Tatar

The Tatars (/ˈtɑːtərz/; Tatar: татарлар; Russian: татары) are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in Russia and other post-Soviet countries. The name Tatar first appears in written form on the Kul Tigin monument as ???‎, Ta-tar. Historically, the term Tatars (or Tartars) was applied to anyone originating from the vast Northern and Central Asian landmass then known as the Tartary, which was dominated by various mostly Turco-Mongol semi-nomadic empires and kingdoms. More recently, however, the term refers more narrowly to people who speak one of the Turkic languages.It was found that mtDNA of the Volga Tatars consists of two parts, but western Eurasian component prevails considerably (84% on average) over eastern Asian one (16%).Together with Tatars, Russians have high frequencies of allele families and haplotypes characteristic of Finno-Ugric populations. This presupposes a Finno-Ugric impact on Russian and Tatar ethnogenesis.... Some aspects of HLA in Tatars appeared close to Chuvashes and Bulgarians, thus supporting the view that Tatars may be descendants of ancient Bulgars.Flag of Nogai KhanateFlag of the Crimean TatarsFlag of TatarstanFlag of the Kazan KhanateGolden Horde flagTartary flagTatars in Kazan, 1871Mintimer Shaimiyev (left), the president of the republic of Tatarstan, in the Qolşärif Mosque, Kazan, with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (right)Siberian TatarsCrimean Tatars, 1891Crimean Tatar women, early 1900sTatar elder and his horse.Tatar in Ottoman service.Tatar womanTatar womanTatar womanTatar womanTatar shepherd-boyTatarsLithuanian Tatars of Napoleonic armyTatar elderTatar familyTatar family in 1843Siberian TatarsTatar girl in 1682Tatar girl ca. 19th centuryTatar child ca. 19th centuryTatars' raid on MoscowTatar ridersRecovery of Tatar captives.Tatar costumes.Tatar riderTatar elder inviting guests.Tatar horsemenTatars in the vanguard of the Ottoman armyKazan Tatars 1862Quran of the Tatars.The word Qazan – قازان is written in Yaña imlâ in the semblance of a Zilant.Cover page of Tatar Yana imla book, printed with Separated Tatar language in Arabic script in 1924.A Tatar alphabet book printed in 1778. Arabic script is used, Cyrillic text is in Russian. Хальфин, Сагит. Азбука татарского языка. — М., 1778. — 52 с.Tatar sign on a madrasah in Nizhny Novgorod, written in both Arabic and Cyrilic Tatar scripts. The Tatars (/ˈtɑːtərz/; Tatar: татарлар; Russian: татары) are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in Russia and other post-Soviet countries. The name Tatar first appears in written form on the Kul Tigin monument as ???‎, Ta-tar. Historically, the term Tatars (or Tartars) was applied to anyone originating from the vast Northern and Central Asian landmass then known as the Tartary, which was dominated by various mostly Turco-Mongol semi-nomadic empires and kingdoms. More recently, however, the term refers more narrowly to people who speak one of the Turkic languages. The Mongol Empire, established under Genghis Khan in 1206, allied with the Tatars. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan's grandson Batu Khan (c. 1207–1255), the Mongols moved westwards, driving with them many of the Mongol tribes toward the plains of Kievan Rus'. The largest group by far that the Russians have called 'Tatars' are the Volga Tatars, native to the Volga region (Tatarstan and Bashkortostan), who for this reason are often also simply known as 'Tatars'. They compose 53% of population in Tatarstan. Their language is known as the Tatar language. As of 2002 they had an estimated population around 5 million in Russia as a whole. The name 'Tatar' likely originated amongst the nomadic Mongolic-speaking Tatar confederation in the north-eastern Gobi desert in the 5th century. The name 'Tatar' was first recorded on the Orkhon inscriptions: Kul Tigin (CE 732) and Bilge Khagan (CE 735) monuments as ‎???⁚????‎⁚???‎, Otuz Tatar Bodun, 'Thirty Tatar clan' and ‎???⁚???‎, Tokuz Tatar, 'Nine Tatar' referring to the Tatar confederation. 'Tatar' became a name for populations of the former Golden Horde in Europe, such as those of the former Kazan, Crimean, Astrakhan, Qasim, and Siberian Khanates. The form 'Tartar' has its origins in either Latin or French, coming to Western European languages from Turkish and the Persian language (tātār, 'mounted messenger'). From the beginning, the extra r was present in the Western forms, and according to the Oxford English Dictionary this was most likely due to an association with Tartarus. The Persian word is first recorded in the 13th century in reference to the hordes of Genghis Khan and is of unknown origin, according to OED 'said to be' ultimately from tata, a name of the Mongols for themselves. The Arabic word for Tatars is تتار. Tatars themselves wrote their name as تاتار or طاطار. The Chinese term for Tatars was Dada 韃靼, especially after the end of the Yuan period (14th century), but also recorded as a term for Mongolian-speaking peoples of the northern steppes during the Tang period (8th century). The name 'Tatars' was used as an alternative term for the Shiwei, a nomadic confederation to which these Tatar people belonged. Russians and Europeans used the name Tatar to denote Mongols as well as Turkic peoples under Mongol rule (especially in the Golden Horde). Later, it applied to any Turkic or Mongolic-speaking people encountered by Russians. Eventually, however, the name became associated with the Turkic Muslims of Ukraine and Russia, namely the descendants of Muslim Volga Bulgars, Kipchaks, Cumans, and Turkicized Mongols or Turko-Mongols (Nogais), as well as other Turkic-speaking peoples (Siberian Tatars, Qasim Tatars, and Mishar Tatars) in the territory of the former Russian Empire (and as such generally includes all Northwestern Turkic-speaking peoples). Nowadays Tatar is usually used to refer to the people, but Tartar is still almost always used for derived terms such as tartar sauce, steak tartare, and the Tartar missile. All Turkic peoples living within the Russian Empire were named Tatar (as a Russian exonym). Some of these populations still use Tatar as a self-designation, others do not.