Chuvash distinctive facial features. The unique language and unusual origin of the Chuvash

What facial features distinguish the Chuvash from other nations.

The Chuvshi are 1000% smarter than the Tatars, that’s why they are under our yoke,
slightly Mongoloid facial features, but everything must be taken together: skin color and manner of communication
Chubby, slightly slanted. I noticed it when I was shapushkare ;-)))
Chuvash and Russian are the same
Chuvash are easy to distinguish from Russians. Chuvash (Volga-Bulgarian type) They combine a lot of ethnic characteristics taken from other peoples: Caucasians, Mari, Udmurts, partly Mordvins-Erzi, Slavs, but many of them are similar to typical Turks and mostly Mongols, that is, representatives of the Ural type. There are not many Caucasians, but they are also found. The peoples closest in appearance are the Kazan Tatars, Mari and Udmurts.
Sharply protruding Chuvashas
The Mongol invasion and the events that followed it (the formation and collapse of the Golden Horde and the emergence on its ruins of the Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian Khanates, the Nogai Horde) caused significant movements of the peoples of the Volga-Ural region, led to the destruction of the consolidating role of the Bulgarian statehood, and accelerated the formation of individual Chuvash ethnic groups , Tatars and Bashkirs, In the 14th and early 15th centuries. , under conditions of oppression, about half of the surviving Bulgarian-Chuvash moved to Prikazanye and Zakazanye, where the Chuvash Daruga was formed from Kazan east to the middle Kama.
Formation of the Chuvash people
girl in national Chuvash costume

Chuvash (self-name Chavash); It also includes peoples close to the main ethnic group: Viryal, Turi, Anatri, Anatenchi, a people with a total number of 1840 thousand people. Main countries of settlement: Russian Federation - 1773 thousand people. , including Chuvashia - 907 thousand people. Other countries of settlement: Kazakhstan - 22 thousand people. , Ukraine - 20 thousand people. , Uzbekistan - 10 thousand people. Language - Chuvash. The main religion is Orthodox Christianity, the influence of paganism remains, and there are Muslims.
The Chuvash are divided into 2 groups:
Upper Chuvash (Viryal, Turi) north and northeast of Chuvashia;
lower Chuvash (anatri) south of Chuvashia and beyond.
Sometimes the meadow Chuvash (anat enchi) are distinguished in the center and southwest of Chuvashia.
Chuvash language. He is the only living representative of the Bulgaro-Khazar group of Turkic languages. It has two dialects: lower (pointing) and upper (pointing). Many Chuvash speak Tatar and Russian.
Well, in fact, the answer to the question: Anthropological types of the Urals and Volga region (Komi, Mordovians, Chuvash, Bashkirs, etc.), occupying an intermediate position between Caucasoids and Mongoloids, in their morphological characteristics are characterized by a complex of characteristics that includes both Caucasoid , and Mongoloid features. They are characterized by medium and short stature, the pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes is somewhat darker than that of northern and central Caucasians, the hair is coarser, with a predominance of straight shape, however, compared to the Mongoloids, the pigmentation is lighter and the hair is softer. The face is short, the protrusion of the cheekbones is medium and strong, but less than in the Mongoloid groups, the bridge of the nose is medium and low, the nose is short, often with a concave dorsum, and epicanthus is found.
Most likely the word Chuvashaly is some kind of local dialect, I would be grateful if you could explain what it is.
the link is blocked by decision of the project administration
BY THE WAY
Chapaev was born on January 28 (February 9), 1887 in the village of Budaika (now the territory of Cheboksary), into a poor family. Erzya by nationality (erz. chapoms chop (log house)). The Chapaevs' ancestors went around the villages for hire, cut log houses and decorated houses. According to the version widespread in Chuvashia, Chapaev’s nationality is Chuvash (Chuv. chap goodness, beauty), in other sources it is Russian.
only shupashkarami))
This is probably sad, but the peoples of the Volga region, Chuvash (Moksha and Erzya) and Kazan Tatars, according to epidemiological studies, in terms of major histocompatibility complex (HLA) antigens, do not differ from Russians living in the same places, while Russians living in other areas differ from Russians living in these republics.
That is, the population is genetically homogeneous, but the language and culture are of course different.
Therefore, there is no need to talk seriously about physiognomic differences among the Chuvash. I can only say that the people from your krav are very nice, even beautiful and good-natured.
The Chuvash are a national team, a mixture of EUROPE and ASIA. My mother was fair-haired, my father had very dark hair (Pontic type). Both are Caucasians.
I wouldn’t say that Russians and Chuvashs are the same. Now, let's arrange them in descending order. From Caucasoid to Mongoloid peoples of the Volga region: Kershennr, Tatar-mishrlr (62 Pontids, 20 SE, 8 Mongoloids, 10 sublapponoids), Mordovian-Moksha (close to the Mishars not only in culture, but also in anthropology), Mordovian-Erzya, Kazanla ( Kazan Tatarlars), Chuvash (11 - pronounced Mongoloids, of which 4% are pure, 64 are transitional between Mongolides and Caucasians, with a preponderance of Euro-, 5% - sublapponoids, 20% - pontids (among the lower classes), SE, Baltids
On my father’s side I am Chuvash, so if my grandmother had Asian facial features, then my grandfather had a European face..
I haven’t seen the Chuvash. Maybe Chapaev is Chuvash?
no

There is some truth in this statement. Any change of ethnonym is associated with the genetic drift of the people. Today's Chuvash are not only Suvars, they are also Bulgars - descendants of the Huns (Vunnogurs, etc.), they are also the awakened Mari (Viryal) and fragments of various nations that have merged into the sphere of Chuvash culture. Geneticists have recognized that the middle Chuvash are genetically close to the early Turks, that is, the Huns. But what about the rest of the Chuvash? Today the anthropological school of Chuvashia has been destroyed, but it was the anthropologists who claimed: “The Chuvash are 98% Caucasian; Mari, Mordovians by 82%, and Tatars and Bashkirs by 60%.” If the Chuvash are Turks, then why is there such a big difference in the indicators of Caucasianness in relation to the Turks (Tatars and Bashkirs)?
Watching a film about the Chuvash-Turks, the following thoughts arise:
- the film postulates the idea that the Turks are not an anthropological, but a cultural community, this explains the difference in the anthropology of the Chuvash and other Turkic peoples. But in this case, how can we explain the powerful cultural difference between the Chuvash and the Turkic peoples: in religion, art, way of life? In addition, historically the Turks descend from a very specific ancestor - the Hun tribe Tyukue (Tyugyu), which means, after all, anthropology is a key indicator of the unity of the Turkic community.
- The film shows the rituals around the Abashevo mounds. From an archaeological point of view, the Abashevites are not the ancestors of the Chuvash. True, from the point of view of the attitude of the Chuvash to the mounds, as to “Ulăp tapri”, such filming is possible, but the Chuvash did not perform rituals near such places, except perhaps only in those cases when there was a kiremet on the hill.
- During the rituals, beer was not thrown into the fire. Beer, as well as offerings, were left at the cult site. The Mari offer sacrifices to the fire.
- The film tells about the developed hop growing in Chuvashia, but everyone should understand that there is no longer any need to talk about any industrial farming in the republic after the reign of the former Head of the Administration of Chuvashia. It would be worth saying that every village farmstead used to have its own brewery. All Russian names associated with brewing are Bulgaro-Chuvash: hops, malt, wort, etc.
- The ritual of “nime” (mutual assistance) was usually carried out during the construction of a house or during field work and was associated with personal participation in the work. Under the former Head of the Administration of Chuvashia, this ritual was reduced to the level of “voluntary-forced” monetary collections. The connection between the “nime” ritual and the autumn gatherings “kĕr sari” is not clear.
- Historically, yeast began to be added to beer at a later time, during the period of the nation’s drinking.
- It is believed that beer is a common Turkic drink. Judging by the name “săra” among the Chuvash and Altai, it may indeed seem so, however, who influenced whom? It is known that brewing originated in Mesopotamia in the 5th millennium BC, and not in the Far East. Name at least one Turkic people where brewing was also widely developed?
- If the Chuvash are Turkic-speaking, then why do the basic words of the people not fit into the Turkic vocabulary: for example: hevel (“sun” Chuv.) – helios (Greek). Why are the Turks nomads, and the Chuvash the most ancient farmers? (D.F. Madurov. Type of way of life of the Chuvash people and its role in the ecosystem of the Volga-Kama region // Ecological Bulletin of the Chuvash Republic. - Cheboksary: 2000. - Issue 20. D.F. Madurov. Verification of the way of the Chuvash people using the example of cultural artifacts // From the history of nature to the history of society: the past in the present and the future: Appendix to the Bulletin of the Russian Philosophical Society. M.: 2000. - Part 1) Why all the Turks worshiped Tengrikhan, but the Chuvash have no traces of this cult. The Chuvash worship Tura. This is the name of a god of Central Asian origin. More details about this in the article (D.F. Madurov. Near Asian-Chuvash cultural parallels. P.360-382 // Scientific and pedagogical heritage of V.F. Kakhovsky and problems of history and archeology. Materials of the scientific-practical conference. December 19-20 2006 Book 2. – Cheboksary, ChGIGN, 2009).
- Listening to the Chuvash song in the film, I involuntarily remembered the Ukrainian one: “A birch tree grew on my pidvirya, Give us vodka hey ho, give us vodka hey ho. A birch tree grew on my pidvirya.” So who copied this song from whom?
- It’s a pity that the silver jewelry of the Chuvash people is poorly represented in the film. Embroideries with flowers embroidered with aniline threads look terrible. The height of vulgarity, this tradition appeared in the 50s, during the period of cultivation of the denial of national culture and imitation of Russian. A woman in a girl’s headdress simply looks funny, and the combination of glasses and an ethnographic costume also looks ridiculous.
- The film claims that the Chuvash who converted to Islam began to be called Tatars. This phrase reveals the meaning of the kinship of the Turkic-speaking Chuvash and Tatars. One should be aware that these processes took place during the period of Tatar domination in the region and their maximum cultural influence. Exactly the same processes are taking place today, and from this point of view, most of the Orthodox Russian-speaking population can also point to their Chuvash (Bulgaro-Suvar) roots. At the same time, in the Chuvash environment there are traces of genetic input from neighboring peoples.
- I am surprised to learn that the Chuvash language exists and will exist thanks to the translation of the Bible into it. In fact, the sacred scriptures in the “Hunnic language” were published back in 530, but this in no way affected the preservation of the language or the translations themselves. Of course, we can only thank the Russian Institute of Bible Translation for another large (by our standards) financial contribution. Let us remember that with a grant from the English Bible Society, missionary-educator I.Ya. Yakovlev built the Chuvash Simbirsk school. Only the main goal of this mission was not the development of the national culture of the Chuvash, but purely missionary tasks, not for nothing, according to the recollections of the students of the Simbirsk school, it was forbidden to sing Chuvash folk songs. And from the point of view of the Orthodox (Orthodox) Church, even folk costume is “pagan,” as the Cheboksary News newspaper has already written about in its propaganda articles. So, it turns out that they slipped us another “Trojan” (“Trojan horse”).
After watching the film, you get the feeling that this film was created to further divide our people, or that it was created by people incompetent in these matters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Features of the appearance of the Chuvash

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

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

Elena Zaitseva

The Chuvash folk religion refers to the pre-Orthodox Chuvash faith. But there is no clear understanding of this faith. Just as the Chuvash people are not homogeneous, the Chuvash pre-Orthodox religion is also heterogeneous. Some Chuvash believed in Thor and still do. This is a monotheistic faith. There is only one Torah, but in the Torah belief there is Keremet. Keremet- This is a relic of the pagan religion. The same pagan relic in the Christian world as the celebration of the New Year and Maslenitsa. Among the Chuvash, keremet was not a god, but an image of evil and dark forces, to which sacrifices were made so that they would not touch people. Keremet when literally translated it means “faith in (god) Ker.” Ker (name of god) to have (faith, dream).

Perhaps some believe in Tengrism; what it is is not entirely clear. Tengriism, in Chuvash tanker, actually means ten(faith) ker(name of god), i.e. “faith in the god Ker.”

There was also a pagan religion with many gods. Moreover, each settlement and city had its own main god. Villages, cities, and peoples were named after these gods. Chuvash - sounds Chuvash Syavash (Sav-As literally means “Aces (god) Sav”), Bulgars - in Chuvash pulhar ( pulekh-ar- literally means “people (of God) pulekh”), Rus - Re-as(literally means “aces (god) Ra”), etc. In the Chuvash language, in myths, there are references to pagan gods - Anu, Ada, Ker, Savni, Syatra, Merdek, Tora, Ur, Asladi, Sav, Puleh, etc. These pagan gods are identical with the gods of ancient Greece, Babylonia or Rus'. For example, the Chuvash god Anu (Babylonian -Anu), Chuv. Ada (Babylon. - Adad), Chuv. Torah (Babylon. - Ishtor (Ash-Torah), Chuv. Merdek (Babylon. Merdek), Chuv. Savni (Babylon. Savni), Chuv. Sav (Greek Zeus -Sav- as, Russian Savushka).

Many names of rivers, cities and villages are named after gods. For example, the Adal (Volga) River ( Ada-ilu means the god of Hell), the river Syaval (Civil) ( Sav –ilu- god Sav), river Savaka (Sviyaga) ( Sav-aka- meadows of the god Sav), the village of Morkash (Morgaushi) ( Merdek-ash- god Merdek), city of Shupashkar (Cheboksary) ( Shup-ash-kar- the city of the god Shup), the village of Syatrakassi (street (of the god) Syatra) and much more. All Chuvash life is permeated with relics of pagan religious culture. Today we do not think about religious culture, and religion does not occupy the first place in the life of a modern person. But to understand ourselves, we must understand the people's religion, and this is impossible without restoring the history of the people. In my small homeland (the village of Tuppai Esmele, Mariinsky Posad district), Orthodoxy was forcibly adopted in the mid-18th century, which led to a decrease in the village population by 40%. The Chuvash have always been adherents of their antiquity and did not accept the forced imposition of another culture and religion.

An examination of folk religion shows a layering of three types of religions:

Monotheistic belief in the god Thor.
An ancient pagan faith with many gods - Sav, Ker, Anu, Ada, Pulekh.
Monotheistic faith Tengrinism is a belief in the god Tenker, nothing more than a belief in the god Ker, which is possibly the result of the development of a pagan religion with its transformation into a monotheistic one with the god Ker.

In different parts of Chuvashia and the Russian Federation there are relics of these types of religion, accordingly, rituals differ and there is cultural diversity. Moreover, this diversity is also accompanied by linguistic diversity. Thus, there is evidence to suggest that this diversity is due to the influence of different cultures or peoples. But as historical analysis has shown, this assumption is incorrect. In fact, such diversity is due to the fact that only one culture, one people, but different tribes of this people, who went through different historical paths, participated in the ethnogenesis of the Chuvash people.

The ancestors of the Chuvash are the Amorites, the biblical people; three or four waves of migration of the Amorites in different eras settled on the middle Volga, following different historical paths of development. To understand the history of the Chuvash, it is necessary to trace the history of the Amorites from the 40th century BC. to 10th century AD In the 40th century BC. our ancestors, the Amorites, lived in the territory of western Syria, from there, for almost 5 thousand years, the Amorites settled throughout the world, spreading their pagan faith and culture, which was the most progressive at that time. The Amorite language is considered a dead language. Until the beginning of AD. On the vast Eurasian continent, two main religions dominated - Celto-Druid and pagan. The bearers of the first were the Celts, the bearers of the second were the Amorites. The border of the spread of these religions ran through Central Europe - the Druids dominated to the West, and the pagans to the East, all the way to the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Modern Chuvash culture and language are the result of thousands of years of history of the Amorite people, whose descendants are the Chuvash people. The history of the Chuvash is very complex and varied. There are many hypotheses and theories of the origin of the Chuvash, which at first glance are contradictory. All historians agree that the ancestors of the Chuvash were Savirs (Suvaz, Suvars). Many historical documents speak about this people, but geographically they are located in all parts of the Eurasian continent - from the Barents Sea to the Indian Ocean, from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The modern Russian spelling of the name of the Chuvash people, and the self-name of the people is Syavash, which consists of two parts Sav and Ash. The first part denotes the name of the god, the second part denotes the type of people - the Ases. (You can read in detail about the aces in the Scandinavian epic). In the Chuvash language the sound is often With is replaced by w. Thus, the Chuvash always considered themselves subjects of the god Sav, or the Chuvash can be called Sav aces. Often these myths mentioned words that were not used in everyday life. Coming home, I asked my father the meaning of these words and why they are not used now. For example, rotatkan, as the father explained, this is an old Chuvash word for squirrel; in the modern Chuvash language the word paksha is used. Spanekappi was originally from the Chuvash from the Mari Trans-Volga region, where ancient Chuvash words and pagan myths were probably preserved. For example, the ancient Chuvash word meshkene, meaning slave, is also not found in modern language, but was used in ancient Babylon and is also an Amorite word. I did not come across this word in conversation, but heard it only from the lips of Spanecappi.

Spanekappi told myths about a world tree with two peaks, on one peak sits an owl, on the other an eagle, how at the roots of this tree there is a sacred spring that runs along the branches rotatkan, and gnaws the leaves pumpkin. The top of the tree touches the sky. (In our village on Cape Tanomash there is such a tree, a sacred spring flows at the roots.) God lives in the sky Anu, people, animals live on the earth, and reptiles live underground. This myth is very similar to the Scandinavian epic. It's also called a squirrel rotatkan. World tree - ash ikktorsil, if translated from the Chuvash language, this literally means two-vertex.

Spanecappi told me about the hero Chemen. Having matured, I began to look for the historical prototype of the hero Chemen and came to the conclusion that this was the commander Semen, in whose honor the city of Semender was named.

Spanecappi told about a hero (I don’t remember his name), who performed feats, traveled to the underworld, where he fought and defeated various monsters, traveled to the heavenly world to the gods and competed with them. I remembered all these myths several decades later, when I read about the exploits of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamian mythology, they were so similar.

But I always had a question to which I could not find an answer, why the Chuvash do not have a full-fledged pagan epic. Studying historical material and reflection led me to the conclusion that this is the result of the complex history of the people. The tales, myths and legends that Spanecappi told us as a child were much richer than those recorded and printed in books. But these myths are characteristic only of the Chuvash of the Mari Trans-Volga region, who differed from the rest of the Chuvash, both in mythology, language, and in appearance - fair-haired and tall.

Attempts to understand, reflection and study of historical material allowed me to come to certain conclusions, which I want to present here.

The modern Chuvash language contains a large number of Turkic words from the Bulgarian language. In the Chuvash language, there are often two parallel words that have the same meaning - one from Turkic, the other from ancient Chuvash. For example, the word potato is denoted by two words - sier ulmi (Chuv) and paranka (Turks), cemetery - syava (Chuv) and masar (Turks). The appearance of a large number of Turkic words is due to the fact that when the Bulgars accepted Islam, part of the Bulgars refused to convert to Islam and remained in the old religion and mixed with the pagan Chuvash.

Many researchers classify the Chuvash language as a Turkic language group, but I do not agree with this. If the Chuvash language is purified from the Bulgar component, then we will get the ancient Chuvash language, which turns out to be an Amorite language.

Here I want to give my point of view about the history of the Chuvash, which begins in the 40th century BC. In the 40th century BC. The ancestors of the Chuvash Amorites lived in the territory of modern western Syria. (Remember the mention of frescoes in Syria). From the 40th century BC. Amorite tribes begin to intensively settle throughout the world. There is information about the migration of the Amorites in the 40th century BC. to the west, to northern Africa, where they, together with the Luwian tribes, participated in the formation of the first Egyptian kingdoms.

In the 30th century BC. the following Amorian tribes called Carians(the main god of the Ker tribe) invaded the Mediterranean, settled the Mediterranean islands, part of the Balkan Peninsula and the Etruscan tribe (Ada-ar-as - means the people of the god Hell) - part of modern Italy. There are common elements of the culture of the Etruscans and the Caucasian Savirs. For example, the Etruscans have a ritual battle of warriors (gladiators) over the grave of the deceased, and the Savirs have a ritual battle of relatives with swords over the deceased.

In the 16th century BC. next Amorite tribe Thorians(who are called the Northern Greek tribe, the main god is Thor) invaded the north of the Balkan Peninsula. All these tribes, together with the Indo-European tribes (Pelasgians, Achaeans), participated in the creation of the Cretan, Greek and Roman civilizations with pagan religion and culture. Scientists are still struggling with the solution to Cretan writing. Last year, Americans came to the conclusion that Cretan writing is a variety of Greek. But in fact it is one of the varieties of Amorite writing and is written in the Amorite language.

Between the 30th and 28th centuries BC. The Amorite tribes migrated east, passed through Mesopotamia without stopping, where there was a strong Sumerian state, moved further east and reached northwestern China. Arriving in the Tufyan depression, they created the civilization of the Turfyan chamois (Turkhan Sier) and settled Tibet. These same Amorites captured the entire territory of China, created the first Chinese state and the first royal dynasty in China, ruled for about 700 years, but were then overthrown. The Amorites who arrived differed in appearance from the Chinese - tall, fair-haired. Subsequently, the Chinese, having come to power, decided to crowd out memories of the rule of the aliens from their memory; it was decided to destroy all references to the rule of the Amorites. Already in later times in the 14th century BC. The Amorites were forced to leave the Turfian depression. Due to tectonic movements (new mountain building), the appearance of northwestern China changed, and the depressions were flooded. The Amorites migrated to the north - to Siberia, to the West - to Altai, and to the south. Centuries later, after the cessation of tectonic movements, the Amorites again populated northwestern China and, already at the beginning of our era, came to Europe as part of an alliance of tribes called the Huns, the main role in this alliance was occupied by the Savirs. The Huns brought faith - Tengrism, which is the development of the pagan religion of the Amorites and its transformation into a monotheistic one, where there was one god Tenker (Tenker - from Chuvash means god Ker). Only part of the Savirs settled in the middle Volga, where the Amorites of the first wave of migration, who came from Mesopotamia, already lived; part went to Western Europe.

In the 20th century BC. a more powerful flow of Amorite migration was again directed to the east. Under the pressure of this migration, the weakened Sumerian-Akkadian state fell. Arriving in Mesopotamia, the Amorites created their own state with Babylon as its capital. Before the arrival of the Amorites, there was only a small village on the site of Babylon. But the Amorites did not destroy the Sumerian-Akkadian cultural heritage; as a result of the synthesis of the Sumerian-Acadian and Amorite cultures, a new one emerged - the Babylonian culture. The first Amorite kings took Akkadian names for themselves. Only the fifth Amorite king took the Amorite name - Hamurappi, which is translated from Chuvash as “elder of our people.” Writing and correspondence were conducted in Akkadian, a language related to Amorite. Therefore, practically no documents in the Amorite language have survived. The modern Chuvash language and culture have a lot in common with the Amorite culture and the language of Babylonia from the 20th to the 10th centuries BC. In the 10th century BC. The Amorites were driven out of Mesopotamia by the more warlike Aramean tribes. The departure of the Amorites from Mesopotamia was associated with a change in the culture and economic structure of this region, a change in diet, etc. For example, the Amorites brewed beer, with their departure brewing was replaced by winemaking.

The Amorites went north - they populated the territory of the Caucasus and further to the north of the European Plain and to the east - the Iranian Plateau. On the European plain, the Amorites are mentioned by Herodotus (5th century BC) under the name Sauromats (sav-ar-emet), which literally translated from Chuvash means “the people who believe in (the god) Sav.” Emet in the Chuvash language means dream, faith. It was the Sauromats, from my point of view, who made up the first wave of migrants, our ancestors, who settled on the Volga. The Sauromatians were pagans; the Sauromatians settled over a vast Eurasian territory. It was they who brought to the Eurasian territory the names of rivers, mountains, and places, the meaning of which is now unclear. But they are understandable from the Amorite language. Moscow (Me-as-kekeek - from Amorite “homeland of the Ases (god) Me, kevek -homeland)”, Dnieper (te en-eper - “road of the country (god) Te”, eper - road), Oder, Vistula, Tsivil, Sviyaga, etc. The Amorite name is Kremlin (Ker-am-el from Amorean “sacred land (of god) Ker”), the Slavic name of the fortress is Detinets. The Chuvash of the Mari Trans-Volga region, who are different from the rest of the Chuvash, may not have mixed with the Amorites of the later migration to the Volga (Huns and Savirs) from other regions.

It is with this stream of Amorite migrants (Sauromats) that paganism is associated in the Chuvash culture, but it was forced out of life by the Amorites of later and numerous migration streams. Therefore, I learned Chuvash pagan mythology only from the lips of Spanecappi, who was from the Chuvash Mari Trans-Volga region, where the influence of later Amorite migrants had no effect.

The next wave of Amorite migrants who came to the Volga were the Huns, some of whom settled in the territory of related tribes, brought Tengrism, and some went west. For example, a tribe called the Suevi, led by the leader Cheges, went west and settled in the south of France and Spain; the Suevi later participated in the ethnogenesis of the French and Spaniards. It was they who brought the name Sivilya (Sav-il, means the god Sav).

The next wave of Amorite migration was the resettlement of the Savirs, who lived in the northern Caucasus. Many people identify the Caucasian Savirs as the Hunnic Savirs, but they probably settled in the Caucasus when forced out of Mesopotamia back in the 10th century BC. By the time of the resettlement, the Savirs had already abandoned the pagan religion and adopted Christianity. The Savir princess Chechek (flower) became the wife of the Byzantine emperor Isaurian V, adopted Christianity and the name Irina. Later, after the death of the emperor, she became empress and actively took part in the canonization of Orthodoxy. In the Caucasus (Chuvash name Aramazi), the Savirs converted to Christianity in 682. The adoption of Christianity was forced, the king of all Savir Elteber (in Chuvash this title sounded yaltyvar, literally from Chuvsh means “to carry out customs”) Alp Ilitver cut down sacred trees and groves, destroyed idols, executed all the priests, and made crosses from the wood of sacred trees. But the Savirs did not want to convert to Christianity. The disunited Savirs, with the adoption of a new religion, could not resist the Arab invasion after 24 goals in 706. Before the adoption of Christianity, the Savirs were a very warlike people, constantly participating in wars with the Arabs and Persians and emerging victorious. The basis of the belligerence and courage of the Savirs was their religion, according to which the Savirs were not afraid of death, only warriors who died in battle with enemies went to heaven in the divine country. With the adoption of Christianity, the psychology and ideology of the people changed. A similar process occurred with the Norwegians and Swedes (Vikings) after the adoption of Christianity.

The Arabs marched through the country of the Savirs with sword and fire, destroying everything, especially destroying the Christian faith. The Savirs were forced to go north, settling from the Dnieper to the Volga and further to the Aral Sea. And within a decade, these Savirs created a new state - Great Khazaria, which occupied the territory of settlement of the Caucasian Savirs, Hunnic Savirs and their allies (Magyars). In the 9th century, a military coup took place in Khazaria, the military and the Jews came to power, and Judaism became the state religion. After this, the state of Khazaria became an alien and hostile state for the Savirs, and a civil war began. The Oguzes were called in to maintain power. Without the support of the population, Khazaria did not exist for long.

The invasion of the Arabs led to the Savirs moving away from the pagan religion due to the destruction of the priests who were in charge of the customs, but the new Christian religion did not have time to gain a foothold among the people and took the form of a monotheistic religion of faith in the Torah. The last wave of migration was the most numerous. The resettlement of the Savirs from the Caucasus (from the Aramazi Mountains - translated from Chuvash as - “land (am) of the people (ar) ases (az)”) is spoken of in myths. In the myth, the Chuvash hastily left their place of residence along the Azamat Bridge, which rested at one end on the Aramazi Mountains and the other on the banks of the Volga. The Savirs, having migrated with their still unsettled religion, forgot about Christ, but moved away from the pagan religion. Therefore, the Chuvash practically do not have a full-fledged pagan mythology. The pagan myths told by Spanecappi were probably introduced by the Amorites of the first wave of migration (Sauromatians), and were preserved only in inaccessible areas, such as the Mari Trans-Volga region.

As a result of the mixing of three streams of descendants of the Amorites and synthesis, they received the pre-Orthodox faith of the Chuvash. As a result of the synthesis of three waves of migration of the descendants of the Amorites (Sauromatians, Savirs, Huns), we have a variety of language, differences in appearance, and culture. The predominance of the last wave of migration over others led to the fact that paganism and Tengrism were practically forced out. Savirs from the Caucasus migrated not only to the Volga, a large group migrated and settled on the vast territory of modern Kyiv, Kharkov, Bryansk, Kursk regions, where they created their own cities and principalities (for example, the principality of Novgorod of Siversky). They, together with the Slavs, participated in the ethnogenesis of Russians and Ukrainians. Back in the 17th century AD, they were mentioned under the name of stellate sturgeon. The Russian cities of Tmutarakan, Belaya Vezha (literally translated from Chuvash as “the land of (god) Bel”), Novgorod Siversky were Savir cities.

There was another wave of Amorite migration, at the turn of two eras. This wave may not have led to the settlement of the Amorites on the Volga. The Amorites went far to the north of the European continent - to the north of Russia and to Scandinavia under the name Svear, partly from Scandinavia they were forced out by the Germanic tribes of the Goths, who crossed to the continental part of Europe in the 3rd century AD. created the state of Germanrich, which later fell under the onslaught of the Huns (Savirs). The Svears with the remaining Germanic tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Swedes and Norwegians, and the Svears on the European territory of Russia, together with the Finno-Ugrians and Slavs, participated in the ethnogenesis of the Russian people of the north, in the formation of the Novgorod principality. The Chuvash call the Russians “roslo”, which literally means “mountain aces” (along the upper reaches of the Volga), and the Chuvash call themselves “aces”, believers of the god Sav. It was the participation of the Savirs in the ethnogenesis of the Russian people that brought many Chuvash words into the Russian language - top (Russian) - vir (Chuv.), lepota (Russian) - lep (Chuv.), pervy (Russian) - perre (Chuv.) , table (Russian) - setel (Chuv.), cat (Russian) - sash (Chuv.), city (Russian) - map (Chuv.), cell (Russian) - keel (Chuv.), bull ( Russian) - upkor (Chuv.), opushka (Russian) - upashka (Chuv.), honey mushroom (Russian) - uplyanka (Chuv.), thief (Russian) - voro (Chuv.), prey (Russian) ) - tuposh (Chuv.), cabbage (Russian) - kuposta (Chuv.), father (Russian) - atte (Chuv.), kush (Russian) - kushar (Chuv.), etc.

It is necessary to note the invasion of the Amorites from the Iranian plateau into India. This invasion occurred in the 16th-15th century BC. The invasion may have taken place in conjunction with Indo-European peoples and is referred to in history as the Aryan Invasion. With the arrival of the Amorites, the weakened Harappan state fell and the newcomers created their own state. The Amorites brought a new religion and culture to India. In the Mahabharata there is an early mention of the Savirs together with the Sindhis. In ancient times, the territory of the Sinds was known as Sovira. In the ancient Vedas there are many words similar to Chuvash, but modified. (For example, how the name of the city Shupashkar was modified in the Russian spelling of Cheboksary). The sacred pillar is called yupa, among the Chuvash it is also called yupa. The fifth book of the Vedas about life history is Puran (Puran from Chuvash - life), the book of the Vedas Atharva about treatment from Chuvash means (Ut - horvi, from Chuvash - protection of the body), another book of the Vedas is Yajur (yat-sor - earthly name).

Chuvash are one of the most numerous nationalities living on the territory of the Russian Federation. Of the approximately 1.5 million people, more than 70% are settled on the territory of the Chuvash Republic, the rest in neighboring regions. Within the group there is a division into upper (viryal) and lower (anatri) Chuvash, differing in traditions, customs and dialect. The capital of the republic is the city of Cheboksary.

History of appearance

The first mention of the name Chuvash appears in the 16th century. However, numerous studies indicate that the Chuvash people are direct descendants of the inhabitants of the ancient state of Volga Bulgaria, which existed on the territory of the middle Volga in the period from the 10th to the 13th centuries. Scientists also find traces of Chuvash culture dating back to the beginning of our era on the Black Sea coast and in the foothills of the Caucasus.

The data obtained indicate the movement of the ancestors of the Chuvash during the Great Migration of Peoples to the territory of the Volga region occupied at that time by Finno-Ugric tribes. Written sources have not preserved information about the date of the appearance of the first Bulgarian state formation. The earliest mention of the existence of Great Bulgaria dates back to 632. In the 7th century, after the collapse of the state, part of the tribes moved to the northeast, where they soon settled near the Kama and the middle Volga. In the 10th century, Volga Bulgaria was a fairly strong state, the exact borders of which are unknown. The population was at least 1-1.5 million people and was a multinational mixture, where, along with the Bulgarians, Slavs, Maris, Mordovians, Armenians and many other nationalities also lived.

The Bulgarian tribes are characterized primarily as peaceful nomads and farmers, but during their almost four hundred year history they had to periodically encounter conflicts with the armies of the Slavs, the Khazar tribes and the Mongols. In 1236, the Mongol invasion completely destroyed the Bulgarian state. Later, the Chuvash and Tatar peoples were able to partially recover, forming the Kazan Khanate. The final inclusion into the Russian lands occurred as a result of the campaign of Ivan the Terrible in 1552. Being in actual subordination to Tatar Kazan, and then to Rus', the Chuvash were able to maintain their ethnic isolation, unique language and customs. In the period from the 16th to the 17th centuries, the Chuvash, being predominantly peasants, participated in the popular uprisings that swept the Russian Empire. In the 20th century, the lands occupied by these people received autonomy and became part of the RSFSR in the form of a republic.

Religion and customs

Modern Chuvash are Orthodox Christians; only in exceptional cases are there Muslims among them. Traditional beliefs represent a unique type of paganism, where the supreme god Tour, who patronized the sky, stands out against the background of polytheism. From the point of view of the structure of the world, national beliefs were initially close to Christianity, so even close proximity to the Tatars did not affect the spread of Islam.

Worship of the forces of nature and their deification led to the emergence of a large number of religious customs, traditions and holidays associated with the cult of the tree of life, the change of seasons (Surkhuri, Savarni), sowing (Akatuy and Simek) and harvesting. Many of the festivities remained unchanged or were mixed with Christian celebrations, and are therefore celebrated to this day. A striking example of the preservation of ancient traditions is the Chuvash wedding, at which national costumes are still worn and complex rituals are performed.

Appearance and folk costume

The external Caucasian type with some features of the Mongoloid race of the Chuvash is not much different from the inhabitants of central Russia. The general facial features are a straight, neat nose with a low bridge, a rounded face with pronounced cheekbones and a small mouth. The color type varies from light-eyed and fair-haired to dark-haired and brown-eyed. The height of most Chuvash people does not exceed the average.

The national costume is generally similar to the clothing of the peoples of the middle zone. The basis of a woman’s outfit is an embroidered shirt, complemented by a robe, apron and belts. A headdress (tukhya or hushpu) and jewelry generously decorated with coins are required. The men's suit was as simple as possible and consisted of a shirt, pants and a belt. Shoes were onuchi, bast shoes and boots. Classic Chuvash embroidery is a geometric pattern and a symbolic image of the tree of life.

Language and writing

The Chuvash language belongs to the Turkic linguistic group and is considered the only surviving language of the Bulgar branch. Within the nationality, it is divided into two dialects, distinguished depending on the territory of residence of its speakers.

It is believed that in ancient times the Chuvash language had its own runic writing. The modern alphabet was created in 1873 thanks to the efforts of the famous educator and teacher I.Ya. Yakovleva. Along with the Cyrillic alphabet, the alphabet contains several unique letters that reflect the phonetic differences between languages. The Chuvash language is considered the second official language after Russian, is included in the compulsory educational program in the republic and is actively used by the local population.

Remarkable

The main values that determined the way of life were hard work and modesty.
The non-conflict nature of the Chuvash is reflected in the fact that in the language of neighboring peoples its name is translated or associated with the words “quiet” and “calm.”
The second wife of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky was the Chuvash princess Bolgarbi.
The bride's value was determined not by her appearance, but by her hard work and the number of skills, so her attractiveness only grew with age.
Traditionally, upon marriage, the wife had to be several years older than her husband. Raising a young husband was one of the woman's responsibilities. Husband and wife had equal rights.
Despite the worship of fire, the ancient pagan religion of the Chuvash did not provide for sacrifices.

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

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

Features of the appearance of the Chuvash

Elena Zaitseva