Transfer of the chuvash to tartars and loss of identity

Abstract

In the XV - XVII centuries the south-eastern and southern regions of Chuvashia were settled by Tartar-speaking Mishars from Saray and other regions of the Golden Horde. Then these settlements began to exert religious and ethnographic influence on the neighboring Chuvash. Such social pressure through the language, clothing and culture, eventually led to absorption of a significant number of the Chuvash population of the Middle Volga region and the Ural region by Tatars. A certain part of the Chuvash population shaved heads, ate horse meat, refused to keep pigs. The number of new mosques grew in the region, Quranic literature was published in mass circulations. In 1905, the Decree of Nikolai II on freedom of religion was issued, which became a sort of a signal for Tartars for attack and for the Chuvash about possible arbitrariness in religious manifestations. The Tartars hold a number of conventions in order to coordinate their propaganda activities. From 1834 to 1904 the number of Tartars increased by 150 %, mainly due to the change of faith by aliens. There were cases of fanatical behavior on the part of neophytes. Eventually, a significant part lost their identity, and some even joined the ranks of the Tartar population. As we can see, the influence of Islam on the Chuvash is great. It also has positive aspects. Islamization allowed the Chuvash to preserve the islands of settlements adhering to their original religion, and not to dissolve in Orthodoxy. At the earliest opportunity, the Chuvash, who “adopted” Islam, returned to their traditions.