The Besermyan, Biserman, Besermans or Besermens (russian: бесермяне, besermyane singular: besermyanin, udm, бесерманъёс, tt-Cyrl, бисермәннәр, translit=bisermännär) are a numerically small
Finnic people in
Russia.
The
Russian Empire Census
The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...
of 1897 listed 10,800 Besermans. There were 10,000 Besermans in 1926, but the
Russian Census of 2002 found only 3,122 of them.
The Besermyan live in the districts of
Yukamenskoye,
Glazov,
Balezino
Balezino (russian: Бале́зино) is a rural locality (a settlement) and the administrative center of Balezinsky District of the Udmurt Republic, Russia. Population:
History
Balezino had work settlement status until it was demoted to a ru ...
, and
Yar in the northwest of
Udmurtia. There are ten villages of pure Besermyan ethnicity in Russia, and 41 villages with a partial Besermyan population.
History
The Besermyan are of Turkic origin,
and are likely the result of a group of
Volga Tatars
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after t ...
who were assimilated by the Udmurts.
In the 13th century during his travel to Mongolia, papal envoy
Plano Carpini
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, variously rendered in English as ''John of Pian de Carpine'', ''John of Plano Carpini'' or ''Joannes de Plano'' (c. 11851 August 1252), was a medieval Italian diplomat, archbishop and explorer and one of the firs ...
claimed that the Besermyan were subjects of the Mongols. Russian chronicles sometimes made mention of the Besermyan but it's unclear whether the term was meant to denote the modern group as it was a common derivation of the term "musulman" (Muslim).
It is likely that the term had broader usage before it became an
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
.
Culture
The language of the Besermyan is a
dialect of the
Udmurt language with
Tatar influences.
Although they speak a dialect of Udmurt, the Besermyan consider themselves a distinct people.
Some Besermyan traditions differ from other Udmurtian customs due to the Islamic influence during the
Volga Bulgaria and
Khanate of Kazan periods.
According to scholar
Shirin Akiner, most Besermyan practice Sunni Islam.
Some Besermyan practice Christianity.
References
kominarod.ru: Бесермяне
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Udmurtia
Udmurt people
Ethnic groups in Russia
Permians