The "Great exodus”: processes of mass resettlement of Nizhny Novgorod Mishar Tatars in XVII-XVIII centuries

The article discusses the processes of mass migration of Nizhny Novgorod Mishar Tatars (Nizhgars) to the East in the era of the first Romanovs. It is emphasized that the two main factors - the shortage of arable land and baptism policy of the government - have led to the massive exodus of this sub-ethnos representatives, when almost a half of the Nizhgar population found themselves outside their historical homeland. Their descendants formed the basis of more than ten new derivative ethnographic groups of the Tatar nation. Among them the Mishar Tatars of Bashkiria were the most unique in virtue of their particular ethnic and social status and historical development paths.