Siberian Tatars

ETHNONYMS: Sibtatars, Tarlyk, Tobolik

Orientation

Identification. At the present time there are thought to be over 500,000 Tatars in Siberia. Of these only about 200,000 are Siberian Tatars, that is, those whose ancestors were living in western Siberia before the appearance of Russian immigrants at the end of the sixteenth century. (At the end of the seventeenth century there were 16,500 of them; at the end of the eighteenth, 28,500; and at the end of the nineteenth, 47,000.) The remaining Tatars of Siberia are more recent immigrants, plus their descendants from the Volga and Ural regions (Kazan Tatars, Mishers, Kryashen Tatars, and other groups of European Tatars). In the twentieth century, some of these have also begun to be labeled "Sibtatars."

The aboriginal Siberian Tatars consist of three large ethnic groups, each of which has further subdivisions. The Tomsk Tatars are composed of the Kalmaks, the Chats, and the Eushta. They live along the Tomi and Ob rivers in the Tomsk District, and, in part, in the Kemerovsk and Novosibirsk districts. Among the Barabinsk Tatars, scholars have recently distinguished the following subgroups: the Barabo-Turashi, the Terenino-Choi, and the Liubei-Tunusy. They are settled in the Barabinsk steppe and the Novosibirsk region. The most numerous group, the Tobolo-Irtysh, consists of the Tars, Kurdak-Sargatsk, Tobolsk, Tiumen, and Iaskolbin Tatars. They live in the basins of the Irtysh and Tobol rivers in the Omsk and Tyumensk districts of Russia.

Among the Siberian Tatars there were yet other tugums (genealogical groups), including Kuyan (Rabbit), Torna (Crane), Pulmukh (Dull-witted), Chungur and Shagir (personal names), Sart, Kurchak, and Nugai. For the Siberian Tatars over 250 ethnonyms have been used, including clan, tribal, and tugum designations.

Soviet scholars concur on the multiethnic composition of all groups of Siberian Tatars. In the most general sense the ethnogenesis of the Siberian Tatars was through the mixture of Ugric, Samoyed, Turk, and, to a lesser degree, Iranian and Mongolian tribes and peoples. The Ugric group (ancestors of the Hungarians, Mansi, and Khanty) and the Turkic-speaking Kipchaks were central to the formation of the Barabansk and Tobolo-Irtysh Tatars, as the Samoyeds (ancestors of the Nentsy and the Selkups) and the Kipchaks were to the coalescence of the Tomsk Tatars. The penetration of Turkic-speaking peoples into the territory of the western Siberian plain from the Altai and Sayan has been fixed as occurring between the fifth and seventh centuries; the increase in the influx of Turkic groups from Central Asia and Kazakhstan is thought to have occurred from the eleventh to the twelfth centuries.

Thus, by the fourteenth century the basic ethnic constituents of the Siberian Tatars were already in place. Another stratum of the Siberian Tatars were the Siberian Bukharians, composed of Uzbeks, Tajiks, and, to a lesser extent, of Kazakhs, Turkmens, and others who migrated from Central Asia to western Siberia from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth, Tatars from the Volga and west of the Urals—basically Kazan Tatars and Mishars—settled in communities of Siberian Tatars.

Linguistic Affiliation. The language of the Siberian Tatars is part of the Northwest Kipchak Group of the Turkic Branch of the Altaic Language Family. It is distinct from the language of the Volga Tatars and consists of three dialects: Baraban, Tobol-Irtysh, and Tomsk. Within the Tobol-Irtysh dialect scholars have distinguished the Zabolotny, Tobol, Tiumen, Tar, and Tevriz forms of speech, and within the Tomsk dialect, the Kalmak and Chat-Eushtin forms of speech.

History and Cultural Relations

The earliest government of the Siberian Tatars, the Tinmen Khanate, was formed in the fourteenth century with its center in Chimge-Ture (the site of present-day Tiumen). At the end of the fifteenth century the Siberian Khanate arose and its capital became the city of Sibir (Kashlyk). In the middle of the sixteenth century the territory of this state extended from the Urals in the west to the Barabin steppe in the east and from the Tavdy River in the north to the Ishim River in the south. In 1563 power was seized by Kychum, a Kazakh or a Nogay Tatar in origin. In 1582 Russian military campaigns began in Siberia, the Siberian Khanate was liquidated, and the Siberian Tatars became part of the Russian state.

In 1394-1395 some Tobol-Irtysh Tatars accepted Islam. Gradually almost all the Siberian Tatars became Muslims and members of the Islamic civilization. Their writing system was based on the Arabic alphabet, the art of urban construction developed, and distinctive buildings such as mosques and schools were built. In the second half of the nineteenth century the Siberian Tatars adopted the literary language of the Kazan Tatars. Russian culture influenced the West Siberian Tatars, as did the culture of neighboring peoples of Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia.

In the Soviet period the overwhelming majority of Siberian Tatars became literate, the role of the intelligentsia increased, and scholars, artists, and outstanding athletes appeared. A negative phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s was the termination of instruction in the Tatar language and of teaching Tatar in the schools. The standardization of the ethnic cultures through management of culture and social processes was a goal of the Soviet administrative system. During perestroika such cultural politics were reevaluated: in many villages or settlements the study of Tatar has been reintroduced, Tatar sections have been introduced in some institutions of learning, folk arts are being reborn, new mosques are being built, and a celebration is being planned for 1994—the 600th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by the Siberian Tatars. Among all groups of Siberian Tatars centers and clubs of Tatar culture have formed. In the Omsk and Tiumen oblasts, radio broadcasts are being transmitted in the Tatar language, and the first newspaper in the Tatar language has appeared. Nevertheless, cultural rebirth and development are proceeding slowly. The integration of the culture of the Siberian Tatars with the cultures of other peoples of Russia, particularly the culture of the Kazan Tatars with that of the Russians, continues.

Settlements

The Siberian Tatars called their settlements aul or yort, although the earlier names of ulus and aymak are still used by the Tomsk Tatars. The most common type of village was riverine or lacustrine. In the more distant past the Tatars had two kinds of settlement, one for winter and one for summer. With the construction of roads came a new form of settlement with a straight rectilinear layout of the streets. On the farms there were, in addition to the house, buildings for livestock, storehouses, barns, and bathhouses.

In the seventeenth century and later, sod houses and semisubterranean dwellings were customary among some Tatars. But for some time now they have used frame houses above the ground and brick dwellings. Later the Tatars began to build houses on the Russian model, including two-story frame houses, and, in the cities, brick houses. Among the buildings with a social function may be distinguished mosques (wooden and brick), buildings of regional administration, post offices, schools, stores, and shops.

The central place in the majority of dwellings was occupied by plank beds, covered by rugs and felt. Trunks and bedding were crammed along the sides of the rooms. There were little tables on short legs and shelves for the dishes. The homes of wealthy Tatars were furnished with wardrobes, tables, chairs, and sofas. Houses were heated by special stoves with an open hearth, but the Tatars also used Russian stoves. Clothes were hung on poles suspended from the ceiling. On the wall above the beds Tatars hung the prayer book containing sayings from the Quran and views of the mosques of Mecca and Alexandria.

The exteriors of the houses were usually not decorated, but a few houses had decorated windows and cornices. This ornamentation was generally geometrical, but sometimes one can discern representations of animals, birds, and people, which, in general, are prohibited by Islam.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. During the nineteenth and the first third of the twentieth centuries, all Siberian Tatars practiced agriculture and kept livestock. Among the Baraba Tatars lake fishing played the major role, whereas among the Yaskolbin Tatars and the northern groups of the Tobol, Kurdak-Sargat, and Barabin Tatars it was river fishing and hunting. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the latter kinds of activity predominated in the economy of the Tomsk Tatars.

Industrial Arts. The Siberian Tatars practiced leatherwork, the manufacture of rope from bast (from basswood bark in the case of the Tiumen and Yaskolbin), the fashioning of fishing nets, the weaving of fox-shaped baskets from withies, and the production from elm and other woods of dishes, wagons, sleds, boats, and skis. Among them there were many carpenters, cobblers, rug makers, smiths, jewelers, tinsmiths, coppersmiths, and even watchmakers. Some Tatars were occupied with trade, transporting goods on their horses (as far as the Upper Alma-Ata region and Kul'dzhi to the south, the Upper Udinska region to the east, and Nizhny Novgorod to the west). Some Tatar men served in the army.

As a means of transport, Tatars everywhere used horses for riding and also harnessed them to sleds, sleighs, and wagons. Ever since ancient times the two-wheeled cart of the arba type was known to the Tatars. The Bucharian Tatars used camels for transport, but this animal did not take to the conditions of Siberia. Hunters used so-called hand sledges for taking out their kill, sometimes hitching them to a dog. The Tatars used skis everythere, both bare and lined with fur. In summer they used boats. The Tomsk Tatars sometimes used rafts. The basic kind of boat was the dugout—block-shaped on the lakes and sharp-pointed for navigating the rivers; boats made of boards were also used. The Tomsk Tatars sometimes carved the heads of sheep, horses, and dogs on the prows of their boats.

Food. The national cuisine of the Siberian Tatars includes hundreds of foods. The most widespread are sour cream, butter, cottage cheese, yogurt with water, and other milk products. Meat—mutton, beef, horse meat, and domestic fowl—was a major component of the diet. They also ate game including rabbits, elks, and wild fowl. Meat was prepared by smoking and jerking; they also made sausage. Barley groats with potatoes and peas, various soups made from meat, other soups such as fish soup, and various fish dishes were also common. The Tatars ate porridge and talkan, a dish made of barley, oats, flour, and water or milk. They knew how to make pilaf. Other dishes made of grain included pancakes (sometimes made thin), baursaki (fried pieces of dough made of flour, eggs, and water), sansu (long ribbons of dough fried in fat or butter), pies with diverse stuffings, and halvah. The Tatars drank tea, airan, juice, and fermented mare's milk.

Clothing. Clothing was often decorated. At least since the nineteenth century many villagers have not worn underclothes; shirts and pants were worn next to the skin (sluzhili natel'noi odezhdoi ). Over this men and women wore a béshmet (a quilted jacket with sleeves), camisole (sleeveless kaftan), dressing gown, and sheepskin coat. Around 1900 men adopted Russian shirts with an open neck and pants and women began wearing dresses.

Women's headdresses had a decorated base and were beaded in front; the head binding was specific to the locality. Women also wore large nightcaps, knitted or stitched together out of silk or velvet textiles. Other styles of nightcap were smaller and stitched partly of velvet. These caps were decorated with gold and silver embroidery and beads and coins that were sewn on. Women also wore cylindrical caps, kerchiefs, and shawls, whereas men wore little skull caps, felt caps, and winter caps made of quilted material. All Siberian Tatars wore leather boots decorated with curvilinear designs of an embroidered mosaic, leather slippers, and felt boots (Russian: valenki ). For personal ornamentation, the Siberian Tatars used bracelets, rings, rings with stones, earrings, beads, strings, and ribbons, and they attached coins to their braids.

Marriage and Family

The small monogamous family was the basic social unit. All power was concentrated in the hands of the family head, the oldest male. The position of women was inferior to that of men. They lacked the freedom to choose a husband, could be married off at a very young age, and inherited a smaller share. Today extended families have disappeared and spouses are legally equal.

In recent decades many family rituals have changed, such as those connected with the birth of a child: the invitation of a midwife (births now take place in "birthing homes"), the carrying out of a sacred washing, rubbing of a boy's lips with a mixture of honey and butter or grease (maslo ), measures for combating evil spirits, and the holiday of the cradle. Sometimes all that is observed today is the "miracle holiday of children."

In the past marriage was by arrangement, by the voluntary going forth of the bride, or by abduction. Today the latter two forms have disappeared, and the arrangement not infrequently is played out as a dramatic representation. The paying of bride-price has also fallen into disuse. Some national traditions have been preserved: a religious ritual, the wedding itself, the greeting of the bride's parents by the groom, the transfer of the young girl to the husband's house, and the visit by the young couple to the bride's parents' house.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs and Practices. Despite the fact that Islam became the basic religion of the Tatars in Siberia, traditional religious beliefs have been perserved, including a belief in spirits (the so-called masters of localities), in the kukol (family guardians), and in cults of sacred trees, the earth, fire, the sun, and of various animals and birds.

Almost all Tatars celebrate Sabantui, Ramazan, Kurban Bairam, and certain other holidays.

Arts. The most developed aspect of popular art was and remains folklore. There are many tales, legends, proverbs, riddles, and songs. The performance of songs was accompanied by native instruments including a wooden pipe, the kobyz (an instrument with a metal sheet, played with the tongue), the tambourine, a two-stringed violinlike instrument, and the harmonica. "Historical" songs (those thought to have value) were composed and written down on paper. The norms of popular etiquette were reflected in proverbs such as "Don't ask an oldster, ask someone experienced," "He knows who runs along the road, not he who sleeps on the stove," and others. There were not a few raconteurs: from one of them was recorded the Sibertatar variant of the heroic epic Ediger. Distinct Sibertatar intellectuals have contributed to the development of Tatar literary culture—the writing system, books in Tatar using the Arabic script, and poetry.

Folk knowledge played a not insignificant role in Tatar spiritual culture: meteorological observations; medical knowledge; knowledge involving production; knowledge of the habits and anatomy of animals and the behavior of fish; and ideas about geography and the topography of the surrounding localities, of parts of the world, and of stars and planets. People came to the Barabian Tatars from all parts of Russia to be healed by the application of leeches.

In the cities and villages there are many Tatar artistic collectives and popular theaters. Individual folk and professional artists are generally painters and sculptors. The art of decorating houses and domestic objects is developing. The Tatars prefer to embroider patterns on textiles to satin stitching; they also use a free drum stitch. The technique of appliqué is widely used for preparing rugs.

The number of Tatar scientists and professionals is increasing: professors M. Bulator, F. Valeev, D. Tumasheva, Kh. Yarmukhametor; folk dancer of the USSR G. Ismailova; director of the Bolshoi Theater F. Mansurov; and world-champion gymnast G. Shergurova are all well known.

Bibliography

Khramova, V. V. (1964). "The West-Siberian Tatars." In The Peoples of Siberia, edited by M. G. Levin and L. P. Potapov, 423-439. Translated by Stephen P. Dunn and Ethel Dunn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Originally published in Russian in 1956.

Mote, Victor L. (1984). "Tatars." In Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey, edited by Richard V. Weekes, 758-764. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

A. A. TOMILOV (Translated by Paul Friedrich)