Udmurt - Sociopolitical Organization

The Udmurt are often regarded as a people who strongly resisted both czarist and Communist rule, as indicated by political resistance in the villages and by the continued vitality of traditional religious beliefs and practices. Prior to Soviet rule, villages were governed by a village council called the kenesh, composed of the clan elders of the village. Even in the kohlkozy, the kenesh remained influential and a major source of resistance to Soviet control.