Sacred place in the Bashkir yurt. False human history. Bashkir yurt. Municipal budgetary institution

The Bashkir yurt is set up for excursions in the Bashkir courtyard. The Bashkirs, like many nomadic peoples of Eurasia, spent about half of their lives in temporary dwellings, the oldest and most universal type of which was the lattice yurt (tirme), warm in cold weather, cool in hot weather. There are about 3.5 thousand Bashkirs in Saratov. The types of dwellings among the Bashkirs are more varied; the most common are log houses (wooden) and wattle and adobe (made of clay). The eastern Bashkirs had felt yurts (tirme) in their summer nomadic camps.

The yurt is, of course, an outstanding invention of ancient pastoralists - nomads. Because of its ease of transportation, stability in steppe winds and hurricanes, ability to retain heat in cold weather, coolness in hot weather, ability to quickly disassemble and assemble, etc. - it was an ideal home.

The traditional yurt as a dwelling among the Bashkirs has not survived today. It can be seen at the Bashkir folk festival “Sabantuy”, as well as in major museums of Bashkortostan.

The Bashkir yurt amazes with the variety of manufacturing methods, and the ornamentation of its furnishings competes with the beauty and brightness of the colors of nature. The portable, prefabricated yurt ideally corresponded to the basic principle of semi-nomadic life: I carry everything I own with me. To transport this relatively compact and light house, two or three camels or three to four horses are required. The picture of women assembling a yurt is similar to the picture of the creation of the world. First, a door is installed - a gate from one world to another. The threshold is like a boundary between the external world and the human world.

Rising to his full height in the yurt, the man remembered Allah, raised the dome of his house and made it a window into the sky. Nomadism is one of the most striking and unique phenomena in the history of world culture. The yurt can undoubtedly be considered one of the most important achievements of material culture. She went through a long evolutionary path before developing to her present form.

Adapted to local conditions, the nomadic yurt is seismically safe - due to the movable structure of the walls, cheap - due to the availability of “building” material, it has the ability to vary the size of the living area. The round shape of the walls eliminates pathogenic energy harmful to human health, characteristic of buildings with right angles; there is always clean air in it. These and many other properties of the yurt developed over two to three millennia.

Traditionally, the entrance is located on the south side of the yurt. The part of the home on the opposite side is considered the main part and is intended for guests. The constant place of the hearth is in the center of the yurt opposite the hole for the smoke to escape. In cases where the hearth is taken outside, a beautiful tablecloth is laid out in this place, which plays the role of a table. Saddle cloths, soft pillows or fabric bedding were scattered around her.

Sharshau has always been considered a very important element of a nomadic dwelling. This is a curtain made of thick fabric that divides the Bashkir yurt into two unequal parts:

1. female. According to the customs of the people, it is always smaller and is invariably located on the right side of the entrance. Items necessary for conducting household: kitchen utensils, food supplies, children's and women's clothing, etc.

2. male. The left side is larger and is always used as a living room. Colorful rugs, tablecloths, towels and bedding are hung throughout the room. The lattice walls are covered not only with patterned works, but also with the warrior’s equipment, decorated with national ornaments. Here you can see quivers for arrows, cases for gunpowder, a pouch for shot and horse harness.

The place of honor for guests – the uryn – is located opposite the entrance. There is also a carved wooden chest on a beautiful stand. The most valuable things are stored on it: carpets, rugs, blankets and pillows. They are carefully tied with a patterned ribbon with colored ornaments on a red or black background.

The emergence of permanent Bashkir settlements is mainly associated with the transition of the Bashkirs to a semi-sedentary and sedentary life. If in the northwestern agricultural regions most of the villages arose even before the union with the Russian state, then in the southern and eastern parts of Bashkiria, where even in the 18th-19th centuries. Semi-nomadic cattle breeding dominated, and permanent settlements appeared only two or three centuries ago. The first Bashkir villages, like nomadic auls, were located near water sources, along the banks of rivers and lakes, and retained a cumulus layout. Each village included one clan division and numbered no more than 25-30 households. In cases where several clan groups settled together, each of them retained territorial isolation; the border was a river, a ravine or a wasteland. In pastoral areas, when villages grew, part of the families or an entire clan subdivision was separated from the aul, forming a new settlement. Therefore, in the east and south, even in the 19th century. There were few large Bashkir villages. In the northern and western regions, high population density contributed to the growth of auls into large villages, numbering several hundred households.

In the 20s of the XIX century. For the convenience of managing the region, the tsarist administration began redevelopment of Bashkir villages according to the type of Russian villages. The provincial government drew up plans for the villages and assigned land surveyors. The reconstruction of villages according to the street type dragged on for several decades, and at the end of the 19th century. There were settlements, mainly in the east, with a random arrangement of estates. However, most Bashkir villages in late XIX- early 20th century consisted of one, or less often - two or three streets, separated by alleys along which one could go to the river or beyond the outskirts. In the center of the settlement stood a mosque - a rectangular wooden building with a cone-shaped dinar.

At the beginning of the 20th century. in the northern and western regions of Bashkiria, which were more influenced by capitalism, some consolidation of villages occurred. In the eastern part of Bashkiria, villages rarely numbered more than a hundred households; Only volost centers were relatively large here

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. among the Bashkirs one could find a wide variety of dwellings, ranging from felt yurts to log huts. This is explained by the complexity of the ethnic history of the people, the peculiarities of the economy in different areas, as well as the diversity of natural conditions. If in the settled northwestern regions at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. the house was the only type of construction, then in the south and east, along with log, adobe or turf huts, there were various types of light nomadic dwellings.

The main type of summer housing among the Bashkirs of the steppe and foothill regions was a lattice yurt, or wagon, covered with felt and felts. (tirme). In the northeast, yurts of the Mongolian type, which are characterized by a cone-shaped top, were common; in the south and in the Dema basin - yurts of the Turkic type, with a hemispherical top. The entrance to the yurt was usually covered with a felt. There was an open fireplace in the center of the yurt; the smoke from the hearth came out through the open door and through a hole in the dome, from which the mat covering it was removed for the duration of the firebox. Curtain (sharshau) Along the line of the door, the wagon was divided into two parts: to the right of the door* on the women's half (sharshau ese), household utensils and products were placed; on the left, on the men's side (ishek yak) along the walls there were chests with property, felts were spread out next to them, pillows and blankets lay, weapons, saddles, harnesses, outerwear, patterned towels hung on the walls. Subsequently, the division of the tent into male and female halves lost its meaning, and the yurt began to be divided into “clean” and “household” parts. The Bashkir yurt, simple in design and internal structure, was easily disassembled and transported to another place.

At the end of the 19th century. in the steppe Bashkiria, many insolvent families lived in summer camps and in conical huts (tshg/bshg), the pole frame of which was covered with tree bark, leaves and felt, or in booths resembling a yurt (alasyt) made of wooden frames covered with bark. The internal structure of these dwellings was similar to a yurt.

The Bashkirs of the mountain-forest regions erected small log huts at their summer camps ( burama) with an earthen floor, no ceiling, and a gable roof made of bark. This dwelling had no windows and was lit through the door and the cracks between the poorly fitted logs of the walls. In log cabins, the hearth was located in one of the corners at the entrance; opposite the hearth, along the front and side walls, low log platforms were built, which were covered with grass and branches. Burams were not portable dwellings: the simple technology of their construction and the abundance of building materials allowed the Bashkirs to have such log houses at every summer camp.

Mostly wood was used in the construction of winter dwellings. In the Trans-Ural steppe regions and in the Dema plain, houses were built with wicker, adobe or stone walls. To cover the huts here, instead of planks, wood chips and bark - materials common in mountain forest areas - turf and straw were used.

Of the types of permanent dwellings in the past, all of Bashkiria was characterized by a small four-walled hut with a gable roof, two or three windows, without a special foundation, and with a floor raised to the second crown. Such a log hut, especially in forest areas, had much in common with the burama.

In the second half of the 19th century. Wealthy Bashkirs appeared in three-part dwellings (two huts separated by a vestibule) and two-room huts with vestibules the entire length of the log house and separate entrances to each room or with a transition from one room to another. The cultural influence of neighboring peoples, primarily the Tatars and Russians, played a significant role in the appearance of these dwellings.

Bashkir peasants in most cases built their own residential and outbuildings. But in the 19th century. Professional carpenters had already appeared who, moving from village to village, built large houses with carved platbands, friezes and pediments mainly for rich peasants. In the south and southeast of Bashkiria, all the peasants of an entire village were often engaged in carpentry. Employed by residents of surrounding villages, they built houses not only in Bashkir, but also in Russian, Tatar and other villages.

In the huts, to a certain extent, the furnishings of a yurt and, to an even greater extent, of a burama were repeated. The hut retained the hearth and bunks characteristic of a yurt and burama (kike, uryndyk), serving as a place for both dining and relaxation. As in burama, bunks were located along the side and front walls (in mountainous forest areas) or along one wall opposite the entrance. The hearth was usually built to the right of the door, at some distance from the walls. Back in the 19th century. in remote villages of the steppe south-eastern and mountain-forest regions, unique stove-fireplaces were common (syual) with a straight chimney and a high firebox. A small fireplace was built next to them (mustache) with a built-in boiler. In the north-west of Bashkiria and in the Trans-Urals, especially in the vicinity of Russian villages, at the beginning of the 20th century. Russian-type stoves were installed, which, however, were distinguished by a complex system of chimneys. A feature of the Bashkir stove was the combination of a heating shield (mayes) with a small fireplace, which used to be attached to the suval. At the beginning of the century, in some Bashkir villages, under the influence of the Russian population, Dutch brick ovens appeared. In two-room huts they were installed in the “clean half” - the room for receiving guests, while in the second room a stove with a boiler was installed.

The division of the premises into clean and utility parts, transferred from the nomadic dwelling, was also observed in the four-walled hut: the clean half of the house was separated by a long curtain extending from the stove. The decoration of the Bashkir huts was complemented by felts spread out on the bunks (in the south) or woven rugs (in the north), numerous pillows and blankets folded in the corner of the bunks, hanging on the walls and on a pole attached in one of the front corners, towels, clothes, and items of horse harness. Factory furniture was only available in wealthy families.

Differences in the economy also left their mark on the structure of Bashkir estates. At the beginning of the century, in the northern, agricultural regions, the estate was characterized by numerous outbuildings; They distinguished between a “clean” yard, where there was a house and a cage, a utility yard with premises for livestock, sheds, paddocks, and, finally, a vegetable garden in which there was a bathhouse. The few buildings in the Bashkir estate were located, as a rule, freely, at a considerable distance from one another. In the southeast and in the steppes near the Dema, where nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding persisted for a long time, often the only structure other than a residential building was a barn with an open pen for livestock. It is no coincidence that in the Trans-Ural region, until recently, all outbuildings were called kerte- i.e. the same way as pens for cattle on migrations.

Already in the first decades after the October Revolution, especially after collectivization Agriculture, mass construction and improvement of Bashkir villages began. With the help of the state, with the assistance and support of collective farms, many Bashkir families erected spacious log houses instead of cramped, dilapidated huts. New public buildings appeared in the villages: schools, clubs, first aid stations, hospitals, collective farm economic and administrative buildings.

Particularly great changes have occurred in Bashkir villages in the last decade. The rise of all branches of agriculture, the improvement of the material well-being of the collective farm peasantry, and the increased cultural needs of the population were reflected in the rapid development of individual and social construction. In 1958 alone, about 24 thousand houses were built in the villages of Bashkiria. Currently, most villages have been renovated by more than half, some have been rebuilt almost from scratch. When rebuilding settlements, much attention is paid to their improvement; landscaping of streets, organization of water supply, electrification and radio installation.

Modern rural construction is characterized by the reconstruction of villages according to an architectural plan. Comprehensive planning of rural construction for entire administrative regions began. In 1960, the design organizations of the republic, as an experiment, drew up a long-term plan for the reconstruction of villages in the Karmaskalinsky district. Such plans provide for the maximum consolidation of settlements, a clear functional division of the village territory into production, residential and recreation areas, construction of buildings for cultural and public institutions, consumer service enterprises, organization of a network of public amenities.

Collective farm construction teams and inter-collective farm production construction organizations play a major role in the reconstruction of villages. Construction crews are constructing industrial buildings and helping collective farmers build houses. By the beginning of 1963, there were more than 20 thousand construction specialists in the collective farm brigades of Bashkiria. Inter-collective farm organizations, combining the resources and forces of adjacent collective farms, organize the production of building materials, the development of stone quarries, the preparation and delivery of lumber, and manage carpentry workshops.

Every year the number of huts made of adobe, wattle and clay decreases; There are almost no houses covered with straw, bark, or turf. Timber and brick buildings are the most typical for modern housing. Many collective farms in treeless areas widely use local building materials: clay, sand, limestone, stone, etc. The tasks of industrial enterprises and construction organizations include providing collective farmers with slate, tiles, and iron.

Along with the use of new building materials, architectural techniques are being improved and the internal layout of homes is changing. A modern Bashkir house is most often a fairly large five- to six-window log house, placed on wooden pedestals dug into the ground or a stone foundation; a gable or hip roof is covered with planks, slate or tiles. Cornices, pediments and window frames are decorated with carvings and paintings. Folk Bashkir craftsmen, relying on the rich traditions of architectural carving of Russians and other peoples, select the ornamental forms that are most in keeping with the spirit of the times, develop new techniques that satisfy the tastes of the collective farm peasantry and at the same time fully correspond to the pace of housing construction in the countryside.

In the interior layout, there is a noticeable desire for greater convenience in everyday life. Usually, the middle wall of a five-walled log house and plank partitions divide a Bashkir’s house into several rooms: an entrance hall, a kitchen, a bedroom, a living room, etc. Even in the treeless northwestern regions, where one-room huts still predominate, the room is divided by short curtains attached to matice. Particularly large changes in the internal layout of homes occurred in the northeast, where houses with four to five rooms appeared. In the first rooms from the entrance - the kitchen and the hallway - many features inherited from pre-revolutionary life are preserved: here there is a bulky stove with a stove and a boiler mounted on the side, next to it on a shelf (kashte) or household utensils and dishes are stored in a closet; small narrow bunks are built in the corner of the door. The remaining rooms are furnished in a city style. These rooms are heated with a small Dutch oven. The features of the new decoration of residential premises are closely intertwined with national traditions. National color is created by nailed to the mat or

embroidered curtains to the walls near the ceiling ( kashaea), canopy covering the bed, woven carpets or felt mats laid on the floor or on benches.

There have also been changes in the development of estates. True, the division of the yard into “clean” and economic parts continues to exist, and the traditional free arrangement of outbuildings on the estate is preserved. In the conditions of collective farming, there is no need for some buildings - stables, barns for storing agricultural implements, the area occupied by a vegetable garden is noticeably reduced, and economic services are located more compactly. The modern Bashkir estate is well landscaped.

The development of industry in the region after joining the Russian state, the construction of fortresses and factories, and the settlement of Bashkir lands by newcomers led to the emergence of large settlements: cities, trade and industrial centers. The first city on the territory of Bashkiria was Ufa, founded by the tsarist government in the second half of the 16th century. as a strategic post in the east of Russian possessions. Located in the center of the Bashkir lands, at the junction of land and waterways, Ufa from a small military-type fortress by the 18th century. turned into one of the transport, trade and administrative centers of the Urals. According to the 1897 census, there were about 50 thousand inhabitants in Ufa. Among them, the Bashkirs did not make up even one percent; they were represented mainly by Muslim clergy and merchants.

Pre-revolutionary Ufa was built up mainly with two-story wooden houses. The largest buildings were the stone houses of the Provincial Zemstvo Council, the Peasant Bank, numerous churches and mosques. Administrative offices and mansions of Russian, Tatar and Bashkir nobles and merchants were located in the city center. On the outskirts, along the slopes of the ravines, workers' shacks were built. Of the industrial enterprises, the most significant were the Gutman iron and copper foundry, steam locomotive and ship repair shops and two steam mills. Cultural institutions were represented only by secular and religious schools and a few libraries with a small collection of literature. There was no permanent theater in Ufa. Various clubs served as places of entertainment for representatives of “high society.”

The district towns of Sterlitamak, Birsk, and Belebey were even more remote. The author of the famous "Essays on the Life of Wild Bashkiria" N.V. Remezov, who visited the largest of the district centers of the region, Sterlitamak, at the end of the 19th century, wrote: "... in the district town of Sterlitamak, forever buried in the mud..., there were several streets with wooden buildings, a cathedral in the square, a government building there, a bazaar in the neighborhood and a stockade in the pasture.” At the beginning of the 20th century, several industrial enterprises were founded in Sterlitamak - two or three small mills, a sawmill, a tannery, which, however, did not change the appearance of the city.

By the 18th century - the birth of the mining industry in the Southern Urals - the appearance of the first workers' settlements. These were settlements of serf peasants assigned to industrial enterprises, mostly Russians. Factory villages were relatively small and differed little in appearance from the surrounding villages.

In the second half of the 19th century, after the abolition of serfdom, rows of squat barracks-barracks grew up next to the old-timers’ huts in workers’ settlements, capable of accommodating a large number of workers rushing from agriculture to industry. Unsanitary conditions due to large crowds of people, smoke and soot settling everywhere, and the dirt of unpaved streets determined the appearance of the factory settlements. At the beginning of the 20th century. At some of the largest factories (Beloretsk, Tirlyansk) medical centers and schools appeared. In most cases, in a factory village, the only place where workers could spend their few free hours was the tavern.

The development of the economy of Soviet Bashkiria caused rapid urban growth. The capital of the republic, Ufa, has turned into a large modern city with a population of 640 thousand people. Multi-storey comfortable buildings, wide asphalt streets immersed in greenery, squares, parks, public gardens, busy traffic - this is the appearance of today's Ufa. Ufa is home to the largest oil refineries and chemical plants, plywood and woodworking plants, light and food industry factories. Ufa is the scientific and cultural center of the republic. There are a university, medical, aviation, oil and agricultural institutes, numerous research institutions, opera and drama theaters, a philharmonic society, many libraries, art, local history and other museums, a republican radio committee, and a television center.

Great changes have also occurred in the appearance of other cities of the republic. Sterlitamak has become the center of the chemical industry of national importance. The cities of Birsk and Belebey became economically developed and more comfortable.

With the development of new industries, new socialist cities grew. The center of nonferrous ore mining was Sibay, the oil and oil refining industries were Ishimbay, Salavat, Tuymazy, Oktyabrsky, Neftekamsk, and the coal industry was Kumertau and Meleuz. The young cities of Bashkiria are distinguished by a single architectural style, simplicity of planning, livability. Another feature of them is the relocation of industrial enterprises outside the residential area, connecting the factory area with the city center by constant transport.

There are 34 urban-type settlements on the territory of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. They are built up with two- and three-story comfortable houses. In the villages there are cultural palaces, clubs, cinemas, shops, and canteens. All this characterizes new life workers of Bashkiria.

The peculiarities of the economy of various regions of the region, long-term and diverse cultural ties of the Bashkirs with other peoples left their mark on the nature of the clothing of their individual groups. The southeastern Bashkirs, who for a long time maintained a semi-nomadic cattle-breeding way of life, even in the last century widely used leather, skins and wool for sewing shoes, outerwear and hats; they were also familiar with making canvas from nettles and wild hemp. In the 18th century The southeastern Bashkirs sewed underwear mainly from Central Asian or Russian factory fabrics, which is explained by the establishment of trade relations with Central Asia, and after joining Russia - through Orenburg and Troitsk - with the internal markets of the empire. Bashkir population along the lower reaches of the river. Beloy, who early settled down, made clothes mainly from nettle and hemp canvas, and later from linen. Winter clothes and hats here were in most cases made from the fur of fur-bearing animals or the skins of domestic animals.

The national men's costume in the last century was the same for the entire Bashkir population. Underwear and at the same time outerwear were a tunic-like shirt with a turn-down collar and trousers with wide legs. A short sleeveless vest was worn over the shirt ( kamzul); When going out, they put on a wedged caftan ( pezaki) with a blind fastener and a stand-up collar or a long, almost straight robe made of dark fabric ( Elen, Bishmat). Nobles and ministers of religious worship wore robes made of colorful Central Asian silk. In the cold season, the Bashkirs wore spacious cloth robes ( Sackman), sheepskin coats ( dash toon) or sheepskin coats ( bille tun).

Skullcaps were the everyday headdress of men (tubetay). Elderly people wore skullcaps made of dark velvet, young people wore bright ones, embroidered with colored threads. In the cold season, felt hats or fur hats covered with fabric were worn over skullcaps. (burk, cache). In the southern, especially in the steppe, regions, warm fur malakhai were worn during snowstorms (tolashyn) with a small crown and a wide lobe that covered the back of the head and ears.

The most common footwear throughout the east of Bashkiria, as well as in the Chelyabinsk and Kurgan regions, were boots (saryk) with soft leather heads and soles and high cloth or canvas tops, tied at the knees with a cord. In the northern regions, the Bashkirs are almost all year round walked in bast shoes (Sabata), similar to Tatar ones. In the rest of the territory they wore homemade leather shoes (kata). Leather boots ( itek) were considered festive shoes. Elderly men from wealthy families wore soft boots ( sitek) with leather or rubber galoshes.

Women's clothing was more varied. It showed age and social differences and the characteristics of individual population groups more clearly. The underwear of the Bashkirs were dresses (kuldek) and bloomers (pants). In the 19th century Most women's dresses were cut off at the waist. with a wide skirt gathered at the waist and slightly tapered sleeves. Tunic-like dresses with straight sleeves, sewn-in gussets and side gussets, characteristic in the past not only of the Bashkirs, but also of many peoples of Eastern Europe, Siberia and Central Asia, were very rare. Many women decorated their dresses with ribbons and braids, sewing them in a semicircle near the chest slit. Married women wore a breastband under their dresses until they were very old ( tushelderek)- a rectangular flap with curved upper corners and straps sewn to them; the central part of the bib was decorated with ribbons, strips of multi-colored fabrics or a simple pattern made with a chain stitch. The dress was worn with short, fitted sleeveless vests (kamzul), trimmed along the edges of the sides and the floors with several rows of braid. (uka), coins and plaques. In the north of Bashkiria in the last century, a variegated or canvas apron became widespread ( alyapkys), lightly decorated with braided patterns or embroidery. In the beginning, the apron was work clothes. Later, in the northeastern regions, an apron embroidered with bright threads became an integral part of the festive costume.

Dark robes (elen - in the south, beshmet - in the north), slightly fitted at the waist and widened at the bottom, were worn every day. Braiding, tinsel, coins, openwork pendants, and beads were sewn onto festive velvet robes. Women from wealthy families decorated their clothes especially richly. Homespun robes were common in the northwestern regions (syba), similar to the Mari. Warm winter robes made of white homemade cloth were also decorated with coins and tinsel. (aka szh-man). Fur coats made of expensive fur - beaver, otter, marten, fox (bada tun, kama tun) worn by rich Bashkirs; the less wealthy made sheepskin coats. In poor families, not every woman even had sheepskin coats; Often, when leaving the house, they threw a woolen or down shawl over their shoulders or put on their husband's fur coat.

The most common headdress for women of all ages was a small cotton scarf. (yaulyk), tied under the chin at two adjacent corners. In the eastern and trans-Ural regions, young women wore a bright veil for a long time after their wedding. ("kushyaulik). It was sewn from two red factory scarves with a large white or yellow floral pattern; it was secured under the chin with a braid decorated with one or two rows of coins and pendants made of beads, corals, cloves, and coins. In these same areas, elderly women and old women wore a towel (2-3 m long) linen headdress ( tadtar) with embroidery at the ends, reminiscent of the headdresses of the Chuvash and Finnish-speaking peoples of the Volga region. In the north of Bashkiria, girls and young women wore small velvet caps under their headscarves ( kalpak), embroidered with beads, pearls, corals, and older women - quilted cotton spherical caps ( stupid). In the eastern and southern parts, married women wore high fur hats (t gama burk, ham-sat b^rk). In the southern half of Bashkiria, women's helmet-shaped caps (t gashmau), decorated with beads, corals and coins with a round neckline at the top and a long blade running down the back. In some areas of the Trans-Urals, high tower-shaped hats decorated with coins were worn over the kashmau. (caldpush).

The heavy headdresses of the southern Bashkirs went well with wide trapezoidal or oval-shaped bibs (kakal, sel-ter etc.), completely sewn up with rows of coins, corals, plaques and precious stones. Most northern Bashkirs did not know such decorations; Various types of coin necklaces were worn on the chest here. Bashkirs wove laces into their braids with openwork pendants or coins at the ends, and threads with corals strung on them; the girls attached a spade-shaped braid sewn with coral to the back of their heads ( elkelek).

Common women's jewelry were rings, rings, bracelets, and earrings. Expensive jewelry (bibs sewn with coins, corals, pearls, precious stones, headdresses, silver necklaces and openwork earrings) was worn mainly by rich Bashkirs. In poor families, jewelry was made from metal plaques, tokens, fake precious stones, pearls, etc.

Women's shoes differed little from men's. Women and girls wore leather shoes, boots, bast shoes, and shoes with canvas tops (saryk). The backs of women's canvas boots, unlike men's, are bright.

decorated with colored appliqué. Trans-Ural Bashkirs wore brightly embroidered high-heeled boots on holidays (kata).

Some changes in the costume of the Bashkirs occurred at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. and were associated mainly with the penetration of commodity-money relations into the Bashkir village. Under the influence of the Russian workers and urban population, the Bashkirs began to sew clothes from cotton and woolen fabrics and buy factory goods: shoes, hats, outerwear (mainly men's) clothing. The cut of women's dresses has become noticeably more complicated. However, for a long time, Bashkir clothing continued to retain traditional features.

The modern Bashkir collective farm peasantry does not wear homespun clothes. Women buy satin, chintz, staple, thick silk (satin, twill) for dresses; for men's and women's underwear - white linen, teak; Everyday sleeveless vests and jackets are made from dark cotton fabrics, while holiday ones are made from plush and velvet. However, traditionally cut clothing is already noticeably replacing ready-made factory-made dresses. The Bashkir population buys men's suits and shirts of urban cut, women's dresses, raincoats, coats, short coats, padded jackets, fur hats with earflaps, caps, shoes, galoshes, leather and rubber boots and other things. Knitted and cotton underwear became widespread.

Men's clothing has undergone especially great changes. The modern costume of middle-aged and young collective farmers in most regions of Bashkiria is almost no different from the urban one. It consists of a factory-cut shirt, trousers, jacket, shoes or boots, and in winter they wear coats, hats and felt boots. In some places, mainly in the northeast, among the Bashkirs of the Chelyabinsk and Kurgan regions, some traditions in clothing are still preserved: in holidays Here it is customary to wear a shirt embroidered along the collar and placket (a wedding gift from the bride to the groom), belted with a wide towel belt ( bilmau); The headdress of young people is still the embroidered skullcap. The clothing of older Bashkirs retains more traditional features. Many older men continue to wear sleeveless vests, caftans (kezeks), beshmets, and dark velvet skullcaps. Even in cases where an old man wears factory-made clothes, some features of its wearing are preserved: the shirt is worn untucked, the jacket is not buttoned, trousers are tucked into woolen socks, rubber galoshes are on the feet, a skullcap or felt hat is on the head, replacing the previous felt one.

Changes in women's clothing touched primarily on the costume of young people. Traditional clothing has been least preserved in the western regions of Bashkiria, where the costume of rural youth is almost no different from urban youth. Elderly women, although they use factory-made clothes, continue to wear old-fashioned dresses, velvet sleeveless vests, and in some cases, fitted robes decorated with braiding. There are much more traditional features in the costume of the Eastern Bashkirs, especially in the Kurgan and Chelyabinsk regions. A closed dress with a stand-up collar and slightly narrowed long sleeves, with a wide skirt decorated at the bottom with one or two frills or ribbons, and a velvet camisole sewn up along the edge with rows of galloon and coins - this is the usual costume of a Bashkir woman of these places. In some areas of the Trans-Urals, young women still wear head scarves (kushyauls).

Particularly durable national traditions are preserved in women's festive dresses. In the northeast of Bashkiria, for example, girls and young women sew festive dresses and aprons from shiny, brightly colored satin or black satin, embroidering the hem and sleeves with a large pattern with wool or silk threads. The outfit is complemented

Velvet caps worn slightly on one side, decorated with beads or bugles, small embroidered scarves, accordion-style white woolen stockings, shiny rubber galoshes. Often on holidays you can see ancient jewelry on women (massive bibs made of corals and coins, etc.) - However, traditional clothing, even in the eastern regions, is gradually being replaced by urban-type clothing; New styles appear, and considerations of convenience and expediency come to the forefront in choosing a suit.

In the cities, the traditional Bashkir costume has not been preserved. Only in some working-class villages in the Trans-Ural region do women continue to wear large scarves, embroidered aprons, and ancient jewelry. The vast majority of Bashkir workers - both men and women - dress in city suits, which they purchase in stores or order from sewing workshops. In winter, many women wear down (so-called Orenburg) scarves, which, by the way, are also readily bought by Russian women.

The Bashkirs, like other pastoral peoples, had a varied dairy and meat cuisine. Milk and dairy dishes occupied the main place in the diet of many families, especially in summer. The traditional meat dish of the southern Bashkirs was boiled horse meat or lamb cut into pieces with broth and noodles ( bishbarma, kuldama). Along with this dish, guests were served pieces of dried sausage (tga^bg), made from raw meat and fat. Along with meat and dairy foods, the Bashkirs have been preparing dishes from cereals for a long time. In the Trans-Urals and some southern regions, a stew was made from whole barley grains, a favorite dish of adults

and children were whole or crushed, roasted and roasted grains of barley, hemp and spelt ( kurmas, talkan). As agriculture developed, plant foods began to occupy an increasingly prominent place in the diet of the Bashkir population. In the northern and western regions, and later in the southern regions, flat cakes and bread began to be baked. Stews and porridges were made from barley and spelled grains, and noodles were made from wheat flour. (kalma). Flour dishes were considered delicious youasa, bauyrkak- pieces of unleavened wheat dough cooked in boiling fat. Under the influence of the Russian population, the Bashkirs of these areas began to bake pancakes and pies.

Until the 1920s, Bashkirs almost did not consume vegetables and vegetable dishes. Only potatoes at the beginning of the 20th century. took an important place in the diet of the northwestern Bashkirs.

The intoxicating drink of the Bashkirs of the northern and central regions was prepared with honey aces ball- a type of mash, and in the south and east - buzz-- vodka of barley, rye or wheat malt.

Despite the diversity national dishes, the bulk of the Bashkirs ate sparingly. Even on holidays, not every family had meat. The daily food of most Bashkirs was milk, edible wild plants, dishes made from cereals and flour. The Bashkirs experienced especially great difficulties in nutrition starting from the second half of the 19th century, when the cattle breeding economy fell into decay, and farming had not yet become a common occupation of the Bashkir population. During this period, most Bashkir families lived from hand to mouth almost all year round.

It was difficult for the Bashkirs who worked in mines, factories, and gold fields. Receiving rations from the administration or taking food on credit from a local shopkeeper, Bashkir workers ate very low quality food. At many enterprises, the administration gave the Bashkirs baked bread, but it was so bad that they were forced to exchange it with the Russian population, receiving a pound of Russian kalach for 5-10 pounds of “Bashkir” bread. Instead of the beef meat allotted by agreement, the Bashkirs were given heads, trimmings, etc.

Nowadays, dairy, meat and flour products still occupy the main place in the diet of every Bashkir family, both in the village and in the city. Heavy cream collected from baked milk is used as a seasoning for porridges, tea and stews. From sour cream (kaymak) churning butter (May). By fermenting milk, it is used to make cottage cheese (eremsek), spoiled milk (katyk) and other products. Reddish sweet curd mass dried over low heat (ezhekey) It is prepared for future use: it is often served with tea as a tasty dish. In the southern regions of Bashkiria, sour and salted cheese curds are prepared from sour milk (by prolonged boiling and squeezing the resulting mass) (king)] they are consumed fresh (yesh short) or, having dried, they are stored for the winter, then served with tea and stews. In the summer heat, Bashkirs drink sour milk diluted with water (airan, diren). Among the southern groups, a spicy thirst-quenching drink is kumiss, made from mare's milk. The favorite drink of Bashkirs is tea. Honey is served with tea as a sweet.

What’s new in the Bashkir diet is the even distribution of food across the seasons. If earlier in winter most families had a monotonous, half-starved table, now the Bashkir population eats a variety of foods all year round.

In all regions of Bashkiria, potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, onions, carrots and other vegetables, as well as berries and fruits, occupy an important place in the diet. More diverse than steel flour products and cereal dishes. Indispensable food product is now baked bread. In rural stores and shops, Bashkirs buy cereals, sugar, candy, cookies, pasta, etc. Under the influence of Russian cuisine, the Bashkirs have new dishes: cabbage soup, soups, fried potatoes, pies, jam, pickled vegetables, mushrooms. Accordingly, traditional foods made from cereals (kurmas, talkan, kuzhe, etc.) and some flour and meat dishes. At the same time, such favorite Bashkir dishes as bishbarmak and salma are recognized by Russians and other peoples of the region. The stores sell katyk, korot, eremsek, ezhekey, prepared according to national recipes. These dishes are included in the regular menus of canteens and other catering establishments. Specialized farms and factories produce Bashkir kumiss for wide consumption, which has become the favorite drink of the entire population of the republic.

The diet of Bashkir families in cities and workers' settlements differs little from the diet of the rest of the population. Many people, especially young people, use factory and city canteens. Families prefer to eat at home, but every day housewives are more and more willing to use the services of home kitchens, stores that sell semi-finished products, and canteens that sell meals at home.

Bashkir cattle breeders widely used utensils made from the skins and skins of domestic animals. Leather vessels filled with kumiss, ayran or sour milk were taken on a long journey or to work in the forest and field. In huge leather bags ( kaba), with a capacity of several buckets, they prepared kumiss.

Wooden utensils were widespread in everyday life: ladles for pouring kumis ( Izhau), various sizes of bowls and cups (tobacco, ashtawi etc.), tubs (silzh, batman), wooden barrels used for storing and transporting honey, flour and grain (tepeng) for water, kumiss, etc.

Only wealthy families had teapots and samovars. Several poor Bashkir families often used one cast-iron cauldron embedded in the stove for cooking. (a^an).

At the beginning of the 20th century. purchased metal, ceramic and glassware appeared in Bashkir households. Due to the decline of cattle breeding, the Bashkirs stopped making leather utensils. New utensils began to replace wooden ones. Dugout tubs and bowls served mainly for storing food.

Nowadays, Bashkirs everywhere use enamel and aluminum pans, mugs and teapots, and cast iron frying pans for cooking. Tea and tableware, porcelain, glasses, glass vases, metal spoons and forks appeared. Urban utensils became firmly established in the life of Bashkir collective farmers. However, in villages, housewives still prefer to store dairy products in wooden containers. Kumis is also prepared in wooden tubs equipped with wooden beaters. In cities and workers' settlements, Bashkirs use exclusively factory-made dishes.

FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE

The social life of the Bashkirs on the eve of the October Revolution was characterized by a peculiar and complex interweaving of feudal, capitalist relations that had begun to develop, and still strong remnants of the patriarchal urban system. The noticeable role of patriarchal-tribal traditions in the social life of the Bashkirs was explained, on the one hand, by the structure of their economy, and on the other, by the influence of the national-colonial policy of tsarism, which, in order to strengthen its dominance, sought to preserve the surviving forms of the socio-economic system of the oppressed peoples. Semi-nomadic cattle breeding, which survived in certain areas, was no longer dictated by economic necessity. However, patriarchal-feudal social relations associated with the nomadic pastoral form of economy and the traditions of the clan system were destroyed slowly.

The relative stability of patriarchal-tribal traditions was determined by the peculiarities of land relations in Bashkiria. With the annexation to the Russian state, the Bashkir tribes and clans (volosts - according to Russian sources) received royal charters for ownership of land estates. Usually, the territories they had long occupied were given over to the common possession of members of the clan. Already in the 17th century, and in the western part of Bashkiria much earlier, the fragmentation of communal estates between villages or groups of villages began. However, this process was slowed down both by the tsarist administration, which sought to preserve the volosts as tax-paying units, and by the Bashkir feudal lords, who owned hundreds and thousands of heads of livestock and were therefore interested in maintaining the appearance of common clan land ownership. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the herds of some Bashkir elders numbered up to 4 thousand heads of livestock. At the same time, the number of farms that did not have livestock grew rapidly. IN early XIX c. almost half of the farms in the northwestern regions of Bashkiria were horseless. With such a sharp property differentiation of Bashkir households, communal land ownership actually turned into a legal fiction that covered up the feudal usurpation of communal lands.

Began in the 17th century. the process of fragmentation of ancestral land estates continued in the 18th and 19th centuries. Formally, common volost (general clan) land ownership in a number of Bashkir regions remained until the middle of the 19th century, but in fact the land was divided between villages. The division of land between villages was gradually consolidated legally: separate charters or acts of boundary commissions were issued for land ownership. Bashkir village in the 19th century. In essence, it was a territorial community in which, along with maintaining common ownership of part of the land (pasture, forest, etc.), there was a division (according to the number of souls) of arable land and hayfields.

The penetration of capitalist relations into the Bashkir village in different areas occurred unevenly. In the western agricultural regions this process proceeded relatively quickly. Huge areas of communal land gradually became the property of rich farms. The dispossession of the bulk of the peasants and the enrichment of the kulaks especially intensified at the beginning of the 20th century. According to 1905 data, in three districts of the western part of Bashkiria, rich kulak farms, accounting for over 13% of all farms, concentrated in their hands about half of all communal lands; at the same time, more than 20% of peasant households had plots of less than 6 acres per household. The ruined Bashkirs were forced to go into bondage to the landowner or to their rich relative. The kulak elite in a Bashkir village usually consisted of representatives of secular and spiritual authorities: elders, elders, mullahs. In exploiting ordinary community members, they widely used forms of feudal oppression, covered by remnants of tribal relations (helping rich relatives for food, various types of labor, etc.). By the beginning of the 20th century. In the west of Bashkiria, capitalist forms of exploitation became widespread. In the eastern regions, feudal forms of exploitation, veiled by the traditions of patriarchal-tribal relations, persisted much longer.

One of the main features of the patriarchal-clan way of life of the Eastern Bashkirs were clan divisions (ara, aimag), which united a group of related families (on average 15-25) - descendants of one common ancestor by male line. The great importance of clan divisions in social relations was determined to a large extent by the fact that for many centuries, in some places until the end of the 19th century, the custom of members of the Ara (aimak) going out together to travel together was preserved. Pastures, which were formally in the common possession of the clan, were gradually assigned to clan divisions due to long-standing traditions. The clan division, like the clan, did not have firmly defined boundaries of its land territories, but each ara and each aimak for many decades from year to year roamed along the traditional route, grazing livestock on the same pastures, thereby realizing their ownership of part of the ancestral lands. Bashkir feudal lords used these traditions to usurp land property. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. large feudal lords created pastoral-nomadic groups, while maintaining the appearance of clan divisions. The herding-nomadic group included not only the ruined relatives of the feudal lord, but also the farm laborers who served on his farm (yals) from other Bashkir families. These groups roamed with the feudal lord's cattle on their ancestral lands.

The emergence and development of pastoral nomadic groups meant the further disintegration of clans and the strengthening of territorial ties. From the second half of the 19th century. migration by the clan unit gradually became rare due to the sharp decrease in the number of livestock. The Bashkirs of one village, who had livestock, regardless of whether they belonged to an ara or an aimak, united into one pastoral nomadic group. Usually it was a rich cattle owner and his sauna workers, who continued to roam the communal lands.

With the development of agriculture in the eastern regions of Bashkiria, as well as in the western, there is a gradual fragmentation of ancestral land estates between villages - rural communities. Arable and hay lands are distributed among the community members according to the number of souls. Part of the so-called free land remained in the common use of the communities. Despite the emerging new land relations, patriarchal clan traditions still had a strong impact on the social life of the Eastern Bashkirs. Huge areas of land, especially the “free lands” of the community, continued to be controlled by the feudal elite. Working Bashkirs, who had neither livestock to cultivate the land nor farming skills, were forced to rent out their plots of land. In fact, leasing land for a long period was tantamount to alienation. The Bashkir peasant, having given his allotment for rent or lost it altogether, often went to work as a farm laborer for his own tenant - a rich community member or a Russian kulak.

Thus, the developing capitalist relations that captured Bashkiria in the post-reform period, destroying the semi-nomadic cattle-breeding economy of the eastern Bashkirs and strengthening social differentiation in the Bashkir village, weakly affected the centuries-old

patriarchal-feudal forms of exploitation. Capitalist relations, intertwined with pre-capitalist ones, appeared in Bashkiria in a primitive and therefore most painful form for the working people. A reactionary role in the social life of the Bashkirs was played by the patriarchal-tribal ideology, remnants of tribal life, the illusion of the “commonality” of interests of the members of the clan, which obscured the class consciousness of the working people and slowed down the growth of the class struggle.

The victory of the October Revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat created the political prerequisites for the formation of socialist public relations. The revolution forever swept away the national-colonial oppression of tsarism, thereby eliminating the legal inequality of the oppressed peoples of Russia. The working Bashkirs had to go through a difficult path to achieve complete and actual equality: it was necessary to eliminate centuries-old economic and cultural backwardness. These difficulties were successfully overcome in a historically short period of time on the basis of the Leninist national policy of the Communist Party, thanks to the enormous practical assistance of the Soviet government and the Russian people in the cause of socialist industrialization, collectivization of agriculture, and development of the culture of the republic.

The creation of socialist industry in Bashkiria and the reconstruction of agriculture radically changed the social structure of Bashkir society and the nature of social relations. The bulk of the rural population of the republic is the collective farm peasantry, including the Bashkir peasantry. As a result of industrialization, a new working class was formed in Bashkiria; Tens of thousands of workers from the indigenous population came to industry. The national intelligentsia has grown; The size of the Bashkir population in cities increased noticeably.

In the process of building socialism, the working Bashkirs developed and firmly established such spiritual traits as a communist attitude towards work and public property, a sense of friendship with all peoples, and devotion to the cause of socialism, which are common to all Soviet socialist nations.

The dominant form of family among the Bashkirs in the 19th century.

there was a small family. At the same time, at the end of the century, among the eastern groups of the Bashkir population there were many undivided families in which married sons lived with their father. As a rule, these were wealthy families, connected, in addition to ties of blood relationship, by common economic interests.

The vast majority of Bashkir families were monogamous. Mostly bais and clergy had two or three wives; men from less wealthy families remarried only if the first wife turned out to be childless or became seriously ill and could not work on the farm.

The head of the family was the father. He managed the family property, his word was decisive not only in all economic matters, but also in determining the fate of children, family customs and rituals.

The situation of older and younger women was different. The older woman enjoyed great honor and respect. She was involved in all family affairs and managed household chores. With the arrival of the daughter-in-law at home (dusty) the mother-in-law was completely freed from all housework, and a young woman was now doing them. Under the strict supervision of her mother-in-law, the daughter-in-law worked in her husband’s house from early morning until late evening, performing a variety of duties: cooking, cleaning the home, processing household raw materials and sewing clothes, caring for cattle, milking mares and cows. In many regions of Bashkiria

even at the beginning of the 20th century. there were customs that were humiliating for women, according to which the daughter-in-law covered her face from her father-in-law, mother-in-law and her husband’s older brothers, could not talk to them, was obliged to serve during the meal, but she herself had no right to take part in it. Underage girls felt somewhat freer in the family.

The degraded position of women was sanctified by religion. According to her dogmas, the husband was the rightful master in the house. A Bashkir woman had to patiently endure all manifestations of her husband’s dissatisfaction, insults, and beatings. True, the property and cattle, which the woman brought into her husband’s house as a dowry and the right to which remained with her in the future, ensured her some independence. In case of ill-treatment and frequent beatings, the wife had the right to demand a divorce and leave her husband, taking her property. But in reality, women almost never used this right, since customs actually legalized and sanctified by religion protected the interests of men: if the husband refused to let his wife go, the latter’s relatives were obliged to give a ransom for her in the amount of the bride price received for her, otherwise the woman, even becoming free, could not remarry. In addition, the husband had the right to keep the children.

The family customs and rituals of the Bashkirs reflected various stages of their socio-economic history, as well as ancient and Muslim religious prohibitions. Remnants of exogamous customs persisted among the Bashkirs until the October Revolution. With the disintegration of the tribal organization, the marriage ban applied only to members of the tribal unit; at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. marriage could also take place within a clan division, but only with relatives no closer than the fifth or sixth generation. The marriageable age for girls was considered to be 14-15 years, for boys - 16-17 years. Sometimes, especially in the southeast, children were betrothed while still in the cradle. When announcing their children as future spouses, the parents agreed on the size of the dowry and drank as a sign of the agreement. basha- honey or kumiss diluted with water. In the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, when class relations in Bashkir society became especially aggravated, often the only consideration when concluding a marriage was material calculation. The feelings of young people, especially girls, were taken into account little. Often a teenage girl was married to an old man. The custom of levirate, which disappeared from the life of the Bashkirs only at the beginning of our century, placed a humiliating and heavy burden on the woman.

The wedding cycle among the Bashkirs consisted of matchmaking, a wedding ceremony and a wedding feast. Having decided to marry his son, the father sent the chosen girl to his parents as a matchmaker (ko?a, dimsho) the most respected relative or went to woo himself. Having received the consent of the girl’s parents, the matchmaker negotiated with them about wedding expenses, bride price, and dowry. The size of the dowry varied depending on the wealth of related families. The dowry was supposed to include a certain amount of livestock, money, items of clothing - gifts for the future father-in-law and mother-in-law. Rich families gave a large dowry: horses, cows, sheep, poultry, bedding, curtains, felts and carpets, clothes. In addition, the girl prepared gifts for the groom and his relatives. The value of the dowry was to be equal to the bride price. After the agreement, mutual visits to close relatives began, the so-called matchmaking feasts, in which many men and women of the village participated. In the east of Bashkiria, only men took part in them.

After paying most of the dowry, the wedding ceremony was scheduled. On the agreed day, the father, mother and relatives of the bride came to the groom’s village. The father and his close relatives received the guests. Celebration ( Ishchan Kabul, Kalin) lasted several days. Religious rite nikkah took place in the bride's house, where all relatives and guests gathered. The mullah read a prayer and declared the young man and girl husband and wife. The act of marriage ended with a meal. From that time on, the man received the right to visit the girl.

wedding (tui) celebrated after full payment of the bride price in the house of the girl’s parents. On the appointed day, the bride's relatives and neighbors gathered, and the groom arrived, accompanied by relatives. The wedding lasted three days. On the first day, the bride's parents hosted the treat. On the second day, the groom's relatives provided food. Wrestling competitions, horse racing, and all kinds of games were attended by the broad masses of the population who flocked to the wedding from nearby villages.

On the third day of the festival, the young woman left her parents' house. Her departure was accompanied by the performance of ritual songs and traditional lamentations (setsleu,). The young woman, dressed in a wedding dress, the main accessory of which was a large veil that hid her figure, accompanied by her friends, went around the houses of her relatives, leaving each of them a gift. This gift, given only for the sake of observing custom, sometimes in itself was of no value. So, along with scarves and towels, the young woman gave some of her relatives small scraps of fabric or a few woolen threads. She was given cattle, poultry, and money. Then the young woman said goodbye to her parents. Her friends, older brother or maternal uncle, seated her on a cart, "saw her off to the outskirts of the village. At the head of the wedding train were the husband's relatives. Until the end of the journey, only the matchmaker accompanied the young woman from close relatives. Entering her husband's house, the young woman fell to her knees three times in front of father-in-law and mother-in-law, then gave gifts to everyone present. The ceremony of joining the husband’s family ended the next day, when the young woman went along the water to the local source, her husband’s niece or younger sister showed her the way. Before collecting water, the woman threw a silver coin into the stream. For a long time, until the birth of one or two children, the daughter-in-law was obliged to avoid her mother-in-law and especially her father-in-law, not show her face to them, and could not talk to them.

In addition to matchmaking, there were, although rarely, cases of girls being kidnapped. Sometimes a girl was kidnapped, especially in poor families, with the consent of the parents, who in this way sought to avoid wedding expenses.

Of all family rituals Bashkirs, only those that were associated with marriage were furnished with a magnificent ceremony. The birth of a child was celebrated much more modestly. The funeral was also neither particularly solemn nor crowded.

During the birth, all family members left the hut. Only the invited midwife remained with the woman in labor. During difficult births, the woman was forced to walk or, with her stomach tightly tied, she was slightly turned from side to side. They often performed magical actions: to scare away an evil spirit, they shot from a gun, dragged a woman over a dried, stretched wolf's lip, and scratched a mink along her back with a mink paw. After a successful birth, mother and baby were visited by relatives and neighbors for several days. Three days later, the child’s father held a naming celebration. Guests gathered, the mullah and muezzin came. After reading the prayer, the mullah pronounced the name chosen by the father three times over the child’s ear. This was followed by a treat with the obligatory drinking of kumiss and tea.

The funeral rite was closely related to the dominant religion and differed little from the funerals of other Muslim peoples. After washing, the deceased was wrapped in a shroud and carried on a popular stretcher to the cemetery. Only men took part in the funeral procession. The body of the deceased was placed on his back in a niche dug in the southern wall of the grave, with his head to the east and his face turned to the south. The niche was covered with bark or boards and the grave was filled up. A stone slab or wooden pillar was placed on the burial mound. Sometimes they lined the grave with stones. In the northern and central forest regions, houses, or rather roofs on a squat base, were built over the grave from thin logs. On the 3rd, 7th and 40th days, funeral services were held, to which only close relatives were invited; those gathered were treated to thin flatbreads ( yame) and bishbarmak.

Magic spells, used in everyday life, agricultural activities, family life, etc., occupied a significant place among the Bashkirs. By the beginning of the 20th century. Of all types of magic, healing has been preserved the most. In the minds of the Bashkirs, illness was associated with the possession of an evil spirit in a person (or animal). Therefore, the goal of any treatment was to expel it. For preventive purposes, and sometimes for healing, they wore various amulets and amulets (betheu). These were either sayings from the Koran sewn into pieces of leather or birch bark, or, as already mentioned, the bones and teeth of some animals. Cowrie shells sewn onto the headdress, coins, goose down were considered a remedy for the evil eye. Sometimes the disease was “banished” by a kind of witchcraft trick. The sick person went to the place where, in his opinion, the disease overtook him, and in order to distract the evil spirit, he threw some clothes on the ground or put a bowl of porridge. After that, he hurried to run away to the village by another route and hide, “so that the returning illness could not find him.” The Bashkirs also used imitative magic, “transferring” a disease from a person to a rag doll. In some cases, exorcism specialists were invited to “extract” the disease from the patient’s body. (ku,re?d); Quite often, fire produced by friction against wood was used as a cleansing agent during epidemics and epizootics.

Healing magic was usually based on proven remedies traditional medicine. The Bashkirs knew the healing properties of herbs and used them skillfully. For example, in case of fever, the patient was given an infusion of aspen bark or a decoction of wormwood. A poultice of brewed aspen leaf was applied to the tumors. A decoction of thyme and oregano served as a diaphoretic. The use of medicines in most cases was supplemented by magical techniques. Thus, a person with scurvy had to eat winter greens for several days, going for it early at dawn and crawling the road from home to the field.

Pre-Islamic beliefs and magic spells closely intertwined with Muslim ideology. Very often the local mullah acted as the “healer”. Together with sayings from the Koran and whispers, he performed various magical effects. In many cases, the mullah organized sacrifices (on the occasion of drought, during the death of livestock, etc.), which retained a largely pagan coloring.

Thus, just a few decades ago, the family life of the Bashkirs retained many patriarchal features, closely intertwined with Islamic and pre-Islamic religious ideas.

The major transformations that took place in the life of the oppressed peoples after the October Revolution caused fundamental changes not only in social, but also in family relations of the Bashkirs. Modern Bashkir women, along with men, actively participate in public life and production, work on collective and state farm fields, factories and plants, in oil fields. Many women successfully manage teams, farms, collective farms, and head industrial enterprises, workshops and departments. Women's earnings often make up a significant part of the family budget. Illiterate in the past, Bashkir women widely enjoy the right to education. Many of them, after finishing school, continue their studies in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions. Among specialists with higher education - engineers, doctors, teachers, agronomists - there are many Bashkirs.

The involvement of women in industrial and social life has significantly changed family relationships. Family relationships in a modern Bashkir family are built on complete equality, mutual love and respect. All adult family members take an active part in solving household and other matters; Issues of marriage are often resolved by young people on their own.

The marriage age of young people has changed. In order to protect health, in the very first years after the revolution, a law was passed prohibiting marriage before reaching adulthood. Gradually the law turned into a living norm. Now young people very rarely get married before the age of 18. When entering into marriages, considerations of material gain disappeared; The decisive factor was the mutual attraction of young people. Exogamous prohibitions currently apply only to a narrow circle of relatives. Marriages within the village are common. In the process of disappearing religious and national prejudices, the number of mixed marriages is increasing: Bashkir youth are increasingly entering into marriage relationships with Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Kazakhs, and Chuvashs.

Traditional wedding rituals have become significantly simplified in Bashkir villages. The custom of paying kalym has disappeared; The nikah ritual is very rarely performed; the duration of the wedding ritual, which in the past was extended until the final payment of the bride price, has been reduced; the number of ceremonies preceding the wedding has decreased. The entire wedding celebration lasts several days, while they mainly adhere to the customs that were characteristic in the past for the main wedding celebration - thuja: treating relatives and guests, dancing and games, exchanging gifts between the relatives of the bride and groom and, finally, seeing off the girl with the performance of some traditional customs (such as, for example, the newlywed visiting all relatives before leaving and giving them gifts, singing farewell songs, etc.).

In recent years, Komsomol weddings have often been held at industrial enterprises and collective farms ( ktsyl tui). Fellow workers take an active part in their organization. The guests of honor at Komsomol weddings are representatives of the local party organization and the Soviet public. At such weddings, traditionally, wrestling and runner competitions, horse racing, games, and dances are organized. A wedding turns into a celebration for the whole team. An important place, along with the performance of the traditional ritual, is occupied by the civil registration of marriage in the city registry office or in the village council, sometimes very solemnly furnished.

In the cities of Bashkiria, even the appearance of many traditional wedding rituals has not been preserved. Young people strive to formalize their marriage in the solemn atmosphere of wedding palaces opened in major cities of the republic. Not only relatives are invited to the wedding, but also work comrades and friends, people of different nationalities. At these weddings, some traditional ceremonies are sometimes performed in a humorous manner, the original meaning of which is usually unknown to young people.

There were changes in other family rituals as well. After giving birth, the young mother and newborn are visited by relatives and friends and given gifts. The birth of a child is a family celebration to which relatives and friends are invited.

The radical changes that took place during the years of Soviet power in the field of health care largely displaced healing magic and witchcraft from the family life of the Bashkirs. Hospitals and pharmacies are now available in all cities, regional centers, and in many villages and workers' settlements. Medical centers have been established in small villages. Trachoma and tuberculosis are no longer widespread diseases. The number of doctors has increased significantly. Now there is one doctor for about a thousand people, whereas before the revolution in areas with a Bashkir population, one medical worker served up to 70 thousand residents.

Not only Bashkir youth, but also people of the older generation seek medical help. Elderly Bashkirs, who previously invited healers when they became ill or, at best, were treated with traditional medicine, now go to an outpatient clinic, use various medications, and agree to complex surgical operations.

Women-mothers and children are surrounded by great care. In the republic, antenatal clinics, maternity hospitals (or departments at hospitals), and obstetric centers are open. If a woman gives birth at home, she will be assisted by a nurse-midwife. As a result, child mortality at birth is close to zero. Doctors and nurses from children's clinics or local medical centers help Bashkir mothers raise their children correctly. Women working in enterprises and collective farms usually use the services of child care institutions. In many villages, seasonal or permanent nurseries and kindergartens have been created using collective farm funds. In the summer, many children relax in pioneer camps and children's health resorts.

The creation of local cadres of doctors helped to implement measures to organize healthcare. In 1914, among the doctors of the Ufa province. there were only two Bashkirs. Now the medical schools of the republic, the Bashkir Medical Institute, annually graduate hundreds of doctors and medical workers, including many Bashkirs. Many Bashkir doctors were awarded the honorary title of Honored Doctor of the RSFSR or the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. These are well-known in the republic professor A. G. Kadyrov, doctor G. Kh. Kudoyarov and others.