Mordvins

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Erzya and Moksha Mordvins
Мордовский народ
Archive photo 'We thank Comrade Stalin for our Mordvin Autonomy", 1928[1]
Total population
806,000 (2010)
Regions with significant populations
 Russia
  •  
    Molokans and Jumpers[3]
Related ethnic groups
Soviet people (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Azerbaijani, Armenians, Georgians, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmens, Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians)

Mordvins (also Mordvinians, Mordovians;

Russian Federation to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928.[4]

Erzya-Moksha Autonomy

The

Josef Stalin, who attended the meeting. Deputy president of Supreme Court of Mordovia Vasily Martyshkin quotes Stalin and Timofey Vasilyev. Since Mokshas and Erzyas lived sparsely in many governorates Stalin believed it was impossible to establish many autonomous districts. And that was Mikifor Surdin, ethnic Moksha who proposed to establish not Erzya-Moksha autonomy, but a Mordvin okrug. Stalin liked his variant. That is what he has been being cursed till now in spite of the fact he was executed during the Great Purge.[1][7][8][9] That was the time when the autonomy name changed to Mordvin.[10] Only the "ethnonym" Mordvin was allowed in documents for Erzya and Moksha since then.[11][9][1][7]

Timeline of restoring Erzya and Moksha ethnonyms

Altä velä Letter

Mokshas from Altä velä wrote a collective open letter to Literaturnaya Gazeta in 1991.

The authors of a letter sent to Literaturnaia gazeta from the Moksha Altä velä, Mordovia, call this ethnonym "a very nonsensical parasite-word," "a slur," "an awkward nickname" that can be blamed for the fact that "people have come to renounce their true origin, and have rushed in droves (especially the young people) to become Russians. And perhaps history may soon witness that sorry time when the world's civilization, in an instant, will lose forever two remarkable nationalities, and Mordovia will be nothing more than the term for an administrative territory.…"[12]

Erzya and Moksha Peoples' Congress

On the First Erzya and Moksha Peoples' Congress in 1989 the first point of the Congress Declaration was renaming Mordovia to Moksha and Erzya Autonomous Republic and banning the term Mordva.[13]

Aftermath

The Erzya and Moksha intelligentsia representatives, namely Professor Dmitry Tsygankin, admit they never believed in the Unified Mordvin people project.[14]

Mordva Autochthonal Theory

Mokshas are identified with Dyakovo culture since the 1970s;[citation needed] and also with the so-called Gorodetsk culture, which is presently considered a Soviet pseudoscience concocted by Prof. Aleksey Smirnov [ru] and based on Soviet autochtonal theory (that is, the theory that all Volga Uralic ethnicities are autochthonal to the region and never migrated).[15] Erzyas have a nomadic ancestry and are associated[clarification needed] with Oka-Ryazan culture.[16]

Languages

General information

The

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

Due to differences in phonology, lexicon, and grammar, Erzya and Moksha are not mutually intelligible, to the extent that the Russian language is often used for intergroup communications. The two Mordvinic languages also have separate literary forms. The Erzya literary language was created in 1922 and the Mokshan in 1923.[17] Both are currently written using the standard Russian alphabet.

Reconstruction of Mordvin language

The Moksha and Erzya languages are closely related, therefore they are thought to share a common ancestry. As to the degree of the languages' proximity, Arnaud Fournet presumes that if Moksha and Erzya had been a single language, they started to diverge 1500 years ago—the same time as French and Italian divided.[18] Serebrenikov proves that Moksha preserves more archaic forms than those existing in Erzya.[19]

Classification

Until ca. 2010s most Finnic linguists considered Mordvinic and

Permic
languages.

Names

Mordva populi (Mordva people) shown on a 1550 map by Giacomo Gastaldi as residing south of Kasimov and Nizhny Novgorod

While

Shokshas. It was the Erzyans who historically were referred to as Mordvins, and Mokshas usually were mentioned separately as "Mokshas". There is no evidence Mokshas and Erzyas were an ethnic unity in prehistory".[24] Isabelle T. Keindler writes:

Gradually major differences developed in customs, language and even physical appearance (until their conversion to Christianity the Erzia and Moksha did not intermarry and even today intermarriage is rare.) The two subdivisions of Mordvinians share no folk heroes in common – their old folksongs sing only of local heroes. Neither language has a common term to designate either themselves or their language. When a speaker wishes to refer to Mordvinians as a whole, he must use the term "Erzia and Moksha"[25]

Early references

The ethnonym Mordva is possibly attested in

Petchenegs is mentioned in Constantine VII's De administrando imperio.[27]

In medieval European sources, the names Merdas, Merdinis, Merdium, Mordani, Mordua, Morduinos have appeared. In the Russian

Mongol invasion of Rus', the name Mordvin rarely gets mentioned in Russian annals, and is only quoted after the Primary Chronicle up until the 15th–17th centuries.[28][29]

Etymologies

The name Mordva is thought to originate from an

Udmurt", and also in Komi: mort and perhaps even in Mari: marij.[30][anachronism
]

The first written mention of Erzya is considered to be in a letter dated to 968 AD, by

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani,[31] and as rzjan by Jusuf, the Nogaj khan[32] In Russian sources, the ethnonym Erza first appears in the 18th century.[33]

The earliest written mention of Moksha, in the form of Moxel, is considered to be in the works of a 13th-century Flemish traveler,

obsolete source
]. In Russian sources, 'Moksha' appears from the 17th century.
[34]

Ethnic structure

Flag of the Erzya people
Flag of the Moksha people

The Mordvins are divided into two ethnic subgroups

obsolete source
]

Mokshin concludes that the above grouping does not represent subdivisions of equal ethnotaxonomic order, and discounts Shoksha, Karatai and Teryukhan as ethnonyms, identifying two Mordvin sub-ethnicities, the Erzya and the Moksha, and two "ethnographic groups", the Shoksha and the Karatai.

obsolete source
]

Two further formerly Mordvinic groups have assimilated to (Slavic and Turkic) superstrate influence:

Religion

Erzya practices Christianity (Eastern Orthodox and Lutheranism brought by Finnish missionaries in the 1990s) and Ineshkipaza, a native monotheistic religion[citation needed] with some elements of pantheism. Almost all national-oriented intellectuals practice Ineshkipazia or Lutheranism.[citation needed]

Erzyan poet Mariz Kemal is also an organizer of traditional Erzyan religious communities. This phenomenon appeared after the formation of the Mordovian diocese of ROC in 1990. In those days Erzyan intellectuals were hoping to introduce the Erzyan language into worship ceremonies as well as to revive Erzyan religious and cultural identity, even within ROC structure. Failure of these hopes made many Erzyan believers more radical and stimulated national-oriented intellectuals to renew their ethnic Ineshkipaza religion.

Appearance

Erzya women of Penza Oblast dressed in traditional costumes

The

old national dress
, especially the women, whose profusely embroidered skirts, original hair-dress large ear-rings which sometimes are merely hare-tails, and numerous necklaces covering all the chest and consisting of all possible ornaments, easily distinguish them from Russian women."

Britannica described the Mordvins as having mostly dark hair and blue eyes, with a rather small and narrow build. The Moksha were described as having darker skin and darker eyes than the Erzya, while the Qaratays were described as "mixed with Tatars".

Latham described the Mordvins as taller than the Mari, with thin beards, flat faces and brown or red hair, red hair being more frequent among the Ersad than the Mokshad.[21]

Middle Volga at their own wish", as characterised by "broad and smooth faces, long eyes, a rather flattish nose".[42]

Cultures, folklores and mythologies

An Erzya ritual performance in Podlesnaya Tavla, Mordovia

According to Tatiana Deviatkina, although sharing some similarities, no common Mordvin mythology has emerged, and therefore the Erza and Moksha mythologies are defined separately.[43]

In the Erza mythology, the superior deities were hatched from an egg. The mother of gods is called Ange Patiai, followed by the Sun God, Chipaz, who gave birth to Nishkepaz; to the earth god, Mastoron kirdi; and to the wind god, Varmanpaz. From the union of Chipaz and the Harvest Mother, Norovava, was born the god of the underworld, Mastorpaz. The thunder god, Pur’ginepaz, was born from Niskende Teitert, (the daughter of the mother of gods, Ange Patiai). The creation of the Earth is followed by the creation of the Sun, the Moon, humankind, and the Erza. Humans were created by Chipaz, the sun god, who, in one version, molded humankind from clay, while in another version, from soil.

In Moksha mythology, the Supreme God is called Viarde Skai. According to the legends, the creation of the world went through several stages: first the Devil moistened the building material in his mouth and spat it out. The piece that was spat out grew into a plain, which was modeled unevenly, creating the chasms and the mountains. The first humans created by Viarde Skai could live for 700–800 years and were giants of 99 archinnes. The underworld in Mokshan mythology was ruled by Mastoratia.

Latham reported strong pagan elements surviving Christianization.[21] The 1911 Britannica noted how the Mordvins:

… still preserve much of their own mythology, which they have adapted to the Christian religion. According to some authorities, they have preserved also, especially the less russified Moksha, the practice of

ancestor-worship
. On the fortieth day after the death of a kinsman the dead [one] is not only supposed to return home, but a member of his household represents him, and, coming from the grave, speaks in his name... They are also masters of
obsolete source].[41]

History

  Mordvins

Prehistory

The Mordvins emerged from the common Volgaic group around the 1st century AD.[44][anachronism]

Proof that the Mordvins have long been settled in the vicinity of the Volga is also found in the fact that they still call the river Rav, reflecting the name Rha recorded by Ptolemy[45][46] (c. AD 100 – c. 170).

The Gorodets culture dating back to around 500 BC has been associated[

Merians who spoke related Finno-Ugric languages. To the north of the Mordvins lived the Maris, and to the south the Khazars. The Mordvins' eastern neighbors, possibly remnants of the Huns, became the Bulgars around 700 AD.[citation needed
]

Researchers have distinguished the ancestors of the Erzya and the Moksha from the mid-1st century AD by the different orientations of their burials and by elements of their costumes and by the variety of bronze jewellery found by archaeologists in their ancient cemeteries. The Erzya graves from this era were oriented north–south, while the Moksha graves were found to be oriented south–north.[27]

The Mordvin language began to diverge into Moksha and Erzya over the course of the 1st millennium AD.[47][48][anachronism] Erzyans lived in the northern parts of the territory, close to present-day Nizhny Novgorod. The Mokshans lived further south and west of present-day Mordovia, closer to the neighbouring Iranian, Bolgar and Turkic tribes, and fell under their cultural influence.

The social organization of Moksha and Erzya depended on patriarchy; the tribes were headed by elders kuda-ti who selected a tekshtai, senior elders responsible for coordinating wider regions.[anachronism]

Early history

Mordovian woman, 1781

Around 800 AD two major empires[

Novgorod, which eventually adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Bolgar kingdom located at the confluence of Kama and Volga rivers adopted Islam, and some Moksha areas became tributaries to the latter until the 12th century[anachronism
].

Following the foundation of

Urals
, and reducing their cohesion.

The Russian advance was halted by the Mongol Empire, and the Mordvins became subjects to Golden Horde[anachronism] until the beginning of the 16th century.

Christianization of the Mordvin peoples took place during the 16th to 18th centuries, and most Mordvins today adhere to the Russian Orthodox Church all carrying Russian Orthodox names. In the 19th century, Latham reported strong pagan elements surviving Christianization, the chief gods of the Erzyans and the Mokshas being called Paas and Shkai, respectively.

Modern history

Although the Mordvins were given an autonomous territory as a titular nation within the Soviet Union in 1928, Russification intensified during the 1930s, and knowledge of the Mordvin languages by the 1950s was in rapid decline.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Mordvins, like other

ethnic separatism founded by D. Nadkin of the Mordovian State University, active in the early 1990s.[49]

Finno-Ugric peoples, whose territories were included in the former USSR as well as many others, had a very brief period of national revival in 1989–1991. Finno-Ugric peoples of Idel-Ural were able to conduct their own national conventions: Udmurts (November 1991), Erzya and Moksha (March 1992),[50]
Mari (October 1992), the united convention of Finno-Ugric folks of Russia in Izhevsk (May 1992). All these conventions accepted similar resolutions with appeals to democratize political and public life in their respective republics and to support the national revival of Finno-Ugric peoples. Estonia had a strong influence on moods and opinions that dominated these conventions, (especially among national-oriented intellectuals) because many students at the University of Tartu were from Finno-Ugric republics of Russia.

At the time of the Soviet Union's disintegration, Erzya and Moksha accounted for only 32,5% in total structure of population in Mordovia. The return of many Erzyans and Mokshans to their national identities was strongly challenged by Russification, urbanization and demographic crisis. In addition, part of Moksha national elites (and Erzyan to a lesser extent) came forward with an idea, that Erzyans and Mokshans are just sub-ethnic groups within the united Mordovian nation. This concept was readily supported by Russian authorities, but most representatives of the Erzyan national movement reacted very negatively. National activists perceived the idea of “united Mordovian nation” as another tool for hard Russification.

In 1989 Veĺmema community center emerges in Mordovia. Very soon it becomes popular attracting both Erzyans and Mokshans. In some time only cultural activity becomes quite a narrow scope for part of radical activists, and Veĺmema experiences a major split. Moderate members create Vajģeĺ organization focused on revival and popularization of national traditions, and a more radical group founded Mastorava, Erzan-Mokshan civic movement, that aims not only a cultural revival of both nations but also wants the presentation of their interests in government bodies.

National representative bodies

Erzya has its own system of national representative bodies. Every time before Ras'ken' Ozks that takes place every three years, Aťań Eźem (lit.'Council of Elders') is convened. Aťań Eźem is a collective body that discusses the major problems of Erzyan people. Aťań Eźem elects chief elder, Inyazor, by a secret ballot. Inyazor represents all Erzyan people till next Ras'ken' Ozks.

During the period from 1999 through 2019 position of Inyazor was held by Kshumantsian'Pirguzh, who was awarded Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land by the President of Estonia in 2014. In 2019 during regular Ras'ken' Ozks Syres' Boliayen', chairman of Erźań Val Society, co-founder of Free Idel-Ural civic movement was elected as new Inyazor. His candidature was supported by 12 of 18 elders. Russian authorities do not recognize the legitimacy of the national representative bodies of Erzyan people. Syres' Boliayen' is now in exile in Ukraine and representatives of Aťań eźem, as well as first Inyazor Kshumantsian'Pirguzh, repeatedly reported about political pressure from Russian authorities.

According to Russian laws, the activity of national political parties (Erzya, Mari, Tatars, Chuvashs or any other) is forbidden. Consequently, the national representative agency of Erzya people is the only possible instrument to express the political aspirations of Erzya.

Due to the activity of Veĺmema, Vajģeĺ and Mastorava situation with human rights for Erzyans and Mokshans in Mordovia has changed significantly. Mordovian National theatre and faculty of national culture were founded in the republic, Language Law was adopted, productive relationships and contacts with foreign diaspores were established. The aforementioned organizations became a "talent foundry" for new associations of Erzya and Moksha, namely Od Vij, Erźava, Ĺitova, and Jurhtava; as well as for Mastorava and Erźań Mastor newspapers. Exactly due to the activity of all mentioned organizations and societies Erzyan and Mokshan national movements become able to progress from the ethnographic stage of their struggle to a political one.[51]

At the end of the 1980s, human rights defender Pirguzh Kshumantsian and poet Mariz Kemal became leaders of the Erzyan national movement. They revived the tradition of Ras'ken' Ozks (lit.'Family Prayer'). Five days before the very first Ras'ken' Ozks Kshumantsian', as main organizer of the event, was arrested by Russian authorities. Police forced him to abandon the realization of Prayer, however, he refused to comply with the demands. In 1999 Pirguzh Kshumantsian' was elected as the first Inyazor (chief elder) in the newest history of the Erzyan people. He held this position up to 2019.

Mariz' Kemal adhered to the principle of "Kavto keĺť - kavto raśkeť" (lit.'Two languages - two nations'), that denied the existence of the single Mordovian nation as the combination of sub-ethnic groups, namely Erzya and Moksha. National life in the Republic of Mordovia began to draw down with the installation of Vladimir Putin's rule. The new president of Russia considered national republics and native peoples as "enemies inside".

On 1 May 2020 the Aťań Eźem approved new system of national representative bodies. Statute on creation and functioning of national representative bodies of Erzya people consists of six chapters, describing aims and tasks of Erzya national movement, its governing bodies, their plenary powers and structure. According to the document, national movement directed by Promks – convention of delegates from Erzya political parties and public organizations. Convention forms Aťań Eźem, that is operative between Promks sessions and elects Inyazor, who presents Erzya people and speaks on behalf of all the nation. In the event that there are any legal limitations for creation and operation of national parties (such prohibition exists in Russian Federation nowadays), then plenary powers of Promks are carried by Aťań Eźem. The main objective of Promks, Aťań Eźem and Inyazor, is to provide and defend national, political, economic and cultural rights of Erzya, including right to national self-determination within national Erzya territories.[52]

Genetics

Autosomally, Mokshas and Erzyas show homogeneity.[53] About 11% of their ancestry is Nganasan-like.[54][53] This East Eurasian component is typical for Uralic-speaking populations.[53] They also have high level of Steppe-related admixture, as it can be modelled to be about half of their ancestry.[55]

Demographics

Mordvins in the Volga-Urals region (2010 Russian census)

Latham (1854) quoted a total population of 480,000.[21] Mastyugina (1996) quotes 1.15 million.[56] The 2002 Russian census reports 0.84 million.

According to estimates by

Volga River
.

Others are scattered (2002) over the Russian

Chuvashia (18,686), Bashkortostan (31,932), Siberia (65,650), Russian Far East (29,265).[citation needed
]

Populations in parts of the

Kyrgyz Republic 5,390, Turkmenistan 3,490, Uzbekistan 14,175, Kazakhstan, (34,370), Azerbaijan (1,150), Estonia (985), Armenia (920).[citation needed
]

Mordvins in Russia (1926–2021)
Census 1926 1939 1959 1970 1979 1989 2002 2010 2021
Population 1,306,798 1,375,558 1,211,105 1,177,492 1,111,075 1,072,939 843,350 744,237 484,450
Percentage 1.41% 1.27% 1.03% 0.91% 0.81% 0.73% 0.59% 0.54% 0.37%

List of notable Mordvins

Erzyans

Mokshans

  • Mikhail Devyatayev (1917–2002) a Soviet fighter pilot, escaped from a Nazi concentration camp [citation needed
    ]
  • Andrey Kizhevatov (1907–1941), a Soviet border guard commander, a leader of the Defence of Brest Fortress during Operation Barbarossa.
  • Oleg Maskaev (born 1969), Russian former boxer
  • Vasily Shukshin (1929–1974), Soviet writer and actor.[58]

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ a b c Golubchik 2022
  2. ^ Official site of the Russian Census of 2010. Information materials about the final results of the Russian Census of 2010. (in Russian)
  3. ^ Molokans and Jumpers are Russians, Ukrainians, Chuvashs, Mordvins, Armenians ...
  4. ^ Zamyatin 2022, p. 88
  5. ^ Kozlov 1958, p. 47
  6. ^ Grekov & Lebedev 1940, p. 47
  7. ^ a b Anoshkin, Nikolay (18 May 2022). "The Exoethnonym's Origin. Page of History". Erzian Mastor [Erzialand]. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  8. ^ *"Republic Of Mordovia". vseruss.com. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Votians, Besermyans and Other Peoples Of Russia That Seem To Be Never Existed but They Do". Kulturologia.ru. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  10. ^ Martyshkin 2014
  11. ^ Vasilyev 2007
  12. ^ Mokshin 1991
  13. ^ Nadkin, Dmitry (1989). "Erzya and Moksha Spiritual Culture and Issues of "Homeland" Society. Insights from the Report of the First Moksha and Erzya Congress". Engineering Systems and Technologies (in Russian) (4): 38–41. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  14. ^ {{{Puresheva Volost. Moksha [Puresh’s State. Moksha]}}}
  15. ^ Stavitsky 2009
  16. .
  17. ^ Fournet 2011
  18. ^ Serebrennikov 1967
  19. ^ Piispanen, Peter S. Statistical Dating of Finno-Mordvinic Languages through Comparative Linguistics and Sound Laws: Fenno-Ugrica Suecana Nova Series. 15 (2016). P. 1-18
  20. ^ a b c d e Latham, Robert Gordon (1854). The Native Races of the Russian Empire. H. Bailliere. p. 91.
  21. .
  22. .
  23. ^ Feoktistov A. P. K probleme mordovsko-tyurkskikh yazykovykh kontaktov // Etnogenez mordovskogo naroda. – Saransk, 1965. – pp. 331–343
  24. . Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  25. ^ (Getica XIII, 116) "Among the tribes he [Ermanarich] conquered were the Golthescytha, Thiudos, Inaunxis, Vasinabroncae, Merens, Mordens, Imniscaris, Rogas, Tadzans, Athaul, Navego, Bubegenae and Coldae" — The Origin and Deeds of the Goths (116).
  26. ^ .
  27. ^ (Kirjanov 1971, 148–149) Laslo
  28. ^ Kappeler (1982) Taagepera
  29. ISBN 978-0-7007-1463-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  30. ^ (Sbornik... 1941, 96) see László
  31. ^ (Safargaliev 1964, 12) László
  32. ^ (Mokshin 1977, 47) László
  33. ^ (Mokshin 1977, 47)László
  34. .
  35. ^ "MORDVINS (Erzyas and Mokshas)". Information Center of Finno-Ugric Peoples. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  36. Sura River and the Karatai, in the neighbourhood of Kazan
    .
  37. ^ "the ethnic structure of the Mordva people at present reveals two subethnoses – Erzia and Moksha – and two ethnographic groups – so-called Shoksha and Karatai" Mokshin (1995), p. 43
  38. .
  39. ^ Salakhova, E. H. (2016). "The origin of Mishar Tatars and Teptyars in the work of G.N. Akhmarov".
  40. ^ a b Eliot, Charles Norton Edgcumbe (1911). "Mordvinians" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). pp. 820–821.
  41. .
  42. ^ Deviatkina, Tatiana (2001). "Some Aspects of Mordvin Mythology" (PDF). Folk Belief and Media Group of ELM. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  43. ^ Mokshin, p. 32
  44. ^ Pre-and Proto-historic Finns by Abercromby, pp. 8
  45. ^ Taylor, Isaac (1898). Names and Their Histories. Rivingtons. pp. 289Volga the Rha of Ptolemy, a Finnic name retained by the Mordvins.
  46. ^ Taagepera, p. 152
  47. ^ Mokshin (1995), p. 33.
  48. , p. 133; Timur Muzaev, Ėtnicheskiĭ separatizm v Rossii (1999), p. 166ff.
  49. .
  50. ^ Властей Мордовии призвали не вмешиваться в деятельность Совета старейшин эрзянского народа https://www.idelreal.org/a/30062876.html
  51. ^ Erzya approved structure of their national representative bodies http://idel-ural.org/en/archives/erzya-approved-structure-of-their-national-representative-bodies/
  52. ^
    PMID 30241495
    .
  53. .
  54. .
  55. .
  56. ^ "Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Washington".
  57. ^ «Мы процентов на 90 - мордва...» [We are 90% Mordvin] - Vecherniy Saransk, 29 April 2016. Quote from Shukshin's daughter: «Почему Саранск? Мы мордва. Предки Василия Макаровича из Мордовии, мы знаем, что сначала они переселились в Самарскую область, а затем в Алтайский край.» ["Why Saransk? Because we are Mordvin. The ancestors of Vasily Shukshin came from Mordovia; we know they first settled in Samara Oblast and then in Altai Krai"]

Further reading

External links

Mordovia news

Mordvin toponymy