The Problem of Genesis of Seyyids’ Institutes in the Post-Golden Horde Turkо-Tatar States »

The article analyzes an insufficiently investigated problem of the formation of seyyids’ institute within the Turkic-Tatar States of the 15th–16th centuries, which were the historical heirs of the ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde). The author found that this institution was characteristic for all, without exception, Turkic-Tatar state formations that emerged after the collapse of the Golden Horde. A number of features of this institution (existence of family relationship between the seyyids’ “houses” of different Tatar yurts, seyyids’ participation not only in the diplomatic and administrative affairs but also in military actions) indicates that it appeared in the period of the ulus of Jochi, more precisely, during the reign of khan Uzbek who had completed Islamization of this State. As a result of the study of the complex issues related to the seyyids who lived in the Turko-Tatar khanates and hordes, the author concluded that there was a link between them and the lineages of the Golden Horde seyyids affiliated with the Yasaviyya tariqa. Overall, the author both emphasizes the apparent Golden Horde origin of this very important social institution functioned in all the Turkic-Tatar state formations and indicates the presence of real contacts (including gentilitial ones) between the seyyids’ branches located in different States

The Golden Horde Ethnology of Tatars: 1. The Epic and Historical “Golden Throne” (“Altyn Tәkhet”)

The author of this article seeks to identify the historical origins of particular patronal place characteristic for the ulus of Jochi and later Turko-Tatar States established on its territory in the 15th–16th centuries. This patronal place was known as the “golden throne” and has been recorded by the Turko-Tatar (epics, chronicles, historical works) and some Russian sources. An overview of historical sources reveals that according to the Turko-Tatar traditions of the 16th–18th centuries, the “golden throne” was a place, where the ruler (Khan, king) was sitting in the Golden Horde and at the post-Horde political space. The author of this article emphasizes the important fact: in historical sources the “golden throne” was always associated with the place of enthronement of the Tatar ruler. As a result of detailed analysis of the available historical material, the author found that the often mentioned “golden throne” existed not only in the ulus of Jochi, but throughout the Mongol Empire. Moreover, further analysis of the available historical material (including a comparison with information contained in the parallel Persian, Chinese, and Latin sources) showed that the “golden throne” was connected to another symbol of power, common in all Chinggisid States and recorded by a number of historical sources, that is, with special tent (yurt) known as the “Great Golden horde”. This tent together with the throne seat symbolized the focus of the khan authority in the Mongol Empire and the subsequent Chinggisid States

The Role of the Turkic-Tatar Constituent People in the Formation of the State-Forming “People” of the Jochid Ulus in the 13th–14th centuries

Research objectves: Study of ethnic processes that took place in the Jochid ulus (Golden Horde) in the 13th–14th centuries, which remain out of the sight of historians. Research materials: A complex of written historical sources, materials of historical, ethnological, linguistic and archaeological research. Results and novelty of the research: These processes are treated in extremely simplified forms, the essence of which is reduced to the “assimilation” of the Mongols with numerically predominant Polovtsians (Kypchaks). In addition to these shortcomings, domestic research suffers from other shortcomings under the influence of historians from Tatarstan who seek to eliminate the tradition of negative labeling of the ruling “people” of the Golden Horde, which was called the “Tatar-Mongols” in the old literature. In reality, one must well conceive the ethnic components of the given “people” for a reliable description of ethnic processes that took place in the 13th–14th centuries within the framework of the Golden Horde society, which ended with the formation of ethnic medieval Tatars. Meanwhile, this issue has not yet been fully developed. The role of the eastern Kypchaks-Kimaks in the formation of medieval Tatars is particularly poorly understood: their elite had a Tatar identity. In addition, we should pay attention to the participation of the Altai Turks in the ethnopolitical processes in the Jochid ulus, as well as of the Uighurs from the former Kimak Kaghanate closely associated with the Tatars. The study of these aspects of the extensive problem of the formation of a new “people” of medieval (Golden Horde) Tatars makes it possible to construct a different model of ethnic processes in the Jochid ulus, different from the previous one

On the Shibanid «Trace» in the Bulgar Vilayet of the Ulus of Jochi

The authors discuss the problem related to the Shibanids’ presence on the territory of the Bulgar Vilayet of the Ulus of Jochi in the 13th–14th centuries. Analysis of the various sources of Turko-Tatar, Mongolian and Russian origin (chronicles, dastans, genealogies, etc.) allowed the authors to conclude that the transition of the territory of the Volga Bulgar (from the city of Bilyar to the east) under the Shibanid authority occurred at the time of the Mongol conquest in 13th century. It is therefore in the future (up to the end of the 15th century) the Shibanids and related clans could claim authority not only in the Bulgar Vilayet, but also in the Kazan Khanate, which arose on its ground

The Parade of Sovereignties: Establishing the Vocabulary of the New Russian Federalism

On the basis of extensive on-site interviews and documentary sources, the author interprets the dynamics of the collapse of the Soviet Union by analyzing the cascade of sovereignty declarations issued by republics of the USSR as well as by autonomous republics and other subunits of the Russian republic, in 1990-1991. Interrelationships among the declarations, and other putative causes of their content and timing, are explored. A case study of Tatarstan is provided. The study also analyzes the impact of the process on subsequent Russian approaches to federalism