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The number of Gagauz people in the world. Gagauz: origin and music. - Why does it collapse? Why trust is lost

Gagauz (self-name) - people in Moldova (135,500 people), Ukraine (31,900 people), Russia (10,100 people), 1,000 in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia. To a large extent assimilated by other peoples, the Gagauz also live in Bulgaria (10,000 people), Romania (3,000 people), Greece (3,000 people), Turkey (5,000 people), Canada and Brazil. The total number is 220,000 people.

They speak the Gagauz language of the Turkic group of the Altai family. Writing based on the Latin alphabet.

Believers are Orthodox.

Hypotheses about the origin of the Gagauz are multivariate: Turkish Christians or Christianized Turks, Bulgarians who adopted the Turkic language, etc. The Seljuk theory is popular in Turkey, according to which the Gagauz are descendants of the Malozian Turks, who migrated to Dobrudja in the 13th century along with the Kumanian Polymorphs (Kumanian-speaking) who founded the "Oguz state" here. Before the resettlement of the Gagauz from the Balkans to Russia (Bessarabia), they consisted of two groups: the Hasyl Gagauz (real Gagauz) and the Bulgarian Gagauz. Most likely, the basis of the Gagauz was made up of the Turkic-speaking nomads (Oguzes, Pechenegs, Polovtsians). European researchers considered the Türkic-speaking Proto-Bulgarians who came to the Balkans from the banks of the Volga in the 670s as the probable ancestors of the Gagauz. In the 13th century, their descendants converted to Christianity. In the Russian-Turkish wars of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, the Gagauzians sided with Russia. they moved to the devastated steppes of southern Bessarabia. Part of the Gagauz people moved to Kazakhstan in 1912-1914. During the years of collectivization, a group of Gagauz settled in Uzbekistan, they identified with the Bulgarians. In December 1994, the autonomy of the Gagauz was formed in Moldova.

Used materials from the article by M.N. Guboglo in the book: Peoples of Russia. Encyclopedia. Moscow, Great Russian Encyclopedia 1994

The outstanding geographer academician L.S. Berg wrote: "The Gagauz people are a people who speak Turkish, but profess Orthodoxy" ... And although the Gagauz language is close, but by no means identical to Turkish, it is already clear from this brief definition that the historical contradictions in the development of Ego-Eastern Europe are especially vividly imprinted in the destinies of this people.

The bulk of the Gagauz people live in the south of Moldova, in the area that received the historical name "Budjak". This part of the Gagauz is settled very compactly around the cities of Comrat, Ceadir-Lunga, Vulcanesti, as well as in areas adjacent to the Odessa region, and constitute here a little less than half of the population.

Part of the Gagauz people during the Second World War were evicted to Kazakhstan, where their colonies are preserved. The Gagauzians moved to Budjak at the beginning of the 19th century from Bulgaria.

How did such a rare combination of language and religion come about, because the Tük language in southern Europe was usually combined with Islam? According to most researchers, the Gagauzians are direct descendants of the tribes that inhabited the "Pole" - a steppe zone stretching from Altai to the Carpathians, and roamed this steppe mainly from east to west. A significant part of the tribes spoke Turkic languages. In the first centuries of Russian history, the ancestors of the modern Gagauzians turned out to be the southern neighbors of the ancient Russian state. Russian princes hired some nomads for protection from others, which led to the adoption of Orthodoxy by non-Slavic tribes. It has not been established exactly which tribes were the ancestors of the Gagauz: Polovtsy, Pechenegs, Oguzes - black hoods? Oguzes are considered the most probable ancestors of modern Gagauz people. By the end of the 11th century, they moved further west and already lived on the Danube and beyond the Danube in the territory of Christian Byzantium. The current settlement of the Gagauz in the south of Moldova is associated with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire - they moved to the place of the Nogai who roamed here.

There is another, less common version, according to which the Gagauz are former Orthodox Bulgarians who, under pressure from the Turkish conquerors, changed their language. In any case, the Gagauz are the ancient indigenous population of southeastern Europe, which had their own state in some historical periods. The last of them is the Comrat Republic that existed during the revolution of 1905-1907.

The Gagauz language - the Tük language at its core - finally took shape in the XIV-XVII centuries in close interaction with the Romanian, Greek, South and East Slavic languages and absorbed a lot from them. After the loss of ancient writing, the Gagauz language remained unwritten until the middle of the 20th century. Only in 1957 a new alphabet was created based on Russian graphics. From 1958 to 1961, the schools taught in the Gagauz language, but teaching it was discontinued, and the schools were translated into Russian. The publication of newspapers was curtailed, radio broadcasts in the Gagauz language were stopped. Only in 1989, language learning was resumed in a number of schools.

Used materials from the article by A. Alexandrov in the magazine Novoye Vremya, free supplement for subscribers "Perestroika and national problems", December 1999

In the southern part of Moldova, a small autonomous region is distinguished, which has its own flag, coat of arms and anthem - Gagauzia. As part of the Moldavian Republic, this territorial entity retains political independence. The map of Gagauzia is interesting in that it includes 4 geographically unconnected parts that make up 3 regions of a single autonomy. It is located in the Budzhak steppe, an arid hilly part of the southern Moldavian plain. Administrative bodies are located in the municipality of Comrat.

National composition

Gagauzia is an economic, political and social ATO, the motley ethnic composition of which determines its originality.

The population totals a little more than one hundred and fifty thousand people, of which almost 80% consider themselves to be Gagauz, belonging to the Turkic people, preaching Orthodoxy. Bulgarians, Moldovans, Russians and Ukrainians are present in approximately equal shares, calculated by a few percent.

The Gagauz, Moldavian and Russian languages are considered official. In educational institutions, they teach, mainly in Russian. Business papers within the autonomy are also conducted in Russian. In the field of media, Russian-language publications and channels also prevail, with equal shares of broadcasting in the Gagauz and Moldovan languages. Communication with enterprises and organizations outside this territorial unit is conducted in Russian and in Moldovan.

Sights of Gagauzia

Despite the poverty of the geographical relief, which is an alternation of low hills, ravines and plains scorched by the sun, there is something to see in Gagauzia:

this is the Christian cathedral of St. John in Comrat, St. George and the church of St. Trinities at Dezginj, dating from the second half of the nineteenth century;
the ancient monument "Troyanov Val", reckoned to the third century AD;
a historical monument dedicated to the Battle of Cahul, dating back to the eighteenth century in the city of Vulcanesti;
a windmill in the village of Beshalma, dating back to the early twentieth century.

In Beshalma there is a museum of the Gagauz people, where you can get acquainted with her life and customs.

The map of Gagauzia will help you to travel around this part of Moldova, which has preserved its originality, otherwise it is difficult to understand what territory you are in.

Photo

They speak the Gagauz language of the Turkic group of the Altai family. Writing based on the Latin alphabet.

Believers are Orthodox.

Used materials from the article by M.N. Guboglo in the book: Peoples of Russia. Encyclopedia. Moscow, Great Russian Encyclopedia 1994

Used materials from the article by A. Alexandrov in the magazine Novoye Vremya, free supplement for subscribers "Perestroika and national problems", December 1999

I have long wanted to make a posting about the Gagauz people. Who are they, where did they come to Bessarabia? What language do they speak? Scientists are still arguing, but they cannot come to a common denominator, since there are various theories on this score. The following information is taken from the book L. S. Berg. Population of Bessarabia. Ethnographic composition and number. Petrograd, 1923.

The Gagauz people are a people who speak Turkish, but profess Orthodoxy. [The Gagauz language belongs to the Oguz subgroup of the southwestern branch of the Turkic languages. It is closest to the Turkish dialects of northeastern Bulgaria, on the basis of which foreign Türkologists (T. Kovalsky, G. Dörfer and others) considered the Gagauz language one of the dialects of the Turkish language. The Gagauz language has two dialects - Ceadirlung-Comrat (central) and Vulcanesti (southern) -ru. wikipedia. org].

They live mainly in the Comrat and Ceadirlung volosts of the Bendery district, in the Kubeyskaya and Ivanovo-Bulgarian volosts in the Akkerman district and in the southwestern part of Izmail.

The center of the Gagauz settlements is the large village of Komrat (komur-at - in Tatar "bay horse") of Bendery district, on the river B. Yallukha, where there are about 10 thousand inhabitants.

In addition, the Gagauz people also live in the cities of the Izmail district (for example, in Reni).

In total, according to the 1897 census, there were 55790 souls in Bessarabia (2.88% of the total population), of which about 55.5 thousand were in the districts.[The total number of modern Gagauzians is about 250 thousand people. - ru. wikipedia.org].

The 1897 census calls the Gagauz Turks and, perhaps, sometimes confuses them with other nationalities.

But the approximate number of Gagauzians, about 55 thousand, must be correct.

In 1907, there were 76,266 souls or 4.2% of the total non-urban population in the districts (without cities) of the Gagauz people.

In Bessarabia, the Gagauz settled in the first quarter of the 19th century, along with other "trans-Danube settlers".

It is difficult to indicate the exact years, because until recently the Gagauz were not distinguishable from the Bulgarians.

In all likelihood, the settlements were founded in 1806, when Budzhak, after being cleared of the Nogai and Turks, began to be settled by trans-Danube settlers.

The oldest colony turns out to be Kurchi, at the northern end of the lake. Yalpukha, founded in 1810.

There are Bessarabian Gagauz immigrants from the Balkan Peninsula.

They still live here along the Black Sea coast, in Varna and north of it, in Balchik, Kavarna, as well as in eastern Bulgaria, in the districts of New Bazar, Provadia, Dobrich, and finally in the Romanian Dobrudja, in the village of Beydaut.

In addition, the sealing wax, living southeast of Adrianople, in the vicinity of Hawsa, numbering about 7000 souls, are the same Gagauz by language and customs (in Adrianople they are called both sealing wax and Gagauz).

Finally, there is information that the Gagauz (Christian Turks) live in Macedonia, in the vicinity of the city of Serei (Ser).

According to Moshkov's research, the Gagauz speak the same language as the Gadjals, that is, the Ottoman Turks living in Deliorman, that is, in the quadrangle of the fortresses of Ruschuk, Silistria, Varna and Shumla.

Jirecek (1891) believes that the Gagauz are Cumans or Cumans.

On the contrary, Moshkov (Ethn. Obozr., 1900) indicates that the Polovtsian language, as far as it is known from the Codex comanicus (1303), as well as the dialect of the Lutsk and Troy Karaites, is different from the Gagauz language.

Moshkov suggests that the Gagauz are Torks or Uzes, a Turkish tribe, very close to the Polovtsians and known to our chronicles as black hoods.

In the 9th century they lived east of Yaik, which separated them from the Pechenegs.

In the XI century, the Torks moved west, and the year 1064 finds them already on the Danube and beyond the Danube, within Byzantium.

Radlov believes that the name Gagauz is a spoiled Gag-Oguz.

Oguzes or Uzes is the name of one of the Turkish tribes.

It is not known when the Gagauzians adopted Orthodoxy, but one can think that it was back in the 11th or 12th century, and precisely from the Russians; the fact is that the black hoods, after their defeat by Vladimir Monomakh, were settled in 1080 on the river. Rosi, in the present Kiev province, to protect this land from the raids of nomads.

Burials of torks were found (V.A. Grow in the Kiev province.

http://www.bessarabia.ru/gag.htm

And now I invite you to watch a short film, which was the reason for this posting.

Since I can't embed a video file, you can watch the movie by following the link:

The Gagauz are a Turkic-speaking people who live mainly in the south of Moldova and in the Odessa region in Ukraine, as well as in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Turkey and in small numbers in Canada and Brazil. In the past, they were most often called “Turkic Bulgarians”. Gagauz - baptized or Bulgarianized Turks or linguistically Turkic Christian Bulgarians. They speak a northwestern dialect of Turkish with many Slavic, especially Bulgarian and more recently Russian additions. They migrated to Bessarabia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In the original area of the settlement on the western coasts of the Black Sea (in Romania and Bulgaria), few of them remained. The Gagauzians occupied the southern part of the region as privileged colonists.

Today, 152,752 people of the “Gagauz” ethnicity (77.5%) live in Moldova, 32,017 (16.2%) in Ukraine and 10,057 (5.1%) in Russia. There are few of them in the rest of the former republics of the USSR.

Demography

Over the 30 years between the Soviet censuses, the number of Gagauz people, including in Moldova, increased by 59.2%, which is 1.6% more than in the Soviet Union as a whole. The Gagauz population increased by 26.5% in the 1960s, 5% in the 1970s and 13.8% in the 1980s. A sharp drop in growth in the 1970s. can be explained by the Soviet assimilation policy and, in particular, by the fact that after the Khrushchev thaw from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, the development of the Gagauz identity and the possibility of social and professional advancement of the Gagauz people were limited in Moldova. To adapt to the realities it was necessary to join the majority. Therefore, instead of the nationality “Gagauz”, many had “Moldovan” in their passports.

According to the 1970s census, 1/3 of the Gagauz lived in cities and 2/3 in villages. The number of men and women was the same.

Gagauzians: their language and who they are

The Gagauz language belongs to the southwestern (Oguz) subgroup of the Turkic group of the Altai family. It has two spoken dialects: central (it is spoken in the former Ceadir-Lungsky and Komrat districts of the MSSR) and southern (in Vulcanesti).

Before the revolution, folklore texts were published in Cyrillic. As part of Romania, literature, in particular religious and historical, was published in the Latin alphabet. In 1957, a writing system based on the Russian alphabet was created.

The Gagauz people retain their native language with relative constancy. Thus, 94.3% spoke it in 1959, 93.6% in 1970, 89.3% in 1979 and 87.4% in 1989. They also speak other languages, mainly Russian. He was known by 63.3% of the Gagauz people in 1970, 68% in 1979 and 71.1% in 1989. Some of them are fluent in Romanian (about 6% of the population in the 1970s and 1980s).

Origin hypotheses

And the very question "who are the Gagauz" and their origin still remain a mystery. At the moment, neither local nor foreign experts have been able to come to a consensus, although more than 20 hypotheses have been proposed. Many of them begin with the question: "What kind of Gagauz nation is it - the churched Christians or the Turkish Christians?" That is, were they Bulgarians who adopted the Turkish language, or Turks who converted from Islam to Orthodoxy? Are they descended from pastoralists, or was it a sedentary population that assimilated with pastoralists?

It is difficult to answer the question of the origin of the Gagauz people as a people due to two factors. First, there is no information in the medieval chronicles. Secondly, the population of the Gagauz people on the Balkan Peninsula on the eve of their resettlement to the Russian Empire was heterogeneous.

Much of the early ethnic history of the Gagauz took place at the borders between what was to become a pastoral steppe country and a land inhabited by sedentary peoples. On the eve of resettlement to Bessarabia, they consisted of two ethnic lines: Hasyl (true) and Bulgarian.

So who are the Gagauz people? Both their origin and nationality have haunted scientists for many years. Most scientists are inclined towards the following. The initial nucleus of the people consisted of the Turkic-speaking cattle-breeders of the Oguzes, Pechenegs and Polovtsians. One of the last migrations of the Polovtsians to the Balkans took place in 1241. But there is evidence that among them there were Bulgarians who spoke Turkish, and part of the population that was under the protection of the Turkish Sultan Izzedin Keykavus. In addition, European historians often wondered whether the most likely ancestors of the Gagauz were the Turkic-speaking Proto-Bulgarians, who in 670 came to the Balkans from the banks of the Volga under the banner of the Bulgar ruler Asparuh.

Gagauz people - who is this?

During the frequent Russian-Turkish wars in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. the Gagauz, together with the Russian army, emigrated to the steppes of southern Bessarabia, primarily within the Bendery and Izmail districts. In 1861-1862, some of them settled in the Tauride province.

A wave of Stolypin agrarian politics between 1912 and 1914 brought some Gagauz people to Kazakhstan, and then another group settled in Uzbekistan during the very difficult years of initial collectivization. In order not to lose their civil rights, in the 1930s they called themselves Bulgarians. In Maislerg near Tashkent, where the Gagauz live, they retain this name to this day.

Traditional dwelling

Where do the Gagauz people live? Their traditional home consists of three rooms with an additional turf wall along the main wall and a pillar-supported veranda. The walls of the rooms are hung with towels and carpets (decorated with floral designs), popular among the Gagauz people, and the floors are covered with carpet runners.

Economy

The traditional economy of the Gagauz people was based on animal husbandry, especially sheep breeding, and agriculture - growing grain and viticulture. Until recently, despite the cultural similarity, it was possible to easily determine who it was - a Gagauz or a Bulgarian. They always had important differences: the Bulgarians were peasants, and the Gagauz, although they were engaged in agriculture, in their worldview, in fact, were cattle breeders.

Food

Many traces of the nomadic past can be found in the cuisine of the sedentary Gagauzians. Who they are makes it possible to understand, for example, a special way of processing milk and preserving meat, cottage cheese and sheep's milk. Their staple food is grain in many variations. Many holidays and rituals are associated with the baking of bread, wheat bread (rolls) and unleavened flatbread.

The favorite dish of the Gagauz people is a multilayer pie stuffed with sheep's milk cheese and doused with sour cream before baking. Other delicacies include pumpkin pies and pies made from the first milk of a cow that has just calved. The traditional ritual dish called kurban, which is a porridge made from Bulgarian wheat with a slaughtered "sacrificial" ram, is another evidence of the Balkan origin of the Gagauz people, a people with a steppe pastoral past. Spicy meat sauces occupy a special place in the national Gagauz cuisine. In one of them, onions and finely granulated porridge are combined, and the other is prepared on the basis of tomatoes. Homemade red wine is served for lunch and dinner. Jellied meat is an indispensable component of the festive table.

clothing

At the end of the 19th century, the costume of Gagauz women consisted of a canvas shirt, a sleeveless dress, a robe and a large black shawl. In winter, they wore a dress with sleeves, a jacket with fabric, and a sleeveless fur coat. Earrings, bracelets, beads were obligatory features of women's clothing, and among the rich Gagauz women - a necklace of gold coins. According to a pre-revolutionary researcher, women wore so many jewelry that they covered their entire breasts to the waist.

The traditional appearance of the Gagauz people (photo is given in the article) included a shirt, pants, a wide red belt, and in the summer - a hat. The winter hat was made of astrakhan sheep's wool. The shepherd's clothing consisted of an ordinary shirt combined with sheepskin pants with wool inward, a sleeveless fur coat, and a short tanned jacket sometimes decorated with red and green stitching.

Socio-political organization

Recently, due to the increasing demand for representatives of minorities in various professions, there has been a need to improve mass communication. Unfortunately, efforts in this direction remain limited. For example, in 1988, 5.5 books were published in Gagauz for every 100 people of Gagauz nationality, compared to 297 books in Moldovan (i.e. Romanian) for every 100 people, 1293 books per 100 in Estonia and an average of 807 in the former USSR as a whole.

The prospects for the survival of the national culture and the independent existence of the Gagauz are insignificant. They have the lowest ratio of persons with higher education in Moldova, there is practically no artistic and very weak scientific intelligentsia, and an acute shortage of intellectuals in general. In 1989, half the number of Gagauzians studied at state universities and polytechnic institutes than in 1918. Accordingly, they are poorly represented in state bodies, professional fields and in the service sector. This led to the national revival movement.

On November 12, 1989, an extraordinary session of representatives of the Supreme Council of Moldova adopted a resolution calling for the creation of the Gagauz ASSR within the Moldavian SSR. However, after 3 days, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Moldova was unable to confirm thereby violating the principle of national self-determination. Moreover, the Moldovan press launched an anti-Gagauz propaganda campaign. Despite a number of statements about the revival of the Gagauz, the lack of necessary conditions, including national-territorial autonomy, would complicate their implementation, and they would be doomed to assimilation.

Religion

Gagauz people - who is this religiously? Most of them are Orthodox Christians. Their ancestors are Turkic-speaking cattle-breeding tribes who came from the southern Russian steppe, settled on the sea coast of northeastern Bulgaria and adopted Christianity in the 13th century. Despite the devotion to Christianity, which took root among them a century and a half before the Turkish conquest, the Gagauz people only superficially understood the basic dogma of the religion. Although at the beginning of the XX century. there were several translated books in local villages; there is no reliable evidence that the Turkish translation of the New Testament (distributed by the Bible Society in London and using the Greek alphabet) was widely available to them.

Historical context

After the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia in 1940, the Gagauz settlements were divided between the Moldavian and Ukrainian SSRs. The regions where the Gagauz live are among the poorest in Moldova. Under Soviet rule, they were subject to Russification by the transition to the Cyrillic alphabet, introduced in 1957, and through teaching in Russian in schools from the late 1950s. About 73% of the Gagauz people consider Russian as their second language, and the majority of the political elite is Russian-speaking.

Within the Soviet Union, the Gagauz were the largest Turkic population without a territorial division of their own. Throughout the Soviet period, their ethnic self-awareness remained poorly developed. This situation quickly changed in the late 1980s as fears of Romanization arose. Although the 1989 law allowed the use of the Gagauz language, there were strikes against raising the level of Moldovan to the status of the state language. In response to the declaration of Moldova's sovereignty, the authorities in Comrat announced the creation of the Gagauz SSR.

Such actions led to a period of dual power in the region. In 1992-1993, local paramilitaries periodically clashed with the Moldovan authorities, but did not intervene in the Transnistrian conflict. But Comrat collaborated with Tiraspol in promoting the idea of a confederation of 3 states. Since 70% of the Gagauz people live in Moldova, they do not consider themselves a national minority, but people who have the right to national territory. The Turkish embassy supported the more moderate idea of autonomy in the context of a single country.

Law on the status of Gagauzia

In February 1994, the Gagauzians abandoned the idea of confederalizing the country and agreed to participate in the elections if their demands for autonomy were met. The Russian-speaking bloc of parties won in the region. In July 1994, a new Constitution of the country was approved with an article guaranteeing autonomy for Gagauz settlements.

In December, the law “On the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia” was adopted. In the preamble, the Gagauz were recognized as a people, and not as an ethnic group or ethnic population, as the Soviet theory indicated, with the right to self-determination in Moldova. The initiative combined two principles: it linked nationality with a specific territory and the concept of constitutional guarantees, the transfer of powers, representative bodies, a system of checks and balances. The law also allowed the self-determination of Gagauzia, Moldova will change its status.

According to the law, the autonomous territorial unit (ATO) received its own legislative body, Halk Toplusu, elected for 4 years, and executive bodies headed by Bashkan, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova. Both posts were vested with significant powers. In addition, Gagauz, Moldavian and Russian were to become the three official languages. The ATO received its own court, police and security agencies in central and regional jurisdictions. The central authorities retained their finances, defense and foreign policy.

On March 5, 1995, a referendum was held to determine the borders of Gagauzia. On May 28, 1995, elections were held for the Bashkan and the National Assembly, and a referendum was held to determine the administrative center of the region, which became Comrat.

Although most of the political forces in Moldova reached a consensus on the creation of territorial autonomy, this also generated significant opposition. Throughout the early 2000s, assertions by opposition groups in Gagauz-Yeri about government interference in the affairs of the autonomous region, including pre-election interference, also intensified, and in 2004 the centrist opposition Alliance Our Moldova accused the PCRM of “totalitarianism” in Gagauz- Yeri after the resignation of the mayor of Comrat, Konstantin Taushanji, accused of embezzlement.

Current issues

With a backward industry and a lack of other sources of income besides agriculture, Gagauzia is still the poorest region in Moldova and is heavily dependent on subsidies from the central government. There is widespread concern that further integration with the EU will negatively affect the already low living standards and trade with Russia. Consequently, pro-Russian and anti-EU sentiments are strong. The fact that in 2014 almost 99% of them voted in a referendum to join the Eurasian Economic Council, and not for closer ties with the EU, testifies to the fact that they are a Gagauz nation.

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