2022, vol. 10, no. 2. Tataurov S.F.

2022, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 379-390

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2022-10-2.379-390

   ISLAM IN THE TOMSK REGION OF THE OB BASIN
FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY: FROM HYPOTHESES TO REALITY

S.F. Tataurov
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography,
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Omsk, Russian Federation
tatsf2008@rambler.ru

Abstract: Objective: The article deals with the question of the time of the spread of Islam in the Tomsk region of the Ob basin. It not only analyzes the early date of the penetration of Islam (the thirteenth century), but also the events related to the integration of Western Siberia into the Russian state. Moscow’s policies toward the aboriginal population was flexible and considered the complexity of the ethnic picture of the annexed lands. After a relatively short time, the population of the region was split into two worlds – Christian
(Orthodox) and Islamic.
Research materials: The archaeological complexes of this period demonstrate this process and, considering the scarcity of the written sources, allow us to clarify the time and place of the population’s initiation into new religions. However, it is necessary to take into account all the nuances, and all the materials available for analysis, in order not to create a false idea of historical processes, and to succumb to the desire to push the spread of Islam in this region to a more distant past. Determination of the confessional affiliation of the deceased cannot be limited to two features, and it is necessary to consider both the global canons of Islam and its Siberian regional peculiarities. My report is based on the materials of the excavations of the Tojanov Gorodok burial ground of the famous national archaeologist M.P. Gryaznov in 1924.
Results and novelty of the research: Based on the analysis of the available materials the following conclusion is made: this site cannot be considered “one of the earliest Islamic sites in the Lower Tom basin”. It is a burial site of the pre-Muslim period. The circumstances related to the spread of Islam are as follows: although it is possible that Islam penetrated the region as early as the thirteenth century, the formation of Muslim communities occurred in the seventeenth century, after Western Siberia became part of the Russian state.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Tomsk Tatars, Islam, archaeology, history, burial rites

For citation: Tataurov S.F. Islam in the Tomsk Region of the Ob Basin from the Thirteenth to the Eighteenth Century: from Hypotheses to Reality. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2022, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 379–390. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2022-10-2.379-390 (In Russian)

REFERENCES

  1. Boyarshinova Z.Ja. The population of Western Siberia before Russian colonization. Tomsk: Izdatel’stvo Tomskogo universiteta, 1960. 151 p. (In Russian)
  2. Vodyasov E.V. Muslims of the “Toyan Town”. Tomskiy zhurnal LING i ANTR=Tomsk Journal LING & ANTHRO. 2020. 1 (27), pp. 101–113. (In Russian)
  3. Vodyasov E.V., Zaytseva O.V. The First Muslims in Tomsk Priob’ye: Hypotheses and Discussion. Bylye gody, 2018. Issue. 50 (4), pp. 1347–1353. (In Russian)
  4. Gryaznov M. P. The diary of the excavations of Toyanov town, made in 1924. Iz istorii Sibiri= From the History of Siberia. Tomsk: Izdatelstvo Tomskogo universiteta, 1976. Issue 19, pp. 73–89. (In Russian)
  5. Emel’yanov N.F. Ethnic and numerical composition of the indigenous population of the Tomsk region in the XVII – first half of the XIX centuries. Iz istorii Sibiri=From the History of Siberia. Tomsk: Izdatelstvo TGU, 1976. Issue 19, pp. 90–107. (In Russian)
  6. Ishakov D.M. The Institute of the Seyids in the Ulus Dzhuchi and the Late Golden Horde Turkic-Tatar States. Kazan: Fen, 2011. 228 p. (In Russian)
  7. Korusenko M.A. Funeral rites of the Turkic population of the lower reaches of the Tara River in the 17th-20th centuries: the analysis of the structure and content. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2003. 192 p. Etnografo-arkheologicheskie kompleksy: problemy kul’tury i sociuma= Ethnographic and Archaeological Complexes: Problems of Culture and Society; Vol. 7. (In Russian)
  8. Korusenko M.A., Tataurov S.F. Planigraphy and orientation of Tatar settlements and burials in the lower reaches of the Tara River. Etnografo-arkheologicheskie kompleksy: problemy kul’tury i sociuma (kul’tura tarskih tatar)=Ethnographic and Archaeological Complexes: Problems of Culture and Society (The Culture of the Tara Tatars). Novosibirsk, 1997. Vol. 2, pp. 91–118. (In Russian)
  9. The Cult of Saints in Siberian Islam: Specifics of a Universal / Seleznev A.G [i dr.].. Moscow: Izdatelskiy Dom Mardzhani, 2009. 216 p. (In Russian)
  10. Maslzhuzhenko D.N. Activities of Sufi orders in the Tyumen and Siberian Khanates] Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Istoriya= Bulletin of Tomsk State University. History. 2015, no. 2 (34), pp. 5–9. (In Russian)
  11. Pletneva L.M. The Toyanov Town (excavated by M.P. Gryaznov in 1924). Iz istorii Sibiri=From the History of Siberia. Tomsk: Izdatelstvo Tomskogo universiteta, 1976. Issue 19, pp. 65–72. (In Russian)
  12. Sobolev V.I. History of the Siberian khanates (based on archaeological materials). Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2008. 356 p. (In Russian)
  13. Tataurov S.F. Materials of M.P. Gryaznov’s research of Toyanov town in the archive of the MAE of Omsk State University. VIII istoricheskie chteniya pamyati Mihaila Petrovicha Gryaznova. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov= VIII Historical readings in memory of Mikhail Petrovich Gryaznov. Collection of scientific works. Omsk: Amfora, 2012, pp. 193–196. (In Russian)
  14. Tataurov S.F. The Toyanov Town on the Ethnopolitical Map of the Siberian Khanate. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2019, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 497–508. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-3.497-508 (In Russian)
  15. Tomilov N.A. The Turkic-speaking population of the West Siberian Plain at the end of the 16th century and the first quarter of the 19th century. Tomsk: Izdatelstvo TGU, 1980. 276 p. (In Russian)
  16. Tychinskikh Z.A. The Service Tatars and Their Role in the Formation of the Ethnic Community of Siberian Tatars (XVII–XIX centuries). Kazan: Fen, 2010. 288 p. (In Russian)
  17. Chindina L.A. About the funeral rites of the late burial grounds of the Narymskoye Priob’ye region. Iz istorii Sibiri=From the History of Siberia. Issue 16. Tomsk, 1975, pp. 61–93. (In Russian)
  18. Jarkov A.P. “…kinsmen in all the people there still contained idolatrous superstition” (about Islam in the pages of the monograph). Islamovedenie= Islamic Studies. 2020, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 112–119. (In Russian)

About the author: Sergey F. Tataurov – Cand. Sci. (History), Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (15/1, K. Marx Ave., Omsk 644024, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0001-6824-7294. E-mail: tatsf2008@rambler.ru

Received  February 18, 2022   Accepted for publication  May 24, 2022
Published Online  June 29, 2022