TATARSTAN
THE STORY OF THE TATARS, SERIOUSLY,
PÅ SVENSKA & IRREVERENTLY
| Tatarstan is a Federal Republic in the Russian Federation. What a Tatar is, seems far more difficult to define. Some call Tatars "Tartar". Others say Turkic or Volga-Bulgarian. This is an informal, though hopefully informational, web page about a little-known and misunderstood minority in the beautiful but cruel East. |
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Who are the Tatars? Why "Tartar"? In the words of Thomas CARLYLE (1837): "Into the body of the poor Tatars execrative Roman History intercalated an alphabetic letter; and so they continue TaRtars, of fell Tartarean nature, to this day." "Tartarean" referring to Tartaros, the Greek Underworld or Hell. It is both old and new. There are many peoples all over the Eurasian continent that call themselves (or have been called) Tatars. Some of my own ancestors belong to the stock of THE VOLGA-URAL-WEST SIBERIAN TATARS  A
Tatar village.
According to some researchers, the Volga Tatars today consist of three major dialect groups: the Central or Kazan Tatar (dominant in Tatarstan), the Eastern or Siberian Tatar, and the Western or Misher. The Tatars are generally Muslim, although there are Christian minorities called Kryashen (from the Russian word 'kreshchennyi', converted). Before the heyday of nationalism in the 19th century, the Tatars usually termed themselves Müsülman (Muslim). Some ethnic names in use were Qazanli, Bulgar, Tatar, Türk, Misher. The Russians used "Tatar" as a general term for many Turkic and even Mongol peoples. My ancestors, and most Finnish Tatars, are Misher (Finnish: mishääri). Some scholars connect their name to a Finno-Ugric tribe mentioned as one of the founder nations of old Rus', the 'Meshchera'. The Mishers are a mixed people and appeared in the course of the 14th-15th century. Their origins lie amongst the Turkic Bulgars and Qipchaks, and also the Finno-Ugric Meshchers and Mordvins, which were brought together in the area by the Volga-Bulgar rule and the Golden Horde. The Mongols
conquered the Volga-Bulgar state, but the Turko-Tataric peoples
became worthy aides and co-rulers of the region, when the Great
Khan extended his rule over the Russian principalities. When the
Mongol Empire fell apart, the Golden Horde remained in charge
in the West. This period is known to Russians as The Tatar
Yoke. However, great national heroes such as Alexander Nevsky
profited from being the Khan's vassals and tax collectors, and
intermarrying and cultural exchange took place. But the tide of
time turned, and the rising Grand Duchy of Moscow gained power.
The Kazan khanate, heir to the Golden Horde, fell in October
1552, after a two-month siege by Ivan IV - the Terrible.
Queen Suyumbika, the Khan's widow, threw herself down to her death
from the tower of the Kazan kreml. Many Tatar nobles survived,
however, integrated and indispensable to the new rulers. Famous
historical charaters of Tatar descent include Boris Godunov,
the Yusupov family, the Apraksins, the Urusovs, the Rostopchins,
names like Arakcheev, Artsybashev, Bakhmet'ev, Berdiaev, Kochubei,
Muratov, Musin, Nazarov, Saltykov, Tiutchev, Shakhmatov, Sheremet'ev,
the poet Lermontov on his mother's side, poets Denis Davydov
and Derzhavin, the nationalist historian Nikolai Karamzin, Sergei
Rakhmaninov, Rudolf Nureyev... When I was a very very small girl, my parents used to tell me stories about my heritage. The stories were mostly about their own childhood in Finland, but I was in an early age aware (and proud) of another exotic part of my heritage: the Tatar side. A century ago, my great-grandfather, Bedi Bavautdin, left a small Tatar village called Aktuk in the guvernment of Nizhniy Novgorod, to eke out a living as a travelling businessman or merchant venturer. He went as far to the west as he could and ended up in the port of Rauma, a Finnish town famed for its sea-faring people. In those days, the Tsar's Empire was merely trembling - but it would soon shake and crumble. As empires often do, it was replaced by another, which Bedi's son Abbas ended up fighting against in the IInd World War. Abbas fought for Finland, married a Finnish girl, Helvi, and settled down. 
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Tatar ladies in traditional costumes. SOME TATAR LINKS: An essay on Volga Tatar origins The Official Website of the Republic of Tatarstan in English and in Russian Tatarstan
on the Internet - WWW server of the Tatarstan Civil Network Tatarstan - a beautiful site, nice pictures. Updated 1998, though. PEREMETCH, fried dumplings! Tatar specialty. Recipes in different languages: Finnish, Russian, English, a happy Tatar song where "peremec" are mentioned along with other delicacies (such as "pilmen" - pelmeni? - and "pilav").
Concise English-Tatar Dictionary - the Tatar words are given in Kyrillic letters The Tatar Gazette - cultural and educational newspaper of the Tatar community in the Republic of Mordovia. Articles about religion, history, ethnology, cultural studies. Member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation UNPO The Tatar mosque in Helsinki (photo) Literature: Golden, Peter B.: An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1992
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Få svenskar vet att den första muslimska församlingen i Sverige grundades av tatarer år 1949; de var invandrare från Finland och flyktingar från det krigshärjade Estland. När turkarna kom med 60-talets stora invandringsvåg tog de så småningom över verksamheten, och tatarerna glömdes bort. Ordet "tatar" förväxlas ofta med "tattare", dvs resande eller zigenare. Tattare är ett nedsättande uttryck för inhemska resande, invandrande romer, utlänningar och all slags socialt utstötta människor sedan 1700-talet. Ursprungligen är ordet samma som "tatar" och antydde att dessa folkgrupper betedde sig som "vilda tatarer". På 15-och 1600-talet var man mer informerad om tatarer i Sverige. Det berodde på Vasasönernas inblandning i de polska tronföljdskrigen (Polen har haft en betydande tatarminoritet sedan medeltiden). Kung Gustaf II Adolf var imponerad av tatarernas beridna bågskyttar och planerade till och med att införa liknande enheter i den svenska armén. Det förblev ett tankeexperiment, men de mest effektiva enheterna i svensk tjänst under 30-åriga kriget var finnarnas lätta kavalleri, Hakkapeliterna, som spred skräck bland de kejserliga fotsoldaterna - kanske lät sig deras officerare inspireras av tatarisk taktik? Osannolikt, men fascinerande. |
Källor på svenska: Sverige och den islamiska världen : Ett svenskt kulturarv. Red. Karin Ådahl, Suzanne Unge Sörling & Viveca Wessel. Wahlström & Widstrand 2002 Jalla! Nu klär vi granen - möte med den muslimska kultursfären. Red. Gufran Al-nadaf. Utrikesdepartementet 2002 Om "tattare" och resande: Hazell, Bo: Resandefolket - från tattare till traveller. Ordfront 2002
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Irreverently... (I'm not very fond of nationalist fervour or blind patriotism - there is plenty of that on the internet. We should be able to joke about our prejudices while still remaining respectful of each other's identity and heritage. It's a tough balance to keep. I find it funny that the Russian stereotype of Tatars lies somewhere between "hotblooded barbaric womanizer" and "shrewd and tricksy merchant". Others might feel offended. The first thing my great-grandmother learned to say when she arrived in Finland was "We are not Jews!" The stereotypes have a darker side to them. And nobody is free of prejudices, not even their victims.) In the turn of the century 1890-1910, when the Finns began to notice the influx of Tatars, the stereotypical Tatar merchant became a character of jokes, stories and even cabaret songs. The famous vaudeville artist Alfred Tanner appeared as a "Tattari" in his comedy shows in the 1910's-1920's. This character is clearly a Tatar and not a traveller (tattare in Swedish) - his name is "Haidulla", he speaks a mix of Finnish, Swedish and Russian, and his travel route is "Petrograd-Moskva-Kazan". The most interesting part is Haidulla's dream - he wants to open a store in Helsinki and carry the Imperial order of St Stanislav. A perfect mirror image of the comfortable bourgeois dreams of many a Finnish Tatar!
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