We call mysterious and mysterious that about which we have little information. In this sense, the Meshchera people are really mysterious. There are very few archaeological sites in Meshchera. There are even fewer written sources that mention this people. Some researchers believe that the Meshchera did not exist at all. Nevertheless, this people existed for quite a long time, at least 700 years, over a vast territory, from modern Yegorievsk in the west to present-day Kasimov in the East. By the way, the original name of this city was Gorodets Meshchersky.

The issues of the formation of the ancient cave are extremely complex and undeveloped. According to the latest data, we can only assert that representatives of the Ryazan-Oka Finns played a significant role in its genesis. These tribes came to the Middle Oka around the 3rd century AD from the east. These were the Volga Finns, in language and material culture related to the ancient Mordovian tribes. In the 4th - 5th centuries, their settlements and burial grounds appeared on the southeastern border of the modern Moscow region, approximately within the boundaries of the current Lukhovitsky district. These people were distinguished by a high culture of processing metal, bronze and iron. Their main occupation was cattle breeding on the floodplain Oka lands.
Approximately in the region of the fifth century, the resettlement of individual groups of the Ryazan-Oktsy to the north, the colonization of the Meshchera region, begins. This is how the people of the Meshchera arise. Local taiga tribes, which we still do not know about, could also participate in its formation, but the influence of the Ryazan-Oktsy was decisive.
The reasons for such migration were both economic and military-political. In the 5th century, the situation on the Middle Oka escalated, numerous burials of people who died a violent death, including women and children, appeared. I can assume that at this time before r. Oka reach military-political impulses caused by changes in the territory of the collapsed state of the Huns, stretching from the Danube to the Volga. This can be judged by some samples of weapons. However, the Ryazan-Oktsy survived and continued to exist until the 7th century AD.
Those of them who went north, to the Meshchera forests and swamps, gave rise to a new people that existed until about the 12th-13th centuries. This people was the Meshchera.

Meshchera (also Meshchera, also Mishari) is an ancient Finno-Ugric tribe that became part of the Old Russian state and dissolved in the Russian and Erzya peoples. Settled along the middle course of the Oka (Meshcherskaya lowland). The language of the Finno-Permian group (more precisely, the Volga-Finnish) is Meshchersky.
Archeology associates with this tribe burial grounds and settlements of the II-XII centuries, located along the middle course of the Oka.

The conclusions of A. Ivanov based on the materials of the Pustoshensky burial ground of the Meshchera:
According to the nature and composition of its inventory, the burial ground belongs to the type of burials, which, apparently, marks a special culture. Characteristic features of this type should be recognized: the presence of lamellar neck torcs with cylindrical pendants, lamellar moon-shaped earrings with the same pendants, neck torcs twisted from wire with cone-shaped spikes at the ends, a large number of cowrie shells and rather crude, but original wire imitations of various kurgan finds, such as then: neck hryvnias and a bracelet with tied ends, openwork pendants and typical pendants on chains in the form of cylinders and rhombuses. All things of the described type are attributed according to the Finnish or, in any case, to a foreign tribe that preceded the Slavic colonization of the region.


Story
We find the first mention of the Meshcher at Jordanes: The latest publication of Jordanes' Getica presents the text of the list in the following form:
"thiudos: Inaunxis Vasinabroncas Merens Mordens Imniscaris Rogas Tadzans Athaul Nauego Bubegenas Coldas" [Jordan, 116]. It should be interpreted as a heavily corrupted fragment of a text in the Gothic language [Anfertiev 1994: 150-151], the original of which, in terms of the territories of interest to us from the Baltic to the middle Volga, can be restored approximately as “*þiudos: in Aunxis Vas, in Abroncas Merens, Mordens in Miscaris, Ragos stadjans / stadins "and translate: '[conquered] the peoples: in Aunuks - all, in Abroncas (?) - I measure, Mordovians in Meshchera, [along] the Volga of the area [atul, navego, bubegens, kolds]' .
Mentions of Meshchera are also found in the Tolkovaya Paley, a monument of ancient Russian literature of the 13th century, and in Russian chronicles (for example, in connection with the campaign of Ivan IV to Kazan). Meshchera as a region was first mentioned in historical documents in 1298 during the redistribution of power between Bakhmet Useinov, the son of Shirinsky, “who expelled Tsar Osan-Ulanov, the son of Krymskov, from Meshchera Makhmet.” The second time Meshchera is mentioned in 1382 in the Russian chronicle in connection with the acquisition of land (simultaneously with other cities near the Oka - Tarusa, Murom, Nizhny Novgorod, located from the headwaters to the mouth of the Oka River), by Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich (Donskoy) from the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh.

Gradually, the Slavs settled in the Meshchera region. The Meshchera tribe was partly assimilated, partly pushed back to the Volga. However, the name remained, and those places where the Finnish tribes once lived have been called the Meshchera region or simply Meshchera since time immemorial.

Meshchersky language
The message of Prince Kurbsky says that the Meshchera has a "Mordovian" language. It should be noted that there is no single Mordovian language, but there are Moksha and Erzya languages ​​of the Mordovian subgroup of the Finno-Volga languages. Kurbsky's report gives reason to believe that the Meshchera language was close enough to the Moksha and Erzya languages. The materials collected by L.P. Smolyakova on the territory of the former Parakhinsky volost in the mid-1960s confirmed the observations of her predecessors and her own conclusions regarding foreign (Finnish) influence. The specificity of the Russian dialects of Tataria, used by the Russified or Russified Erzei - the speakers of the Erzya language, allowed the author to assume that it was the Erzya substratum (and not the dialect of Moksha) that was at the heart of the Meshchera dialects. A distinctive feature of the Meshchera is the so-called clatter, which is common in Poochie on the territory of the former settlement of the Meshchera.

material culture
The culture was close to the culture of the Erzyans, for example, the meshchera had a hip adornment, such as a pulagai.
In connection with the assumption that the ancient Slavs had a vertical weaving mill, N. I. Lebedeva cites information about the weaving of “pulagai” by the “Russian meshchera” p. Melekhov, Ryazan region and s. Vyazemka of the Zemetchinsky district of the Penza region, which are "a woven strip with a very long red wool fringe". At the same time, she emphasizes that the territory “of the dwelling of the Meshchera coincides with the settlements of the Gorodetsky type, in which there was a vertical weaving mill.”
One of the local variants of the South Great Russian type of clothing G.S. Maslova considers the costume of the Zaoksky part of the Ryazan and Tambov regions- "Russian Meshchera" - one of the oldest groups of South Great Russians. Very old features have been preserved here, dating back, according to the author of the article, to Vyatic clothing (poneva, a type of headdress) and features that bring the clothes of the Russian population closer to the clothes of the peoples of the Volga region (especially Mordovian) - the type of bast shoes, black braids, shells, hooks, fringed pulagai belt.
D.K. Zelenin notes such features in the clothes of the Meshchera:

among the Meshchera, ponevs without stitching, not sewn in front, horned kichki and black onuchi were common.

Black dovetails (they are onuchi) are also common among Erzi:
There have also been changes in the way we wear shoes. If small children, especially in summer, usually walked barefoot, then teenagers began to wear bast shoes, and on holidays, leather shoes - boots or leather shoes. Moreover, the girls had to wear onuchi, and the Tengush Erzya girls from the age of ten wore black mats - seprakstat. It was a piece of woolen fabric 10.0 cm wide and up to 2.5 m long. The edges were trimmed with a red woolen cord. They were tightly wrapped right around the shins. The same twists were common among some moksha groups. Among moksha and shoksha, girls also wore red windings on holidays - yaksteren karkst. The process of winding them up was very long, so it was usually done in the evening and the girls slept shod. If the holiday lasted several days, then the windings were not removed throughout its entire length.

ANTHROPOLOGY
The hypothesis about the genetic relationship of the Russian Meshchera and the Tatar-Mishars in the 1950s was tested by scientists from the Research Institute of Anthropology of Moscow State University. On the basis of anthropological materials, they spoke out "against the point of view asserting the unity of the origin of the Mishars and the so-called Russian Meshchera", and pointed to the possibility of a genetic connection between the Russian Meshchera and the local "Mordva-Erzya groups".

Academician T. I. Alekseeva writes:
“Russians from the Muroma habitat are also very similar to the Meshchera. They have relatively light pigmentation, weakened beard development, a very narrow face, a predominantly straight nose, etc. This fact can be interpreted as confirmation of the connection between the Meshchera and the Muroma, and taking into account the fact that other anthropological patterns appear in the population surrounding these groups. types - Valdai and East Great Russian - as confirmation of the genetic relationship of these relic East Finnish Oka groups.
“The localization of such a peculiar morphological complex in a relatively isolated territory allows us to raise the question of isolating a new anthropological type in taxonomy of Eastern Europe. On the basis of similarity with the Ilmenian, it can be attributed to the Eastern European contact group of types of the North Caucasian or Baltic minor race (according to Cheboksarov). Consistently pursuing the geographical principle in the designation of racial types, it should be called Middle Oka.
“A comparison of the skulls of the Meshchera, Meri and Muroma with the East Slavic ones, on the one hand, and with the Finno-Ugric ones, on the other, indicates their much greater similarity with the first. In this sense, we can talk about the genetic ties between the East Slavic and East Finnic peoples on the territory of the Volga-Oka basin, which arose long before their ethnic formation.

women's shirt from the Meshchersky region

CLOTHES OF MESHERA
I can't really answer this question yet. A few years ago, at a burial ground near Lake Shagara, on the territory of the Klepikovsky district of the Ryazan region, I managed to unearth several typical Meshchera burial complexes. There were also women's bronze jewelry. But I cannot unequivocally state that all this grave goods were part of the costume.
By the way, the cemetery itself was almost completely destroyed by black diggers, who left behind more than 500 predatory shafts. What we managed to save there for science is only an insignificant part of what, in violation of Russian laws, was taken by robbers for sale. The looted monument on Lake Shagara could provide new and very interesting data about the Meshchera people. For example, the burials we studied showed that there was a rite of cremation at the Meshchera, and the ashes of the dead, along with grave goods, were buried in grave mounds piled over the graves of more ancient ancestors. Also, the Shagara burial ground was evidence of the continuity of the Oka-Ryazan and Meshchera cultures, or was continuously used in the period from the 5th to the 12th century, for at least 700 years.

ancient Meshchersky idol - Old Ryazan
MESHCHERA'S BELIEFS
The people of the Meshchera were a pagan people, but we know very little about their beliefs and customs. Some information about the rites in the Meshchera beliefs can be obtained from the analysis of the female burial inventory of the 4th-7th centuries from the banks of the Oka, which includes numerous clothing accessories and jewelry. The women's costume of this period is distinguished by the extreme diversity and richness of bronze jewelry and fittings. A set of equipment corresponds to the age and marital status of the woman. Not married women, young girls, married women - all dressed differently. The rite of "posthumous wedding" was noted, when the dead girls were symbolically married after death in order to reunite with their ancestors in a higher social status that gave marriage.

MESHCHORSKIE VILLAGES
It is safe to say that the Meshcheryaks were able to build log dwellings, possibly with stove heating. Meshchersky settlements were not protected by earthen ramparts. The only settlement that can be attributed to the Meshchera tribe was found in the Shilovsky district of the Ryazan region. It was destroyed at least twice, the first time in the 7th century by the steppes, the second time in the 11th century by the Slavs. By this time, the Meshcheryaks probably interfered with the establishment of a direct connection along the river. Oka from the North-Eastern periphery of Ancient Russia to its central regions. The legends about the Nightingale the Robber in the terrible forests of Murom were not born without their participation.

resettlement of the Meshchyora

LESSONS MESHCHORA
As I said, the Ryazan-Oka ancestors of the Meshchera were, most likely, cattle breeders. The rest of the industries were of a subordinate nature. When moving from the Oka valley to the Meshchera forests, cattle breeding probably ceased to be the main occupation. The economy has become more complex, maximally adapted to local specifics. Forest cattle breeding, hunting, fishing, gardening, beekeeping. Meshchera inherited the craft skills of her ancestors, the Meshcheryaks were skilled blacksmiths and cast elegant art products their bronzes. The latter were made according to the technology traditional for the Oka Finns, first the decoration was molded from waxed ropes, then the form was made.
Meshchera maintained trade and exchange relations, a number of products were delivered from afar. An analysis of the remnants of fabric found on one of the monuments, carried out by the artist - restorer of our museum A.A. Mamonova, showed that it was once a women's shawl brought from the Mediterranean or even Egypt.

holy lake near the village of Narmushad - Meshchersky region

Settlement and language of the chronicle cave according to toponymy
In the monuments of ancient Russian literature, the earliest fixation of the ethnonym Meshcher is noted in Paley sensible (XIII century; lists starting from the XIV century) [Palea... 2002: 164]. Under 1298, the genealogy book reports on the conquest of the Meshchera region by the Mongol-Tatars: "in the summer of 6706, Prince Shirinsky Bakhmet, Usein's son, came from the Great Horde to Meshchera, and fought and settled Meshchera." In the annals, the onym of Meshcher first appears in the 15th century: “and along Ots along the river, where you flow into the Volga into the Vlga, sit Murom with your tongue, Meshcher with your own, Mordva with your tongue” [PSRL: V 84, VII 263], Sofia the first, the Resurrection Chronicle; “On the same month, a city of drevyans was built in Meshchera on the river on Moksha” [PSRL: VIII 291], 7044 (1536), Resurrection Chronicle. Attention is drawn to both the relatively late chronology of references, and the fact that the first chronicle references are contained in monuments created in the Muscovite state, i.e. on the territory directly bordering on Meshchera: it is obvious that information about the people lost in the forests and swamps of Poochya spread extremely slowly throughout the Russian lands.

It is possible that the name of the Meshchera is also reflected in the name of the city Mastr y al-Idrisi (XII century), “which, without changing the graphics of the word, can also be read as Mashtr” [Konovalova 2006: 274].

For a long time, only the name of this people, which is non-derivative from the point of view of the Old Russian language, is noted in the monuments; only at the end of the Old Russian era do the suffixal names Meshcheryaki [UAI 1845: 155], Meshcheryan [UDAI 1875: 244], appear in the anthroponymy of Meshcherya-kov, 1679, Verkhoturye [Tupikov 2004: 643].

the source of Elijah the prophet near the village of Erakhtur (Meshchera region)

What kind of people are the Meshchera? What do we know about him?

The ethnic identity of the Meshchera can be traced according to archaeological data: according to them, “the chronicle Meshchera is a special group of the Volga Finns, approaching in a number of indicators with the neighboring Muroma and Mordvins, but, nevertheless, significantly different from both ancient peoples” [Ryabinin 1997: 232 ].

According to chronicles, the Meshchera occupied the territory in Meshcherskaya lowland between the Muroma, who lived in the area of ​​​​modern Murom, and the Mordovians.

The boundaries of the Meshchera lowland are determined by the rivers Klyazma in the north, Moscow in the southwest, Oka in the south, and Sudogda and Kolp in the east. However, the Meshcherskaya lowland is a purely geographical concept. How exactly does it correspond to the territory of settlement of the Meshchera people? Archeology provides only the most general information: “South of the Klyazma, a few burial grounds of Meshchera are known” [Finno-Ugry... 1987: 69]. In the conditions of scarcity of archaeological material, geographical names that have retained the name of the disappeared ethnic group will help to determine the area of ​​our study, since, as follows from the toponymic law of “relative negativity” discovered by V.A. ethnos. Attempts to use some toponyms with the basis Meshcher- to determine the territory of residence of the Meshcher were made earlier [see. Kuznetsov 1910: 99-100; Ryabinin 1997: 214-215]. From ancient Russian sources and relatively modern indexes, by continuous sampling, we have extracted the following toponyms, formed from the ethnonym Meshcher (excluding names based on personal names):

1 - Meshcherka, ca. 1358 and later, volost near Kolomna [see. DGD 1950: 15, 17, 33, 55].
2 - Meshchera (Meshchersky town): "Meshchersky", Patriarchal, or Nikon Chronicle [PSRL: XI 54] / "Meshchersky Town", Lviv Chronicle [ibid: XX 210], 1379; “and the king gave him the reign of Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Meshcher, Torus”, the Sofia First Chronicle of the senior version [ibid: VI l. 434v., art. 509], 1391 and later; Meshchersk [, 1572] [DDG 1950: 440] (earlier name of Kasimov; mentioned since 1263 as Gorodets, Gorodok).
3 - Meshcherskoye: “Meshcherskoye” / “Meshcherskoye”, “And these are the names of all Russian cities, far and near” (end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries), Zalesky city (on the right side of the Oka, slightly below the mouth of the Klyazma, now the city of Gorbatov in the Pavlovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region).
4 - Meshcherskoye, first quarter of the 16th century, from 1464 Meshcherka, from 1596 Meshcherki, Vladimir district, a village near the Kolaksha River, also toponyms derived from it Meshcherskaya land, Meshchersky meadow, Meshchersky field [see. AFZH 1951: I 165, 185, 199; 1961, III 158, 159 and others].
5 - Meshcherskaya camp of the Bezhetskaya Pyatina, XVII century, the upper reaches of the Volga [UAAK 1838: 86].
6 - Meshchera (Meshchora), the name of the river near Tsna, XVII century. [UDAI 1875: 244].
7 - Meshchersky cities, in the upper reaches of the Oka, XVII century. [ibid].
8 - Meshcherskaya Sloboda, on the Oka, XVII century. [ibid].
9 - Meshcherikha, river, left tributary of the Lobnya, Klyazma [Smolitskaya 1976: 197].
10 - Meshcherka, river, left tributary of the Oka [ibid: 195].
11 - Meshcherskaya Zavod, a lake, on the right side of the Oka, between the Te-shey and the mouth of the Oka [ibid: 273].
12 - Meshcherskoye, lake, next to the river Meshcherka [ibid: 195].
13 - Meshcherskoy, ravine, right tributary of the Ilemna, left tributary of the Moksha, Oka [ibid: 193, 237].
14 - Meshchorka, right tributary of the Kelets, left tributary of the Ranovy [ibid: 180] (identically 6?).
15 - Meshchera, a village of the former Bogorodsk district of the Moscow province [SNMRI (Moscow) 1862: XXIV 247].
16 - Meshcherskoye, a village in the former Moscow district and province [ibid.].
17 - Meshcherskoye, a village in the former Podolsky district of the Moscow province [ibid.].
18 - Meshchera, a village in the former Gorbatovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province [SNMRI (Nizh.) 1863: XXV 173] (cf. 3).
19 - Meshchersky mountains, a village in the former Gorbatovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province [ibid.] (cf. 3).
20 - Meshcherskoye, a village in the former Narovchatsky district of the Penza province [SNMRI (Penz.) 1869: XXX 112].
21 - Meshcherskoye, a village in the former Nizhnelomovsky district of the Penza province [ibid.].
22 - Meshcherskaya, a village in the former Narovchatsky district of the Penza province [ibid.].
23 - Meshera (?), the village of the former Ranenburg district of the Ryazan province [SNMRI (Ryaz.) 1862: XXXV 157].
24 - Meshcherka, a village in the former Yegoryevsky district of the Ryazan province [ibid.].
25 - Meshchersky settlements, a village in the former Mikhailovsky district of the Ryazan province [ibid].
26 - Meshcherka, a village in the former Usman district of the Tambov province [SNMRI (Tamb.) 1866: XLII 172].
27 - Meshchersky Lipyazhok, a village in the former Usmansky district of the Tambov province [ibid.].
28 - Meshcheryaki, a village in the former Lipetsk district and province [ibid].
29 - Meshchera, a village in the former Vladimir district and province [SNMRI (Vlad.) 1866: VI 172] (cf. 4).
30 - Meshcherka, a village in the former Yuryevsky district of the Vladimir province [ibid.].
31 - Meshcherki, a village in the former Gorokhovets district of the Vladimir province [ibid].
32 - Meshchery, a village in the former Vladimir district and province [ibid].
33 - Meshchery, a village in the former Murom district of the Vladimir province [ibid].
34 - Meshcherka, a village in the former Yaroslavl district and province [Kuznetsov 1910: 100].
35 - Meshchery, the village of the former Kashinsky district of the Tver province [there
same].

worship stone near the village of Chelokhovo - revered even now

Area of ​​toponyms

The range of toponyms based on the ethnonym Meshcher covers the middle and lower reaches of Moscow (15, 16, 24) up to its mouth (1), then goes along the Oka (8, 10, 12, 2), wedging into the right bank in the region Ryazan (in letters we meet the concept of the Meshchersky frontier, which, judging by the context of references, ran southeast of modern Ryazan, between Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky (modern Ryazan) and Ryazan (now the settlement of Old Ryazan) [see DDG 1950: 85, 334, 338], going southwest from the Ryazan region to the upper reaches of the Don (26, 27, 28), in the upper reaches of the Moksha (13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24), Ranovy (14, 23) and further, above Tesha (11); in the north, the border of the range runs along the entire course of the Klyazma from the upper (9) to the mouth (3, 18, 19); individual names are also found north of the Klyazma (5, 34, 35).

From the 15th century the name Meshchera (Meshcherskaya land) is used in Russian monuments only as the name of the region. In the XVI century. the right-bank part of Meshchera was occupied by the Mordovians, cf. a message from Andrey Kurbsky's "History of the Grand Duke of Moscow": "And then he sent us with three to ten thousand people through the Rezan land and then through the Meshcherskaya, where there is the Mordovian language" [BLDR 1999: 11 282].

Two etymologies of the ethnonym Meshcher were proposed: from muzzles. *ḿeškär 'beekeeper' (I.I. Mikkola) and in connection with the self-name of the Hungarians megyer, magyar and the name of the people Mozhar (Mazhyar), mentioned among the peoples who took part in the campaign against Kazan (O.N. Trubachev) [Fasmer 1996: II 616 (addition)]. The second etymology gives us doubts: phonetically, it is difficult to connect Meshcher with megyer, magyar (from Ugric *mańćɜ ‘man, man’)< др.-ир. Mȧnuṣa- [см. UEW 1988: 866], да и формы, приводимые у Иордана и ал-Идриси, гораздо ближе к *ḿeškär, чем к me-gyer, magyar.

It is believed that the tribal name of the Kazan Tatars Mishar goes back to the ethnonym Meshchera; the question of the origin of the Mishars is still open [see. Makhmutova 1978: 4].

Taking into account the geographical proximity of the Meshchersky region to the territory inhabited by the Mordovians, some scientists suggested that the Meshchera language was close to Mordovian [Popov 1945] or even was its dialect [Finno-Ugry... 1987: 92].

P. Rakhkonen has a different point of view, who believes that the toponymic data indicate the Permian origin of the cave. This hypothesis was not supported by the scientific community [see, for example, Napolskikh www].

The linguistic heritage of the Volga-Finnish population of Poochya (including Meshchers) is considered to be the phenomenon of clattering in local dialects (D.K. Zelenin, V.N. Sidorov, R.I. Avanesov, N.N. Sokolov, G.A. .Khaburgaev).

The problem of studying the settlement and language of the chronicle meshchera according to toponymy was posed in a short article by I.A. Kiryanov, but did not receive further development. In the 90s. a number of publications appear in which attempts are made to generalize historical information about the Meshcher (V.I. Lebedev, A.M. Orlov, R.Zh. Bayazitova and V.P. Maladikhin), but the linguistic side of the issue is still left to beyond the attention of researchers (except for the above-mentioned article by P. Rakhkonen).

The analysis of the toponymy of the Meshchera origin is complicated by the multi-layered Finno-Ugric toponymy of the Meshchersky region: for example, according to the studies of M. Fasmer, the territory to the east of Moscow, including the main part of the Meshcherskaya lowland, is included in the area of ​​distribution of the Meryan toponymy; Mordovian names are common up to the right-bank part of the Middle Oka basin, embracing on the left bank only the lower and middle Pru and the vicinity of Kasimov [Mongayt 1961: 218]. The task of distinguishing between Meshchera and Mordovian toponymy seems especially relevant (taking into account the hypothesis of a close relationship of these languages). In order to avoid the possible confusion of these toponymic layers, we excluded from our consideration the above-mentioned territories of Meshchera, where the presence of the Mordovians was recorded.

In view of the foregoing, it is clear that the initial methodological method of our study should be a comparison of the substrate toponymy of the Meshchera region with the data of the Mordovian languages, which will make it possible to establish similarities and differences between the latter, on the one hand, and the Meshchera language, on the other. Below is an etymological analysis of the Poochya hydronyms (outside the territory of the historical residence of the Mordovians, which is localized in the interfluve of the Oka - Tsna - Sura [see Matichak 2007: 36]), correlating with Mordovian lexemes (the material is taken from the catalog of G.P. Smolitskaya) ; the names are listed in the order of the geographical location of the objects they designate in the direction towards the mouth of the Oka.

image of the Meshchyora in the Shilovsky Museum of Local Lore

Left tributaries of Moscow from Ruza to Pekhorka.

Nudal (Nudol, Nudyl) - cf. erz. nudei ‘reed’ [E-RS 1993: 420] (Moksh. nyudi ‘reed’ [see Vershinin 2004-: III 298]).

Veloga - cf. erz., moksh. vele ‘village’ [E-RS 1949: 48; M-RS 1993: 26] or to erz. velia ‘whirlwind, tornado’ (cf. Finnish dialect. vilo, vileä ‘oblique, skewed’
(= vino) [Vershinin 2004-: I 46]).

Left tributaries of Moscow from Pekhorka (inclusive) to the mouth.

Shuvoya - cf. moksh. shovu ‘foamy’ M-RS 1993 173 (erz. chovov ‘the same’
[OF-UYA 1976: II 262], Mar. shovyn, horn. shavyn ‘soap’ [SLMYA 1990-2005: IX 162]).

Lushata - cf. erz. lush ‘sleeplessly’ (in the expression weight lush dydy ‘everyone sleeps soundly’) [E-RS 1949: 127].

Nyatynka (Netynka) - cf. erz. netke ‘branch, trunk, stem, tops, berry bush’ [E-RS 1949: 148; Vershinin 2004-: III 288], moksh. netke ‘tops, stem’ [M-RS 1993: 101].
Left tributaries of the Oka from Moscow to Solotcha (inclusive). Madrov, ravine - cf. erz. madems 'go to bed (sleep, etc.)', madamo'1) platform (on a river for washing clothes), 2) crossing (from poles or boards across a stream or river)' [E-RS 1949: 127], moksh . madoms ‘lie down’ [M-RS 1993: 84]; suffix -r-, as in the Mordovian toponym Picharkuzha [see. Tsygankin. Toponymic system... www]. The final -ov can be a suffix on Russian soil.

Kondyrka - cf. moksh. kanda ‘dam’ or kando ‘skid’ (only in toponymy) [Tsygankin 2004: 137].

Peshchur - cf. erz. peshte ‘nut’ [E-RS 1949: 165], moksh. piaste ‘the same’ [Vershinin 2004-: III 350].

Vadry, lake - cf. erz. vadrya ‘1) good, handsome; 2) good’ [E-RS 1949: 38], moksh. vadryav ‘smoothed’ [Vershinin 2004-: I 36].

Paltama, lake - cf. Palt, the name of a ravine in a burnt forest and a forest hill in Mordovia [Tsygankin 2004: 267 (without explanation)]. See below.

Kielce (Kielce) - cf. erz. keley, kelev, keleŋ ‘wide’ [E-RS 1949: 95; Vershinin 2004-: II 127], moksh. keli ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 49].

Matsenets, lake - cf. erz. matsei ‘goose’ [E-RS 1949: 132], moksh. matsi ‘the same’, matsien ‘goose’ [M-RS 1993: 88] or moksh. matsia ‘shallow, shallow (about a reservoir)’ [ibid: 89].

Left tributaries of the Oka from Solotcha (excluding) to Pra (excluding).

Shumoshka (Shumush, Shumoksha; s. Shumash, Shumosh) - cf. erz. shumorқs ‘healthy, strong’ [E-RS 1949: 254].

Shcherok (Scherok) - cf. erz. shterdems ‘to spin’ [E-RS 1949: 253], shtere ‘spindle’, in toponymy ‘circle of the river’ [see. Tsygankin 2004: 418].

Syadrina, Serdina - cf. erz. sardo ‘moose’ [E-RS 1949: 206].

Iberd (Iberda), river; Iberdus, lake - cf. erz. ibardems ‘quickly and eat a lot’, in which the root ib- stands out, comparable with Türk.-Tat. ubu ‘swallow’ [cf. Vershinin 2004-: I 81] (in terms of nomination, compare, for example, Galta / Galt / Goltva (left tributary of the Psla)< праслав. *glъt-/ *gъlt- [см. Трубачев 1968: 73]); во второй части названия рефлекс фин.-угор. *ertä ‘сторона’ [см. UEW 1988: 625].

San (Sanskoe), lake - cf. erz. san ‘lived’, sanyams ‘become viscous, sticky’ [E-RS 1949: 190], moksh. san ‘lived’, sanu ‘1) clayey; 2) viscous, viscous (about a solution, etc.) '[M-RS 1993: 137].

Poksha, lake - cf. erz. poksh ‘large’ [E-RS 1949: 170].

Lushmen, lake - cf. erz. lushmo ‘lowland, gentle ravine’ [E-RS 1949:
127].

Pawn, lake - cf. erz. peshks ‘hazel’ [E-RS 1949: 165] (see above Peshchur).

Pin - cf. the Shtyrma River in Mordovia, whose name is associated with Erz. shtere. see above Shcherok (Scherok).

Lushmad (Lushnad, Lushnan?) (see Lushman above).

Left tributaries of the Oka from Pra (inclusive) to Gus (excluding).

Oshnik - cf. erz., moksh. osh ‘city’ [E-RS 1949: 158; M-RS 1993: 107] (Ural *woča: ‘fence, backwater’ [see OF-UYA 1974: I 408]).

Chad - cf. erz. chadoms ‘to go over the edge (of liquid at boiling)’, chado: chadoved ‘high water’ [E-RS 1949: 244] (Moksh. shada ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 168]).

Tyukogor, lake - cf. erz. tyuq ‘dead end’ [E-RS 1949: 228].

Lakasha - cf. erz. lakams ‘boil’ [E-RS 1949: 118], moksh. laxems ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 75].

Lashma - cf. erz. lashmo ‘valley’ [E-RS 1949: 120], moksh. lashma ‘hollow, valley’ [M-RS 1993: 77].

Pymlos - cf. moksh. pims ‘cook’ [M-RS 1993: 119].

Tylma, lake - cf. erz. tilim ‘marsh (overgrown with reeds)’ [E-RS
1993: 662].

Perkhi, lake - cf moksh. perf ‘around, about’, whence the toponym Perkhlyai [see. Tsygankin 2004: 274].

Pandusar - cf. erz. pando ‘mountain’ [E-RS 1949: 159], moksh. panda ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 112] and erz. sara ‘fork, branch’ (in toponymy) [Tsygankin 2004: 125].

Left tributaries of the Klyazma from Sherna (Seraya) to Kirzhach (excluding).

Russian clothes in the Ryazan region - borrowed elements of the meshchyora

The presence of hydronyms of the Mordovian type in the Klyazma basin was noted by A.I. Popov; the etymologies he proposed have varying degrees persuasiveness: some of them are not in doubt (Kirzhach, Peksha), the belonging of other names to a language close to Mordovian seems problematic (Lipnya, Pola, Nerl).

Pechkura (Peshkura, Kechkura?) - cf. erz. peshks ‘hazel tree’ [ERS 1949: 165] or pechqems ‘to ford the river’ [ibid.] (cf. a similar explanation of the Erzya toponym Pechkema [see Tsygankin 2004: 276]).

Moryza - cf. erz. morams ‘sing’, morytsya ‘singing’ [E-RS 1949: 141], moksh. morsems ‘to sing’ [M-RS 1993: 93].

Likoush, lake - cf. erz. liqsha ‘buckwheat, buckwheat’ [E-RS 1949: 123] (?).

Left tributaries of the Klyazma from Kirzhach (inclusive) to Peksha (excluding).

Kirzhach (Kerzhach) - cf. moksh. kerzhi ‘left’ [M-RS 1993: 52] (A.I. Popov).

Kilenka - cf. erz. kil "ej, kil" eŋ ‘birch’ [E-RS 1949: 99; UEW 1988: 169] (Moksh. kelu ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 49]).

Left tributaries of the Klyazma from Peksha (inclusive) to Koloksha (excluding).

Peksha - cf. erz. pekshe ‘linden’ [E-RS 1949: 163] (P. Ravila [Nikonov 1966: 323]), (Moksh. päšе, päšks ‘the same’).

Seleksha - cf. erz. selej, seleng ‘elm’ [E-RS 1949: 192; OF-UYA 1974: I 414], moksh. säli ‘the same’ (cf. numerous Mordovian toponyms with this stem [see Tsygankin 2004: 325]).

Murmoga - cf. erz. murnems ‘to scold’, murnoms ‘to purr’ [E-RS 1949: 142] (voiced).

Ilma, Ilmakhta, Ilmokhta - cf. erz. ilmeshtyams ‘to hit’ [E-RS 1993: 209]. A suggestive comparison with Fin.-Ugric. *jilmä ‘sky’, in many languages ​​‘weather’, seems less likely, since this word is noted only in the languages ​​of peoples who have never lived in this territory (Baltic-Finnish, Sami, Perm and Ob-Ugric) [see. OF-UYA 1974: I 414]. The second part is related to the term ah,
aht, forming in Western Siberia hydronyms denoting a channel connecting a lake with a river, a small river [Murzaev 1984: 60]. This basis is noted in the Mordovian toponyms Akhtab, Akhtok [see. Tsygankin 2004: 31].

Tuvka - cf. erz. tuvo ‘pig’ [E-RS 1949: 225], Moksh. tuva 'the same' [M-RS 1993: 156] (considering the correlation with Mordovian words and a number of neighboring hydronyms, this explanation seems more likely than the connection with the Mar. dial. tuva 'whirlpool' [SLMYA 1990-2005: VII 228] ).

Shuverka (Shuberka) - cf. moksh. shuvaru ‘sandy’ [M-RS 1993: 174].

Left tributaries of the Klyazma from the Koloksha (inclusive) to the Nerl (excluding).

Cave - cf. erz. peste ‘walnut’ [E-RS 1949: 165] (cf. above similar name).

Soroksha (Seroksha) - cf. erz. sorakadoms ‘1) startle, 2) tremble’ [E-RS 1993: 602], sork, adverbial figurative word that conveys trembling, startle, sorks ‘trembling’ [ibid: 603], moksh. sornams ‘to tremble (of voice)’ [M-RS 1993: 144].

Vyremsha - cf. erz., moksh. vir ‘forest’ [E-RS 1949: 54; M-RS 1993: 29].

Kuvtiga - cf. erz. kuvtoldoms ‘to shine, to shine’ [E-RS 1949: 113] (Moksh. kfchadoms ‘to sparkle, flash’ [Vershinin 2004-: II 176]).

Kukorsha - cf. erz. kukorgadoms ‘shrink, shrink, squirm’ [E-RS 1949: 114].

Toyarsha (Stoyarsha) - cf. erz. toyara ‘bush’ [E-RS 1949: 224].

Kizhtoma, Kihtoma - cf. erz. kizhnems ‘wheeze, hoarse’ [E-RS 1949: 99].

Murmog (see Murmog above).

The tributaries of the Nerl.

Pechuga - cf. erz. pechtyams ‘to cross, to cross (across a river, etc.)’ [E-RS 1949: 165], pechkems ‘to ford, to cross’ [Vershinin 2004-: III 349].

Nilka, s. Nile - cf. erz. nilems ‘to swallow’ [E-RS 1949: 148] (from the nominative point of view, compare Iberd above).

Teza, Peza, Pezha - cf. erz., moksh. pizems ‘to go (about rain), to drizzle’ [Vershinin 2004-: III 352]) or pijé ‘green’ [M-RS 1993: 118], erz. pize ‘copper’.

Roksha, Ropta - cf. erz. rokams ‘grunt’ [E-RS 1949: 187], Moksh. rohams ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 136].

Seleksha - cf. erz. mudflow ‘elm’ [E-RS 1949: 192] (cf. the identical name above).

Siminka, p. Sima - cf. erz. simems ‘to drink’ [E-RS 1949: 195], Moksh. simoms ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 142]; in terms of nomination cf. the names of the Pitomsha rivers, the Oka basin [Smolitskaya 1976: 179, 183]; Pitba, left tributary of the Volkhov, or see below.

Kustiritsa - cf. erz. kustems ‘raise’ [E-RS 1949: 116].

Pinogor - cf. erz. pine ‘dogʼ [E-RS 1949: 167].

Urad - cf. erz. uradoms ‘1) unwind; 2) clean, rinse (animal intestines); 3) to die’ [E-RS 1949: 233; E-RS 1993: 696], moksh. uradoms ‘mouth (of cattle)’ [M-RS 1993: 161].

Tuma (Tumka) - Erz. tumo ‘oak’ [E-RS 1949: 227], Moksh. tuma ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 156] (? also Mar. Gorn. tumo ‘the same’ [SLMYA 1990-2005: VII 254]).

worship stone near the ancient settlement of Old Ryazan

Vyshekhro - cf. erz., moksh. vish ‘spelt’ [E-RS 1949: 54; M-RS 1993: 30].

Left tributaries of the Klyazma from the Nerl (excluding) to Teza (inclusive).

Kaldomka - cf. erz. kalderdems ‘to rattle, ring, rattle’, kaldordoms ‘to make sounds similar to the sounds of a rattle, beater, etc.’ [E-RS 1949: 87, 89], moksh. kaldordoms ‘knock, rattle, rumble, rumble (about a cart, dishes)’ [M-RS 1993: 42] or erz. kaldyav ‘bad’ [E-RS 1949: 89].

Skamoba (Skalyuba?) - cf. erz. Skal ‘cow’ [E-RS 1949: 196], Moksh. rocks ‘heifer’ [M-RS 1993: 143].

Iskolyashka (Iskalyashka). Similar to the previous one; initial I- on
Russian soil, cf. Idolga, Istruga and others.

Pezha (see Teza, Peza, Pezha above).

Shersha, Shiresha - cf. erz. sherzhev ‘gray-haired’ [E-RS 1949: 250] (?).

Yankan - cf. erz. yonks ‘side, direction’ [E-RS 1949: 70], Moksh. yang ‘path’ [M-RS 1993: 184].

Naromsha (Naramsha) - cf. erz. nar ‘grass, meadow’ [Vershinin 2004-: III 276], Moksh. nar ‘grass-ant’ [M-RS 1993: 99].

Smekhro, Selekhra - cf. erz. mudflow ‘elm’ [E-RS 1949: 192] (see Seleksha above).

Sezehra - cf. erz. sezems ‘to cross, move (including the river)’ [E-RS 1949:
192].

Lamo, lake - cf. erz. lamo ‘a lot’ [E-RS 1949: 119], Moksh. lama ‘to
same’ [M-RS 1993: 75].

Pechekhra, lake (see Pechuga above).

Peshek - cf. erz. peshks ‘hazel’ [E-RS 1949: 165] (cf. above Peshek).

Teza (see Teza, Peza, Pezha above).

Lisva - cf. erz. lisma ‘well’, lis (liss, lisems) ‘come out, germinate
ti’ [E-RS 1949: 124], Erz., Moksh. lismaprya ‘spring’, moksh. Lichtibrya ‘that
same’ [Vershinin 2004-: II 214].

Wanchel - cf. erz. vanks ‘pure’ [E-RS 1949: 43], moksh. dial. vanks
‘entirely’ [Vershinin 2004-: I 40].

Paleshka, s. Palekh - cf. erz. palax, the name of plants (nettles and others that burn the skin) [E-RS 1949: 158], moksh. palox ‘nettle’ [M-RS 1993: 111] (? there is also Mar. pal ‘far, distant’ [SLMYA 1990-2005: V 20]).

Serdug, Serzukh - cf. erz. sardo ‘moose’ [E-RS 1949: 206].

Salo (Salol?), Lake - cf. erz., moksh. sal ‘salt’ [E-RS 1949: 189; M-RS 1993: 137].

Ponekhra, lake - Wed Erz., Moksh. ponams ‘vit’ [E-RS 1949: 172; M-RS
1993: 123].

Nozokha, Nozaga - cf. moksh. nozoms ‘to suck’ [M-RS 1993: 102]; in terms of nomination cf. hydronyms Sosonka, Icicle in the Oka basin [Smolitskaya 1976: 116, 153].
Murma (see above Murmog, Murmozh).

Left tributaries of the Klyazma from the Teza (excluding) to the mouth.

Puzehra, lake - cf. erz. posture ‘kvass’, posture ‘1) sour (about the face), 2) cloudy (about the eyes)’ [E-RS 1949: 170]. The Mordovian toponym Puza lei is compared with the Komi puzga, puzim ‘sand, sandy bottom of the river’ [Tsygankin 2004: 295].

Vichekhra (Vitekhra?), ravine - cf. erz. twist ‘right’ [E-RS 1949: 54].

Selikhra, lake - cf. erz. mudflow ‘elm’ [E-RS 1949: 192] (cf. above Seleksha, Selekhra).

Lamhra, lake (see Lamo above).

Koschela - cf. erz. kosht ‘air, steam’ [E-RS 1949: 111]; in terms of nomination cf. etymology of the name of Lake Ilmen [see. Vasmer 1996: II 128].

Landeh (Landich) - cf. erz., moksh. landyams ‘squat down’ [E-RS 1949: 119; M-RS 1993: 76] (cf. Russian hydronyms like Nicha: niknut).

Pureh - cf. erz. por ‘chalk’ [E-RS 1949: 172], moksh. pur ‘the same’ [M-RS 1993: 130] (? also in Mar. [see SLMY 1990-2005: V 185]).

Velevamiha - cf. erz., moksh. vel-, the root of words with general meaning‘upper’: erz. velga, velderma, velks, moksh. welf, welhx, etc. [see. E-RS 1949: 48; M-RS 1993: 26].

Pureh (see above).

Kelman - cf. erz. trowel ‘cold’ [E-RS 1949: 96]; Numerous Mordovian toponyms with this basis are given by D.V. Tsygankin [see. 2004: 229].

Lamech (see Lamo, Lamhra).

Uvarekh, lake - cf. erz. uvardoms ‘rewind’ [E-RS 1949: 229].

Pechkur (see above Pechkur).

Pechura (see above Pechuga, Pechekhra, Pechikhra).

Peksha (see above for a similar name).

Parsukh, Parduh - cf. moksh. parsems ‘moo, bleat’ [M-RS 1993: 113].

Poksha (see above for a similar name).

Purhomskoy, source - cf. erz. purgams ‘splash’ [E-RS 1949: 180] (? also Mar. purgalash ‘the same’ [SLMYA 1990-2005: V 415]).

Puryama, lake (cf. Purekh above).

Right tributaries of the Klyazma from the upper reaches of the Sudogda (excluding).

Senga - cf. erz. senei, moksh. canopy ‘kind of fish’ [OF-UYA 1974: I 417; see Yuyukin 2013: 286].

Taimyga - cf. erz. taymaskadoms ‘1) to become numb, to become motionless, 2) trans. subdue, calm down’ [E-RS 1993: 641], taimaza ‘tame’ [E-RS 1949: 207], moksh. taimaz ‘dazed’ [M-RS 1993: 151].

As evidenced by the results of the study (the number and proximity of the identified matches), the Meshchera language was in a relationship of close relationship with the Mordovian languages, especially with Erzya; its links with the Moksha language were much more distant.

of the 84 hydronyms considered above, 43 (51.1%) find matches in the Erzya language (at least in a form corresponding to the phonetic appearance of the hydronym), 33 (39.3%) find close parallels in both Erzya and Moksha languages, and only 8 (9.5%) names correspond to Moksha lexemes that do not have close forms in Erzya.

Semantically, among the bases of hydronyms, the names of plants and animals predominate, bases with procedural meanings that characterize certain properties of water bodies (according to the sound emitted, the movement of water, the shape of the channel), geographical terms.

It is important to note that only 6 hydronyms (Landeh, Palekh, Purekh, Purkhomskaya, Tuvka, Tuma, Shuvoya) can be correlated with both Mordovian and Mari words; thus, the possibility of the presence of Meryan elements in the considered material is insignificant.

Despite the closeness of the Meshchera language to Mordovian, hydronymy indicates the presence in it of a number of features that distinguish it from the latter and, accordingly, create the originality of the Meshchera language.

In the field of phonetics, the following features attract attention (of course, we cannot speak of a full-fledged phonological reconstruction; we operate only with the most generalized sound types, to which the phonological characteristics of the phonemes of the Mordovian languages ​​are conditionally extended).

1. A wider distribution of dental consonants, their presence in many cases in accordance with the Mordovian consonants of another place of formation:

a) dental (hard) ~ muzzle. dental-palatine (soft): Vadra, Veloga,
Vyshekhro (change is also possible on Russian soil), Tylma;
b) dental c ~ muzzle. midpalatal j: Kielce, Kielce;
c) dental t ~ muzzle. labial n: Teza ~ Peza, Pezha;
d) dental l ~ muzzle. midpalatal j: Nudal (softening the final co-
vowel could occur on Russian soil).

2. Differences in the use of fricative consonants, which are reflected in the following phenomena: indistinguishability of dental and palatal fricatives (Peza, Teza ~ Pezha), indistinguishability of front-lingual stop and fricatives (Moryza, Serdug ~ Serzukh, Pardukh ~ Parsukh), voiceless fricative χ (absent in native Mordovian words [see OF-UYa 1974: I 284]) in accordance with the Mordovian stop (Purkhomskaya, names with the -ex formant (see below)).

3. Preservation of η in those cases when in Mordovian it passed into j: Kilenka, Matsenets.

4. y ~ erz. about: Pandusar, Puzehra, Purekh, Puryama, Shuvoya. The transition from o to y is also inherent in the Udmurt language.

5. Palatal vowel e in accordance with the Mokshan velar a, and: Shuverka, Peza (Pezha). The transition a > e (albeit only at the end of a word) is also known in the northern dialects of the Sami language [see. OF-UYA 1974: I 193].

In the field of word formation, hydronymy of Meshchera origin almost does not reveal specific features in comparison with the Mordovian languages ​​in terms of the composition of word-formation means: almost all the finals of names (except for (-l) -os / -us and -yub-) can be elevated to Finno-Ugric nominal suffixes , also known on Mordovian soil, incl. as toponymic formants [see. OF-UYA 1974: I 337-359; OF-UYA 1976: II 299-304; Tsygankin 1981: 34-56; Tsygankin.

Toponymic -yub-: Skalyuba; -ad: Lushmad / Lushnad, -ata: Lushata - *-t-, muzzle. -yes / -to (unproductive); -el-: Vanchel, Koschela - *-l-, muzzle. -la (Tumala toponym); -ma: Sotma, Shartma, -am-: Paltamskoye, -om-: Kaldomka, Kizhtoma / Kikhtoma, Purhomskoy, -yam-: Puryama - *-m-, muzzle. -ma/ -mo (unproductive); -an: Kelman, -en-: Lushmen, Segdeno, Tovden / Togden, -yn-: Nyatynka - *-n- (*-ń-?), muzzle. -n; -r-: Kondyrka, Madrov, Tynorets (cf. Tynus) - *-r-, muzzle. -p, -p/ -ra, -re (unproductive); (-l) -os: Pymlos, Prick, -us: Tynus (Tunus); -ksha: Seleksha, Soroksha - muzzle. -ksh (toponym Potyaksh) or from Fin.-Ugric. *iksa/ *iksha ‘bay, backwater’, cf. Mar. xx; -sh-: Shumoshka, -sha: Vyremsha, Kukorsha, Roksha, Toyarsha, Naromsha - *-ś-, muzzle. -sh (toponym Kargash); addition of foundations: Velevamiha, Pandusar. There are different opinions regarding the origin of the formant [-as-/] -os/ -us, which occurs in a wide area of ​​distribution of the Finno-Ugric languages.

Interesting observations can be made about some hydronymic formants that go back to full-valued words.

Formant -ex, found in several hydronyms in the lower reaches of the Klyazma (Varekh, Lamekh, Landekh, Lyulekh, Palekh, Purekh, Uvareh) and, undoubtedly, ascending to the Ural reflex. *joke̮ ‘river’ [OF-UYA 1974: I 403] (similar to -ega/-oga in toponyms of Baltic-Finnish origin, Perm. -south, etc.), due to its areal limitation, is obviously of a dialectal character. Despite the fact that the three hydronyms of this group also have close parallels in Mari, there is no reason to assume its Meryan origin, since the Meryan reflex of this word (*juk< *joGǝ [Ткаченко 2007: 117]) значительно отличается от форманта -ех в фонетическом отношении; кроме того, основа названия Ламех, повторяющаяся в ряде других названий, не имеет соответствия в марийском.

See below for the name Lulekh. This determinative is presented in Meshchera hydronymy in many variants of Russian adaptation, greatly facilitated by its consonance with common suffixes of the Russian language: cf. Serzukh, Pardukh (Parsukh); Veloga, Murmoga; Nosoha; Kuvtiga; Taimyga.

The presence of a reflex ural. *joke̮ ‘river’ is a very striking feature that distinguishes the Meshchera dialects from the Mordovian ones, in which the river is denoted by an ancient borrowing from the Baltic languages ​​(Erz. Lei, Moksh. Lai).

Formant V + xra, V + xro (Vyshekhro, Selekhra (Smekhro), Sezekhra, Pechekhra, Ponekhra, Puzekhra, Vichekhra (Vitekhra?), Selikhra, Lamkhra; from Fin.-Volg. *jähre (-ǝ) 'lake' [ see SKES 1955-1978: I 132]) is considered to be Meryan [Alqvist 2000: 25 et seq.].

However, the same author notes the fact that this formant is extremely rare in the toponymy of the Yaroslavl Territory (i.e., in the central Meryan territory) and is distributed mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Oka and the lower reaches of the Klyazma, in the Pra and Gus basins and to the east ( in our materials, hydronyms of this type are presented only in the middle and lower reaches of the Klyazma from the Nerl to the mouth), i.e. correlates rather with the territory of the settlement of the Meshchera, and not Mary. All hydronyms of this type are well etymologized by using data from the Mordovian languages, while not a single stem has parallels in Mari.

This formant testifies to the absence in the Meshchera reflex of this word of the diminutive suffix -ke, which is present in both Mordovian languages ​​(Erz. Erke, Moksh. Erkhke). In some cases, other phonetic variants of this determinative are also presented: -gor (Pinogor, Tyukogor), -grya (Kumagrya, see below); they probably arose by analogy with certain words of the Russian language, cf. numerous toponyms with the second part -gor(e)< гора, возгря ʻсопляʼ и под.

Formant -ur(a) (Pechkura, Pechkur, Pechura; Peshchura, Peshchur) is also known in Mordovian; it goes back to the word preserved only in toponymy with the meaning ʻelevationʼ [see. Tsygankin. From observations... www]. In hydronymy this word could be used in the meaning of ‘upper’, cf. the use of the word prya, actually ‘head’, in the meanings of ‘top’ and ‘upper’ [see. Tsygankin. Toponyms... www].

The most difficult task is to reconstruct the vocabulary of the Meshchera language, which has no correspondences in Mordovian. It seems reliable to involve only those names for solving this problem, the phonetic appearance of which contradicts the laws of the Meryan language established by researchers.

In the hydronyms selected according to this criterion, a number of bases are found that are not known on Mordovian soil, but correlated with lexemes that belong to various chronological layers of the vocabulary of the Finno-Ugric languages:

1. Ural: Kumagrya: Ural. *koj(e̮)-mɜ: ? udm. kum: sara-kum ‘zyryansky’, vyzhy-kum ‘kinship’ (vyzhy ‘root’), ? Komi Komi ‘Zyryanin, Zyryansky’, Komi-Permian. Komi ‘Permian’, Mans. χum, χom ‘man, husband, person’ (singular), Hung. hím ‘male’, Selkup. qum, qup ‘man, Selkup’ [OF-UYA 1974: I 401].

2. Finno-Ugric: Lulekh (Lyulikh): Fin.-Ugric. *lewle ‘spirit, soul’: Fin. lӧyly ‘steam’, est. leil (leile, leili) ‘the same’, ? Saami. liew "lä ‘the same’, Udm. lul, Komi lol-, Khanty. lil, LĭL, Mans. lil, lili, Hung. lēlek ‘soul’ [OF-UYA 1974: I 424].

A number of endemic correspondences with the Ob-Ugric languages ​​are extremely curious:

Segden (Segden, Segdino, Segodino, Segodan) - cf. hunt. sǝvty ‘weave, knit’ [Skameiko, Syazi 1992: 81], dial. (vakh.) sӧγt̄ä (pov. sǝ̈γu) ‘to weave, weave, weave; twist, twist, twist, curl, curl' Tereshkin 1961: 187], (Priural., Ust-Sob) sǝγta 'wind, wind', (shuryshkar., Son) syγty 'gather, wind', sǝγǝnsa 'assembly, winding' [DSHYA 2011: 121, 122], mans. soγtantaŋkve ‘to wind, roll up’ [Balandin, Vakhrusheva 1958: 107]; Soyma - cf. hunt. sajǝm, sojǝm, sojam, soyam ‘stream, small stream; ravine with water’ [Skameiko, Syazi 1992: 80], dial. (vakh.) säb (1 singular sivǝ̈m) ‘a stream flowing from a lake’ [Tereshkin 1961: 185], mans. soyum 'stream, spring', soym 'the same' (Southern Mans. (cond.)) [Balandin, Vakhrusheva 1958: 107], sōjim 'forest on the bank of a stream', sojim 'marshy bog', sɔjem 'stream' ; cf. Soima, a river in the Pechora basin [GVR www]; Tovden (Togden) (river), Then (lake) - cf. mans. tɛ̮jǝt, tajt (Nom. pl. tajtǝt), tē̮t, tājǝt , tāyt 'sleeve' [Rombandeeva, Kuzakova 1982:122], Tagt 'Sosva river' [Balandin, Vakhrusheva 1958: 114], which also explains the name of the river Tavda [ Frolov 1994: 215].

The forms of the hydronym Tovden (Togden) even reflect the g/v alternation inherent in the Ob-Ugric languages.

3. Finno-Permian: Siminka (Sima) (?): Fin.-Perm. *simɜ ‘rust; rusty, black’: Mar. šim, šimÿ, šeme ‘black’, ? udm. syny-: synomy- ‘to rust, to rust’, Komi sim ‘rust, rusty, swarthy’ [OF-UYa 1974: I 427]; in the Udmurt language, the stems of the hydronyms Tynorets, Tynus (cf. Udm. dialect. tyn ‘quiet, noiseless, calm’ [U-RS 2008: 669]) and Paltam (cf. paltï, postposition ‘near, near’ [there
same: 509]; cf. an explanation of the Mordovian toponym Perkhlyay from a grammatically and semantically identical word (see Perkhy).

4. Baltic-Finnish: Tetrukh, cf. fin. teeri, Karelian. tetri, tedri, tоdri, (Liv.) tedri, (People) tedri, tedŕ, Veps. tedr, tedŕ, water. tedre, est. teder, Liv. tèddõrz ‘black grouse’ (from the Baltic) [see SKES 1955-1978; UEW 1988: 794; C-OS 2007: 61; NES 2007: 1289].

The highest concentration of Meshchera hydronyms is observed in the zones from the Moskva River to Pra, from Peksha to Koloksha and near the mouth of the Klyazma.

As evidenced by their phonetic features, the Old Russian adaptation of these names occurred after the end of the Proto-Slavic era, however, before the disappearance of those reduced in a weak position (i.e., earlier than the second half of the 11th century), cf. Keltsa, Senga on the western and eastern borders of the Meshchera range, respectively.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Egoryevsky courier, No. 25, 2011
http://www.kominarod.ru/gazeta/usersnews/2011/06/20/usersnews_2105.html
http://merjamaa.ru/
B.A. Kuftin "Culture Meshchera". Moscow 2016. Merja-press. A5 format. 155 pages with illustrations.
Ivanov A. Excavations in the village of Pustoshi, Sudogodsky district of the Vladimir province 1924 Vladimir publishing house "Call" 1925
Wikipedia site
Napolskikh V.V. The Bulgar epoch in the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga and Cis-Urals // History of the Tatars since ancient times in seven volumes. Volume 2
Orlov A. M. Meshchera, Meshcheryak, Mishari

On the border of three regions of Russia - Moscow, Vladimir and Ryazan - there is a unique country of forests, emerald swamps and lakes, leisurely rivers and amber pine forests filled with the purest air. This is the famous Meshchera.

Meshchera is a low-lying plain between the rivers Oka, Klyazma, Moscow, Sudogda (“clean water”) and Kolpi. Sudogda legends say that Ivan the Terrible himself during the Kazan campaign bathed in the crystal spring water of Sudogda. In the silence of the Sudogoda forests on the banks clean rivers Russian landowners in the XVIII-XIX centuries. built their mansions. The most amazing of them, which the people called "royal", was the estate of the leader of the provincial nobility V. S. Khrapovitsky. The park-arboretum, cascades of fountains, a castle built in the traditions of Western European architecture - all this surprised and delighted contemporaries.

The central part of Meshchera belongs entirely to the Oka basin. The main rivers here are the Pol and Buzha. In the middle and lower reaches of the river meander strongly.

Rolls alternate with stretches. From the rifts, the water flows with a lively murmur along the rocky bottom, in a hurry to break out into space as soon as possible. Merging, the rivers form a system of Klepikovskiye lakes, from which the Pra flows - the main artery of the Meshchera lowland.

From the south and east, Meshchera is bounded by a huge loop of the middle course of the Oka, from the north by the Klyazma, which flows into it, and from the west by the Moscow River. In this triangle lies a heavily swampy outwash with numerous lakes. A unique, precious decoration is the floodplain Oka meadows, high floodplain "manes" and hills are also interesting. They are very chilled. Here, fescue, meadowsweet, meadow goat-beard, northern bedstraw, and a lot of strawberries coexist and even intertwine. A white-toothed shrew flickers in the thick grass. The meadows are especially beautiful at the time of flowering of snow-white meadowsweet, which fills the entire space between the floodplain forest curtains, and scattered across this snow-white field with large bright yellow baskets of oriental goat's beard, pink-red large-flowered Fisher's carnation. With the onset of dusk, the variegated colors leave the meadow and the meadow itself becomes dark as water. Suddenly there is a splash. This is a small desman or muskrat inspecting their possessions. On the reservoir or on the shore you can see the cutora (shrew). The near-river part of the Pra floodplain, as well as some forest lakes, were densely populated by beavers.

Currently, the meadows have been preserved from plowing and are used for hayfields and pastures. Konstantin Paustovsky wrote: "Believe me - I have seen a lot of expanses under any latitudes, but I have never seen such a rich distance and probably never will." During the spring flood Pra rises up to 5 m above the low-water level. On a vast expanse of beads scattered round lakes, swamps, melt waters turn out to be backed up by the flood of the Oka and Pra, absorb lakes, swamps, meadows and forests. Only the tops of the dune "mountains" remain above the surface of the water.

The largest lake, Svyatoe, amazes with its extraordinary mystery and wild beauty. It is shallow, heavily overgrown, with sandy, sometimes peaty shores. The reeds on the water surface give way to the rogulan and salvinia.

In Meshchera, they are often combined into large massifs, which combine different types of swamps and different plant associations. They are usually associated with a group rare species plants. And many swamp communities are classified as rare and endangered. The long-term and extensive development of peat mining in the region has led to the disappearance of large bog massifs and associated plant and animal complexes. The park's tasks include the preservation of the unique bog ecosystems, their flora and fauna. Lowland swamps Mezinovskoe, Panferovo, partially Tasinskoe, Ryazantsevskoe and Staroskoe thickets of reeds and sedge tussock with willows. Low-growing white-trunked birches coexist with unpretentious alder. In autumn, pale pink meadowsweet leaves circle over the deaf dark pools under sudden gusts of wind. Most of the non-floodplain lakes with peaty shores are fed by forest streams that make their way through peaty bogs. Lakes Isihra and Svyatoe-Lubyanikskoye are natural monuments as unique water objects.

In the vegetation cover of the region, features of the southern, coniferous-broad-leaved and deciduous forests. Here there are weaves of "islands" of pine forests and swamps. It is to them that the best pages of K. Paustovsky's prose are dedicated. According to the writer, this region "is one of the few surviving forest islands, the remnant of the" great belt of coniferous forests. It once stretched from Polissya to the Urals. At present, there are almost no pure spruce forests in the reserve. Forest-forming taiga species - European spruce is found quite rarely and in small quantities, forming noticeable clusters in the northern part on non-flooded areas, on podzolized sandy loams.

Meshchera borders with. An amazing variety of plant communities creates a unique mosaic here: majestic pine forests and peat bogs, light oak forests and flooded black alder forests, predatory dense thickets and floodplain meadows, hidden forest lakes. The largest in area are mesotrophic (transitional) swamps with cottongrass. With great difficulty, pine and white birch are kept here. In the central, protected, part of the park is the famous Babi swamp. Tussocks with sharp sedge reach a meter height. In wet years it is practically impassable.

Cold sphagnum bogs are the main reservoirs of water. On the thickness of sphagnum there are cranberries, carnivorous round-leaved sundew. Low-growing sedge with rhizomatous permeates sphagnum turf with rhizomes. Here you can see a fox and an elk, a beaver and a badger, a forest ferret and a marten, many waterfowl and birds of prey.

Here you can often meet a wolf, a raccoon dog, an ermine, a weasel, a white hare, and a lot of wild boars. Occasionally come across a hare, American mink. Squirrels live throughout the reserve. The beaver population has recovered. This area is the southern boundary of the range. brown bear. Of the mammals of Meshchera, the Russian muskrat, included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, is undoubtedly the most valuable.

The fauna includes 50 species of mammals, 170 nesting bird species, 10 amphibians, 5 reptiles. More than 30 species of fish enter Meshchera. “... In the Meshchersky region, you can see forest lakes with dark water, charred from old age, the huts of foresters, sands, juniper, heather, shoals of cranes and stars familiar to us under all latitudes” (K. Paustovsky, “Meshcherskaya Side”).

The southeastern part of the park territory belongs to the basin of the Gus River, the extreme northeastern part belongs to the Klyazma basin. Along southern border of the ancient ice sheet stretches a strip of Meshchera woodlands. Among them rise opolyas that are not flooded by waters. They have more fertile soils, and people have long preferred to settle here. In the dry pine forests on the ancient dunes of the floodplain terraces, the Russian broom flaunts its openwork foliage and the dyer's gorse grows with simple linear-lanceolate leaves. The endless abundance of steppe grasses creates a special flavor of pine forests. Immediately after the descent, large blue flowers of sleep-grass, or backache, appear. Its hard, palmately dissected leaves are intertwined with many ephemera - annuals that die off by the beginning of summer. At the end of May - June, dune pine forests are colored with abundant golden-yellow broom flowers. Then comes the turn of the dark golden gorse, which blooms until the end of summer.

Features of the nature of Meshchera are shown in special expositions, which also feature species that live in the park.

The nature of Meshchera acts on the heart of a person with extraordinary power, fills with pride and reverence for the beauty of the Russian land.

"Meshchera" is currently understood as the territory of the Meshchera lowland, located in the interfluve of the Oka and Klyazma rivers. But historically, this name denoted a much more extensive territory ...

"Meshchera" is currently understood as the territory of the Meshchera lowland, located in the interfluve of the Oka and Klyazma rivers. But historically, this name denoted a much more extensive territory.

Initially, "meshchera" is the name of a Finno-Ugric tribe that lived, according to Russian chronicles, between Muroma and Mordovians. In modern onomastic science, it is customary to include this name in one group with the self-name of the Hungarians "Magyars", as well as with the name of ethnographic groups consisting of two Turkic peoples of the Tatars-Mishars and Bashkirs-Mozhars. Sometimes "meshcheryak" in Russian documents of the 15th century is designated as "mochyarin", which makes the above names even closer in sound. In other words, it is assumed that the ancestors of the Magyars, Meshchers, Mishars and Mozhars constituted an ethnic community. The territory of this tribe, "Great Hungary" according to the definition of L.N. Gumilyov, is localized in the Middle Volga region, within the boundaries of modern Bashkiria.

Then the ancestors of the Hungarians went to Pannonia, establishing their own state there, which exists to this day. The Meshcheryaks ended up on the Middle Oka and were completely assimilated by the Russians. Part of the tribes that remained on the Volga participated in the genesis of the Volga Turkic peoples, forming the corresponding groups in their composition. Meshchera as an ethnic entity is mentioned in Russian sources until the end of the 15th century. True, the nickname "meshcheryak" is found in Russian documents of individuals and two centuries later. Whether this nickname was given on an ethnic or geographical basis, it is impossible to say for sure.

In the period of the early Middle Ages, the name "Meshchera" meant, first of all, the Meshchera principality. It is difficult to say what kind of princely family ruled there. Initially, this could be the lot of the split Muromo-Ryazan principality. In this case, the Meshchera princes are an unknown branch of the Rurikovich. This assumption is supported by the spread of the spiritual administration of the medieval Muromo-Ryazan diocese on the territory of Meshchera.

On the other hand, the genealogy of the princes Meshchersky, created at the end of the 17th century, insists on the Tatar origin of the family: "from the prince of Shirinsky, Bakhmet Useinov, the son, who in 1298 came from the Great Horde, conquered Meshchera and settled there." However, this record is not credible. Firstly, the Great Horde appeared on the ruins of the Golden Horde only almost a century after the indicated date. Secondly, the noble Tatar family Murz Shirin was not Chingizid, and it is unlikely that his representative could independently conquer such vast territories on the borders of Russia. The Shirinsky princes (Murzas) came to Meshchera later, in the retinue of one of the first Kasimov princes. Thirdly, the genealogical painting does not mention the only Meshchera prince whose existence is documented - Alexander Ukovich, who lived in the 30s of the XIV century. The patronymic of this prince has no analogues either among Russians or among Tatar names, which suggests the presence of an aboriginal family of rulers in Meshchera.

One way or another, all three versions have an equal right to exist.

The independent Meshchera principality existed until the end of the 14th century. Its territory at that time was constantly decreasing, and the reason for this was not military defeats from Ryazan or Moscow, but the sale of land. So, the territory of the Ryazan Meshchera within its borders of the XIV-XVII centuries. (i.e. without Yegorievsk, Tuma, Gusskaya volost and Kasimov), apparently, was bought from the Meshchersky princes by Oleg Ivanovich Ryazansky after 1382. And the Kolomna volost Meshcherka (Meshcherskaya), most likely, was bought by the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan Ivanovich, committed before 1358

After 1392, the Meshchersky principality was already in vassal dependence on Moscow. The latest information about the Meshchera princes as the rulers of Meshchera dates back to 1483. The genealogical list indicates that they lost the principality during the time of Ivan III, to whom the Meshchersky princes exchanged their possessions for estates in other regions of the Muscovite state. Apparently, the reason for this was the decision of the Moscow rulers to accommodate Tatars who traveled to Russia in Meshchera, the foundation of the so-called "Kasimov kingdom".

In the 16th century, two significant territories are mentioned with the name of interest to us: the administrative unit is the Meshchersky district, and the geographical definition is the Meshcherskaya side of the Ryazan district. Apparently, it was to the Meshchersky district and Ryazan Meshchera in the XVI-XVII centuries. the definitions Bolshaya Meshchera and Malaya Meshchera were used, respectively. The Meshcherskaya side was called the lands of the Oka left bank and north to the Vladimir border. Vladimir volosts and camps of Meshchera were no longer considered. For example, the camp, which bordered the Ryazan district in the region of the Great Lake, was called the Murom village, and, obviously, was associated in the people's memory with another Finno-Ugric people - the Muroma.

Meshchersky district was the main territory of the former principality. It was located to the east of the Ryazan district and was, using the terminology of that time, a "city", i.e. exhibited during military campaigns a separate detachment of noble cavalry.

The territory of the county was being developed at a rapid pace. The cities of Kadom, Shatsk, Temnikov, Elatma, and later Tambov were built (renewed) here. Kasimov belonged to the Borisoglebsky camp of the Meshchersky district. With the increase in the population of Meshchera and the development of cities, the latter became new centers of attraction for the district. New counties were formed, and the presence of a traditional common name territory created confusion. The same locality in documents close in time to writing, it could be attributed either to the "big" Meshchersky district, or to the "small" Kasimovsky, Shatsky, Kadomsky, etc.

At the beginning of the XVIII century. such an administrative unit as the Meshchersky district was liquidated. And the name "Meshchera" in relation to this territory has ceased to be used. But there was still the Ryazan Meshchera, as a designation of the Ryazan left bank of the Oka. With the inclusion of Egorievsk, Tuma and Kasimov in the Ryazan province, this name spread to these lands. And with the definition of the Meshchera lowland as a geographical object, Meshchera acquired a modern meaning.

Archeology

Archeology associates with this tribe cemeteries and settlements of the 12th century, located along the middle course of the Oka.

The conclusions of A. Ivanov based on the materials of the Pustoshensky burial ground of the Meshchera:

According to the nature and composition of its inventory, the burial ground belongs to the type of burials, which, apparently, marks a special culture. The characteristic features of this type should be recognized: the presence of lamellar neck torcs with cylindrical pendants, lamellar moon-shaped earrings with the same pendants, neck torcs twisted from wire with cone-shaped spikes at the ends, a large number of cowrie shells and rather crude, but original wire imitations of various kurgan finds. , such as: neck hryvnias and a bracelet with tied ends, openwork pendants and pendants typical of chains in the form of cylinders and rhombuses. All things of the described type are attributed according to the Finnish or, in any case, to a foreign tribe that preceded the Slavic colonization of the region.

Story

The first mention of the Meshcher we [ ] we find at the Jordan: The latest publication of Jordan's Getica presents the text of the list as follows:

"thiudos: Inaunxis Vasinabroncas Merens Mordens Imniscaris Rogas Tadzans Athaul Nauego Bubegenas Coldas" [Jordan, 116]. It should be interpreted as a heavily corrupted fragment of a text in the Gothic language [Anfertiev 1994: 150-151], the original of which, in terms of the territories of interest to us from the Baltic to the middle Volga, can be restored approximately as “*þiudos: in Aunxis Vas, in Abroncas Merens, Mordens in Miscaris, Ragos stadjans / stadins "and translate: '[conquered] the peoples: in Aunuks - all, in Abroncas (?) - I measure, Mordovians in Meshchera, [along] the Volga area [atul, navego, bubegenov, koldov] '.

Mentions of Meshchera are also found in the Tolkovaya Paley - a monument of ancient Russian literature of the XIII century and in Russian chronicles (for example, in connection with the campaign of Ivan IV to Kazan). Meshchera as a region was first mentioned in historical documents in 1298 during the redistribution of power between Bakhmet Useinov, the son of Shirinsky, “who expelled Tsar Osan-Ulanov, the son of Krymskov, from Meshchera Makhmet.” The second time Meshchera was mentioned in 1392. in the Russian chronicle in connection with the acquisition of land (simultaneously with other Oka cities - Tarusa, Murom, Nizhny Novgorod, located from the headwaters to the mouth of the Oka River), by Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich from the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh.

A distinctive feature of the meshchera is clatter. Until now, it can be found in the Meshchera villages of Syademka, Vyazemka and others. The distribution area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe clatter is Poochye on the territory of the former settlement of the Meshchera, in the Zemetchinsky district of the Penza region.

material culture

The culture was close to the culture of the Erzyans, for example, a loincloth, such as a pulagai, was common among the Meshchera.

In connection with the assumption that the ancient Slavs had a vertical weaving mill, N. I. Lebedeva gives information about weaving "Pulagaev""Russian Meshchera" p. Melekhov, Ryazan region and s. Vyazemka of the Zemetchinsky district of the Penza region, which are "a woven strip with a very long red wool fringe". At the same time, she emphasizes that the territory “of the dwelling of the Meshchera coincides with the settlements of the Gorodetsky type, in which there was a vertical weaving mill.”

One of the local variants of the South Great Russian type of clothing G.S. Maslova considers the costume of the Zaoksky part of the Ryazan and Tambov regions - the “Russian meshchera” - one of the oldest groups of South Great Russians. Very old features have been preserved here, dating back, according to the author of the article, to Vyatic clothing (poneva, a type of headdress) and features that bring the clothes of the Russian population closer to the clothes of the peoples of the Volga region (especially Mordovian) - the type of bast shoes, black braids, shells, hooks, fringed pulagai belt.

Anthropology

The hypothesis about the genetic relationship of the Russian Meshchera and the Tatar-Mishars in the 1950s was tested by scientists from the Research Institute of Anthropology of Moscow State University. On the basis of anthropological materials, they spoke out "against the point of view asserting the unity of the origin of the Mishars and the so-called Russian Meshchera", and pointed to the possibility of a genetic connection between the Russian Meshchera and the local "Mordva-Erzya groups".

Academician T. I. Alekseeva writes:

“Russians from the Muroma habitat are also very similar to the Meshchera. They have relatively light pigmentation, weakened beard development, a very narrow face, a predominantly straight nose, etc. This fact can be interpreted as confirmation of the connection between the Meshchera and the Muroma, and taking into account the fact that other anthropological patterns appear in the population surrounding these groups. types - Valdai and East Great Russian - as confirmation of the genetic relationship of these relic East Finnish Oka groups.

“The localization of such a peculiar morphological complex in a relatively isolated territory allows us to raise the question of identifying a new anthropological type in the systematics of Eastern Europe. On the basis of similarity with the Ilmenian, it can be attributed to the Eastern European contact group of types of the North Caucasian or Baltic minor race (according to Cheboksarov). Consistently pursuing the geographical principle in the designation of racial types, it should be called Middle Oka.

“Comparison of the skulls of the Meshchera, Meri and Muroma with the East Slavic ones, on the one hand, and with the Finno-Ugric ones, on the other, speaks of their much greater similarity with the first. In this sense, we can talk about the genetic ties between the East Slavic and East Finnic peoples on the territory of the Volga-Oka basin, which arose long before their ethnic formation.

Notes

1. Borovkov E. Mordva, Muroma and Meshchera - the ancient population of the Upper Volga region (indefinite) . Historicus.ru.
2. Ivanov A. Excavations in the village of Pustoshi, Sudogodsky district of the Vladimir province 1924 Vladimir publishing house "Call" 1925
3. Napolskikh V.V. The Bulgar era in the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga and Cis-Urals Archival copy of August 29, 2014 on the Wayback Machine // History of the Tatars from ancient times in seven volumes. Volume 2
4. Orlov A. M. Nizhny Novgorod Tatars ethnic roots and historical fate. Lower Novgorod, 2001.
5. Meshchera (indefinite) (unavailable link). Retrieved June 22, 2014. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014.
6. Russian traditional culture of the late XIX-early XX centuries.
7. The language of the Russian village
8. Alymov S. S. On the way to the "Ancient history of the peoples of the USSR. Little-known pages of the scientific biography of S.P. Tolstov // Ethnographic Review, 2007, No. 5. P.129.
9. Zelenin D.K. Great Russian dialects with inorganic and intransitive mitigation of back-palatal consonants in connection with the currents of the later Great Russian colonization. 1913.
10. Zubova glade
11. Orlov A. M.

HISTORY OF MESHERA

Most of all poetic words are written about Meshcher as one of the most beautiful
corners of the center of Russia. It is the least studied historically, although Meshchera occupies a special place in the ethnic history of Russia. Dozens and hundreds of articles and books have been written about the Meshchera, both by pre-revolutionary historical figures and modern historians and local historians. But until now, Meshchera remains a mystery, which no one has yet been able to solve.
"Meshchera" is currently understood as the territory of the Meshchera lowland, located in the interfluve of the Oka and Klyazma rivers. Geographically, the Meshcherskaya lowland is located within the Moscow, Vladimir and Ryazan regions. But historically, this name denoted a much more extensive territory. Chronicles of the 15th-16th centuries, without giving precise indications for determining the position of the Meshchera region, combine it together or place it in the southern neighborhood of the Mordovian settlement area in the Middle Volga region, between the lower reaches of the Oka and the Sura (Proceedings of the eighth archaeological congress in Moscow. 1890. M 1897, p. 65).
The historian Yu.V. Gauthier defines the boundaries of Meshchera in this way; "" Under Meshchera in the XVI - XVIII centuries. meaning the land once inhabited by the tribe bearing this name. He occupied vast areas on the Oka, Moksha and Tsna, within the current Ryazan, Tambov and Penza provinces. From Kasimov, then called Gorodets Meshchersky, to Kadom and Temnikov "", "" Meshcheroy in the administrative language of the 16th and 17th centuries. It was called the Shatsky district "" which included three camps: Podlesny, Borisoglebovsky and Zamokshsky. The latter was the most extensive camp. It stretched along the Moksha River from its mouth almost from the current city of Krasnoslobodsk, embracing the territory of the entire former Temnikovsky district and parts of Elatomsky and Krasnoslobodsky. (Yu.V. Gautier. Tens according to Vladimir and Meshchera, 1590 and 1615, 1911, books 1-2, pp. 55-56)
By the end of the XVI century. with the development of Russian colonization, the borders of Meshchera expanded due to the annexation of southern lands along Tsna and Moksha. In 1553, the center of Meshchera moved to Shatsk - it became the administrative center of the entire Meshchera, with the exception of the insignificant district of the city of Kasimov. Later, Elatomsky, Shatsky and Kadomsky stand out from Meshchera, then Temnikovsky, Krasnoslobodsky, Troitsky, Spassky counties of the Tambov province, Kerensky, Chembarsky - Penza
provinces. Meshchera also included part of the Narovchatsky district. "The data provided indicate that the Meshchera land does not coincide with the boundaries of the Meshchera plain. (Chekalin F.F. Meshchera and the Burtases according to the monuments that have been preserved about them.)
In the book of Orlov A.M. "" Meshchera, Meshcheryaki, Mishari "", various opinions about Meshchera are described in sufficient detail and fully, borrowing a bit of historical material from there, adding information from other sources, we will try to briefly talk about the main famous moments in the history of the Meshchera region.
To understand what Meshchera, Meshcheryaki is, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of this term, since "Meshchera" is used in several meanings:
1) Meshchera as a geographical concept;
2) Meshchera as a principality, region, land;
3) Meshchera as a derivative of the city, town;
4) Meshchera as an ethnic group, that is, a people.
Meshchera as a region, the land is mentioned in connection with the history of the Meshchera princes, in the Genealogical Book, where it is reported that “in the summer of 6706 (1298) the prince
Shirinsky Bakhmet, Usein's son, came from the Great Horde to Meshchera, and Meshchera fought and settled it ... ".
As the city of Meshchera, it was first mentioned in 1393 in an annalistic report, where Khan Tokhtamysh granted the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich the “Novgorod Principality (173) of Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Meshcher, Torso”. (PSRL, vol. XI, St. Petersburg, 1897, p. 148; M. K. Lyubavsky. Formation of the main state territory of the Great Russian people, L., 1929, p. 92.). In the same sense, Meshchera is mentioned in the will of Ivan III, who passes on to his son "Meshcher with volosts and from the village and with everything that attracted her and with Koshkov." (SGGD, vol. 1, no. 144).
This text repeats the testament of Grozny, and Meshchera is here directly called the city “Yes, I give him the city of Meshchera with volosts and villages ...” (DAI, vol. 1, No. 222).
At the same time, sources mention Gorodok Meshchersky. So, in 1508, an instruction was given to the ambassador to the Crimea that if the Crimean prince Akh-Kurt asked the sovereign Kazan, Meshchersky Gorodok or Andreev Gorodok, give the following answer: “Kazan Tsar Mahmet Amen is now our friend and brother, and in Meshchersky Gorodok Yanai Tsarevich, and those places are both empty, and it’s unsuitable for us to give him both places ... Andreev’s town to the town behind Yanai Tsarevich: it’s unsuitable for our sovereign to wait for it ”(Sb. RIO vol. 95, St. Petersburg, 1895, p. 14-15 For Andreev Gorodok, see M.I. Smirnov On the Meshchersky princes of the 13th-15th centuries, Proceedings of the Ryazan Scientific Archival Commission, Ryazan, 1903, vol. XVIII, issue 2, p. 196, etc.) In this message, we are talking about the city of Kasimov, who in the 16th century. more often it was called "Gorodok", less often - "Tsar's Town" and "Kasimov". The latter name was fully established behind him in the 17th century (“Gorodkom”, Kasimov calls, along with Meshchera, “The oldest bit book”. P. N. Milyukov. The oldest bit book of the official edition. “Readings of the OIDR”, book I, M., 1902 , pp. 116 and 141). Apparently, the city of Kasimov was built near the city of Meshchera.
The last mention of the city of Meshchera is probably contained in the Ustyug residents’ unsubscribe to the Permians dated 1609: “the sovereign boyars and governors Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev and comrades sovereign cities: Murom and Kasimov, Meshchera, Elatma, Kadoma, Volodimer and Suzdal were cleared. (AAE, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1836, No. 104, II).
One of the first in Russian writing, the ethnonym Meshchera is mentioned by "Explanatory Paley" (1350)
Historical information about the Meshchera tribe is very contradictory. The interpretation of this information is not unambiguous. There are opinions that there were no Meshchers as a nationality. Others believe that there were Meshchera tribes, but they assimilated: partly with the Russians, partly with the Tatars. Still others believe that the Meshchera moved to the Cheremis and merged with it, since the Meshchera, like the Cheremis, belongs to the Finno-Ugric group of peoples. The ethnogenesis of Meshchera has not been clarified, the mass of venerable historians interpret it in different ways, sometimes expressing anti-polar opinions. Two main versions prevail - this is a dispute between the Fino-Ugric and Turkic roots of the ancient cave. Also, indisputable facts tell us about the existence of the Russian Meshchera.
Most historians and ethnographers believe, with various variations, that the ancient Meshchera is one of the tribes of the Chud (Chud in pre-revolutionary Russia, the collective name of the Finno-Ugric peoples) who lived, according to Russian chronicles, between the Muroma and the Mordovians. Modern onomastics includes this name in one group with the self-name of the Hungarians "Magyars", as well as with the name of ethnographic groups consisting of two Turkic peoples of the Tatars-Mishars and Bashkirs-Mozhars. Sometimes "meshcheryak" in Russian documents of the 15th century is designated as "mochyarin", which makes the above names even closer in sound. In other words, it is assumed that the ancestors of the Magyars, Meshchers, Mishars and Mozhars constituted an ethnic community. The territory of this tribe, "Great Hungary" according to the definition of L.N. Gumilyov, is localized in the Middle Volga region, within the boundaries of modern Bashkiria. Then the ancestors of the Hungarians went to Pannonia, establishing their own state there, which exists to this day. The Meshcheryaks ended up on the Middle Oka and were completely assimilated by the Russians. Part of the tribes that remained on the Volga participated in the genesis of the Volga Turkic peoples, forming the corresponding groups in their composition. Meshchera as an ethnic entity is mentioned in Russian sources until the end of the 15th century. True, the nickname "meshcheryak" is found in Russian documents of individuals and two centuries later. Whether this nickname was given on an ethnic or geographical basis, it is impossible to say for sure.
P. P. Semenov, believes that the Meshcheryaks or Meshchers are the descendants of the Tatarized, partly Russified Finnish tribe, who have now survived only in the Orenburg, Perm, Penza and Saratov provinces. In former times, they lived in the so-called Meshchera region. Meshchera was divided into two parts - the eastern part was under the power and influence of the Tatars, the western - under the influence of the Russians, retaining only the clatter from their ancestors.
On the other hand, adherents of the hypothesis of the Turkic (Tatar) origin of Meshchera oppose the genealogy of the Meshchersky princes, probably created at the end of the 17th century: Meshchera as a region, the land was first mentioned in connection with the history of the Meshchera princes. (1298) Prince Shirinsky Bakhmet, Usein’s son, came from the Great Horde to Meshchera, and Meshcheru fought and settled it ... ”It is also known that his son Beklemish was baptized, was named Michael, and built a temple in the Andreev town in the name Transfiguration of the Lord and baptized many people with him. “Prince Mikhail has a son, Prince Fedor, Fedor has Yuri, and Prince Yuri was on the Don, he came from Meshchera to Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich with his regiment. Yuria has a son, Prince Alexander. There is information that Prince Yuri fell in the Battle of Kulikovo and that, in addition to the Bakhmet family, there were other rulers - Meshchera princes who took part in the battle with Mamai.
Other arguments are given in support of the Turkic hypothesis, for example, A. I. Cherepnin, who studied the Meshchera burial grounds of the 9th - 11th centuries, concludes, “during the formation of the Ryazan-Oka burial grounds, this part of the population (we are talking about East Finnish tribes) was no longer dominant in the valley of the middle Oka, - the population of Finnish origin has already lost its independence and was forced to give way to the newcomer warlike equestrian tribe, which during the formation of the burial grounds constituted a significant and higher part of the local population, which differed in character from the indigenous population of the Ryazan region. The alien conquerors, in many ways, belonged to the steppe nomads of the Turkic people.
Some researchers believe that the name of Meshchera was transferred to the princes of Turkic origin, who became the owners of land along the river. Tsna and in the lower reaches of the river. Moksha. There is also an opposite hypothesis. In particular, P. N. Petrov casts doubt on the widespread assertion that the founder of the Meshchersky princes, Huseyya Shirinsky, came from the Great Horde, who allegedly came to Meshchera in 1298 and began to spread Mohammedanism here. He substantiates his self-doubt by the fact that by that time the Golden Horde was not yet Muslim. Petrov sees in him "a local native who accepted the teachings of Mohammed in Bulgar and, having come to his homeland, began to convert it with fire and sword" .
Finally, a very original hypothesis regarding the origin of the Volga Tatars, including the Mishars (supposedly descendants of the Meshchera), recent times historian and philosopher M. S. Glukhov. It significantly expands the chronology and geographical space of the search for the ethnogenetic roots of the Tatars, linking them with the history of many tribes and peoples of both Turkic and Finno-Ugric and Indo-European origin. These roots, claims M. S. Glukhov, are quite clearly traced from the beginning of a new era, and in the places of the current habitat of the Volga Tatars, their ancestors appeared already in the middle of the 2nd century. Iranian-speaking at their core, it was then, according to M. S. Glukhov, that they absorbed a powerful Turkic-Ugric substrate, and a little later, "caught up by the wave of the great migration of peoples, in the 4th-5th centuries they included a significant Slavic-Baltic component. In Among the tribes and peoples who participated in the formation of the modern image of the Volga Tatars, the author of this work names the Huns (Sary-Uyghurs and Kerchins), Proto-Russian, ancient Balts, Magyars, Meryu "Burtases, Bulgars, Polovtsy, and already in the period of the Golden Horde - Kereites ( Nogais).
Opponents of the theory of the Tatar origin of Meshchera motivate the inconsistency of recording the genealogy of the princes Meshchersky as follows: Firstly, the Great Horde appeared on the ruins of the Golden Horde only almost a century after the indicated date. Secondly, the noble Tatar family Murz Shirin was not Chingizid, and it is unlikely that his representative could independently conquer such vast territories on the borders of Russia. The Shirinsky princes (Murzas) came to Meshchera later, in the retinue of one of the first Kasimov princes. Thirdly, the genealogical painting does not mention the only Meshchera prince whose existence is documented - Alexander Ukovich, who lived in the 30s of the XIV century. The patronymic of this prince has no analogues either among Russians or among Tatar names, which suggests the presence of an aboriginal family of rulers in Meshchera.
And from here arise the following, even somewhat exotic theories of the origin of Meshchera, for example: In the early Middle Ages, the name "Meshchera" meant, first of all, the Meshchera principality. It is difficult to say what kind of princely family ruled there. Initially, this could be the lot of the split Muromo-Ryazan principality. In this case, the Meshchera princes are an unknown branch of the Rurikovich. This assumption is supported by the spread of the spiritual administration of the medieval Muromo-Ryazan diocese on the territory of Meshchera. (Internet site History of the origin of the Meshchera, Yegoryevsk.)
In many ancient chronicles and later documents there is a mention of the Russian Meshchera. Since Meshchera as the name of the people is introduced into the text of the old lists of the Chronicle of the Tale of Bygone Years, the researcher points out the inappropriate use of the term "Meshcheriki" in relation to the Russian Meshchera. Let's try to understand this term. In my opinion, the following assumptions deserve special attention:
Firstly, there is a hypothesis that the Russian people of the Moscow and Ryazan principalities, dissatisfied with their lives, fled in search of liberties to the dense forests and impenetrable swamps of Meshchera, carrying their culture, religion and way of life. Mixed marriages with the aboriginal population are likely, as a result of which rather large Russian-speaking settlements arose.
Secondly, A.N. Nasonov sees wanderers in "Rus Purgasovaya", i.e., a semi-nomadic population who, under the influence of Polovtsian raids, left their habitat on the Don and moved to the Muromo-Ryazan land (most of the Ryazan land was part of Meshchera) , including in the parish of Purgas on the river. Moksha. (A. N. Nasonov. Russian land and the formation of the territory of the Old Russian state, M., 1951, p. 204.)
Thirdly, it should be borne in mind that the Russian population among the Moksha and Tsensky Mordovians appeared much earlier than the Polovtsian raids on Ryazan Ukraine. Already Borkovsky and Kuzminsky burial grounds of the VIII-IX centuries. have 10% of cremations - a funeral ritual characteristic of the Slavs. At the same time, the Krivichi penetrate the lower Oka, into the territory of Meshchera and Murom. In 988, Vladimir of Kyiv gave the inheritance of Murom to his son Gleb. In the XI century. noticeably enhanced advancement of the Vyatichi on the river. Tsnu, and Krivichi on the river. Moksha. So the Tsnin burial grounds of Kryukovsko-Kuzhnovsky and Elizavet-Mikhailovsky X-XI centuries. already contain 16-17% of cremations (“Materials and Research on Archeology of the USSR”, No. 28, M, 1952, ed. of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, p. 154.)
So, the Penza historian V.I. Lebedev, who supports the views of Kuftin, Bakhilina and many others, in his theses at a scientific conference: "" Questions of the ethnic history of the Volga - Donya "" declares that: the Penza Russian Meshchera is an ancient Russian tribe, "" marinated "" in a remote corner of the "" wild field "" for 300 years and therefore retained its ancient accent and costume.
For centuries, year after year, Russian princes have been increasing their presence in Meshchera.
At the end of the XI century. Polovtsy and Russians clashed in Meshchera. The Polovtsians pushed the scattered Meshchera to the north. Russian princes are based on the Oka in the place where it
reached its greatest southwest bend. The Russians cut down an ordinary prison and
began to collect yasak from the natives. During these years, a small Christian community was created here, which was opposed by pagans and Muslims. The struggle between the Ryazanians and the Polovtsy continued uninterruptedly until the very appearance of the Tatar-Mongols.
At the same time, cooperation between the Russian princes and the Polovtsian khans is observed.
The princes became friends with the khans, entered into kinship with them, sought refuge with them and
troops in case of their failures. On the other hand, the Ryazan princes with their caress
attracted many children and brothers from the Polovtsian khans and turned them into
Christianity. The Bulgars also lived within Meshchera in pre-Mongolian times. We learn about the Bulgar population of the region from the history of Russian colonization and the spread of the Christian religion there. Also, the presence of the Bulgars in Meshchera is evidenced by frequent clashes between them and the Russians of Meshchera, which took place at the end of the 12th century. So, in 1183 Matvey Andreevich, a Ryazan thousand, defeated the Bulgars near Kadoma, and in 1209 he was killed here.
In the era of the Golden Horde, Besermen, Burtases, Madjars, Crimean Tatars,
Nogais. In the north-east of Meshchera, the Tatar principality of Bakhmet arises. Bakhmet Usinov's son here is under the strong influence and influence of the Russian princes, for the son Beklemish born to him was baptized and was named Mikhail. He builds a church in Andreev town and baptizes many of his people. His grandson - Mikhail Yuri Fedorovich in 1380, together with his regiment in the army of Dmitry Donskoy, opposes Mamai, where he died on the battlefield as a distinguished warrior.
The almost complete possession of Meshchera by the Russians dates back to the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries, when Tamerlane transferred Meshchera to the Russian princes, and the sale of Meshchera lands began. Having bought the lands of the Meshchera princes, the Moscow sovereigns send their governors and service people here.
In 1382, the Grand Dukes of Moscow and Ryazan conclude an agreement on the ownership of Meshchera ^ "And that the purchase of Prince Great Meshchera, as was the case under Alexander Ukovich, then Prince Great Dmitry, and Prince Great Oleg, do not intercede on that siding.
The Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich occupied Tula with the Tatar and Mordovian lands. The Grand Duke of Ryazan did the same. “And that the Tatar places were taken by Prince. great Dmitry Ivanovich for himself from the Tatars to this to our end, those places of the book. great Dmitry. And what about the book. the great Oleg took the Tatar from the Tatars until now, otherwise the book. those places to the great Oleg "" 1. After the Battle of Kulikovo, Meshchera de facto came under the protectorate of the Moscow principality. Since then, Slavic villages have appeared near Kadom, Temnikov, Elatma.
Somewhat earlier, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality began to implement the policy of expanding borders in the east. His territorial claims are evidenced by the title appropriated by the Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinov himself (1367): "Prince the Great Novgorod Nizhneva Nova of the city and Suzdal and Gorodets-Coy and Kurmysh, and Sarsk, and Bulgarian, and Bolshets-Coy, and Podolsk and all Ponizovsky land Zavolsky yurt and Severnova sovereign Dmitry Konstantinovich"2. He soon occupied the Mordovian lands along the Volga, Oka and Kud-ma and extended the limits of his principality to the river. Drunk, Teshi and Vada, and began to settle Russian people here. Mordva is actively fighting for the return to the old places, making an attempt to solve this problem with the help of the Tatars, as evidenced by the well-known battle on Pyan (1377). In order to consolidate these lands, Kurmysh was built (1372), which became one of the first cities that were put forward far from military centers. At the same time (perhaps even earlier) the town of Kysh was founded, located south of Kurmysh, on the left bank of the Sura, 20 versts above the mouth of the Pyana. Apparently, it was the residence of the boyar Parfeniy Fedorovich. The town was burned, the boyar himself was killed, his people were captured by one of Mamai's detachments (1375).
In 1393, the areas around Kurmysh and Kysh were assigned to monasteries. In particular, the land, lakes, rivers around Kurmysh were transferred to the Spassky (Annunciation) Monastery.
In 1426, it is said about the right of Russian service people to use the cities of Elatma and Kadom. Vasily Vasilyevich Dark (1425-1462) in 1462, on April 20, bestows a special letter on a certain Ivan Grigorievich Rosla with his son Konon in the Meshchera cities of Elatma and Kadom in local feeding. (Legal acts, d. 161.) Almost at the same time (1483 .) in the spiritual charter of the Grand Dukes of Moscow and Ryazan, in the list of black people of Meshchera, besermen, Mordovians, mochars are given. But for some reason, Meshchers and Cheremis are not found in the charter.
By the end of the 16th century, the Ryazan principality was completely part of the Moscow principality. In 1508, on May 20, Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich (1505 -1533), favors Protasyev Protasy Akinfovich with trade duties from all over Meshchera and the county. No. 73.) The expansion of the lands, in turn, required the involvement of forces from the feudal environment, reliance on the feudal aristocracy of non-Russian peoples. Princes and murzas of the lands adjacent to Russia already in the middle of the 14th century. go to serve in Moscow. This was facilitated by the fact that the Mordovian-Meshchera places of Zapyanye and the Prisura region were in stable economic and political ties with the lands of North-Eastern Russia. Meshchersky princes appear until the 15th century. As you know, in the Battle of Kulikovo, the Russians participated with their regiments and Andrei Serkizovich and Yuri Meshchersky died. Even then, other Tatar feudal lords were on the side of the Russians in the battle against Mamai. The chronicle speaks with praise of the courage of the former Tatar Murza Melik, who commanded the Russian guard regiment 2. There are known facts of cooperation between the Moscow grand dukes and the Meshchera princes in the future. So, squads from Meshchera, as part of the troops of Grand Duke Dmitry, are participating in a campaign against Novgorod, committed because the Novgorodians plundered Kostroma and Nizhny. As Moscow servants or assistants, the Meshchera princes carried out the same outlying guard service that the Kasimovites later did. The policy of the Russian princes was that in Moscow they willingly accepted people from various Tatar hordes and provided them with extensive estates in the southeastern outskirts of the state.
So, on the lands granted by the Great Prince of Moscow Vasily the Dark (1425 - 1505), who fled to Moscow because of the civil strife that arose in the Kazan Khanate, to Tsarevich Kasim, the lands under Ivan III (1462 - 1505) was formed "Kasimov kingdom", which lasted more than 200 years. K. Marx wrote: ""He killed some Tatars with the help of other Tatars"". Apparently, initially Kasim and Yakub were given Zvenigorod. This is indirectly indicated by the performance in 1449 of Kasim from Zvenigorod against the Tatars of Seid-Akhmet. Zvenigorod and subsequently passed to the feeding of the Tatar princes. V. Velyaminov-Zernov, in a study on the Kasimov tsars and princes, came to the conclusion that around 1452 Kasim received the Meshchersky town on the Oka, which later became known under his name. By the way, Mr. Kasimov was a "blacksmith", where the tsars were preparing to occupy the Khan's throne in Kazan. Since the 16th century, the Meshchersky region has been intensively populated by Tatar princes and murzas. The Moscow princes were well aware of the benefits that the Tatar princes' stay on Russian lands would bring them, and used them as a tool in solving their foreign policy tasks.
The issues of interaction between the Cossacks and the Tatar world were reflected in the works of I.O. Tyumentseva, S.A. Kozlova, A.P. Skorika, I.L. Omelchenko and many others. The researchers came to the conclusion that the first Cossack communities began to form during the crisis of the Golden Horde on its borders, and subsequently some of them formed a group of serving Tatars in Russia, the Nogai Horde and the Crimean Khanate. the local population of new territories (Mordovians, Chuvashs, Cheremis, Burtas) to serve in the villages, on the lines, in the local troops. In Meshchera, such a form of cooperation between Russians and Tatars arises as the service of urban Cossacks. (Orlov The Meshchera Cossacks were divided into two components, into free Cossacks and into service Cossacks who entered the service of Russian princes and sovereigns. To this it should be added that the Russian-speaking population of the border area formed the core of the Cossack community, eventually creating from it a stronghold of Orthodoxy and autocracy.An important role in the formation of the Cossacks was played by the ancestors of the Meshchera Cossacks, who knew the tributaries of the Volga and the northern rivers well, and therefore were guides along these rivers.They also guarded the crossings and controlled the passage ships along the Volga and the Caspian since ancient times.Later, they carried out sentinel border service with the Russian princes, being a natural barrier between Russia and the steppe.In 1487, Ivan III evicted part of the Kasimov and Meshchersky Cossacks "to the Don to many Cossacks living there ..." "The first city was where the Donskoy Monastery was, 25 versts from Boguchar." (Memorable I am a book for the inhabitants of the Voronezh province for 1893. V. 1893.S. 125-157). Vasily III and his advisers created favorable conditions for the Cossacks who were hired to serve them, and sought to use any conflict between the Tatars and the Cossacks to win the latter over to their side. Along with the protection of Russian borders, the Cossacks began to conduct deep reconnaissance in the Wild Field. In 1518, the service Cossacks caught up with the Kazan Khan Shigalei on the Volga and brought him to Moscow. The following year, 1519, the Grand Duke's Cossacks served in the steppe and defeated a detachment of Crimean Tatars. The Meshchera Cossacks attacked the Nogai uluses and drove away the horses. Araslan-Murza, whose nomad camps bordered on the Meshchersky region, repeatedly asked the sovereign to "pacify" the Meshcherians. In the Nogai books for 1551-1556. there are reports of Cossack attacks on merchant ships on the Volga. Sources give the names of the atamans who led the Volga Cossacks: Vasily Meshchersky and Pichuga Putivlets. The paths of the Lord of the free Volga Cossacks are inscrutable, their fates are interesting, and sometimes tragic - so tough measures were taken against a number of Volga chieftains who disobeyed the sovereign order and defeated the Russian embassy, ​​burned Nogai letters, thereby violating the course of Russian - Nogai negotiations. One of the participants in this operation, the Cossack detachments led by Mitya Britous, was defeated, and the ataman himself was executed in Moscow in the presence of Nogai ambassadors. Other instigators of the attack - Ivan Koltso and Bogdan Barabosha - decided to take part in Yermak's Siberian campaign and thereby earn the king's forgiveness. The rest of the Volga Cossacks, such as Matvey Meshcheryak, continued to smash the Nogai uluses with the blessing of the Russian government. So, in 1585. he, with a detachment of 500 Cossacks, recaptured 3,000 horses from the Nogais on Yaik and took a large full. The fates of these Volga atamans developed in different ways: Matvey Meshcheryak returned to the Volga and was again mentioned in the sources in the late 80s, and Ivan Koltso, along with his Cossacks, tragically died in the Siberian campaign.
In 1720, when the border moved a hundred and in places and more kilometers to Tsaritsin, the border fortifications of the Meshchera land lost their fortification value. The wild field ceased to be a Russian outskirts, turning into an inner region of the state. The bulk of the serving Meshchersky Cossacks were transferred to other garrisons of the Ukrainian borders of the vast Russian state "" for eternal life "", and the free "" Meshcheryak "" had long begun to merge with other large Cossack communities of Russian Ukraine.
By the way, based on the place of birth and the nickname of the epic hero-Cossack Ilya Muromets, he can be safely ranked among the Meshchersky Cossacks.
Creating a buffer between Moscow and the Steppe from Meshchera, the Moscow princes and tsars fortified it with cities, fences, and faces. Meshchera was important in maintaining trade and economic relations. Even in the old days, trade routes passed through Meshchera. Moscow, Tver, Suzdal and other principalities maintained trade relations with the Steppe and Asia along them. They ran through the cities of Temnikov, Koshkov, Kadom, Kasimov. One of these roads was called Posolskaya, since it connected Vladimir with the Tatar centers of the Golden Horde. On this way, pits were made in the city of Kasimov and with. Azeev. The Ordo-bazaar road also passed through Meshchera, connecting Vladimir with Astrakhan and Khoper. Somewhat to the south, the Vadovskaya and Idovskaya roads1 ran. It is in Meshchera that the pit service originates. She accepted the steppes who wished to go to the service of the Russian principalities. Meshchera was a base for an attack on the Steppe, a natural barrier to protect against the invasion of nomads.
Since 1571, the entire service for the protection of new lands was streamlined, the service of security guards was organized, and steppe patrols were created. Fortified cities are divided into 2 categories. The cities of the first category included Alatyr, Temnikov, Kadom, Shatsk, Arzamas, etc. They were located on the border, provided the stanitsa and guard lines. The second line of fortified cities was Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Kasimov and others. They sent their people to the front line. Each of these cities had its own governors and siege heads with detachments of service people. Garrison service was carried out by archers, who were rarely sent to the steppes and notches. On the front line, the main load was carried by boyar children and Cossacks, along with service people. The servicemen consisted not only of Kazan and Meshchera Tatars, but also of Mordovians, Chuvashs. There were many Tatars, especially Meshcheryaks, among the Cossacks. They alternately went to the steppe for patrols and guards, receiving a special salary for this. In addition, a patrol service is being introduced in the steppe. Meshchersky watchmen made patrols along the Don, to the Volga perevolok and stood at the key points of the border. So, between the Don and the Volga under the Tileormansky (Wild) forest, they were supposed to stand on patrols "" on the field of the head with villages "" with the aim of "" saving "", i.e., detection and timely notification "" about the arrival of military people " ". So, according to the paintings of the Meshchera watchmen in 1571 and 1568, it is clear that there were five of them. The second and third watchmen rode the steppe along the Shuksha River, the left tributary of the Sura, between the large Sura and Moksha forests. The fourth guard was located on the left tributary of the Moksha - on the river on Lamova, where the Shustrui flows into it. The fifth (Vadovskaya) stood in the upper reaches of the Lamovaya, Vada and Burtasa rivers ”(Lebedev V.I. Legend or true story. In the footsteps of security guards. Saratov, 1986, p. 15.). Thus, the line between the river Barysh, the right tributary of the Sura and the Tsna, the left tributary of the Moksha, is called the line of the Meshchersky guards. It was a very dangerous and difficult service. People who carried guard service were ordered to stand on patrol "without eating from horses, without changing, and ride around the tracts, changing to the right, to the left ... do not make camps, but put the lights in more than one place, if you cook porridge and then fire in one place do not put it twice, but in which place someone spent noon and did not spend the night in that place, and in the forests they were not set ... "Report about movements to those cities that are closer, go by sak-mam ... Do not leave the guard without permission ... Stay from spring for almost weeks, in autumn - for a month "!.
The auxiliary service of the Tatars and Mordovians was not limited to this. Some of them were made into archers and Cossacks, and they merged with service people of Russian origin. The main part of them served temporarily, making up a special militia during the war and at the end of it they went home. They did not mix with service people of Russian origin and at the same time did not carry, apart from service, any taxes and did not send any duties, receiving food from the government. In the class of service Tatars, princes and murzas, immigrants from the Tatar khanates and Nogai hordes who belonged to the top of these social formations. There were tarkhans who occupied a middle place between servicemen and yasak foreigners. Significant masses were service Tatars who did not belong to the aristocracy of the former Tatar kingdoms.
During the campaigns, serving foreigners made up special detachments in the army, and the militia, recruited from among the draft and yasak peasants, joined them. "Guidance over them was always entrusted to Russian heads. And in peacetime they were not freed from their influence .. The head kept lists of the weak Tatars" in order to
yurts were all obvious"; he "knew them in everything and had to take care of them tightly so that they would not offend the Tatars from anyone and violence and sale and dishonor and losses; and whoever hurts a Yurt Tartar, he had to talk about that governor with his comrades.
"" Meshchera occupies a special place in the ethnic history of Russia, since here all three main groups of the peoples of our country entered into relations - Slavic, Turkic and Finno-Ugric tribes and peoples. Murom, Merya, Krivichi, Mordovians, Besermens, Madjars, Bulgars, Burtases, Kipchaks, Nogais, Tatars, Russians, Bashkirs - this is not a complete list of peoples who declared themselves here and lived nearby for many centuries. Only fragments of some of these peoples have survived outside Meshchera - these are the Besermen in Udmurtia, the Mordovians-Karatai in Tataria, the rest merged with larger peoples. We can safely say that in Meshchera, in miniature, a model of the future multinational Russia. From here, this model, increasing in volume, spread to other regions - to the east, southeast, throughout the Volga region, the Urals, involving all new peoples in its sphere. (Orlov A.M. "" Meshchera, Meshcheryaki, Mishary "". Kazan., 1992.)
I would like to end this chapter, not with a historical archival document, but with an excerpt from Pyotr Sharganov's story "Meshchera":
"Grandfather lit the cradle, put me on his knees, shook his gray forelock and began his tale:
That was a long time ago. Countless years have passed.
Tribes and clans have sunk into oblivion, their customs and customs have been forgotten. Matushka covered the earth with mourning grass, windbreaks and rot, hillocks of churchyards and conflagrations of villages.
Few people now remember their fathers and grandfathers. Especially you, Cossack children. And you, know in advance: Zaporizhzhya Sich is your fatherland, and Meshchera is your grandfather.
Meshchera forests, impenetrable thickets, meandering turbulent rivers, ominous swamps - they contain the soul of our family, its long past ... "".