The Russian Federation is a multinational country.The state is inhabited by various nations that have their own beliefs, culture and traditions. In the Volga Federal District there is such a subject of the Russian Federation - the Republic of Bashkortostan. It is included in the Ural economic region. This subject of the Russian Federation is bordered by the Orenburg, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions, the Perm region, the Republics of the Russian Federation - Udmurtia and Tatarstan. The capital of Bashkortostan is the city of Ufa. The republic is the first autonomy on a national basis. It was formed in 1917. In terms of population (more than four million people), it also ranks first among the autonomies. The republic is inhabited mainly by Bashkirs. Culture, religion, traditions of this nation will be the topic of our article. It should be said that the Bashkirs live not only in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Representatives of this people can be found in other parts of the Russian Federation, as well as in Ukraine and Hungary.
This is the autochthonous population of the same namehistorical area. If the population of the Republic is more than four million people, then only 1172287 ethnic Bashkirs live in it (according to the last census of 2010). In the whole of the Russian Federation there are one and a half million representatives of this nation. About a hundred thousand went abroad. Bashkir language has stood out from the Altai family of the West Turkic subgroup for a long time. But writing up to the beginning of the twentieth century was based on Arabic script. In the Soviet Union, by “decree from above,” she was transferred to the Latin alphabet, and in the years of Stalin’s rule, to the Cyrillic alphabet. But not only the language unites the people. Religion is also a fastening factor in preserving one’s identity. Most of the Bashkir believers are Sunni Muslims. Below we take a closer look at their religion.
По утверждениям ученых, древних башкир описывали even Herodotus and Claudius Ptolemy. The “Father of History” called them Argippea and pointed out that this people dressed in Scythian style, but spoke in a special dialect. The Chinese chronicles attribute the Bashkirs to the Hun tribes. The Sui Book (seventh century) mentions the Bei-Din and Be-Han nationalities. They can be identified as Bashkirs and Volga Bulgars. Medieval Arab travelers bring more clarity. Approximately in 840, Sallam at-Tardjuman visited the region, described its limits and the way of life of the inhabitants. He characterizes the Bashkirs as an independent people living along both slopes of the Ural Range, between the rivers Volga, Kama, Tobol and Yayik. They were semi-nomadic herders, but very warlike. The Arabian traveler mentions animism, which the ancient Bashkirs professed. Religion meant them twelve gods: summer and winter, wind and rain, water and land, day and night, horses and people, death. Chief of them was the Spirit of heaven. The Bashkir beliefs also included elements of totemism (some tribes revered cranes, fish and snakes) and shamanism.
In the ninth century, the foothills of the Urals in search of the bestNot only the ancient Magyars left the pastures. They were joined by some Bashkir tribes - kese, enyu, yurmaty, and some others. This nomadic confederation first settled in the territory between the Dnieper and the Don, forming the country of Levedia. And at the beginning of the tenth century, under the leadership of Arpad, she began to move further west. Having crossed the Carpathians, the nomadic tribes conquered Pannonia and founded Hungary. But one should not think that the Bashkirs quickly assimilated with the ancient Magyars. The tribes divided and began to live on both sides of the Danube. The beliefs of the Bashkirs, who had Islamized in the Urals, were gradually replaced by monotheism. The twelfth century Arab chronicles mention that Hunkar Christians live on the north bank of the Danube. And in the south of the Hungarian kingdom live burgard Muslims. Their main city was Kerat. Of course, Islam in the heart of Europe could not exist for a long time. Already in the thirteenth century, most Bashkirs converted to Christianity. And in the fourteenth, Muslims in Hungary did not turn out at all.
But back to the early times, before the end of the partnomadic tribes from the Urals. Let us consider in more detail the beliefs that then professed Bashkirs. This religion was called Tengri - named after the Father of all things and the god of heaven. In the universe, according to the ancient Bashkirs, there are three zones: the earth, on it and under it. And in each of them there was an obvious and invisible part. The sky was divided into several tiers. At the highest lived Tengri Khan. The Bashkirs, who did not know statehood, had, nevertheless, a clear concept of the vertical of power. All other gods were responsible for the elements or natural phenomena (seasons, thunderstorms, rain, wind, etc.) and unconditionally obeyed Tengri-khan. The ancient Bashkirs did not believe in the resurrection of the soul. But they believed that the day would come, and they would come alive in the body, and would continue living on earth in a worldly manner.
In the tenth century, in areas inhabitedBashkirs and Volga Bulgars began to penetrate Muslim missionaries. Unlike the baptism of Russia, which met with fierce resistance from the pagan people, the nomadic Tengrians accepted Islam without incident. The concept of the Bashkir religion ideally combined with the ideas of the one God, which the Bible gives. Tengri became associated with Allah. Nevertheless, the "lower gods" responsible for the elements and natural phenomena, for a long time were held in high esteem. And now the trace of ancient beliefs can be traced in proverbs, rites and rituals. It can be said that Tengriism broke in the mass consciousness of the people, creating a peculiar cultural phenomenon.
The first Muslim burial in the territoryRepublics of Bashkortostan date back to the eighth century. But judging by the objects found in the burial ground, it can be judged that the dead, most likely, were alien people. At the early stage of the conversion of the local population to Islam (tenth century), missionaries of such brotherhoods as Naqshbandiya and Yasawiya played a large role. They came from the cities of Central Asia, mainly from Bukhara. This predetermined the religion of the Bashkirs now. After all, the kingdom of Bukhara adhered to Sunni Islam, in which Sufi ideas and Hanafi interpretations of the Koran were closely intertwined. But for the western neighbors, all these nuances of Islam were incomprehensible. The Franciscans John-Vengr and Wilhelm, who lived for six years without a break in Bashkiria, sent the following report to the General of the Order in 1320: "We found the Sovereign of Bascardia and almost all of his household completely infected with the Saracen errors". And this suggests that in the first half of the fourteenth century, the majority of the population of the region adopted Islam.
In 1552, after the fall of the Kazan Khanate,Bashkiria became part of the Moscow kingdom. But local elders stipulated the rights to some autonomy. So, the Bashkirs could continue to own their lands, practice their religion and live in the same way. Local cavalry participated in the battles of the Russian army against the Livonian Order. Religion among the Tatars and Bashkirs had a slightly different meaning. The latter converted to Islam much earlier. And religion has become a factor in the identity of the people. With the accession of Bashkiria to Russia, dogmatic Muslim cults began to penetrate into the region. A state wishing to keep all the believers in the country under control established a muftiat in Ufa in 1782. Such spiritual dominance led to the fact that in the nineteenth century, the believers of the land split. The traditionalist wing (Kadimism), reformist (Jadidism) and Ishanism (Sufism that had lost the sacred foundation) arose.
Since the seventeenth century, in the province constantlythere were revolts against the powerful north-western neighbor. They became especially frequent in the eighteenth century. These uprisings were brutally suppressed. But the Bashkirs, whose religion was a rallying element of the identity of the people, managed to retain their rights to beliefs. They continue to practice Sunni Islam with elements of Sufism. At the same time, Bashkortostan is the spiritual center for all Muslims of the Russian Federation. In the Republic there are more than three hundred mosques, the Islamic Institute, several madrasahs. The Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation is located in Ufa.
The people also preserved the early pre-Islamic beliefs.Studying the Bashkir rites, one can see that amazing syncretism is manifested in them. So, Tengri turned in the consciousness of the people into one God, Allah. Other idols began to be associated with Muslim spirits - evil demons or favorably placed genies towards people. A special place among them is occupied by yort ayyahe (an analogue of the Slavic brownie), huy eyyahe (water) and shurale (goblin). An excellent illustration of religious syncretism is provided by charms, where along with the teeth and claws of animals, sayings from the Koran help against the evil eye help. The rookery holiday Kargatui carries traces of ancestral cult when ritual porridge was left on the field. Many rituals practiced in childbirth, funerals and funerals, also indicate the pagan past of the people.
Considering that of the total population of the Republicethnic Bashkirs make up only a quarter; other religions should be mentioned. First of all, it is Orthodoxy, which penetrated here with the first Russian settlers (late 16th century). Later, Old Believers settled down here. In the XIX century, German and Jewish masters came to the region. Lutheran churches and synagogues appeared. When Poland and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire, military and exiled Catholics began to settle in the region. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a Baptist colony from the Kharkiv region moved to Ufa. The multinationality of the population of the Republic was the reason for the diversity of beliefs to which the indigenous Bashkirs are very tolerant. The religion of this people, with its inherent syncretism, still remains an element of the self-identification of the ethnos.
