Siberian Tatars (), or simply Siberians (), are the indigenous Turkic-speaking population of the forests and steppes of southern Western Siberia, originating in areas stretching from somewhat east of the Ural Mountains to the Yenisey River in Russia. The Siberian Tatars call themselves Yerle Qalıq ("older inhabitants"), to distinguish themselves from more recent Volga Tatar immigrants to the region.
The word "Tatar" or "Tadar" is also a self-designation by some closely related Siberian ethnic groups, namely the Altaians, Chulyms, Khakas, and Shors.
The 2010 census counted more than 500,000 people in Siberia defining their ethnicity as "Tatar". About 200,000 of them are considered indigenous Siberian Tatars. However, only 6,779 of them called themselves "Siberian Tatars". It is not completely clear which part of those who called themselves "Siberian Tatars" consider themselves to be a separate ethnos and which part as a group into the Tatar people, because the census took into account the Siberian Tatars as a subgroup of the Tatar ethnos.
, the Siberian Tatars do not yet have public education available in their own language. Lessons in the local schools are taught only in the Russian and Volga Tatar languages.
Population
Siberian Tatars historically lived in the vast territory stretching from around the Yenisey River all the way to the area lying somewhat east of the Ural Mountains.
According to the ambassadors of the Siberian Khanate ruler Yediger Khan, who visited Moscow in 1555, the population of "the black people", not counting the aristocracy, was 30,700. In a decree concerning tribute issued by Ivan the Terrible, the population was given as 40,000.
According to the results of the 1897 All-Russia Census, there were 56,957 Siberian Tatars in the Tobolsk Governorate. This was the last accurate information about this population. In later censuses, Tatar immigrants from the other regions of Russia were also recorded under the classification of Tatar. The Siberian Tatars tried to avoid the census as much as possible, as they believed that it was an attempt to force them to pay the Yasak (tribute).
Their population in the territory of the current Tyumen Oblast in 1926 was recorded as 70,000; in 1959 as 72,306; in 1970 as 102,859; 136,749 in 1979; 227,423 in 1989; and 242,325 in 2002. According to the results of the 2002 Russian Census, there were 385,949 Tatars living in the oblasts discussed above. (Their territory roughly corresponds to the historical territory of the Siberian Khanate). Of these Tatars only 9,289 identified as Siberian Tatars.
2002 Russian Census recorded a total of 9,611 Siberian Tatars in Russia. Some publications estimated their number in the range of 190,000-210,000. Such significant discrepancy is explained by the fact that the immigrants from the other ethnic groups who are also called Tatar by the Russians were also included in the figure, though most were Volga Tatars.
Physical anthropology Among Siberian Tatars there are various phenotypes: Uraloid (Mongoloid with Caucasoid elements), Mongoloid, and Caucasoid (influence of Volga-Ural Tatars and Siberian Bukharans).
Like most of the modern indigenous human groups of West Siberia, Siberian Tatars reveal traits that are specific of West-Sibirid anthropological type.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257626749_Craniometric_characteristics_of_the_Ust-Ishim_people_The_Southern_Taiga_part_of_the_Irtysh_Basin_late_1st_-_Early_2nd_Millennia_AD Craniometric characteristics of the Ust-Ishim people (The Southern Taiga part of the Irtysh Basin, late 1st – Early 2nd Millennia AD) Siberian Tatars show a combination of features characteristic of both eastern and western Eurasians.
West Sibirid is divided into Uralic (Ugric and Sub-Ugric subtypes) and Ob-Irtysh (Tobol-Barabinsk and Tom-Narym subtypes) types. To Ugric type belong Ob-Ugric peoples, while to the Ob-Irtysh type belong Selkups and Turkic peoples of the West Siberian plain (Siberian Tatars, Khakas, Altaians).
Among the modern populations, those closest to the Ust-Ishim people are the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars, especially Tyumen Tatars and Kurdak-Sargat Tatars, implying genetic continuity with the medieval groups.https://biblio.uz/modules/boonex/blogs/blogs.php?action=show_member_post&postUri=ANTHROPOLOGICAL-CHARACTERISTICS-OF-THE-POPULATION-OF-THE-SOUTHERN-TAIGA-IRTYSH-REGION-based-on-the-materials-of-the-burial-grounds-of-the-Ust-Ishim-archaeological-culture-at-the-turn-of-the-first-and-second-millennium-AD&lang=en ANTHROPOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION OF THE SOUTHERN TAIGA IRTYSH REGION
The Ob-Irtysh Mongoloid anthropological type of the West Siberian race, which include Khanty, Mansi and other indigenous peoples of Russian Asia may have roots in Southeast Asia.Bagashev, A. N. (2011). Proiskhozhdeniye aborigenov Severnoy Yevrazii [The Origins of the Aborigines of Northern Eurasia]. Saarbrucken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing Gmbh & Co. KG Dudweiler Landstr.
Origin and ethnogenesis The term Siberian Tatar covers three autochthonous groups, all Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi madhhab, found in southern Siberia. They are remnants of the Khanate of Sibir, which was conquered by Russia in 1582.
Geographically, the Siberian Tatars are divided into three main groups, each speaking their own dialect. Although the Siberian Tatar language has been sometimes considered a dialect of Tatar, detailed linguistic study demonstrates that Siberian Tatar idioms are quite remote from Volga Tatar by origin. Siberian Tatars' ancestry can be traced back to Turkic, Mongolic, Ket, Samoyedic and Ugric tribes.
According to N. F. Katanov, who studied the legends of Siberian Tatars, the army of Kuchum Khan was divided into four wings: Kordak, Turaly, Ayaly, and Baraba.
Siberian Tatar language
The Siberian Tatar language is, due to the Kipchakization processes during the Middle Ages, many times classified as belonging to the Kipchak-Kirgiz and Kipchak–Nogay group of the Kipchak languages. There are approximately as many elements that could be classified in the Upper Altaian language group. Generally, Tobol-Irtysh Tatar dialect is classified as belonging to Kipchak–Nogai group, while Baraba Tatar dialect and Tom Tatar dialect are classified as belonging to Kipchak–Kyrgyz group of Kipchak languages.
Beginning in the 12th century, the Siberian Tatar language received some Karluk influences. Those Siberian Tatars who are living in ethnically mixed villages where, in the periods after Russian colonization, more numerous Volga Tatars settled, have also been influenced by the Kipchak-Bulgar language.
Siberian Tatar language has different dialects. Since the penetration of Islam until the 1920s after the Russian Revolution, Siberian Tatars, like all Muslim nations, were using an alphabet that had been based on Arabic script. They adopted an alphabet based on Latin script in 1928 and one based on the Cyrillic script in 1939. Until 2014, the written language for Siberian Tatars was Tatar, a version based on the grammar rules of Volga Tatars.
In the 21st century, work began on the rationalizing of the Siberian Tatar language. Teams have conducted scientific research in the field of literary language norms of the indigenous population of Siberia. They have published the "Русско-сибирскотатарский словарь = Урысца-сыбырца сүслек" (2010) (Russian-Siberian Tatar Dictionary), and "Грамматика современного сибирскотатарского языка" (2014)(The Grammar of Modern Siberian Tatar Language).
International Organization for Standardization ISO 639-3 PA with its headquarters in Washington, awarded in 2013, the Siberian Tatar language classification code 'sty' in New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3. The first person who seriously researched Siberian Tatar language was Gabdulkhay Akhatov, a Soviet Volga Tatar linguist and an organizer of science.
Culture Traditional occupations of the Siberian Tatars included hunting, raising horses, and porterage (the latter being important because of the major trade routes situated within the region). Starting in the 19th century, some Siberian Tatars sought work in tanneries and sawmills. Modern Siberian Tatars work in various and diverse occupations.
Some traditional foods in Siberian Tatar cuisine include barley, kattama, boortsog, noodles, and peremech along with several dairy items like kaymak and qurut.
The Siberian Tatars profess Sunni Islam. Before converting to Islam, the Siberian Tatars practiced shamanism. Shamanistic influences can still be found in certain funerary and spiritual customs.Seleznev, Alexander (1999). The Northernmost Outpost of Islamic Civilization. International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World. Islamization of the region first occurred around the 14th century. The adoption of Islam among the Siberian Tatars began by the early 15th century and most were Muslim by the late 18th century. Contact with Siberian Bukharans and later Volga Tatars helped facilitate the acceptance of Islam among the Siberian Tatars.
Attire In terms of cut and color, the ancient outerwear of the Siberian Tatars is similar to the Central Asian and Sayan-Altai (with a Uyghur-Chinese lapel), women's dresses are similar to the Bashkir (with several rows of frills along the hem), and costumes from the early 20th century and later are subject to Volga-Ural Tatar influence.
Groups
Tobol-Irtysh Tatars The Tobol-Irtysh Tatars group is the most numerous out of all 3 groups of Siberian Tatars. In 1897 they numbered 37,600.https://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/pdf/44 Ethnic processes within the Turkic population of the West Siberian plain (sixteenth-twentieth centuries) They live in the Omsk, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk oblasts.
The sub-groups are: Zabolotnie (Yaskolbinsk), Tyumen-Tura, Tobol, Kurdak-Sargat, Tara.
Baraba Tatars Their self-designation is Baraba Tatar, and they are found mainly in the Baraba Steppe, in the Novosibirsk oblast and neighboring regions of Omsk oblast. Their population is around 8,000.
The sub-groups are: Baraba-Turazh, Lyubey-Tunus, Terenin-Choy.
Tom Tatars The Tom Tatars are indigenous population of Tomsk, Kemerovo and Novosibirsk oblasts. Their population is around 3,000, although some estimates put the number as high as 20,000.
The sub-groups are: Eushta, Chat, Kalmak.
Genetics The most common Y-DNA haplogroup among Baraba Tatars is the haplogroup Q (around 50%), specifically the Q-YP4000 and Q-L330 subclades. Among northern Baraba Tatars, the most widespread is haplogroup N1b-P43, specifically the N-VL67 subclade. Other less common haplogroups are R1a1-Z93 and R1b-M73.
Among Tom Tatars there has not yet been found any connection between gene pools of Tom Tatars and Samoyedic peoples. There is a clear genetic connection only with Northern Altaians, Bachat Teleuts and Kazakhs. R1a-Z93, which is widespread among Tom Tatars, has probably Altai or Sayan origin. Kalmak Tatars overwhelmingly belong to N1c1-Y16311 which originates from N1c1-F4205. This haplogroup is not present among Bachat Teleut and Southern Altaians, who, according to historians and ethnographs, also are descendants of late middle age Teleuts (White Kalmucks). The closest to Tom Tatars are Mongolians and Kalmyks. It is possible that Kalmak Tatars are the descendants of the so-called Black Kalmucks, together with some groups of Tyumen Tatars and Yalutor Tatars (Tobol-Irtysh Tatars).