Erzya Villages of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Erzya selos of Nizhny Novgorod Region — settlements whose population identified as Erzya and spoke the Erzya language. The compendium "Lists of Populated Places," based on data from 1859, counted 166 such settlements in the governorate, comprising 15,501 households and 112,192 inhabitants.^[1] A century and a half later, Erzya speech is heard in about fifteen selos — most densely in Lukoyanovskiy District, and at scattered points in Bolsheboldinsky District, Shatkovsky District, Sechenovskiy District, and neighboring ones.^[2][3][4]

Where Erzya is spoken today

Erzya selos are most densely concentrated in the south of the Region. Lukoyanovskiy District has fourteen of them, forming two clusters: an eastern one — Chirguши, Pichinguши, Novosyolki, Krapivka, Keldyushevo — and a southwestern one — Ivantsevo, Shandrovo, Atingeevo, Messingovka, Saldamanov Maydan, Nikolayevka; Beryozovka stands apart in the north of the district.^[2]

Beyond the Lukoyanov cluster, Erzya villages have survived in the Bolsheboldinsky (Pikshen), Shatkovsky (Kardavil), Sechenovskiy, Pilninskiy, Sergachsky, Gaginsky, and Ardatovsky districts.^[3][4]

The backbone of this part of the region is formed by the Erzyanskoy Kultury Museum in Lukoyanov, rural community centers with choral groups, and Erzya Radio; since the late 2000s, the interregional festival "Erzyan lismapryа" — "Erzya Spring" — has been held near Novosyolki.^[3][4]

When an insect disappears, it is entered in the Red Book and an alarm is raised. But what about when an entire people disappears?^[3]

Origins of Place Names

The settlement of the region with Erzya villages spread widely after 1552. New settlements were named in two ways: after the first settler — Atingeevo from Semyon Atingeev — or after the urochishche on which they were founded. Chirгushi means "slanted clearing," Pichinushi means "pine clearing."^[2]

The 1859 survey also noted the reverse pattern: many Erzya villages bear Russian names, while those that have already lost the language, conversely, are often called by Erzya names. Erzya names have been best preserved by rivers.^[1]

The 1859 Survey

The "Lists of Populated Places" were published by province by the Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the Nizhny Novgorod volume appeared in St. Petersburg in 1863, based on data from 1859. The survey distributed the Erzya population across six districts: five southern ones, where the language held on, and Nizhegorodsky, where the Teryukhane lived.^[1]

The Erzya heritage was noted by the survey even where the language had already been lost — in Gorbatovsky and Balakhninsky Districts, where old, venerated urochishche remained, such as the Olenikha gorodishche.^[1]

Ardatovsky Uyezd

The settlements of this uyezd lie in its southeastern half, along both sides of the Tambov tract and along the rivers Puza, Sukhoy Satis, Kudleyka, Chuvarlеyka, Kevleyka, Kanerga, and Vechkinza.^[1]

Arzamassky Uyezd

The Erzya villages of this area are described in the register as populous: they stand along the Serzha, Vadka, Arat, Sumarka, and Tyosha rivers, on ancient Erzya encampment sites.^[1]

Knyagininsky Uyezd

The Erzya population of the uyezd settled along the banks of the Pyana, which crosses it twice. Two villages from this area have their own articles in the encyclopedia — Ichalki and Bolshiye Kemary.^[1]

Lukoyanovskiy Uyezd

The settlements lie along the Alatyr, Irset, Arka, and Irsa rivers. It is this uyezd that gave rise to the present-day Lukoyanov cluster of Erzya selos — the most vibrant in the Region.^[1]

Sergachsky Uyezd

Here, Erzya villages remained along the Pyana, Sal, Sarga, Cheka, and Ezhata rivers.^[1]

Nizhegorodsky Uyezd

Settlements spread across the entire uyezd from the Kudma River, along both its banks and its tributaries — the Pichest, the Mianga, the Tuneyevka, the Maydanka, the Puster, the Modan, the Sechug, the Kazhlеyka, and the Kraga. These are the lands of the Teryukhans: the list includes both Bolshoye Teryushevo and both Sесkinos, as well as Lapshikha, near which the Teryushevo Uprising came to an end in November 1743.^[1]

What Happened to the Language

The fate of the Erzya language in the Region can be seen in a single rural school. A school was opened in Ivantsevo in 1873 — more than forty children studied there up to the fourth grade; by 1941 the number of pupils had grown to over six hundred, and until 1958 the school's language of instruction and communication was Erzya. By 2013, the same school had eleven pupils left, all of them Russian-speaking.^[5]

Erzya was taught in the Region's rural schools until 1956; by 2016, only two schools still offered classes in it. The Mordva population of the Region is declining: the census of the mid-2010s counted approximately twenty thousand people, compared with twenty-five thousand in the previous cycle and thirty-six thousand three cycles earlier.^[3]

Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky, who traveled through the governorate in the mid-nineteenth century, distinguished the Erzya from the Moksha and from the Teryukhane precisely by language; today the language is sustained by optional school classes, choirs, and festivals rather than everyday speech.^[6][3]

Erzya was the main language of communication at the school until 1958; the eleven children who study there now have no command of their ancestral language^[5]

Sources

1. elib.shpl.ru — State Public Historical Library (archive)
2. lukcbs.ru — Lukoyanov Centralized Library System — G. I. Kashina. History of the Settlement of the Lukoyanov Region (almanac "Our Lukoyanov Land", 2000) (archive)
3. Nizhny Novgorod Pravda — Land of the Erzya, June 2, 2016 (archive)
4. Nizhny Novgorod Pravda — Shumbrat, or Greetings! Nizhny Novgorod Erzya share how they preserve their people's traditions today, April 17, 2026 (archive)
5. nazaccent.ru — National Accent — A month of Erzya language and culture is being held in Nizhny Novgorod Region, April 24, 2013 (archive)
6. opentextnn.ru — Open Text — P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky. Essays on the Mordva, introduction ("Russky Vestnik", 1867) (archive)