The Tatars, formerly also spelled Tartars, is an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" across Eastern Europe and Asia. Initially, the ethnonym Tatar possibly referred to the Tatar confederation. That confederation was eventually incorporated into the Mongol Empire when Genghis Khan unified the various steppe tribes. Historically, the term Tatars was applied to anyone originating from the vast Northern and Central Asian landmass then known as Tartary, a term which was also conflated with the Mongol Empire itself. More recently, however, the term has come to refer more narrowly to related ethnic groups who refer to themselves as Tatars or who speak languages that are commonly referred to as Tatar.
Karachay-Cherkessia, officially the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus. It is administratively part of the North Caucasian Federal District. As of the 2021 census, Karachay-Cherkessia has a population of 469,865. Cherkessk is the largest city and the capital of the republic.
The Karachays or Karachai are an indigenous North Caucasian-Turkic ethnic group native to the North Caucasus. They are primarily located in their ancestral lands in Karachay–Cherkess Republic, a republic of Russia in the North Caucasus. They have a common origin, culture, and language with the Balkars.
Balkars are a Turkic ethnic group in the North Caucasus region, one of the titular populations of Kabardino-Balkaria.
Kumyks are a Turkic ethnic group living in Dagestan, Chechnya and North Ossetia. They are the largest Turkic people in the North Caucasus.
Cuman or Kuman was a West Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans and Kipchaks; the language was similar to today's various languages of the West Kipchak branch. Cuman is documented in medieval works, including the Codex Cumanicus, and in early modern manuscripts, like the notebook of Benedictine monk Johannes ex Grafing. It was a literary language in Central and Eastern Europe that left a rich literary inheritance. The language became the main language of the Golden Horde.
An aul is a type of fortified village or town found throughout the Caucasus mountains and Central Asia.
Kumyk is a Turkic language spoken by about 400,000 people, mainly by the Kumyks, in the Dagestan, North Ossetia and Chechen republics of the Russian Federation. Until the 20th century Kumyk was the lingua franca of the Northern Caucasus.
Od iyesi is the Turkic and Mongolian spirit or deity of fire. In Turkic languages, Od means fire, and iye is the familiar spirit of any natural asset, literally meaning "master" or "possessor." Od iyesi protects the fire.
Latinisation or latinization was a campaign in the Soviet Union to adopt the Latin script during the 1920s and 1930s. Latinisation aimed to replace Cyrillic and traditional writing systems for all languages of the Soviet Union with Latin or Latin-based systems, or introduce them for languages that did not have a writing system. Latinisation began to slow in the Soviet Union during the 1930s and a Cyrillisation campaign was launched instead. Latinization had effectively ended by the 1940s. Most of these Latin alphabets are defunct and several contain multiple letters that do not have Unicode support as of 2023.
Nikolai Konstantinovich Dmitriev was Doctor of Philology, professor, an outstanding Orientalist-Turkologist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, member of Russian Federation Academy of Sciences, Distinguished Scientist honoree of Turkmenia, Bashkiria, Chuvashia, and recognized member of the world Turkology.
The Great Kurultáj or briefly Kurultáj is a traditional event of peoples of Central Asian nomadic origins, which takes place in the first week of August in Bugac, Hungary. The aim of this event is to strengthen the unity of the Eurasian steppe-nomadic horse culture and traditions between Hungarians and their cultural relatives, eastern Turkic peoples and Altaic peoples. The first Kurultáj was held in the Torgay Region of Kazakhstan in 2007. The first Kurultáj in Hungary was held in 2008. These events contributed much to the revival of the Altaic self-awareness.
In Turkic mythology, Su Iyesi is a water spirit. It corresponds to the nymph in Turkic cultures. It is a disembodied, incorporeal, intangible entity, but she can turn into a female creature and daughter of Yer Tanrı. Sometimes the master of water is depicted in the form of a bull.
Yel iyesi is the Turkic spirit or deity of wind. The name comes from the Turkic words "Yel," which means wind, and "iye," the familiar spirit of any natural asset.
The Mishar Tatars, previously known as the Meshcheryaki (мещеряки), are the second largest subgroup of the Volga Tatars, after the Kazan Tatars. Traditionally, they have inhabited the middle and western side of Volga, including the nowadays Mordovia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Ryazan, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara regions of Russia. Many have since relocated to Moscow. Mishars also comprise the majority of Finnish Tatars and Tatars living in other Nordic and Baltic countries.
Chepken or chekmen is a caftan worn among Turkic people and later by the Cossacks. It was also in wide use among Caucasians.
