Christians among Tatar Turks: Kryashens

Öz

Tsarist Russia, from the middle of the 16th to the early in 20 th century, applied policies of Russification and Christianization to the non-Russian nations living in the area of Volga-Ural region. Due to this policies, beside Finno-Ugrians (Mari, Mordvins, and Udmurts), some groups of Chuvashes and Tatars converted to Christianity and Russified. To the present day, the evaluations about the Kryashens showed that they converted to Christianity by the result of this policies. Therefore, they have been considered “Christianized Tatars”. The present paper aims to deal with the relations of Kryashens with Tatars, and their situations among Tatars according to researchs and observations made by the author in July and August of 2008 in Tatarstan. Furthermore, this paper gives place to the evaluations of some Kryashens’ intellectuals about themself from ethnic and cultural point of view.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Tatar Turks, Christianity, Kryashens, Christian Turkish Community

Tatar Türkleri Arasındaki Hıristiyanlar: Kreşinler

Öz