Kryashens (, , ; sometimes called ''Baptised Tatars'' ()) are a sub-group of the
Volga Tatars
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars (; ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of western Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. ...
, frequently referred to as one of the minority ethnic groups in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. They are mostly found in
Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
and in
Udmurtia
Udmurtia, officially the Udmurt Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russi ...
,
Bashkortostan
Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...
and
Chelyabinsk Oblast
Chelyabinsk Oblast; , is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chel ...
.
Kryashens are
Orthodox Christians and some of them regard themselves as being different from other Tatars even though most Kryashen dialects differ only slightly from the Central dialect of the
Tatar language
Tatar ( ; or ) is a Turkic languages, Turkic language spoken by the Volga 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 Tatar ...
and do not differ from the accents of the Tatar Muslims in the same areas.
The
2010 census recorded 34,882 Kryashens in Russia.
History
Scholars associate the formation of groups of Kryashens with the process of voluntary and violent
Christianization
Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
of
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
and
Animist
Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...
Volga Tatars during the 16th to 19th centuries. The first wave of Kryashens were the result of forced conversions soon after the Russian conquest of the
Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
and
Astrakhan
Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...
Khanates. However, most of these converts reverted to Islam and Christianity made little headway among the Tatars.
A more lasting and significant presence of Kryashens emerged during a period of mosque destruction and anti-Muslim oppression from the Russian authorities during the 18th century. During the reign of
Anna of Russia
Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administratio ...
, many Muslims were forced or pressured to convert.
New converts were exempted from paying taxes, were granted certain privileges, and were given better resources for the learning of their new faith. Many Tatars converted for economic or political reasons.
Many continued to secretly practice Islam and were
crypto-Muslims.
By the end of the 19th century, several thousand once again had reverted to Islam.
However, by the early 20th century, there was a significant Kryashen population that still continues to exist, though in smaller numbers than in the past.
In recent times the Kryashens have assimilated with Russians and other Tatar groups. There is a high intermarriage rate with Russians.
During Soviet times, an alternative version of the ethnogenesis of Kryashens emerged, which suggested that their ancestors adopted Christianity voluntarily during the times of
Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...
. Historian
Maxim Glukhov connected their roots to
Keraites
The Keraites (also ''Kerait, Kereit, Khereid'', Kazakh: керейт; Kyrgyz: керей; Mongolian: Хэрэйд; Nogai: Кереит; Uzbek: ''Kerait''; Chinese: 克烈) were one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol tribal confederations ...
.
Culture
The earliest Kryashen works and literature were written using the
Arabic script
The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...
.
However, an unaltered Cyrillic script was also used to translate religious material to Tatar.
A modified
Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...
was adopted in 1862. By the early 20th century over 100 books were published using this script. In 1922, a modified Arabic script for writing Tatar was introduced to the Kryashens although the Cyrillic script continued in use until 1928 as this was when both scripts were replaced by the Latin script. The earliest literature was mainly religious in nature but around the 1910s a steady rise of secular works began being published.
A newspaper for the Kryashen community was published from 1928 to 1929 in
Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
but soon ceased to exist afterwards.
The Kryashens had little religious and educational infrastructure in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, during the 18th century they were given many privileges and facilities were built or accommodated for the Kryashens. The first Tatar school for converts was established in 1863 while the first seminary was founded in 1872.
Notable people of Kryashen descent
*
Oleg Fazylzhanov
*
Dmitry Karbyshev
*
Aleksei Antonov
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov (; 9 September 1896 – 16 June 1962) was a General of the Soviet Army, awarded the Order of Victory for his efforts in World War II. From 1945 to 1946 he was Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of th ...
*
Pyotr Gavrilov
References
External links
The Internet ethnocultural project www.kryashen.ru
*
ttp://rusk.ru/st.php?idar=8540 Этнокультурная идентичность кряшен
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerasens
Ethnic groups in Russia
Tatar Christians
Volga Tatars
Persecution of Muslims