Revisiting the Collection of Tatar Musical-Ethnographic
49
Perm, Orenburg, Simferopol, Ufa, Astrakhan and other places.
22
N. V.
Nikolskiy,
23
S. Sattarov, G. A. Filippov published works on Tatar
ethnography in
Inorodcheskoe obozrenie and in separate supplements to it. For
instance, G. A. Filippov’s musical notations for Christened Tatar and
Chuvash Round dances were published in the article Tatarsko-chuvashskie
devichi horovodyi v Tetyushskom i Tsivilskom uezdah Kazanskoy gubernii in
Inorodcheskoe obozrenie.
24
An active role in missionary-educative activities among Christened
Tatars was taken by Professor N. I. Ilminskiy, an Orientalist
25
at Kazan
Ecclesiastical Academy and Imperial Kazan University who contributed
much to Tatar ethnography. He was one of the first to study the everyday
life, national beliefs and languages of nations of the Volga region such as
the Mari,
26
Udmurt,
27
Chuvash,
28
Mordva
29
and Tatar-Kryashens.
30
He lived
in the Old Tatar Settlement
31
for a long time, travelling to villages in Kazan
province and becoming acquainted with local traditions and religious
customs. The philological and ethnographical knowledge gleaned from
these expeditionary trips helped the academic in both his investigative and
missionary-educative activities.
The Kazan Central School for Christened Tatars (1864)
32
and the
Kazan Non-Russian Normal School for the Nations of the Volga Region
(1872), both established by Ilminskiy, were the result of the Christianisation
22
Ibid., fund 969, list 1, folder 79, p. 48, 59, 60, 62.
23
Nikolskiy 1914.
24
Filippov 1915, p. 753-760.
25
Nikolay Ivanovich Ilminskiy (1822-1891) was a Russian Orientalist, pedagogue-
missionary and corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1846 he graduated
from the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy, where he stayed as a teacher of natural sciences
and Turkic-Tatar languages; in 1847 he was awarded Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from
the same academy. Between 1851 and 1854 he was sent to Damascus, Cairo and other
cities of the Middle East. On his return, he taught Oriental languages and some other
subjects in the Missionary (anti-Muslim) Department of the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy.
After a long-term expedition in 1861, Ilminskiy returned to Kazan and taught at Kazan
University in the Department of Turkic-Tatar languages, Historical-Philological Faculty
(Gusterin 2014, p. 42). From 1870, he was a corresponding member of the Imperial
Academy of Sciences. In 1872, he became a Director of the Kazan Non-Russian Normal
School.
26
Mari: Finno-Ugrian nation based in the Mari El Republic (Russia).
27
Udmurt: Finno-Ugrian nation based in the Udmurt Republic (Russia).
28
Chuvash: Turkic nation based in the Chuvash Republic (Russia).
29
Mordva: Finno-Ugrian nation based in Mordovia (Russia).
30
Tatars-Kryashens: ethno-confessional group belonging to the Tatars of Volga and Ural
regions, residing mainly in Tatarstan (Russia).
31
Old Tatar Settlement: a historical area in the centre of Kazan.
32
Reshetova 2008, p. 329; Ilminskiy 1887, p. 75.
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro
E. I. Safiullina
50
policy. Later, Christened-Tatar Schools were developed beyond Kazan in
Simbir, Samara, Ufa, Orenburg and Vyatka provinces. Ilminskiy regularly
reported on his missionary education work among non-Russians to the
Ministry of Education, as evidenced by the following words of
acknowledgement in a letter from the Minister, D. A. Tolstoy:
33
“Thank you for your letter, containing so many curious facts about the
modern religious situation of the non-Russian population of the Kazan
eparchy. I find your methods for consolidating Christianity amongst Tatars,
based on all-round study of their everyday life, as most fit for purpose”
34
As a result of face-to-face contact with the Tatar population,
Ilminskiy was able to draw academic conclusions about the peculiarities of
language, everyday life and rituals of the Kryashen and Tatars.
Church music was of great importance amongst non-Russian nations
that adopted Christianity; it was considered a significant way to implement
Christian ideology.
35
One of Ilminskiy’s students, a missionary and teacher
at Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy called V. T. Timofeev, opened a special
school for the children of converted Tatars in which music had a significant
place, with concerts regularly organised in which children sang Kryashen
songs and liturgical chants.
Alongside collection of ethnographical material relating to the Tatars,
the teachers of the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy made interesting
observations regarding features of religious holiday celebrations and the
chanting of the Koran.
36
For example, the missionary, Orientalist and
Islamic studies expert, S. Sablukov,
37
on visiting a mosque characterised the
imam’s
38
Koran performance as:
33
Dmitry Andreevich Tolstoy (1823-1889) was a Russian statesman, State Councillor
(1866), senator, attorney-general of the Holy Governing Synod (1865-1880), Minister of
National Enlightenment (1866-1880), Secretary of the Interior and chief of the gendarmes
(1882-1889). He was also an honorary member (1866) and a President (from 1882) of the
Imperial Academy of Sciences, an honorary member of Saint Petersburg Mineralogical
Society and Imperial Moscow Technical School, and an Actual Privy Councillor.
34
NATR, fund 968, list 1, folder 8, p. 45.
35
Salitova 2008, p. 89-90.
36
The Koran is the sacred book of Islam. The word Koran derives from the Arabic for
reading aloud, edification. According to Islam, the Koran is a code of revelations
pronounced by the Prophet Mohammed on behalf of God.
37
Gordiy Semenovich Sablukov (1803-1880) was a Russian Orientalist, Professor of the
Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy, and a specialist in Islam. In 1826 he graduated from
Orenburg Ecclesiastical Academy and from 1830 to 1849 taught History and Oriental
Languages in Saratov Ecclesiastical Seminary. From 1849 to 1862 he taught Oriental and
Classical Languages in the Anti-Muslim Department of the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy.
38
Imam: religious leader who leads worship in a mosque.
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro