Representatives of the people of Erzya, or Eriangan, as they call themselves, belong to one of the branches of the Morder. Their history is a rich kaleidoscope of events, but they know the few. Perhaps precisely because the focus was on Mordovian nationality, which Erzyansky researchers call "non-existent." Why?
The fact is that the concept of "Mordva" appeared not for too long ago, but Erzya and Moksha (they will be told about them in a separate article), which make up two groups of this ethnos, are the oldest tribes of Mordovia. They differ significantly from each other. Erzyan is called perpetual fighters for freedom and their rights, which demonstrates their history. When did Eriangan appear? How did they create their tribes and culture?
What does Erzya mean?
Erzyan, one of the groups of the Mordovian people, is a very interesting name. It belongs to the ancient ethnonyms and, according to the vast majority of scientists, comes from "Ersames", Erzyan verb. If you use the Russian interpretation of translation, we get - "live", "living". Probably, Erzya was noted that they were those who live long at the original lands (and these are the eastern regions of Mordovia).
However, there are other versions about the origin of the name. There is a suggestion that the word goes back to the Old Archer "Arshan", namely, "man." From myself I want to note that many ancient peoples in their self-visit used exactly such a definition, indicating that they are people of these territories.
In addition, the Tongue of Erzyan, in which there is a significant percentage of Iranian borrowings, speaks to confirm the theory. There are also a number of old customs, which are clearly echoing with Zoroastrian beliefs of Iranian tribes (for example, reverence of dogs and funeral rituals).
The first references to Erzaz are referred to the XIV century and are found in the records of the Iranian scientist Rashid Ad-Din. He told about "Ardzhani" who inhabited the lands of modern Mordovia.
Later, the Nogai ruler Yusuf in his letter sent to Moscow, talks about the people of Rzan, under which the Erzya implies. As you could see, subsequently, this name became the basis for the emergence of the naming of one of the major Russian cities - Ryazan.
The versions of the origin of Erzyan
As already mentioned, Erzya and Moksha are two components of the Morder, but their differences still cause a lot of issues from historians. It is this aspect that caused disputes around the origin of Erzyan. There are several hypotheses on this, and here are some of them:
- Initially, Mordovian nationality existed, which was divided into two branches formed Mokshansky and Erzyan peoples.
- Erzya and Moksha lived in close proximity to each other, because of which cultural and linguistic borrowings are noticeable. At the same time, each of the peoples during the formation developed separately from the other.
- Mokshan and Eriangan first merged into a single ethnos, but then broke up, returning to the original position of things.
Interesting data were represented by researchers during the study of the genetic set of each nationality. Despite the external common features, a significant part of the genes of Erzy and Moksha differs. And if Mokshan falls the relatives of the people only the tribes of the Middle Volga, then Erziang has a wider range of kinship. Genetically, they are close to Belarusians, Poles, Slovaks, Russians from the southern and central regions of the country.
Eternal struggle of the people
Erzya became one of the most freedom-loving peoples of Russia, they were forced to constantly defend their independence. In the Middle Ages, Erziang communities give fire to the Khazaras, Pechenegs, there are a number of clashes with Polovtsy. When Slavs begin to move to their lands, Erzya retreat to Arzamas, moving in the eastern direction and narrowing his own possessions.
In 1237, the neighbors of Erzyan, Moksha, recognized the power of the Golden Horde. But Erzya themselves were not going to obey Mongols. They retreated to the northern forests, hid from persecution, had resistance to the Mongol-Tatar conquerors. After the collapse of the Horde of Earth, Erziang moved to Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Great Principality.
This contributed to the spread of Christianity in the Erzyan territories. But here, freedom-loving Erzya did not hurry to give up a new government. Considerable part of them went further to the East, not going to take the Christian faith. In the XVII century, Eriangan has already occupied a significant part of the Volga region and the South Pri.Rural.
Guardians of the heritage ancestors
Permanent clashes with Nogai and Kalmykov turned the people into a serious military force. In the further promotion of Erzya, the creation of a line of fortresses was promoted, thanks to which the tribes were in the Urals. I want to note that a lot of Erziangi settlements of the Urals appeared after the emergence of Russians in these places.
German Academic and Encyclopedist Peter Simon Pallas in the XIX century noted in his works on two Mordovian peoples:
"They themselves distinguish themselves from these, and assign themselves the special name of Moksha, in the plural of Mokshad ... opposite the one who occurred from another knee called Erzad or Erdzat; And they also refer to themselves ... ".Eriangan is not only the creators of the richest cultural heritage. Their resistance to the planting of other people's beliefs and traditions helped to form a special flavor of the Volga-Vyatka region and the Volga region, which differ significantly from other regions of Russia.
Also, do not forget that many Erzya influenced the course of the history of Russia, while playing the most important role in the formation of the state, becoming personalities that would never stop talking about.
Erzya - people, among whose representatives there are many famous historical personalities. Patriarch Nikon, Stepan Razin, Vladimir Lenin, Fedor Shalyapin, Maxim Gorky, Lydia Ruslanova - this is not a complete list of great Erzyan. They and their richest history are proud of the descendants of this truly the extraordinary people of proud and freedom-loving people.