Stone Age
The first archaeological signs of humans on the territory of modern Udmurtia date back to the Mesolithic era: seasonal sites and settlements with the remains of rectangular half-dugouts and stone tools were discovered. By this period, the climate had stabilized, approaching the modern one, and coniferous and broad-leaved forests spread. The population was engaged in hunting and fishing.
In the 5th millennium BC. e. the region moves into the Sub-Neolithic era: ceramics with comb ornaments spread, stone tools improved. Sub-Neolithic settlements from the territory of Udmurtia are classified as a local variant of the Kama (Khutorskaya) archaeological culture.
Early Metal Age
In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e. the local population, under the influence of their southern neighbors, enters the Chalcolithic era. However, due to rich deposits of stone raw materials and very poor deposits of ore (copper sandstones), acquaintance with the metal occurred slowly. Monuments of this period in the region are classified as the Novoiliinskaya culture, which at the end of the 3rd millennium was replaced by local variants - Garinsky-Borskaya on the Kama and Yurtikovskaya on Vyatka. Settlements gravitate towards large rivers, and the role of fishing is growing, becoming networked and collective. The ceramics were decorated with a “walking comb” pattern. Clay crucibles for melting copper and small copper objects (awls, rings, wire) were discovered. In Udmurtia, a whole group of Eneolithic settlements has been discovered in the Igrinsky district (Middle Shadbegovo).
The main problem in the study of the early history of the Udmurts is the scarcity of written sources. As a rule, the Udmurts are mentioned sporadically; in addition, additional complexity is introduced by the vagueness of terminology, in particular under the name Aryans (Aryan people) in addition to the Udmurts themselves, the inhabitants of the multinational Arsk road (or the outskirts of Arsk) are often meant. Therefore, comparative linguistics, ethnography and archeology become of utmost importance in the study of the early history of the Udmurts.
Middle Ages
On the pages of written sources, the territory of modern Udmurtia appears after the formation of the first state in the region - Volga-Kama Bulgaria. In 1135, the city of Bulgar was visited by the Arab traveler Abu Hamid al-Garnati, who left valuable information about the northern neighbors of Bulgaria:
In the 1230s, Volga Bulgaria was defeated by the Mongol-Tatars, the territory of the Kama region became part of the Bulgar ulus of the Golden Horde, and the Chepetsk settlements were abandoned due to the severance of trade and political ties. The Bulgarian population of the Arsk land subsequently switched to the Udmurt language and became the basis for the Besermyans. The southern Udmurts were part of the Kazan Khanate, formed as a result of the collapse of the Golden Horde, until the capture of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible in 1552.
Udmurts as part of the Russian state
In 1552, after Moscow conquered the Kazan Khanate, both groups of Udmurts - both northern and southern - found themselves within the borders of one state. The Nikon Chronicle describes the acceptance of Russian citizenship by the “Aryan people” as follows:
The local population was taken to the sherti (oath) and included in the tax-paying group of “yasak people”. Ivan the Terrible left A.V. Gorbaty as governor in Kazan; the left bank (“meadow”) side of the Volga with the Arsk land was also subordinate to him. Soon, the abuses of yasak collectors caused numerous conflicts, and then the uprising of 1552-1557.
In the late 1750s and early 1760s, the largest industrial enterprises were built - the Izhevsk (now Izhstal and Kalashnikov Concern) and Votkinsk ironworks. Assigned to them were 13,000 male souls of Russian yasak peasants, who were obliged to work for them at least 158 days a year. In the 1760s, a settlement was created at the Kambarka iron smelting and ironworks.
Throughout the 18th century, the Udmurt lands were rocked by unrest caused by tax oppression and forced Christianization. The culmination of the peasant movement was the participation of the population of southern Udmurtia in the uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev. By the end of 1773, the rebels occupied Sarapul, Alnashi, Agryz, Bemyzhsky and Varzino-Alekseevsky factories. On January 1, 1774, Yuski Kudashev’s detachment occupied the Izhevsk plant; on January 20, Andrei Noskov’s detachment occupied the Votkinsk plant for several days. By March, Sarapul was returned to the control of government forces, and administration returned to the Izhevsk and Votkinsk plants. Meanwhile, in the summer, Pugachev’s main army advanced from the Ural factories, the goal of which was to capture Kazan. On June 24, 1774, it occupied the Votkinsk plant, where the factory office, the manager’s house and the church were burned. On June 27, the rebels occupied the Izhevsk plant, manager von Wenzel was killed, debt papers were destroyed, and the factory treasury was distributed to residents. Sarapul again fell into the hands of the rebels, who were joined by several thousand local residents. Pugachev's army quickly reached Kazan, which was taken and burned. Only near Kazan was the peasant army defeated by Mikhelson’s regular detachment that overtook it.
After the provincial reform of 1780, the territory of modern Udmurtia was mainly included in two districts of the Vyatka province - Sarapulsky (south) and Glazovsky (north).
In 1889, the first railways were built in the south of the territory of modern Udmurtia. Since 1899, train traffic began through the north - along the railway that connected the district Glazov with the provincial Vyatka and Perm.
Udmurtia as part of the RSFSR
Votskaya (Udmurtia) Autonomous Region
The Votsk Autonomous Region was formed by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of November 4, 1920, and on January 5, 1921 its borders were determined. The autonomy included parts of Glazovsky, Yelabuga, Malmyzhsky and Sarapulsky districts of the Vyatka province. Initially, the administrative center was determined to be the city of Glazov, but already on June 2, 1921, a decision was made to transfer the center to the city of Izhevsk. Until 1924, the region consisted of 5 counties: Debyossky, Glazovsky, Mozhginsky, Izhevsky and Seltinsky; in 1924, Debyosky and Seltinsky counties were abolished, leaving only three counties. In 1929, zoning was carried out, replacing the county-volost division with a district one, all volosts and counties were abolished, and 21 yoros (districts) were formed. On January 1, 1932, the Votsk Autonomous Region was renamed the Udmurt Autonomous Region.
Udmurt ASSR
In the spring of 1941, after the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, the industry of Udmurtia was quickly transferred to the production of military products. From the first days of the war, the republic began to supply the front with ammunition and uniforms. In the summer and autumn of 1941, industrial enterprises were evacuated to Udmurtia from
Film "History of statehood of Udmurtia"
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Historical reference
The most ancient archaeological monuments indicate the settlement of the territory of Udmurtia in the Mesolithic era (8-5 thousand BC). In subsequent archaeological eras, processes of differentiation of the ancient Finno-Ugric population took place in the western Urals. In the early Iron Age (VII-III centuries BC) in the Kama region, the Ananyin cultural and historical community formed, belonging to the ancestors of the Perm peoples - the Udmurts and Komi.
Their inclusion in the 10th century had a significant impact on the ancient Udmurts. part of the first state formation in the Lower Kama region - Volga Bulgaria. From the 13th century the southern Udmurts were under the influence of the Golden Horde, and then the Kazan Khanate. The largest craft, religious and administrative center of the northern Udmurts, who maintained their independence in the Middle Ages, was the settlement of Idnakar.
The first Russian settlements appeared on the river. Vyatka in the XII-XIII centuries. The north of Udmurtia became part of the emerging Russian state. By 1557, after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the process of annexing the Udmurts to the Russian state was completed.
Until the middle of the 18th century. The population of Udmurtia was mainly engaged in agriculture and crafts. In 1756, the first plant appeared - the Bemyzh copper smelter, a little later the iron-making plants - Pudemsky and Votkinsk (1759), Izhevsky (1760) and Kambarsky (1761). Industry and culture of the region reached rapid development in the second half of the 19th century. Private factories, workshops, banks, partnerships, gymnasiums, colleges, theaters, and libraries are opening. Enterprises of the region exhibited their products at major all-Russian and foreign exhibitions. In 1899, the Perm-Kotlas and Kazan-Ekaterinburg railways passed through the north, and at the beginning of the 20th century through the south of Udmurtia, which played a significant role in the economic development of the region.
Before the October Revolution, the territory of Udmurtia was part of the Kazan and Vyatka provinces.
Thanks to its advantageous geopolitical position in the 20th century, Udmurtia turned into a major center of the military-industrial complex of the USSR and Russia. During the Great Patriotic War, about 40 enterprises were evacuated to the republic.
The national-state structure and the defense orientation of the region's industry today largely determine the historical, socio-economic and cultural identity of the Udmurt Republic.
1. History of the Udmurts
The Udmurts are one of the indigenous peoples of the Middle Urals. The basis for the formation of the Udmurt ethnic group was the local Finno-Perm tribes, which at different times were influenced by the Scythians, Ugrians, Turks and Slavs.
The oldest self-name of the Udmurts is Ary, that is, “man”, “man”. This is where the ancient name of the Vyatka land comes from - the Arsk land, the inhabitants of which the Russians almost until the revolution called Permyaks, Votyaks (on the Vyatka River) or Votsk Chud. Today, Udmurts consider these names offensive.
Until the mid-16th century, the Udmurts were not a single people. The northern Udmurts quite early became part of the Vyatka land, which was being developed by Russian settlers. After the Mongol invasion, the Vyatka land became the patrimony of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal princes, and in 1489 it became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
The southern Udmurts fell under the rule of the Volga Bulgaria, and later the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. It is generally accepted that their annexation to Russia was completed by 1558.
Thus, over the course of three or four generations, the Udmurts changed their citizenship several times, and many of them were assimilated: northern Udmurts by Russians, southern Udmurts by Tatars.
However, it was the Russian state that gave the Udmurt tribes the opportunity not only to survive, but also to form as a people. Here are the dry numbers: if in the Petrine era only 48 thousand Udmurts were counted, now there are 637 thousand of them - a 13-fold increase in number over 200 years.
The ethnonym “Udmord” itself was first published by the Russian scientist Rychkov in 1770. Its origin is not completely clear. Only the Indo-Iranian basis is quite transparent - murt, mort, which means the same as “ary” - man, husband. The self-name of the Udmurt people was officially recognized in 1932, when the Votsk Autonomous Region was renamed Udmurt.
Russian philologists also created Udmurt writing - based on the Russian alphabet, but with the addition of some letters and signs. The first grammar was published in 1775. The Komi language is closest to Udmurt - they are related in approximately the same way as the Russian and Polish languages. Today, the Udmurt language, along with Russian, is the state language of the Udmurt Republic. The indigenous population makes up approximately a third of its inhabitants.
2. Spiritual culture and religion of the Udmurts
Udmurt paganism is in many ways similar to the beliefs of other Ural peoples, which are characterized by the struggle between good and evil principles. The supreme deity of the Udmurts was called Inmar. His rival was the evil spirit - Shaitan.
Udmurt cosmogonic ideas considered the main element to be water. “Once upon a time, there was water all around the world,” says one of the legends. “The wind blew, collecting the earth into one pile, and the rain poured, tearing up the earth collected by the wind with water. This is how mountains and valleys came about,” says another legend.
The mass conversion of the Udmurts to Christianity occurred only in the 18th century. Baptism was mostly carried out by force. All external signs of paganism were literally burned out with a hot iron. As a result, images of pagan gods disappeared without a trace. This, however, does not prevent a significant part of the people from stubbornly clinging to paganism.
Epics, legends, and fairy tales occupy a large place in Udmurt folklore. The plots of many of them echo the plots of Russian folk tales. This is understandable: after all, the Udmurts have long lived in close cooperation with the Russian people. Here, for example, is the beginning of one of the fairy tales: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, the oats did not grow.” An analysis begins of why such a disaster happened. According to the priest, the peasants did not pay the tax to Ilya Antonovich (Ilya the Prophet). In addition, it turns out that there is chaos in the heavenly office: no one knows who is responsible for what, so there has been no rain for a long time and the oats have not sprouted.
It is impossible to imagine the folk art of the Udmurts without songs - polyphonic, melodic and melodious. Most of the old Udmurt songs are sad, from which the heart ache.
This is probably one of the most singing peoples. The Udmurt wedding did not begin until one of the stewards gave the opening song. Singing competitions were held to see who could sing who. People who can’t sing were mockingly called “pallyan kyrzas” (literally, “singing to the left”), they say, what can they take from him if he doesn’t even know how to sing.
3. National character and traditions of the Udmurts
Anthropologically, the Udmurts belong to the Ural small race, which is distinguished by the predominance of Caucasian features with some Mongoloidity. There are many redheads among the Udmurts. On this basis they can compete with the world champions in golden hair - the Irish Celts.
Outwardly, the Udmurts are strong and hardy, although not of a heroic physique. They are very patient. Typical traits of the Udmurt character are modesty, shyness, even to the point of timidity, and restraint in expressing feelings. Udmurts are laconic. “His tongue is sharp, but his hands are dull,” they say. However, they appreciate the power of the apt expression: “The wind destroys mountains, the word raises nations”; “A heartfelt word warms three winters.”
Travelers of the 18th century noted the great hospitality and cordiality of the Udmurts, their peacefulness and gentle disposition, “a tendency towards joy rather than sadness.”
Radishchev noted in his “Diary of a Travel from Siberia”: “The Votyaks are almost like Russians... A common fate, common concerns and adversities brought the two peoples closer together, giving rise to friendship and trust between them.”
Perhaps the most expressive building in the Udmurt peasant yard were the two-story kenos-barns. There were as many daughters-in-law in the family as there were kenos in the yard. This word itself comes from the Udmurt “ken” - daughter-in-law.
The traditional Udmurt women's costume was one of the most complex and colorful in the Volga region. The Udmurts have achieved the highest mastery in “linen folklore”,
The traditional ethnoculture of the Udmurts uses the classic color triad: white-red-black. It is no coincidence that it is the basis for the Coat of Arms and Flag of the Udmurt Republic.
During the years of collectivization and Stalinist repressions, the rural culture of the Udmurts suffered enormous damage. The most proactive, enterprising part of the people died. The famous Udmurt moonshine, “kumyshka”, completed the matter. The Udmurts have always stubbornly defended their right to brew moonshine, guided by the belief that they inherited “kumyshka” from their ancestors as a ritual drink. To stop making it means to betray faith, to betray your gods. Therefore, the Udmurt village today, alas, looks as depressing as the Russian one.
Section III
Pre-revolutionary history of Udmurtia
(XVI – early XX centuries)
Topic 1
Accession of Udmurtia to the Russian centralized state
2. Annexation of the northern Udmurts to the Moscow Principality
3. Southern Udmurts as part of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria, the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate: the uniqueness of feudal relations
4. Annexation of the southern Udmurts to the Russian state
1. Northern Udmurts as part of the Vyatka land: the uniqueness of socio-economic and political life
The territory of the Vyatka-Kama interfluve from the second half of the 12th – early 13th centuries. becomes a zone of active development by the Slavic-Russian and Slavic Volga-Finnish population. Politically, it was a strategically important springboard in the struggle of Rus' with the Volga Bulgaria, then with the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. The settlement process had several unique stages. The first stage was largely spontaneous in nature: the unprivileged masses of the population of Ancient Rus' (mainly immigrants from the Novgorod Republic and Rostovites) moved due to various reasons: from Christianization, from princely strife, social and economic dependence, land shortage, in search of hunting and fishing grounds, as well as trade routes. At the second stage (XIII - mid-XVI centuries), the Russian population of the Volga-Oka region (Rostov-Suzdal principality) and southern Russian lands fled mainly from the Mongol-Tatar invasion and the bloody events of the “Kazan War”. During this period, the aspirations of the ruling layer to seize new lands with the population living on it (primary feudalization) actively manifested themselves, which led to the formation of the Vyatka land. The third stage (XVI – XVII centuries) was of a purposeful nature for the administrative registration of new lands as part of the centralized Russian state and was accompanied by the sending of detachments of officials, followed by a new wave of peasants and hunters. And the first to appear here in 1181 were the Novgorod ushkuiniki, who, according to the chronicle, “looked at the lands and selected suitable places for settlement.” In the basin of the middle reaches of the river. In Vyatka, Russian settlements and settlements arose, united into the Nikulitsyn and Kotelnicheskaya volosts. Relations among the ethnically diverse population were far from ideal. Having settled on Vyatka, the Novgorodians of Khlynov “built the city” so that “the castle would be strong in defense against the invasion of the adversary - the Chuds, Otyaks, Cheremis and other peoples,” that is, the population that the Ushkuiniki themselves regularly “robbed and exterminated” during campaigns, and which actively resisted the seizure of native places by strangers.
Several types of ethnic relationships that developed between the newcomers and the local population can be distinguished: a) one-time predatory campaigns; b) the process of gradual “squeezing out” the local population from villages; c) isolated coexistence in different settlements under conditions of low density. An eloquent example of predatory campaigns is given in the “Tale of the Vyatka Country”. It reports that a detachment of Novgorod Ushkuiniks “captured” the settlements standing on the banks of the Cheptsa, at its mouth they took the Chud-Bolvanovsky (Udmurt? Komi? - L.V.) town in battle, and in its place founded the city of Nikulitsyn. The other part of the detachment captured the Mari town of Koksharov. M.V. Grishkina writes that the military campaigns of the Ushkuiniks are a typical phenomenon of the era of feudal fragmentation in the 16th century. The seizure of foreign lands, access to new trade routes, the fight against the Bulgars and Tatars who stood in the way of the expanding Novgorod, and then Vyatka colonization proper, were carried out by cruel and merciless people, with the mentality characteristic of the era. It is no coincidence that the Russian Metropolitan wrote about them as people without conscience and pity, who “tormented a lot of people, starved them to death, and threw some into the water, and imprisoned others in huts and mansions, burned countless husbands, elders and little children, and burned out the eyes of others, and other babies were impaled and killed.” Under pressure from newcomers, local Udmurt residents went to the deep eastern regions of the Vyatka and its tributaries: Cheptsy, Kilmezi, as well as to the forests of the Lower Vyatka and the Prikazansky districts - places with low population density. Over the course of one or two generations, they were forced to change their place of residence several times. Throwing away everything they had acquired, leaving arable land, meadows, and residential buildings, they spent gigantic efforts on developing new spaces. As a result, Udmurt society froze for a long time at one level, producing only the amount of product necessary for survival and transmitting a minimum of ethnic culture to preserve the people. This process played a sharply negative role in the socio-economic development and internal consolidation of the ethnic group.
In the basin of the middle and upper reaches of the Vyatka and Cheptsa, as a result of the unification of the Nikulitsyn and Kotelnicheskaya volosts in the middle of the 13th century. The Vyatka land was formed with its center in the city of Khlynov (Vyatka) as a veche feudal republic. Compared to the classical popular governments of Novgorod and Pskov, the Vyatka Republic had a number of features. There was no princely power here; the executive power had a militarized character; the church organization existed autonomously; the veche system was more archaic. At the head of the elective administration were zemstvo governors, vatamans, who were in charge of military and civil affairs, and subvoys, who performed judicial and police functions. Rural local self-government was carried out with the help of elected councils and elders. The dominant position was occupied by feudal lords - a few boyars, who were formed on the basis of the volost Russian elders, the small tribal elite of the Vyatka Udmurts and Chuds (Komi?), as well as the Ar (Tatar) princes (the origin of the latter is extremely complex, genetically they go back, obviously, to the southern Udmurts , Bulgars, Besermyans, Chuvash of Volga-Kama Bulgaria). The volosts were governed by zemstvo governors, one of whom temporarily became the eldest. The governors, elected from among the local boyars, had full executive power. The boyars owned considerable land, but large land ownership could not develop here due to the preservation of a communal worldview both among the Vyatchans and among the aboriginal population. The next class is medium and small landowners: living people, merchants. They may have owned city estates and some lands in the area. A special category consisted of persons of clergy, representing the church and monastic brethren. They gradually concentrated significant areas of land in their hands. The bulk of the population are free communal peasants and townspeople: artisans, traders. According to L.D. Makarov, the local population was also among the urban residents of the Vyatka land. In any case, g
A charter of 1522 notes in the city of Slobodskoye, for example, joint multi-ethnic residence (“the Karin princes and the Chuvashens (Besermyans - L.V.) and the Votyaks have courtyards in the city, and they live with them under siege”). However, this was the exception rather than the rule. Since there were frequent predatory campaigns and wars on neighboring lands and the capture of their inhabitants, it can be assumed that an unfree population also lived in the region - slaves from prisoners of war.
2. Annexation of the northern Udmurts to the Moscow Principality
Being close to the mouth of the river. Kama - the region of the largest historical events of that time, Vyatka land often became the scene of military operations. So, in 1374 it was devastated by the Novgorod ushkuiniki. And in 1379, the Vyatchans defeated a detachment of Ushkuiniks led by Ryazan on the territory of the Arsk land (with which they may have had allied relations). In 1391, “Tsar Tokhtamysh sent his prince, named Bektut, to Vyatka with an army. He walked, took Vyatka, and the people were flogged, and some were completely killed, men and wives and children.” In defense against military danger, a militia (army) of all men capable of bearing arms gathered and struck back. So, in 1392, the Vyatka army made a campaign against Volga Bulgaria, which was subject to the Golden Horde, and plundered the cities of Zhukotin and Koshan on the Kama. The local population was also often involved in political struggle against the great Moscow princes, Kama-Volga Bulgars, Mongol-Tatar or Kazan khans. The Vyatka land was in vassal-suzerain relations with the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal princes. With the annexation of the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality by Moscow Prince Vasily I to his possessions in 1393, the Vyatka land also fell into the orbit of Moscow’s influence. The princes gave it as an inheritance to their descendants and relatives, and ruled it through the boyars, who visited Vyatka from time to time. In 1468 and 1478 after the campaigns of Khan Ibrahim, the Vyatka land was a tributary of the Kazan Khanate. However, the Vyatchans maneuvered politically, trying to maintain autonomy. Recognizing the “supreme suzerainty” of Moscow, in reality they pursued the interests of their republic. Thus, in 1468, a pro-Moscow group of the Vyatka boyars took part in the Moscow campaign against Kazan and suffered great disasters. In 1469, the Vyatchans refused to participate in the next campaign against the Kazan Khanate. Obviously, they were bound by obligations with the Kazan Khan Ibrahim, who gathered an army against Ivan III “with all his land: from Kama, and from Syplinskaya, and from Kostyachskaya, and from Belavolzhskaya, and from Vyatka, and from Bashkiria.”
In the 1480s The Vyatka region was a populated and economically developed region. The city of Khlynov became a major trade and craft center. In 1489, Moscow Prince Ivan III decided to end the independence of the region. He prepared a military campaign against Vyatka. Huge forces of 64 (and according to other sources - 72) thousand horse soldiers, as well as a naval army, were mobilized. Muscovites, Vladimir, Tver residents went on horses, and Dvinyans, Ustyuzhans, Belozersk, Vologda, Vazhan, Vimychi, Sysolichs (that is, residents of Pomorie - L.V.) - on ships. Kazan Khan Mukhamed Emin provided the Muscovites with 700 mounted Tatars. The campaign was led by experienced commanders Prince D.V. Puppy, boyar G.V. Morozov. The Kama from the south was blocked by the ship's army of Prince B.I. Humpbacked. The troops captured Kotelnich and Orlov in July, and approached Khlynov in August. Those sitting under siege asked the Vyatka land “not to fight”; the Vyatka “big people” sent I. Galazatov to pay off with gifts, promising to recognize the power of the Grand Duke, but to no avail. Moscow demanded that the people of Vyatcha kiss the cross “from young to old” and hand over the heads of the separatist policy leaders – Palka Bagadaishchikov, Ivan Anikiev, Pakhomiy Lazarev, and in case of refusal they threatened to set fire to the wooden walls of Khlynov. Seeing the futility of resistance, the Vyatchans betrayed their leaders, who were immediately taken to Moscow, beaten with whips and hanged. This is how the chronicler of the “History of the Land of Vyatka” describes these bloody events: “the cities marched, caught them, and brought the Vyatchans (Russians - L.V.) themselves to a kiss (oath of allegiance - L.V.), and the Aryans (Udmurts - L .V.) brought to the company (oath of allegiance - L.V.), Vyatchan large people, with their wives and children, were partly brought out, and partly scouted” in various places of the Moscow principality: in Borovsk, Kremenets, Aleksin - an abattoir for protecting Moscow from Tatar raids. The merchants were imprisoned in the city of Dmitrov, on the waterway connecting Moscow with the Volga.
The reliable history of a people begins when it appears on the pages of written monuments. The earliest mentions of the Udmurts are contained in the “History” of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. e. He calls them "budins" and "arimaspi". The ancient name of the Udmurts is ary - man, man (hence the name of the Arsk land). The Russians called them Votyaks (from the Vyatka River) already in the 12th century, when the colonization of the Vyatka land by Russians began.
More reliable knowledge about the land of the southern Udmurts appears in the writings of Arab scientists, travelers and missionaries of the 9th-12th centuries. In these works, the Udmurts appear as a people with a fairly developed economic potential. Sectors of the economy such as fur hunting and crafts provide products for the successful development of relations with immediate neighbors and distant countries. Thus, the Arsk land was known on a par with such famous Slavic centers as Veliky Novgorod and Kyiv.
However, in the 10th-12th centuries. the processes of original development of the Udmurt ethnos on their own basis were interrupted. It is reliably known that the ancestors of the southern Udmurts from the end of the 1st millennium AD. were under the rule and were part of the Volga Bulgaria. At the beginning of the 13th century, Volga Bulgaria became part of the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. This was the beginning of a centuries-long period of trials for the Udmurts. Under conditions of harsh military-feudal terror, part of the surviving population of the Arsk land began to go into the forest wilds of the Kama region.
The North Udmurt lands became part of Russia with the final annexation of the Vyatka land in 1489. The final entry of the Udmurt lands into the Russian state occurs after the fall of Kazan (the official dates - 1557 or 1558 - are conventionally accepted in local historiography).
The emergence of Udmurt statehood is associated with the formation of the Votsk Autonomous Region in 1920 (since 1932 - the Udmurt Autonomous Okrug, since 1934 - the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, since 1991 - the Udmurt Republic).
Main occupations of the Udmurts
The traditional occupations of the Udmurts were arable farming and animal husbandry; gardening played a lesser role. For example, in 1913, grains accounted for 93% of total crops, potatoes - 2%. Crops: rye, wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, millet, hemp, flax. They raised draft cattle, cows, pigs, sheep, and poultry. Cabbage, rutabaga, and cucumbers were cultivated in the gardens. Hunting, fishing, beekeeping and gathering played an important role.
Crafts and trades were developed - logging, timber harvesting, tar smoking, flour milling, spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery. Fabrics for the family's needs were entirely produced at home (Udmurt canvases were valued on the market). Since the 18th century, metallurgy and metalworking have developed.
The main social unit of Udmurt society is the neighboring community (buskel). These are several associations of related families. Small families predominated, but there were also large ones. Such a family had common property, a land plot, a joint farm, and lived on the same estate. Some separated, but at the same time elements of a common economy were preserved, that is, related mutual assistance.