School Foundation Ceremony in Memory of Fatima-Farida Nauruzova

The presented article analyzes the solemn ceremony of opening a girls’ school in the village of Karakashly, Aktanysh district in 1915, which was founded in honour of enlightener, the first jourmalist among Tatar women Fatima-Farida Nauruzova. The article describes a brief biography of F.-F. Nauruzova, touches upon the vital issues of that era raised by her on the pages of the “Sibiria” newspaper, including women’s status in the family and society, all-girls schools for Tatars, the status of female teachers etc., mentions the names of many individuals who contributed to the construction of the school.

Teaching the Tatar language in Kazan institutes of higher education in the 1920s: from Old Turkic written language to the Dalton plan

The article examines the process of the Tatar language teaching formation in Kazan institutes of higher education in the 1920s on the example of institutes in the Humanities sphere: the North-Eastern Archaeological and Ethnographic Institute, the Eastern Academy and the Tatar National Branch of the Eastern Pedagogical Institute. The research is based on a wide range of unpublished sources from the funds of the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan. The study examines the curriculum of the disciplines within which the Tatar language was studied, the teaching forms and methods, as well as the formation of a team of specialists who taught the language during that period. Special attention is given to the study of the socio-political conditions in which the Tatar language instruction developed. It has been established that in the first years of the Soviet regime, the Tatar language was taught in Kazan institutes mainly by orientalists. Therefore, teaching this subject was closely related to oriental studies and source studies disciplines. Students mastered not only the spoken Tatar language, but also learned to work with Old Turkic writing manuscripts. Teaching the Tatar language in the second half of the 1920s was aimed primarily at training teachers of the native language. That period was distinguished by the instability of curricula, the introduction of new teaching methods, including the Dalton plan, and also changes in teaching staff.

Albert Fatkhi (1937–1992) – Scientist, Expert in Tatar Manuscripts

The publication examines the scientific activities of the famous archeographer, specialist in the field of oriental manuscripts and Tatar literature Fatkhiev, Albert Saitovich. A. Fatkhi is was born in the Aktanysh region of Tatarstan. His name is listed among the outstanding Tatar archaeographers of the last third of the twentieth century, such as M. Usmanov, M. Nugman, A. Karimullin, M. Akhmetzyanov and others. Albert Fatkhi is the author of four books. They contain descriptions of the manuscripts of Tatar writers and scholars. He wrote scientific articles on the problems of collecting and scientific processing of oriental manuscripts. He has works that discuss the problems of the Tatar literature, the contacts of the Tatars with other Turkic peoples in the field of literature and culture. The purpose of this study is to reveal A. Fatkhi’s contribution to the Tatar archaeography and philology.

Kumis Holidays, Rituals and Ceremonies in the Context of the Culture of Memories of the Great Steppe

Based on written and field sources, this article examines kumis holidays, rituals and ceremonies in historical retrospect and modern reality. According to Chinese, Armenian, Central Asian sources of the 13th–17th centuries, the ritual significance of kumis is shown which for centuries retained the role of the main ceremonial attribute in the framework of military rituals and sacrifices in the culture of the peoples of Central Asia. Kumis was sprinkled on military standards on the eve of the battle. It acted as a sacrificial libation to Heaven, the cardinal points, and the mountains. Kumis was a prestigious drink and an obligatory treat both in the nomad tent of a simple steppe dweller and at state receptions and festivals of the great steppe empires. This drink served as the main treat at the feast. The order of its distribution semantically designated the hierarchies in the steppe empires. In the Kazakh steppe, the traditions of kumis ceremonies and holidays continue, according to ethnographic sources of the 19th–20th centuries, to maintain stability. In the twentieth century, the prestigious nature of kumis among the Kazakhs is still noted, and the ritual character of kumis treats is indicated. Currently, kumis in Kazakhstan still plays the role of a prestigious drink, which is present not only in calendar rituals but also in feasts organized as part of the rituals of the life cycle. Field studies carried out in July-September 2021 give reason to speak not only about the sustainability of kumis holidays within the framework of the spring and autumn calendar rituals, but also their actualization as an element of intangible cultural heritage and an application for setting a world record. In contrast to the Middle Ages, in the ceremony of treating kumis today, a change in the nature of the religious rite and purpose is noted. The complex of kumis holidays that arose in ancient times is considered today by Kazakhs as a cultural heritage, as a place of memory. It is used as a symbolic capital for organizing and carrying out various kinds of events.

The traditional economic culture of the Tatars in N.A. Khalikov’s works (in memory of the scholar and colleague)

The article highlights the main directions of scientific work of Nail Alfredovich Khalikov, a well-known Russian ethnographer who studied the life and traditional economy of the Tatars, the author of significant academic works on the ethnography of the people. The main research of the scientist is related to the collection and interpretation of ethnographic sources (expedition, museum, archival, visual) and preparation for publishing “Historical and Ethnographic Atlas of the Tatar People”, where he was the author and a permanent member of the editorial board. In the 1970s–2000s, rural settlements of the Volga-Ural Tatars (Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Bashkiria, Mari El, Kirov, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk, Perm, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk regions), then Astrakhan (Astrakhan, Saratov regions) and Siberian Tatars (Tyumen, Omsk, Tomsk regions) were examined according to a special program developed by N.A. Khalikov. As a result of that work, a source base on traditional farming, including agriculture and folk crafts, as well as numerous monographs, publications in scientific collections, articles in the multi-volume “Tatar Encyclopedia” was created. Currently, N.A. Khalikov’s expedition materials (field diaries, photographs, sketches and drawings) have been partially digitized and are stored in the archive of the Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences.

“Science Transforming the World is Created by Geniuses in Need of Protection and Assistance More than Anyone.” (On the Fate of Scientists in the Famine of 1920s)

The October coup of 1917 and the Civil War negatively affected the fate of the country's population, particularly the Russian intellectuals. Representatives of the academic class, intellectuals, who are least adapted to disasters, had to fight for physical survival having left scientific work. The supply of food to university professors was carried out on a residual basis and was a "drop in the sea." The purpose of the article is to reveal the attitude of the leader towards the people of science, as well as the assistance provided by the republican power to alleviate the fate of Kazan scientists. Documentary evidence suggests that the government was indifferent to the fate of outstanding scientists. The catastrophic situation in the Tatar Republic is confirmed by the premature death of creators of science and culture such as N.F. Katanov, A.A. Shakhmatov and many other professors of Kazan universities due to the hunger.

Creation of Tatar language and literature department at Kazan State University and its activities in the middle of 1940s – 1950s (based on the materials from the State Archives of the Republic of Tatarstan)

The article analyzes the documentary materials of the Republic of Tatarstan State Archives on the history of the formation and activities of Kazan University’s Tatar Language and Literature Department in the middle of 1940s – 1950s. The study of the protocols of the department provided an opportunity to identify the academic staff, the main directions of the department's work in the first post-war years, the material and technical equipment and the specifics of organizing the educational process. It was concluded that the activities of the Department of Tatar Philology made a significant contribution to the determination of further ways of developing Tatar philological education and demonstrated the importance of preserving the language for the culture of Tatar people.

Kurban in the Context of the Gagauz Orthodox Identity: History and Modernity

In this article, the Kurban rite (animal sacrifice), which occupies an important place in the Gagauz calendar and family rituals, is analyzed through the prism of Orthodox identity. The form and content of various varieties of this rite are considered, as well as its role and significance in the ethnocultural code of the Gagauz people. The author especially dwells on the study of the qurban of the church, in which the elements of Christian-pagan syncretism are clearly manifested. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that over time, the Kurban rite among the Gagauz people acquired the form of a ritual institution and became an important component of Orthodox rituals. The fact that it has survived is not a small merit of the Orthodox clergy. The article provides information that in the second half of the 20th – early 21st centuries. As a result, the ritual acquired a more Christianized form, but, despite this, some of its archaic features continue to be preserved. It is emphasized that in the Gagauz folk-religious culture this form of sacrifice is associated with the Old Testament tradition – the Abrahamic sacrifice, the plot of which is widely represented in the Gagauz song folklore. It is concluded that both the ethnic component of the Gagauz Orthodoxy and their characteristic Balkan cultural and regional identity are clearly expressed in private and general holiday celebrations, of which Kurban is an integral part. In conclusion, it is noted that the Kurban rite continues to remain an important part of the Gagauz Orthodox rituals and identity, being an integral component of their ethnocultural code. This is evidenced by the degree of preservation of this institution of sacrifice and its significance in the religious and folk ideas of the Gagauz people.

Migration processes among Tatars of the Tetyushsky krai: directions, causes and results (the second half of the 16th – early 20th centuries)

The presented article sets the tasks to consider the migration conditions and processes among the population of the Tetyushsky Krai, to identify the historical validity of their choice of a particular region for living, to determine the reasons that contribute to the movement of the population. The study of the history of the region in this perspective is being conducted for the first time. In our opinion, this approach to the study of local history is relevant. Ancestral ties in Tatar society have always been strong and representatives of the same family living in different regions maintained close contact and, therefore, kinship ties considerably affected the migration direction. In the course of our research, several directions of migration of the population of the Tetyushsky Territory were identified in different periods of history: after the fall of the Bulgarian state and, subsequently, the Kazan Khanate. The migration of certain clans took place on the territory of the current Spassky district of the Republic of Tatarstan. This movement was quite understandable, since in the memory of the people it was perceived as a movement within their land, their state. It is known that the territory of Volga Bulgaria stretched both in the left and right banks of the Volga River. It should also be noted that natives of the Tetyushsky Region founded some villages in the Almetyevsk and Spassk districts of the Republic of Tatarstan. The lack of arable land contributed to the movement of the population to the Menzelinsk district of the Ufa Province, in search of better conditions for farming. The connection of the inhabitants of the Mountain side with the southern city of Astrakhan is primarily due to its convenient geographical location for trade relations, which has been a favorite occupation of the Tatars since the beginning of centuries. Also, the climatic conditions of the southern region saved many in the hunger years in the Volga region. Those who moved from the Middle Volga region, mostly came from the Mountainous side. The study of the historical ties of the Tatars of different regions, migration processes and their directions provides new materials for researching the history of regions and settlements.

Russian Language in Schools of Soviet Uzbekistan (the 30s–80s of the 20th century)

The massive introduction of the study of the Russian language by the Soviet authorities in the schools of Uzbekistan entailed significant changes in the social and cultural landscape of the republic. The Bolshevik state, which carried out a mass experiment to create a “new society” and a “new man” for the first time in history, considered language as an object of special manipulations aimed at achieving certain, not quite linguistic goals. The sphere of application of the Russian language in Soviet Uzbekistan was constantly expanding. The period under review was also marked by a change in the vocabulary fund. A tendency to supplement the national vocabulary with words of Soviet-international origin began to manifest; the words and expressions contained in the potential of national languages, which once used by representatives of the previous generation intelligentsia, gradually started to go out of use. The situation began to worsen due to the multilingualism that arose in different years as a result of the evacuation and migration of the population to Uzbekistan. The number of multilingual speakers increased as a result of the introduction of the local population to industrial forms of production and inclusion in the appropriate social and cultural environment. The large-scale social and cultural engineering project undertaken by the Soviet state to ensure the compulsory teaching of the Russian language led to significant changes in the social and cultural contours of Uzbekistan society; and what is more, it influenced the forms of cultural identity of the indigenous population.