Mari description of the people. The Mari are the only people in Europe who have preserved paganism - HALAN

The Mari are a Finno-Ugric people who believe in spirits. Many are interested in what religion the Mari belong to, but in fact they cannot be classified as Christianity or the Muslim faith, because they have their own idea of ​​​​God. These people believe in spirits, trees are sacred to them, and Ovda replaces the devil among them. Their religion implies that our world originated on another planet, where a duck laid two eggs. Good and evil brothers hatched from them. It was they who created life on Earth. The Mari perform unique rituals, respect the gods of nature, and their faith is one of the most unchanged since ancient times.

History of the Mari people

According to legend, the history of this people began on another planet. A duck living in the constellation Nest flew to Earth and laid several eggs. This is how this people appeared, judging by their beliefs. It is worth noting that to this day they do not recognize the worldwide names of constellations, naming the stars in their own way. According to legend, the bird flew from the Pleiades constellation, and, for example, they call Ursa Major the Elk.

Sacred Groves

Kusoto are sacred groves that are so revered by the Mari. Religion implies that people should bring purlyk to the groves for public prayers. These are sacrificial birds, geese or ducks. To carry out this ritual, each family must choose the most beautiful and healthy bird, because it will be checked for suitability for the karta ritual by the Mari priest. If the bird is suitable, then they ask for forgiveness, after which they illuminate it with smoke. In this way, the people express their respect to the spirit of fire, which cleanses space of negativity.

It is in the forest that all Mari pray. The religion of this people is built on unity with nature, so they believe that by touching trees and making sacrifices, they create a direct connection with God. The groves themselves were not planted on purpose; they have been there for a long time. According to legend, the ancient ancestors of this people chose them for prayers, based on the position of the sun, comets and stars. All groves are usually divided into tribal, village and general. Moreover, in some you can pray several times a year, while in others - only once every seven years. There is great energy power in Kusoto, the Mari believe. Religion forbids them to swear, make noise or sing while in the forest, because according to their faith, nature is the embodiment of God on Earth.

Fight for Kusoto

For many centuries, attempts were made to cut down the groves, and the Mari people defended the right to preserve the forest for many years. At first, Christians wanted to destroy them, imposing their faith, then the Soviet government tried to deprive the Mari of sacred places. To save forests, the Mari people had to formally accept the Orthodox faith. They attended church, defended the service and secretly went into the forest to worship their gods. This led to many Christian customs becoming part of the Mari faith.

Legends about Ovda

According to legend, once upon a time there lived on Earth an obstinate Mari woman, and one day she angered the gods. For this she was turned into Ovda - a terrible creature with large breasts, black hair and twisted legs. People avoided her because she often caused damage, cursing entire villages. Although she could also help. In the old days, she was often seen: she lives in caves, on the outskirts of the forest. The Mari still think so. The religion of this people is based on natural forces, and it is believed that Ovda is the original bearer of divine energy, capable of bringing both good and evil.

There are interesting megaliths in the forest, very similar to man-made blocks. According to legend, it was Ovda who built protection around her caves so that people would not disturb her. Science suggests that the ancient Mari used them to defend themselves from enemies, but they could not process and install the stones on their own. Therefore, this area is very attractive to psychics and magicians, because it is believed that this is a place of powerful power. Sometimes all the peoples living nearby visit it. Despite how close the Mordovians live, the Mari are different, and they cannot be classified as one group. Many of their legends are similar, but that’s all.

Mari bagpipe - shuvyr

Shuvir is considered a real magical instrument of the Mari. This unique bagpipe is made from a cow's bladder. First, it is prepared for two weeks with porridge and salt, and only then, when the bladder becomes limp, a tube and horn are attached to it. The Mari believe that each element of the instrument is endowed with special powers. A musician who uses it can understand what birds sing and animals say. Listening to this folk instrument being played, people fall into a trance. Sometimes people are healed with the help of shuvyr. The Mari believe that the music of this bagpipe is the key to the gates of the spirit world.

Honoring departed ancestors

The Mari do not go to cemeteries; they call the dead to visit every Thursday. Previously, they did not put identification marks on the graves of the Mari, but now they simply install wooden blocks on which they write the names of the deceased. The Mari religion in Russia is very similar to the Christian one in that souls live well in heaven, but the living believe that their deceased relatives are very homesick. And if the living do not remember their ancestors, then their souls will become evil and begin to harm people.

Each family sets a separate table for the dead and sets it as for the living. Everything that is prepared for the table should also be there for invisible guests. All treats after dinner are given to the pets to eat. This ritual also represents a request from the ancestors for help; the whole family discusses problems at the table and asks for help in finding a solution. After the meal, the bathhouse is heated for the dead, and only after a while the owners themselves enter there. It is believed that one cannot sleep until all the villagers have seen their guests off.

Mari Bear - Mask

There is a legend that in ancient times a hunter named Mask angered the god Yumo with his behavior. He did not listen to the advice of his elders, killed animals for fun, and he himself was distinguished by cunning and cruelty. For this, God punished him by turning him into a bear. The hunter repented and asked for mercy, but Yumo ordered him to keep order in the forest. And if he does this correctly, then in his next life he will become a man.

Beekeeping

Maritsev pays special attention to bees. According to long-standing legends, it is believed that these insects were the very last to arrive on Earth, having flown here from another Galaxy. Marie's laws imply that each card should have its own apiary, where he will receive propolis, honey, wax and bee bread.

Signs with bread

Every year, the Mari grind a little flour by hand to prepare the first loaf. While preparing it, the hostess should whisper good wishes into the dough for everyone she plans to treat with the delicacy. Considering what religion the Mari have, it is worth paying special attention to this rich treat. When someone in the family goes on a long journey, they bake special bread. According to legend, it must be placed on the table and not removed until the travelers return home. Almost all the rituals of the Mari people are related to bread, so every housewife, at least on holidays, bakes it herself.

Kugeche - Mari Easter

The Mari use stoves not for heating, but to cook food. Once a year, pancakes and pies with porridge are baked in every house. This is done on a holiday called Kugeche, it is dedicated to the renewal of nature, and it is also customary to remember the dead. Every home should have homemade candles made by the cards and their assistants. The wax of these candles is filled with the power of nature and, when melted, enhances the effect of prayers, the Mari believe. It is difficult to answer what faith this people belongs to, but, for example, Kugeche always coincides with Easter, celebrated by Christians. Several centuries have blurred the lines between the faith of the Mari and Christians.

Celebrations usually last for several days. For the Mari, the combination of pancakes, cottage cheese and loaf means a symbol of the trinity of the world. Also on this holiday, every woman should drink beer or kvass from a special fertility ladle. They also eat colored eggs; it is believed that the higher the owner breaks it against the wall, the better the chickens will lay eggs in the right places.

Rituals in Kusoto

All people who want to unite with nature gather in the forest. Before praying cards, homemade candles are lit. You cannot sing or make noise in the groves; the harp is the only musical instrument allowed here. Rituals of purification with sound are carried out, for this purpose they strike with a knife on an ax. The Mari also believe that a breath of wind in the air will cleanse them of evil and allow them to connect with pure cosmic energy. The prayers themselves do not last long. After them, part of the food is sent to the fires so that the gods can enjoy the treats. The smoke from fires is also considered cleansing. And the rest of the food is distributed to people. Some take the food home to treat those who couldn't come.

The Mari value nature very much, so the next day the cards come to the ritual site and clean up everything after themselves. After this, no one should enter the grove for five to seven years. This is necessary so that she can restore her energy and be able to saturate people with it during the next prayers. This is the religion the Mari profess; over the course of its existence, it has become similar to other faiths, but still many rituals and legends have remained unchanged since ancient times. This is a very unique and amazing people, dedicated to their religious laws.

History of the Mari people from ancient times. part 2 The question of the origin of the Mari people is still controversial. For the first time, a scientifically substantiated theory of the ethnogenesis of the Mari was expressed in 1845 by the famous Finnish linguist M. Castren. He tried to identify the Mari with the chronicle measures. This point of view was supported and developed by T.S. Semenov, I.N. Smirnov, S.K. Kuznetsov, A.A. Spitsyn, D.K. Zelenin, M.N. Yantemir, F.E. Egorov and many others researchers of the 2nd half of the 19th – 1st half of the 20th century. A new hypothesis was made in 1949 by the prominent Soviet archaeologist A.P. Smirnov, who came to the conclusion about the Gorodets (close to the Mordovians) basis; other archaeologists O.N. Bader and V.F. Gening at the same time defended the thesis about Dyakovsky (close to measure) origin of the Mari. Nevertheless, archaeologists were already able to convincingly prove that the Merya and Mari, although related to each other, are not the same people. At the end of the 1950s, when the permanent Mari archaeological expedition began to operate, its leaders A.Kh. Khalikov and G.A. Arkhipov developed a theory about the mixed Gorodets-Azelinsky (Volga-Finnish-Permian) basis of the Mari people. Subsequently, G.A. Arkhipov, developing this hypothesis further, during the discovery and study of new archaeological sites, proved that the mixed basis of the Mari was dominated by the Gorodets-Dyakovo (Volga-Finnish) component and the formation of the Mari ethnos, which began in the first half of the 1st millennium AD , as a whole, ended in the 9th – 11th centuries, and even then the Mari ethnic group began to be divided into two main groups - the mountain and meadow Mari (the latter, compared to the former, were more strongly influenced by the Azelin (Perm-speaking) tribes). This theory is generally supported by the majority of archaeological scientists working on this problem. Mari archaeologist V.S. Patrushev put forward a different assumption, according to which the formation of the ethnic foundations of the Mari, as well as the Meri and Muroms, took place on the basis of the Akhmylov-type population. Linguists (I.S. Galkin, D.E. Kazantsev), who rely on language data, believe that the territory of formation of the Mari people should be sought not in the Vetluzh-Vyatka interfluve, as archaeologists believe, but to the southwest, between the Oka and Suroy. Scientist-archaeologist T.B. Nikitina, taking into account data not only from archeology, but also from linguistics, came to the conclusion that the ancestral home of the Mari is located in the Volga part of the Oka-Sura interfluve and in Povetluzhie, and the advance to the east, to Vyatka, occurred in 8 - 11 centuries, during which contact and mixing took place with the Azelin (Perm-speaking) tribes. Azelinskaya culture is an archaeological culture of the 3rd-5th centuries in the Volga-Vyatka interfluve. Classified by V.G. Gening and named after the Azelinsky burial ground near the village of Azelino, Malmyzh district, Kirov region. It was formed on the basis of the traditions of the Pyanobor culture. Habitats are represented by settlements and settlements. The entire economy is based on arable farming, animal husbandry, hunting and fishing. The Buyskoe settlement (Buisky Perevoz) hid a treasure of 200 iron hoes and spears. Most round-bottomed vessels have a pattern of notches or cord prints. Ground burial grounds, inhumation burials, oriented with their heads to the north. Women's costume: a cap or corolla with a braid and temple pendants, a necklace, hryvnias and bracelets, breast plates, an apron, a wide belt, often with an epaulette-like fastener, overlays and hanging tassels, various stripes and pendants, shoes with straps. Men's burials contain numerous weapons - spears, axes, helmets, chain mail and swords. The final process of separation of the Mari tribes was completed around the 6th-7th century AD. An ancient legend of the Mari people says that once upon a time, in ancient times, a mighty giant lived near the Volga River. His name was Onar. He was so big that he would stand on the steep Volga slope and his head would just barely reach the colored rainbow that rose above the forests. That is why in ancient legends the rainbow is called the Onar Gate. The rainbow shines with all colors, it is so red that you can’t take your eyes off it, and Onar’s clothes were even more beautiful: a white shirt was embroidered on the chest with scarlet, green and yellow silk, Onar was belted with a belt made of blue beads, and silver jewelry sparkled on his hat. Onar was a hunter, caught animals, collected honey from wild bees. In search of the beast and the sides full of fragrant honey, he went far from his home, kudo, which stood on the banks of the Volga. In one day, Onar managed to visit both the Volga and Pizhma and Nemda, which flow into the bright Viche, as the Vyatka River is called in Mari. It is for this reason, the Mari, that we call our land the land of the hero Onar. In the minds of the ancient Mari, ONARS are the first inhabitants who rose from the sea waters of the earth. ONARS are giant people of extraordinary height and strength. The forests were knee-deep. People call many hills and lakes in the Mountain Mari region the traces of an ancient giant. And again, the ancient Indian legends about the asuras involuntarily come to mind - ancient people (the first inhabitants of planet Earth) - the asuras, who were also giants - their height was 38-50 meters, later they became lower - up to 7 meters (like the Atlanteans). The ancient Russian hero Svyatogor, who is considered the progenitor of the entire ancient Russian people, was also an asur. The Mari themselves call their people the name Mari. Among scientists, the question of their origin is open. According to etymology, the Mari are a people living under the protection of the ancient goddess Mara. The influence of Mara on the beliefs of the Mari is strong. The Mari are considered the last pagan people of Europe. The Mari religion is based on faith in the forces of nature, which man must honor and respect. Mari temples - Sacred groves. There are about five hundred of them on the territory of the Mari El Republic. In the Sacred Grove, human contact with God is possible. The first written mention of the Cheremis (Mari) is found in the Gothic historian Jordan (6th century). They are also mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. Around this time, the first mentions of other tribes related to the ancient Mari - Meshchera, Muroma, Merya, who lived mainly to the west of the Vetluzhsky region, date back. Some historians claim that the Mari people received the name “Mari” from the name of the ancient Iranian god Mar, but I have not met such a god among the Iranians. But there are many gods with the name Mara in the Indo-European peoples. Mara is a female mythological character in the Western and Eastern Slavic traditions associated with the seasonal rites of death and resurrection of nature. Mara is a night demon, a ghost in Scandinavian and Slavic mythology. Mara in Buddhism is a demon, personified as the embodiment of artlessness, the death of spiritual life. Mara is a goddess who takes care of cows in Latvian mythology. In some cases, it coincides with the mythologized image of the Virgin Mary. As a result, I believe that the name “Mari” has its origins from the times when the Ural and Indo-European peoples lived side by side or were a single people (Hyperboreans, Boreans, Biarmians). Some researchers of the history of the Mari people believe that the Mari descended from the mixing of ancient Iranian tribes with the Chud tribes. Here the question arises: when did this happen? I spent a long time checking when the Iranians appeared on the territory of the ancient Mari, but I did not find such a fact. There was a contact of ancient Iranian tribes (Scythians, Sarmatians), but it was much further south and the contact was with the ancient Mordovian tribes, and not with the Mari. As a result, I believe that the Mari people received the name “Mari” from the most ancient times, when the Ural peoples and Indo-European peoples (including the Slavs, Balts, Iranians) lived nearby. And these are the times of the Biarmians, the Boreans, or even the Hyperborean times. So let’s continue to talk about the history of the Mari people. In the 70s of the 4th century AD, the Huns appeared in the south of Eastern Europe - a nomadic Turkic-speaking people (to be more precise, it was a union of many nomadic peoples, which included both Turkic and non-Turkic peoples). The era of the Great Migration of Peoples began. Although the alliance of Hunnic tribes advanced through the south of Eastern Europe (mainly along the steppes), this event also influenced the history of more northern peoples, including the history of the ancient Mari people. The fact is that one of the ancient Turkic peoples, the Bulgars (initially they were called Onogurs, Utigurs, Kutrigurs), was also involved in the flow of nomadic tribes. In addition to the ancient Bulgar tribes, other Turkic-speaking tribes, the Suvars, came to the territory of the steppes of the North Caucasus and the Don. From the 4th century until the emergence of a strong Khazar state in these places, many different nomadic tribes lived in the territory between the Black and Caspian Seas and in the steppes of the Don and Volga - Alans, Akatsirs (Huns), Maskuts, Barsils, Onogurs, Kutrigurs, Utigurs) . In the 2nd half of the 8th century, part of the Bulgars moved to the region of the Middle Volga region and the lower reaches of the Kama. There they created the state of Volga Bulgaria. Initially, this state was dependent on the Khazar Kaganate. The appearance of the Bulgars in the lower reaches of the Kama led to the fact that the single space occupied by the ancient Mari tribes was divided into two parts. A significant part of the Mari living in the west of Bashkiria found themselves cut off from the main territory of residence of the Mari. In addition, under pressure from the Bullgars, some of the Mari were forced to move north and displace the ancient Udmurt tribes (Votyaks), the Mari settled between the Vyatka and Vetluga rivers. For information, I inform readers that in those days the modern Vyatka land had a different name - “Votskaya Zemlya” (land of the Votyaks). In 863, part of the Suvars who lived within the Northern Caucasus and the Don, under the influence of Arab invasions, moved up the Volga to the Middle Volga region, where they became part of the Volga Bulgaria in the 10th century and built the city of Suvar. According to a number of Bashkir historians, in Volga Bulgaria the Suvars were the numerically predominant ethnic group. It is believed that the modern Chuvash are the direct descendants of the Suvars. In the 960s, Volga Bulgaria became an independent state (since the Khazar Khaganate was destroyed by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav). The question of the origin of the ethnonyms “Mari” and “Cheremis” also remains complex and unclear. The meaning of the word “Mari”, the self-name of the Mari people, is derived by many linguists from the Indo-European term “mar”, “mer” in various sound variations (translated as “man”, “husband”). The word “Cheremis” (as the Russians called the Mari, and in a slightly different, but phonetically similar vowel, many other peoples) has a large number of different interpretations. 960s - the first written mention of this ethnonym (in the original “ts-r-mis”) is found in a letter from the Khazar Kagan Joseph to the dignitary of the Cordoba Caliph Hasdai ibn Shaprut. D.E. Kazantsev, following the 19th century historian G.I. Peretyatkovich, came to the conclusion that the name “Cheremis” was given to the Mari by the Mordovian tribes, and in translation this word means “a person living on the sunny side, in the east.” According to I.G. Ivanov, “Cheremis” is “a person from the Chera or Chora tribe,” in other words, the name of one of the Mari tribes. Neighboring peoples subsequently extended this name to the entire Mari people. The version of the Mari local historians of the 1920s and early 1930s, F.E. Egorov and M.N. Yantemir, is widely popular, who suggested that this ethnonym goes back to the Turkic term “warlike person.” F.I. Gordeev, as well as I.S. Galkin, who supported his version, defend the hypothesis about the origin of the word “Cheremis” from the ethnonym “Sarmatian” through the mediation of Turkic languages. A number of other versions were also expressed. The problem of the etymology of the word “Cheremis” is further complicated by the fact that in the Middle Ages (up to the 17th and 18th centuries) this was the name in a number of cases not only for the Mari, but also for their neighbors – the Chuvash and Udmurts. For example, the authors of the textbook “History of the Mari People” about archaeological finds related to Iranian-speaking tribes write that sacrificial fire pits with a large content of bones of domestic animals were discovered in Volga settlements. Rituals associated with the worship of fire and the sacrifice of animals to the gods subsequently became an integral part of the pagan cult of the Mari and other Finno-Ugric people. The worship of the sun was also reflected in applied art: solar (solar) signs in the form of a circle and a cross took a prominent place in the ornaments of the Finno-Ugric peoples. In general, all ancient peoples had solar gods and worshiped the Sun as the source of life on Earth. Let me remind you once again that the suras (ancient gods from the Sun) were the divine teachers of the first people - the asuras. The end of the first millennium BC for the Mari Volga region is characterized by the beginning of the use of iron, mainly from local raw materials - swamp ore. This material was used not only for the manufacture of tools that facilitated the clearing of forests for land plots, cultivation of arable land, etc., but also for the manufacture of more advanced weapons. Wars began to occur more and more often. Among the archaeological monuments of that time, the most characteristic are fortified settlements, protected from the enemy by ramparts and ditches. The hunting way of life is associated with a widespread cult of animals (elk, bear) and waterfowl. A.G. Ivanov and K.N. Sanukov talk about the resettlement of the ancient Mari. The ancient foundation of the Mari people, which had formed by the beginning of the first millennium, was subject to new influences, mixtures, and movements. But the continuity of the main features of material and spiritual culture was preserved and consolidated, as evidenced, for example, by archaeological finds: temple rings, elements of breast decorations, etc., as well as some features of the funeral rite. Ancient ethno-forming processes took place in conditions of expanding ties and interaction with related and unrelated tribes. The real names of these tribes remained unknown. Archaeologists gave them conventional names in accordance with the name of the settlement near which their monument was first excavated and studied. With regard to the social development of tribes, this was the time of the beginning of the collapse of the primitive communal system and the formation of a period of military democracy. The “Great Migration of Peoples” at the beginning of the first millennium also affected the tribes living on the border of the forest zone and forest-steppe. The tribes of the Gorodets culture (ancient Mordovian tribes), under the pressure of the steppe inhabitants, moved north along the Sura and Oka to the Volga, and reached the left bank, in Povetluzhie, and from there to Bolshaya Kokshaga. At the same time from Vyatka, the Azelinians also penetrated into the area of ​​the Bolshaya and Malaya Kokshaga rivers. As a result of their contact and long-term contacts, with the participation of more ancient local populations, great changes occurred in their original cultures. Archaeologists believe that as a result of the “mutual assimilation” of the Gorodets and Azelin tribes in the second half of the 1st millennium, the ancient Mari tribes were formed. This process is evidenced by such archaeological monuments as the Younger Akhmylovsky burial ground on the left bank of the Volga opposite Kozmodemyansk, the Shor-Unzhinsky burial ground in the Morkinsky district, the Kubashevsky settlement in the south of the Kirov region and others containing materials from the Gorodets and Azelinsky cultures. By the way, the formation of the ancient Mari on the basis of two archaeological cultures predetermined the initial differences between the mountain and meadow Mari (the former had a predominance of features of the Gorodets culture, and the latter - the Azelinskaya). The region of formation and initial habitat of the ancient Mari tribes in the west and southwest extended far beyond the borders of the modern Republic of Mari El. These tribes occupied not only the entire Povetluga region and the central regions of the Vetluga-Vyatka interfluve, but also the lands west of Vetluga, bordering the Meryan tribes in the area of ​​the Unzha River; on both banks of the Volga, their habitat area extended from the mouth of the Kazanka to the mouth of the Oka. In the south, the ancient Mari occupied not only the lands of the modern Gornomari region, but also northern Chuvashia. In the north, the border of their settlement passed somewhere in the area of ​​​​the city of Kotelnich. In the east, the Mari occupied the territory of western Bashkiria. At the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia, when the ancient Mari people were basically already established, close relationships with related Finno-Ugric tribes (except for their closest neighbors - the Mordvins and Udmurts) actually ceased and quite close contacts were established with the early Turks (Suvars and Bulgars) who invaded the Volga. . Already from that time (mid-1st millennium), the Mari language began to experience a strong Turkic influence. The ancient Mari, already having their own specific characteristics and maintaining a certain similarity with the related Finno-Ugric people, began to experience serious Turkic influence. On the southern outskirts of the Mari territory, the population both assimilated with the Bulgars and was partially forced out to the north. It should be noted that some researchers in China, Mongolia and Europe, when covering the history of Attila’s Empire, include the Finnish-speaking tribes of the Middle Volga region in the empire. In my opinion this statement was extremely erroneous. . The decomposition of the clan system among the Mari occurred at the end of the 1st millennium, clan principalities arose, which were ruled by elected elders, and later the Mari began to have princes, who were called Oms. Using their position, they eventually began to seize power over the tribes, enriching themselves at their expense and raiding their neighbors. However, this could not lead to the formation of its own early feudal state. Already at the stage of completion of their ethnogenesis, the Mari found themselves the object of expansion from the Turkic East (the Volga-Kama state of Bulgaria) and the Slavic state (Kievan Rus). From the south, the Mari were attacked by the Volga Bulgars, then by the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. Russian colonization came from the north and west. Around the 11th century, the Vetlya-Shangonsky kuguzstvo (Mari Vetluzhsky principality) was formed. To protect its borders from Russian advances from the Galich principality, the Shanza fortress was built; this fortress later became the center of the Vetluga principality. The Shanza fortress (now the village of Staro-Shangskoye in the Sharya region) was placed by the Mari on the border of their lands as a guard post (eyes) that monitored the advance of the Russians. The place was convenient for defense, since it has natural fortress “walls” on three sides: the Vetluga River with a high bank and deep ravines with steep slopes. The word “shanza” comes from the Mari shentse (shenze) and means eye. The borders of North-Eastern Rus' came close to the territory of settlement of the Mari in the 11th century. The colonization of the Mari lands that began was both peaceful and violent. Along the right bank of the Volga, the Mari lived as far as Nizhny Novgorod. To the west of Sura, the Mari settlements of Somovskoe I and II and toponymy are known. There is Lake Cheremisskoe, two villages of Cheremiski and many villages with Mari names - Monari, Abaturovo, Kemary, Makatelem, Ilevo, Kubaevo, etc. The Mari, pressed by the Mordvins, retreated to the north and east beyond Sura. The Mari tribal elite turned out to be split, some of its representatives were guided by the Russian principalities, the other part actively supported the Bulgars (and later the Tatars). In such conditions there could be no question of creating a national feudal state. The first mention of the Mari in Russian written sources dates back to the beginning of the 12th century. and is found in the “Tale of Bygone Years” by the monk Nestor. The chronicler, listing the Finno-Ugric peoples neighboring the Slavs who pay tribute to Rus', also mentions the Cheremis: “On Beleozero there is all gray, and on Lake Rostov there is merya, and on Lake Kleshchina there is merya. And along the Otse Retsa, where it flows into the Volga, the Muroma have their language, and the Cheremisi have their language, and the Mordovians have their language. This is only the Slovenian language in Rus'; glades, derevlyans, nougorodtsy, polotsk, dregovichi, north, buzhans, zane sadosha along the Bug, and then the Velynians. And these are other languages ​​that give tribute to Rus': Chud, Merya, Vse, Muroma, Cheremis, Mordovians, Perm, Pechera, Yam, Lithuania, Zimigola, Kors, Noroma, Lib: these are their own language, from the tribe of Afetov, etc. live in midnight countries...” At the beginning of the 12th century, the Shanga prince Kai, fearing Russian squads, turned Shanga into a fortified city, and built for himself a new city, Khlynov Vetluga. At this time, the Galician prince Konstantin Yaroslavich (brother of Alexander Nevsky) tried by force of arms to force the Vetluga Cheremis to submit to Galich and pay tribute with “Zakamsky silver”. But the Cheremis defended their independence. In the 12th – 16th centuries, the Mari were more clearly divided into local ethnographic groups than now. There were differences in material and spiritual culture, language, and economy. They were determined by the characteristics of the settlement territory and the influence of various ethnic components that took part in the formation of certain groups of the Mari people. Some differences between ethnographic groups can be traced archaeologically. Studies of the structure of the Mari language also confirm the existence of tribal associations of the Mari with independent and rather different dialects. The mountain Mari lived along the right bank of the Volga. Meadow Mari settled east of the Malaya Kokshaga River. In relation to Kazan, they were also called “lower” and “near” Cheremis. To the west of Malaya Kokshaga lived the Vetluga and Kokshai Mari, also referred to by scientists as the northwestern ones. This was already noted by contemporaries. The Kazan chronicler, having reported about the “meadow cheremis,” continues: “... in that country of Lugovoy there are Koksha and Vetluga cheremis.” Cheremis and the scribal book on Kazan 1565–1568 are divided into Kokshai and Meadow ones. The Mari who lived in the Urals and Kama region are known as Eastern or Bashkir. In the 16th century, another group of Mari was formed, which, by the will of fate, ended up far to the west (in Ukraine), called the Chemeris. Mari society was divided into clans that made up tribes. One of the Mari legends indicates the existence of more than 200 clans and 16 tribes. Power in the tribe belonged to the council of elders, which usually met once or twice a year. Issues about holidays, the order of public prayers, economic matters, issues of war and peace were resolved there. It is known from folklore that once every 10 years a council of all Mari tribes met to resolve issues affecting common interests. At this council, the redistribution of hunting, fishing, and hunting lands took place. The Mari professed a pagan religion; their gods were the spiritual forces of nature. Some of the Mari who lived close to Kazan, especially the clan elite, converted to Islam in the 16th century under the influence of neighboring Tatars, and subsequently became Tatars. Orthodoxy spread among the Mari living in the west. The significant place in the economic activities of the Mari in forestry, beekeeping, fishing and hunting is explained by the fact that they lived in a truly fertile forest region. Boundless dense mixed virgin forests occupied the entire Meadow Side in a continuous massif, merging with the taiga in the north. When describing the Mari region, contemporaries often used expressions such as “forest supports”, “wilds”, “forest deserts”, etc. In the Mari forests there was a great variety of game - bears, moose, deer, wolves, foxes, lynxes, ermines, sables, squirrels, martens, beavers, hares, a large number of various birds, the rivers were full of fish. Hunting among the Mari was commercial, focused on the extraction of furs for sale. An examination of bones from Mari archaeological sites shows that about 50% of them belong to fur-bearing animal species, mainly beaver, marten and sable. The Mari also established handicraft production. They knew blacksmithing and jewelry, woodworking, leather tanning, and pottery. Mari women wove linen and woolen clothing. The Mari lived in log houses, in small villages consisting of several houses - ilems and settlements - ruems. Settlements were located along the banks of reservoirs. There were also “forts” and “fortresses” fortified with ditches, ramparts and palisades, in which the Mari took refuge in case of military danger. Some of these forts were administrative and tribal centers. The Mari had a family nobility, referred to in Russian sources as tens, pentecostals, centurions and hundred princes. The ten-hundred form of government developed as a result of the organizational measures of the Golden Horde for administrative, fiscal and military purposes. This form of government generally corresponded to the tribal organization already existing among the Mari and was therefore accepted by them. The Mari themselves called their leaders shÿdyvuy, puddle, luzhavuy, luvuy and kuguoza (kugyza), which meant “great master, elder.” Mari could act as a mercenary army in the internecine feuds of the Russian princes, or carry out predatory raids on Russian lands alone or in alliance with the Bulgars or Tatars. Often the Bulgar and Kazan rulers hired mercenary warriors from among the Mari, and these warriors were famous for their ability to fight well. All territories in the north of Rus' were at first subordinate to the “lord of Veliky Novgorod”. His sons, the dashing Ushkuiniki, knew the waterway that connected the Volga with the north, through Vetluga, Vokhma, through a small portage between the Northern Dvina and the Volga, through the Yug River and the Northern Dvina. But the advance of the Russians to the northeast constantly accelerated every year, and by 1150 the Russians completely subordinated them to their power and included in their state the Murom tribes and a significant part of the Merya tribes (in the western part of the Kostroma region). The Russians had already penetrated to the banks of the Unzha, but they were not in the valley of the Upper Vetluga (in the Vetluga region). The northern Mari, the Cheremis, still lived there. But from the north, Novgorodians gradually penetrated into this territory, and Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod residents penetrated into the territory of the south of Vetluga. At the end of the 12th century, Mari armed detachments took part in the internecine wars of the Kostroma and Galician princes, helping one of the warring princes. But it didn't last long.

The Mari, formerly known as the Cheremis, were famous in the past for their belligerence. Today they are called the last pagans of Europe, since the people managed to carry through the centuries the national religion, which a significant part of them still professes. This fact will be even more surprising if you know that writing among the Mari people appeared only in the 18th century.

Name

The self-name of the Mari people goes back to the word “Mari” or “Mari”, which means “man”. A number of scientists believe that it may be associated with the name of the ancient Russian people Meri, or Merya, who lived on the territory of modern Central Russia and was mentioned in a number of chronicles.

In ancient times, the mountain and meadow tribes that lived in the Volga-Vyatka interfluve were called Cheremis. The first mention of them in 960 is found in a letter from the Khagan of Khazaria Joseph: he mentioned the “Tsaremis” among the peoples who paid tribute to the Khaganate. Russian chronicles noted the Cheremis much later, only in the 13th century, along with the Mordovians, classifying them among the peoples living on the Volga River.
The meaning of the name “cheremis” has not been fully established. It is known for certain that the “mis” part, like “mari”, means “person”. However, what kind of person this person was, the opinions of researchers differ. One of the versions refers to the Turkic root “cher”, meaning “to fight, to be at war.” The word “janissary” also comes from him. This version seems plausible, since the Mari language is the most Turkicized of the entire Finno-Ugric group.

Where live

More than 50% of the Mari live in the Republic of Mari El, where they make up 41.8% of its population. The republic is a subject of the Russian Federation and is part of the Volga Federal District. The capital of the region is the city of Yoshkar-Ola.
The main area where the people live is the area between the Vetluga and Vyatka rivers. However, depending on the place of settlement, linguistic and cultural characteristics, 4 groups of Mari are distinguished:

1. Northwestern. They live outside of Mari El, in the Kirov and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Their language differs significantly from the traditional one, but they did not have their own written language until 2005, when the first book was published in the national language of the northwestern Mari.
2. Mountain. In modern times they are small in number - about 30-50 thousand people. They live in the western part of Mari El, mainly on the southern, partly on the northern banks of the Volga. The cultural differences of the mountain Mari began to take shape in the 10th-11th centuries, thanks to close communication with the Chuvash and Russians. They have their own Mountain Mari language and writing.
3. Eastern. A significant group consisting of immigrants from the meadow part of the Volga in the Urals and Bashkortostan.
4. Meadow. The most significant group in terms of numbers and cultural influence, living in the Volga-Vyatka interfluve in the Republic of Mari El.

The last two groups are often combined into one due to the maximum similarity of linguistic, historical and cultural factors. They form groups of Meadow-Eastern Mari with their own Meadow-Eastern language and writing.

Number

The number of Mari, according to the 2010 census, is more than 574 thousand people. Most of them, 290 thousand, live in the Republic of Mari El, which translated means “the land, the homeland of the Mari.” A slightly smaller, but largest community outside of Mari El is located in Bashkiria - 103 thousand people.

The remaining part of the Mari inhabits mainly the Volga and Ural regions, living throughout Russia and beyond. A significant part lives in the Chelyabinsk and Tomsk regions, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug.
The largest diasporas:

• Kirov region - 29.5 thousand people.
• Tatarstan - 18.8 thousand people.
• Udmurtia - 8 thousand people.
• Sverdlovsk region - 23.8 thousand people.
• Perm region - 4.1 thousand people.
• Kazakhstan - 4 thousand people.
• Ukraine - 4 thousand people.
• Uzbekistan - 3 thousand people.

Language

The Meadow-Eastern Mari language, which, along with Russian and Mountain Mari, is the state language in the Republic of Mari El, is part of a large group of Finno-Ugric languages. And also, along with the Udmurt, Komi, Sami, and Mordovian languages, it is part of the small Finno-Perm group.
There is no exact information about the origin of the language. It is believed that it was formed in the Volga region before the 10th century on the basis of Finno-Ugric and Turkic dialects. It underwent significant changes during the period when the Mari joined the Golden Horde and the Kazan Kaganate.
Mari writing arose quite late, only in the second half of the 18th century. Because of this, there is no written evidence about the life, life and culture of the Mari throughout their formation and development.
The alphabet was created on the basis of Cyrillic, and the first text in Mari that has survived to this day dates back to 1767. It was created by the Mountain Mari who studied in Kazan, and it was dedicated to the arrival of Empress Catherine the Second. The modern alphabet was created in 1870. Today, a number of national newspapers and magazines are published in the Meadow-Eastern Mari language, and it is studied in schools in Bashkiria and Mari El.

Story

The ancestors of the Mari people began to develop the modern Volga-Vyatka territory at the beginning of the first millennium of the new era. They migrated from the southern and western regions to the East under pressure from aggressive Slavic and Turkic peoples. This led to assimilation and partial discrimination of the Permians who originally lived in this territory.

Some Mari adhere to the version that the ancestors of the people in the distant past came to the Volga from Ancient Iran. Afterwards, assimilation took place with the Finno-Ugric and Slavic tribes living here, but the identity of the people was partially preserved. This is supported by research by philologists, who note that the Mari language has Indo-Iranian inclusions. This is especially true for ancient prayer texts, which have remained virtually unchanged for centuries.
By the 7th-8th centuries, the Proto-Marians moved north, occupying the territory between Vetluga and Vyatka, where they live to this day. During this period, the Turkic and Finno-Ugric tribes had a serious influence on the formation of culture and mentality.
The next stage in the history of the Cheremis dates back to the X-XIV centuries, when their closest neighbors from the west were the Eastern Slavs, and from the south and east - the Volga Bulgars, Khazars, and then the Tatar-Mongols. For a long time, the Mari people were dependent on the Golden Horde, and then on the Kazan Khanate, to whom they paid tribute in furs and honey. Part of the Mari lands was under the influence of Russian princes and, according to the chronicles of the 12th century, were also subject to tribute. For centuries, the Cheremis had to maneuver between the Kazan Khanate and the Russian authorities, who tried to attract the people, whose number at that time amounted to up to a million people, to their side.
In the 15th century, during the period of aggressive attempts by Ivan the Terrible to overthrow Kazan, the mountain Mari came under the rule of the king, and the Meadow Mari supported the Khanate. However, due to the victory of the Russian troops, in 1523 the lands became part of the Russian State. However, the name of the Cheremis tribe does not mean “warlike” for nothing: the very next year it rebelled and overthrew the provisional rulers until 1546. Subsequently, the bloody “Cheremis Wars” broke out twice more in the struggle for national independence, the overthrow of the feudal regime and the elimination of Russian expansion.
For the next 400 years, the life of the people proceeded relatively calmly: having achieved the preservation of national authenticity and the opportunity to practice their own religion, the Mari were engaged in the development of agriculture and crafts, without interfering in the socio-political life of the country. After the revolution, the Mari Autonomy was formed, in 1936 - the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1992 it was given the modern name of the Republic of Mari El.

Appearance

The anthropology of the Mari goes back to the ancient Ural community, which formed the distinctive features of the appearance of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group as a result of mixing with Caucasians. Genetic studies show that the Mari have genes for haplogroups N, N2a, N3a1, which are also found among the Vepsians, Udmurts, Finns, Komi, Chuvash and Baltic people. Autosomal studies showed kinship with the Kazan Tatars.

The anthropological type of modern Mari is Suburalian. The Ural race is intermediate between Mongoloid and Caucasian. The Mari, on the other hand, have more Mongoloid characteristics compared to the traditional form.
Distinctive features of appearance are:

• average height;
• yellowish or darker skin color than Caucasians;
• almond-shaped, slightly slanted eyes with downward outer corners;
• straight, dense hair of a dark or light brown shade;
• prominent cheekbones.

Cloth

Men's and women's traditional costumes were similar in configuration, but women's were decorated more brightly and richly. Thus, everyday attire consisted of a tunic-like shirt, which was long for women and did not reach the knees for men. They wore loose pants underneath and a caftan on top.

Underwear was made from homespun fabric, which was made from hemp fibers or woolen threads. The women's costume was complemented by an embroidered apron; the sleeves, cuffs and collars of the shirt were decorated with ornaments. Traditional patterns - horses, solar signs, plants and flowers, birds, ram's horns. In the cold season, frock coats, sheepskin coats and sheepskin coats were worn over it.
A mandatory element of the costume is a belt or waist wrap made of a piece of linen material. Women complemented it with pendants made of coins, beads, shells, and chains. Shoes were made of bast or leather; in swampy areas they were equipped with special wooden platforms.
Men wore tall hats with narrow brims and mosquito nets, since they spent most of their time outside the home: in the field, in the forest or on the river. Women's hats were famous for their great variety. The magpie was borrowed from the Russians, and the sharpan, that is, a towel tied around the head and fastened with an ochel - a narrow strip of fabric embroidered with traditional ornaments, was popular. A distinctive element of the bride’s wedding costume is a voluminous chest decoration made of coins and metal decorative elements. It was considered a family heirloom and was passed down from generation to generation. The weight of such jewelry could reach up to 35 kilograms. Depending on the place of residence, the features of costumes, ornaments and colors could vary significantly.

Men

The Mari had a patriarchal family structure: the man was in charge, but in the event of his death, a woman became the head of the family. In general, the relationship was equal, although all social issues fell on the shoulders of the man. For a long time, in the Mari settlements there were remnants of levirate and sororate, which oppressed the rights of women, but most of the people did not adhere to them.

Women

The woman in the Mari family played the role of homemaker. She valued hard work, humility, thriftiness, good nature, and maternal qualities. Since the bride was offered a substantial dowry, and her role as an au pair was significant, girls got married later than boys. It often happened that the bride was 5-7 years older. They tried to get the guys married as early as possible, often at the age of 15-16 years.

Family life

After the wedding, the bride went to live in her husband’s house, so the Maries had large families. Families of brothers often coexisted in them; older and subsequent generations, the number of which reached 3-4, lived together. The head of the household was the eldest woman, the wife of the head of the family. She gave children, grandchildren and daughters-in-law tasks around the house and looked after their material well-being.
Children in the family were considered the highest happiness, a manifestation of the blessing of the Great God, so they gave birth a lot and often. Mothers and the older generation were involved in upbringing: children were not spoiled and were taught to work from childhood, but they were never offended. Divorce was considered a shame, and permission for it had to be asked from the chief minister of the faith. Couples who expressed such a desire were tied back to back in the main village square while they awaited a decision. If a divorce occurred at the request of a woman, her hair was cut off as a sign that she was no longer married.

Housing

For a long time, Marie lived in typical old Russian log houses with a gable roof. They consisted of a vestibule and a living part, in which a kitchen with a stove was separately fenced, and benches for overnight accommodation were nailed to the walls. The bathhouse and hygiene played a special role: before any important task, especially prayer and rituals, it was necessary to wash. This symbolized the cleansing of the body and thoughts.

Life

The main occupation of the Mari people was arable farming. Field crops - spelled, oats, flax, hemp, buckwheat, oats, barley, rye, turnips. Carrots, hops, cabbage, potatoes, radishes, and onions were planted in the gardens.
Animal husbandry was less common, but poultry, horses, cows and sheep were bred for personal use. But goats and pigs were considered unclean animals. Among men's crafts, wood carving and silver processing to make jewelry stood out.
Since ancient times they have been engaged in beekeeping, and later in apiary beekeeping. Honey was used in cooking, intoxicating drinks were made from it, and was also actively exported to neighboring regions. Beekeeping is still common today, providing a good source of income for villagers.

Culture

Due to the lack of writing, Mari culture is concentrated in oral folk art: fairy tales, songs and legends, which are taught to children by the older generation from childhood. An authentic musical instrument is the shuvyr, an analogue of the bagpipe. It was made from a soaked cow's bladder, supplemented with a ram's horn and a pipe. He imitated natural sounds and accompanied songs and dances along with the drum.

There was also a special dance for cleansing from evil spirits. Trios, consisting of two guys and a girl, took part in it; sometimes all residents of the settlement took part in the festivities. One of its characteristic elements is the tyvyrdyk, or drobushka: a quick synchronized movement of the legs in one place.

Religion

Religion has played a special role in the life of the Mari people in all centuries. The traditional Mari religion has still been preserved and is officially registered. It is professed by about 6% of the Mari, but many people observe the rituals. The people have always been tolerant of other religions, which is why even now the national religion coexists with Orthodoxy.
The traditional Mari religion proclaims faith in the forces of nature, in the unity of all people and everything on earth. Here they believe in a single cosmic god, Osh Kugu-Yumo, or the Great White God. According to legend, he instructed the evil spirit Yin to remove from the World Ocean a piece of clay from which Kugu-Yumo made the earth. Yin threw his part of the clay onto the ground: this is how the mountains turned out. Kugu-Yumo created man from the same material, and brought his soul to him from heaven.

In total, there are about 140 gods and spirits in the pantheon, but only a few are especially revered:

• Ilysh-Shochyn-Ava - analogue of the Mother of God, goddess of birth
• Mer Yumo - manages all worldly affairs
• Mlande Ava - goddess of the earth
• Purysho - god of fate
• Azyren - death itself

Mass ritual prayers take place several times a year in sacred groves: there are between 300 and 400 of them throughout the country. At the same time, services to one or several gods can take place in the grove, sacrifices are made to each of them in the form of food, money, and animal parts. The altar is made in the form of a flooring of fir branches, installed near the sacred tree.

Those who come to the grove prepare the food they brought with them in large cauldrons: meat of geese and ducks, as well as special pies made from the blood of birds and cereals. Afterwards, under the guidance of a card - an analogue of a shaman or priest, a prayer begins, which lasts up to an hour. The ritual ends with eating what has been prepared and cleaning the grove.

Traditions

The ancient traditions are most fully preserved in wedding and funeral rites. The wedding always began with a noisy ransom, after which the newlyweds, on a cart or sleigh covered with bear skin, headed to the cart for the wedding ceremony. All the way, the groom cracked a special whip, driving away evil spirits from his future wife: this whip then remained in the family for life. In addition, their hands were tied with a towel, which symbolized the connection for the rest of their lives. The tradition of baking pancakes for the newly-made husband on the morning after the wedding has also been preserved.

Funeral rites are of particular interest. At any time of the year, the deceased was taken to the churchyard on a sleigh, and put into the house in winter clothes, supplied with a set of things. Among them:

• a linen towel along which he will descend to the kingdom of the dead - this is where the expression “good riddance” comes from;
• rosehip branches to ward off dogs and snakes guarding the afterlife;
• nails accumulated during life in order to cling to rocks and mountains along the way;

Forty days later, an equally terrible custom was performed: a friend of the deceased dressed in his clothes and sat down with the relatives of the deceased at the same table. They took him for dead and asked him questions about life in the next world, conveyed greetings, and told him news. During the general holidays of remembrance, the deceased were also remembered: a separate table was set for them, on which the hostess put little by little all the treats that she had prepared for the living.

Famous Mari

One of the most famous Mari is actor Oleg Taktarov, who played in the films “Viy” and “Predators”. He is also known throughout the world as the “Russian Bear,” the winner of brutal UFC fights, although in fact his roots go back to the ancient Mari people.

The living embodiment of a real Mari beauty is the “Black Angel” Varda, whose mother was a Mari by nationality. She is known as a singer, dancer, model and curvy figure.

The special charm of the Mari lies in their gentle character and mentality based on the acceptance of all things. Tolerance towards others, coupled with the ability to defend their own rights, allowed them to maintain their authenticity and national flavor.

Video

Anything to add?

The Mari emerged as an independent people from the Finno-Ugric tribes in the 10th century. Over the millennium of its existence, the Mari people have created a unique culture.

The book talks about rituals, customs, ancient beliefs, folk arts and crafts, blacksmithing, the art of songwriters, storytellers, guslars, folk music, includes texts of songs, legends, fairy tales, stories, poems and prose of the classics of the Mari people and modern writers, talks about theatrical and musical art, about outstanding representatives of the culture of the Mari people.

Included are reproductions of the most famous paintings by Mari artists of the 19th-21st centuries.

Excerpt

Introduction

Scientists attribute the Mari to the group of Finno-Ugric peoples, but this is not entirely true. According to ancient Mari legends, this people in ancient times came from Ancient Iran, the homeland of the prophet Zarathustra, and settled along the Volga, where they mixed with local Finno-Ugric tribes, but retained their originality. This version is also confirmed by philology. According to Doctor of Philology, Professor Chernykh, out of 100 Mari words, 35 are Finno-Ugric, 28 Turkic and Indo-Iranian, and the rest are of Slavic origin and other peoples. Having carefully examined the prayer texts of the ancient Mari religion, Professor Chernykh came to an amazing conclusion: the prayer words of the Mari are more than 50% of Indo-Iranian origin. It is in the prayer texts that the proto-language of the modern Mari has been preserved, not influenced by the peoples with whom they had contact in later periods.

Externally, the Mari are quite different from other Finno-Ugric peoples. As a rule, they are not very tall, with dark hair and slightly slanted eyes. Mari girls at a young age are very beautiful and they can even often be confused with Russians. However, by the age of forty, most of them become very old and either dry out or become incredibly plump.

The Mari remember themselves under the rule of the Khazars from the 2nd century. - 500 years, then under the rule of the Bulgars for 400 years, 400 years under the Horde. 450 - under Russian principalities. According to ancient predictions, the Mari cannot live under someone for more than 450–500 years. But they will not have an independent state. This cycle of 450–500 years is associated with the passage of a comet.

Before the collapse of the Bulgar Kaganate, namely at the end of the 9th century, the Mari occupied vast areas, and their number was more than a million people. These are the Rostov region, Moscow, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, the territory of modern Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, modern Mari El and the Bashkir lands.

In ancient times, the Mari people were ruled by princes, whom the Mari called Oms. The prince combined the functions of both a military leader and a high priest. The Mari religion considers many of them saints. Holy in Mari - shnui. It takes 77 years for a person to be recognized as a saint. If after this period, when praying to him, healings from illnesses and other miracles occur, then the deceased is recognized as a saint.

Often such holy princes possessed various extraordinary abilities, and were in one person a righteous sage and a warrior merciless to the enemy of his people. After the Mari finally fell under the rule of other tribes, they had no princes. And the religious function is performed by the priest of their religion - karts. The Supreme Kart of all Mari is elected by the council of all Karts and his powers within the framework of his religion are approximately equal to the powers of the patriarch of Orthodox Christians.

Modern Mari live in the territories between 45° and 60° north latitude and 56° and 58° east longitude in several rather closely related groups. The autonomous Republic of Mari El, located along the middle reaches of the Volga, declared itself in its Constitution in 1991 a sovereign state within the Russian Federation. The declaration of sovereignty in the post-Soviet era means adherence to the principle of preserving the uniqueness of the national culture and language. In the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, according to the 1989 census, there were 324,349 residents of Mari nationality. In the neighboring Gorky region, 9 thousand people called themselves Mari, in the Kirov region - 50 thousand people. In addition to the listed places, a significant Mari population lives in Bashkortostan (105,768 people), Tatarstan (20 thousand people), Udmurtia (10 thousand people) and in the Sverdlovsk region (25 thousand people). In some regions of the Russian Federation, the number of scattered, sporadically living Mari reaches 100 thousand people. The Mari are divided into two large dialectal and ethnocultural groups: the mountain Mari and the meadow Mari.

History of the Mari

We are learning more and more fully and better about the vicissitudes of the formation of the Mari people based on the latest archaeological research. In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e., and also at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. e. Among the ethnic groups of the Gorodets and Azelin cultures, one can assume the ancestors of the Mari. The Gorodets culture was autochthonous on the right bank of the Middle Volga region, while the Azelinskaya culture was on the left bank of the Middle Volga, as well as along the course of the Vyatka. These two branches of the ethnogenesis of the Mari people clearly show the double connection of the Mari within the Finno-Ugric tribes. The Gorodets culture for the most part played a role in the formation of the Mordovian ethnic group, but its eastern parts served as the basis for the formation of the mountain Mari ethnic group. The Azelinsk culture can be traced back to the Ananyin archaeological culture, which was previously assigned a dominant role only in the ethnogenesis of the Finno-Permian tribes, although this issue is currently considered by some researchers differently: perhaps the proto-Ugric and ancient Mari tribes were part of the ethnic groups of new archaeological cultures - successors that arose on the site of the collapsed Ananyin culture. The Meadow Mari ethnic group can also be traced back to the traditions of the Ananyin culture.

The Eastern European forest zone has extremely scanty written information about the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples; the writing of these peoples appeared very late, with few exceptions only in the newest historical era. The first mention of the ethnonym “Cheremis” in the form “ts-r-mis” is found in a written source, which dates back to the 10th century, but dates back, in all likelihood, to a time one or two centuries later. According to this source, the Mari were tributaries of the Khazars. Then kari (in the form "cheremisam") mentions composed in. beginning of the 12th century Russian chronicle, calling the place of their settlement the land at the mouth of the Oka. Of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Mari turned out to be most closely associated with the Turkic tribes that moved to the Volga region. These connections are still very strong. Volga Bulgars at the beginning of the 9th century. arrived from Great Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast to the confluence of the Kama and Volga, where they founded Volga Bulgaria. The ruling elite of the Volga Bulgars, taking advantage of the profits from trade, could firmly maintain their power. They traded honey, wax, and furs that came from the Finno-Ugric peoples living nearby. Relations between the Volga Bulgars and various Finno-Ugric tribes of the Middle Volga region were not overshadowed by anything. The empire of the Volga Bulgars was destroyed by Mongol-Tatar conquerors who invaded from the interior regions of Asia in 1236.

Collection of yasak. Reproduction of a painting by G.A. Medvedev

Batu Khan founded a state entity called the Golden Horde in the territories captured and subordinated to them. Its capital until the 1280s. was the city of Bulgar, the former capital of Volga Bulgaria. The Mari were in allied relations with the Golden Horde and the independent Kazan Khanate that subsequently emerged from it. This is evidenced by the fact that the Mari had a stratum that did not pay taxes, but was obliged to perform military service. This class then became one of the most combat-ready military formations among the Tatars. Also, the existence of allied relations is indicated by the use of the Tatar word “el” - “people, empire” to designate the region inhabited by the Mari. Mari still call their native land Mari El.

The annexation of the Mari region to the Russian state was greatly influenced by the contacts of some groups of the Mari population with the Slavic-Russian state formations (Kievan Rus - northeastern Russian principalities and lands - Muscovite Rus) even before the 16th century. There was a significant limiting factor that did not allow the rapid completion of what began in the 12th–13th centuries. the process of becoming part of Rus' is the close and multilateral ties of the Mari with the Turkic states that opposed Russian expansion to the east (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - Ulus Jochi - Kazan Khanate). This intermediate position, as A. Kappeler believes, led to the fact that the Mari, as well as the Mordovians and Udmurts who were in a similar situation, were drawn into neighboring state formations economically and administratively, but at the same time retained their own social elite and their pagan religion .

The inclusion of the Mari lands into Rus' from the very beginning was controversial. Already at the turn of the 11th–12th centuries, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Mari (“Cheremis”) were among the tributaries of the Old Russian princes. It is believed that tributary dependence is the result of military clashes, “torture.” True, there is not even indirect information about the exact date of its establishment. G.S. Lebedev, based on the matrix method, showed that in the catalog of the introductory part of “The Tale of Bygone Years” “Cheremis” and “Mordva” can be combined into one group with all, measure and Muroma according to four main parameters - genealogical, ethnic, political and moral-ethical . This gives some reason to believe that the Mari became tributaries earlier than the rest of the non-Slavic tribes listed by Nestor - “Perm, Pechera, Em” and other “pagans who give tribute to Rus'.”

There is information about the dependence of the Mari on Vladimir Monomakh. According to the “Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land”, “the Cheremis... fought against the great Prince Volodymer.” In the Ipatiev Chronicle, in unison with the pathetic tone of the Lay, it is said that he is “especially terrible at the filthy.” According to B.A. Rybakov, the real reign, the nationalization of North-Eastern Rus' began precisely with Vladimir Monomakh.

However, the testimony of these written sources does not allow us to say that all groups of the Mari population paid tribute to the ancient Russian princes; Most likely, only the Western Mari, who lived near the mouth of the Oka, were drawn into the sphere of influence of Rus'.

The rapid pace of Russian colonization caused opposition from the local Finno-Ugric population, which found support from the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. In 1120, after a series of attacks by the Bulgars on Russian cities in the Volga-Ochye in the second half of the 11th century, a retaliatory series of campaigns began by the Vladimir-Suzdal and allied princes on lands that either belonged to the Bulgar rulers or were simply controlled by them in order to levy tribute from the local population. It is believed that the Russian-Bulgar conflict broke out primarily due to the collection of tribute.

Russian princely squads more than once attacked Mari villages along their route to the rich Bulgarian cities. It is known that in the winter of 1171/72. Boris Zhidislavich's detachment destroyed one large fortified and six small settlements just below the mouth of the Oka, and here even in the 16th century. The Mari population still lived alongside the Mordovians. Moreover, it was under this same date that the Russian fortress of Gorodets Radilov was first mentioned, which was built slightly above the mouth of the Oka on the left bank of the Volga, presumably on the land of the Mari. According to V.A. Kuchkin, Gorodets Radilov became a stronghold military point of North-Eastern Rus' in the Middle Volga and the center of Russian colonization of the local region.

The Slavic-Russians gradually either assimilated or displaced the Mari, forcing them to migrate east. This movement has been traced by archaeologists since about the 8th century. n. e.; the Mari, in turn, came into ethnic contact with the Permian-speaking population of the Volga-Vyatka interfluve (the Mari called them Odo, that is, they were Udmurts). The newcomer ethnic group prevailed in the ethnic competition. In the 9th–11th centuries. The Mari basically completed the development of the Vetluzh-Vyatka interfluve, displacing and partially assimilating the previous population. Numerous legends of the Mari and Udmurts testify that there were armed conflicts, and mutual antipathy continued to exist for quite a long time between representatives of these Finno-Ugric peoples.

As a result of the military campaign of 1218–1220, the conclusion of the Russian-Bulgar peace treaty of 1220 and the founding of Nizhny Novgorod at the mouth of the Oka in 1221 - the easternmost outpost of North-Eastern Rus' - the influence of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria in the Middle Volga region weakened. This created favorable conditions for the Vladimir-Suzdal feudal lords to conquer the Mordovians. Most likely, during the Russian-Mordovian war of 1226–1232. The “Cheremis” of the Oka-Sur interfluve were also involved.

The Russian Tsar presents gifts to the mountain Mari

The expansion of both Russian and Bulgarian feudal lords was also directed into the Unzha and Vetluga basins, which were relatively unsuitable for economic development. The Mari tribes and the eastern part of the Kostroma Meri lived here mainly, between which, as established by archaeologists and linguists, there was a lot in common, which to some extent allows us to speak about the ethnocultural community of the Vetluga Mari and the Kostroma Merya. In 1218, the Bulgars attacked Ustyug and Unzha; under 1237, another Russian city in the Volga region was mentioned for the first time - Galich Mersky. Apparently, there was a struggle here for the Sukhon-Vychegda trade and fishing route and for collecting tribute from the local population, in particular the Mari. Russian domination was established here too.

In addition to the western and northwestern periphery of the Mari lands, Russians from approximately the turn of the 12th–13th centuries. They also began to develop the northern outskirts - the upper reaches of the Vyatka, where, in addition to the Mari, the Udmurts also lived.

The development of the Mari lands was most likely carried out not only by force and military methods. There are such types of “cooperation” between Russian princes and the national nobility as “equal” matrimonial unions, company of companies, complicity, hostage-taking, bribery, and “doubling.” It is possible that a number of these methods were also used against representatives of the Mari social elite.

If in the 10th–11th centuries, as archaeologist E.P. Kazakov points out, there was “a certain commonality of Bulgar and Volga-Mari monuments,” then over the next two centuries the ethnographic appearance of the Mari population - especially in Povetluzhye - became different. The Slavic and Slavic-Merian components have significantly strengthened in it.

Facts show that the degree of inclusion of the Mari population in Russian state formations in the pre-Mongol period was quite high.

The situation changed in the 30s and 40s. XIII century as a result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. However, this did not at all lead to the cessation of the growth of Russian influence in the Volga-Kama region. Small independent Russian state formations appeared around urban centers - princely residences, founded during the period of the existence of the united Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'. These are the Galician (appeared around 1247), Kostroma (approximately in the 50s of the 13th century) and Gorodets (between 1269 and 1282) principalities; At the same time, the influence of the Vyatka Land grew, turning into a special state entity with veche traditions. In the second half of the 14th century. The Vyatchans had already firmly established themselves in the Middle Vyatka and in the Pizhma basin, displacing the Mari and Udmurts from here.

In the 60–70s. XIV century Feudal unrest ensued in the horde, which temporarily weakened its military and political power. This was successfully used by the Russian princes, who sought to break out of dependence on the khan's administration and increase their possessions at the expense of the peripheral regions of the empire.

The most notable successes were achieved by the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Principality, the successor to the Principality of Gorodetsky. The first Nizhny Novgorod prince Konstantin Vasilyevich (1341–1355) “commanded the Russian people to settle along the Oka and Volga and Kuma rivers... wherever anyone wanted,” that is, he began to sanction the colonization of the Oka-Sur interfluve. And in 1372, his son Prince Boris Konstantinovich founded the Kurmysh fortress on the left bank of the Sura, thereby establishing control over the local population - mainly Mordvins and Mari.

Soon, the possessions of the Nizhny Novgorod princes began to appear on the right bank of the Sura (in Zasurye), where the mountain Mari and Chuvash lived. By the end of the 14th century. Russian influence in the Sura basin increased so much that representatives of the local population began to warn the Russian princes about the upcoming invasions of the Golden Horde troops.

Frequent attacks by ushkuiniks played a significant role in strengthening anti-Russian sentiments among the Mari population. The most sensitive for the Mari, apparently, were the raids carried out by Russian river robbers in 1374, when they ravaged villages along the Vyatka, Kama, Volga (from the mouth of the Kama to the Sura) and Vetluga.

In 1391, as a result of Bektut’s campaign, the Vyatka Land, which was considered the refuge of the Ushkuiniki, was devastated. However, already in 1392 the Vyatchans plundered the Bulgar cities of Kazan and Zhukotin (Dzhuketau).

According to the “Vetluga Chronicler”, in 1394, “Uzbeks” appeared in the Vetluga region - nomadic warriors from the eastern half of the Jochi Ulus, who “took people for the army and took them along the Vetluga and Volga near Kazan to Tokhtamysh.” And in 1396, Tokhtamysh’s protege Keldibek was elected kuguz.

As a result of a large-scale war between Tokhtamysh and Timur Tamerlane, the Golden Horde Empire was significantly weakened, many Bulgar cities were devastated, and its surviving inhabitants began to move to the right side of the Kama and Volga - away from the dangerous steppe and forest-steppe zone; in the area of ​​Kazanka and Sviyaga, the Bulgarian population came into close contact with the Mari.

In 1399, the appanage prince Yuri Dmitrievich took the cities of Bulgar, Kazan, Kermenchuk, Zhukotin, the chronicles indicate that “no one remembers only that far away Rus' fought the Tatar land.” Apparently, at the same time the Galich prince conquered the Vetluzh region - the Vetluzh chronicler reports about this. Kuguz Keldibek admitted his dependence on the leaders of the Vyatka Land, concluding a military alliance with them. In 1415, the Vetluzhans and Vyatchans made a joint campaign against the Northern Dvina. In 1425, the Vetluga Mari became part of the many-thousand-strong militia of the Galich appanage prince, who began an open struggle for the grand-ducal throne.

In 1429, Keldibek took part in the campaign of the Bulgaro-Tatar troops led by Alibek to Galich and Kostroma. In response to this, in 1431, Vasily II took severe punitive measures against the Bulgars, who had already suffered seriously from a terrible famine and plague epidemic. In 1433 (or 1434), Vasily Kosoy, who received Galich after the death of Yuri Dmitrievich, physically eliminated the kuguz Keldibek and annexed the Vetluzh kuguzdom to his inheritance.

The Mari population also had to experience the religious and ideological expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church. The pagan Mari population, as a rule, negatively perceived attempts to Christianize them, although there were also opposite examples. In particular, the Kazhirovsky and Vetluzhsky chroniclers report that the Kuguz Kodzha-Eraltem, Kai, Bai-Boroda, their relatives and associates adopted Christianity and allowed the construction of churches on the territory they controlled.

Among the Privetluzh Mari population, a version of the Kitezh legend became widespread: supposedly the Mari, who did not want to submit to the “Russian princes and priests,” buried themselves alive right on the shore of Svetloyar, and subsequently, together with the earth that collapsed on them, slid to the bottom of a deep lake. The following record has been preserved, made in the 19th century: “Among the Svetloyarsk pilgrims you can always find two or three Mari women dressed in sharpan, without any signs of Russification.”

By the time of the emergence of the Kazan Khanate, the Mari of the following regions were involved in the sphere of influence of Russian state formations: the right bank of the Sura - a significant part of the mountain Mari (this can also include the Oka-Sura “Cheremis”), Povetluzhie - northwestern Mari, the Pizhma River basin and the Middle Vyatka - northern part of meadow mari. Less affected by Russian influence were the Kokshai Mari, the population of the Ileti River basin, the northeastern part of the modern territory of the Republic of Mari El, as well as the Lower Vyatka, that is, the main part of the meadow Mari.

The territorial expansion of the Kazan Khanate was carried out in the western and northern directions. Sura became the southwestern border with Russia; accordingly, Zasurye was completely under the control of Kazan. During 1439-1441, judging by the Vetluga chronicler, Mari and Tatar warriors destroyed all Russian settlements on the territory of the former Vetluga region, and Kazan “governors” began to rule the Vetluga Mari. Both Vyatka Land and Perm the Great soon found themselves in tributary dependence on the Kazan Khanate.

In the 50s XV century Moscow managed to subjugate the Vyatka Land and part of Povetluga; soon, in 1461–1462. Russian troops even entered into a direct armed conflict with the Kazan Khanate, during which the Mari lands on the left bank of the Volga mainly suffered.

In the winter of 1467/68. an attempt was made to eliminate or weaken Kazan's allies - the Mari. For this purpose, two trips to Cheremis were organized. The first, main group, which consisted mainly of selected troops - the “court of the great prince’s regiment” - attacked the left bank Mari. According to the chronicles, “the army of the Grand Duke came to the land of Cheremis, and did much evil to that land: they cut people off, took some into captivity, and burned others; and their horses and every animal that could not be taken with them was cut up; and what was in their bellies, he took everything.” The second group, which included soldiers recruited in the Murom and Nizhny Novgorod lands, “conquered the mountains and barats” along the Volga. However, even this did not prevent the Kazan people, including, most likely, the Mari warriors, already in the winter-summer of 1468 from destroying Kichmenga with adjacent villages (the upper reaches of the Unzha and Yug rivers), as well as the Kostroma volosts and, twice in a row, the outskirts of Murom. Parity was established in punitive actions, which most likely had little effect on the state of the armed forces of the opposing sides. The matter came down mainly to robberies, mass destruction, and the capture of civilians - Mari, Chuvash, Russians, Mordovians, etc.

In the summer of 1468, Russian troops resumed their raids on the uluses of the Kazan Khanate. And this time it was mainly the Mari population that suffered. The rook army, led by governor Ivan Run, “fought Cheremis on the Vyatka River,” plundered villages and merchant ships on the Lower Kama, then rose up to the Belaya River (“Belaya Volozhka”), where the Russians again “fought Cheremis, and killed people and horses and every kind of animal." From local residents they learned that nearby, up the Kama, a detachment of 200 Kazan warriors was moving on ships taken from the Mari. As a result of a short battle, this detachment was defeated. The Russians then followed “to Great Perm and to Ustyug” and further to Moscow. Almost at the same time, another Russian army (“outpost”), led by Prince Fyodor Khripun-Ryapolovsky, was operating on the Volga. Not far from Kazan, it “beat the Kazan Tatars, the court of the kings, many good ones.” However, even in such a critical situation for themselves, the Kazan team did not abandon active offensive actions. By introducing their troops into the territory of the Vyatka Land, they persuaded the Vyatchans to neutrality.

In the Middle Ages, there were usually no clearly defined boundaries between states. This also applies to the Kazan Khanate and neighboring countries. From the west and north, the territory of the Khanate adjoined the borders of the Russian state, from the east - the Nogai Horde, from the south - the Astrakhan Khanate and from the southwest - the Crimean Khanate. The border between the Kazan Khanate and the Russian state along the Sura River was relatively stable; further, it can be determined only conditionally according to the principle of payment of yasak by the population: from the mouth of the Sura River through the Vetluga basin to Pizhma, then from the mouth of Pizhma to the Middle Kama, including some areas of the Urals, then back to the Volga River along the left bank of the Kama, without going deep into the steppe, down the Volga approximately to the Samara Luka, and finally to the upper reaches of the same Sura River.

In addition to the Bulgaro-Tatar population (Kazan Tatars) on the territory of the Khanate, according to information from A.M. Kurbsky, there were also Mari (“Cheremis”), southern Udmurts (“Votiaks”, “Ars”), Chuvash, Mordovians (mostly Erzya), and Western Bashkirs. Mari in sources of the 15th–16th centuries. and in general in the Middle Ages they were known under the name “Cheremis”, the etymology of which has not yet been clarified. At the same time, this ethnonym in a number of cases (this is especially typical for the Kazan Chronicler) could include not only the Mari, but also the Chuvash and southern Udmurts. Therefore, it is quite difficult to determine, even in approximate outlines, the territory of settlement of the Mari during the existence of the Kazan Khanate.

A number of fairly reliable sources of the 16th century. - testimonies of S. Herberstein, spiritual letters of Ivan III and Ivan IV, the Royal Book - indicate the presence of Mari in the Oka-Sur interfluve, that is, in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Arzamas, Kurmysh, Alatyr. This information is confirmed by folklore material, as well as toponymy of this territory. It is noteworthy that until recently among the local Mordvins, who professed a pagan religion, the personal name Cheremis was widespread.

The Unzhensko-Vetluga interfluve was also inhabited by the Mari; This is evidenced by written sources, toponymy of the region, and folklore material. There were probably also groups of Meri here. The northern border is the upper reaches of the Unzha, Vetluga, the Pizhma basin, and the Middle Vyatka. Here the Mari came into contact with the Russians, Udmurts and Karin Tatars.

The eastern limits can be limited to the lower reaches of the Vyatka, but separately - “700 versts from Kazan” - in the Urals there already existed a small ethnic group of Eastern Mari; chroniclers recorded it in the area of ​​the mouth of the Belaya River back in the middle of the 15th century.

Apparently, the Mari, together with the Bulgaro-Tatar population, lived in the upper reaches of the Kazanka and Mesha rivers, on the Arsk side. But, most likely, they were a minority here and, moreover, most likely, they gradually became Tatarized.

Apparently, a considerable part of the Mari population occupied the territory of the northern and western parts of the present Chuvash Republic.

The disappearance of the continuous Mari population in the northern and western parts of the current territory of the Chuvash Republic can to some extent be explained by the devastating wars in the 15th–16th centuries, from which the Mountain Side suffered more than Lugovaya (in addition to the incursions of Russian troops, the right bank was also subject to numerous raids by steppe warriors) . This circumstance apparently caused an outflow of some of the mountain Mari to the Lugovaya Side.

The number of Mari by the 17th–18th centuries. ranged from 70 to 120 thousand people.

The right bank of the Volga had the highest population density, then the area east of M. Kokshaga, and the least was the area of ​​settlement of the northwestern Mari, especially the swampy Volga-Vetluzhskaya lowland and the Mari lowland (the space between the Linda and B. Kokshaga rivers).

Exclusively all lands were legally considered the property of the khan, who personified the state. Having declared himself the supreme owner, the khan demanded rent in kind and cash rent - a tax (yasak) - for the use of the land.

The Mari - nobility and ordinary community members - like other non-Tatar peoples of the Kazan Khanate, although they were included in the category of dependent population, were actually personally free people.

According to the findings of K.I. Kozlova, in the 16th century. Among the Mari, druzhina, military-democratic orders prevailed, that is, the Mari were at the stage of formation of their statehood. The emergence and development of their own state structures was hampered by dependence on the khan's administration.

The socio-political system of medieval Mari society is reflected in written sources rather poorly.

It is known that the main unit of Mari society was the family (“esh”); Most likely, “large families” were most widespread, consisting, as a rule, of 3–4 generations of close relatives in the male line. The property stratification between patriarchal families was clearly visible back in the 9th–11th centuries. Parcel labor flourished, which mainly extended to non-agricultural activities (cattle breeding, fur trading, metallurgy, blacksmithing, jewelry). There were close ties between neighboring family groups, primarily economic, but not always consanguineous. Economic ties were expressed in various kinds of mutual “help” (“vyma”), that is, mandatory related gratuitous mutual assistance. In general, the Mari in the 15th–16th centuries. experienced a unique period of proto-feudal relations, when, on the one hand, individual family property was allocated within the framework of a land-kinship union (neighborhood community), and on the other, the class structure of society did not acquire its clear outlines.

Mari patriarchal families, apparently, united into patronymic groups (Nasyl, Tukym, Urlyk; according to V.N. Petrov - Urmatians and Vurteks), and those - into larger land unions - Tishte. Their unity was based on the principle of neighborhood, on a common cult, and to a lesser extent on economic ties, and even more so on consanguinity. Tishte were, among other things, unions of mutual military assistance. Perhaps the Tishte were territorially compatible with the hundreds, uluses and fifties of the Kazan Khanate period. In any case, the tithe-hundred and ulus system of administration, imposed from outside as a result of the establishment of Mongol-Tatar domination, as is generally believed, did not conflict with the traditional territorial organization of the Mari.

Hundreds, uluses, fifties and tens were led by centurions (“shudovuy”), pentecostals (“vitlevuy”), foremen (“luvuy”). In the 15th–16th centuries, most likely, they did not have time to break with the rule of people, and, according to K.I. Kozlova, “these were either ordinary elders of land unions, or military leaders of larger associations such as tribal ones.” Perhaps the representatives of the top of the Mari nobility continued to be called, according to the ancient tradition, “kugyza”, “kuguz” (“great master”), “on” (“leader”, “prince”, “lord”). In the social life of the Mari, elders - “kuguraki” - also played a major role. For example, even Tokhtamysh’s protege Keldibek could not become a Vetluga kuguz without the consent of the local elders. The Mari elders are also mentioned as a special social group in the Kazan History.

All groups of the Mari population took an active part in military campaigns against Russian lands, which became more frequent under Girey. This is explained, on the one hand, by the dependent position of the Mari within the Khanate, on the other hand, by the peculiarities of the stage of social development (military democracy), by the interest of the Mari warriors themselves in obtaining military booty, in the desire to prevent Russian military-political expansion, and other motives. During the last period of the Russian-Kazan confrontation (1521–1552) in 1521–1522 and 1534–1544. the initiative belonged to Kazan, which, at the instigation of the Crimean-Nogai government group, sought to restore the vassal dependence of Moscow, as it was during the Golden Horde period. But already under Vasily III, in the 1520s, the task was set of the final annexation of the Khanate to Russia. However, this was achieved only with the capture of Kazan in 1552, under Ivan the Terrible. Apparently, the reasons for the annexation of the Middle Volga region and, accordingly, the Mari region to the Russian state were: 1) a new, imperial type of political consciousness of the top leadership of the Moscow state, the struggle for the “Golden Horde” inheritance and failures in the previous practice of attempts to establish and maintain a protectorate over Kazan khanate, 2) interests of state defense, 3) economic reasons (lands for the local nobility, the Volga for the Russian merchants and fishermen, new taxpayers for the Russian government and other plans for the future).

After the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the course of events in the Middle Volga region, Moscow was faced with a powerful liberation movement, which involved both former subjects of the liquidated Khanate who managed to swear allegiance to Ivan IV, and the population of peripheral regions who did not take the oath. The Moscow government had to solve the problem of preserving what was won not according to a peaceful, but according to a bloody scenario.

The anti-Moscow armed uprisings of the peoples of the Middle Volga region after the fall of Kazan are usually called the Cheremis Wars, since the Mari (Cheremis) were most active in them. The earliest mention among the sources available in scientific circulation is an expression close to the term “Cheremis war”, found in the quitrent letter of Ivan IV to D.F. Chelishchev for rivers and lands in the Vyatka land dated April 3, 1558, where, in particular, it is stated that the owners of the Kishkil and Shizhma rivers (near the city of Kotelnich) “in those rivers... did not catch fish and beavers for the Kazan Cheremis war and did not pay rent.”

Cheremis War 1552–1557 differs from the subsequent Cheremis wars of the second half of the 16th century, not so much because it was the first of this series of wars, but because it was in the nature of a national liberation struggle and did not have a noticeable anti-feudal orientation. Moreover, the anti-Moscow insurgent movement in the Middle Volga region in 1552–1557. is, in essence, a continuation of the Kazan War, and the main goal of its participants was the restoration of the Kazan Khanate.

Apparently, for the bulk of the left-bank Mari population, this war was not an uprising, since only representatives of the Prikazan Mari recognized their new citizenship. In fact, in 1552–1557. the majority of the Mari waged an external war against the Russian state and, together with the rest of the population of the Kazan region, defended their freedom and independence.

All waves of the resistance movement died out as a result of large-scale punitive operations by the troops of Ivan IV. In a number of episodes, the insurgency developed into a form of civil war and class struggle, but the struggle for the liberation of the homeland remained the character-forming one. The resistance movement ceased due to several factors: 1) continuous armed clashes with the tsarist troops, which brought countless casualties and destruction to the local population, 2) mass famine, a plague epidemic that came from the Volga steppes, 3) the meadow Mari lost support from their former allies - the Tatars and southern Udmurts. In May 1557, representatives of almost all groups of Meadow and Eastern Mari took an oath to the Russian Tsar. Thus the annexation of the Mari region to the Russian state was completed.

The significance of the annexation of the Mari region to the Russian state cannot be defined as clearly negative or positive. Both negative and positive consequences of the Mari’s entry into the Russian state system, closely intertwined with each other, began to manifest themselves in almost all spheres of social development (political, economic, social, cultural and others). Perhaps the main result for today is that the Mari people have survived as an ethnic group and have become an organic part of multinational Russia.

The final entry of the Mari region into Russia occurred after 1557, as a result of the suppression of the people's liberation and anti-feudal movement in the Middle Volga region and the Urals. The process of gradual entry of the Mari region into the system of Russian statehood lasted hundreds of years: during the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion it slowed down, during the years of feudal unrest that engulfed the Golden Horde in the second half of the 14th century, it accelerated, and as a result of the emergence of the Kazan Khanate (30-40- e years of the 15th century) stopped for a long time. However, having begun even before the turn of the 11th–12th centuries, the inclusion of the Mari in the system of Russian statehood in the middle of the 16th century. has approached its final phase - direct entry into Russia.

The annexation of the Mari region to the Russian state was part of the general process of formation of the Russian multi-ethnic empire, and it was prepared, first of all, by prerequisites of a political nature. This is, firstly, a long-term confrontation between the state systems of Eastern Europe - on the one hand, Russia, on the other hand, the Turkic states (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - Golden Horde - Kazan Khanate), secondly, the struggle for the “Golden Horde inheritance” in the final stage of this confrontation, thirdly, the emergence and development of imperial consciousness in government circles of Muscovite Rus'. The expansionist policy of the Russian state in the eastern direction was to some extent determined by the tasks of state defense and economic reasons (fertile lands, the Volga trade route, new taxpayers, other projects for the exploitation of local resources).

The Mari economy was adapted to natural and geographical conditions and generally met the requirements of its time. Due to the difficult political situation, it was largely militarized. True, the peculiarities of the socio-political system also played a role here. The medieval Mari, despite the noticeable local characteristics of the ethnic groups that existed at that time, generally experienced a transitional period of social development from tribal to feudal (military democracy). Relations with the central government were built primarily on a confederal basis.

Beliefs

The Mari traditional religion is based on faith in the forces of nature, which man must honor and respect. Before the spread of monotheistic teachings, the Mari revered many gods known as Yumo, while recognizing the primacy of the Supreme God (Kugu Yumo). In the 19th century, the image of the One God Tun Osh Kugu Yumo (One Bright Great God) was revived.

The Mari traditional religion contributes to strengthening the moral foundations of society, achieving interfaith and interethnic peace and harmony.

Unlike monotheistic religions created by one or another founder and his followers, the Mari traditional religion was formed on the basis of an ancient folk worldview, including religious and mythological ideas associated with man’s relationship to the surrounding nature and its elemental forces, the veneration of ancestors and patrons of agricultural activities. The formation and development of the traditional religion of the Mari was influenced by the religious views of the neighboring peoples of the Volga and Urals regions, as well as the fundamental doctrines of Islam and Orthodoxy.

Admirers of the traditional Mari religion recognize the One God Tyn Osh Kugu Yumo and his nine assistants (manifestations), read a prayer three times daily, take part in collective or family prayer once a year, and conduct family prayer with sacrifice at least seven times during their lives, They regularly hold traditional commemorations in honor of their deceased ancestors, and observe Mari holidays, customs and rituals.

Before the spread of monotheistic teachings, the Mari revered many gods known as Yumo, while recognizing the primacy of the Supreme God (Kugu Yumo). In the 19th century, the image of the One God Tun Osh Kugu Yumo (One Bright Great God) was revived. The One God (God - Universe) is considered to be the eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnirighteous God. He manifests himself in both material and spiritual guise, appearing in the form of nine deity-persons. These deities can be divided into three groups, each of which is responsible for:

Calmness, prosperity and empowerment of all living things - the god of the bright world (Tunya yumo), the life-giving god (Ilyan yumo), the deity of creative energy (Agavairem yumo);

Mercy, righteousness and harmony: the god of fate and predestination of life (Pursho yumo), the all-merciful god (Kugu Serlagysh yumo), the god of harmony and reconciliation (Mer yumo);

All-goodness, rebirth and inexhaustibility of life: the goddess of birth (Shochyn Ava), the goddess of the earth (Mlande Ava) and the goddess of abundance (Perke Ava).

The Universe, the world, the cosmos in the spiritual understanding of the Mari are presented as a continuously developing, spiritualizing and transforming system from century to century, from era to era, a system of diverse worlds, spiritual and material natural forces, natural phenomena, steadily striving towards its spiritual goal - unity with the Universal God , maintaining an inextricable physical and spiritual connection with the cosmos, the world, and nature.

Tun Osh Kugu Yumo is an endless source of being. Like the universe, the One Light Great God is constantly changing, developing, improving, involving the entire universe, the entire surrounding world, including humanity itself, in these changes. From time to time, every 22 thousand years, and sometimes earlier, by the will of God, the destruction of some part of the old and the creation of a new world occurs, accompanied by a complete renewal of life on earth.

The last creation of the world occurred 7512 years ago. After each new creation of the world, life on earth improves qualitatively, and humanity changes for the better. With the development of humanity, there is an expansion of human consciousness, the boundaries of world- and God-perception are expanded, the possibility of enriching knowledge about the universe, the world, objects and phenomena of the surrounding nature, about man and his essence, about ways to improve human life is facilitated.

All this ultimately led to the formation of a false idea among people about the omnipotence of man and his independence from God. Changing value priorities and abandoning the divinely established principles of community life required divine intervention in people's lives through suggestions, revelations, and sometimes punishments. In the interpretation of the foundations of knowledge of God and understanding of the world, holy and righteous people, prophets and God's chosen ones began to play an important role, who in the traditional beliefs of the Mari are revered as elders - ground deities. Having the opportunity to periodically communicate with God and receive His revelation, they became conductors of invaluable knowledge for human society. However, they often communicated not only the words of revelation, but also their own figurative interpretation of them. The divine information obtained in this way became the basis for the emerging ethnic (folk), state and world religions. There was also a rethinking of the image of the One God of the Universe, and the feelings of connectedness and direct dependence of people on Him were gradually smoothed out. A disrespectful, utilitarian-economic attitude towards nature or, conversely, reverent veneration of elemental forces and natural phenomena, represented in the form of independent deities and spirits, was affirmed.

Among the Mari, echoes of a dualistic worldview have been preserved, in which an important place was occupied by faith in the deities of forces and natural phenomena, in the animation and spirituality of the surrounding world and the existence in them of a rational, independent, materialized being - the owner - a double (vodyzh), soul (chon, ort) , spiritual hypostasis (shyrt). However, the Mari believed that the deities, everything around the world and man himself are part of the one God (Tun Yumo), his image.

Nature deities in popular beliefs, with rare exceptions, were not endowed with anthropomorphic features. The Mari understood the importance of man's active participation in the affairs of God, aimed at preserving and developing the surrounding nature, and constantly sought to involve the gods in the process of spiritual ennoblement and harmonization of everyday life. Some leaders of Mari traditional rituals, possessing heightened inner vision and the effort of their will, were able to receive spiritual enlightenment and restore the image of the forgotten one God Tun Yumo at the beginning of the 19th century.

One God - the Universe embraces all living things and the whole world, expresses itself in revered nature. The living nature closest to man is his image, but not God himself. A person is able to form only a general idea of ​​the Universe or its part, on the basis and with the help of faith, having cognized it in himself, experiencing a living sensation of the divine incomprehensible reality, passing through his own “I” the world of spiritual beings. However, it is impossible to fully understand Tun Osh Kugu Yumo - the absolute truth. The Mari traditional religion, like all religions, has only approximate knowledge of God. Only the wisdom of the Omniscient embraces the entire sum of truths within itself.

The Mari religion, being more ancient, turned out to be closer to God and absolute truth. There is little influence of subjective aspects in it, it has undergone less social modification. Taking into account the perseverance and patience in preserving the ancient religion transmitted by the ancestors, dedication in observing customs and rituals, Tun Osh Kugu Yumo helped the Mari preserve true religious ideas, protected them from erosion and thoughtless changes under the influence of all kinds of innovations. This allowed the Mari to maintain their unity, national identity, survive under the conditions of social and political oppression of the Khazar Khaganate, Volga Bulgaria, the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the Kazan Khanate and defend their religious cults during the years of active missionary propaganda in the 18th–19th centuries.

The Mari are distinguished not only by their divinity, but also by their kind-heartedness, responsiveness and openness, their readiness to come to the aid of each other and those in need at any time. The Mari are at the same time a freedom-loving people who love justice in everything, accustomed to living a calm, measured life, like the nature around us.

The traditional Mari religion directly influences the formation of the personality of each person. The creation of the world, as well as man, is carried out on the basis and under the influence of the spiritual principles of the One God. Man is an inextricable part of the Cosmos, grows and develops under the influence of the same cosmic laws, is endowed with the image of God, in him, as in all of Nature, the physical and divine principles are combined, and kinship with nature is manifested.

The life of every child, long before his birth, begins in the celestial zone of the Universe. Initially, it does not have an anthropomorphic form. God sends life to earth in materialized form. Together with man, his angels-spirits - patrons - develop, represented in the image of the deity Vuyymbal yumo, the bodily soul (chon, ya?) and doubles - figurative incarnations of man ort and syrt.

All people equally possess human dignity, strength of mind and freedom, human virtue, and contain within themselves the entire qualitative completeness of the world. A person is given the opportunity to regulate his feelings, control his behavior, realize his position in the world, lead an ennobled lifestyle, actively create and create, take care of the higher parts of the Universe, protect the animal and plant world, the surrounding nature from extinction.

Being a rational part of the Cosmos, man, like the constantly improving one God, in the name of his self-preservation is forced to constantly work on self-improvement. Guided by the dictates of conscience (ar), correlating his actions and deeds with the surrounding nature, achieving the unity of his thoughts with the co-creation of material and spiritual cosmic principles, man, as a worthy owner of his land, with his tireless daily work, inexhaustible creativity, strengthens and zealously runs his farm, ennobles the world around him, thereby improving himself. This is the meaning and purpose of human life.

Fulfilling his destiny, a person reveals his spiritual essence and ascends to new levels of existence. Through self-improvement and the fulfillment of a predetermined goal, a person improves the world and achieves the inner beauty of the soul. The traditional religion of the Mari teaches that for such activities a person receives a worthy reward: he greatly facilitates his life in this world and his fate in the afterlife. For a righteous life, deities can endow a person with an additional guardian angel, that is, they can confirm the existence of a person in God, thereby ensuring the ability to contemplate and experience God, the harmony of divine energy (shulyk) and the human soul.

A person is free to choose his actions and actions. He can lead his life both in the direction of God, the harmonization of his efforts and aspirations of the soul, and in the opposite, destructive direction. A person’s choice is predetermined not only by divine or human will, but also by the intervention of the forces of evil.

The right choice in any life situation can be made only by knowing yourself, balancing your life, everyday affairs and actions with the Universe - the One God. Having such a spiritual guideline, a believer becomes a true master of his life, gains independence and spiritual freedom, calmness, confidence, insight, prudence and measured feelings, steadfastness and perseverance in achieving his goal. He is not disturbed by life's adversities, social vices, envy, selfishness, selfishness, or the desire for self-affirmation in the eyes of others. Being truly free, a person gains prosperity, peace of mind, a reasonable life, and protects himself from any encroachment by ill-wishers and evil forces. He will not be frightened by the dark tragic sides of material existence, the bonds of inhuman torment and suffering, or hidden dangers. They will not prevent him from continuing to love the world, earthly existence, rejoicing and admiring the beauty of nature and culture.

In everyday life, believers of the traditional Mari religion adhere to such principles as:

Constant self-improvement by strengthening the inextricable connection with God, his regular involvement in all the most important events in life and active participation in divine affairs;

Aiming at ennobling the surrounding world and social relations, strengthening human health through the constant search and acquisition of divine energy in the process of creative work;

Harmonization of relations in society, strengthening collectivism and cohesion, mutual support and unity in upholding religious ideals and traditions;

Unanimous support of your spiritual mentors;

The obligation to preserve and pass on to subsequent generations the best achievements: progressive ideas, exemplary products, elite varieties of grain and livestock breeds, etc.

The traditional religion of the Mari considers all manifestations of life to be the main value in this world and calls for the sake of preserving it to show mercy even towards wild animals and criminals. Kindness, good-heartedness, harmony in relationships (mutual assistance, mutual respect and support for friendly relations), respect for nature, self-sufficiency and self-restraint in the use of natural resources, the pursuit of knowledge are also considered important values ​​in the life of society and in regulating the relationship of believers with God.

In public life, the traditional Mari religion strives to maintain and improve social harmony.

The Mari traditional religion unites believers of the ancient Mari (Chimari) faith, admirers of traditional beliefs and rituals who have been baptized and attend church services (marla faith) and adherents of the “Kugu Sorta” religious sect. These ethno-confessional differences were formed under the influence and as a result of the spread of the Orthodox religion in the region. The religious sect “Kugu Sorta” took shape in the second half of the 19th century. Certain inconsistencies in beliefs and ritual practices that exist between religious groups do not play a significant impact in the daily life of the Mari. These forms of traditional Mari religion form the basis of the spiritual values ​​of the Mari people.

The religious life of adherents of the traditional Mari religion takes place within the village community, one or more village councils (lay community). All Mari can take part in all-Mari prayers with sacrifice, thereby forming a temporary religious community of the Mari people (national community).

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Mari traditional religion acted as the only social institution for the cohesion and unity of the Mari people, strengthening their national identity, and establishing a unique national culture. At the same time, folk religion never called for artificially separating peoples, did not provoke confrontation and confrontation between them, and did not assert the exclusivity of any people.

The current generation of believers, recognizing the cult of the One God of the Universe, is convinced that this God can be worshiped by all people, representatives of any nationality. Therefore, they consider it possible to attach to their faith any person who believes in his omnipotence.

Any person, regardless of nationality and religion, is part of the Cosmos, the Universal God. In this respect, all people are equal and worthy of respect and fair treatment. The Mari have always been distinguished by religious tolerance and respect for the religious feelings of people of other faiths. They believed that the religion of every people has the right to exist and is worthy of reverence, since all religious rites are aimed at ennobling earthly life, improving its quality, expanding the capabilities of people and contributing to the introduction of divine powers and divine mercy to everyday needs.

A clear evidence of this is the lifestyle of adherents of the ethno-confessional group “Marla Vera”, who observe both traditional customs and rituals and Orthodox cults, visit temples, chapels and Mari sacred groves. They often conduct traditional prayers with sacrifices in front of an Orthodox icon specially brought for this occasion.

Admirers of the Mari traditional religion, respecting the rights and freedoms of representatives of other faiths, expect the same respectful attitude towards themselves and their religious actions. They believe that the worship of the One God - the Universe in our time is very timely and quite attractive for the modern generation of people interested in spreading the environmental movement and preserving pristine nature.

The traditional religion of the Mari, including in its worldview and practice the positive experience of centuries of history, sets as its immediate goals the establishment of truly fraternal relations in society and the education of a person of an ennobled image, protects itself with righteousness and devotion to a common cause. It will continue to defend the rights and interests of its believers, protect their honor and dignity from any encroachment on the basis of the legislation adopted in the country.

Admirers of the Mari religion consider it their civil and religious duty to comply with the legal norms and laws of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Mari El.

The traditional Mari religion sets itself the spiritual and historical tasks of uniting the efforts of believers to protect their vital interests, the nature around us, the animal and plant world, as well as achieving material wealth, everyday well-being, moral regulation and a high cultural level of relations between people.

Sacrifices

In the seething Universal cauldron of life, human life proceeds under the vigilant supervision and with the direct participation of God (Tun Osh Kugu Yumo) and his nine hypostases (manifestations), personifying his inherent intelligence, energy and material wealth. Therefore, a person should not only reverently believe in Him, but also deeply reverence, strive to receive His mercy, goodness and protection (serlagysh), thereby enriching himself and the world around him with vital energy (shulyk), material wealth (perke). A reliable means of achieving all this is the regular holding of family and public (village, lay and all-Mary) prayers (kumaltysh) in sacred groves with sacrifices to God and his deities of domestic animals and birds.

The people got their name from the adapted Mari “mari” or “mari”, which in Russian translation means “man” or “person”. The population, according to the 2010 census, is approximately 550,000 people. Mari are an ancient people whose history dates back more than three thousand years. Now living, for the most part, in the Republic of Mari El, part of the Russian Federation. Also, representatives of the Mari ethnic group live in the republics of Udmurtia, Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Sverdlovsk, Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod and other regions of the Russian Federation. Despite the rough process of assimilation, the indigenous Mari, in some remote settlements, managed to preserve their original language, beliefs, traditions, rituals, clothing style and way of life.

Mari people of the Middle Urals (Sverdlovsk region)

The Mari, as an ethnic group, belong to the Finno-Ugric tribes, which, even in the early Iron Age, lived along the floodplains of the Vetluga and Volga rivers. One thousand years BC. The Mari built their settlements in the Volga interfluve. And the river itself got its name precisely thanks to the Mari tribes who lived along its banks, since the word “Volgaltesh” means “brilliance”, “brilliant”. As for the indigenous Mari language, it is divided into three language dialects, determined by the topographic area of ​​residence. The groups of adverbs are named, in turn, as are the speakers of each dialect variant, as follows: Olyk Mari (Meadow Mari), Kuryk Mari (Mountain Mari), Bashkir Mari (Eastern Mari). In fairness, it is necessary to make a reservation that the speech is not too different from each other. Knowing one of the dialects, you can understand the others.

Before IX, the Mari people lived on fairly vast lands. These were not only the modern Republic of Mari El and the present Nizhny Novgorod, but the lands of Rostov and the present Moscow Region. However, just as nothing lasts forever, the independent, original history of the Mari tribes suddenly ceased. In the 13th century, with the invasion of the troops of the Golden Horde, the lands of the Volga-Vyatka interfluve fell into the power of the khan. Then the Mari peoples received their second name “Cheremysh”, which was later adopted by the Russians as “Cheremis” and has a designation in the modern dictionary: “man”, “husband”. It is worth immediately clarifying that this word is not used in the current lexicon. The lives of people and the wounded valor of the Mari warriors during the reign of the khan will be discussed a little further in the text. And now a few words about the identity and cultural traditions of the Mari people.

Customs and life

Crafts and farming

When you live near deep rivers and endless forests around you, it is natural that fishing and hunting will occupy an important place in your life. This is how it was among the Mari peoples: hunting animals, fishing, beekeeping (extracting wild honey), then cultivated beekeeping occupied not the least place in their way of life. But agriculture remained the main activity. Primarily agriculture. Cereals were grown: oats, rye, barley, hemp, buckwheat, spelt, flax. Turnips, radishes, onions, and other root vegetables, as well as cabbage, were cultivated in the gardens; later they began to plant potatoes. Gardens were planted in some areas. The tools for cultivating the soil were traditional for that time: plow, hoe, plow, harrow. They kept livestock - horses, cows, sheep. They made dishes and other utensils, usually wooden. They wove fabrics from flax fibers. They harvested timber, from which dwellings were then built.

Residential and non-residential buildings

The houses of the ancient Marias were traditional log buildings. A hut, divided into living and utility rooms, with a gable roof. A stove was placed inside, which served not only for heating in cold weather, but also for cooking. Often a large stove was added for a convenient cooking stove. There were shelves with various utensils on the walls. The furniture was wooden and carved. Artfully embroidered fabric served as curtains for windows and sleeping places. In addition to the residential hut, there were other buildings on the farm. In the summer, when hot days came, the whole family moved to live in a kudo, a kind of analogue of a modern summer dacha. A log house without a ceiling, with an earthen floor, on which, right in the center of the building, there was a fireplace. A cauldron was hung over an open fire. In addition, the economic complex included: a bathhouse, a cage (something like a closed gazebo), a barn, a canopy under which sleighs and carts were located, a cellar and pantry, and a cattle shed.

Food and household items

Bread was the main dish. It was baked from barley, oatmeal, and rye flour. In addition to unleavened bread, they baked pancakes, flatbreads, and pies with various fillings. The unleavened dough was used for dumplings with meat or curd filling, and was also thrown into soup in the form of small balls. This dish was called “lashka”. They made homemade sausages and salted fish. The favorite drinks were puro (strong mead), beer, and buttermilk.

Meadow Mari

They made household items, clothes, shoes, and jewelry themselves. Men and women dressed in shirts, trousers and caftans. In cold weather they wore fur coats and sheepskin coats. Clothes were complemented with belts. Women's wardrobe items were distinguished by rich embroidery, a longer shirt and were complemented by an apron, as well as a robe made of canvas fabric, which was called a shovyr. Of course, women of the Mari nationality loved to decorate their outfits. They wore items made from shells, beads, coins and beads, and intricate headdresses called: magpie (a kind of cap) and scharpan (national scarf). Men's headdresses were felt hats and fur hats. Shoes were made from leather, birch bark, and felted.

Traditions and religion

In traditional Mari beliefs, as in any European pagan culture, the main place was occupied by holidays associated with agricultural activities and the change of seasons. A striking example is Aga payrem - the beginning of the sowing season, the holiday of the plow and plow, Kinde payrem - the harvest, the holiday of new bread and fruits. In the pantheon of gods, Kugu Yumo was considered supreme. There were others: Kava Yumo - the goddess of fate and sky, Wood Ava - the mother of all lakes and rivers, Ilysh Shochyn Ava - the goddess of life and fertility, Kudo Vodyzh - the spirit guarding the house and hearth, Keremet - the evil god who, at special temples in the groves , sacrificed livestock. The religious person who conducted the prayers was a priest, “kart” in the Mari language.

As for marriage traditions, marriages were patrilocal; after a ceremony, the obligatory condition of which was the payment of a bride price, and the girl herself was given a dowry by her parents, which became her personal property, the bride went to live with her husband’s family. During the wedding itself, tables were set and a festive tree - a birch tree - was brought into the yard. The family structure was established as patriarchal; they lived in communities and clans called “Urmat”. However, the families themselves were not too crowded.

Mari priests

While the remnants of family relationships have long been forgotten, many ancient burial traditions have survived to this day. The Mari buried their dead in winter clothes; the body was transported to the graveyard exclusively on sleighs, at any time of the year. On the way, the deceased was supplied with a thorny branch of rose hips in order to ward off dogs and snakes guarding the entrance to the afterlife.
Traditional musical instruments during celebrations, rituals, and ceremonies were the harp, bagpipes, various trumpets and pipes, and drums.

A little about history, the Golden Horde and Ivan the Terrible

As mentioned earlier, the lands on which the Mari tribes originally lived were, in the 13th century, subordinated to the Golden Horde Khan. The Mari became one of the nationalities that were part of the Kazan Khanate and the Golden Horde. There is an excerpt from the chronicle of times, which mentions how the Russians lost a major battle to the Mari, the Cheremis as they were called then. The figures of thirty thousand killed Russian warriors are mentioned and talk about the sinking of almost all of their ships. Also, chronicle sources indicate that at that time the Cheremis were in alliance with the Horde, carrying out raids together as a single army. The Tatars themselves, by the way, keep silent about this historical fact, attributing to themselves all the glory of the conquests.

But, as Russian chronicles say, the Mari warriors were brave and dedicated to their cause. Thus, one of the manuscripts cites an incident that occurred in the 16th century, when the Russian army surrounded Kazan and the Tatar troops suffered crushing losses, and their remnants, led by the khan, fled, leaving the city to be conquered by the Russians. Then it was the Mari army that blocked their path, despite the significant advantage of the Russian army. The Mari, who could easily go into the wild forest, put up an army of 12 thousand people against the 150 thousandth army. They managed to fight back and forced the Russian army to retreat. As a result, negotiations took place, Kazan was saved. However, Tatar historians deliberately remain silent about these facts, when their troops led by their leader shamefully fled, the Cheremis stood up for the Tatar cities.

After Kazan had already been conquered by the Terrible Tsar Ivan IV, the Mari launched a liberation movement. Alas, the Russian Tsar solved the problem in his own spirit - with bloody massacres and terror. The “Cheremis Wars” - an armed uprising against Moscow rule, were so named because it was the Mari who were the organizers and main participants in the riots. In the end, all resistance was brutally suppressed, and the Mari people themselves were slaughtered almost completely. The survivors had no choice but to surrender and take an oath of allegiance to the winner, that is, the Tsar of Moscow.

Today's day

Today, the land of the Mari people is one of the republics that is part of the Russian Federation. Mari El borders on the Kirov and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Chuvashia and Tatarstan. Not only indigenous peoples, but also other nationalities, numbering more than fifty, live on the territory of the republic. The bulk of the population are Mari and Russians.

Recently, with the development of urbanization and assimilation processes, the problem of the extinction of national traditions, culture, and folk language has become acute. Many residents of the republic, being indigenous Mari, abandon their native dialects, preferring to speak exclusively in Russian, even at home, among their relatives. This is a problem not only in large, industrial cities, but also in small, rural settlements. Children do not learn their native speech, and national identity is lost.

Of course, sports are being developed and supported in the republic, competitions are held, orchestra performances are held, writers are awarded, environmental activities are carried out with the participation of young people, and many other useful things are carried out. But against the backdrop of all this, we should not forget about the ancestral roots, the identity of the people and their ethnic and cultural self-identification.