Kryashens
a sub-group of the Volga Tatars, frequently referred to as one of the minority ethnic groups in Russia.
Kryashens (Tatar: керәшен(нәр), [k(e)ræˈʃen(nær)], Russian: кряшены; sometimes called Baptised Tatars (Russian: крещёные тата́ры)) are a subgroup of the Volga Tatars, frequently referred to as one of the minority ethnic groups in Russia. They are mostly found in Tatarstan and in Udmurtia, Bashkortostan and Chelyabinsk Oblast.
Kryashens are Orthodox Christians, and some of them regard themselves as being different from other Tatars even though most Kryashen dialects differ only slightly from the central dialect of the Tatar language and do not differ from the accents of the Tatar Muslims in the same areas.
The 2010 census recorded 34,882 Kryashens in Russia.
History
Scholars associate the formation of groups of Kryashens with the process of voluntary and violent Christianization of Muslim and Animist Volga Tatars during the 16th to 19th centuries. The first wave of Kryashens were the result of forced conversions soon after the Russian conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates. However, most of these converts reverted to Islam and Christianity made little headway among the Tatars.
A more lasting and significant presence of Kryashens emerged during a period of mosque destruction and anti-Muslim oppression from the Russian authorities during the 18th century. During the reign of Anna of Russia, many Muslims were forced or pressured to convert. New converts were exempted from paying taxes, were granted certain privileges, and were given better resources for the learning of their new faith.
“Kryashens” enters the record as a sub-group of the Volga Tatars, frequently referred to as one of the minority ethnic groups in Russia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kryashens, sub-group and Volga can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kryashens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.