Siberian Tatars - History and Cultural Relations

The earliest government of the Siberian Tatars, the Tinmen Khanate, was formed in the fourteenth century with its center in Chimge-Ture (the site of present-day Tiumen). At the end of the fifteenth century the Siberian Khanate arose and its capital became the city of Sibir (Kashlyk). In the middle of the sixteenth century the territory of this state extended from the Urals in the west to the Barabin steppe in the east and from the Tavdy River in the north to the Ishim River in the south. In 1563 power was seized by Kychum, a Kazakh or a Nogay Tatar in origin. In 1582 Russian military campaigns began in Siberia, the Siberian Khanate was liquidated, and the Siberian Tatars became part of the Russian state.

In 1394-1395 some Tobol-Irtysh Tatars accepted Islam. Gradually almost all the Siberian Tatars became Muslims and members of the Islamic civilization. Their writing system was based on the Arabic alphabet, the art of urban construction developed, and distinctive buildings such as mosques and schools were built. In the second half of the nineteenth century the Siberian Tatars adopted the literary language of the Kazan Tatars. Russian culture influenced the West Siberian Tatars, as did the culture of neighboring peoples of Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia.

In the Soviet period the overwhelming majority of Siberian Tatars became literate, the role of the intelligentsia increased, and scholars, artists, and outstanding athletes appeared. A negative phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s was the termination of instruction in the Tatar language and of teaching Tatar in the schools. The standardization of the ethnic cultures through management of culture and social processes was a goal of the Soviet administrative system. During perestroika such cultural politics were reevaluated: in many villages or settlements the study of Tatar has been reintroduced, Tatar sections have been introduced in some institutions of learning, folk arts are being reborn, new mosques are being built, and a celebration is being planned for 1994—the 600th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by the Siberian Tatars. Among all groups of Siberian Tatars centers and clubs of Tatar culture have formed. In the Omsk and Tiumen oblasts, radio broadcasts are being transmitted in the Tatar language, and the first newspaper in the Tatar language has appeared. Nevertheless, cultural rebirth and development are proceeding slowly. The integration of the culture of the Siberian Tatars with the cultures of other peoples of Russia, particularly the culture of the Kazan Tatars with that of the Russians, continues.