THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

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196 THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND Identity Descriptions in the Turkish Community of Volga- Ural Region (Thirteenth Century–Early Twentieth Century) Volga-Ural region experienced the rules of Volga Bulgarians’ State, Golden Horde Khanate and Kazan Khanate in chronological order between ninth and sixteenth centuries. After the official conversion of the Volga Bulgarians’ State to Islam at the beginning of the tenth century, the native population rapidly began to adopt Islam. According to the identifications of historians, the name “Bulgarian” inherited from Volga Bulgarians in Volga-Ural region during the Golden Horde period, the description “Muslim” referring to a certain religious identity and a social term “Tatar” were used simultaneously. It is presumable that the term “Tatar” was used for the administrative and elite echelons of the Golden Horde Khanate; whereas, the descriptions “Bulgarian” and “Muslim” were used for the native population. 365 After the fragmentation of the Golden Horde Khanate and its replacement by the Kazan Khanate in Volga-Ural region, the description “Kazanian” was added to these three names. 366 After the annexation of the Kazan Khanate by the Russian Empire, religious identity began to gain significance among the Muslim population of the region because of the subjugation to a Christian authority. As a reaction to the Christianisation policy carried out by the Russian Empire with varying degrees frequently including harsh methods, the Muslim population of the region firmly stuck to the Muslim identity. The legacy of the Volga Bulgarians has a unique significance in this context. In the religious-didactic works written by the clerics of the Volga Bank geography in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the story of the conversion of the Volga Bulgarians to Islam had a special place. 367 With the impact of these commonly-popular religious works which were taught at the schools and madrasahs as course books, the imaginations about Volga Bulgarians began to represent the starting point for the Volga Bank Muslim population in religious terms. 368 According to expert Allen J. Frank, the narratives about Volga Bulgar- 365 We have to assert that the Volga Bulgarians’ State officially adopted Islam at a very early date (early tenth century) and the Golden Horde Khanate officially converted to Islam only in mid-fourteenth century. 366 Fehretdinov, R. G., Tatar halkı hem Tatarstan tarihı, Megarif, Kazan 1996, pp. 182-183. 367 Gibatdinov, M., Stanovleniye i Razvitiye Metodov Prepodavaniya Istorii Tatarskogo Naroda i Tatarstana, Alma-Lit, Kazan 2003, p. 17. 368 “Bulgarı”, Tatarskaya Entsiklopediya, C. 1, Institut Tatarskoy Entsiklopedii AN RT, Kazan 2002, p. 492.
THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY 197 ians became the distinguishing feature for the regional Muslim identity. In this way, the Muslim clerics of the region attained a big step on creating a regional identity distinct from both the Russians and other Muslim communities in Russia. According to Frank, this “pro-Bulgarian” regional Muslim identity imagination shaped as a historiography tradition by the end of the eighteenth century would maintain its reputation among the population – especially among the peasants - up until 1930s and would forcibly cease only after the Soviet intervention. 369 “Pro-Bulgarian” identity imagination adopted a different form in the nineteenth century in the movement of “pro-Veysi”. This movement, emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century and lasted up until the Soviet era, is described as a social protest movement and the “pro-Bulgarian” ideology central to the ideal world of this movement is described as an expression of a social utopia by the contemporary Tatar historians. The “pro-Veysi” movement emerged under the principles of a Nakshibandi Bahaddin Veysi (1804-1893) and gained popularity in some cities such as Kazan and Orenburg, in villages and especially in the lower echelons of the urban population. Unsatisfied of the current situation of the Muslim community, the “pro-Veysi” supporters strongly condemned the service of the Muslim clerics as Russian officials since the reign of Ekaterina II. Refusing to abide with the rules of the “infidel” authority, the “pro-Veysi” supporters moved beyond the condemnation and engaged in organisation of disobedience against the Russian Empire. They formed their own independent colonies (“God’s corps”) and rejected taxation, military service, population census and passports offered by Russia. In their worldview, re-establishment of the Bulgarian state and revival of the ancient societal structure had vital significance. Therefore, they demanded the return of the ancient ruined city of Bulgar to them and expulsion of the Russian population from the region. After the dismissal and punishment of the pioneers of the movement in 1885 (B. Veysi was taken to a mental hospital and other leaders of the movement were exiled to Siberia), this movement went underground and secretly involved in propaganda. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, the movement revived and acted until 1930s. 370 We have to express that the “pro-Veysi” movement remained as a marginal movement with a stronger presence in villages and suburbs and did not spread to the majority of the Volga-Ural Muslim society. 369 Frank, Allen J., Islamic Historiography and “Bulghar” Identity among the Tatars and Bashkirs of Russia, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 1998. 370 “Vaisovskoye Dvijeniye”, Tatarskaya Entsiklopediya, p. 518.
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THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

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