Current page: 11 (book has 18 pages total) [available reading passage: 12 pages]
Font:
100% +
Here is another example of establishing the identity of the Modern Greek studied at school with the native language, although at another point in the interview the informant notes the difference in idioms.
Collector. Do you think it’s right to learn Greek (that is, Modern Greek) at school?
Informant. Certainly! What is it like to live and not know Greek?! Well, this is what it’s like to grow up among the Greeks, both father and mother...
(Information about the informant: VKG, rumeyka, 1939, Maly Yanisol.)
The informant transfers to the Modern Greek studied at school the idea of blood, family ties between the speaker and the idiom, which is usually used when describing the mother language.
Homonymy of linguonyms facilitates the change from one “Greek” language – Rumean, which marks the ethnic identification of a group, to another “Greek” idiom – Modern Greek. Nominally, both idioms correspond to the often mentioned requirement in interviews to “understand at least a little of your native (Greek) language.” For language, as a marker of group identity, it is not so important whether the term "Greek" always denotes the same idiom; the informant may equate his own native language with the Greek language of his grandchildren. It is possible that as the number of children who studied Modern Greek at school but do not speak Rumean increases, the number of informants whose Greek identity is symbolized by the Modern Greek language will increase. Currently, the identification of Rumean and Modern Greek and the adoption of the latter as a marker of Greek identity occur only in isolated cases.
Main groups and community boundaries
I do not consider interaction with individual groups, but the real self-identification of a community always occurs taking into account the boundaries with all its neighbors. Although the need to describe all neighbors may cause difficulties for informants 79
“In an interview... the informant finds himself in a very difficult situation, which he never encounters in daily practice. He, sometimes for the first time in his life, is forced tell about relationships not with just one, but immediately with everyone groups (and not to carry out these relationships in practice, which, of course, is much more familiar to him)” [Bakhtin, Golovko, Schweitzer, 2004, p. 121].
Ideas about other groups and relationships with them constitute the context of interaction, determining contacts with a specific community and individual. The boundary is not only drawn between itself and the second group, its individual representative, but its characteristics are always correlated with other, parallel existing boundaries, and a change in the relationship with one community will inevitably entail a revision of the definitions of other neighbors and the group itself.
The interviews indicate the possibilities of unification with each of the groups, manifesting certain aspects of the Rumean culture. If we summarize the oppositions that are not usually formulated by native speakers, then the Rumeians and Russians are contrasted with the Urums as having a more eastern appearance, that is, as non-Tatars - the Tatars. In turn, the Rumeians and Urums constitute a group of Greeks (Azov region), separated from the Russians by Greek life and origin and from the outer group, the Greeks from Greece, as “local Greeks.” The Rumeans and Greeks from Greece, who speak related idioms/the same language, are contrasted with the Urums, who are native speakers of the Tatar language.
The system of nominations adopted by the community allows you to oppose yourself to any of the groups at any given time and unite with your neighbors. The Greeks (Urums and Rumeans) are opposed to the Russians; Greeks (Rumeans) – (Greco) – Tatars (Urums); Hellenes (Rumians and Greeks from Greece) - also (Greco) - Tatars (Urums).
The system outlined above constitutes the generally accepted ideas of the Rumians about their neighbors. Depending on the individual preferences of the informant, these relationships can be characterized somewhat differently, with the narrator voicing the ideas that constitute the background, the “reserve fund” of the community, updated from time to time, as needed. For example, some informants emphasize the fallacy of the nomination “Greek-Tatars” and, insisting exclusively on the Tatar nature of the other group, deny the commonality of the Rumeans and Urums in all respects, attributing to the Urums not only linguistic, external and behavioral differences, but also a different religion, place of origin ( not Crimea, but Turkey). These ideas may at some point be in demand by the entire community as the boundaries between groups blur. However, a complete denial of the Greek nature of the Urums is possible only as an expression of an individual position and is not shared by others, since, by crossing out any similarity between representatives of another group and the Rumeans, it leads to the disappearance of the border between communities.
The Rumeians' ideas about their neighbors depend on the status of the interacting groups. However, are group relations always perceived as a hierarchy of low and high statuses? Each group gives itself definitions indicating its superior position compared to its neighbors; at the same time, the status differences that actually exist are sometimes ignored. Although attributes attributed by neighbors are part of the group's self-identification, the internal point of view may, to a certain extent, neglect the negative assessment or develop compensatory mechanisms by resorting to parameters such as beauty or the antiquity of traditions, that is, the values of authenticity. As a result, each group feels superior to other communities, and an agreement is formed at the boundaries of communities, according to which one of the communities carries an ancient culture, and the other is economically successful. Lower status may not actually be reflected in the community's self-description in interviews.
The relationship “real Greeks” - “Greco-Hellenics” - “Greco-Tatars” is an example of pure hierarchy, a stepwise decline in the status of a group. The already mentioned term “hierarchy of Greekness,” introduced by researchers of immigration policy in Greece (see: ), successfully characterizes the status distribution of groups in the Azov region, accepted, in fact, by all participants in this system, although both Urums and Rumeans develop various compensatory characteristics that allow clarify relations with a group with a higher status. The stability of this system is due to mechanisms external to the community: economic and other advantages of contacts with Greece and the activities of the Federal State Educational Institution
At the same time, relations with Russians today are not associated with pressure from the state or elite that changes the prestige of groups. In the community there are memories of the relationship between the statuses of Russians and Greeks in different periods, and the informant can use certain stories from the oral history of the group to describe the ethnic border.
* * *
Relations between groups do not represent an isolated opposition between two communities, but a complex system of communicating boundaries. An increase in pressure from one of the groups causes a change in the border with other neighbors. The complete denial of the Greek identity of the Urums leads to the disappearance of the border with them and, thereby, violates the “hierarchy of Greekness” recognized by the Rumians: the existence of another Greek group places the Rumians in the middle of the scale, between real Greeks and Greco-Tatars.
Informants use two value scales – authenticity and civility; assessments from the point of view of authenticity prevailed in the perception of everyday life, holiday traditions, and choice of nationality (before the abolition of the corresponding column in the passports of Ukrainian citizens), while in relation to the native language in the interviews, assessments from the point of view of civilization prevailed.
So, to be Greek means for our informants to be different from Russians (non-Greeks); to be partly the same as the Urums, but more real Greeks; strive to enter into the imagined community of Greeks, embodied by Greeks from Greece (recognizing themselves as less pure Greeks). Interaction with the three groups discussed above determines the self-identification of the Rumeians. When describing their neighbors, informants explain how they see themselves. By accepting or rejecting attributes attributed to another group, the community develops a continuously changing image of itself.
Chapter 5
Ethnic identity of the Urums
In this chapter, the focus is on the Turkic-speaking part of the Greeks of the Azov region - the Urums. Due to the historical discrepancy between the self-name of the group (“Greeks”) and the characteristics of their language (reflected in the linguonym “Greek-Tatar”), any discussion about this community of the Urums themselves and representatives of other groups is based on finding out how language and ethnicity actually correlate Turkic-speaking Greeks of the Azov region. The Urum language is recognized as the main marker of the group, allowing the speakers themselves and their neighbors to form the boundaries of the community.
At the same time, definitions of language and community adopted under the influence of contacts with other groups influence, in turn, the attitude (commitment, loyalty) of speakers to their language.
Analyzing the relationship between language and ethnic (self-)identification of the Urum, I will try, as far as possible, to take into account both sides of the problem: the role of language in shaping the boundaries of the group, and the influence of external and internal definitions of the community on the attitude towards the idiom. Considering the first aspect - the role of linguonyms in the categorization of group and language as a marker of ethnic boundaries, I will consider the system of nominations of Urums and their idiom by different groups, then analyze the markers used by Urums to maintain boundaries with other groups, and share some observations about how the accepted definitions groups (developed in the interaction of external categorization and self-descriptions of the community) affect the attitude towards the idiom, that is, I will consider the perception of the Urum language by native speakers in the context of interaction with other groups.
The main part of the field materials was collected in two Urum villages - Stary Krym, Mariupol district, and Granitnoye (Staraya Karan), Telmanovsky district.
1. Village Old Crimea, Mariupol district– average in size and composition of the population for the Azov region (about 6200 inhabitants 80
According to the city statistics department of Mariupol, in 1979 there were 6,170 inhabitants in Old Crimea; of these Greeks - 2249; in 1989 – 6439 inhabitants; of these, 1984 were Greeks. As of 2003, 6,242 people lived in the village. It is difficult to judge to what extent this ratio of Greeks to non-Greeks (approximately 1 to 3) presented in the census reflects the real situation. The article by K. Kaurinkoski and the booklet dedicated to the 220th anniversary of the village of Old Crimea provide other data: 60% of the Greek population, 20% of Russians, 15% of Ukrainians out of 6,460 people in 2000 [Kaurinkoski, 2002, p. 82; Old Crimea, 2000].
), in fact – a suburb of Mariupol 81
You can get to the city by minibus in 10–15 minutes, and some residents go to Mariupol to work (to the Ilyich Metallurgical Plant and other enterprises).
The president of the Federation of Greek Societies of Ukraine (a native of the village of Rumeya) worked for many years as the director of the local school No. 46; The period of her tenure in this position is associated with a more active (compared to other Greek villages) introduction to school curriculum modern Greek language (status of a school with in-depth study of the modern Greek language), large-scale organization of the 220th anniversary of the founding of the village in 2000, frequent visits of delegations from Greece.
2. Village Granitnoye (Staraya Karan) Telmanovsky district in 1946–1970 was a regional center, which was then moved to the urban village of Telmanovo. 3929 people live in Granitnoye, of which 2712 (69%) are Urum. Today, Granitnoye is a relatively inaccessible village, located far from the city and away from the Mariupol-Donetsk highway. There is no permanent teaching of the Modern Greek language in the village, although for several years there were elective classes for schoolchildren on weekends; Due to the distance from Mariupol, delegations from Greece rarely come here. The village is home to Crimean Tatars who moved to the Azov region in the 1950s-1960s.
Like the Rumean villages chosen for analysis, these two Urum villages are quite typical. In addition, I use material recorded in the Urum villages of Staroignatievka and Kamenka, Telmanovsky district, Staromlinovka, Velikonovoselkovsky district (Zaporozhye region) and Mangush, Pervomaisky district, as well as in the only village with a mixed Urum and Rumey population - the regional center of Velikonovoselkovka.
Ethnonyms and linguonyms
The most common ethnonyms and linguonyms used by various groups present in the Azov region to designate the Urums and the Urum language are summarized in a table (see Table 5.1).
Table 5.1. Urum nominations and their idiom
* Note. Contacts with the Crimean Tatars are typical for only one village, so the situation in the village of Granitnoye will be considered separately.
Russians. As noted in Chapter 4, Russians and Ukrainians refer to the Urums and Rumeans as Greeks and use the linguistic name "Greek" for both idioms. The linguistic division of the two groups is usually known to Russians permanently residing in Urum or Rumean villages, but they, as a rule, evaluate it as a private difference, significant only within the “Greeks” group itself, and do not distinguish between Urum and Rumeans. “Greco-Hellenic and Greco-Tatars. I don't understand these subtleties. ‹…› No, well, just us[call them] “Greeks”, who will decide there - he is a Greco-Tatar or a Greco-Hellenic. Well, the roots went there far, far away.”(RAR, Russian, ca. 1940, Mangush).
Like the Rumeans, some Urums recall that the Russians used to use the nickname “Pindos”, which had clearly negative connotations: “And the Greeks are not people at all, the Greeks are not people at all[thought]... Greeks, Pindos, you know, everyone..."(MAN, Urumka, 1936, Old Crimea). This nomination was not encountered in interviews with Russian informants.
The ethnonym “Russians” used by the Urums denotes the non-Greek Russian-speaking population - Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Some Urums use the terms “Ukrainian”, “Ukrainian” to designate specific people, while the group will be called Russians. In Urum, the term “Russians” corresponds to the ethnonym “hazah”: “Everyone was called “khazah” – and Ukrainians, and Russians, and Katsaps"(SAA, Urumka, 1929, Old Crimea).
The Urums interpret the relationship with the Russian-speaking population of the Azov region as contacts between Russians and Greeks, not divided into Ukrainians and Russians themselves, Urums and Rumeans.
Rumei. The linguistic name “Tatar” is perceived by the Rumeans as a neutral nomination of the Urum idiom, while the ethnonym “Tatars” implies a certain point of view of the informant; the neutral nomination is considered to be “Greek-Tatars”. Among themselves, the Rumeans call the Urums both Greco-Tatars and Tatars, but in interaction with the Urums they use only the full form of the ethnonym - “Greco-Tatars” and the self-name “Greco-Hellenes”, or “Greco-Hellenes”. As a rule, Urums and Rumeians avoid group nominations in conversation or use names derived from toponyms, without resorting to ethnic terms. The Rumeians call the Urum language Tatar and only sometimes Greco-Tatar; but when talking with Urum, the linguonym “Greco-Tatar” will be chosen.
As already noted (see Chapter 2), from ethnographic descriptions of the 19th century. it is known that in the past the Rumeans called the Urums in Rumeian “bazarians”, or “bazariots”, which means “residents of the city” [Grigorovich, 1874, p. 56] 82
Bazar (Romanian) originally meant the city of Mariupol, although now it is often used as a synonym for shier" (Romanian)- the city in general.
However, today neither the Rumeans nor the Urums remember this nomination, since Mariupol was founded and inhabited by the Urums. Thus, the Rumeans do not have special terms to designate the other group and their language in Rumeian, and in all situations they use Russian nominations.
Within their group, the Urums call the Rumeans “Greco-Hellenes,” “Greco-Hellenes,” or “Hellenes,” and themselves “Greeks”; They designate the language of the Rumeans as Hellenic, and their idiom as Greek. When describing the interaction with the Rumeans in conversations with visiting collectors, the informants, as a rule, switched to an “external”, Rumeian-oriented, system of description and called their idiom Greco-Tatar, however, some Urums in any situation adhered to their usual distribution of linguonyms “Greek” and “Hellenic,” even when this might lead to misunderstandings.
The terms “Greco-Hellenes” and “Greco-Tatars” are perceived as full forms, emphasizing the common part - the Greeks, while short forms contrasting the Greeks and Hellenes (Greek and Hellenic languages) allow us to mark the boundary of the community and separate ourselves from the Rumians. The ethnonyms “Greco-Hellenes” and “Greco-Tatars” set a scheme of logical (tribal) relationships, which, as a rule, informants try to interpret. Double generic ethnonyms are a productive model for the formation of new nominations in interviews: “...It seems like there are also Greek-Georgians; Greco-Hellenes and Greco-us"(ELK, rumeyka, ca. 1923, Old Crimea).
Crimean Tatars. At the end of the 1950s. Crimean Tatars moved to Granitnoye from Trans-Urals, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. In 1956–1957 the first families settled in Granitnoye, and in the 1960s and early 1970s. migration continued: relatives of the settlers were also recruited to work on the collective farm; The predominantly Tatar population of the village formed during these decades. Individual families arrived later under the influence of political and ethnic processes in the republics of the USSR or the newly independent states (the Tatar family AAA came from Uzbekistan in 1989).
The Tatars live in the so-called new village, in houses built by the collective farm for resettlers, located separately from the central part of Granitnoye 83
Today, the new village is no smaller in size than the rest of the village, but the division is very clearly recognized: on one side of the village administration building is the old village, and on the other, behind the wasteland on the site of the old cemetery, is the new one.
Crimean Tatars are in contact only with the Urums of the village of Granitnoye (Staraya Karan), and also, partly, with residents of the nearest villages - Staraya Laspa and Staroignatievka, who come to Granitnoye. Urums from other villages have not met Tatars and do not know about the group of migrants in Granitnoye.
Tatars, in conversation with Urums, call them “Greeks,” and within their group they call them “Greeks” or “Greco-Tatars.” The last ethnonym is used by the Crimean Tatars in the presence of Urums only in a situation of conflict or play, playful teasing. In interviews, Crimean Tatars avoid unambiguous nominations of Urums and their language, resorting to deictic constructions or common attributes of the group. Often in interviews there is a definition of Urums as Crimean people or other references to the community’s presence in Crimea.
“Yes, they too, they... Greek-Tatars, they say[hereinafter it is emphasized by me. – V.B.],but they were sent here 300 years ago. They are also exiled people, actually. Well, their descendants... have already died. There were children left there, children and children... that's it, in general, young people. And their parents all died a long time ago - since 300 years, what kind of parents are they? That’s why they are their own nation... for the Russian, who goes where in general. They got married. People got confused. This is how people are here. And our language agrees. And they speak even clearer than we do."(VAV, urumka, 1927, Granitnoe).
The informant avoids ethnonyms: once she calls the Urums Greco-Tatars, but distances herself from this nomination, citing the fact that others say so. Then she resorts to descriptive names of another group, and the wording “also deported people” indicates a comparison of the Urums and her own group: the main motive of the oral history of the Crimean Tatars is deportation from Crimea, and the assessment of the resettlement of the Urums from Crimea to the Azov region as eviction in interviews with Crimean Tatars usually indicates the recognition of the Urums by the Tatars.
The Crimean Tatars call the Urum language both Tatar and Greek, but more often, avoiding certain linguonyms, they describe it as a similar idiom, close to Tatar. Crimean Tatar and Urum are closely related languages, and sometimes communications arise in which each of the interlocutors uses “his own” idiom, which in this case is called by the Tatars both Tatar and Greek.
The Tatars of Granitny distinguish two variants of the Crimean Tatar - Nogai (steppe) and Tat. Some of our informants projected this division onto a similar idiom, describing the language of the Urums as Tat, the language of the Tats (AAA, Urumka, 1940, Granitnoye). However, none of the Urum informants noticed the coincidence of this nomination with the almost lost designation of the Rumeians in the Urum language - Tats, Tat language.
The Urums use the ethnonym “(Crimean) Tatars” (and sometimes, within their community, the pejorative derivative “Tatarva”) and the linguonym “Tatar”. In the village of Granitnoye, Urums, when discussing the Crimean Tatars, almost never use the self-name “Greco-Tatars,” which implies a comparison and rapprochement of groups that is undesirable for informants.
When interacting with the Crimean Tatars, the functions of the ethnonym and linguonym in maintaining the border between groups are distributed: the ethnonym contrasts the Urums and the Crimean Tatars - the Greeks and the Tatars, while the linguonym allows us to emphasize the commonality of the groups. When talking about the Crimean Tatars, the Urums called the idiom Greco-Tatar or Tatar, denoting the partial or complete coincidence of the Urum and Crimean Tatar languages. The rare use of the self-designation “Greek” in this context was marked and signified the informant’s refusal to acknowledge any similarity between the idioms.
Self-names considered outside the context of interactions with other groups, are quite conditional, since only in a situation of contact does the need for naming arise. However, the nominations and idioms adopted by Urums for their group are divided into those used primarily in interaction with other groups or in the context of stories about these contacts and those reflecting the internal point of view of the community.
Used in the 19th – early 20th centuries. self-name of the group in the native language “Urum” and the nomination idiom “Urum”/“rum Tili” (“Urum language”) [Muratov, 1963, p. 179] are currently unknown to the absolute majority of the community. However, some informants are familiar with this nomination from newspaper publications or from the title of a book by A. N. Garkavets, a modern researcher who enjoys significant authority in the community. The lost self-name is gradually spreading again, primarily among older men interested in the history of the group; informants seek to interpret the lost internal form of nomination. “Do you know what urums are in general? This is Turkish for “Greek”. Apparently that’s what the Turks called it.”(ITSH, Urumka, 1963, Old Crimea). The paired term “Rumei” is usually mentioned in publications, but Urum informants often confuse whether they are Rumei or Urum.
Today, Urums use only Russian-language nominations to designate their group and idiom. The linguonym “Greek” - the most natural modern name for its idiom for the Urums - apparently spread after the 1930s. influenced by censuses and other official documents. Throughout the 19th century. The Urums could have borrowed Russian-language linguonyms from officials or ethnographers, who designated the Urum idioms as Turkish-Tatar. The Urum language was named Tatar and Turkish in the 1897 census [First General Census... 1904]; these same nominations were used later during the period of indigenization (along with the new linguonym “Greco-Tatar”). In the mid-1920s. The Urums called their idiom in Russian - “Turkish-Tatar”, for example, in the debate at a meeting of citizens in the village of Mangush in 1925 [TsGAVO 8, l. 19]. This form was not encountered in interviews with modern Urums. At the end of the 1930s. The nominations “Tatar, Turkish or Greco-Tatar language” disappeared from official documents, and the census retained the wording “Greeks with the language of their nationality,” that is, with the presumed Greek. Within the community, the Russian linguonym “Greek language” was established, which now did not contradict the official categorization, but was supported by it.
As already noted, the Urums of the nomination “Greco-Tatars” and the Greco-Tatar language, opposed to the Rumeians and their idiom, are also used as self-names, although some informants perceive the meaning of the ethnonym “Greco-Tatars” quite negatively: "Our language is called[Greco-Tatar], Why do they say “Greek-Tatars”? Not Tatars. Well, in general, everywhere in the documents, “Greeks” are written everywhere. Do you understand? And so, just like that, verbally say that these are Greco-Tatars. Well, why? Well, really, not Greek-Hellenic"(VGT, Urumka, 1936, Old Crimea). The protest from the VGT informant is caused by the connection of the nomination “Greco-Tatars” with the ethnonym “Tatars”, which is not accepted by the Urums to define their group. Informants are aware of the use of the ethnonym “Tatars” for them, and stories about interactions with neighbors who use this nomination contain explicit or hidden polemics with this categorization.
The system of Urum nominations, from the point of view of the speakers, can be represented in the form of several concentric circles. At the center of this system are the original names for their group and idiom - the Greeks with the Greek language. The ethnonym and linguonym generally accepted within the group postulate the identity of the language and ethnicity of the Urums and, thereby, remove the contradiction indicated by the nominations used by the Rumians. The little-known terms “Urum” and “Urum language” are easily recognized as true nominations, since they do not carry negative connotations, and their external origin is compensated by the authority of researchers.
The nominations “Greco-Tatars” and “Greco-Tatar language” or even “Tatar language” constitute an intermediate layer between self-names and unacceptable exo-ethnonyms: although part of the community believes that the double ethnonym used by the Urum circle disputes their Greek origin, this ethnonym and linguonyms are accepted in conversation with a Romanian or visiting linguist, in contrast to the pejorative ethnonym “Pindos” and the nomination “Tatars”, which, as a rule, are not mentioned without special questions from the collector.
Throughout the interview, informants move from one layer of nominations to another. An example is the standard option for choosing a self-name - “Greeks” or “Greco-Tatars” - in the Urum village of Stary Krym: at the beginning of the interview, when the researcher first appears, the informants clarify that they are not just Greeks, but Greco-Tatars, and “at they have the wrong language, not Hellenic,” which is supposed to be of interest to the interviewer. After some time, the informants switched to the point of view of their community and began to call themselves simply “Greeks,” however, when the conversation concerned relations with the Rumians, as a rule, they again used the ethnonym “Greco-Tatars.”
Self-names of Urums and external nominations are organized around two ethnonyms - “Greeks” and “Tatars” (or linguonyms “Greek” and “Tatar language”) with a complex system of connotations and assessments associated with the ideas of a modern resident of the Azov region about Greece, Tatars and Mongol-Tatars . The use of a double ethnonym or a divergent linguonym and ethnonym allows each group, in addition to unambiguously identifying the Urums as Greeks or Tatars, to introduce various intermediate statuses. The possibility of categorizing the Urums as more or less Tatars/Greeks is most fully realized in interaction with the Rumeans and Crimean Tatars. The choice of nomination gives the Urum neighbors the opportunity to separate themselves from them and, at the same time, emphasize their closeness with this group, and the discrepancy between the exoethnonyms and the self-names accepted among the Urums creates a need in the community for new definitions of ethnicity.
Urum and neighboring groups: symbolic markers
Urums attribute certain properties to neighboring groups that allow them to show the similarities and differences between their own and foreign communities. Such markers are associated with observations of the everyday life of neighbors and the most current (auto)stereotypes that manifest certain features of one’s own and other people’s traditions. From the Urum's point of view, the markers used actually exist, although an outside observer may see a different picture.
We consider both the everyday interaction of the Urums with the Russians, Rumeans and Crimean Tatars (the latter is relevant only in the village of Granitnoye), and the borders with imaginary communities - Greeks from Greece and Turks, whose influence on the self-determination of informants is sometimes no less real than contacts with neighboring groups .
Russians. As already noted in Chapter 4, the opposition of Russians and Greeks implies the unification of the Urums and the Rumeans, and, because of this, the stories of the Urums about the Russians largely coincide with similar ideas of the Rumeans. Interaction with Russians appeals to two layers of the group’s oral history – memories of the appearance of Russian settlers in Greek villages and the experience of Soviet times.
Migrants. The ideal past, the "golden age" of the group, refers to the period preceding contact with the Russians. When talking about truly Greek cultural traits, informants often stipulate that they existed before the arrival of the Russians, which led to a mixing of traditions. The informant’s childhood is described as devoid of Russian influence: the Urums say that their parents (grandparents) did not know the Russian language, there were no Russians in the village. Often informants emphasize that Russians were such a rarity in the village that adults scared small children with them: “ “Khazakh will take it.” Well, they were afraid of another nation, as I understand it. They also said: “Xazaghyn baltasyn podushkasyndun.” Well, “the Khazakh has an ax under his pillow.” That he is always on the alert. Well, we were afraid"(LOD, Urumka, 1938, Old Crimea). Although such stories are usually told in the first person, as a rule, the informant stipulates that he was no longer scared, because in his childhood there were already Russians living in the village.
Like the Rumeans, the Urums indicate that in the past the community avoided intermarriage. “Before, it was even wild - well, there are cases when our local Greek will go and bring a Russian. Do you know how wild it was? It was even, well... it was indecent that this family was Russian. Even my brother got married in 1953, and then in some other way...”(WFD, Urumka, 1937, Old Crimea). WFD appeals to the experience of his brother, but more often informants do not correlate knowledge about marriages (mostly mixed) in their own family and the general ban on marrying Russians.
The high prestige of the Urums in the eyes of visitors is motivated by the advantages of everyday culture, primarily by the neatness of the Greeks: “But the Russians really liked our nation, when they arrived: “How cultural!” How clean!“. Of course, the Katsaps were probably not that clean.”(SAA, Urumka, 1929, Old Crimea). According to informants, modern traditions the villages are the result of the interpenetration of traditions, although the influence of Greek culture on Russians predominates; An example of Greek practices is almost always the festive cake kubite.
Informant. The Russians who live here have learned a lot from us... both good and... well, not bad, of course. And we are from them. They have some dishes, we have others. Collector. What did they learn from you? Informant. Greek dishes learned. Cube with meat, with zucchini.
(Information about the informant: AEN, Urumka, 1928, Granitnoe.)
IN Everyday life communities, the symbols of Greek everyday traditions among the Urums, as well as among the Rumeans, are qubites and chebureks. They are prepared for holidays and especially for visitors, for example for us.
Let us repeat that the motives of the stories about the other group are the same among the Urum and the Rumei, and the differences in ideas about the other group become all the more significant. In general, the Urums are more loyal to the Russians than the Rumeans, and less often mentioned the negative properties of the settlers and talked about the superiority of the Greeks over the Russians; in particular, the Urums did not mention Russian workers among the Greeks.
Russians and the state. In the interviews, Russians are described as the implementers of Soviet policies aimed at Russification and suppression of the Greeks (both Urums and Rumeans); At the same time, the Russians support the unity of the Greeks, which is significant for the Urum. The Urums, like the Rumeans, mention the ban on using the Greek language, career restrictions, and the fact that Greeks were not conscripted into the army; V last years According to informants, the attitude of Russians towards the Greeks changed under the influence of contacts with Greece. However, such stories are heard mainly in response to questions from the collector, and one gets the impression that memories of discrimination constitute an insignificant, optional layer of discourse for the Urum. Exceptions are often related to the biographical circumstances of the informant: “It’s now that the Greek language began and the Greeks began, but before – “the devils of the Greeks!”, yeah, like that... You go to the city, you get up for bread, there too – “those devils of the Greeks have come again, oh!” Go to your village!“ – So they scolded us. They called me scary names. We were even afraid to speak Greek. Yes. And then this government became narrower, we began to... Greece began to come here, ours began to travel there. And they have already begun to respect us"(OMT, Urumka, 1926, Old Crimea).
(extremely close to the Crimean Tatar language). In addition, the title ourums worn by descendants of Armenians who adopted the Chalcedonian religion (Ukrainian)Russian and over time Hellenized
Ethnonym
The term "urum" comes from the Arabic word رُوم ("rum"), meaning "Roman, Roman", and subsequently "Byzantine" (Eastern Roman) and "Greek". Words beginning with the consonant “r” were atypical for Turkic languages, so to make pronunciation easier, their speakers added a vowel to the beginning of the word. However, in modern Turkish the spelling “urum” is considered obsolete, despite the fact that it continues to be used; The writing “rum” is accepted as the literary form.
Azov Urums
see also
Write a review about the article "Urums"
Notes
Bibliography
- Garkavets O. Urumi Nadazova. History, language, kazki, writings, riddles, adjectives, letters, memos - Alma-Ata: UCC, 1999.
- Garkavets O.- Alma-Ata: Baur, 2000. - 632 p.
- Smolina M. Urum language. Urum dili. Priazovsky option: Tutorial for beginners with an audio application - Kyiv: Blank-Press, 2008.
Excerpt characterizing the Urums
When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, indicating a barrier to which it was necessary to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky approached Pierre.“I would not have fulfilled my duty, Count,” he said in a timid voice, “and would not have justified the trust and honor that you showed me by choosing me as your second, if at this important moment, a very important moment, I had not said tell you the whole truth. I believe that this matter does not have enough reasons, and that it is not worth shedding blood for it... You were wrong, not quite right, you got carried away...
“Oh yes, terribly stupid...” said Pierre.
“So let me convey your regret, and I am sure that our opponents will agree to accept your apology,” said Nesvitsky (like other participants in the case and like everyone else in similar cases, not yet believing that it would come to an actual duel) . “You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit your mistake than to bring matters to an irreparable point.” There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk...
- No, what to talk about! - said Pierre, - all the same... So it’s ready? - he added. - Just tell me where to go and where to shoot? – he said, smiling unnaturally meekly. “He picked up the pistol and began asking about the method of release, since he had not yet held a pistol in his hands, which he did not want to admit. “Oh yes, that’s it, I know, I just forgot,” he said.
“No apologies, nothing decisive,” Dolokhov said to Denisov, who, for his part, also made an attempt at reconciliation, and also approached the appointed place.
The place for the duel was chosen 80 steps from the road where the sleigh remained, in a small clearing of a pine forest, covered with snow that had melted from the thaws of the last few days. The opponents stood 40 paces from each other, at the edges of the clearing. The seconds, measuring their steps, laid traces, imprinted in the wet, deep snow, from the place where they stood to the sabers of Nesvitsky and Denisov, which meant a barrier and were stuck 10 steps from each other. The thaw and fog continued; for 40 steps nothing was visible. For about three minutes everything was ready, and yet they hesitated to start, everyone was silent.
- Well, let's start! - said Dolokhov.
“Well,” said Pierre, still smiling. “It was getting scary.” It was obvious that the matter, which began so easily, could no longer be prevented, that it went on by itself, regardless of the will of people, and had to be accomplished. Denisov was the first to step forward to the barrier and proclaimed:
- Since the “opponents” refused to “name”, would you like to begin: take pistols and, according to the word “t”, and begin to converge.
“G...”az! Two! T”i!...” Denisov shouted angrily and stepped aside. Both walked along the beaten paths closer and closer, recognizing each other in the fog. Opponents had the right, converging to the barrier, to shoot whenever they wanted. Dolokhov walked slowly, without raising his pistol, peering with his bright, shining, blue eyes into the face of his opponent. His mouth, as always, had the semblance of a smile.
- So when I want, I can shoot! - said Pierre, at the word three he walked forward with quick steps, straying from the well-trodden path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol with his right hand extended forward, apparently afraid that he might kill himself with this pistol. He carefully put his left hand back, because he wanted to support his right hand with it, but he knew that this was impossible. Having walked six steps and strayed off the path into the snow, Pierre looked back at his feet, again quickly looked at Dolokhov, and, pulling his finger, as he had been taught, fired. Not expecting such a strong sound, Pierre flinched from his shot, then smiled at his own impression and stopped. The smoke, especially thick from the fog, prevented him from seeing at first; but the other shot he was waiting for did not come. Only Dolokhov’s hurried steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held his left side, with the other he clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale. Rostov ran up and said something to him.
Ethnonym
The term "urum" comes from the Arabic word رُوم ("rum"), meaning "Roman, Roman", and subsequently "Byzantine" (Eastern Roman) and "Greek". Words beginning with the consonant “r” were atypical for Turkic languages, so to make pronunciation easier, their speakers added a vowel to the beginning of the word. However, in modern Turkish the spelling "urum" is considered obsolete, despite the fact that it continues to be used; The writing “rum” is accepted as the literary form.
Tsalka Urums
In the thirties of the 19th century, to the Tsalka region, on a confessional basis and under the general united name “urum”, from the Erzurum vilayet Ottoman Empire, Armenians, Greeks and Georgians were expelled.
Azov Urums
The Azov Urums profess Orthodoxy. Throughout their ethnic history, they were an isolated group - and did not settle in the populated areas of the Rumeans. According to Turkologist Nikolai Baksakov, in 1969 there were 60 thousand speakers of Urum living in Ukraine. According to the All-Ukrainian Census of 2001, out of 77,516 Greeks in the Donetsk region, 70,373 indicated as native language
The Urums are known as the Greco-Tatars and are representatives of the Crimean peoples. This term includes the Armenians who accepted the Chalcedonian faith, the Tsalka Greeks who moved to the Russian Empire due to the attacks of the Ottomans.
Name
The ethnonym “urum” comes from the Arabic word “Roman”. Later the word was transformed into a different concept. The Urums came to be understood as the Greeks. Initially, there was no vowel letter in the name of the people, however, due to the difficulty of pronouncing the word “rum” in Arabic such a prefix appeared.
Researchers emphasize the difference between the Urums and the Rumei (Ramei), who are representatives of the Azov Greeks. Their main difference is language. The Urums use Turkic dialects, while the Rumeans speak Central Greek.
Language
Urum is related to Crimean Tatar. It distinguishes several dialects, namely:
- Kipchak;
- Oguz;
- average.
This is the classification of S.N. Muratova. In addition to dialects, Urum has many dialects. There is also a very specific language related to folklore. Urums rarely use it; Mariupol and Old Crimean dialects appear in it.
Story
Urums and Rameis are a single ethnic group with different languages. There are no exact versions of the origin of both representatives. There is an opinion according to which the Urums assimilated like Greeks among the Crimean Tatars.
The reason for the settlement of the territory of the Azov region was the actions of the Russian government. There were fears of a raid by the Crimean Tatars and Nogais on the lands of the Russian Empire. By order of Empress Catherine II, the colonization of empty spaces began. By the end of the 18th century, Greeks were resettled from Crimea en masse, the task was given the highest priority, operations were led by such famous commanders as Suvorov and Rumyantsev. However, the Greeks were not forced captives Russian Empire. They were offered different lands.
The first in line was the site near modern Pavlograd. The Greeks did not agree to settle due to the small amount of forest and water. Catherine II hastened to give benefits that allowed settlers to receive complete liberation from military duty, not pay taxes for 10 years and create their own self-government body. The measures taken by the empress retained church governance with the current metropolitan. As a result, the Greeks were given territory confined to present-day Pavlovsk.
The pre-Soviet period was characterized for the Urum by the influence of the Ukrainian population. Living in the Mariupol Greek district, they inevitably came into contact with Russians and Ukrainians, which significantly influenced the cultural characteristics of the people. The Russian language began to prevail, and this concerned not only speech, but also writing. Many of the intelligent families studied in schools where they taught in Russian. However, due to the fact that the Greek community in the Azov region was quite large, the assimilation processes were suspended. This helped the Azov Greeks preserve their identity.
The USSR contributed to the preservation of Urum culture by popularizing theaters, schools, the press and literature in Greek in the Azov region. However, due to the lack of a sufficient number of teachers, the trend of displacement of the native language by the Crimean Tatar continued. As a result, the so-called Modern Greek was formed, which neither the teachers nor the students themselves knew, and this forced them to send their children to Russian schools.
Gradually, the Soviet Union began to curtail its policy of supporting the indigenous population of the Azov region, cultural institutions were closed along with Greek schools, and repression intensified, including against the Greek Embassy. Nevertheless, many of the Azov Greeks supported communism, which earned positive reaction Supreme Council. The Khrushchev Thaw, which began in the 50s, reduced the number of repressions, but further support for national minorities ceased. The policy of universal equality and fraternity meant that any national differences were not significant. If in the early 30s, out of 100 thousand Greeks living in Ukraine, more than 80% considered Greek their native language, then by the end of the 80s there were less than 20%.
Number
Almost all Urums live in Ukraine. The approximate number of representatives of this ethnic group is 250 thousand people. The bulk of people are concentrated in the Donetsk region. In the population census previously, many indicated themselves as Ukrainians or Russians. Now the trend has begun to change in favor of originality.
Life
Urums are subject to the Ukrainian Law “On National Minorities”. It guarantees people's rights and freedoms, including cultural, social, economic and political. On the territory of Mariupol there is an active social activities. The population receives the necessary medical services. A festival of Greek culture and song is held regularly. Public figures from Greece come here, and in 2008 the President of the Greek Republic visited Mariupol. In the same year, the Meotida educational center was opened. It studies the Greek language along with culture and history.
Famous people
Among the Urums and Greeks of the Azov region there are famous personalities.
- Pasha Angelina became the first woman to create a tractor brigade, which consisted exclusively of women. She became a deputy of the Supreme Council many times Soviet Union. Twice she became a hero of socialist labor.
- Georgiy Bakhchivandzhi, a famous pilot who participated in the Great Patriotic War, received great fame. Patriotic War. He was the first to test a jet aircraft and died in 1943. He was awarded the rank of captain.
- Konstantin Chelpan is one of the most famous engineers of the Soviet Union. For a long time He was involved in the design of diesel engines. It was he who created the engine for the most famous Soviet tank T-34.
Culture
The most important cultural phenomenon in the life of the Urum is folklore. There were several types of fairy tales:
- about animals;
- song tales;
- prosaic with ancient oriental motifs;
- diverse, arising on the basis of the assimilation of the cultures of other peoples.
A characteristic feature of all fairy tales is the advocacy of strength and wisdom.
Using the example of heroes, the reader can understand who is a coward, who is a cunning one, and who is a fool. All fairy tales are written in simple language; they use many everyday expressions. The stylistic language is neutral.
A clear example of fairy tales with ancient Eastern motifs is the legend “About Mother and Children,” which tells about two daughters and one son. The essence of her story comes down to punishing children for refusing to help their mother in difficult times. As a result, the eldest daughter turns into a turtle, the son becomes a hedgehog. Only youngest daughter came to the rescue, although she also turns into a different creature, becoming a bee.
Traditions
During the wedding celebration, the songs practically do not subside. They accompany the entire ritual process, telling stories about the bride and groom. Up to the 19th century. The practice of early marriage has been preserved. The girl's dowry was prepared with youth. As a rule, its role was played by carpets, silks, bed linen, tablecloths, and clothing. To show readiness for marriage, the girl had to demonstrate ability in needlework. Embroidery and crocheting were especially revered. A real craftswoman had to be able to knit lace. In the old days, a girl and a boy were chosen from the cradle to be their future groom or bride. The young people were rarely introduced to each other. They received this opportunity only during the betrothal ceremony. Marriages have always been strong and rarely broken up.
Each wedding ceremony involved matchmaking. Matchmakers came to the girl and her parents' house, handing over a bottle of wine or vodka. Despite the fact that everything was predetermined in advance, the bride’s relatives often refused, giving zabak (pumpkin, zucchini). In addition, nuts and forks served as symbols of refusal. The groom's side gave fruits, silk scarves, jewelry and dresses.
The bride and groom were allowed to sit in a separate room together while their parents negotiated. A traditional gift from a girl to her future husband has always been a shirt. At the wedding ceremony, guests should be treated to fried fish and puff pastry filled with rice and meat.
The godfathers must also come to the wedding celebration. The matchmaker took over the process. The bride's friends had to take a rooster with them to dance with it. The bird was then given to the groomsmen. The songs were sung not only by women, but also by men. Arriving at the groom's house, the newlyweds meet their parents. His mother should hold a plate in her hands, which was previously filled with grain and coins. The ritual has been preserved to this day. Approaching the mother, the bride and groom bow their heads, and the groom's mother raises the plate above their heads three times, wishing for long years and sweet bread.
The Panair holiday is very popular among the Urums. It is a whole feast, usually celebrated in June. Prepare for it in advance, calling people from all the surrounding villages. Only men come to the meeting; widowed women do not participate in the holiday. The village elder always took charge of the holiday. Each household is required to prepare a dish that will be served on the table. The richest present a ram. During Panair, horse racing and wrestling are held. The strongest and most famous wrestler was chosen from each village. If he won, then his reward was truly great - bringing a ram to his native village meant throwing a grand feast. Now horse racing has become a rarity, but the tradition of wrestling (kuresh) is still preserved. Clashes between wrestlers are accompanied by songs and dances.
Another favorite holiday among many Urums is “Mouse”. People compete in the art of performing music using tambourines, zurna and violin. IN New Year It is customary to congratulate the residents of the entire village, visiting each house. In the morning, the family eats a pie with coins in it. They eat the pie carefully; if they come across a coin, it means the person will receive happiness in the New Year.
The Urums are familiar with Easter, before which they thoroughly clean the house. You can’t do anything on Good Friday; the next day it’s customary to clean up the house and go to church in the evening. On Sunday morning it is time for a festive breakfast.
The Urum traditions have preserved the pronunciation of proverbs, not only on holidays, but also in everyday life. A proverb helps a person show himself as wise, cultured and intelligent. The Urum vocabulary contains tens of thousands of proverbs, including Greek, Ukrainian, and Russian. Many of them appeared under the influence of circumstances. 12 proverbs are dedicated to work alone, 40 to stinginess, and more than 20 to life itself. Among the unique Urum proverbs there is a rather interesting one, which sounds like “If you are hit with a stone, hit back with bread.” Literally it should be understood as the expression “You cannot keep evil to yourself.” This perfectly characterizes the Urum as positive and persistent people.
Video
In the 8th century, a settlement arose as an Akrit settlement, which already under the Tatars received the name Bashi Yeni-sala. Located on an elevated place at the fork in the roads leading to the modern villages of Polyana and Putilovka, it was essentially a small town with beautiful buildings, judging by the ruins. It is difficult to say about the reasons, but during the late Middle Ages the inhabitants of the settlement moved to the site of the current village of Novopolye, which was quite significant in the 15th century.
Dermenskoy (Dermen-koy) is located on the southern slope of the main mountain range at an altitude of 200 - 250 meters above sea level. It was famous for its fruit trees, especially nuts. Salgir is the most significant river on the Crimean Peninsula. It originates on the slope of Yayla, at the foot of Chatyrdag and flows into Sivash; on its banks was the village of Salgir Yeni-sala.
The village of Cherkes-Kermen was located in the Kara-Kuba valley, not far from Eski-Kermen (Djingiz - Kermen), founded in the 5th or 6th centuries, destroyed by the hordes of Nogai in 1299. Probably the residents of Eski-Kermen who survived the massacre founded the village. Nearby there is a large group of caves, located in four tiers, where monks who fled from Byzantium during the period of iconoclasm settled. The settlement was called Shulya. Later the Genoese settled here and planted beautiful vineyards. The settlement is also known for having a well with the coldest water in Crimea (6.5 degrees). The settlement of Carakuba must have been located in the same valley.
Yalta, also known as Yalita, Jalita, was first mentioned in 1145. under the name of Jalita; on geographical maps of the 14th century. it is designated as Kallita, Hyalita and Etalita. In the Middle Ages, the city came under the control of the Genoese, who were ousted by the Turks.
In addition to names settlements It is interesting to trace and analyze the names of the Mariupol Greeks. Of course, this kind of work is not only interesting, but also very painstaking. Some Greeks have purely Russian surnames: Konstantinov, Popov, Davydov, Ivanov. Of course, they were received during or after resettlement. The other part has obvious Turkic linguistic roots (not only among the Greco-Tatars). For example, Pichakhchi: in any Turkic language ";pichah"; - means “;knife”;; Yagmur - rain. The third part is mixed. In the surname Megelbey one can easily guess two words: mega (Greek: big) and bey (Turkic: lord). The fourth - has purely Greek linguistic roots: Khalaji - in Greek, city; Trandafilov - from the word "rose". Some of the names, as I. Dzhukha rightly writes about , has very ancient roots. We talked about the origin of the Akrytov surname earlier; the surname Archelaus, found among the Mariupol Greeks, is generally of ancient Macedonian origin . In addition to official surnames, the Mariupol Greeks had so-called street surnames. My maternal relatives, for example, had the surname Pichakhchi, and the street name was Chundukh (a fat-tailed breed of sheep).
Let us return, however, to the resettlement process itself. Despite the fact that the majority of residents of the listed points agreed to it, before leaving, and A.V. Suvorov reported this to G.A. Potemkin, a small group of Greeks protested against the relocation (possibly at the instigation of the Tatars). Those leaving Bakhchisarai were escorted by Shagin-Girey himself. According to the statement, out of 3,736 households there were: 18,391 Greeks (9,235 males), 219 Georgians, 161 Moldovans (Vlachs), one metropolitan, 83 priests, 3 monks. Together with them came the Armenians who settled near Rostov-on-Don. About 20 thousand Greeks, residents of Kapsichora, Iskut, Tauk, Kuru-Ozen, Muskolmya and some others, decided to stay in Crimea. The Greeks of the city of Kerch and the surrounding area, which was included in 1774, also did not participate in the resettlement. into the Russian Empire.
Crimean (Mariupol) Greeks, according to language, are divided into Greco-Hellenic and Greco-Tatars. The latter use the Tatar dialect and there are, for the most part, no doubt, fragments of various other peoples, mostly Alans. Even outwardly they are subtly different from the Greek-Hellenic people. The Greco-Tatars probably included those Greeks who, for one reason or another, had close contact with the Tatars and little by little learned their customs and language. However, the Greek-Hellenic people use the Dorian dialect, so spoiled by long-term communication with other peoples and separation from their ancestral home, that those who know modern Greek (Modern Greek) only have difficulty understanding them. I don’t know the reasons, but the majority of the Greco-Hellenic people, as noted even during the resettlement, knew the Greco-Tatar dialect, while at the same time the Greco-Tatars did not have a wide knowledge of Greco-Hellenic. Today, in the places where Mariupol Greeks live, there is a widespread opinion that some of the Greeks allegedly made a compromise with the Tatars: in exchange for preserving the Christian faith, they had to enjoy Tatar language. The idea is attractive to the ego, but does not stand up to criticism. For Muslims in general, and for Turks in particular, it was not language at all, but faith and only faith that was the center of pressure. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, as long as you say the prayer in the Qur’an in Arabic. Besides, how can you trace what language a husband speaks to his wife in bed or to his sons in an open field? Who took upon himself the responsibility of translating church books from Greek (the faith, according to legend, was preserved)? And most importantly: after all, the Greek-Tatars are still sometimes called (offensively) “Alans.” I think the surviving offensive word resolves the issue unambiguously. In this context, a difficult question arises: why did the name of the ancient people, Alans, survive in the language of the Mariupol Greeks to this day? Are you ready, for example? Known , that Baron Buebeck, ambassador of the German emperor to Turkey (Sublime Porte) in 1557 - 1564. collected information about the Goths and their language in the Gothic diocese of Crimea. At that time he recorded only 90 surviving Gothic words, but by XVIII century, at the time of resettlement, all traces of the Gothic language disappear, and the memory of the Goths was erased from the memory of the Crimean inhabitants much earlier. The Greco-Hellenics call themselves “Romeans”, although the self-name of the Greeks, as is known, is Hellenes. The reason here is that for more than a millennium they were citizens of first the Roman and then the Byzantine, or, as the inhabitants themselves called it, the Roman Empire. ";Romey" means Roman, citizen of Rome. Even today you can hear the proud: “Go rumeyka! (I’m Greek!)”; This came from those distant centuries, when a citizen of Rome could not be sold into slavery, punished without trial, etc. As for the Greco-Tatars, they call themselves “;urum”; - a name applied in the Ottoman Empire to all Turkic-speaking Greeks.
Georgians, like Moldovans, came to Crimea as slaves and did not have their own separate villages; To XVII century they already spoke Tatar, but were considered Greeks; Moldovans spoke their own language.
According to anthropological characteristics, the bulk of the Greco-Hellenic people belonged to the so-called Mediterranean race, the most important features of which are: dark wavy hair, dark skin, dark eyes, an elongated narrow skull, a narrow face and nose with a straight back, somewhat thickened lips, and average height. I think that an unsurpassed artistic description of the Crimean-Mariupol Greeks was given by A.I. Kuprin, who wrote in the story “Listrigons” that in them “one can feel, in addition to the admixture of later Genoese blood, some other mysterious, ancient, ... maybe even Scythian blood... Among them you will see many tall, strong and self-confident figures; you come across regular, noble faces; you can often find blondes and even blue-eyed people." They “are not greedy, not obliging, they behave with dignity, ... they are brave, although without absurd risks, they are good comrades and firmly fulfill their word. Positively, this is a special, exceptional breed of Greeks, preserved mainly because their ancestors were slightly Not hundreds of generations were born, lived and died in their town, marrying only between neighbors. However, it must be admitted that the Greek colonialists left in their souls their most typical trait, which distinguished them even under Pericles - curiosity and passion for news." And a little earlier: “;... thin, dark-faced, big-eyed, long-nosed Greek women, so strangely and touchingly similar to the image of the Virgin Mary on ancient Byzantine icons”; .
The settlers brought livestock with them - about 100,000 heads, i.e. about 5 heads per person. The figure, although not small, did not correspond to their abilities: in the new place, despite all the losses, ten years later they had several times more. The reason is freedom. Those leaving were subjected to humiliating customs inspection by the Tatars, which caused protests and even unrest. After giving a bribe of 5,000 rubles (a huge amount of money!) from government funds to customs officers, the settlers freely continued their journey to Perekop, then along the so-called Muravsky Way, which partially coincides with the modern Simferopol-Moscow highway, then through the Molochnaya and Konka rivers. They arrived at the site of the proposed settlement in September 1778, about which A.V. Suvorov joyfully and succinctly reported: “The departure of the Crimean Christians is over! ... Approximately the money for this departure amounted to 130,000 rubles.” Some of the settlers began to settle down, but the majority were waiting for a response to the request of July 16, to which no response was forthcoming. A.V. Suvorov, who had already handed over his affairs, but continued to monitor the resettlement, turned to G.A. Potemkin. asking for a faster response. But slowly, oh so slowly, especially for those who were waiting, the feathers creaked and the wheels turned. Only on May 21 (June 3, n.s.) 1779 was a Decree signed by Catherine II, called the Great. This document, written in Greek and Russian, was known to the settlers under the name "privileg" (distorted - “;privilege”;) is of undoubted interest, therefore the reader, I hope, will forgive for its full reproduction: “To our faithfully blessed Blessed Ignatius of Gothia and Kathys and to the entire society of Crimean Christians of the Greek law of every rank to all in general and to each in particular, Our Imperial gracious word. May the right hand of the Most High bless your well-intentioned universal undertaking. We, having considered the general and goodwill-based petition sent to Us from you from Bakhchisarai on July 16th of this year (or rather, last F.H.) threatened yoke and disaster by acceptance into eternal citizenship of the All-Russian Empire, we deign not only to accept all of you under Our All-Merciful protection, but also, as dear children, having calmed under it, to provide a life as prosperous as the great desire of mortals and Our incessant care for this can extend.
Following it, we deign to enjoy you in Our State not only with all those rights and benefits that all Our subjects have enjoyed from Us and Our ancestors since ancient times, but in addition We have indicated:
1. During your present resettlement to the Azov province, transport from Crimea, at Our expense, all your property that can only be transported, and especially the poor and those in debt to the Khan and the local government, redeem from Our treasury, which is already from the amount determined from Us completed.
2. For the most convenient settlement of yours, allocate a sufficient part of the land in the Azov province, special from other villages, along the Solyonaya and other rivers and along the shores of the Sea of Azov, so that the local abundant fishing in the dachas of your village We all mercifully grant forever for the benefit and benefit of the whole society without any prejudice Our treasury with taxes. For the merchants, artisans and industrialists, we assign the cities of Ekaterinoslav and Marianopol to their residence in that province, as the most profitable places for trade.
3. Upon dividing state residents into classes, We most mercifully dismiss everyone from State taxes and services of whatever rank they may be for 10 years, and after that time they have to pay to Our treasury annually, merchants from capital, from the ruble at one percent, guilds, the same for the philistines from the yard for two rubles; and the district villagers, namely: farmers, not from souls, but from land, allotted thirty dessiatines for each, will contribute 5 kopecks from each dessiatine per year; the poor villagers will be supplied from Our treasury not only with food for the first year, but also for sowing land of all types with grain seeds, livestock and everything belonging to the establishment of housekeeping, with a return for all of it to the treasury after 10 years; in the same way, their houses will be built at government expense; Those who own property, on the lands allotted to them, have the right to build houses, shops, barns, factories and everything that they themselves wish from their own support, using everything in general forever from any quarters freely, except for those cases when military teams must pass by your villages. You are always leaving the army as a recruit, unless someone himself wants to join Our service.
4. Upon his death, we most mercifully entrust to His Grace Metropolitan Ignatius the flock of all these villagers who came out with him and who will henceforth leave the Crimea; which should be directly under Our Holy Synod. The priests who have come out now, each remaining with his parish, depend on him, who will continue to ordain priests and other clergy in his flock, according to his consideration and as needed.
5. To have trial and reprisal and the entire internal police on the basis of general laws in Our state, by leaders elected from among you by free vote, who will receive ranks and salaries according to the staff of the Azov province under the appeal of the viceroyal government. In villages and hamlets, for protection in all necessary cases, special Russian police officers are appointed, who, in the legal proceedings of these villagers and without interfering with anything, can only act as guards and intercede for them. However, upon the entry of everyone into the clan of state residents chosen by him, we allow him to use forever and hereditarily everything that, according to Our general laws, each clan of state residents enjoys, such as: free trade outside and within the state, and for the greater benefit of these, it is allowed to build from of your own capital, merchant seaworthy ships, to plant necessary and useful factories, factories and orchards, for the cultivation of which all sorts of grape wines in your villages in small quantities, exported to internal Russia You can sell cities by the barrel, - in a word: spread trades of every rank according to everyone’s own will and wealth, and enjoy all that under Our Autocratic Scepter and the protection of laws. Granting all these benefits We solemnly and hereditarily to the whole society for eternity, for greater strength We signed with Our own hands and commanded to strengthen them with Our State Seal."
Catherine's Decree was subsequently confirmed by Emperor Paul I, and Emperor Alexander I signed another Decree, essentially no different from Catherine's Decree with omitted benefits, which had expired. Both Decrees were kept in a silver gilded ark, first in the Mariupol Greek Court, and then in the city government. It would seem that having received such privileges on magnificent lands, the issue of resettlement can be considered successfully completed. But Metropolitan Ignatius was not satisfied with this, probably due to the harsh climate compared to the Crimean one, and therefore twice during the summer of 1779 he traveled to St. Petersburg to visit his longtime acquaintance and patron G.A. Potemkin. As a result, the “Map representing part of the Azov province of Mariupol district, lands that are determined by the Greeks who left the Crimea” was approved. In the middle there is an inscription: “Be it so. Catherine”;; below: "Confirmed October 2, 1779"; Below is the signature: “Prince Potemkin.” The map marked the boundaries of the allocated lands, which did not coincide with the Decree of May 21, 1779, but coincided with the Kalmius Plank; the location for the city of Mariupol was indicated, but the locations of the villages were not indicated. Before the revolution of 1917 the map was kept in the Mariupol government.
Legally, the resettlement ended with decree N 1817 of March 24, 1780 of the Azov provincial chancellery. Here are some excerpts from it:
"By decree of Her Imperial Majesty, the Azov Provincial Chancellery, in pursuance of the request received from His Serene Highness the Sovereign's Viceroy, Prince G.A. Potemkin, on September 29 (1779), under N 2829, on the withdrawal of the Greeks who came from the Crimea to this province, for the settlement of their recognized and capable places of the land of the warrant, with which and annex to his lordship for the signing of his eminence the Greek metropolitan and the deputies, a certificate of which consideration is prescribed, transmitted in the original, submitted from his eminence the Gotthian and Kafi metropolitan Ignatius, for the signing of him and the deputies who left the Crimea Greeks have a mandatory certificate that they recognize the lands and places as sufficient and capable for the establishment of a city and a settlement for farmers: from the Sea of Azov and the mouth of the Berda River, where the Petrovskaya fortress is (leaving in that fortress, as indicated on the map, a district of 12,000 dessiatinas), on its left bank to the mouth of the Karatysh River, along the left bank of Karatysh to the top, from there directly to the top of the Kobloy gully and along its right bank to the mouth of the Mokrye Yaly River, along the right bank of the Mokrye Yala to the mouth of the Volchya, from there along the Volchya bank to the mouth Osikova beam, along the left bank of it to the top from that peak directly to the top of the Beresnegovataya River, along its right bank to the mouth of the Kalmius River, along the right bank of Kalmius to the mouth of it flowing into the Sea of Azov, from here along the shore of the Azov Sea to the above-mentioned fortress area Petrovskaya, suggests:
1. Those lands, as on these lands, there are nowhere sufficient either state or landowner establishments yet for the Greeks who came out of the Crimea to settle and build their own cities without seizure, and where they themselves choose villages from these convenient places, there they will cut off districts for each , even if there was not the full amount of 200 households of 12,000 tithes, believing both that there was an excess in them, and that after the disengagement of those the district would remain in place for the future. If, after the granted 10 preferential years, any land is not populated and remains empty, then take away from them and distribute them to those who wish, on an equal basis with other lands throughout the province; and when the number of Greek immigrants increases, then add them according to the number of those immigrants from empty places not allocated to anyone.
2. Their city should be called Mariupol, which, having a decent location, should be built either on the shore of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius River, or at the mouth of the Solyonaya River, also called Kalets, which flows into the Kalmius River; and all those lands granted to these Greeks, according to the above-written borders, are to form the Mariupol district, and the zemstvo administration of this district is to be established in the Petrovskaya fortress; and in this district, excluding the Petrovskaya fortress with the district, except for the Greeks, until the end of 10 grace years, no other nations are allotted any land for the settlement of houses and other things, and fishing against the dachas of those Greeks on the Sea of Azov, exactly and in all the rivers of this district, no one else can use them except them; and the city by the Volchya River, which was previously determined for those Greeks to be called Pavlograd and according to this the local district Pavlograd.
3. Due to the lack of forest land in these places, not only the construction of houses for which the poorest should be supplied from the treasury, but also for other household needs, they should be allowed to freely travel to the forests near the Mius River...
4. Since those Greeks, with the approaching autumn and winter, cannot have time to build houses for themselves, then order them to allocate apartments in advance in Bakhmut district, in Toru (Slavyansk), Mayaki (on the Donets River) and Raigorodok, where property would be their dependency, and the rest on the state-owned oxen given to them, without wasting time, they moved, without preventing those who wished to stay in the places where they are now located, or move to the land near the Kamenka River, where some of them spent the past winter, about which from The governor of this province has been notified and his Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius has been notified, reminding him of the inevitable fulfillment of this, and so that he encourages the cultivators to sow winter grain without fail this fall, either in the places where they now stand, or in those newly determined for them, only so that no time was wasted in vain in purchasing bread for next year...
... To inform the Greek Metropolitan Ignatius, so that all the Greeks in the Mariupol district of this year, farmers, from the first of April, and the merchants and townspeople from the fifth to the tenth, entered the settlement; to send a decree to the warden Ensign Gorlensky and order the residents of all ranks living on the lands assigned to the Greeks to move to the Solyonaya Ust, to Pavlograd... and which of those moving... in every possible way, all assistance and relief, assuring that they are 6 years from all zemstvo duties and taxes will be exempted"; .
Thus, the caretaker was Ensign Gorlensky, and since 1780 he was also assigned “to the charity of the various nations of Christians who came out of the Crimea”; Prime Major Prince Shakhmatov; since 1781 Second Major Mikhail Safkov was in charge of setting up settlers in the new place. There were probably a lot of problems... Who were these people? I managed to find a character reference for Second Major M. Safkov, signed by the Azov Governor, Lieutenant General V. Chertkov. Here are the extracts: “In 1780 he was appointed provincial zemstvo commissar, and in addition, in 1781 he was sent to the Mariupol district to settle the Greek colony withdrawn from the Crimea... After one year of his stay there, he settled them both in the city of Mariupol and in 21 settlements.” ; .
A new movement began - the torment of displaced people. The only consolation and example for them was the biblical story about the forty years of wandering in the desert of the Jews before coming to Palestine. This is how, almost 40 years later, the settlers themselves describe their wanderings in a petition to the Minister of Internal Affairs Lansky: “We are not able to describe in detail everything that happened during our resettlement, and how the diseases that occurred from climate change, water, and cramped apartments acted.” and for the most part from the lack of them... let us say unhypocritically and in the very truth that entire families suffered with their lives, and many lost even half of them, and not a single family was left without the loss of father, mother, brother, sister and children, in a word, out of 9 thousand ... there were not even a third of the male souls left, and at the age of 15 they could barely accumulate with newborns... up to seven thousand souls." During the two-year wanderings, many strayed from their loved ones: some settled in the dethroned princess of Azov - Taganrog, where the Greeks already lived, some in the east of the Yekaterinoslav region, where they quickly assimilated with the local population, leaving no trace, and some returned to abandoned villages in Crimea , for example in Autku, Karan. The Samara Monastery (near Novomoskovsk) provided great assistance to the settlers, caring for a significant number of the sick and infirm. Probably no one counted the dead, those who lagged behind, or those who returned, but, judging by the quoted letter to the minister, certain losses amounted to up to 60% - a monstrously high figure, showing, among other things, the degree of their oppression in Crimea: even following on the heels the insatiable old woman with a scythe was not shaken by the desire of the majority for freedom.
Based on Documents storiesGreeks Azov region S. Kaloerov, the 1st volume of which “From Crimea to Mariupolsky... professional purpose on cultural field, and the grains... there are still winners for a long time remain on hearing ...
Chapter 1 The education system in Mariupol after the abolition of serfdom and the introduction of state reforms in the Mariupol district 4-6
Abstract of the dissertation... on construction of a school for Greeks. Greeks... publications " Brief review Mariupolsky county": " Story such... onfield public education. At the beginning of the 20th century, one school in Mariupol the county accounted for on...sacredly fulfilled debt And...
