The Khanty and Mansi once were muslims

Islam came to Siberia more than 600 years ago. Ancient manuscripts stored in Tobolsk City Museum Preserve tell of the coming of 366 Sufis of the Nakshbandiya tariqah and 1,700 warriors of Sheban Khan from Central Asia to Siberia. On the banks of the Irtysh they “fought a great battle for faith”.

The Sufis carried the Word of Allah

“A martyr's crown was placed on some three hundred sheikhs, fallen, some on land, some on water and some in the swamp”, says Said Vakkas Allakulov, a Muslim preacher.

“After this, the Islamic faith appeared here and the routes were opened so that caravans began to come along the Irtysh River and Alims, Hadjis and Ishans came here to teach the faith; most of them were people who could do wonders.”

The Sufis carried the Word of Allah to all the Siberian peoples as they all then were adherents of paganism. The message was most firmly established among the Siberian Tatars, as well as among those living in the basin of the Irtysh and its tributaries Finno Ugric peoples, Voguls and Ostyaks, who are more commonly known nowadays as the Khanty and Mansi.

“The Sheikhs used rivers as their main transport routes”, says Elena Mikhaylovna Glatskaya, Doctor of Historical Sciences, “and therefore the directions of the spread of Islam among the Khanty and Mansi coincided with the river courses. The most serious impact was on the Mansi, who lived along Tura and Tavda and the Khanty of the Irtysh basin and its tributaries.”

The length active missionary work of Islamic preachers and their close ethno cultural and economic contacts with the Turkic peoples, especially the Tatars, led to certain religious changes in the region. Thus, in a Siberian chronicle compiled in 1636 by Savva Esipov, deacon of the Tobolsk bishop's house, it was reported that the “Tatars” the population of the Tura, Tobol and Irtysh Rivers (including the Khanty and Mansi) identified by a common ethnonym “follow the Mohammetan law”.

“Meanwhile, one cannot talk about the complete Islamisation of the Khanty and Mansi”, explains Elena Mikhailovna, “only certain elements of Islam have penetrated their lives. And this process began early enough, much earlier than Christianity penetrated into Siberia.”

Now it is very difficult to restore the history of the process of conversion to Islam of these peoples as medieval sources have remained extremely few. But, apparently, Islam very firmly entered into their lives.

Suffice it to say that in the battle of Iskera, staged by detachments of Khan Kuchum against the forces of Yermak, both Voguls and Ostyaks fought along with the Siberian Tatars. This is even depicted in the famous painting “The Conquest of Yermak of Siberia”.

In an essay devoted to ethnographic description compiled in the first quarter of the 18th century by the Ukrainian colonel Grigory Novitsky, who was exiled to Siberia and took part in missionary travels along the borders of Metropolitan Philotheus of Leszczynski, one can find interesting information. Novitsky reports that the Khanty engaged in armed resistance to the Orthodox mission in the region of Chernykh Yurt and Yurt Burenkov, and, according to the author, they “ . called themselves Besurman. and raised the klichi”.

“Besurmans” in the 18th century was a name given to Muslims, and “klichi” was a word of Ukrainian origin meaning a minaret from which believers were called to prayer. Apparently, this was a small eminence located in the midst of the yurts.

As researchers note, due to a lack of sources it is very difficult to determine exactly how these northern peoples professed Islam. The fact is that the evidence now available of the religiosity and beliefs of the local population was collected by representatives of Christianity. For them the eradication of what they called “paganism” was important and it is clear that they did not pay much attention to the elements of Islam so that now it is difficult to say anything definite.

But associated with the adoption of Islam by the southern Khanty and Mansi came the rudiments of farming and animal husbandry taught them by the Siberian Tatars. Borrowings can be traced both in clothes and in everyday life. Thanks to the active trade conducted by the state entities of Siberia with the Muslim polities of the Volga and Central Asia, the Voguls and Ostyaks abandoned the craft of pottery as metal utensils appeared in each yurt.

Nevertheless, even being in the bosom of advanced Islamic culture, the Khanty and Mansi continued to lead a largely traditional way of life, based on hunting and fishing (which is why in the 17th century the Russian state tried to keep the most zealous representatives of the church or the public away from missionary activities).

“It was important for the government to protect the Khanty and Mansi from violent Christianization”, says Elena Glatskaya, “as the economic interests of the state were predominant here. From these peoples in the form of yasak authorities received precious furs, which were one of the basic elements of the export of the Russian state.”

The arguments of the government in favor of this policy were formulated and expressed in a letter of 1685 to Metropolitan Paul of Tobolsk, “ it is because Siberia is far away and consists of Busurman and people of other faiths from many lands, so that the Tobolsk Tatars and Bukharans and foreign visitors of other lands do not feel burdened and not driven away from the State's mercy and not to cause such damage to the Siberian state.”

Through the desire to preserve yasak volosts as suppliers of furs and not to allow the emergence of conflicts based on differing religious affiliations, the religious situation in Siberia was “conserved” for some time.

The interests of preserving the peace and stability of the state were placed above the tasks of expanding the boundaries of Christian influence.

Change of course for Christianisation

However, geopolitics and the world economy prevented the Khanty and Mansi remaining as Muslims. In the 18th century, Siberian furs began to be valued much less than the American furs which appeared on the international market. In addition, deposits of ores were discovered in the Urals, UralSiberian metal saving Russia in the war with Sweden.

Therefore, the beginning of the 18th century was marked by a change in government policy towards the religious traditions of the indigenous population of the region.

A course was taken to change the religious situation, a missionary campaign being organized under the leadership of Metropolitan Philotheus of Leszczynski to baptize the peoples of Siberia who had preserved the religious traditions of their ancestors.

A significant number of revered places of the aborigines of Siberia were destroyed, images of the deities they worshiped were burned and baptismal rites were performed on local peoples during missionary trips of Metropolitan Philotheus and his companions. From a formal point of view, the purpose of the mission was achieved, although real religious changes required a much longer time as did changes in lifestyle.

Attempts to use the institution of supervisors to monitor how the baptized observed the norms of Orthodoxy together with administrative measures against those who continued to adhere to the religious traditions of their ancestors, invariably led to conflicts and clashes that often ended tragically.

As for the intentions of the metropolitan to extend his activities to the Muslims of Siberia, they did not find support in the government.

The missionary's request addressed to Peter I regarding the preparation of a decree directed against the population professing Islam, namely “ so that in Tobolsk the mosques of the Tatars do not come between the churches of God and the life of Tatars and Christians, because there are obstructions from the mosques to the churches of God ”, was not supported. However, Muslims were categorically forbidden to preach Islam.

But here it should be noted that the Orthodox missionaries did not classify the Muslimspeaking Khanty and Mansi as Muslims, believing that they were pagans who borrowed from the Tatars the external attributes of faith only.

Thus, without the spiritual support of the Tatars and other Muslims of Siberia and with the passage of time and under the pressure of church and secular authorities, the Khanty and Mansi eventually withdrew from Islam, although they resisted this process for a long time.

“In addition to the new faith, new demands, new taxes and new pressure were imposed”, explains Elena Glatskaya, “and there were not only economic but also ideological and active interventions in the internal affairs of the indigenous peoples of Siberia.

Their desire to protect their Muslim faith was also associated with the desire to preserve their way of life. It is now difficult to judge whether they were indeed deeply religious Muslims, but they accepted the basic elements of the Islamic faith and did not want to accept the new faith brought by Moscow.”

ALEXEI STAROSTIN

Candidate of historical sciences, associate professor, department of theology, Ural State Mining University