The history of the Tatars or Tartars as they are also referred to must be one of the most fascinating and least researched as of yet. Their origin and migration pattern is highly complex and the impact they had on the areas where they settled considerable. By no means are we able to give you an exhaustive account on these pages but we are certain that further reading will hold you equally spellbound.

ORIGIN & MIGRATION
From the north eastern Gobi Desert, theTa-Ta Mongols, pushed by the Khitan, migrated south in the IX century where they founded the great Mongol empire under Ghengis Khan. Under the leadership of his grandson Batu Khan a small contingency set out westward, incorporating into their trek en route a large number of turkic population of the Ural-Altai region. First this mass of people settled down along the Volga with the local Bulgars from the once very strong Bulgar empire who were to found modern Bulgaria. Also in the Volga region, the invadors merged with Bashkirians who consequently adopted Islam. By the XIII century these mainly Ural-Altai Tatars with hardly a trace of Mongol blood had moved still further west mixing with part of the Crimean population and receiving the name Nughay Tatars in honor of their leader. Interestingly, these arriving migrants also intermarried with members of the Greek colonies in the Crimea and even further west with peoples of the ?aucasus.
Both the European Tatars and the Caucasian Tatars are subdivided into the Crimean Tatars, Astrakhan, Kazafi, Kipchaks, Nughais, the Karachay Tatars of the Elburz region and the Mountain Tatars of Erevan, Tiflis, Dagestan and others.
Part of the Ural-Altai peoples who did not join the Mongol migration west later pushed eastward into Siberia. Today there are minimum 5 different straits of Siberian Tatars.
In 1393 several thousand Tatar prisoners of war from among the Nughay and Crimean Tatars were exiled to Lithuania where they married the local Polish Lithuanian Christian women, adopting the women's last names but keeping their Islamic faith. Soon they were joined by the Khan of the Golden Horde and thousands of his warriors who had fled to Lithuania, defeated by Amir Temur (Tamerlane). They all kept their language until the XVI century. The elite of the migrants enjoyed equal rights with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, other Tatars made up a special social entity of the Lithuanian Principality.

TATARS OR TARTARS?
The entire Golden Horde was referred to as Tartars as they approached Europe in the XIII century. Later, all the tribes described above plus all those of the high plateau of Asia and its northwestern edges, regardless of their Mongol or Turkic ancestry, were referred to as Tartars in Europe and the area between the British, Russian and Chinese empires was called Tartary. In Russia, all Muslim Turkic speaking people who never became part of the Ottoman empire were called Tatars.

LANGUAGE
Tatar Tele / Tatar?a is an ancient Turkic language belonging to the Ural-Altaic family. It is the official language of the Republic of Tatarstan, spoken by Tatars in Siberia, China, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, and all over Central Asia.

RELIGION
Religion is important but to a poin, Tatars do not find identification foremost through religion. As Sunni they are moderate Muslims, men and women are not segregated, religious holidays are celebrated in Tatar circle, Tatar mosques, their sociopolitical and cultural center. Absolute tolerance towards other religions, even various schools within Islam is fundemantal.

AND TATARSTAN?
After the death of Atilla, the Hun in the V century, his empire disintegrated into several Turkic kingdoms, one of them the Bulgarian Kingdom of the VII century and another one the Bulgar State of the IX century along the Volga in today's Tatarstan. Highly talented artisans and farmers, these locals held active trade relationships with Central Asia and China. In the X century they converted to Islam and adopted Arabic script. When they were conquered by the Mongols under Ghengis Khan's grandson, they became part of the Golden Horde. Tired of eternal power struggles and warfare, a part of them migrated westward to the more tranquil area of Kazan. After the fall of the Golden Horde, several Tatar States were formed, the Kazan, Crimean, Kasym, Sibirean and Astrakhan Khanates, the Mari-Udmurts, Kipchaks and Nuhgai Khanats. The Kazan Tatars Khanate was conquered in 1552 under Ivan the Terrible. Peter I established the Kazan Province and Catherine the Great rescinded the law on building mosques. Gradually, a national identity awakened, encouraged by Lenin in the early stages of the revolution. In 1920 the Tatar Autonomous Sovjet Socialst Republic was declared. Borders were drawn so that suddenly 75% of the Tatars found themselves outside of Tatarstan and not very welcome. 1990 the independent Republic of Tatarstan was founded.
The Tatars of Finland arrived as construction workers from the Volga region around 1980 during the early years of Finland's status as an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian Tsars. Many remained, settled around Helsinki and traded in furs and textiles. Till this day, over 5 generations of Tatars in Finland have preserved their language, they are well integrated into society.

TATARS IN UZBEKISTAN
The Tatars first came to Uzbekistan as envoys to establish trading posts on behalf of the Russian government. With a natural aptitude for trade, famed for their reliability and their linguistic talents, the Tatar were ideally suited to strengthen ties between Russia and Central Asia. By settling outside of Tashkent in the Nughay Kurgan community, they escaped drafting into the Russian army and forced Christianisation. Skilled in agriculture, they were self sustained.
In the 1880s a considerable wave of immigrants arrived from the Crimean Volga region that had been annexed by Russia; Tatar settlements in Tashkent were exempt from most state
obligations. Until 1886 they enjoyed the same land ownership rights as the Christian Orthodox citizens. In the Early XX century an operating Tatar mosque and medresse existed next to the Yaushev Brothers' Trading Arcade. Turob Tola Street was called Tatar Street and the first Tatar school opened in New Bukhara in 1902 followed by dozens of secular schools. A Tatar enlightenment campaign took off, fully equiped printing houses publishing widely distributed newspapers on enlightenment and religious orientation and libraries, theatre ensembles and a Tartar section at the Association of Uzbek Writers had an impact on the development of education, literature and theatrical art in Turkestan. Mixed marriages helped to speed up integration. At the end of the last century two thirds of all Central Asian Tatars resided in Uzbekistan. During WWII many Tatars escaped the great famine or were deported to Central Asia where many still live as well respected citizens.