Ethnographic study of the Mordovians in Bashkiria (historiographic review)

Introduction. In Bashkiria one of the most significant and ethnically interesting ethnic groups is Mordva. It is represented by Erzya, and a small number of Moksha. Religiously, Mordva also forms several confessional groups. Among Erzya Mordovians the biggest number of people considers themselves Orthodox, a small part as Old Believers and Molokans-Subbotniks. Moksha adheres to the Orthodox faith. Materials and Methods. This article gives a historiographical overview of research on the history of formation and ethnographic features of the Mordva now living in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The ethnoterritorial group of the Mordovians oin Bashkiria is poorly researched from ethnographic perspective; the available works are occasional and are published in various journals, sometimes completely forgotten and not introduced into academic and research focus. The authors tried to generalize the publications available to date on this topic, arranged them in chronological order, and introduce little-known work back into research field. Results and Discussion. The beginning of the ethnographic study of the Urals Mordovians was laid in the 18th century. In the nineteenth century, many researchers and local historians touched upon the Mordovians of Ufa province. Their work reflected ethnic features on economic activities, settlements and dwellings, food and clothing. There is only one publication of that time, specifically made about the Mordva of the Ufa province. It is a newspaper article by M. Burdukov. In the Soviet period, the Mordovians of the region also did not become the subject of a study. The greatest contribution to the study of the Mordovians of Bashkiria at that time was made in the works by V. N. Belitzer. The researchers studied the folk costume and the wedding rite of the ethnoterritorial group of the people in the Bashkir ASSR. In the post-Soviet period, a great contribution to the study of the Mordovians in the Republic of Bashkortostan was made by M. V. Murzabulatov and A. S. Shcherbakov. Conclusion. The historiographic analysis of publications on the history and ethnographic features of the Mordovians in Bashkiria shows that the history of the formation of this ethnoterritorial group, ethno-social, ethno-demographic and ethno-linguistic processes was studied most fully. The regional peculiarities of Erzyan and Mokshan clothing and the evolution of its forms have been studied to some extent. Other aspects of traditional material and spiritual culture remain poorly studied.