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Sabantuy is a Tatar, Idel-Uralian, Bashkir and Kazakh ('Sabantoy') summer festival, that dates back to the Volga Bulgarian epoch. At first Sabantuy was a festival of farmers in rural areas, but it later became a national holiday and now is widely celebrated in the cities. In 2012, Kazan Sabantuy was celebrated on June 23. [1]
Tatar-speakers call the holiday Sabantuy (Сабантуй, [sʌbɑnˈtuɪ] ), or, more correctly, Saban tuyı (Сабан туе, [sʌˈbɑntuˈjɯ]) - plural form: Sabantuylar[sʌbɑntuɪˈlɑr].
Other Turkic peoples living along the Volga also celebrate the holiday. Bashkir-speakers call it Habantuy (Һабантуй), Chuvash-speakers — Akatuy (Акатуй).
The holiday's name means "plough's feast" in Turkic languages. The synonym "plough's holiday", or Saban bäyräme (Сабан бәйрәме [sʌˈbɑnbæɪræˈme]) also occurs.
Sabantuy traces its origins to the pre-Islamic epoch, when it was celebrated before the sowing season. The presence of Sabantuy was noticed by ibn Fadlan as early as in 921. Traditional songs and other customs of the Sabantuy probably had a religious connotation at that time.
Later, with the spread of Islam among Tatars and Bashkirs and Christianity among Chuvashs, it became a secular holiday. In each region, villages took turns to celebrate the holiday.
In the beginning of the 20th century Sabantuy gained recognition as the national festival of the Tatars. The Soviet authorities approved of this festival probably due to its humble rural origin. However, they moved Sabantuy to the after-sowing season, thus merging it with the ancient summer festival Cıyın (Cyrillic: Җыен, [ʑɯɪˈɯn]).
Recently, Moscow announced plans to nominate Sabantuy for the inclusion into the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity list in 2007.
The main distinctive elements of Sabantuy include the traditional sporting competitions such as köräş (Tatar wrestling), horse racing, race-in-sack, pillar-climbing, egg-in-spoon-in-mouth-racing, sacks-battle on the crossbar, pot smashing , finding a coin in a qatıq (a beverage made from sour milk), and other contests. Such activities take place on the mäydan , [2] which would usually be located at the edge of a forest.
A tradition, called sörän, [3] was held to collect a fare for guests of the festival and prizes for the winners of the contests. Qarğa botqası (Rook's porridge), [4] a ritual porridge, was cooked before the Sabantuy to treat children in the village. Another tradition was praying at the cemetery.
In the recent years Sabantuy is also often combined with the folk and pop music festivals, as well as accordion music festivals, named Play, accordion! (Uyna, ğarmun!).
The wrestling Kurash, is the main competition of Sabantuy. Wrestlers use towels and the aim is to knock down the opponent.
Usually young boys start the competition. At the end of Sabantuy, the main event of the festival is the final of köräş. The winner becomes the batır, [5] the hero of the Sabantuy. The prize varies from a ram in small villages to a car at big cities' celebrations. [1]
Sabantuylar do not have a set date. The festivities take place approximately from June 15 to July 1, and usually fall on a Sunday. Initially, Sabantuylar are arranged in villages, followed by Sabantuylar in rural districts, and the final ones taking place in major cities. The last Sabantuy is held in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. A similar schedule is applied for Akatuy in Chuvashia and Habantuy in Bashkortostan.
In the last few years the Russian government arranged federal Sabantuylar in Moscow. Many cities in Europe and Asia that have major Tatar diasporas, such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tallinn, Prague, Istanbul, Kyiv and Tashkent, also hold Sabantuylar.
Today Sabantuy can be characterized as an international festival attracting many people of various ethnicities who participate in Sabantuylar, both in Tatarstan, and all over the world.
Sabantuy is a symbol of Tatarstan. This is why every Russian president visiting the republic takes part in the Sabantuy held in Kazan. During his visit to Kazan in the mid-1990s Boris Yeltsin became the center of attention at a Sabantuy when he took part in a traditional competition in which the participants try to crash a clay pot while being blindfolded. Vladimir Putin took part in a humorous competition during which he tried to dip his face into a jar full of sour milk in order to fish out a coin without using his hands. [6]
The Tatars, formerly also spelt 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.
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital and largest city is Kazan, an important cultural centre in Russia. The region's main source of wealth is oil with a strong petrochemical industry.
Tatar is a Turkic language spoken by the Volga Tatars mainly located in modern Tatarstan, as well as Siberia and Crimea.
Köräş refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia.
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state with large numbers of Bulgars, Finno-Ugrians, Varangians and East Slavs. Its strategic position allowed it to create a local trade monopoly with Norse, Cumans, and Pannonian Avars.
Chuvashia, officially the Chuvash Republic — Chuvashia, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is the homeland of the Chuvash people, a Turkic ethnic group. Its capital is the city of Cheboksary. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,251,619.
The Chuvash people, plural: чӑвашсем, çăvaşsem; Russian: чува́ши ) are a Turkic ethnic group, a branch of the Ogurs, native to an area stretching from the Idel-Ural (Volga-Ural) region to Siberia.
The Khanate of Kazan was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; its capital was the city of Kazan. It was one of the successor states of the Golden Horde, and it came to an end when it was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia.
Idel-Ural, literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means Volga-Urals in the Tatar language. The frequently used Russian variant is Volgo-Uralye. The term Idel-Ural is often used to designate 6 republics of Russia of this region: Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan and Udmurtia, especially in Tatar-language literature or in the context of minority languages.
Islam is a major religious minority in the Russian Federation, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe excluding Turkey. According to the US Department of State in 2017, Muslims in Russia numbered 14 million or roughly 10% of the total population. One of the Grand Muftis of Russia, sheikh Rawil Gaynetdin, estimated the Muslim population of Russia at 25 million in 2018.
The Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria lasted from 1223 to 1236. The Bulgar state, centered in lower Volga and Kama, was the center of the fur trade in Eurasia throughout most of its history. Before the Mongol conquest, Russians of Novgorod and Vladimir repeatedly looted and attacked the area, thereby weakening the Bulgar state's economy and military power. The latter ambushed the Mongols in the later 1223 or in 1224. Several clashes occurred between 1229–1234, and the Mongol Empire conquered the Bulgars in 1236.
The territory of Tatarstan, a republic of the Russian Federation, was inhabited by different groups during the prehistoric period. The state of Volga Bulgaria grew during the Middle Ages and for a time was subject to the Khazars. The Volga Bulgars became Muslim and incorporated various Turkic peoples to form the modern Volga Tatar ethnic group.
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars are a Kipchak-Bulgar Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Eastern European Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. Most of them live in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Their native language is Tatar, a language of the Turkic language family. The predominant religion is Sunni Islam, followed by Orthodox Christianity.
Çük was a holiday of Keräşen Tatars, Chuvashes, Udmurts, preserved before the beginning of 20th century. It was celebrated as summer, before the Whitsunday or at the Poqraw eve. Commoners arranged a collective meal, and called for rain. Recent years Çük is celebrated in several districts of Tatarstan and is held in the manner of Sabantuy, in Chuvash чӳке(н) - rinse.
Bulgarism is an ideology aimed at the "revival of Bulgars' national identity" and Volga Bulgaria statehood. It originated in the second half of 19th century within the Wäisi movement and the Society for the study of the native land (Chuvashia) It was revived at the end of the 20th century as "neobulgarism" in Tatarstan, Bashkortoston and Chuvashia.
Qul Ghali was a famous Muslim Volga Bulgarian poet. His most famous poem is Qissa-i Yusuf, written in the Old Tatar language, which is not mutually intelligible with the modern Tatar, Bashkir and Chuvash languages.
Islam in Tatarstan existed prior to the tenth century, but it began major growth in 922, when Bulgar ruler Almış converted to Islam. This was followed by an increase in missionary activity in Volga Bulgaria. Islam remained the dominant religion through the Mongol invasion and subsequent Khanate of Kazan. In 1552, the region was finally conquered by Russia, bringing the Volga Tatars and Bashkirs on the Middle Volga into the tsardom. Under Russian rule, Islam was suppressed for many years, first during the Tsardom and Empire and later during the Soviet era. Today, Islam is a major faith in Tatarstan, adhered to by 47.8–55 percent of the estimated 3.8 million population, making it one of the two dominant religions in the region, the other being Orthodox Christianity.
Gabdulkhay Khuramovich Akhatov was a Soviet Tatar Linguist, Turkologist and an organizer of science and then a second doctorate of Philology in 1965, attaining professorship in 1970.
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.
