Peoples included in the Finno-Ugric. Finno-Ugric peoples. What do Finno-Ugrians believe?

Finno-Ugric languages are related to modern Finnish and Hungarian. The peoples who speak them make up the Finno-Ugric ethnolinguistic group. Their origin, territory of settlement, commonality and differences in external features, culture, religion and traditions are the subjects of global research in the field of history, anthropology, geography, linguistics and a number of other sciences. This review article will try to briefly cover this topic.

Peoples included in the Finno-Ugric ethnolinguistic group

Based on the degree of similarity of languages, researchers divide the Finno-Ugric peoples into five subgroups.

The basis of the first, Baltic-Finnish, are Finns and Estonians - peoples with their own states. They also live in Russia. Setu - a small group of Estonians - settled in the Pskov region. The most numerous of the Baltic-Finnish peoples of Russia are the Karelians. In everyday life they use three autochthonous dialects, while Finnish is considered their literary language. In addition, the Vepsians and Izhorians belong to the same subgroup - small peoples who have preserved their languages, as well as the Vods (there are less than a hundred people left, their own language has been lost) and Livs.

The second is the Sami (or Lapp) subgroup. The main part of the peoples who gave it its name are settled in Scandinavia. In Russia, the Sami live on the Kola Peninsula. Researchers suggest that in ancient times these peoples occupied a larger territory, but were subsequently pushed further north. At the same time, their own language was replaced by one of the Finnish dialects.

The third subgroup that makes up the Finno-Ugric peoples - the Volga-Finnish - includes the Mari and Mordovians. The Mari are the main part of Mari El; they also live in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Udmurtia and a number of other Russian regions. They have two literary languages (with which, however, not all researchers agree). Mordva - autochthonous population of the Republic of Mordovia; at the same time, a significant part of the Mordvins are settled throughout Russia. This people consists of two ethnographic groups, each with its own literary written language.

The fourth subgroup is called Permian. It also includes the Udmurts. Even before October 1917, in terms of literacy (though in Russian), the Komi were approaching the most educated peoples of Russia - Jews and Russian Germans. As for the Udmurts, their dialect has been preserved for the most part in the villages of the Udmurt Republic. Residents of cities, as a rule, forget both the indigenous language and customs.

The fifth, Ugric, subgroup includes the Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi. Although the lower reaches of the Ob and the northern Urals are separated by many kilometers from the Hungarian state on the Danube, these peoples are actually the closest relatives. The Khanty and Mansi belong to the small peoples of the North.

Disappeared Finno-Ugric tribes

The Finno-Ugric peoples also included tribes, mentions of which are currently preserved only in chronicles. Thus, the Merya people lived between the Volga and Oka rivers in the first millennium AD - there is a theory that they subsequently merged with the Eastern Slavs.

The same thing happened with Muroma. This is an even more ancient people of the Finno-Ugric ethno-linguistic group, who once inhabited the Oka basin.

The long-vanished Finnish tribes that lived along the Northern Dvina are called Chudya by researchers (according to one hypothesis, they were the ancestors of modern Estonians).

Commonality of languages and culture

Having declared the Finno-Ugric languages as a single group, researchers emphasize this commonality as the main factor uniting the peoples who speak them. However, the Ural ethnic groups, despite the similarity in the structure of their languages, still do not always understand each other. Thus, a Finn will certainly be able to communicate with an Estonian, an Erzyan with a Moksha, and an Udmurt with a Komi. However, the peoples of this group, geographically distant from each other, must make quite a lot of effort to identify common features in their languages that would help them conduct a conversation.

The linguistic kinship of the Finno-Ugric peoples is primarily traced in the similarity of linguistic constructions. This significantly influences the formation of the thinking and worldview of peoples. Despite the differences in cultures, this circumstance contributes to the emergence of mutual understanding between these ethnic groups.

At the same time, the unique psychology determined by the thought process in these languages enriches universal human culture with their unique vision of the world. Thus, unlike the Indo-Europeans, the representative of the Finno-Ugric people is inclined to treat nature with exceptional respect. Finno-Ugric culture also largely contributed to the desire of these peoples to peacefully adapt to their neighbors - as a rule, they preferred not to fight, but to migrate, preserving their identity.

Also, a characteristic feature of the peoples of this group is openness to ethnocultural exchange. In search of ways to strengthen relationships with related peoples, they maintain cultural contacts with all those who surround them. Basically, the Finno-Ugric peoples managed to preserve their languages and basic cultural elements. The connection with ethnic traditions in this area can be seen in their national songs, dances, music, traditional dishes, and clothing. Also, many elements of their ancient rituals have survived to this day: wedding, funeral, memorial.

Brief history of the Finno-Ugric peoples

The origin and early history of the Finno-Ugric peoples remain the subject of scientific debate to this day. The most common opinion among researchers is that in ancient times there was a single group of people who spoke a common Finno-Ugric proto-language. The ancestors of the current Finno-Ugric peoples until the end of the third millennium BC. e. maintained relative unity. They were settled in the Urals and the western Urals, and possibly also in some adjacent areas.

In that era, called Finno-Ugric, their tribes came into contact with the Indo-Iranians, which was reflected in myths and languages. Between the third and second millennia BC. e. The Ugric and Finno-Permian branches separated from each other. Among the peoples of the latter, who settled in a western direction, independent subgroups of languages gradually emerged and became distinct (Baltic-Finnish, Volga-Finnish, Permian). As a result of the transition of the autochthonous population of the Far North to one of the Finno-Ugric dialects, the Sami were formed.

The Ugric group of languages disintegrated by the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. The Baltic-Finnish division occurred at the beginning of our era. Perm lasted a little longer - until the eighth century. Contacts of Finno-Ugric tribes with Baltic, Iranian, Slavic, Turkic, and Germanic peoples played a major role in the separate development of these languages.

Settlement area

Finno-Ugric peoples today mainly live in Northwestern Europe. Geographically, they are settled over a vast territory from Scandinavia to the Urals, Volga-Kama, lower and middle Tobol region. The Hungarians are the only people of the Finno-Ugric ethno-linguistic group who formed their own state away from other related tribes - in the Carpathian-Danube region.

Number of Finno-Ugric peoples

The total number of peoples speaking Uralic languages (these include Finno-Ugric and Samoyed) is 23-24 million people. The most numerous representatives are Hungarians. There are more than 15 million of them in the world. They are followed by Finns and Estonians (5 and 1 million people, respectively). Most other Finno-Ugric ethnic groups live in modern Russia.

Finno-Ugric ethnic groups in Russia

Russian settlers flocked en masse to the lands of the Finno-Ugrians in the 16th-18th centuries. Most often, the process of their settlement in these areas occurred peacefully, but some indigenous peoples (for example, the Mari) for a long time and fiercely resisted the annexation of their region to the Russian state.

The Christian religion, writing, and urban culture, introduced by the Russians, over time began to displace local beliefs and dialects. People moved to cities, moved to Siberian and Altai lands - where Russian was the main and common language. However, he (especially his northern dialect) absorbed many Finno-Ugric words - this is most noticeable in the field of toponyms and names of natural phenomena.

In some places, the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia mixed with the Turks, converting to Islam. However, a significant part of them were still assimilated by the Russians. Therefore, these peoples do not constitute a majority anywhere - even in those republics that bear their name.

However, according to the 2002 population census, there are very significant Finno-Ugric groups in Russia. These are the Mordovians (843 thousand people), Udmurts (almost 637 thousand), Mari (604 thousand), Komi-Zyryans (293 thousand), Komi-Permyaks (125 thousand), Karelians (93 thousand). The number of some peoples does not exceed thirty thousand people: Khanty, Mansi, Vepsians. The Izhorians number 327 people, and the Vod people number only 73 people. Hungarians, Finns, Estonians, and Sami also live in Russia.

Development of Finno-Ugric culture in Russia

In total, sixteen Finno-Ugric peoples live in Russia. Five of them have their own national-state entities, and two have national-territorial ones. Others are dispersed throughout the country.

In Russia, considerable attention is paid to the preservation of the original cultural traditions of those inhabiting it. At the national and local level, programs are being developed with the support of which the culture of the Finno-Ugric peoples, their customs and dialects is being studied.

Thus, Sami, Khanty, Mansi are taught in primary schools, and Komi, Mari, Udmurt, and Mordovian languages are taught in secondary schools in those regions where large groups of the corresponding ethnic groups live. There are special laws on culture and languages (Mari El, Komi). Thus, in the Republic of Karelia there is an education law that enshrines the right of Vepsians and Karelians to study in their native language. The priority for the development of the cultural traditions of these peoples is determined by the Law on Culture.

Also, the republics of Mari El, Udmurtia, Komi, Mordovia, and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug have their own concepts and programs for national development. The Foundation for the Development of Cultures of the Finno-Ugric Peoples has been created and operates (on the territory of the Mari El Republic).

Finno-Ugric peoples: appearance

The ancestors of the current Finno-Ugrians were the result of a mixture of Paleo-European and Paleo-Asian tribes. Therefore, the appearance of all the peoples of this group contains both Caucasoid and Mongoloid features. Some scientists even put forward a theory about the existence of an independent race - the Ural, which is “intermediate” between Europeans and Asians, but this version has few supporters.

Finno-Ugrians are heterogeneous in anthropological terms. However, any representative of the Finno-Ugric people possesses characteristic “Ural” features to one degree or another. This is usually of average height, very light hair color, wide face, sparse beard. But these features manifest themselves in different ways. Thus, the Erzya Mordvins are tall, have blond hair and blue eyes. Mordvins-Moksha - on the contrary, are shorter, with wide cheekbones, and darker hair. The Udmurts and Mari often have characteristic “Mongolian” eyes with a special fold at the inner corner of the eye - epicanthus, very wide faces, and a thin beard. But at the same time, their hair, as a rule, is blond and red, and their eyes are blue or gray, which is typical for Europeans, but not Mongoloids. The “Mongolian fold” is also found among the Izhorians, Vodians, Karelians and even Estonians. Komi people look different. Where there are mixed marriages with the Nenets, representatives of this people have braided hair and black hair. Other Komi, on the contrary, are more like Scandinavians, but have wider faces.

Finno-Ugric traditional cuisine in Russia

Most of the dishes of traditional Finno-Ugric and Trans-Ural cuisines, in fact, have not been preserved or have been significantly distorted. However, ethnographers manage to trace some general patterns.

The main food product of the Finno-Ugrians was fish. It was not only processed in different ways (fried, dried, boiled, fermented, dried, eaten raw), but each type was also prepared in its own way, which would better convey the taste.

Before the advent of firearms, the main method of hunting in the forest was snares. They caught mainly forest birds (grouse, wood grouse) and small animals, mainly hares. Meat and poultry were stewed, boiled and baked, and much less often, fried.

For vegetables they used turnips and radishes, and for herbs - watercress, hogweed, horseradish, onions, and young mushrooms growing in the forest. Western Finno-Ugric peoples practically did not consume mushrooms; at the same time, for the eastern ones they constituted a significant part of the diet. The oldest types of grain known to these peoples are barley and wheat (spelt). They were used to prepare porridges, hot jelly, and also as a filling for homemade sausages.

The modern culinary repertoire of the Finno-Ugric people contains very few national features, since it has been strongly influenced by Russian, Bashkir, Tatar, Chuvash and other cuisines. However, almost every nation has preserved one or two traditional, ritual or festive dishes that have survived to this day. Taken together, they allow us to get a general idea of Finno-Ugric cooking.

Finno-Ugric peoples: religion

Most Finno-Ugrians profess the Christian faith. Finns, Estonians and Western Sami are Lutherans. Catholics predominate among Hungarians, although you can also meet Calvinists and Lutherans.

Finno-Ugrians living in are predominantly Orthodox Christians. However, the Udmurts and Mari in some places managed to preserve the ancient (animistic) religion, and the Samoyed peoples and inhabitants of Siberia - shamanism.

Among those living on the planet today there are many unique, original and even somewhat mysterious peoples and nationalities. These, undoubtedly, include the Finno-Ugric peoples, who are considered the largest ethno-linguistic community in Europe. It includes 24 nations. 17 of them live in the Russian Federation.

Composition of the ethnic group

All the numerous Finno-Ugric peoples are divided by researchers into several groups:

Baltic-Finnish, the backbone of which consists of quite numerous Finns and Estonians, who formed their own states. This also includes the Setos, Ingrians, Kvens, Vyrs, Karelians, Izhorians, Vepsians, Vods and Livs.
Sami (Lapp), which includes residents of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula.
Volga-Finnish, which includes the Mari and Mordovians. The latter, in turn, are divided into Moksha and Erzya.
Perm, which includes Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Yazvintsy, Besermyans and Udmurts.
Ugorskaya. It includes the Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi, separated from each other by hundreds of kilometers.

Vanished Tribes

Among the modern Finno-Ugric peoples there are numerous peoples, and very small groups - less than 100 people. There are also those whose memory is preserved only in ancient chronicle sources. The disappeared, for example, include Merya, Chud and Muroma.

The Meryans built their settlements between the Volga and Oka several hundred years BC. According to some historians, this people subsequently assimilated with the East Slavic tribes and became the progenitor of the Mari people.

An even more ancient people were the Muroma, who lived in the Oka basin.

As for the Chud, this people lived along the Onega and Northern Dvina. There is an assumption that these were ancient Finnish tribes from which modern Estonians descended.

Regions of settlement

The Finno-Ugric group of peoples today is concentrated in northwestern Europe: from Scandinavia to the Urals, Volga-Kama, West Siberian Plain in the lower and middle reaches of the Tobol.

The only people who formed their own state at a considerable distance from their brethren are the Hungarians living in the Danube basin in the Carpathian Mountains region.

The most numerous Finno-Ugric people in Russia are the Karelians. In addition to the Republic of Karelia, many of them live in the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Tver and Leningrad regions of the country.

Most of the Mordovians live in the Republic of Mordva, but many of them also settled in neighboring republics and regions of the country.

In these same regions, as well as in Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and other regions, you can also meet Finno-Ugric peoples, especially many Mari here. Although their main backbone lives in the Republic of Mari El.

The Komi Republic, as well as nearby regions and autonomous okrugs, is the place of permanent residence of the Komi people, and in the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug and the Perm region live their closest “relatives” - the Komi-Permyaks.

More than a third of the population of the Udmurt Republic are ethnic Udmurts. In addition, there are small communities in many nearby regions.

As for the Khanty and Mansi, the bulk of them live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. In addition, large Khanty communities live in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tomsk region.

Appearance type

Among the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians there were both ancient European and ancient Asian tribal communities, so in the appearance of modern representatives one can observe features inherent in both the Mongoloid and Caucasian races.

General features of the distinctive features of representatives of this ethnic group include average height, very light hair, wide cheekbones with an upturned nose.

Moreover, each nationality has its own “variations”. For example, the Erzya Mordvins are much taller than average, but at the same time have pronounced blue-eyed blond hair. But the Moksha Mordvins, on the contrary, are short, and their hair color is darker.

The Udmurts and Maris have “Mongolian type” eyes, which makes them similar to the Mongoloid race. But at the same time, the vast majority of representatives of the nationality are fair-haired and light-eyed. Similar facial features are also found among many Izhorians, Karelians, Vodians, and Estonians.

But Komi can be either dark-haired with slanted eyes, or fair-haired with pronounced Caucasian features.

Quantitative composition

In total, there are about 25 million Finno-Ugric people living in the world. The most numerous of them are Hungarians, who number more than 15 million. Finns are almost three times less - about 6 million, and the number of Estonians is a little more than a million.

The number of other nationalities does not exceed a million: Mordovians - 843 thousand; Udmurts - 637 thousand; Mari - 614 thousand; Ingrians - just over 30 thousand; Kvens - about 60 thousand; Võru - 74 thousand; setu - about 10 thousand, etc.

The smallest nationalities are the Livs, whose number does not exceed 400 people, and the Vods, whose community consists of 100 representatives.

An excursion into the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples

There are several versions about the origin and ancient history of the Finno-Ugric peoples. The most popular of them is the one that assumes the existence of a group of people who spoke the so-called Finno-Ugric proto-language, and maintained their unity until approximately the 3rd millennium BC. This Finno-Ugric group of peoples lived in the Urals and western Urals region. In those days, the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians maintained contact with the Indo-Iranians, as evidenced by all kinds of myths and languages.

Later, the single community split into Ugric and Finno-Perm. From the second, the Baltic-Finnish, Volga-Finnish and Permian language subgroups subsequently emerged. Separation and isolation continued until the first centuries of our era.

Scientists consider the homeland of the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians to be the region located on the border of Europe with Asia in the interfluve of the Volga and Kama, the Urals. At the same time, the settlements were located at a considerable distance from each other, which may have been the reason that they did not create their own unified state.

The main occupations of the tribes were agriculture, hunting and fishing. The earliest mentions of them are found in documents from the times of the Khazar Kaganate.

For many years, Finno-Ugric tribes paid tribute to the Bulgar khans and were part of the Kazan Khanate and Rus'.

In the 16th-18th centuries, the territory of Finno-Ugric tribes began to be settled by thousands of immigrants from various regions of Rus'. The owners often resisted such an invasion and did not want to recognize the power of the Russian rulers. The Mari resisted especially fiercely.

However, despite the resistance, gradually the traditions, customs and language of the “newcomers” began to supplant local speech and beliefs. Assimilation intensified during subsequent migration, when Finno-Ugrians began to move to various regions of Russia.

Finno-Ugric languages

Initially, there was a single Finno-Ugric language. As the group divided and different tribes settled further and further from each other, it changed, breaking up into separate dialects and independent languages.

Until now, Finno-Ugric languages have been preserved by both large nations (Finns, Hungarians, Estonians) and small ethnic groups (Khanty, Mansi, Udmurts, etc.). Thus, in the primary classes of a number of Russian schools, where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples study, they study the Sami, Khanty and Mansi languages.

Komi, Mari, Udmurts, and Mordovians can also study the languages of their ancestors, starting from middle school.

Other peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages, may also speak dialects similar to the main languages of the group they belong to. For example, the Besermen speak one of the dialects of the Udmurt language, the Ingrians speak the eastern dialect of Finnish, the Kvens speak Finnish, Norwegian or Sami.

Currently, there are barely a thousand common words in all the languages of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples. Thus, the “family” connection between different peoples can be traced in the word “home”, which among the Finns sounds like koti, among the Estonians - kodu. “Kudu” (Mor.) and “Kudo” (Mari) have a similar sound.

Living next to other tribes and peoples, the Finno-Ugric peoples adopted culture and language from them, but also generously shared their own. For example, “rich and powerful” includes Finno-Ugric words such as “tundra”, “sprat”, “herring” and even “dumplings”.

Finno-Ugric culture

Archaeologists find cultural monuments of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the form of settlements, burials, household items and jewelry throughout the entire territory inhabited by the ethnic group. Most of the monuments date back to the beginning of our era and the early Middle Ages. Many peoples have managed to preserve their culture, traditions and customs until today.

Most often they manifest themselves in various rituals (weddings, folk festivals, etc.), dances, clothing and everyday life.

Literature

Finno-Ugric literature is conventionally divided by historians and researchers into three groups:

Western, which includes works of Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian writers and poets. This literature, which was influenced by the literature of European peoples, has the richest history.
Russian, the formation of which begins in the 18th century. It includes works by authors of the Komi, Mari, Mordovians, and Udmurts.
Northern. The youngest group, developed only about a century ago. It includes works by Mansi, Nenets, and Khanty authors.

At the same time, all representatives of the ethnic group have a rich heritage of oral folk art. Every nationality has numerous epics and legends about heroes of the past. One of the most famous works of folk epic is “Kalevala,” which tells about the life, beliefs and customs of our ancestors.

Religious preferences

Most of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugrians profess Orthodoxy. Finns, Estonians and Western Sami adhere to the Lutheran faith, while Hungarians adhere to the Catholic faith. At the same time, ancient traditions are preserved in rituals, mostly wedding ones.

But the Udmurts and Mari in some places still preserve their ancient religion, just as the Samoyeds and some peoples of Siberia worship their gods and practice shamanism.

Features of national cuisine

In ancient times, the main food product of the Finno-Ugric tribes was fish, which was fried, boiled, dried and even eaten raw. Moreover, each type of fish had its own cooking method.

The meat of forest birds and small animals caught in snares was also used as food. The most popular vegetables were turnips and radishes. The food was richly seasoned with spices such as horseradish, onions, hogweed, etc.

The Finno-Ugric peoples prepared porridges and jelly from barley and wheat. They were also used to fill homemade sausages.

Modern Finno-Ugric cuisine, which has been strongly influenced by neighboring peoples, has almost no special traditional features. But almost every nation has at least one traditional or ritual dish, the recipe for which has been handed down to the present day almost unchanged.

A distinctive feature of the cuisine of the Finno-Ugric peoples is that in food preparation preference is given to products grown in the place where the people live. But imported ingredients are used only in the smallest quantities.

Save and increase

In order to preserve the cultural heritage of the Finno-Ugric peoples and pass on the traditions and customs of their ancestors to future generations, all kinds of centers and organizations are being created everywhere.

Much attention is paid to this in the Russian Federation. One of such organizations is the non-profit association Volga Center of Finno-Ugric Peoples, created 11 years ago (April 28, 2006).

As part of its work, the center not only helps large and small Finno-Ugric peoples not to lose their history, but also introduces other peoples of Russia to it, helping to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between them.

Famous representatives

Like every nation, the Finno-Ugric peoples have their own heroes. A well-known representative of the Finno-Ugric people is the nanny of the great Russian poet, Arina Rodionovna, who was from the Ingrian village of Lampovo.

Also Finno-Ugrians are such historical and modern figures as Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum (both were Mordvins), physiologist V. M. Bekhterev (Udmurt), composer A. Ya. Eshpai (Mari), athlete R. Smetanina (Komi) and many others.

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Archaeological culture Language Religion

Finno-Ugric peoples (Finno-Ugrians listen)) - a linguistic community of peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages living in Western Siberia, Central, Northern and Eastern Europe.

Classification and numbers

Finno-Ugric peoples are divided into two groups: Finnish and Ugric.

The total number of Finno-Ugric peoples is estimated at 25 million people. Of these, there are about 14 million Hungarians, 5 million Finns, about 1 million Estonians, 843 thousand Mordovians, 637 thousand Udmurts, 614 thousand Mari.

Finno-Permian group

Baltic-Finnish subgroup

Finns (Suomi) - 6,000,000: 4,800,000 - in Finland, 300,000 - in Sweden, 300,000 people - in the USA, 50 people - in Kazakhstan.
- Ingrians - 32,231: 20,300 - in Russia, 10,639 - in Estonia.
- Kvens - 10,000 - 60,000 - in Norway.
Estonians - 1,050,000: 920,000 - in Estonia (), 39,763 - in Finland (), 28,113 - in Russia (2002), 25,509 - in Sweden (), 25,000 - USA ().
- Võru - 74,000 in Estonia.
- Setu - 10,000: 10,000 in Estonia, 214 in Russia (2010).
Karelians - 120,000: 93,344 - in Russia (2002), 20,000 - in Finland.
Veps - 8,240 people in Russia (2002).
Izhorians - 700 people: 327 people - in Russia (2002).
Livs - 250-400 people (in Latvia).
Vod - 100 people: 73 - in Russia (2002).

Sami subgroup

Sami - 30,000-70,000: 40,000 in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden, 6,500 in Finland, 1.8 thousand people in Russia (2010).

Volga-Finnish subgroup

Mordva - 744,237 in Russia (2010)
- Mokshane - 49,624 in Russia (2002)
- Erzyans - 84,407 in Russia (2002)
Mari - 547,605 in Russia (2010)

Perm subgroup

Udmurts - 636,906 in Russia (2002).
- Besermyans - 3,122 in Russia (2002).
Komi-Zyrians - 293,406 in Russia (2002).
- Komi-Izhemtsy - 15,607 in Russia (2002).
Komi-Permyaks - 125,235 in Russia (2002).
- Komi-Yazvintsy - 5,000 in Russia.

Ugric group

Danube subgroup

Hungarians - 14,500,000: 9,416,015 - in Hungary (), 1,563,081 - in the USA (), 1,433,073 - in Romania (), 520,528 - in Slovakia (), 315,510 - in Canada (), 293 299 - in Serbia (), 156,600 - in Ukraine ().
- Yases (medieval Alan people assimilated by the Hungarians)

Ob subgroup

Khanty - 28,678 people in Russia (2002).
Mansi - 11,432 people in Russia (2002).

Classification of state-territorial entities

Modern independent Finno-Ugric states

Modern Finno-Ugric national autonomies

Romania Russia

Archeology

Cherkaskul culture - Bronze Age culture in the south of the Urals and Western Siberia

Mezhovskaya culture - Bronze Age culture in the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia

Ananyinskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Middle Volga region

Pianoborskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Volga region and the Urals

Bakhmutin culture and the Kama region

Dyakovo culture - Iron Age culture in Central Russia

Gorodets culture - Iron Age culture in Southern Russia and the Volga region

Karayakup culture - Iron Age culture in the Southern Urals

Kushnarenkovskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Southern Urals

Mazuninskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Kama region and on the lower reaches of the Belaya River

Sargat culture - Iron Age culture in Western Siberia

Story

Linguistic analysis shows the presence of direct contacts between the population of the Indo-Iranian group and the population of the Finno-Ugric language group. V.N. Chernetsov point to the presence of many Iranian features in the language, folklore and rituals of the later Ugric population of Western Siberia (Khanty and Mansi).

Genetics

According to the latest genetic data, the tribes that spread haplogroup N migrated from Southern Siberia.

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Notes

Literature

Bongard-Levin G. M., Grantovsky E. A. From Scythia to India. M., 2000.
Bernshtam T. A. Christianization in the ethnocultural processes of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the European North and the Volga region (comparative generalization) // Modern Finno-Ugric Studies. Experience and problems. Collection of scientific works State. Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR. - L., 1990. - P. 133-140.
Worldview of the Finno-Ugric peoples. M., 1990.
Napolskikh V.V. Introduction to historical uralistics. Izhevsk: UdmIYAL, 1997.
Peoples of the Volga and Urals regions. Komi-Zyryans. Komi-Permyaks. Mari. Mordva. Udmurts. M., 2000.
Ryabinin E. A. Finno-Ugric tribes within Ancient Rus'. St. Petersburg : St. Petersburg State University Publishing House, 1997.
Khelimsky E. A. Comparative studies, uralistics: Lectures and articles. M.: Languages of Russian culture, 2000.
Fedyanovich T. L. Family customs and rituals of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga region. M., 1997.

Links

Finno-Ugric tribes and peoples

Volga

Perm

Baltic

Sami

Severnofinskie 3

Ugrians

An excerpt characterizing the Finno-Ugric peoples

Chernyshev was sitting with a book of a French novel at the window of the first room. This room was probably formerly a hall; there was still an organ in it, on which some carpets were piled, and in one corner stood the folding bed of Adjutant Bennigsen. This adjutant was here. He, apparently exhausted by a feast or business, sat on a rolled up bed and dozed. Two doors led from the hall: one straight into the former living room, the other to the right into the office. From the first door one could hear voices speaking in German and occasionally in French. There, in the former living room, at the sovereign’s request, not a military council was gathered (the sovereign loved uncertainty), but some people whose opinions on the upcoming difficulties he wanted to know. This was not a military council, but, as it were, a council of those elected to clarify certain issues personally for the sovereign. Invited to this half-council were: the Swedish General Armfeld, Adjutant General Wolzogen, Wintzingerode, whom Napoleon called a fugitive French subject, Michaud, Tol, not a military man at all - Count Stein and, finally, Pfuel himself, who, as Prince Andrei heard, was la cheville ouvriere [the basis] of the whole matter. Prince Andrei had the opportunity to take a good look at him, since Pfuhl arrived soon after him and walked into the living room, stopping for a minute to talk with Chernyshev.
At first glance, Pfuel, in his poorly tailored Russian general's uniform, which sat awkwardly on him, as if dressed up, seemed familiar to Prince Andrei, although he had never seen him. It included Weyrother, Mack, Schmidt, and many other German theoretic generals whom Prince Andrei managed to see in 1805; but he was more typical than all of them. Prince Andrei had never seen such a German theoretician, who combined in himself everything that was in those Germans.
Pfuel was short, very thin, but broad-boned, of a rough, healthy build, with a wide pelvis and bony shoulder blades. His face was very wrinkled, with deep-set eyes. His hair in front, near his temples, was obviously hastily smoothed with a brush, and naively stuck out with tassels at the back. He, looking around restlessly and angrily, entered the room, as if he was afraid of everything in the large room into which he entered. He, holding his sword with an awkward movement, turned to Chernyshev, asking in German where the sovereign was. He apparently wanted to go through the rooms as quickly as possible, finish bowing and greetings, and sit down to work in front of the map, where he felt at home. He hastily nodded his head at Chernyshev’s words and smiled ironically, listening to his words that the sovereign was inspecting the fortifications that he, Pfuel himself, had laid down according to his theory. He grumbled something bassily and coolly, as self-confident Germans say, to himself: Dummkopf... or: zu Grunde die ganze Geschichte... or: s"wird was gescheites d"raus werden... [nonsense... to hell with the whole thing... (German) ] Prince Andrei did not hear and wanted to pass, but Chernyshev introduced Prince Andrei to Pful, noting that Prince Andrei came from Turkey, where the war was so happily over. Pful almost looked not so much at Prince Andrei as through him, and said laughing: “Da muss ein schoner taktischcr Krieg gewesen sein.” [“It must have been a correctly tactical war.” (German)] - And, laughing contemptuously, he walked into the room from which voices were heard.
Apparently, Pfuel, who was always ready for ironic irritation, was now especially excited by the fact that they dared to inspect his camp without him and judge him. Prince Andrei, from this one short meeting with Pfuel, thanks to his Austerlitz memories, compiled a clear description of this man. Pfuel was one of those hopelessly, invariably, self-confident people to the point of martyrdom, which only Germans can be, and precisely because only Germans are self-confident on the basis of an abstract idea - science, that is, an imaginary knowledge of perfect truth. The Frenchman is self-confident because he considers himself personally, both in mind and body, to be irresistibly charming to both men and women. An Englishman is self-confident on the grounds that he is a citizen of the most comfortable state in the world, and therefore, as an Englishman, he always knows what he needs to do, and knows that everything he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly good. The Italian is self-confident because he is excited and easily forgets himself and others. The Russian is self-confident precisely because he knows nothing and does not want to know, because he does not believe that it is possible to completely know anything. The German is the worst self-confident of all, and the firmest of all, and the most disgusting of all, because he imagines that he knows the truth, a science that he himself invented, but which for him is the absolute truth. This, obviously, was Pfuel. He had a science - the theory of physical movement, which he derived from the history of the wars of Frederick the Great, and everything that he encountered in the modern history of the wars of Frederick the Great, and everything that he encountered in the latest military history, seemed to him nonsense, barbarism, an ugly clash, in which so many mistakes were made on both sides that these wars could not be called wars: they did not fit the theory and could not serve as the subject of science.
In 1806, Pfuel was one of the drafters of the plan for the war that ended with Jena and Auerstätt; but in the outcome of this war he did not see the slightest proof of the incorrectness of his theory. On the contrary, the deviations made from his theory, according to his concepts, were the only reason for the entire failure, and he, with his characteristic joyful irony, said: “Ich sagte ja, daji die ganze Geschichte zum Teufel gehen wird.” [After all, I said that the whole thing would go to hell (German)] Pfuel was one of those theorists who love their theory so much that they forget the purpose of theory - its application to practice; In his love for theory, he hated all practice and did not want to know it. He even rejoiced at failure, because failure, which resulted from a deviation in practice from theory, only proved to him the validity of his theory.
He said a few words with Prince Andrei and Chernyshev about the real war with the expression of a man who knows in advance that everything will be bad and that he is not even dissatisfied with it. The unkempt tufts of hair sticking out at the back of his head and the hastily slicked temples especially eloquently confirmed this.
He walked into another room, and from there the bassy and grumbling sounds of his voice were immediately heard.

Before Prince Andrei had time to follow Pfuel with his eyes, Count Bennigsen hurriedly entered the room and, nodding his head to Bolkonsky, without stopping, walked into the office, giving some orders to his adjutant. The Emperor was following him, and Bennigsen hurried forward to prepare something and have time to meet the Emperor. Chernyshev and Prince Andrei went out onto the porch. The Emperor got off his horse with a tired look. Marquis Paulucci said something to the sovereign. The Emperor, bowing his head to the left, listened with a dissatisfied look to Paulucci, who spoke with particular fervor. The Emperor moved forward, apparently wanting to end the conversation, but the flushed, excited Italian, forgetting decency, followed him, continuing to say:
“Quant a celui qui a conseille ce camp, le camp de Drissa, [As for the one who advised the Drissa camp,” said Paulucci, while the sovereign, entering the steps and noticing Prince Andrei, peered into an unfamiliar face .

Almost everyone knows that the Finno-Ugric peoples are the ancestors of modern Finns, Hungarians, Estonians and some other, although to a lesser extent, peoples. Since the early Middle Ages, they lived in very large areas - in the territory of modern Western Siberia, Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. They were almost completely assimilated, in some cases exterminated, by the Slavs by the end of the 14th century on the territory of the Old Russian state. We will look at a typical Finno-Ugric settlement using an example that is close and understandable to us; we will talk about such a dwelling located near the Oka River. This is what the place where Finno-Ugrians once lived looks like.

It’s worth starting with the fact that Finno-Ugric tribes have always settled near water - be it a river, lake, or sea. Unlike most Slavic tribes, for whom a stream or another clean, even small source of water nearby was sometimes enough to establish a small village, the Finno-Ugrians in any case “huddled” with medium and large rivers and other bodies of water. What does this mean? Mainly that these tribes were actively engaged in fishing. Another serious difference between Finno-Ugric settlements and typical Slavic ones is the frequent choice of a higher place for housing. Here we will make a reservation - this applies to tribes that lived in the central zone of modern Russia, because closer to the Urals and Western Siberia this rule does not always work. It is also worth taking into account that closer to the 14th century, when oppression from the Slavic tribes intensified, the Finno-Ugrians began to build homes, hiding from them in places previously unusual for them - on the low banks of small rivers, near swamps and other “inconvenient” places. This made it difficult for unfriendly peoples to discover their tribes. In the 9th-12th centuries. a typical Finno-Ugric settlement was located on steep capes, hills, ledges with small, about 200-300 sq. m. plateau for housing, that, looking at them, it is difficult to imagine how one could live here at all. However, villages at such dominant heights were most often created to observe and protect the territory from the enemy, i.e. for military purposes. These were fortifications. In the settlement we are describing, which is located 100 m from the Oka River on a round hill with a flat residential terrace of 250 sq. m. m. there is only one relatively flat one - about 35 degrees, descending to the side of the river. The remaining slopes are so steep that climbing them is difficult in summer and extremely difficult in winter. The steepness of the slope reaches 65 degrees.

Why did the Finno-Ugrians choose such, in our opinion, inconvenient places to live? This is primarily due to safety. It is difficult to attack such heights; when the enemy was discovered by residents, his position turned out to be extremely unfavorable. Usually, at such a high altitude, people settled directly near the water, from which a sudden appearance of the enemy was possible. If the site was located deep in the forest, on a small river, then the village was located lower. The big disadvantage of living at altitude is difficult access to water. It is clear that on such hills the groundwater is very deep. However, settlements were often located on capes, which means that the “back” part of the territory went into the continent, where there were streams, springs, and other accessible water, but at the foot, on the side of the steepest part of this cape, there must be a river . Around such a settlement, located at a high altitude, within a radius of up to 20 km, there were smaller sites, which were located on dry hills, also near water. In the modern Ryazan region, where Finno-Ugric tribes also lived in ancient times, archaeologists found their settlements on small islands in swamps. This is an uncommon way of organizing a settlement for the Finno-Ugrians, and even despite its atypicality, there is still a large lake a few hundred away from this swamp, which indicates the constant attachment of the ancient people to significant water spaces.

The houses of the Finno-Ugrians were similar to the houses of the Slavs - at least a third of the house was underground, with small windows and a door. They were built from wood. Firewood collected from the region was used for heating. The ash resulting from this method of heating the house was thrown out next to the dwelling, hence the dark shade of the soil that is still preserved near the former sites.

Since the Finno-Ugrians lived in the same historical period and often on the same geographical territory with the Slavic tribes, they could not help but have relations with them. Like any people who strive to preserve their identity and integrity, the Finno-Ugrians resisted the penetration of Slavic culture. For example, material. They had their own jewelry made of copper, copper-tin alloy, and silver, which differed in style from the Slavic ones. Here are a few things from the Meshchera tribe, whose representatives lived in the Vladimir and Ryazan regions in the 10th-13th centuries.

A belt set of bronze pads was attached to a leather belt using “tendrils” (small holes were made in the leather, a pair of tendrils soldered to the pad were threaded through them and clamped on the inside of the belt).
The decoration worn on shoes was secured by sewing.
Pendant with claws. It was sewn onto parts of clothing and made a quiet noise when moving, hence the name “noisy” pendant.
An overlay in the shape of a heart with convex petals, like almost all overlays, was attached to leather products using “mustaches.”
Noisy “bottle” pendant. A rope was threaded through it, a knot was tied at the end and fixed in its narrow part so that the pendant was unfastened. Worn on clothes, shoes.
Twisted ring with a flat shield without ornament.
Brooch with a ring on the reverse side for sewing onto clothes.
The moon is “horned” with a ring in the upper part. They wore one or several pieces around the neck.
Bronze round belt cover.
Glass bead.
Bells were attached to various decorations. The larger ones had a ball inside that made noise when it hit the walls of the bell; the crayons were empty inside.
A set of “bottles” that were actively used to decorate the clothes of the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples.

At sites of Finno-Ugric tribes, archaeologists often find Kufic dirhams with Arabic inscriptions from the 10th century, which indicates that these coins were in circulation among the Finno-Ugric peoples. They often used them in monisto decorations. Sometimes they were worn as earrings, making a hole in the top of the coin, sometimes they were attached to other jewelry, and ears were soldered to them for fastening. One should not overestimate the frequency of use of Kufic dirhams as money among Finno-Ugric tribes; these coins can hardly be called a participant in full-fledged commodity-money relations of the ancient people. However, at the same time, the Slavic tribes had no permanent coins in circulation at all. Later, at the end of the 13th century, Arab dirhams disappeared among the Finno-Ugric peoples.

What else is remarkable about the material culture of the tribe in question? Regarding this issue, it should be said that they were great masters in the art of casting copper alloy in a wax mold. Most of their jewelry is made using this jewelry technique. In the photo above, all the items are cast exactly like this. You can see other items of the Meshchera tribe in ours.

Finno-Ugric tribes were pagans with a cult of waterfowl, horses, and other animals. They made amulets, amulets, and jewelry with images of these animals from bone, clay, stone, and bronze. When burying the deceased, they took jewelry with them to the burial place, putting it around their neck, putting it in their hand, or fastening it on their belt. It was believed that in the afterlife, pagan symbols would also help their owner. People were buried by burying them in the ground or by cremation. Moreover, with the second method, all the jewelry burned along with the deceased.

What else did the Finno-Ugric tribes live on besides fishing? They also practiced hunting and gathering. The hunt was organized using a driven method. To do this, several settlements gathered together, and the hunters drove the animals into some kind of water impasse (a place surrounded on all sides by water barriers), from which it was impossible to get out, and there they all killed them together with axes and spears, for example, a bison. The meat was divided equally and carried to the village.

We have covered only some aspects of the life of the Finno-Ugric tribes. The way of life of these people differs significantly depending on the territory of residence. For example, if we talk about the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Kama region, gold jewelry is often found in their material culture. The tribes that lived in the places mentioned in the Vladimir, Ryazan, and Moscow regions did not have such products. The style of jewelry production of the Kama Finno-Ugrians also differs from the ancient tribes of the above-mentioned regions.

Our story is educational in nature and does not pretend to be a strict scientific article. Also read on our website about the 12th-14th centuries in the European part of modern Russia.

The Komi language is part of the Finno-Ugric language family, and with the closest Udmurt language it forms the Perm group of Finno-Ugric languages. In total, the Finno-Ugric family includes 16 languages, which in ancient times developed from a single base language: Hungarian, Mansi, Khanty (Ugric group of languages); Komi, Udmurt (Perm group); Mari, Mordovian languages - Erzya and Moksha: Baltic - Finnish languages - Finnish, Karelian, Izhorian, Vepsian, Votic, Estonian, Livonian languages. A special place in the Finno-Ugric family of languages is occupied by the Sami language, which is very different from other related languages.

Finno-Ugric languages and Samoyed languages form the Uralic family of languages. The Amodian languages include Nenets, Enets, Nganasan, Selkup, and Kamasin languages. Peoples speaking Samoyed languages live in Western Siberia, except for the Nenets, who also live in northern Europe.

Hungarians moved to the territory surrounded by the Carpathians more than a thousand years ago. The self-name of the Hungarians Modyor has been known since the 5th century. n. e. Writing in the Hungarian language appeared at the end of the 12th century, and the Hungarians have a rich literature. The total number of Hungarians is about 17 million people. In addition to Hungary, they live in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Austria, Ukraine, Yugoslavia.

Mansi (Voguls) live in the Khanty-Mansiysk district of the Tyumen region. In Russian chronicles, they, together with the Khanty, were called Yugra. The Mansi use a written language based on Russian graphics and have their own schools. The total number of Mansi is over 7,000 people, but only half of them consider Mansi their native language.

The Khanty (Ostyaks) live on the Yamal Peninsula, lower and middle Ob. Writing in the Khanty language appeared in the 30s of our century, but the dialects of the Khanty language are so different that communication between representatives of different dialects is often difficult. Many lexical borrowings from the Komi language have penetrated into the Khanty and Mansi languages

The Baltic-Finnish languages and peoples are so close that speakers of these languages can communicate with each other without a translator. Among the languages of the Baltic-Finnish group, the most widespread is Finnish, it is spoken by about 5 million people, the self-name of the Finns is Suomi. In addition to Finland, Finns also live in the Leningrad region of Russia. Writing arose in the 16th century, and in 1870 the period of the modern Finnish language began. The epic "Kalevala" is written in Finnish, and a rich original literature has been created. About 77 thousand Finns live in Russia.

Estonians live on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea; the number of Estonians in 1989 was 1,027,255 people. Writing existed from the 16th century to the 19th century. Two literary languages developed: southern and northern Estonian. In the 19th century these literary languages became closer based on the Central Estonian dialects.

Karelians live in Karelia and the Tver region of Russia. There are 138,429 Karelians (1989), a little more than half speak their native language. The Karelian language consists of many dialects. In Karelia, Karelians study and use the Finnish literary language. The most ancient monuments of Karelian writing date back to the 13th century; in Finno-Ugric languages, this is the second oldest written language (after Hungarian).

Izhora is an unwritten language and is spoken by about 1,500 people. Izhorians live on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of Finland, on the river. Izhora, a tributary of the Neva. Although the Izhorians call themselves Karelians, in science it is customary to distinguish an independent Izhorian language.

Vepsians live on the territory of three administrative-territorial units: Vologda, Leningrad regions of Russia, Karelia. In the 30s there were about 30,000 Vepsians, in 1970 there were 8,300 people. Due to the strong influence of the Russian language, the Vepsian language is noticeably different from other Baltic-Finnish languages.

The Votic language is on the verge of extinction, because there are no more than 30 people who speak this language. Vod lives in several villages located between the northeastern part of Estonia and the Leningrad region. The Votic language is unwritten.

The Livs live in several seaside fishing villages in northern Latvia. Their number has sharply decreased over the course of history due to the devastation during World War II. Now the number of Livonian speakers is only about 150 people. Writing has been developing since the 19th century, but currently the Livs are switching to the Latvian language.

The Sami language forms a separate group of Finno-Ugric languages, since there are many specific features in its grammar and vocabulary. The Sami live in the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are only about 40 thousand people, including about 2000 in Russia. The Sami language has much in common with the Baltic-Finnish languages. Sami writing develops on the basis of different dialects in Latin and Russian graphic systems.

Modern Finno-Ugric languages have diverged so much from each other that at first glance they seem completely unrelated to each other. However, a deeper study of the sound composition, grammar and vocabulary shows that these languages have many common features that prove the former common origin of the Finno-Ugric languages from one ancient proto-language.

Turkic languages

Turkic languages belong to the Altaic language family. Turkic languages: about 30 languages, and with dead languages and local varieties, the status of which as languages is not always indisputable, more than 50; the largest are Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kazakh, Uyghur, Tatar; the total number of speakers of Turkic languages is about 120 million people. The center of the Turkic range is Central Asia, from where, in the course of historical migrations, they also spread, on the one hand, to southern Russia, the Caucasus and Asia Minor, and on the other, to the northeast, to eastern Siberia up to Yakutia. The comparative historical study of Altai languages began in the 19th century. Nevertheless, there is no generally accepted reconstruction of the Altaic proto-language; one of the reasons is the intensive contacts of the Altaic languages and numerous mutual borrowings, which complicate the use of standard comparative methods.

Ethnogenesis of the Finnish race.

In modern science, it is customary to consider the Finnish tribes together with the Ugric ones, uniting them into a single Finno-Ugric group. However, research by the Russian professor Artamonov on the origins of the Ugric peoples shows that their ethnogenesis took place in an area covering the upper reaches of the Ob River and the northern coast of the Aral Sea. It should be noted that the ancient Paleosian tribes, related to the ancient population of Tibet and Sumer, acted as one of the ethnic substrates for both the Ugric and Finnish tribes. This relationship was discovered by Ernst Muldashev with the help of a special ophthalmological study (3). This fact allows us to talk about the Finno-Ugric people as a single ethnic group. However, the main difference between the Ugrians and Finns is that different tribes acted as the second ethnic component in both cases. Thus, the Ugric peoples were formed as a result of the mixing of the ancient Palaisians with the Turks of Central Asia, while the Finnish peoples were formed as a result of the mixing of the former with the ancient Mediterranean (Atlantic tribes) supposedly related to the Minoans. As a result of this mixture, the Finns inherited a megalithic culture from the Minoans, which died out in the middle of the second millennium BC due to the destruction of its metropolis on the island of Santorini in the 17th century BC.

Subsequently, the settlement of the Ugric tribes occurred in two directions: downstream of the Ob and to Europe. However, due to the low passionarity of the Ugric tribes, they only in the 3rd century AD. reached the Volga, crossing the Ural ridge in two places: in the area of modern Yekaterinburg and in the lower reaches of the great river. As a result, the Ugric tribes reached the Baltic territory only by the 5th-6th century AD, i.e. just a few centuries before the arrival of the Slavs to the Central Russian Upland. While Finnish tribes lived in the Baltic region at least since the 4th millennium BC.

Currently, there is every reason to believe that the Finnish tribes were carriers of an ancient culture, which archaeologists conventionally call the “funnel beaker culture.” This name arose due to the fact that a characteristic feature of this archaeological culture are special ceramic cups that are not found in other parallel cultures. Judging by archaeological data, these tribes were mainly engaged in hunting, fishing and raising small livestock. The main hunting weapon was a bow, the arrows of which were tipped with bone. These tribes lived in the floodplains of large European rivers and, during the period of their greatest expansion, occupied the northern European lowlands, which were completely freed from the ice sheet around the 5th millennium BC. The famous archaeologist Boris Rybakov describes the tribes of this culture as follows (4, p. 143):

In addition to the agricultural tribes mentioned above, who moved to the territory of the future “ancestral home of the Slavs” from the Danube south, because of the Sudetes and the Carpathians, foreign tribes also penetrated here from the North Sea and the Baltic. This is the “funnel cup culture” (TRB), associated with megalithic structures. It is known in Southern England and Jutland. The richest and most concentrated finds are concentrated outside the ancestral home, between it and the sea, but individual settlements are often found along the entire course of the Elbe, Oder and Vistula. This culture is almost synchronous with the Pinnacle, Lendel, and Trypillian, coexisting with them for more than a thousand years. The unique and fairly high culture of funnel-shaped beakers is considered the result of the development of local Mesolithic tribes and, in all likelihood, non-Indo-European, although there are supporters of attributing it to the Indo-European community. One of the centers of development of this megalithic culture probably lay in Jutland.

Judging by the linguistic analysis of the languages of the Finnish group, they do not belong to the Aryan (Indo-European) group. Famous philologist and writer, professor at Oxford University D.R. Tolkien devoted a lot of time to studying this ancient language and came to the conclusion that it belongs to a special language group. It turned out to be so isolated that the professor constructed on the basis of the Finnish language the language of the mythological people - the elves, whose mythical history he described in his fantasy novels. So, for example, the name of the Supreme God in the mythology of the English professor sounds like Iljuvatar, while in Finnish and Karelian it is Ilmarinen.

By their origin, the Finno-Ugric languages are not related to the Aryan languages, which belong to a completely different language family - Indo-European. Therefore, numerous lexical convergences between the Finno-Ugric and Indo-Iranian languages testify not to their genetic relationship, but to deep, diverse and long-term contacts between the Finno-Ugric and Aryan tribes. These connections began in the pre-Aryan period and continued in the pan-Aryan era, and then, after the division of the Aryans into “Indian” and “Iranian” branches, contacts were carried out between Finno-Ugric and Iranian-speaking tribes.

The range of words borrowed by Finno-Ugric languages from Indo-Iranian languages is very diverse. This includes numerals, kinship terms, animal names, etc. Particularly characteristic are words and terms related to the economy, the names of tools and metals (for example, “gold”: Udmurt and Komi - “zarni”, Khanty and Mansi - “sorni”, Mordovian “sirne”, Iranian “zaranya” ", modern Osetinsk - "zerin"). A number of correspondences have been noted in the field of agricultural terminology (“grain”, “barley”); Words used in various Finno-Ugric languages for cow, heifer, goat, sheep, lamb, sheep skin, wool, felt, milk and a number of others were borrowed from Indo-Iranian languages.

Such correspondences, as a rule, indicate the influence of more economically developed steppe tribes on the population of the northern forest regions. Also indicative are examples of borrowing into Finno-Ugric languages from Indo-European languages terms related to horse breeding (“foal”, “saddle”, etc.). The Finno-Ugrians became acquainted with the domestic horse, apparently as a result of connections with the population of the steppe South. (2, 73 pp.).

A study of basic mythological subjects shows that the core of Finnish mythology differs significantly from the common Aryan one. The most complete presentation of these stories is contained in Kalevala, a collection of Finnish epics. The main character of the epic, unlike the heroes of the Aryan epic, is endowed not only and not so much with physical, but with magical power, which allows him to build, for example, a boat with the help of a song. The heroic duel again boils down to competitions in magic and poetry. (5, p. 35)

He sings – and Joukahainen
I went thigh-deep into the swamp,
And up to the waist in the quagmire,
And up to the shoulders in loose sand.
That's when Joukahainen
I could comprehend with my mind,
That I went the wrong way
And took the journey in vain
Compete in chants
With the mighty Väinämöinen.

The Scandinavian “Saga of Halfdan Eisteysson” also reports about the outstanding witchcraft abilities of the Finns (6, 40):

In this saga, the Vikings meet in battle with the leaders of the Finns and Biarms - terrible werewolves.

One of the Finnish leaders, King Floki, could shoot three arrows at once from a bow and hit three people at once. Halfdan cut off his hand so that it flew into the air. But Floki exposed his stump, and his hand grew to it. Another Finnish king, meanwhile, turned into a giant walrus, which simultaneously crushed fifteen people. The king of the Biarms, Harek, turned into a fearsome dragon. With great difficulty, the Vikings managed to deal with the monsters and take possession of the magical country of Biarmia.

All these and many other elements indicate that the Finnish tribes belong to some very ancient race. It is the antiquity of this race that explains the “slowness” of its modern representatives. After all, the more ancient a people is, the more life experience they have accumulated, and the less vain they are.

Elements of the culture of the Finnish race are found mainly among the peoples living along the shores of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, the Finnish race can also be called the Baltic race. It is characteristic that the Roman historian Tacitus in the 1st century AD. pointed out that the Aestii people, living on the shores of the Baltic Sea, have many similarities with the Celts. This is a very important point, since it was through Celtic culture that the ancient Finnish nation was able to preserve its historical heritage. In this sense, the Frisian tribe is of greatest interest, from the point of view of studying ancient Finnish history. In ancient times, this people lived on the territory of modern Denmark. The descendants of this tribe still live in this territory, although they have long lost their language and culture. However, the Frisian chronicle “Hurray Linda Brook” has survived to this day, which tells how the ancestors of the Frisians sailed to the territory of modern Denmark after a terrible catastrophe - the flood that destroyed Plato’s Atlantis. This chronicle is often cited by Atlantologists as confirmation of the existence of a legendary civilization. As a result, the version of the antiquity of the Baltic race receives further confirmation.

Each nation can also be identified by the nature of its burials. The main funeral rite of the ancient Balts is the laying of stones over the body of the deceased. This ritual has been preserved in both Ireland and Scotland. Over time, it was modified and was reduced to installing a tombstone on the grave.

Such a ritual indicates a direct cultural connection between the Finnish/Baltic race and the megalithic structures found mainly in the Baltic Sea basin and surrounding areas. The only place that falls outside this range is the North Caucasus, however, there is an explanation for this fact, which, however, cannot be given within the framework of this work.

As a result, we can state the fact that one of the essential elements of the ethnic substrate of the modern Baltic peoples is the ancient Finnish race, whose origin is lost in the depths of millennia. This race went through its own history of development, different from the Aryans, as a result of which it formed a unique language and culture, which are part of the genetic heritage of the modern Balts and Finns.

Individual tribes.

The overwhelming number of ethnographers agree that the tribes that inhabited northeastern Europe and adjacent territories, immediately before the start of the Slavic and Germanic colonization of this region, were ethnically Finno-Ugric, i.e. to the 10th century AD Finnish and Ugric elements in the local tribes mixed quite strongly. The most famous tribe that lived on the territory of modern Estonia, after which the lake located on the border of the Slavic and German colonization zones is named, is Chud. According to legend, miracles possessed various witchcraft abilities. In particular, they could suddenly disappear in the forest, or they could remain under water for a long time. It was believed that the white-eyed miracle knew the spirits of the elements. During the Mongol invasion, the Chud went into the forests and disappeared forever from the chronicle history of Rus'. It is believed that it is she who inhabits the legendary Kitezh-grad, located at the bottom of Beloozero. However, in Russian legends, the Chud are also called the more ancient dwarf people who lived in prehistoric times, and in some places lived as a relic until the Middle Ages. Legends about dwarf people are usually common in areas where there are clusters of megalithic structures.

In Komi legends, these short and dark-skinned people, for whom the grass seems like a forest, sometimes acquire animal features - they are covered with hair, and miracles have pig legs. The miracles lived in a fabulous world of abundance, when the sky was so low above the earth that the miracles could reach it with their hands, but they do everything wrong - they dig holes in the arable land, feed the cattle in the hut, mow the hay with a chisel, reap the bread with an awl, store threshed grain in stockings, pounding oatmeal in an ice hole. The strange woman insults Yen because she stains the low sky with sewage or touches it with a rocker. Then En (the demiurge god of the Komi) raises the sky, tall trees grow on the ground, and tall white people do not replace the miracles: the miracles leave them in their holes underground, because they are afraid of agricultural tools - the sickle, etc...

...There is a belief that miracles have turned into evil spirits that hide in dark places, abandoned dwellings, baths, even under water. They are invisible, leave behind traces of birds' paws or children's feet, harm people and can replace their children with their own...

According to other legends, Chud are, on the contrary, ancient heroes, which include Pera and Kudy-osh. They also go underground or turn to stone or become trapped in the Ural Mountains after Russian missionaries spread the new Christian religion. Ancient settlements (kars) remained from the Chud; the Chud giants could throw axes or clubs from settlement to settlement; sometimes they are credited with the origin of lakes, the founding of villages, etc. (6, 209-211)

The next large tribe was “Vod”. Semenov-Tianshansky in the book “Russia. Complete geographical description of our Fatherland. Lake Region" in 1903 wrote about this tribe as follows:

“In the east of the miracle there once lived water. This tribe, ethnographically, is considered transitional from the western (Estonian) branch of the Finns to other Finnish tribes. Vody settlements, as far as can be judged by the prevalence of Votic names, occupied a vast area ranging from the river. Narova and to the river. Msta, reaching in the north to the Gulf of Finland, and in the south going beyond Ilmen. Vod participated in the alliance of tribes that called the Varangian princes. It was first mentioned in the “Charter of Bridges”, attributed to Yaroslav the Wise. The colonization of the Slavs pushed this tribe to the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The vod lived amicably with the Novgorodians, participating in the campaigns of the Novgorodians, and even in the Novgorod army a special regiment consisted of “leaders.” Subsequently, the area inhabited by Vodya became part of one of the five Novgorod regions under the name “Vodskaya Pyatina”. From the middle of the 12th century, the Swedes began crusades in the land of water, which they called “Vatland”. A number of papal bulls are known to encourage Christian preaching here, and in 1255 a special bishop was appointed for Watland. The connection of the Vod with the Novgorodians, however, was stronger; the Vod gradually merged with the Russian and became strongly channeled. The remnants of the Vodi are considered to be the small tribe “Vatyalayset”, living in the Peterhof and Yamburg districts.”

It is also necessary to mention the unique Setu tribe. Currently it lives in the Pskov region. Scientists believe that it is an ethnic relic of the ancient Finnish race, which was the first to populate these lands as the glacier melted. Some national characteristics of this tribe allow us to think so.

The Karela tribe managed to preserve the most complete collection of Finnish myths. Thus, the basis of the famous Kalevala (4) - the Finnish epic - is mostly based on Karelian legends and myths. The Karelian language is the most ancient of the Finnish languages, containing a minimal number of borrowings from languages belonging to other cultures.

Finally, the most famous Finnish tribe, which has preserved its language and culture to this day, is the Livs. Representatives of this tribe live in the territory of modern Latvia and Estonia. It was this tribe that was the most civilized in the initial period of the formation of the Estonian and Latvian ethnic groups. Occupying territory along the coast of the Baltic Sea, representatives of this tribe came into contact with the outside world earlier than others. For several centuries, the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia was called Livonia, after the estate of this tribe.

Comments.

It can be assumed that the description of this ethnic contact, which occurred in ancient times, was preserved in the Kalevala in the second rune. (1), where it is indicated that a short hero in copper armor came out of the sea to help the hero Väinämöinen, who then miraculously turned into a giant and cut down a huge oak tree that covered the Sky and eclipsed the Sun.

Literature.

Tolkien John, The Silmarilion;
Bongard-Levin G.E., Grantovsky E.A., “From Scythia to India” M. “Mysl”, 1974
Muldashev Ernst. "From whom did we come?"
Rybakov Boris. "The paganism of the ancient Slavs." – M. Sofia, Helios, 2002
Kalevala. Translation from Finnish by Belsky. – St. Petersburg: Publishing house “Azbuka-classics”, 2007.
Petrukhin V.Ya. “Myths of the Finno-Ugric peoples”, M, Astrel AST Transitbook, 2005

Finno-Ugric peoples

Finno-Ugric peoples: history and culture. Finno-Ugric languages

Komi

The people of the Russian Federation numbering 307 thousand people. (2002 census), in the former USSR - 345 thousand (1989), indigenous, state-forming, titular people of the Komi Republic (capital - Syktyvkar, former Ust-Sysolsk). A small number of Komi live in the lower reaches of the Pechora and Ob, in some other places in Siberia, on the Karelian Peninsula (in the Murmansk region of the Russian Federation) and in Finland.

Komi-Permyaks

There are 125 thousand people in the Russian Federation. people (2002), 147.3 thousand (1989). Until the 20th century were called Permians. The term "Perm" ("Permians") is apparently of Vepsian origin (pere maa - "land lying abroad"). In ancient Russian sources the name “Perm” was first mentioned in 1187.

Do you

Along with Skalamiad - “fishermen”, Randalist - “inhabitants of the coast”), an ethnic community of Latvia, the indigenous population of the coastal part of the Talsi and Ventspils regions, the so-called Livonian coast - the northern coast of Courland.

Muncie

people in the Russian Federation, the indigenous population of the Khanty-Mansiysk (from 1930 to 1940 - Ostyak-Vogulsky) Autonomous Okrug of the Tyumen Region (the district center is the city of Khanty-Mansiysk). The number in the Russian Federation is 12 thousand (2002), 8.5 thousand (1989). The Mansi language, which, together with Khanty and Hungarian, forms the Ugric group (branch) of the Finno-Ugric language family.

Mari

The people of the Russian Federation numbering 605 thousand people. (2002), indigenous, state-forming and titular people of the Republic of Mari El (capital - Yoshkar-Ola). A significant portion of the Mari live in neighboring republics and regions. In Tsarist Russia they were officially called Cheremis; under this ethnonym they appear in Western European (Jordan, 6th century) and Old Russian written sources, including in the “Tale of Bygone Years” (12th century).

Mordva

The people in the Russian Federation, in terms of numbers the largest of its Finno-Ugric peoples (845 thousand people in 2002), are not only indigenous, but also the state-forming, titular people of the Republic of Mordovia (capital - Saransk). Currently, a third of the total Mordovian population lives in Mordovia, the remaining two-thirds live in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Estonia, etc.

Nganasans

The people of the Russian Federation, in pre-revolutionary literature - “Samoyed-Tavgians” or simply “Tavgians” (from the Nenets name Nganasan - “tavys”). The number in 2002 was 100 people, in 1989 - 1.3 thousand, in 1959 - 748. They live mainly in the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Nenets

People in the Russian Federation, the indigenous population of the European North and the north of Western Siberia. Their number in 2002 was 41 thousand people, in 1989 - 35 thousand, in 1959 - 23 thousand, in 1926 - 18 thousand. The northern border of the Nenets settlement is the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the southern border is forests, eastern - the lower reaches of the Yenisei, western - the eastern coast of the White Sea.

Sami

People in Norway (40 thousand), Sweden (18 thousand), Finland (4 thousand), Russian Federation (on the Kola Peninsula, according to the 2002 census, 2 thousand). The Sami language, which is divided into a number of widely divergent dialects, constitutes a separate group of the Finno-Ugric language family. Anthropologically, the laponoid type predominates among all Sami, formed as a result of contact between the Caucasoid and Mongoloid great races.

Selkups

The people in the Russian Federation number 400 people. (2002), 3.6 thousand (1989), 3.8 thousand (1959). They live in the Krasnoselkupsky district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of the Tyumen region, in some other areas of the same and Tomsk region, in the Turukhansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, mainly in the interfluve of the middle reaches of the Ob and Yenisei and along the tributaries of these rivers.

Udmurts

The people of the Russian Federation number 637 thousand people. (2002), indigenous, state-forming and titular people of the Udmurt Republic (capital - Izhevsk, udm. Izhkar). Some Udmurts live in neighboring and some other republics and regions of the Russian Federation. 46.6% of Udmurts are city dwellers. The Udmurt language belongs to the Perm group of Finno-Ugric languages and includes two dialects.

Finns

The indigenous people of Finland (4.7 million people) also live in Sweden (310 thousand), the USA (305 thousand), Canada (53 thousand), the Russian Federation (34 thousand, according to the 2002 census). ), Norway (22 thousand) and other countries. They speak Finnish, a language of the Baltic-Finnish group of the Finno-Ugric (Uralic) language family. Finnish writing was created during the Reformation (XVI century) based on the Latin alphabet.

Khanty

The people of the Russian Federation numbering 29 thousand people. (2002), lives in Northwestern Siberia, along the middle and lower reaches of the river. Ob, on the territory of the Khanty-Mansiysk (from 1930 to 1940 - Ostyak-Vogulsky) and Yamalo-Nenets national (since 1977 - autonomous) districts of the Tyumen region.

Enets

People in the Russian Federation, the indigenous population of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug, numbering 300 people. (2002). The district center is the city of Dudinka. The native language of the Entsy people is Entsy, which is part of the Samoyedic group of the Uralic language family. The Enets do not have their own written language.

Estonians

People, indigenous population of Estonia (963 thousand). They also live in the Russian Federation (28 thousand - according to the 2002 census), Sweden, the USA, and Canada (25 thousand each). Australia (6 thousand) and other countries. The total population is 1.1 million. They speak Estonian from the Baltic-Finnish group of the Finno-Ugric language family.

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Peoples of the Finno-Ugric language group

The Finno-Ugric language group is part of the Ural-Yukaghir language family and includes the peoples: Sami, Vepsians, Izhorians, Karelians, Nenets, Khanty and Mansi.

Sami live mainly in the Murmansk region. Apparently, the Sami are the descendants of the oldest population of Northern Europe, although there is an opinion about their migration from the east. For researchers, the greatest mystery is the origin of the Sami, since the Sami and the Baltic-Finnish languages go back to a common base language, but anthropologically the Sami belong to a different type (Uralic type) than the Baltic-Finnish peoples, who speak languages that are closest to them related, but mainly of the Baltic type. To resolve this contradiction, many hypotheses have been put forward since the 19th century.

The Sami people most likely descend from the Finno-Ugric population. Presumably in the 1500-1000s. BC e. the separation of the proto-Sami begins from a single community of native language speakers, when the ancestors of the Baltic Finns, under Baltic and later German influence, began to move to a sedentary lifestyle as farmers and cattle breeders, while the ancestors of the Sami in Karelia assimilated the autochthonous population of Fennoscandia.

The Sami people, in all likelihood, were formed by the merger of many ethnic groups. This is indicated by anthropological and genetic differences between the Sami ethnic groups living in different territories. Genetic studies in recent years have revealed that modern Sami have common features with the descendants of the ancient population of the Atlantic coast of the Ice Age - the modern Basque Berbers. Such genetic characteristics were not found in more southern groups of Northern Europe. From Karelia, the Sami migrated further and further north, fleeing the spreading Karelian colonization and, presumably, tribute. Following the migrating herds of wild reindeer, the ancestors of the Sami, at the latest during the 1st millennium AD. e., gradually reached the coast of the Arctic Ocean and reached the territories of their current residence. At the same time, they began to move on to breeding domesticated reindeer, but this process reached a significant extent only in the 16th century.

Their history over the past one and a half millennia represents, on the one hand, a slow retreat under the onslaught of other peoples, and on the other hand, their history is an integral part of the history of nations and peoples that have their own statehood in which an important role is given to the imposition of tribute on the Sami. A necessary condition for reindeer herding was that the Sami wandered from place to place, driving herds of reindeer from winter to summer pastures. In practice, nothing prevented people from crossing state borders. The basis of the Sami society was a community of families, which were united on the principles of joint ownership of land, which gave them the means to subsist. Land was allocated by family or clan.

Figure 2.1 Dynamics of the population of the Sami people 1897 – 2010 (compiled by the author based on materials).

Izhorians. The first mention of Izhora occurs in the second half of the 12th century, where it speaks of pagans, who half a century later were already recognized in Europe as a strong and even dangerous people. It was from the 13th century that the first mentions of Izhora appeared in Russian chronicles. In the same century, the Izhora land was first mentioned in the Livonian Chronicle. At dawn of a July day in 1240, the elder of the Izhora land, while on patrol, discovered the Swedish flotilla and hastily sent a report to Alexander, the future Nevsky, about everything.

Obviously, at this time the Izhorians were still very close ethnically and culturally to the Karelians who lived on the Karelian Isthmus and in the Northern Ladoga region, north of the area of the supposed distribution of the Izhorians, and this similarity persisted until the 16th century. Quite accurate data on the approximate population of the Izhora land were first recorded in the Scribe Book of 1500, but the ethnicity of the residents was not shown during the census. It is traditionally believed that the inhabitants of the Karelian and Orekhovetsky districts, most of whom had Russian names and nicknames of Russian and Karelian sound, were Orthodox Izhorians and Karelians. Obviously, the border between these ethnic groups passed somewhere on the Karelian Isthmus, and perhaps coincided with the border of Orekhovetsky and Karelian counties.

In 1611, Sweden took possession of this territory. During the 100 years that this territory became part of Sweden, many Izhorians left their villages. Only in 1721, after the victory over Sweden, Peter I included this region in the St. Petersburg province of the Russian state. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, Russian scientists began to record the ethno-confessional composition of the population of the Izhora lands, then already included in the St. Petersburg province. In particular, to the north and south of St. Petersburg, the presence of Orthodox residents is recorded, ethnically close to the Finns - Lutherans - the main population of this territory.

Veps. At present, scientists cannot finally resolve the question of the genesis of the Veps ethnic group. It is believed that by origin the Vepsians are associated with the formation of other Baltic-Finnish peoples and that they separated from them, probably in the 2nd half. 1 thousand n. e., and by the end of this thousand settled in the southeastern Ladoga region. The burial mounds of the 10th-13th centuries can be defined as ancient Vepsian. It is believed that the earliest mentions of the Vepsians date back to the 6th century AD. e. Russian chronicles from the 11th century call this people the whole. Russian scribal books, lives of saints and other sources more often know the ancient Vepsians under the name Chud. The Vepsians lived in the interlake region between Lakes Onega and Lake Ladoga from the end of the 1st millennium, gradually moving east. Some groups of Vepsians left the inter-lake region and merged with other ethnic groups.

In the 1920s and 30s, Vepsian national districts, as well as Veps rural councils and collective farms, were created in places where people lived compactly.

In the early 1930s, the introduction of teaching the Vepsian language and a number of academic subjects in this language in primary schools began, and Vepsian language textbooks based on Latin script appeared. In 1938, Vepsian-language books were burned, and teachers and other public figures were arrested and expelled from their homes. Since the 1950s, as a result of increased migration processes and the associated spread of exogamous marriages, the process of assimilation of the Vepsians has accelerated. About half of the Vepsians settled in cities.

Nenets. History of the Nenets in the 17th-19th centuries. rich in military conflicts. In 1761, a census of yasak foreigners was carried out, and in 1822, the “Charter on the Management of Foreigners” was put into effect.

Excessive monthly exactions and the arbitrariness of the Russian administration have repeatedly led to riots, accompanied by the destruction of Russian fortifications; the most famous is the Nenets uprising in 1825-1839. As a result of military victories over the Nenets in the 18th century. first half of the 19th century The area of settlement of the tundra Nenets expanded significantly. By the end of the 19th century. The territory of Nenets settlement has stabilized, and their numbers have increased compared to the end of the 17th century. approximately doubled. Throughout the Soviet period, the total number of Nenets, according to census data, also increased steadily.

Today the Nenets are the largest of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North. The share of Nenets who consider the language of their nationality to be their native language is gradually decreasing, but still remains higher than that of most other peoples of the North.

Figure 2.2 Number of Nenets peoples 1989, 2002, 2010 (compiled by the author based on materials).

In 1989, 18.1% of Nenets recognized Russian as their native language, and in general were fluent in Russian, 79.8% of Nenets - thus, there is still a fairly noticeable part of the linguistic community, adequate communication with which can only be ensured by knowledge of the Nenets language. It is typical that young people retain strong Nenets speech skills, although for a significant part of them the Russian language has become the main means of communication (as with other peoples of the North). A certain positive role is played by the teaching of the Nenets language at school, the popularization of national culture in the media, and the activities of Nenets writers. But first of all, the relatively favorable language situation is due to the fact that reindeer husbandry - the economic basis of Nenets culture - was generally able to survive in its traditional form despite all the destructive trends of the Soviet era. This type of production activity remained entirely in the hands of the indigenous population.

Khanty- a small indigenous Ugric people living in the north of Western Siberia.

Volga region center of cultures of Finno-Ugric peoples

There are three ethnographic groups of Khanty: northern, southern and eastern, and the southern Khanty mixed with the Russian and Tatar population. The ancestors of the Khanty penetrated from the south into the lower reaches of the Ob and settled the territories of modern Khanty-Mansiysk and the southern regions of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and from the end of the 1st millennium, based on the mixing of aborigines and alien Ugric tribes, the ethnogenesis of the Khanty began. The Khanty called themselves more by rivers, for example “people of Konda”, “people of the Ob”.

Northern Khanty. Archaeologists associate the genesis of their culture with the Ust-Polui culture, localized in the river basin. Ob from the mouth of the Irtysh to the Ob Bay. This is a northern, taiga fishing culture, many of whose traditions are not followed by modern northern Khanty.
From the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. The northern Khanty were strongly influenced by the Nenets reindeer herding culture. In the zone of direct territorial contacts, the Khanty were partially assimilated by the tundra Nenets.

Southern Khanty. They spread upward from the mouth of the Irtysh. This is the territory of the southern taiga, forest-steppe and steppe and culturally it gravitates more towards the south. In their formation and subsequent ethnocultural development, the southern forest-steppe population played a significant role, layering on the general Khanty base. The Russians had a significant influence on the southern Khanty.

Eastern Khanty. They settle in the Middle Ob region and along the tributaries: Salym, Pim, Agan, Yugan, Vasyugan. This group, to a greater extent than others, retains North Siberian cultural features that go back to the Ural population - draft dog breeding, dugout boats, the predominance of swing clothing, birch bark utensils, and a fishing economy. Within the modern territory of their habitat, the Eastern Khanty interacted quite actively with the Kets and Selkups, which was facilitated by belonging to the same economic and cultural type.
Thus, in the presence of common cultural features characteristic of the Khanty ethnic group, which is associated with the early stages of their ethnogenesis and the formation of the Ural community, which, along with the mornings, included the ancestors of the Kets and Samoyed peoples, the subsequent cultural “divergence”, the formation of ethnographic groups, to a greater extent was determined by the processes of ethnocultural interaction with neighboring peoples. Muncie- a small people in Russia, the indigenous population of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. Closest relatives of the Khanty. They speak the Mansi language, but due to active assimilation, about 60% use Russian in everyday life. As an ethnic group, the Mansi were formed as a result of the merger of local tribes of the Ural culture and Ugric tribes moving from the south through the steppes and forest-steppes of Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan. The two-component nature (a combination of the cultures of taiga hunters and fishermen and steppe nomadic herders) in the culture of the people persists to this day. Initially, the Mansi lived in the Urals and its western slopes, but the Komi and Russians in the 11th-14th centuries forced them out into the Trans-Urals. The earliest contacts with Russians, primarily Snovgorodians, date back to the 11th century. With the annexation of Siberia to the Russian state at the end of the 16th century, Russian colonization intensified, and already at the end of the 17th century the number of Russians exceeded the number of the indigenous population. The Mansi were gradually forced out to the north and east, partially assimilated, and were converted to Christianity in the 18th century. The ethnic formation of Mansi was influenced by various peoples.

In the Vogul cave, located near the village of Vsevolodo-Vilva in the Perm region, traces of Voguls were discovered. According to local historians, the cave was a temple (pagan sanctuary) of the Mansi, where ritual ceremonies were held. In the cave, bear skulls with traces of blows from stone axes and spears, shards of ceramic vessels, bone and iron arrowheads, bronze plaques of the Permian animal style with an image of a moose man standing on a lizard, silver and bronze jewelry were found.

Finno-Ugrians or Finno-Ugric- a group of peoples with related linguistic features and formed from the tribes of northeastern Europe since the Neolithic times, they inhabited Western Siberia, the Trans-Urals, the northern and middle Urals, the territory north of the upper Volga, the Volga Oksya interfluve and the middle Volga region until midnight of the modern Saratov region in Russia.

1. Title

In Russian chronicles they are known under the unifying names Chud and Samoyeds (self-name suomaline).

2. Settlement of Finno-Ugric ethnic groups in Russia

On the territory of Russia live 2,687,000 people belonging to the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups. In Russia, Finno-Ugric peoples live in Karelia, Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, and Udmurtia. According to chronicle references and linguistic analysis of toponyms, the Chud united several tribes: Mordva, Muroma, Merya, Vesps (All, Vepsians) and etc..

The Finno-Ugric people were an autochthonous population between the Oka and Volga rivers; their tribes, Estonians, Merya, Mordovians, and Cheremis, were part of the Gothic kingdom of Germanaric in the 4th century. The chronicler Nestor in the Ipatiev Chronicle indicates about twenty tribes of the Ural group (Ugro-Finivs): Chud, Livs, Vodi, Yam (Ӕm), all (also the North of them on the White Lake Sedѧt Vs), Karelians, Ugra, caves, Samoyeds, Perm (Perm) ), Cheremis, casting, Zimgola, Cors, Norom, Mordovians, Meria (and on the Rostov ѡzer, on the tick and ѡzer - the same), Murom (and ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ѡ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ ӕ mesh. The Muscovites called all local tribes Chud from the indigenous Chud, and accompanied this name with irony, explaining it through the Muscovite weird, weird, strange. Now these peoples have been completely assimilated by the Russians, they have disappeared from the ethnic map of modern Russia forever, adding to the number of Russians and leaving only a wide range of their ethnic geographical names.

These are all the names of rivers from ending-wa: Moscow, Protva, Kosva, Silva, Sosva, Izva, etc. The Kama River has about 20 tributaries, the names of which end in na-va, means "water" in Finnish. From the very beginning, the Muscovite tribes felt their superiority over the local Finno-Ugric peoples. However, Finno-Ugric place names are found not only where these peoples today make up a significant part of the population, forming autonomous republics and national districts. Their distribution area is much larger, for example, Moscow.

According to archaeological data, the settlement area of the Chud tribes in Eastern Europe remained unchanged for 2 thousand years. Starting from the 9th century, the Finno-Ugric tribes of the European part of present-day Russia were gradually assimilated by Slavic colonists who came from Kievan Rus. This process formed the basis for the formation of modern Russian nation.

The Finno-Ugric tribes belong to the Ural-Altai group and a thousand years ago they were close to the Pechenegs, Polovtsians and Khazars, but were at a much lower level of social development than the others; in fact, the ancestors of the Russians were the same Pechenegs, only forest ones. At that time, these were the primitive and culturally most backward tribes of Europe. Not only in the distant past, but even at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia they were cannibals. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) called them androphages (eaters of people), and the chronicler Nestor, already during the period of the Russian state, called Samoyeds (Samoyed).

Finno-Ugric tribes of a primitive gathering-hunting culture were the ancestors of the Russians. Scientists claim that the Moscow people received the greatest admixture of the Mongoloid race through the assimilation of the Finno-Ugric people, who came to Europe from Asia and partially absorbed the Caucasoid admixture even before the arrival of the Slavs. A mixture of Finno-Ugric, Mongolian and Tatar ethnic components contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Russians, which was formed with the participation of the Slavic tribes of the Radimichi and Vyatichi. Due to ethnic mixing with the Ugrofinans, and later with the Tatars and partly with the Mongols, Russians have an anthropological type that is different from the Kiev-Russian (Ukrainian). The Ukrainian diaspora jokes about this: “The eyes are narrow, the nose is plus - completely Russian.” Under the influence of the Finno-Ugric language environment, the formation of the Russian phonetic system (akanye, gekanya, ticking) took place. Today, “Ural” features are inherent to one degree or another in all the peoples of Russia: average height, wide face, nose, called “snub-nosed,” and sparse beard. The Mari and Udmurts often have eyes with the so-called Mongolian fold - epicanthus; they have very wide cheekbones and a thin beard. But at the same time she has blond and red hair, blue and gray eyes. The Mongolian fold is sometimes found among Estonians and Karelians. Komi are different: in those places where there are mixed marriages with adults, they are dark-haired and slanted, others are more reminiscent of Scandinavians, but with a slightly wider face.

According to the research of Meryanist Orest Tkachenko, “In the Russian people, connected on the maternal side with the Slavic ancestral home, the father was a Finn. On the paternal side, Russians descended from the Finno-Ugric peoples.” It should be noted that according to modern studies of Y-chromosome halotypes, in fact the situation was the opposite - Slavic men married women of the local Finno-Ugric population. According to Mikhail Pokrovsky, Russians are an ethnic mixture, in which Finns belong to 4/5, and Slavs -1/5. Remnants of Finno-Ugric culture in Russian culture can be traced in such features that are not found among other Slavic peoples: women's kokoshnik and sundress , men's shirt-shirt, bast shoes (bast shoes) in national costume, dumplings in dishes, style of folk architecture (tent buildings, porch), Russian bathhouse, sacred animal - bear, 5-tone singing scale, a-touch and vowel reduction, paired words like stitches-paths, arms-legs, alive and well, so-and-so, turnover I have(instead of I, characteristic of other Slavs) the fairytale beginning “once upon a time”, the absence of the rusal cycle, carols, the cult of Perun, the presence of the cult of the birch rather than the oak.

Not everyone knows that there is nothing Slavic in the surnames Shukshin, Vedenyapin, Piyashev, but they come from the name of the Shuksha tribe, the name of the war goddess Vedeno Ala, and the pre-Christian name Piyash. Thus, a significant part of the Finno-Ugrians was assimilated by the Slavs, and some, having converted to Islam, mixed with the Turks. Therefore, today Ugrofins do not make up the majority of the population even in the republics to which they gave their name. But, having dissolved in the mass of Russians (Rus. Russians), Ugrofins have retained their anthropological type, which is now perceived as typically Russian (Rus. Russian) .

According to the vast majority of historians, the Finnish tribes had an extremely peaceful and gentle disposition. This is how the Muscovites themselves explain the peaceful nature of colonization, declaring that there were no military clashes, because written sources do not remember anything like that. However, as the same V.O. Klyuchevsky notes, “in the legends of Great Russia, some vague memories of the struggle that broke out in some places survived.”

3. Toponymy

Toponyms of Meryan-Erzyan origin in Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Vologda, Tver, Vladimir, Moscow regions account for 70-80% (Vexa, Voxenga, Elenga, Kovonga, Koloksa, Kukoboy, lekht, Melexa, Nadoxa, Nero (Inero), Nux, Nuksha, Palenga, Peleng, Pelenda, Peksoma, Puzhbol, Pulokhta, Sara, Seleksha, Sonokhta, Tolgobol, otherwise, Sheksheboy, Shekhroma, Shileksha, Shoksha, Shopsha, Yakhrenga, Yakhrobol(Yaroslavl region, 70-80%), Andoba, Vandoga, Vokhma, Vokhtoga, Voroksa, Lynger, Mezenda, Meremsha, Monza, Nerekhta (flicker), Neya, Notelga, Onga, Pechegda, Picherga, Poksha, Pong, Simonga, Sudolga, Toekhta, Urma, Shunga, Yakshanga(Kostroma region, 90-100%), Vazopol, Vichuga, Kineshma, Kistega, Kokhma, Ksty, Landeh, Nodoga, Paks, Palekh, Parsha, Pokshenga, Reshma, Sarokhta, Ukhtoma, Ukhtokhma, Shacha, Shizhegda, Shileksa, Shuya, Yukhma etc. (Ivanovo region), Vokhtoga, Selma, Senga, Solokhta, Sot, Tolshma, Shuya and others. (Vologda region), "Valdai, Koy, Koksha, Koivushka, Lama, Maksatikha, Palenga, Palenka, Raida, Seliger, Siksha, Syshko, Talalga, Udomlya, Urdoma, Shomushka, Shosha, Yakhroma etc. (Tver region), Arsemaki, Velga, Voininga, Vorsha, Ineksha, Kirzhach, Klyazma, Koloksha, Mstera, Moloksha, Mothra, Nerl, Peksha, Pichegino, Soima, Sudogda, Suzdal, Tumonga, Undol etc. (Vladimir region), Vereya, Vorya, Volgusha, Lama, Moscow, Nudol, Pakhra, Taldom, Shukhroma, Yakhroma etc. (Moscow region)

3.1. List of Finno-Ugric peoples

3.2.
FINNO-UGRIAN PEOPLES

Personalities

Ugrofinams by origin were Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum - both Mordovians, Udmurts - physiologist V. M. Bekhterev, Komi - sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, Mordvins - sculptor S. Nefedov-Erzya, who adopted the name of the people as his pseudonym; Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin is a Russified Merya, his real name sounds Meryan - Pugorkin, composer A.Ya. Eshpai is a Mari, and many others:

Sources

Notes

Map of the approximate settlement of Finno-Ugric tribes in Art. 9.

Stone gravestone with the image of a warrior. Ananyinsky burial ground (near Yelabuga). VI-IV centuries BC.

The history of the Russian tribes that inhabited the Volga-Oka and Kama basins in the 1st millennium BC. e., is distinguished by significant originality. According to Herodotus, the Boudins, Tissagets and Irki lived in this part of the forest line. Noting the difference between these tribes from the Scythians and Sauromatians, he points out that their main occupation was hunting, which supplied not only food, but also furs for clothing. Herodotus especially notes the horse hunting of the hirks with the help of dogs. The information of the ancient historian is confirmed by archaeological sources indicating that hunting really occupied a large place in the life of the studied tribes.

However, the population of the Volga-Oka and Kama basins was not limited only to those tribes mentioned by Herodotus. The names he gives can only be attributed to the southern tribes of this group - the immediate neighbors of the Scythians and Sauromatians. More detailed information about these tribes began to penetrate into ancient historiography only at the turn of our era. Tacitus probably relied on them when he described the life of the tribes in question, calling them Fenians (Finns).

The main occupation of the Finno-Ugric tribes in the vast territory of their settlement should be considered cattle breeding and hunting. Swidden farming played a minor role. A characteristic feature of production among these tribes was that, along with iron tools, which came into use around the 7th century. BC e., bone tools were used here for a very long time. These features are typical of the so-called Dyakovo (interfluve of the Oka and Volga), Gorodets (southeast of the Oka) and Ananyin (Prikamye) archaeological cultures.

The southwestern neighbors of the Finno-Ugric tribes, the Slavs, throughout the 1st millennium AD. e. significantly advanced into the area of settlement of Finnish tribes. This movement caused the displacement of part of the Finno-Ugric tribes, as an analysis of numerous Finnish names of rivers in the central part of European Russia shows. The processes under consideration occurred slowly and did not violate the cultural traditions of the Finnish tribes. This makes it possible to connect a number of local archaeological cultures with Finno-Ugric tribes, already known from Russian chronicles and other written sources. The descendants of the tribes of the Dyakovo archaeological culture were probably the Merya and Muroma tribes, the descendants of the tribes of the Gorodets culture - the Mordovians, and the origin of the chronicle Cheremis and Chud goes back to the tribes that created the Ananyin archaeological culture.

Many interesting features of the life of the Finnish tribes have been studied in detail by archaeologists. The most ancient method of obtaining iron in the Volga-Oka basin is indicative: iron ore was smelted in clay vessels standing in the middle of open fires. This process, noted in settlements of the 9th-8th centuries, is characteristic of the initial stage of the development of metallurgy; later ovens appeared. Numerous bronze and iron products and the quality of their manufacture suggest that already in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. Among the Finno-Ugric tribes of Eastern Europe, the transformation of domestic production industries into crafts, such as foundry and blacksmithing, began. Among other industries, the high development of weaving should be noted. The development of cattle breeding and the beginning emphasis on crafts, primarily metallurgy and metalworking, led to an increase in labor productivity, which in turn contributed to the emergence of property inequality. Nevertheless, the accumulation of property within the clan communities of the Volga-Oka basin occurred rather slowly; because of this, until the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. the ancestral villages were relatively weakly fortified. Only in subsequent centuries did the settlements of the Dyakovo culture become fortified with powerful ramparts and ditches.

The picture of the social structure of the inhabitants of the Kama region is more complex. The burial inventory clearly indicates the presence of wealth stratification among local residents. Some burials dating back to the end of the 1st millennium allowed archaeologists to suggest the emergence of some kind of disadvantaged category of the population, possibly slaves from among prisoners of war.

Settlement area

On the position of the tribal aristocracy in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. evidenced by one of the striking monuments of the Ananyinsky burial ground (near Yelabuga) - a stone tombstone with a relief image of a warrior armed with a dagger and a war hammer and decorated with a mane. The rich grave goods in the grave under this slab contained a dagger and a hammer made of iron, and a silver hryvnia. The buried warrior was undoubtedly one of the clan leaders. The isolation of the clan nobility especially intensified by the 2nd-1st centuries. BC e. It should be noted, however, that at this time the clan nobility was probably relatively few in number, since low labor productivity still greatly limited the number of members of society who lived off the labor of others.

The population of the Volga-Oka and Kama basins was associated with the Northern Baltic, Western Siberia, the Caucasus, and Scythia. Many objects came here from the Scythians and Sarmatians, sometimes even from very distant places, such as the Egyptian figurine of the god Amon, found in a settlement excavated at the spout of the Chusovaya and Kama rivers. The shapes of some iron knives, bone arrowheads and a number of vessels among the Finns are very similar to similar Scythian and Sarmatian products. Connections of the Upper and Middle Volga region with the Scythian and Sarmatian world can be traced back to the 6th-4th centuries, and by the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. are made permanent.