Information about the Bashkirs before the Mongol conquest

Research Article

Abstract

The history of the ethnogenesis of peoples constantly arouses great interest among researchers. The first written mentions of the ethnic group, information concerning their way of life, descriptions of places of settlement help to reveal the stages of the formation of the people and reveal the full picture of ethnic history. A number of world-famous scientists have paid great attention to the history of the origin of the Bashkir people. This issue is examined in many ways in the works of R.G. Kuzeev, N.A. Mazhitov, S.I. Rudenko, A.-Z. V. Togan, who are leading researchers of the history and ethnogenesis of the Bashkirs. Based on the information contained in the works of medieval authors, in other well-known written sources, and archaeological research materials, the aforementioned scientists have studied various important stages of the development of the ethnic group. To study the geography of the settlement of the ancient Bashkir clans, the aforementioned scientists have drawn on a wide range of Chinese, Arabic, Persian and other sources. In this article, using the comparative historical method, an analysis of the main views of leading scientists on the places of settlement of the Bashkirs is made. As a source, widely known published sources are used, which are the work of the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan (10th century) and the dictionary of the Turkic languages ​​​​of Mahmud Kashgari (11th century). The travel diary of Ibn Fadlan contains the earliest, detailed information about the language, customs, and place of settlement of the Bashkirs. The descriptions of the Arab traveler show that at the beginning of the 10th century, the majority of the Bashkirs, who are one of the Turkic ethnic groups, adhered to traditional beliefs. However, according to him, one of the guides accompanying their delegation was a Bashkir of the Muslim faith. In the notes of Ibn Fadlan, hydronyms are clearly recorded, allowing us to outline the boundaries of residence of various ethnic groups. It should be noted that the Bashkir lands he described are still inhabited by Bashkirs, who have retained the hydronym names used at that time. Ibn Fadlan's work clearly outlines the western boundaries of the Bashkir clans. Another important written source is the "Dictionary of Turkic Languages" by Mahmud Kashgari, which contains clear information about the languages ​​of the largest Turkic clans. It contains descriptions of the Bashkir language, which is closest to the Kipchak language. As is known, even at present, the Bashkir language, according to the generally accepted modern classification of Turkic languages, is included in the Kipchak subgroup of Turkic languages. It is noteworthy that the dictionary in question, which is an important lexicographic study, contains a map of the settlement of the Turkic peoples, which is also accompanied by a text description. According to M. Kashgari, the Bashkirs lived east of the Irtysh River. Thus, the sources considered allow us to say that the Bashkirs, before the period of conquests of Genghis Khan, lived in the territory between the Volga and the Irtysh, including the Southern Urals.