Tatars

The Tatars (/ˈtɑː.tərz/, TAH-tərz) are a group of Turkic speaking peoples found across Eastern Europe and Northern Asia who bear the name "Tatar".

Initially, the ethnonym Tatar possibly referred to the Tatar confederation. That confederation was eventually incorporated into the Mongol Empire when Genghis Khan unified the various steppe tribes. Historically, the term Tatar (or Tartar) was applied by western cartographers to anyone from the vast Northern and Central Asian landmass then known as Tartary, a term that was falsely conflated with the Mongol Empire. More recently, the term has come to refer more narrowly to related ethnic groups who call themselves Tatars.

By far the largest group amongst the Tatars are the Volga Tatars, native to the Volga-Ural region (Tatarstan and Bashkortostan) of European Russia, who for this reason are often also known as Tatars in Russian. They compose 53% of Tatarstan's population. Their language is known as the Tatar language. As of 2010^[update], there were an estimated 5.3 million ethnic Tatars in Russia.

While also speaking languages belonging to different Kipchak sub-groups, genetic studies have shown that the three main groups of Tatars (Volga, Crimean, and Siberian) are apparently unrelated, and thus their formation occurred independently of one another, but it is possible that at least one of the Tatar groups had cultural influence mainly from the times of the Golden Horde.

Many noble families in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire had Tatar origins.

Etymology

The name "Tatar" started as a way to describe groups from the old Golden Horde in Europe, like those in Kazan, Crimea, Astrakhan, Qasim, and Siberia. The word "Tartar" came from Latin or French, passing through Turkish and Persian languages. The extra "r" in "Tartar" likely came from a mix-up with the word "Tartarus."

The Persian word for Tatars was first used in the 1300s to talk about the groups led by Genghis Khan. Its origin is not fully known, but it might come from an older word, "tata." Tatars wrote their name in different ways in their own languages.

Over time, many groups in Siberia and far eastern Russia also started calling themselves Tatars, even if they were not directly related to the original groups. These included the Chulyms, Khakas, Teleut, and Shor peoples. Some experts think these groups picked up the name Tatar later in history.

Languages

Further information: Kipchak languages, Tatar language, and Crimean Tatar language

A long time ago, the Tatars could speak two languages at once. They spoke their own Tatar language and another Turkic language.

Today, the Tatar language is part of a group called the Kypchak-Volga-Ural group. There are two main Tatar dialects: Central and Western. The Western dialect is mainly spoken by Mishärs, while the Central dialect is spoken by Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars. Both of these dialects have smaller versions of themselves, called subdialects.

The Siberian Tatar language is different from the main Tatar language. It has its own dialects that are very different from each other and from the standard Tatar language. People who speak Siberian Tatar often have trouble understanding each other.

Crimean Tatar is the original language of the Crimean Tatar people. Even though it shares the name "Tatar" with the Kazan Tatar language, it is actually more closely related to Kumyk and Karachay-Balkar languages. Some experts believe that Kazan Tatar and Crimean Tatar belong to the same language family.

Contemporary groups and nations

The largest Tatar populations are the Volga Tatars, native to the Idel-Ural region of European Russia, and the Crimean Tatars of Crimea. Smaller groups of Lipka Tatars and Astrakhan Tatars also live in Europe and the Siberian Tatars in Asia.

Volga Tatars

Most Volga Tatars are thought to be descendants of the Kipchaks of the Golden Horde or the Bulgars, who survived the Mongol conquest in the 13th century. They formed the Kazan Khanate in the 15th century, which was later conquered by Russia in the 16th century. Today, Volga Tatars mainly practice Islam and speak the Tatar language, which has many Russian and Arabic loanwords.

Astrakhan Tatars

The Astrakhan Tatars are descendants of the population of the Astrakhan Khanate and live mostly in Astrakhan Oblast. Many Volga Tatars also live in this region, and differences between the two groups have been disappearing.

Lipka Tatars

The Lipka Tatars are a group of Turkic-speaking Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century. They were invited by the Grand Duke Vytautas the Great and granted nobility status. They preserved their Islamic religion and traditions, and over time developed a distinctive Muslim culture that mixed with local customs.

Crimean Tatars

Crimean Tatars are an indigenous people of Crimea. They formed during the 13th to 17th centuries from various groups, including Cumans, Greeks, Scythians, and Goths. They mostly adopted Islam in the 14th century and became part of the Crimean Khanate, which was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. In 1783, Russia annexed the Crimean Khanate. Many Crimean Tatars were forced to leave Crimea, and during Soviet times, many were deported. Today, they make up about 12% of Crimea's population, with diaspora communities in Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Siberian Tatars

The Siberian Tatars live in three distinct regions: a strip from Tobolsk to Tomsk, the Altay region, and South Yeniseisk. They originated from various indigenous North Asian groups who were subdued by the Mongols. According to the 2010 census, there were 6,779 Siberian Tatars in Russia.

Population of Tatars, 1926–2021