However, she singles out xuşawazlar as a distinctive local genre, sung or chanted at celebrations and gatherings. Some are about villages, some describe love, separation, longing for home, military service and war. Grapevines appear in a lot of Əsterxan Tatar songs due to their presence in local gardens. There are also numerous stories about əwliyələr (revered holy people) and sacred graves. One interviewee from Qarğalı said that “forty əwliyə protect Əsterxan”. Every village also has its own əwliyə.  Əsterxan locals’ village houses were large and brightly painted, designed for extended families and livestock. Xaşa and tirmə / qaraç öy were the temporary dwellings adjusted to the nomadic lifestyle of the Qarağaşlar and Qundrawlar, and mazankalar were the permanent or summer houses made by weaving reeds together and coating them with clay.  The clothing ensembles of the Əsterxan Tatars are also quite unique. Qarağaşlar wore a robe-like outer garment with wide sleeves called qaptal. Arqalıq is an outer garment with a lining, metal fasteners sewn onto its front edges and long sleeves with ruffles. The most common women’s headdress was a tastar ensemble: young women typically covered their heads with two large triangular scarves, the ends of the lower scarf hung loose down their backs, while the ends of the upper scarf were tied in a knot at the crown of the head. Yortlı Tatar women wore qandız (a tall fur hat) as festive headwear. The bridal headwear of Qarağaş women consisted of şlawş (a hair-covering cap), möyezbek (an ornamental headband) composed of metal pendants; sawkele (a tall, cylindrical fabric cap with a rigid base), decorated with embroidery, and a tastar. Əsterxan Tatars wore atu (ankle boots) made of yellow morocco leather. The traditional costume was complemented by jewelry mostly made of metal. Compared with the Tatars of the Volga and Ural regions, Əsterxan Tatars wore hoop earrings also used as facial ornaments in the form of nose rings (common for Noğay women); and qsaq – fabric belts with metal plaques, used in both women’s and men’s costumes. The wedding traditions of the Əsterxan Tatars are also somewhat distinct. There is usually cıyın ağası who is a designated person leading dancing at weddings and other gatherings.  Matchmakers visit the bride’s family with gifts. Əbilər tuyı (“grandmothers’ wedding”) is a women-only gathering where the bride receives clothes, jewellery and sweets (tuğız). Söt xaqı is a payment from the groom’s relatives to the bride’s parents (called tartu by other groups of Tatars). The groom’s celebration is called kiyəw sıyı. There is a custom where the groom resists entering the wedding tent and is carried inside by other people. The cleansing ritual of passing through fire is also mentioned in my post about Tatar weddings. Nəwrüz, also called Əməl or Amil by Əsterxan Tatars, is a traditional celebration associated with the spring equinox on 21 March. According to the stories, young people and students visited houses singing, wishing happiness, prosperity and good fortune, and receiving gifts in return. People from neighbouring villages also gathered for the celebration and brought food, especially qabaq (pumpkin) dishes and pılaw. Different xuşawazlar were performed on these occasions.  The region also preserves memories of warmly welcoming famous Tatar poets and writers, whose stories have become part of its local cultural heritage. Ğabdulla Tuqay visited Əsterxan in spring 1911, met writers and journalists, and attended an event dedicated to his poetry in the Tiyək quarter. Hadi Taqtaş is remembered as having read poetry to audiences at a cultural club in Tiyək. Musa Cəlil visited the village of Kiləçe in 1933, stayed there for 11 days and helped villagers harvest crops. ______________________ Based on The History of the Tatars since ancient times in seven volumes, 2017. V.4 R. Urazmanova “Rites and holidays of Tatars of the Volga Region and Ural” 2001 Article “Əsterxan Tatarları” by İlsöyər Zakirova

#tt_culture Əsterxan Tatars Ask someone in the Əsterxan region what they are, and you might get different answers. Officially, the 2010 census counted roughly 60,000 Tatars and over 7,500 Noğays in the Əsterxan region. But the local Turkic-speaking group known as Yortlılar doesn’t fit neatly into either box: they carry regional features that set them apart from both Kazan Tatars and Noğays. Some Noğay activists claim that Yortlılar are really Noğays who were relabeled Tatar during the Soviet period. Tatar-identifying voices argue that all subethnic groups of Tatars originated from the same Turkic ancestors, and while their cultural layers may differ from one region to another, they share the same foundations. Regardless of the labels, today I’d like us to take a deep dive into the indigenous peoples of the Əsterxan region and their history. Əsterxan Tatars are considered to be descendants of the Golden Horde and even earlier ethnic groups, potentially of Khazar and Kipchak origin. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, they were mainly under the influence of the Noğay Horde, with some groups assimilating directly into communities of Noğay origin. Əsterxan Tatars did not form a distinct nationality during the existence of the Əsterxan Khanate 1502-1556. The 16th-18th centuries became a turning point in Tatar history. The Turkic-Tatar states such as the Kazan, Əsterxan, and Seber Khanates were conquered and became vassals of the Russian Tsar, and the Tatar people suffered from heavy pressure in economic, social, and political aspects. Russia gave the fertile lands to the Russian landlords and seized the Volga Trade Route. The conquest of Kazan in 1552 and the Muscovite occupation of the Əsterxan Khanate in 1554 happened at a time when Russia’s major foreign enemies were the weakest, so the only country attempting to force Moscow to restore the Tatar Khanates’ independence was the Ottoman Empire. It pressured Ivan the Terrible to promise the Əsterxan Khanate back its independence, but the promise was never fulfilled due to the Ottoman Empire becoming weak itself.  After the fall of the Khanate in 1556, large numbers of Turkic people migrated from the Upper Volga to the Lower Volga. This movement sped up particularly during the 17th and 18th centuries. One consequence was the blending of Əsterxan Tatars with Volga-Ural Tatars. The Turkic population of the Əsterxan region is divided into several groups. Yort Tatars or Yortlılar are the most numerous. Other groups are the Qarağaşlar or Qarağaş-Noğaylar and the Qundrawlar — a transitional group between Yortlılar and Qarağaşlar. A special group of Əsterxan peoples was the Əgercan (Agrizhan) Tatars, a historical Muslim group of mixed Tatar and Indian ancestry (merchants who came to the Əsterxan region), whose population even formed a separate suburb called Əgercan Bistəse. The suburb was populated by this group, by emigrants from other eastern countries, and by the Bukharians. The Əgercan people subsequently assimilated into Yortlılar and other groups, so they no longer exist as a separate community. At the end of the 19th century, some Əgercan Tatars migrated to the Ottoman Empire along with other Muslim groups from Russia. According to an article by Ilsöyər Zakirova, a folklorist at the Ğ. İbrahimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art, before the October Revolution, many Tatars in Əsterxan city lived in the Tiyək Tatar quarter. The city had a substantial cultural and educational life: several Tatar newspapers were published there, a Tatar folk theater operated from 1907 on, and the city had 13 mosques, each with a school or mədrəsə.  Zakirova’s research expedition collected short songs, narrative songs, legends, mythological stories, stories about saints and ritual folklore. One of her central observations is that Tatars in different regions often sing the same songs, use the same proverbs and celebrate the same holidays. This makes it difficult to identify traditions exclusive to Əsterxan Tatars.