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To cite this article: Theodore R. Weeks (1999) Our Muslims The Lithuanian Tatars
and the Russian imperial government, Journal of Baltic Studies, 30:1, 5-17, DOI:
10.1080/01629779800000201
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Theodore R. Weeks
Tatar generals were not unknown even in the Russian Imperial Army
(Kryczyfiski 1-42 and Strynklewlcz-Korzon).
. 2
In the late eighteenth century the once mighty Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth was partitioned between its three more powerful
neighbours, Prussia, Russia, and the Habsburg Empire Lithuania came
under the Romanov scepter and the Lithuanian Tatars found themselves
subjects of the Orthodox Tsar (Bairagauskait6 574-7). While initially the
Russian authorities promised to retain the status quo in the newlyacquired lands, the imposition of a centralized (at least, in principle),
autocratic power over the former Grand Duchy necessarily had a strong
impact on the population there, whether Slavic or Lithuanian peasants,
Jews or Tatars. While the exact legal status (soslovie) of the Lithuanian
Tatars is the subject of historical debate, it seems clear that some of
them, at least, continued to own landed estates, even estates peopled
with Christian serfs (Rychlikowa 77-122) After the Insurrection of
1863, Tatars were not subject to the anti-Polish laws promulgated in the
mid- and late-1860s and indeed were in certain ways favoured by the
authorities in their attempt to diminish Polish cultural and economic
3
power in the region. But we must remember that by the second half of
the nineteenth century -- the time upon which this paper will focus -- the
Lithuanian Tatars were in no way a monolithic, unified ethnic group
socially or economically A short "anthropological" description of the
Lithuanian Tatars will make this clear
As we have seen, the Lithuanian Tatars traced their ancestry back to
Central Asia By the nineteenth century, however, they had lost much o f
their original distinctive culture and had assimilated many elements from
the surrounding Polish and Belarusian cultures. To quote from the
introduction to an early pamphlet, "The Lithuanian Tatars, though by
language and appearance ["z mowy i gtowy"] have become true denizens
[krajowcy] in Lithuania, nonetheless their origins and religion set them
apart from the surrounding population, and aside from this they also
have their own legends, customs [obrzgdy] and even their own history in
this region [kraj]" (Kruman 3-4). To start with, certain surnames in
Lithuania harked back to Tatar roots, even when their bearers had often
long since been totally absorbed into the surrounding Catholic milieu. 4
Many Tatar families of noble origin proudly preserved the distinctive
coats o f arms (which, following Muslim tradition, lacked pictorial
elements)f They also left their mark on their land in the form of place
names derived from their original Turkic tongue, such as Sorok Tatar,
Kyrldar, and Kolnolar. Frequently street names attest to earlier
settlements of Tatars (e.g., Ulica Tatarska in Slonim, Tatan/ gatv6 in
Lithuanian Tatars
Vilnius). 6
Theodore R. Weeks
Lithuanian Tatars
10
Theodore R. Weeks
Lithuanian Tatars
11
12
Theodore R. Weeks
Lithuanian Tatars
13
groups. It would seem that the Russian authorities could only deal with
one "national question" at a time; hence, at a time when the Polish threat
seemed overwhelming, all other ethnicities and religions -- Muslims,
Lithuanians, Jews -- either disappeared or were mentioned only as
potential (or real) allies either of the "legal government" (i.e., the
Russians) or the rebels. Furthermore, the Lithuanian Tatars who
combined Polish language and cultural elements with a separate
ethnicity and religion could be categorized at first with the rebels and
then, upon closer reflection, with the loyalists. Further research may
possibly ascertain just how correct either of these categories were.
Secondly, the Russian authorities' benevolent attitude toward the
Tatars shows that there was no "Muslim policy" and that in fighting the
Catholic Poles, even favouring non-Christians was a possibility.
Certainly official discussions of the "Lithuanian Muslims" evince no
fear of the threat of Islam -- though a pervasive fear and loathing of
"militant Catholicism" and "Jesuitism" comes up again and again. The
small numbers of Tatars in Lithuania and the non-threatening,
"Europeanized" form that their religious practices took combined to
make these Muslims preferable, from the official Russian point of view,
to the local Catholics. In this sense the Russian authorities might well
have referred to the Tatars as "our Muslims. ''3~
Notes
Research for this article was supported in part by a grant from the International Research
and Exchanges Board (IREX) with funds provided by the National Endowment for the
Humanities, and the United States Department of State which administers the Title VIII
Program. Writing and revision was aided by a short-term grant from the Kennan Institute
for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
in Washington, DC. The author alone bears responsibility for the views expressed here.
I.
2.
3.
Strynkiewicz-Korzon.
century, taking into account legal, administrative, religious, and cultural factors, is:
Baira~auskait6, Lietuvos Totoriai XIX am~uje. For non-Lithuanophones, some of
Dr. Baira~auskait~'s principal arguments are summed up in her pamphlet The
Theodore R. Weeks
14
Kryczyfiski mentions as Tatar names, for example, Korycki, Utanow, Korycki (74),
Baranowski (76), Pufiski (77), as well as Talkowski, Sieniawski, and Pop{awski
5.
(115).
Kryczyfiski 84-92 - particularly interesting are the plates showing various coats of
questions of whether they should be considered noble or not. See, for example,
Lithuanian Central State Historical Archive (Lietuvos Centrinis Valstybinis Istorijos
Archyvas, Vilnius [LVIA]), f. 391, ap. 4, b. 125: "Alfavitnyi spisok tatarskikh rodov
utverzhdennykh i neutverzhdennykh v dvorianstve." In this list from the early
6.
7.
plural.
In any case, the Russian authorities did not look with favour upon conversions to
Catholicism. See, for example, LVIA, f. 378, BS 1852, b. 2038: "Po otnosheniiu
Ministra Vnutrennikh Del otnositel'no iz'iavleniia zhelaniia magometanami
8.
9.
On the selection of Muslim clerics by the Lithuanian Tatars and the Russian
government's regulations on this process, see LV1A, f. 378, BS 1849, b. 1747 and
ibid, BS 1851, b. 2233.
10. Talko-Hryncewicz 76. Shimelevich claimed that the Lithuanian Tatars strictly kept
Muslim fasts but does not specifically comment on alcohol consumption (69).
11. Kryczyfiski 241-258 (ceremonies), 262-280 (cemeteries), 281-308 (magic and folkhealing).
12. For convenience and clarity, I will use the Russian form of the names of these
provinces. This does not, of course, imply any endorsement of Russian national
pretensions to this territory.
13. The exact number by province was: Kovno - 536, Minsk - 2653, Grodno - 1169, and
Vil'na - 2605. These numbers are obtained from annual reports (otchety) from these
provinces. Rossiiskii Gosudarstvennyi Istoricheskii Arkhiv, (RGIA) St. Petersburg,
f. 1281, op. 6, 1863, d. 32, 1. 14v (Vil'na 1862); ibid, d. 42, I. 7v (Grodno 1861);
ibid, d. 11, 1.9 (Minsk 1861); ibid, d. 36, 1. 12v (Kovno 1862).
14. For a discussion of this highly imprecise term, see Slocum 173-190.
15. For a few examples of the local authorities' concern about the activities of the
Catholic population in 1863, see LVIA, f. 378, PS 1863, b. 13; ibid, b. 1785; and
Lithuanian Tatars
15
Theodore R. Weeks
16
goda").
31. Thousands of Tatars continue to live in Lithuania (most notably in and around the
town of Trakai) and in Belarus. On their present culture, see the quarterly Bairam
and Dumin and Kanapatski.
Works Cited
Bairam:
Lithuanian Tatars
17
Stasiulevich, 1898.37-49.
Obshchii svod po lmperii rezul 'tatov razrobotki dannykh pervoi vseobshchei perepisi
naseleniia, proizvedennoi 28 lanvaria 1897 goda. St. Petersburg: MVD, 1905.
Rychlikowa, Irena. "Tatarzy litewscy 1764-1831: Cz~gci~l szlacheckiego stanu?"
Kwartalnik historyczny 47.3-4 (1990): 77-122.
Shimelevich, M. "Litovskie tatary. Etnograficheskii ocherk." Vilenskii kalendar'na 1906
g. 23 (1905): 63.
Sergei Sheremetev, ed., Iz bumag Grafa M. N. Murav 'eva. St. Petersburg: Stasiulevich,
1898.37-49.
Slocum, John. "Who, and When, Were the lnorodtsy? The Evolution of the Category of
'Aliens' in Imperial Russia." Russian Review 57 (April 1998): 173-90.
Smimov, A. F. Vosstanie 1863 goda v Litve i Belorussii. Moscow: lzd. Akademii Nauk,
1963.
Strynkiewicz-Korzon, Tadeusz. "Szkic historyczny o tatarach litewskich w Mifisku
Litewskim i jego okolicach." Rocznik tatarski l ( 1932): 165-79.
Talko-Hryncewicz, Juljan. Muslimowie czyli tak zwani Tatarzy litewscy. Cracow:
"Orbis," 1924.
Tuhan-Baranowski, Maciej. O Mustimach Litewskich Z notat i przektad6w Macieja
Tuhana-Barnowskiego. Warsaw: Gebethner i Wolff, 1896.