Mordvins (also Mordvinians, Mordovians; ; no equivalents in

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; , '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', and ''mukti'', is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, '' nirvana'', or release. In its soteriological and eschatologic ...

and Erzya) is an official term used 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 ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928.

Names

1551 Venice Gastaldi-Descriptione de la Moscouia

While Robert G. Latham had identified ''Mordva'' as a self-designation, identifying it as a variant of the name '' Mari'',

Aleksey Shakhmatov Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov (, – 16 August 1920) was a Russian philology, philologist and historian credited with laying the foundations for the science of Textual criticism, textology. Shakhmatov held the title of Doctor of Russ ...

in the early 20th century noted that ''Mordva'' was not used as a self-designation by the two Mordvinic

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s of the Erzya and Moksha. Nikolai Mokshin again states that the term has been used by the people as an internal self-defining term to constitute their common origin. The linguist underlines that the Mordvins do not use the name 'Mordvins' as a self-designation. Feoktistov wrote "So-called Tengushev Mordvins are Erzyans who speak the Erzyan dialect with Mokshan substratum and in fact they are an ethnic group of Erzyans usually referred to as Shokshas. It was the Erzyans who historically were referred to as Mordvins, and Mokshas usually were mentioned separately as "Mokshas". There is no evidence Mokshas and Erzyas were an ethnic unity in prehistory". Isabelle T. Keindler writes:

Gradually major differences developed in customs, language and even physical appearance (until their conversion to Christianity the Erzia and Moksha did not intermarry and even today intermarriage is rare.) The two subdivisions of Mordvinians share no folk heroes in common – their old folksongs sing only of local heroes. Neither language has a common term to designate either themselves or their language. When a speaker wishes to refer to Mordvinians as a whole, he must use the term "Erzia and Moksha"

Early references

The ethnonym ''Mordva'' is possibly attested in

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

' ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...

'' in the form of ''Mordens'' who, he claims, were among the subjects of the Gothic king

Ermanaric Ermanaric (died 376) was a Greuthungian king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of ...

. A land called ''Mordia'' at a distance of ten days journey from the Petchenegs is mentioned in

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

's ''De administrando imperio''. In medieval European sources, the names ''Merdas, Merdinis, Merdium, Mordani, Mordua, Morduinos'' have appeared. In the Russian

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

, the ethnonyms ''Mordva'' and ''mordvichi'' first appeared in the 11th century. After the

Mongol invasion of Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Principality of Ryazan, Ryazan, Principality of Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl, Principality of Pereyaslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimi ...

, the name Mordvin rarely gets mentioned in Russian annals, and is only quoted after the Primary Chronicle up until the 15th–17th centuries.

Etymologies

The name ''Mordva'' is thought to originate from an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

(

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

) word, ''mard'', meaning "man" ( Persian مرد). The Mordvin word ''mirde'' denoting a husband or spouse is traced to the same origin. This word is also probably related to the final syllable of " Udmurt", and also in and perhaps even in . The first written mention of ''Erzya'' is considered to be in a letter dated to 968 AD, by

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, the Khazar khagan, in the form of ''arisa''. More controversially, it is sometimes linked to the ''Aorsy'' and ''Alanorsi'' mentioned in the works of

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

. (However, the consensus view is that the

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

, a nomadic Iranian tribe from east Central Asia, were also known as the Aorsi/Alanorsi.) Estakhri, from the 10th century, has recorded among the three groups of the

Rus people The Rus, also known as Russes, were a people in Early Middle Ages, early medieval Eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were originally Norsemen, mainly originating from present-day Sweden, who settled and ruled along the Rout ...

the ''al-arsanija'', whose king lived in the town of ''Arsa''. The people have sometimes been identified by scholars as Erzya, sometimes as the ''aru'' people, and also as Udmurts. It has been suggested by historians that the town ''Arsa'' may refer to either the modern

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

or Arsk In the 14th century, the name Erzya is considered to have been mentioned in the form of ''ardzhani'' by

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.William of Rubruck William of Rubruck (; ; ) or Guillaume de Rubrouck was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer. He is best known for his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia in the 13th century, including the Mongol Empire. His accoun ...

, and in the Persian chronicle of Rashid-al-Din, who reported the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

to be at war with the Moksha and the Ardzhans (Erzia). In Russian sources, 'Moksha' appears from the 17th century.

Restoration of Erzya and Moksha ethnonyms

Mokshas from Altä velä wrote a collective open letter to Literaturnaya Gazeta in 1991. On the First Erzya and Moksha Peoples' Congress in 1989 the first point of the Congress Declaration was renaming Mordovia to the Erzya and Moksha Autonomous Republic and banning the term ''Mordva''.

History

Prehistory

The Gorodets culture dating back to around 500 BC has been associated with these people. The north-western neighbours were the Muromians and Merians who spoke related

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th centur ...

. To the north of the Mordvins lived the Maris, and to the south the

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

. The Mordvins' eastern neighbors, possibly remnants of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, became the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...

around 700 AD. Researchers have distinguished the ancestors of the Erzya and the Moksha from the mid-1st century AD by the different orientations of their burials and by elements of their costumes and by the variety of bronze jewelry found by archaeologists in their ancient cemeteries. The Erzya graves from this era were oriented north–south, while the Moksha graves were found to be oriented south–north.

Medieval and early modern history

The ancient Mordvins encountered the

around the 7th century and later on came under the influence 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 ...

, paying them tribute. In the 13th century, the Mongols conquered the region and the Mordvins were incorporated into the

. In the late 14th century, the

Principality of Moscow A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchical state or feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "principality" is often ...

conquered much of the western Mordvin lands while the eastern portion was under the control of the

Kazan Khanate The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatars, Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia Republic, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurti ...

. After Russia conquered the Kazan Khanate in 1552, all the Mordvins became Russian subjects. During Russian rule, the Mordvins experienced forced conversions to Christianity, displacement, migration out the region and the influx of Russian settlers to Mordvin lands, a process that led to them becoming a minority in the area. In the 17th century, the Mordvins, Chuvash, and Mari staged a rebellion against Russian rule. After being suppressed, many Mordvins fled out of the area to escape reprisal and headed eastward past the Volga to more remote areas with weak Russian influence. Meanwhile the Mordvins that stayed eventually became serfs under the Russians, with the local economy being tied to agriculture. Failed rebellions would sporadically occur due to the working conditions the Mordvins were under. The Mordvins began rapidly assimilating to Russian culture until the emergence of Mordvin nationalism in the late 19th century. 016 Description of all the Russian state-dwelling peoples

016 Description of all the Russian state-dwelling peoples

Modern history

Although the Mordvins were given an autonomous territory as a

titular nation The titular nation is the single dominant ethnic group in a particular state, typically after which the state was named. The term was first used by Maurice Barrès in the late 19th century. Soviet Union The notion was used in the Soviet Union to ...

within the

in 1928,

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

intensified during the 1930s, and knowledge of the Mordvin languages by the 1950s was in rapid decline. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Mordvins, like other indigenous peoples of Russia, experienced a rise in national consciousness. Aleksandr Sharonov compiled the Erzya national epic called '' Mastorava'', which stands for "Mother Earth", first published in 1994 in the Erzya language (it has since been translated into Moksha and Russian). ''Mastorava'' is also the name of a movement of Mordvin

national revival National revival or national awakening is a period of ethnic self-consciousness that often precedes a political movement for national liberation but that can take place at a time when independence is politically unrealistic. In the history of Euro ...

founded by of the Mordovian State University and others. The first All-Russian Congress of the Mordvins (March 1992) demanded, among other things, constitutional recognition of Erzya and Moksha languages as the state ones, as well as the restoration of these languages as language of instruction, first, in promary scools, and then expanded into secondary schools. The congress elected the Revival Council. Unfortunately, the Council was spit due to various contradictions, one of them being whether the Mordvin language should be unified or Moksha and Erzya must contihie their development separately.

Languages

The

Mordvinic languages The Mordvinic languages, also known as the Mordvin, Mordovian or Mordvinian languages (, ''mordovskiye yazyki''), are a subgroup of the Uralic languages, comprising the closely related Erzya language and Moksha language, both spoken in Mordovia ...

, a subgroup of the Uralic family, are Erzya and

, with about 275,000 native speakers together. Both are official languages of Mordovia alongside Russian. The medieval

Meshcherian language Meshchera is an extinct Uralic language. It was spoken around the left bank of the Middle Oka. Meshchera was either a Mordvinic or a Permic language. Pauli Rahkonen has suggested on the basis of toponymic evidence that it was a Permic or clos ...

may have been Mordvinic, or close to Mordvinic. Erzya is spoken in the northern and eastern and north-western parts of Mordovia, as well as in the adjacent oblasts of Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Orenburg, and Ulyanovsk, and in the republics of Chuvashia, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia. Due to differences in

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

, and

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

, Erzya and Moksha are not mutually intelligible, to the extent that the Russian language is often used for intergroup communications. The two Mordvinic languages also have separate literary forms. The Erzya

literary language Literary language is the Register (sociolinguistics), register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic writing, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language. ...

was standardised in 1922 and the Mokshan in 1923. Both are currently written using the standard

Russian alphabet The Russian alphabet (, or , more traditionally) is the script used to write the Russian language. The modern Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters: twenty consonants (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ), ten vowels (, , , , , , , , , ) ...

Reconstruction of ''Mordvin'' language

The Moksha and Erzya languages are closely related, therefore they are thought to share a common ancestry. As to the degree of the languages' proximity, Arnaud Fournet presumes that if Moksha and Erzya had been a single language, they started to diverge 1500 years ago—the same time as French and Italian divided. Serebrenikov proves that Moksha preserves more archaic forms than those existing in Erzya.

Classification

Until ca. 2010s most Finnic linguists considered Mordvinic and Mari languages as a single subdivision of the so-called Volga-Finnic branch of the Uralic family. Currently, this approach is rejected by most scholars, and Mordvinic and Mari are considered distinct from each other: Mordvinic languages are believed to have a common ancestor with

Balto-Finnic languages Balto-Finnic may refer to: *Balto-Finnic peoples *Balto-Finnic languages {{dab Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

(

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

and Finnish), while the Mari languages are closer to the Permic languages.

Ethnic structure

The Mordvins are divided into two ethnic subgroups and three further subgroups: * the Erzya people or Erzyans, ( Erzya: Эрзят/''Erzyat''), speakers of the

Erzya language The Erzya language (, , ), also Erzian or historically Arisa, is spoken by approximately 300,000 people in the northern, eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhny Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Sama ...

. Less than half of the Erzyans live in the autonomous republic of Mordovia,

Russian Federation 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 ...

, Sura River and

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

. The rest are scattered over the Russian

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

s of

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

, Orenburg, as well as

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 ...

Chuvashia Chuvashia, officially known as Chuvash Republic — Chuvashia, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is the homeland of the Chuvash people, a Turkic languages, Turkic ethnic group. Its capital city, capital i ...

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 ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and USA. * the Moksha people or Mokshans, (

: Мокшет/''Mokshet''), speakers of the

Moksha language Moksha (, ) is a Mordvinic languages, Mordvinic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic family, spoken by Mokshas, with around 130,000 native speakers in 2010. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia. Its closest relativ ...

. Less than half of the Moksha population live in the autonomous republic of Mordovia,

, in the basin of the

. The rest are scattered over the Russian

s of

, Orenburg, as well as

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, Australia and USA. *the Shoksha or Tengushevo Mordvins constitute a transitional group between the Erzya and Moksha people and live in the Tengushevsky and Torbeevsky districts of Republic of Mordovia. *the Karatai Mordvins or Qaratays live in the Republic of

. They no longer speak a Volga-Finnic language but have assimilated with

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

. *the Teryukhan Mordvins live near

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

had been completely Russified by 1900 and today unambiguously identify as ethnic Russians. Mokshin concludes that the above grouping does not represent subdivisions of equal ethnotaxonomic order, and discounts Shoksha, Karatai and Teryukhan as ethnonyms, identifying two Mordvin sub-ethnicities, the Erzya and the Moksha, and two "ethnographic groups", the Shoksha and the Karatai. Two further formerly Mordvinic groups have assimilated to (Slavic and Turkic) superstrate influence: *The Meshcheryaks are believed to be Mordvins who have converted to

Russian Orthodox Christianity The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

and have adopted the Russian language. *The Mishars are believed to be Mordvins who came under Tatar influence and adopted the language (

Mishar Tatar dialect Mishar Tatar or Western Tatar (Мишәр, ''Mişär / Mişər'', Мишәр Татар, ''Mişär / Mişər Tatar'', көнбатыш татар, ''könbatış tatar'') is a dialect of Tatar spoken by Mishar Tatars, mainly in Penza, Ulyanovsk, ...

) and the

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

religion. This however is only one theory; there is no consensus on the subject of Mishar ethnogenesis and some have heavily criticized given version.

Demographics

Latham (1854) quoted a total population of 480,000. Mastyugina (1996) quotes 1.15 million. The 2002 Russian census reports 0.84 million. According to estimates by

Tartu University The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.Mordovia, in the basin of the

. Others are scattered (2002) over the Russian

s of

(116,475),

(86,370), Orenburg (68,880) and Nizhni Novgorod (36,705),

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO Ci ...

(61,100),

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

(23,380),

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(22,850),

(28,860),

(18,686),

(31,932),

(65,650),

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

(29,265). Populations in parts of the

former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

not now part of Russia are: Kyrgyz Republic 5,390, Turkmenistan 3,490, Uzbekistan 14,175,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, (34,370),

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

(1,150),

(985),

(920).

Cultures, folklores and mythologies

According to Tatiana Deviatkina, although sharing some similarities, no common Mordvin mythology has emerged, and therefore the Erza and Moksha mythologies are defined separately. In the Erza mythology, the superior deities were hatched from an egg. The mother of gods is called ''Ange Patiai'', followed by the Sun God, ''Chipaz'', who gave birth to ''Nishkepaz''; to the earth god, ''Mastoron kirdi''; and to the wind god, ''Varmanpaz''. From the union of ''Chipaz'' and the Harvest Mother, ''Norovava'', was born the god of the underworld, ''Mastorpaz''. The thunder god, ''Pur’ginepaz'', was born from ''Niskende Teitert'', (the daughter of the mother of gods, ''Ange Patiai''). The creation of the Earth is followed by the creation of the Sun, the Moon, humankind, and the Erza. Humans were created by ''Chipaz'', the sun god, who, in one version, molded humankind from clay, while in another version, from soil. In Moksha mythology, the Supreme God is called ''Viarde Skai''. According to the legends, the creation of the world went through several stages: first the Devil moistened the building material in his mouth and spat it out. The piece that was spat out grew into a plain, which was modeled unevenly, creating the chasms and the mountains. The first humans created by ''Viarde Skai'' could live for 700–800 years and were giants of 99 ''archinnes''. The underworld in Mokshan mythology was ruled by ''Mastoratia''. Latham reported strong pagan elements surviving Christianization. The 1911 ''Britannica'' noted how the Mordvins:

Religion

Erzya practices Christianity (Eastern Orthodox and Lutheranism brought by Finnish missionaries in the 1990s) and a native religion.

National representative bodies

On 1 May 2020 the Aťań Eźem approved new system of national representative bodies. Statute on creation and functioning of national representative bodies of Erzya people consists of six chapters, describing aims and tasks of Erzya national movement, its governing bodies, their plenary powers and structure. According to the document, national movement directed by Promks – convention of delegates from Erzya political parties and public organizations. Convention forms Aťań Eźem, that is operative between Promks sessions and elects Inyazor, who presents Erzya people and speaks on behalf of all the nation. In the event that there are any legal limitations for creation and operation of national parties (such prohibition exists in Russian Federation nowadays), then plenary powers of Promks are carried by Aťań Eźem. The main objective of Promks, Aťań Eźem and Inyazor, is to provide and defend national, political, economic and cultural rights of Erzya, including right to national

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

within national Erzya territories.

Genetics

Autosomally, Mokshas and Erzyas show homogeneity. About 11% of their ancestry is Nganasan-like. This East Eurasian component is typical for Uralic-speaking populations. They also have high level of Steppe-related admixture, as it can be modelled to be about half of their ancestry.

Appearance

The 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' noted that the Mordvins, although they had largely abandoned their language, had "maintained a good deal of their old national dress, especially the women, whose profusely embroidered skirts, original hair-dress large ear-rings which sometimes are merely hare-tails, and numerous necklaces covering all the chest and consisting of all possible ornaments, easily distinguish them from Russian women." ''Britannica'' described the Mordvins as having mostly dark hair and blue eyes, with a rather small and narrow build. The Moksha were described as having darker skin and darker eyes than the Erzya, while the Qaratays were described as "mixed with Tatars". Latham described the Mordvins as taller than the Mari, with thin beards, flat faces and brown or red hair, red hair being more frequent among the Ersad than the Mokshad.

James Bryce James Bryce may refer to: * James Bryce (geologist) (1806–1877), Irish naturalist and geologist * James Bryce (footballer) (1884–1916), Scottish footballer * James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838–1922), British jurist, historian and politicia ...

described "the peculiar Finnish physiognomy" of the Mordvin diaspora in Armenia, "transplanted hither from the Middle Volga at their own wish", as characterised by "broad and smooth faces, long eyes, a rather flattish nose".

List of notable Mordvins

Erzyans

* Alyona Erzymasskaya (died 1670), 17th-century Erzyan female military leader, the heroine of civil war. * Stepan Erzya (Stepan Nefedov) (1876–1959), sculptor * Fyodor Vidyayev (1912-1943), World War II submarine commander and war hero * Aleksandr Sharonov (born 1942), philologist, poet, writer * Kuzma Alekseyev, leader of Teryukhan unrest in 1806-1810 * Vasily Chapayev (1887–1919), a Russian soldier and Red Army commander * Nadezhda Kadysheva (born 1959) singer

Mokshans

Mikhail Devyatayev Mikhail Petrovich Devyataev (; Moksha: Михаил Петрович Девятаев/Mixail Petrovič Devätaev); 8 July 1917 – 24 November 2002) was a Soviet fighter pilot known for his incredible escape from a Nazi concentration camp on th ...

(1917–2002), a Soviet fighter pilot, escaped from a Nazi concentration camp * Andrey Kizhevatov (1907–1941), a Soviet border guard commander, a leader of the Defence of Brest Fortress during Operation Barbarossa. * Oleg Maskaev (born 1969), Russian former boxer * Vasily Shukshin (1929–1974), Soviet writer and actor.«Мы процентов на 90 - мордва...»
e are 90% Mordvin- Vecherniy Saransk, 29 April 2016. Quote from Shukshin's daughter: «Почему Саранск? Мы мордва. Предки Василия Макаровича из Мордовии, мы знаем, что сначала они переселились в Самарскую область, а затем в Алтайский край.» Why Saransk? Because we are Mordvin. The ancestors of Vasily Shukshin came from Mordovia; we know they first settled in Samara Oblast">Saransk.html" ;"title="Why Saransk">Why Saransk? Because we are Mordvin. The ancestors of Vasily Shukshin came from Mordovia; we know they first settled in Samara Oblast and then in Altai Krai"]

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * ''Mokshin, Nikolai F.''
The Mordva – Ethnonym or Ethnopholism
, chapter 5 of Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer (ed.),''Culture Incarnate: Native Anthropology from Russia'', M.E. Sharpe (1995), , 29–45 (English translation of a 1991 '' Sovetskaia etnografiia'' article). * * * * *

External links

* * * *
Library of Congress: A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former)The Finns of the steppe and their Mordvin names – Article about Mordvin culture and names
* Mordovia news
Info-RM

Info-RM
(In the

)
Info-RM
(In the

) Mordvin toponymy
Sándor Maticsák, Nina Kazaeva. "History of the Research of Mordvinian Place Names"
(Onomastica Uralica)
Info-RM republic of Mordovia news in Moksha

Finno-Ugric World news, articles in Moksha

Moksha-English-Moksha online dictionary * {{Authority control Ethnic groups in Russia Volga Finns Indigenous peoples of Europe

Names

Early references

Etymologies

Restoration of Erzya and Moksha ethnonyms

History

Prehistory

Medieval and early modern history

Modern history

Languages

Reconstruction of ''Mordvin'' language

Classification

Ethnic structure

Demographics

Cultures, folklores and mythologies

Religion

National representative bodies

Genetics

Appearance

List of notable Mordvins

Erzyans

Mokshans

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links