Qaratays (Karatais, Karatays) are a Mordvinian

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

Kamsko-Ustyinsky District Kamsko-Ustyinsky District (russian: Камско-Устьинский райо́н; tt-Cyrl, Кама Тамагы районы, ''Qama Tamağı rayonı'') is a territorial administrative unit and municipality of the Republic of Tatarstan within t ...

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

around the village of Mordovsky Karatay. They speak a variety of the

Tatar language Tatar ( or ) is a Turkic languages, Turkic language spoken by Volga Tatars, Tatars mainly located in modern Tatarstan (European Russia), as well as Siberia. It should not be confused with Crimean Tatar language, Crimean Tatar or Siberian Tat ...

complemented by

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

words, which is sometimes considered as a Qaratay dialect of the Kazan Tatar language. They number about 100. Once they lived in three villages, but one of them was submerged by

Kuybyshev Reservoir Kuybyshev Reservoir or Kuybyshevskoye Reservoir (russian: Ку́йбышевское водохрани́лище, Kuybyshevskoye Vodokhranilishche), sometimes called Samara Reservoir and informally called Kuybyshev Sea, is a reservoir of ...

. Another one was re-settled as "unprospective" during the 1950s. The village of Mordovsky Karatay became the last Qaratay village. Their ancestors lived in the territory of today Tatarstan and were assimilated by

Volga Bolgars Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wit ...

and

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

between the 8th and 15th centuries. Living around Tatars, they started speaking a Tatar language. Neighbouring Mordvins in

Tetyushsky District Tetyushsky District (russian: Тетю́шский райо́н; tt-Cyrl, Тәтеш районы, ''Täteş rayonı'') is a territorial administrative unit and municipal district of the Republic of Tatarstan within the Russian Federation. The d ...

, however, still speak a

Uralic language The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...

References

{{authority control Mordvin people Ethnic groups in Russia Tatarstan