Yugra

Yugra, also called Yugor Land, was a name used by Russian writers from the 12th to 17th centuries for the lands and peoples east of the northern Ural Mountains in what is now Russia. During that time, the area was home to the Khanty and Mansi peoples.

Today, the word "Yugra" usually refers to a part of Russia called the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, which lies in the same region known in old times as Yugra. In modern Russian, the word "Югория" (Yugoriya) is used as a poetic name for this area.

In the early 1500s, scholars noticed that the name "Yugria" sounded similar to an old Russian word for the Hungarians. This led some to think that Yugra might have been where the Hungarians came from. However, experts today believe the Ugric languages, which include Khanty, Mansi, and Hungarian, originated in Southwestern Siberia, near the Eurasian Steppe. The exact origin of the name "Yugra" remains a topic of discussion among historians and linguists.

History

The people of Novgorod knew about the lands of Yugra from at least the 1100s and sent groups to explore the area. The term Yugra was first used in the 1100s. Novgorod created two trade paths to the Ob River, starting from the town of Ustyug. One path followed the Sukhona and Vychegda rivers, then the Usa to the lower part of the Ob. The other path went down the Northern Dvina, then along the coasts of the White Sea and Kara Sea, before reaching the mouth of the Ob.

Russians were interested in Siberia because of its furs, and the Novgorodians traded iron goods and cloth for fur. In the 1300s, a trade group called Yugorshchina was formed in Novgorod. The Novgorodians also sent military groups to ask for taxes from local people, but they sometimes faced resistance. After Novgorod became part of Moscow in the 1400s, the growing Russian state also wanted the region. Leaders like Ivan III of Russia sent big groups to Siberia in the late 1400s.

The Golden Lady of the Obians was an important idol for the people of Yugra. Reports about it appear in records from the 1300s and later. It was mentioned in maps and stories from explorers.

During the time of Yermak's journey, stories tell of a leader of Yermak’s group, Ivan Bryazga, who went to the Belogorye area in 1582 and fought with the Ob-Ugrians there, who were protecting their most sacred object – the Golden Lady.

Modern history

In the early 1700s, efforts began to introduce Christianity to the Mansi people. Records describe these events and the reactions of the local people to these changes. Some sacred objects were hidden by the local people to protect them from being destroyed. Even during difficult times in the 1930s, many of these special places remained hidden and some can still be found today.

Yugrian principalities and relations with the Tatars and Russians

There were three or four known early groups of leaders among the Khanty and Mansi peoples. The Principality of Pelym was along the Konda river, stretching from the Sosva River near Tavda to Tabory. It had a strong religious center where special ceremonies took place.

The Principality of Konda was mainly Mansi and was part of Pelym. In the 1600s, it had 257 people who paid taxes. The treasures of Prince Agai of Konda, captured by Russians in 1594, showed the wealth of these leaders. The third area was Tabary, home to 102 adults in the 1600s. Before Russian contact, the Mansi there farmed and paid tribute in grain.

Yugra traded with many distant lands since early times. Arab traveler Abu Hamid al-Gharnati wrote in the 1100s about trade routes that reached Yugra.

Novgorod tried to control Yugra by force from the 1100s onward. Russian forces often faced strong resistance from Yugran leaders. In the 1400s, Moscow took over these efforts. Russian campaigns continued into the 1500s, with leaders like Prince Asyka captured in 1467. By the late 1400s, Moscow claimed the title "Prince of Yugra."

Resistance continued into the late 1500s. In 1581, Mansi forces raided Russian settlements. Later campaigns by Russian leader Yermak and others gradually brought Yugra under Russian control. Even in the 1600s, some Yugran leaders kept their positions while working with Russian authorities.

Hungarian Urheimat

See also: Name of Hungary and Hungarian prehistory

Yugra and the areas nearby to the south are thought to be where the Hungarians originally came from. One idea is that the name Hungary might be related to the name Yugra. The Hungarians were also called Ugri in some languages, and they are still known by this name in Ukrainian.

The Hungarian language is very similar to the languages of the Khanty and Mansi peoples. It is believed that the Hungarians traveled westward from Yugra, which is now the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. They first settled on the western side of the Urals, in a place called Magna Hungaria. From there, they moved to Levédia in what is now Eastern Ukraine, then to Etelköz, also in Ukraine, before finally arriving in the Carpathian Basin, which is now Hungary, in the 9th century.