Urazovka occupies a central place among the settlements located in the basin of the Para River (meaning Antyarovka, Aktukovo, Kadomka, and Kuzminka). These five settlements now form a kind of megalopolis, with more than 6,000 people living within a 3 km radius. For several preceding centuries Urazovka was not notable for its size. According to the 1790 statistics, Urazovka had as many souls as Kadomka and Ovechy Ovrag, and was considerably smaller than Medyana, Yendovishchi, Karga, and many others. The sharp increase in the village's population came in the 20th century, especially during the years of Soviet power, when it became the administrative center of Tatarsky District and at the same time grew into an economic and cultural center. Today Urazovka ranks among the first in Population among the rural settlements of the southeast of the Region. Besides Tatars, Russians and Mordvins also live and work there. There is no precise information on the time and circumstances of the village's formation. The Tatar name of the village is Urazavyl.[1]
Origin and Founding of the Settlement
Residents preserve a legend that these settlements arose simultaneously. The founders of the settlements are said to be the brothers Uraz, Aktuk, Kadum, and Kyzem. According to another version, the founder of Kadomka was Uraz's match-maker relative (Kodam avyly), and Kuzminki was named for Uraz's daughter (Kyzym avyly), hence, supposedly, the names of these settlements. The Tatar names of the settlements sound identical to the names of the founders with the addition of the word "avyly." Only Aktukovo, after relocating to a new site, came to be called "Yangapar" (Novopar). The kinship ties of the founders are also reflected in folklore: in old chastushkas these settlements are united into a single group: "The villages of Uraz, Kyzem, and Kadom are solid (bik khuat); there the housewives go out to drive the herd with oven forks." Among the Tatars living in Finland another version of the chastushka has survived: "The villages of Uraz, Kadom, and Kyzem are big. Ah, how hard it is to leave them." There are various theories about the origin of the Tatars of this region. One of them belongs to G. N. Akhmarov, who conducted an expedition to the Tatar-Mishar areas in the early 20th century.
The Tatar-Mishars: History of Settlement
In his opinion, the Tatar-Mishars are Nogai Tatars, natives of Asia, whose settlement in the Volga Region began in the 13th century. In our parts they settled in the early 17th century, after the Nogai invasion of 1612. That invasion also affected the interests of the local Tatars, since the Nogais sought freedom of movement with their herds across the steppe lands of the Sura and Pyana river areas, as in earlier times. Their intentions conflicted with the need to colonize the region and settle it with a sedentary population, chiefly Tatar-Mishars. In the upper reaches of the Pyana and the lower course of the Alatyr, one of the largest battles in the southeast of the region took place, in which local Tatars fought together with Russians and Mordvins. The claim that the Pyana-area Tatars are Nogais is unconvincing. Two groups of local Tatars took part in the battle: the Alatyr Tatars led by Bayush Rozgildeyev and the Pyana-area Tatars led by Yamash Mangushev.
Their services were highly valued, and the Tatars settled here (in the charter they are called Arzamas Tatars) received the right to use the lands they occupied. Another point should be taken into account: the Nogais, although also called Tatars, differ in many ways from the Tatar-Mishars in language, culture, and traditions. As for the Arzamas Tatars of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, their origins vary: among them we find both indigenous local Tatars and natives of Meschera, the Astrakhan region, and the Akhtuba. There is yet another version of the origin of the Para Tatars. It is found in the works of L. L. Trube and concerns, above all, Kadomka.
This version was based on the outward similarity between the name of the Meschera town of Kadom and Kadomka. The author argues that the Tatars of Kadomka carried this name over from Meschera. This conclusion naturally extends to all the neighboring settlements, which would mean they were founded by natives of Meschera. The only unambiguous fact in the history of Urazovka is that it took its name from the village's founder, Uraz.
The Search for the Founder: The Name Uraz
The difficulty of identifying the particular Uraz lies in the fact that Uraz is a name widespread among Turks and Tatars, based on the word "uraz" or "oraz," meaning happiness. The name appears in documents from the 13th to 17th centuries. Settlements named after an Uraz exist in many regions of the Volga and Cis-Urals areas: Urazovka in Korsun Uyezd of Simbirsk Governorate, Ruzayevka in Mordovia, several settlements called Urazovo in Tatarstan, and others. The presumed founder of Urazovka is Uraz Murza, prince, son of Kulunchak.[1] This can be judged from a letter of the Kasimov Tsar Uraz-Muhammed of March 2, 1609, addressed to one of the voivodes of False Dmitry, Sapega, during his stay in the Mushinsky Stan. Supporters of False Dmitry gathered there to move against V. I. Shuisky. The letter reports that by order of False Dmitry, Uraz Murza of Temnikov, prince, son of Kulunchak, with his companions, was released to Temnikov for state service, and that they were to proceed toward Arzamas.
Uraz-Muhammed asked Sapega to let him pass to his destination and to grant him a travel charter under his seal so that no harm would befall them on the road. The version that this very Murza Uraz was the founder of the village is supported by local legends about Uraz's princely origin and by stories of ties between Uraz's descendants and Tatar nobles. This information was recorded in its day by the well-known local historians Farakhsha Yunisov and S. S. Averkiev from the words of Abdulla Khayretdinov, a resident of Urazovka (he was known in the postwar years by the nickname Urys Abdulla). Identifying Uraz, the founder of the village, with Uraz Murza of Temnikov makes it possible to describe his origins in detail. Uraz's father Kulunchak belonged to the princely families of the Kugushevs and Tenishevs: Kugush was Kulunchak's great-grandfather and Tenish his grandfather. Kulunchak's father Yenikey is known as a leader of the Temnikov Tatars. Before the campaign of Ivan the Terrible against Kazan, he was appointed commander of the Temnikov and Alatyr guard outposts.
The Kulunchakov Family and Murza Uraz
In 1552 he was called upon to build bridges along the route of the army's march on Kazan. His son Kulunchak became the founder of the princely house of the Kulunchakovs. The name Kulunchak derives from the Tatar word "kolunchak," meaning "stригун," a yearling colt. Hence the family's emblem (there was no coat of arms): a golden foal on a green field. According to the genealogical table given in the book cited, the only continuer of the Kulunchakov line is Kilmamay Murza. The writer A. I. Kuprin, who was proud of his descent on his mother's side from Princess Lyubov Alekseyevna, used a flag bearing this Kulunchakov emblem. One of Kilmamay's great-grandsons, Seit, accepted baptism (Fyodor in baptism). The Muslim Kulunchakov line, having lost its noble privileges in the early 18th century, faded away. The continuers of this line became "bast-shoe murzas," that is, ordinary state peasants. A charter on the division of Yenikey's estate and inheritance, issued to Yenikey's widow Saltana, has survived.
It shows the beginnings of the Kulunchakov line. Yenikey's widow Saltana and her daughter, Princess Yumlay, were granted, for Yenikey's services, a village with 50 chetis of land. To the sons Kilmamay Murza and Uraz Murza were left their father's estates, the "tamga," as well as "land and shop dues, and the Mordvin yasak, a share of eleven rubles and a quarter." The genealogical book contains no data on Uraz's descendants. In all likelihood, because of his participation in the insurgent movement of the Time of Troubles, he lost his privileges, and the authorities ceased to recognize him as a murza. This can be judged from 1708 data, when the Simbirsk reiter (cavalry) regiment was formed from the Alatyr and Kurmysh service Tatars.
Among the 529 men called up to the regiment only 5 murzas were listed, including 3 in Staroye Mochaley, 1 in Krasny Yar, and 1 in Kamkino. Judging by the legends, Uraz Murza distinguished himself in the great battle with the Nogais fought in the interfluve of the Alatyr and the Pyana. During the search of Tatar settlements to determine the issuing of official charters for estates, in which 240 investigators took part, he took the Tatars of the neighboring settlements of Aktuk, Antyarovka, Kadomka, and Kuzminki under his protection, calling them brothers and close relatives.
Chronicle of events
Details of each event are in the article about it; here are the dates and gist.
Sources
- Wikipedia (ru) — Urazovka (Nizhny Novgorod Region) (archive)
- kadomka1.narod.ru