Chuvash ( self-name - chăvash, chăvashsem) - the fifth largest people in Russia. According to the 2010 census, 1 million 435 thousand Chuvash live in the country. Their origin, history and peculiar language are considered very ancient.

According to scientists, the roots of this people are found in the ancient ethnic groups of Altai, China, Central Asia. The closest ancestors of the Chuvash are considered to be the Bulgars, whose tribes inhabited a vast territory from the Black Sea region to the Urals. After the defeat of the Volga Bulgaria state (14th century) and the fall of Kazan, part of the Chuvash settled in the forest areas between the Sura, Sviyaga, Volga and Kama rivers, mixing there with Finno-Ugric tribes.

The Chuvash are divided into two main sub- ethnic groups in accordance with the current of the Volga: riding (Viryal, Turi) in the west and north-west of Chuvashia, grassroots(anatari) - in the south, besides them in the center of the republic there is a group middle grassroots (anat enchi). In the past, these groups differed in their way of life and material culture. Now the differences are becoming more and more smoothed out.

The self-name of the Chuvash, according to one version, directly goes back to the ethnonym of a part of the “Bulgar-speaking” Turks: *čōš → čowaš/čuwaš → čovaš/čuvaš. In particular, the name of the Savir tribe (“Suvar”, “Suvaz” or “Suas”), mentioned by Arab authors of the 10th century (Ibn Fadlan), is considered by many researchers to be a Turkic adaptation of the Bulgarian name “Suvar”.

In Russian sources, the ethnonym “Chuvash” first appears in 1508. In the 16th century, the Chuvash became part of Russia, and at the beginning of the 20th century they received autonomy: since 1920, the Autonomous Region, since 1925 - the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Since 1991 - the Republic of Chuvashia included Russian Federation. The capital of the republic is Cheboksary.

Where do the Chuvash live and what language do they speak?

The bulk of the Chuvash (814.5 thousand people, 67.7% of the region’s population) live in the Chuvash Republic. It is located in the east of the East European Plain, mainly on the right bank of the Volga, between its tributaries Sura and Sviyaga. In the west the republic borders with Nizhny Novgorod region, in the north - with the Republic of Mari El, in the east - with Tatarstan, in the south - with the Ulyanovsk region, in the southwest - with the Republic of Mordovia. Chuvashia is part of the Volga Federal District.

Outside the republic, a significant part of the Chuvash live compactly in Tatarstan(116.3 thousand people), Bashkortostan(107.5 thousand), Ulyanovskaya(95 thousand people) and Samara(84.1 thousand) regions, in Siberia. A small part is outside the Russian Federation,

The Chuvash language belongs to Bulgarian group of the Turkic language family and represents the only living language of this group. In the Chuvash language, there is a high ("pointing") and a lower ("pointing") dialect. On the basis of the latter, a literary language was formed. The earliest was Turkic runic alphabet, replaced in the X-XV centuries. Arabic, and in 1769-1871 - Russian Cyrillic, to which special characters were then added.

Features of the appearance of the Chuvash

From an anthropological point of view, most Chuvash belong to the Caucasoid type with a certain degree of Mongoloidity. Judging by research materials, Mongoloid features dominate in 10.3% of the Chuvash. Moreover, about 3.5% of them are relatively pure Mongoloids, 63.5% belong to mixed Mongoloid-European types with a predominance of Caucasoid features, 21.1% represent various Caucasoid types, both dark-colored and fair-haired and light-eyed, and 5.1 % belong to the sublaponoid type, with weakly expressed Mongoloid characteristics.

From a genetic point of view, the Chuvash are also an example of a mixed race - 18% of them carry the Slavic haplogroup R1a1, another 18% carry the Finno-Ugric N, and 12% carry the Western European R1b. 6% have the Jewish haplogroup J, most likely from the Khazars. The relative majority - 24% - bears haplogroup I, characteristic of northern Europe.

Elena Zaitseva

The Chuvash belong to the Turkic-speaking peoples, although others also participated in the formation of the nation. The ancient ancestors of the Chuvash were nomads. They walked the path from the Great Wall of China to the Azov region. The Bulgarian film "Khan Asparukh" shows how the collapse of Azov Bulgaria (VII century) occurred under the onslaught of the Khazars. One group led by Khan Asparukh (asparum, advice giver) crossed the Danube and formed their own state, which lasted a little more than two centuries, and then disappeared into the mass of the Slavs.

Another group retreated to the Caucasus Mountains. It has survived to this day and formed the basis of the Balkar people.

The third group, apparently more numerous, migrated to the Middle Volga. Here it, as a state and national formation, existed until the Mongol invasion (1236). The capital of the state was the city of Great Bulgar, at that time a major cultural center. Bulgars and Suvars (Chuvash) were the main ethnic groups inhabiting it. And those Chuvash who live in our time - in Tatary, Bashkiria, and other regions of the country - are settlers of a later time, after the adoption of Christianity.

The Chuvash are an almost monolingual people literary language, although there are two dialects: Viryal - among the upper Chuvash and Anatri - among the lower Chuvash. Thanks to a single literary language, there was no need to publish books and periodicals in these dialects, like the Mordovians - Erzya and Moksha.

After October Revolution The Chuvash nation is entering a time of intensive development, which is manifested in the formation of the working class and national intelligentsia. Now, during the years of perestroika, this process has noticeably intensified. In Chuvashia, unlike other regions of the country, there are no manifestations of national extremism or interethnic hatred. Apparently, the long-standing traditions of friendly coexistence of Russians, Chuvash, and Tatars had an effect. The Chuvash have always been receptive to everything Russian as if it were their own. Respect for the Russian neighbor has always been a remarkable national trait of the Chuvash. And this saved the republic from strife on ethnic grounds.

What Chuvash settlements looked like

In the distant past, the Chuvash settled in forests, along rivers and deep ravines. This was explained by the need to protect themselves from raids by nomads, ushkuiniks, and Tatar riders. Somewhat later they hid from the Russian authorities. The Kazan khans and royal governors robbed the already poor peasants and collected taxes. For non-payment they were beaten with whips and birch rods. The oppression of the powerful and rich left its mark on the character of people. The ancestors of the Chuvash were beaten more than once by the Khazars, Tatar-Mongols, and squads of Russian princes; the poor people also received beatings from their rich men, the Muras and Tarkhanovs.

What did Chuvash settlements look like? Half-dugout huts were located around the courtyards of the ancestors, or in groups according to the family principle. This made it easier to defend against attackers. Our ancestors needed all-round defense. The entrance door and windows in the dwellings were cut into the walls from the courtyard side. The windows are half the size of two logs, so that no person can get through. There were no glasses; instead, bull bladders were stretched, oiled, to allow light to penetrate. At night, pine torches were lit, which crackled and emitted smoke, so the most valuable things - animal skins, grain and beet honey - were stored in barns.

Following the Russian model, Chuvash villages adopt rectilinear development. Bullets are replaced by glass, the size of window openings increases, and gates with a hipped roof appear. A porch is being added to the house. Lilacs and acacias are planted in the front gardens, and willows are planted in the streets.

Forests provided people with nuts, mushrooms, berries, and wild honey. In the clearings plowed with plows, rye was earing, barley was ripening, spelt was pouring. Wheat in the northern part of the republic began to be cultivated only during the Soviet period. Potatoes were introduced in the era of Peter the Great, but, frankly speaking, under pressure. Nowadays it is planted everywhere, it has become the second bread. Unfortunately, in the last 20-30 years, potatoes are increasingly losing their presentation and taste. The nitrate content in it is increasing due to the uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the fields.

Since ancient times, the national food of the Chuvash has been uiran - skim milk, churning. But now only old people remember uiran; it is being replaced by kefir, which is significantly inferior in taste to uiran. The pride and joy of the peasant table - sharttan (shyrtan) - has always been a festive food. But now it, too, has lost its former qualities, and has also become in short supply. Even the once popular kagay-shurbe - soup made from offal - has become a rarity.

The Chuvash loved forests. This, perhaps, can explain the spread of green plantings along roads in our time.

They lived in the thickets of the forest pagan gods and Perfume. Some protected people from misfortune, others did evil. Some patronized livestock farming, others sent diseases, pestilence, and loss of livestock. The Chuvash sought the favor of gods and spirits with offerings and honors. They prayed to the gods and spirits for rain, for a harvest, an abundant honey harvest, celebrated the day of the first loaf, begged the spirit of the winds not to be angry, not to tear the straw from the dilapidated roofs, not to bring up thunderclouds with hail. They celebrated the beginning of the construction of the house, even the construction of a fence around the site. The superstition of our ancestors was not limited to this. They hoped that if they had time to express their wishes out loud in the lightning light, everything would come true. The midwives presented a gift to the birch tree - a copper penny, they believed that this would make childbirth easier for the woman in labor. And in almost all cases of chyuk (praying) they cooked porridge, jelly, and made sacrificial beer.

Most Chuvash are content with canvas pants; boots are among them too rare occurrence; there is a scarcity of bread in the Chuvash table; only the rich, having enough livestock, cut it for themselves, and occasionally even buy it. The majority extremely rarely taste meat food; their usual lunch and dinner consist of: empty cabbage soup or potato soup and bread, sometimes a pie made from the same materials; Although most Chuvash have chickens in their yard, the eggs from them are usually all sold, as well as the poultry. The Chuvash eat milk only in the summer, and in winter they don’t even milk their cows, since the cows lose milk in the winter due to poor food; Even rich Chuvash, for example, traders, when setting off on a long journey, take with them a sufficient supply of bread from home.

Lapti is one of oldest species shoes The craft of bast weaving dates back thousands of years. This is confirmed by archaeological finds of a special tool - a kochedyk. For bast shoes, people used bast, birch bark and leather. The Chuvash preserved this type of footwear until the fifties of the 20th century. Chuvash bast shoes differed from Russian and Mordovian bast shoes in their grace, severity of form, and method of weaving. Bast shoes woven from elm bast were considered more valuable: in dry weather they lasted longer. It is interesting that bast shoes were woven differently for women and girls. Girls' weekend bast shoes were distinguished by their fine workmanship. Bast was also used in a narrower cut. The ropes were woven from flax fiber. During the period of spring snow melting, pads (kaptarma) were sewn to the bast shoes. They saved us from getting wet. The pads were made of linden with figured cutting of the corners and removal of the edges.

Lapti were worn together with foot wraps and onuchas. The former were used in the summer; they were woven on handicraft looms from hemp thread, and onuchi - from wool. They provided little protection from the cold and frost. Women used onuchas even in the summer. The fact is that in ancient times there were many snakes in the forests of Chuvashia. Onuchi protected their legs from their bites.

Sheep wool was used to make felt felt. The Chuvash will spread the felt felt directly on the ground, and put the skin of a goat under his head - and sleep peacefully: the snake will not touch him. Fleas can interfere. There were a lot of them gathered in the nightmare. After a long winter, the peasant took the felt felt out into the sun and knocked out fleas and dust with a stick.

What value did the man have? A sheepskin coat and a sheepskin coat. But these clothes were not available to everyone. In severe frosts, the poor man wrapped himself in a chapan (Armyak), made of woolen cloth, and trembled like an aspen leaf. But the Chuvash also had their own joys, holidays, anniversaries, and round dances. On such days, the Chuvash wore their best: women's headdresses made of silver coins, beautiful belts, embroidered shirts.

And behavior. The Chuvash people live in the center of the European part of Russia. Characteristic character traits are integrally connected with the traditions of these amazing people.

Origins of the people

About 600 kilometers from Moscow is the city of Cheboksary, the center of the Chuvash Republic. Representatives of a colorful ethnic group live on this land.

There are many versions about the origin of this people. It is most likely that the ancestors were Turkic-speaking tribes. These people began migrating west as early as the 2nd century BC. e. Seeking a better life, they came to the modern territories of the republic back in the 7th-8th centuries and three hundred years later created a state that was known as Volga Bulgaria. This is where the Chuvash came from. The history of the people could have been different, but in 1236 the state was defeated by the Mongol-Tatars. Some people fled from the conquerors to the northern lands.

The name of this people is translated from Kyrgyz as “modest”, according to the old Tatar dialect - “peaceful”. Modern dictionaries They claim that the Chuvash are “quiet”, “harmless”. The name was first mentioned in 1509.

Religious preferences

The culture of this people is unique. Elements of Western Asia can still be traced in rituals. The style was also influenced by close communication with Iranian-speaking neighbors (Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans). The Chuvash adopted not only their everyday life and economy, but also their manner of dressing. Their appearance, costume features, character and even religion were obtained from their neighbors. So, even before joining the Russian state, these people were pagans. The supreme god was called Tura. Later, other faiths began to penetrate into the colony, in particular Christianity and Islam. Those who lived on the lands of the republic worshiped Jesus. Allah became the head of those who lived outside the area. In the course of events, Muslims became dissatisfied. Yet today, most of the representatives of this people profess Orthodoxy. But the spirit of paganism is still felt.

Merging two types

Various groups influenced the appearance of the Chuvash. Most of all - the Mongoloid and Caucasian races. That is why almost all representatives of this people can be divided into fair-haired Finns and representatives of dark hair. Blonde hair is characterized by light brown hair, gray eyes, pallor, a wide oval face and a small nose, the skin is often covered with freckles. At the same time, they are somewhat darker in appearance than Europeans. Brunettes' locks are often curled, their eyes are dark brown and narrow in shape. They have poorly defined cheekbones, a depressed nose and a yellow skin type. It is worth noting here that their features are softer than those of the Mongols.

The Chuvash differ from neighboring groups. Characteristic for both types are a small oval head, a low bridge of the nose, narrowed eyes, and a small, neat mouth. Average height, not prone to obesity.

Casual look

Every nationality unique system customs, traditions and beliefs. It was no exception, and from ancient times these people made cloth and canvas on their own in every home. Clothing was made from these materials. Men were supposed to wear a linen shirt and trousers. If it became cool, a caftan and a sheepskin coat were added to their look. The Chuvash had patterns unique to themselves. The woman’s appearance was successfully emphasized by unusual ornaments. All things were decorated with embroidery, including the wedged shirts that the ladies wore. Later, stripes and checks became fashionable.

Each branch of this group had and still has its own preferences for the color of clothing. Thus, the south of the republic has always preferred rich shades, and northwestern fashionistas loved light fabrics. Each woman's outfit included wide Tatar trousers. A mandatory element is an apron with a bib. It was especially diligently decorated.

In general, the appearance of the Chuvash is very interesting. The description of the headdress should be highlighted in a separate section.

Status determined by helmet

Not a single representative of the people could walk with his head uncovered. This is how a separate movement in the direction of fashion arose. Such things as tukhya and hushpu were decorated with special imagination and passion. The first one was worn on the head unmarried girls, the second was only for married women.

At first, the hat served as a talisman, a talisman against misfortune. Such an amulet was treated with special respect and decorated with expensive beads and coins. Later, such an object not only decorated the appearance of the Chuvash, it began to talk about social and marital status women.

Many researchers believe that the shape of the dress resembles Others provide a direct link to understanding the design of the Universe. Indeed, according to the ideas of this group, the earth had a quadrangular shape, and in the middle stood the tree of life. The symbol of the latter was a bulge in the center, which distinguished married woman from a girl. Tukhya had a pointed conical shape, hushpu was round.

The coins were chosen with special care. They had to be melodic. Those that hung from the edges hit each other and rang. Such sounds scared away evil spirits - the Chuvash believed in this. The appearance and character of a people are directly related.

Ornament code

The Chuvash are famous not only for their soulful songs, but also for their embroidery. The skill grew over generations and was passed down from mother to daughter. It is in the ornaments that one can read the history of a person, his belonging to a separate group.

The main embroidery is clear geometry. The fabric should only be white or gray. It’s interesting that girls’ clothes were decorated only before the wedding. IN family life there was not enough time for this. Therefore, what they did in their youth was worn for the rest of their lives.

Embroidery on clothes complemented the appearance of the Chuvash. It contained encrypted information about the creation of the world. Thus, the tree of life and eight-pointed stars, rosettes or flowers were symbolically depicted.

After the popularization of factory production, the style, color and quality of the shirt changed. The older people grieved for a long time and assured that such changes in the wardrobe would bring disaster to their people. And indeed, over the years, true representatives of this genus are becoming fewer and fewer.

World of traditions

Customs say a lot about a people. One of the most colorful rituals is a wedding. The character and appearance of the Chuvash, traditions are still preserved. It is worth noting that in ancient times, priests, shamans or government officials were not present at the wedding ceremony. Guests of the event witnessed the creation of a family. And everyone who knew about the holiday visited the homes of the newlyweds’ parents. Interestingly, divorce was not perceived as such. According to the canons, lovers who married in front of their relatives must be faithful to each other for the rest of their lives.

Previously, the bride had to be 5-8 years older than her husband. On last place When choosing a partner, Chuvash people valued their appearance. The character and mentality of these people required that, first of all, the girl be hardworking. They gave the young lady in marriage after she mastered household. Adult woman They were also tasked with raising a young husband.

Character is in customs

As previously mentioned, the very word from which the name of the people comes is translated from most languages ​​as “peaceful”, “calm”, “modest”. This meaning absolutely corresponds to the character and mentality of this people. According to their philosophy, all people, like birds, sit on different branches of the big tree of life, each is a relative of the other. Therefore, their love for each other is limitless. Very peaceful and good people Chuvash. The history of the people does not contain information about attacks on the innocent and arbitrariness against other groups.

The older generation keeps traditions and lives according to the old pattern, which they learned from their parents. Lovers still get married and swear fidelity to each other in front of their families. Mass celebrations are often held, at which the Chuvash language sounds loudly and melodiously. People wear the best suits, embroidered according to all the canons. They cook traditional lamb soup - shurpa, and drink home-made beer.

The future is in the past

IN modern conditions With urbanization, traditions in villages are disappearing. At the same time, the world is losing its independent culture and unique knowledge. Nevertheless, the Russian government is aimed at maximizing the interest of contemporaries in the past of different peoples. The Chuvash are no exception. Appearance, features of life, color, rituals - all this is very interesting. To show to the younger generation the culture of the people, university students of the republic spend impromptu evenings. Young people speak and sing in the Chuvash language.

The Chuvash live in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, so their culture is successfully breaking through into the world. Representatives of the people support each other.

Recently, the main book of Christians, the Bible, was translated into Chuvash. Literature is flourishing. The ornaments and clothing of the ethnic group inspire famous designers to create new styles.

There are still villages where they still live according to the laws of the Chuvash tribe. The appearance of men and women in such gray hair is traditionally folk. The great past is preserved and revered in many families.

One of the most numerous peoples Volga region, has long become “one of our own” in the family of Russian peoples.
It is all the more interesting to know that its history and origin are the subject of fierce battles between historians and anthropologists!
The Chuvash were related to the most different peoples past and present and they are not directly related to anyone.
So who are they really?

The invisible people of the Volga region

Despite the fact that the Volga region was located on the outskirts of ancient civilizations, its peoples were well known.
The Mordovians, Maris and Cheremis are mentioned long before the Slavs!
Herodotus and Jordan write about the well-recognized signs of these peoples, but not a word about the Chuvash...

The Arab traveler Ibn Fahdlan, in the 10th century, described the local peoples in detail, but did not see the Chuvash.
The Khazar king Joseph wrote to his Jewish co-religionist in Spain about the subject peoples, but again without the Chuvash!
And even in the 13th century, the Hungarian monk Julian and the famous Rashid ad-Din crossed Chuvashia far and wide, but did not see such a people.

However, there is a strong version that the Chuvash are not just the indigenous inhabitants of these places, but even the descendants of Attila the Huns!

Horsemen of Attila or peaceful farmers?

Hunnic hypothesis

Traditionally, the Chuvash are considered the descendants of the people suar-suvar , which was related to the Khazars and Bulgars, developed somewhere in the steppes of Central Asia and, together with the Huns, came to Europe.
Some Savirs, as part of the Sarmatian world, are mentioned by Strabo, and in myths Siberian Tatars, there is a legend about how they conquered these lands from the people soir, who went west.
Thus, the Savirs could be one of the eastern branches of the Sarmatians, who early met the Turks and Huns, after which they came to Europe under the banner of Attila, already a strongly mixed people.
After the murder of Attila and the defeat of his sons in the battle with the Gepids, at Nedao, the remnants of the Huns went to the Black Sea region, and from there further east, where they mixed with the aboriginal Finno-Ugrians and became the Chuvash.

As proof, they cite the undoubtedly Turkic language of the Chuvash and the distinctly mixed Mongoloid appearance and, in general, nothing more!

Bulgarian hypothesis

Another version derives the Chuvash from the population of Volga Bulgaria, which disintegrated after Batu conquered it and a certain part of the tribe settled in present-day Chuvashia.
DNA genealogy speaks in favor of this version - showing a large percentage of R1A haplotypes in the Chuvash and Bulgars, which makes both Sarmatians related.
But linguists are strongly against it, since the Bulgars spoke a typically Western Turkic language, which is related, but very different from Chuvash.
These are cousins, not direct relatives.

Khazar version

There is reason to suspect a strong Khazar influence on the Chuvash: the Chuvash language has a huge number of parallels with the language of the Jewish rulers of Khazaria (about 300 similar words).
Even the name of the supreme deity "Toram" suspiciously coincides with the holy book of Judaism.
In the 19th century this version was very popular

From Khazar Khaganate They brought out the Chuvash and their ethnonym “Chuvash”. They acquired it during the Kavar uprising, when a split occurred among the Khazars.
As is known, the Kavar uprising occurred shortly after religious reform Kagan Obadya, who raised Judaism to the rank state religion.
This uprising was raised by the Muslim Khazars, outraged by the granting of privileges to Jews and the infringement of their own rights.
It was then that the Khazar people split into two branches: into rebels called Kavarami(from the Chuvash word kavar“conspiracy, conspirators, front”) and on peaceful Khazars who did not participate in the rebellion and were nicknamed Chuvash(from Chuvash-Turkic-Iranian juash, yuash(“peaceful, meek, quiet”).

Anthropology of the Chuvash

Chuvash - usually have mixed European-Mongoloid features.
Moreover, they predominate, oddly enough for this region, mixes with southern Europeans, and not in the northern ones, like the Mordovians or Permians.
Caucasoidism, in general, predominates and typical Mongoloids make up no more than 10% of the population.
But appearance The Chuvash are quite recognizable: small or medium height, with dark eyes and hair, dark skin, a wide and flattened face, small eyes and a short, wide nose.
In men, the growth of beard and mustache is weakened; in women, there is often excessive accumulation of fat male type in the area of ​​the shoulders and abdomen.
The length of the body is greater than the length of the legs, the shape of the head is round with a massive facial part and a weakly defined chin.

Chuvash language

With all the influence of Khazar words, as well as the differences in the written language of the Volga Bulgaria and Chuvash, the language of this people is clearly recognized as Turkic and the only living language of the Bulgarian group.

Who are the Chuvash and from whom did they descend?

Today it is obvious that the Chuvash have a large share haplotypes of the Indo-European population, and a very ancient one - Andronovo Western Siberia, who were the ancestors of the Altai Scythians and Sarmatians, as well as the Avars.
This people mixed early with the early Turks: the Huns, and then the Bulgars and Khazars.
Then they were joined by the indigenous inhabitants of the Volga region, close to the Finno-Ugrians, and perhaps the West Siberian Ostyak Ugrians took part in the formation of this people.

From such a cocktail of backgammon, a very mixed ethnic group emerged, where obvious Mongoloid characteristics of the people are combined with the Turkic language, Finno-Ugric customs and the obvious influence of the Tatar-Mongols and Khazars on the linguistic base of the Chuvash.