oka and Volga), Gorodets (southeast of the Oka) and Ananino (Prikamye) archaeological cultures.

The southwestern neighbors of the Finno-Ugric tribes, the Slavs, throughout the 1st millennium AD. e. significantly advanced into the area of settlement of Finnish tribes. This movement caused the displacement of part of the Finno-Ugric tribes, as an analysis of numerous Finnish names of rivers in the middle part shows. European Russia. The processes in question occurred slowly and did not disrupt cultural traditions Finnish tribes. This allows us to connect a number of local archaeological cultures with Finno-Ugric tribes, already known from Russian chronicles and other written sources. The descendants of the tribes of the Dyakovo archaeological culture were probably the Merya and Muroma tribes, the descendants of the tribes of the Gorodets culture - the Mordovians, and the origin of the chronicle Cheremis and Chud goes back to the tribes that created the Ananyin archaeological culture.

Many interesting features of the life of the Finnish tribes have been studied in detail by archaeologists. The most ancient method of obtaining iron in the Volga-Oka basin is indicative: iron ore was smelted in clay vessels standing in the middle of open fires. This process, noted in settlements of the 9th-8th centuries, is characteristic of the initial stage of the development of metallurgy; later ovens appeared. Numerous bronze and iron products and the quality of their manufacture suggest that already in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. Among the Finno-Ugric tribes of Eastern Europe, the transformation of domestic production industries into crafts, such as foundry and blacksmithing, began. Among other industries, the high development of weaving should be noted. The development of cattle breeding and the beginning emphasis on crafts, primarily metallurgy and metalworking, led to an increase in labor productivity, which in turn contributed to the emergence of property inequality. Still, the accumulation of property inside tribal communities in the Volga-Oka basin occurred rather slowly; because of this, until the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. the ancestral villages were relatively weakly fortified. Only in subsequent centuries did the settlements of the Dyakovo culture become fortified with powerful ramparts and ditches.

The picture of the social structure of the inhabitants of the Kama region is more complex. The burial inventory clearly indicates the presence of wealth stratification among local residents. Some burials dating back to the end of the 1st millennium allowed archaeologists to suggest the emergence of some kind of disadvantaged category of the population, possibly slaves from among prisoners of war.

Settlement area

On the position of the tribal aristocracy in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. evidenced by one of the striking monuments of the Ananyinsky burial ground (near Elabuga) - a stone tombstone with a relief image of a warrior armed with a dagger and a war hammer and decorated with a mane. The rich grave goods in the grave under this slab contained a dagger and a hammer made of iron, and a silver hryvnia. The buried warrior was undoubtedly one of the clan leaders. The isolation of the clan nobility especially intensified by the 2nd-1st centuries. BC e. It should be noted, however, that at this time the clan nobility was probably relatively few in number, since low labor productivity still greatly limited the number of members of society who lived off the labor of others.

The population of the Volga-Oka and Kama basins was associated with the Northern Baltic, Western Siberia, the Caucasus, and Scythia. Many objects came here from the Scythians and Sarmatians, sometimes even from very distant places, such as the Egyptian figurine of the god Amon, found in a settlement excavated at the spout of the Chusovaya and Kama rivers. The shapes of some iron knives, bone arrowheads and a number of vessels among the Finns are very similar to similar Scythian and Sarmatian products. Connections of the Upper and Middle Volga region with the Scythian and Sarmatian world can be traced back to the 6th-4th centuries, and by the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. are made permanent.

Orthodox Finno-Ugric people. Development of Finno-Ugric culture in Russia

Where do they live?

Languages ​​and Anbur

Finno-Ugric holidays and customs

Who are the Finno-Ugrians?

Where do Finno-Ugric people live in Russia?

Is Moscow a Finno-Ugric name?

Such different Finno-Ugrians

What do haplogroups say?

What fairy tales were read to us?

Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group before Christianization

Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group in modern times

Finno- Ugric peoples -

Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia

Finno-Ugric peoples

Ethnogenesis of the Finnish race.

Individual tribes.

Comments.

Literature.

Finno-Ugric peoples

Finno-Ugric peoples: history and culture. Finno-Ugric languages

Komi

Komi-Permyaks

Livs

Muncie

Mari

Mordva

Nganasans

Nenets

Sami

Selkups

Udmurts

Finns

Khanty

Enets

Estonians

Peoples of the Finno-Ugric language group

Volga region center of cultures of Finno-Ugric peoples

1. Title

2. Settlement of Finno-Ugric ethnic groups in Russia

3. Toponymy

3.1. List of Finno-Ugric peoples

3.2. FINNO-UGRIAN PEOPLES Personalities

FINNO-UGRIAN PEOPLES

See also

Sources

Notes

Settlement area

Languages and Anbur

3.2.
FINNO-UGRIAN PEOPLES

Personalities