The Bashkirs (Bashkorts) of Bashkortostan

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

(Originially posted by karakhan at September 10, 2004)
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They call themself Bashkorts but is more well known by Russians as Bashkir.

Brief history from Hunmagyar.com

Brief History
The name "Bashkort" has been known since the 9th c. The Bashkirs are descendants of Turkic tribes of Central Asian and South Siberian origin, living in the southern Urals and the surrounding steppes for over 1000 years. Their physical and linguistic characteristics suggest that they emerged as a self-concious ethnic group in the 16th c. from a mix of Tatar, Mongol, Volga Bulgarian, Oguz, Pechenegs, and Kypchak peoples. After the fall of the Tatar Khanate of Kazan in 1552, the Bashkirs came under Russia's sovereignty. Various forms of exploitation by tsarist administration led to several unsuccessful Bashkir revolts in the 17th and 18th c., the biggest one in 1773, led by Salavat Yulay.

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There is some dispute on history of Bashkorts as they is very closely related to Tatars, infact the language is virtually the same. Politically both Bashkortostan and Tatarstan has some of the most independent policies out of all the Republics in the Russian federation with Tatarstan attempting to give out their own citizenship. Bashkortostan attempt to do a land trade with Orenburg in the south, which allow Bashkortostan to have an international border with Kazakhstan. Economically the two do very well. THere is some rivalry between Bashkort and Tatars, the Tatar refer the Bashkorts as the basically "Rural Tatars", while Bashkorts think Tatars is arrogant and are really Bashkort.

Physically Bashkorts have both Finnic-Ugrian and Mongol/Turkic elements, some look more Finnic some look more Mongol..but most is inbetween. Here are some pic of modern Bashkorts..









The president of Bashkortostan



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(Originially posted by me at September 11, 2004)
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Interesting...

They call themself Bashkorts but is more well known by Russians as Bashkir.

So what is the meaning of Bashkort? "Head/Primary Wolf" or something?

The name "Bashkort" has been known since the 9th c.

Their name was mentioned in the Sui Shu as one of the Tiele peoples of the early 7th century.


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(Originially posted by karakhan at September 16, 2004)
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Interesting...

They call themself Bashkorts but is more well known by Russians as Bashkir.

So what is the meaning of Bashkort? "Head/Primary Wolf" or something?

As you probably know, Bash means head.. I think it means head in every Turkic language, might be called Besh in Yakut. Anyway, wolf in Bashkir and Tatar is Bure, not Kort/Kir. but they do say bashkorts is descended from a wolf.

You know how Turkic names are, it can be interpreted in many meanings.. look at Kazakh, you get the meaning of white goose, rebel, etc.

[Atabeg]

wow they got infantry(first pic) thats new I mean ancient or old infantry thats rare amongst us
or not?

[BAWIR$AQ]

ahiskali said:

wow they got infantry(first pic) thats new I mean ancient or old infantry thats rare amongst us
or not?

Hmm... These guys seem to be just the modern theatrical actors, not the professional historical reconstructors.

Historically Bashqorts were mainly nomadic herdsmen and, therefore, fought mounted.

[kokturk]

Zekî Velîdî Togan, the great Tûrânist. He is also a Bashkort.

His glorious life: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeki_Velidi_Togan

[Boorchi Noyan]

kokturk said:

Zekî Velîdî Togan, the great Tûrânist. He is also a Bashkort.

His glorious life: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeki_Velidi_Togan

Yes he is a Bashkurt.
Btw isn't it Bashkurt , what is Bashkort, what does kort mean?

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

I asked this to Isenbike Togan (daughter of A. Zeki Velidî Togan, professor of history in the Middle East Technical University) and she said it's Bashqurt.

[BAWIR$AQ]

Bashqort is the native name.

[tangriberdi]

I'd like to ask you all something. Please confirm.
At a certain period of their integration to Russia, the Bashkort cliamed that they had historical and cultural proximity to the Kazakh . And they wanted to be united with Kazakhstan SSR.
But this desire of Bashkort people to be united with Kazakhstan was refused by the Soviets and Bashkortistan did not get rid of beoming an enclave in present day Russia.
..... Did these happened in Soviet era ? Is it true?
Any information?

[Temüjin]

do Bashkirs live on the Steppe at all?

[BAWIR$AQ]

tangriberdi said:

I'd like to ask you all something. Please confirm.
At a certain period of their integration to Russia, the Bashkort cliamed that they had historical and cultural proximity to the Kazakh . And they wanted to be united with Kazakhstan SSR.
But this desire of Bashkort people to be united with Kazakhstan was refused by the Soviets and Bashkortistan did not get rid of beoming an enclave in present day Russia.
..... Did these happened in Soviet era ? Is it true?
Any information?

The contiguity of Bashqortostan with Qazaqstan (and the rest of Turkistan) would prevent it to be drawn inside the Russian Federation. That was the dream of Ahmet Zaki Validi Togan and other Bashqort patriots.

Here're some sources:

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Furthering cooperation with Western Siberia and the Kazakh Alash Orda Governments, Togan and his Bashkurt army units began engaging Red forces and succeeded in driving them out of Orenburg and traditional Bashkurt lands. An intelligence department, in collaboration with the Samara government, Ural Cossacks and the Kazakhs, was also established with representatives and contacts in various cities around Turkistan.
........
The ensuing events concerning Togan's "collaboration" with Moscow constitutes a separate chapter. What is certain is that Togan, if he had not had prior reservations, quickly became disillusioned. More and more it became clear to Togan that the ethnic Russians did not intend to share power, despite all the promises. Talks with Trotskii, Plekhanov, Lenin, Stalin, Preobrazhinskii, Artium and a score of others did not produce a resolution in the direction of maintaining the union and autonomy of Bashkurt-Kazakh lands and populations. Instead, a Russian province was inserted between the Kazakhs and the Bashkurts.

www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/togan.html
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These trips were providing us with contacts not only in the Middle and Eastern Bashkurt domains, but even with the Kazakhs. This had great advantages later, during the organization of the 1917-1918 Baskurdistan National Movement. The tsarist government, with the aim of inserting a Russian province between Baskurdistan and the Kazakhs, vilolently seized millions of hectares of Kazakh lands, driving away the Kazakh Turks from there. But in 1904-1905, they, especially the Kipchak tribe, were still living contiguous to the Bashkurt lands and continuing to raise cattle.

www.spongobongo.com/zy9859.htm
====================

[BAWIR$AQ]

admin said:

You know how Turkic names are, it can be interpreted in many meanings.. look at Kazakh, you get the meaning of white goose, rebel, etc.

Qazaq is not a white goose. That widespread theory was brought up by someone who doesn't know the nature of the Turkic languages.

In Turkic word combinations, you do not put the noun before the adjective. White goose is aq qaz.

[balamir]

I know them,they louk Turco-Mongolo-Fin =).But today,they are one of the Turkic peoples.

[aykurt]

in the past, Orenburg, the region between Bashkortstan and Kazakhstan, was actually the capital of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the predecessor of the Kazakh ASSR. So there was land continuity between Bashkiria and the Kazakh Autonomy.
It was renamed to the Kazakh ASSR in 1925 when the capital was moved to alma ata and Orenburg was removed and became a part of Russia.

Russification of Orenburg started probably started when the Cossacks established a military frontier post at Orenburg in 1743. But mostly restricted to the town than the region as a whole.
However mass migration of Russians only happened during the Virgin Lands policy of the 1950's and 1960's. The same policy led to the Russifying of North Kazakhstan.

Today ethnic Kazakhs make up about 125,568 or 5.7% of the 2,179,551 population of the region. Bashkirs are 52,685 or 2.4%. Tatars are 165,967 or 7.6% of the population.
Collectively Tatars, Kazakhs and Bashkirs make up 15.8% of Orenburgs population.
Ethnic Russians total 1,611,509 people or 74% of the population.

[tangriberdi]

So it is divide and rule policy huh?
The territory between Kazakhstan and Bashkiria (Bashkortistan) is a histoýrical Kazakh territory. Can we say that?
Or considering that Tatars and Bashkorts make up a more big percentage in total we can claim that this territory belongs to foýrmer Idel Ural Republic.
I think no matters these territoy between Kazakhstan and Tatarstan and Bahkortistan belongs to whom ( Kazakhs Tatars or Bashkorts) , the very issue for me is return of the historical Turkic land to a Turkic country . Preferably to an independent one i.d Kazakhstan.

[Temüjin]

aykurt said:

in the past, Orenburg, the region between Bashkortstan and Kazakhstan, was actually the capital of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the predecessor of the Kazakh ASSR. So there was land continuity between Bashkiria and the Kazakh Autonomy.
It was renamed to the Kazakh ASSR in 1925 when the capital was moved to alma ata and Orenburg was removed and became a part of Russia.

Russification of Orenburg started probably started when the Cossacks established a military frontier post at Orenburg in 1743. But mostly restricted to the town than the region as a whole.
However mass migration of Russians only happened during the Virgin Lands policy of the 1950's and 1960's. The same policy led to the Russifying of North Kazakhstan.

Today ethnic Kazakhs make up about 125,568 or 5.7% of the 2,179,551 population of the region. Bashkirs are 52,685 or 2.4%. Tatars are 165,967 or 7.6% of the population.
Collectively Tatars, Kazakhs and Bashkirs make up 15.8% of Orenburgs population.
Ethnic Russians total 1,611,509 people or 74% of the population.

Cossacks are not Russians! Cossacks settled along the Ural (Yaik) river and Orenburg was their captial, just because some weirdo Commies made Orenburg capital of some fancy ASSR means nothing...