Oghur branch
Chuvash
The Turk people of the middle Volga whose language is the last living member of the Oghur branch, heir to the language of Volga Bulgaria.
Chăvashsem / Çuvaşlar
The Chuvash live mainly in the Chuvash Republic on the middle Volga, whose capital is Cheboksary. Their language is the only modern descendant of the language of the Volga Bulgars and the sole living member of the Oghur branch, which differs markedly from all other Turk languages — for example, with r and l where others have z and ş.
Volga Bulgaria, the medieval state from which the Chuvash trace much of their heritage, was defeated by the Mongols in 1236. The Chuvash came under Russian rule in 1551–1552, at the time of the fall of Kazan. Most Chuvash were converted to Orthodox Christianity in the 18th century, while older beliefs and agricultural festivals survived alongside it.
In the late 19th century the educator Ivan Yakovlev (1848–1930) founded the Simbirsk Chuvash School and created the modern Chuvash alphabet, laying the foundation of Chuvash schooling and literature.
- Language
- Chuvash, the only living language of the Oghur (Bulgar) branch of the Turk languages, written in Cyrillic
- Branch
- Oghur
- Homeland
- The Chuvash Republic (capital Cheboksary) on the middle Volga (Russia)
- Also living in
- Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Ulyanovsk, Samara and other regions of Russia
Key dates
1236
Volga Bulgaria is defeated by the Mongols.
1551–1552
The Chuvash come under the rule of the Russian state at the time of the fall of Kazan.
1868
Ivan Yakovlev founds the Simbirsk Chuvash School; in the early 1870s he creates a new Chuvash alphabet.
1908
Konstantin Ivanov’s narrative poem Narspi is published, a classic of Chuvash literature.
1920 / 1925
A Chuvash autonomous region is established (1920) and becomes an autonomous republic (1925).
Heritage
- Chuvash embroidery, with its rich geometric ornament and many stitch types
- Akatuy, the spring agricultural festival, and a large body of pentatonic folk song
- Narspi by Konstantin Ivanov (1890–1915)
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Chuvash language”
- K. Agyagási, “Chuvash”, in P. Friedrich and N. Diamond (eds.), Encyclopedia of World Cultures, vol. 6: Russia and Eurasia / China (G. K. Hall, 1994)