Chud da Merya: mysterious aborigines of the Russian Land. Chud - an ancient people who went underground

Dwellings and material remains of Chud and Sirtya

For the first time authentic Nenets legends about the Sirtya - nomadic hunters of the tundra and the sea coast, who hunted wild deer, fish and sea animals, spoke a language different from Nenets, and hid forever underground, were recorded by A. Shrenk, who made a long trip across the Bolshezemelskaya tundra in 1837. During this trip, in the lower reaches of the Korotaikha River, which flows into the Barents Sea east of Varandey and west of the Yugra Peninsula and the Pai-Khoi ridge, he discovered “Chudi caves” with the remains of material culture, unfortunately, irretrievably lost to science).
In the notes of the missionary Benjamin (1855) we find: " The Korotaikha River is remarkable for its abundance of fisheries and Chud earthen caves, in which, according to legend, Chud once lived in ancient times. These caves are ten miles from the mouth, on the right bank, on a slope, which from ancient times was called Sirte-sya in Samoyed - “Mountain Peipus”.
Academician I. Lepekhin, knowing the legends about the “Chud people” widespread in the European North, sought to find their real traces in the form of archaeological monuments. Thanks to reports from informants, I. Lepekhin was able to make the following remarkable entry in 1805: “The entire Samoyed land in the Mezen district is filled with desolate dwellings of the once ancient people. They are found in many places: near lakes, on the tundra, in forests, near rivers, made in the mountains and hills like caves with openings like doors.In these caves they find ovens and find fragments of iron, copper and clay household items".
IN Soviet time the problem of orphans was developed by V.N. Chernetsov, who, having visited Yamal, not only collected various legends about Sirtya, but also discovered monuments ancient culture, left rather by the Sirtya than by the later Nenets. According to the legends he published, the Nenets who came to Yamal met a population there who lived on the coast in earthen houses and hunted sea animals. These were the Sirtya, who did not know reindeer herding, with whom the Nenets had to fight, and sometimes even marry. The Nenets were convinced that the last Sirtya, 4-6 generations before the present day, were found here and there in Northern Yamal, and then completely disappeared. V.N. Chernetsov twice published (1935, 1957) important archaeological material from dugouts on Cape Tiutei-sale at the confluence of the Ser-yakha and Tiutei-yakha rivers (on the western coast of Yamal at 71 ° 30 "N), which he dated VI-IX centuries and attributed Sirtya.

Unique finds of the Yamalo-Ob expedition

Further searches for evidence of Sirtya were carried out by the Yamalo-Ob expedition of the Department of Ethnography of Moscow State University under the leadership of L.P. Lashuk in 1961.
An abandoned sacred place. According to local residents, this hill once hidstrange "little people" , which have long since “gone” to another more distant hill, leaving in the same place only “syadeev” - images of gods and various things. Old women even now do not allow children to run along the hill: " Trample, they say, sitting down, and this is a sin"The very name of the hill indicates that there was once not only a sacrificial place on it, but also housing.
As a result of the excavations, it turned out that in addition to finds dating back to late times (bone artifacts, wooden objects, remains of vessels, etc.), some discovered objects have typological similarities with finds from the pre-10th century. dugouts on Cape Tiutei-sale, left by people of non-Samoyed origin, although involved in the formation of modern Nenets. The main finds made on the Kharde-Sede hill were attributed to the era of the developed Iron Age. On the hill, traces of metallurgical production were discovered in the form of iron slag and sand fused into a glassy mass, underlying the upper peat layer. Structural analysis showed that the slag comes from a raw iron furnace.
The study of the strata on the Kharde-sed temple clearly shows the continuity of its use from the 1st millennium AD. e. and until the early 30s of the 20th century, which could hardly have happened if there had been no genetic connection between the early inhabitants of these places (Sirtya) and the later ones (Nenets).

The Tiutey-Salinsky and Khard-Sedeysky monuments arose in the subpolar tundra at a time when there was not even a hint of the reindeer herding way of life of the population or any traces new culture, brought from the southern part of the Ob-Yenisei interfluve - the most likely ancestral home of the reindeer. There is no particular reason to count the latter among the creators of the Tiutei-Sala culture of tundra wild deer hunters and seaside hunters, although, having spread over time throughout the Far North, the Samoyeds, through the mediation of the aborigines (Sirtya), became the successors of this culture.

In the same Nakhodka, the expedition of L.P. Lashuk recorded the following tales about the natives of Yamal. The Sirtya are people of very short stature, but stocky and strong, who lived a thousand years ago. In everything they differed from the Nenets: they did not keep domestic reindeer, they hunted “savage” deer, they wore different clothes: for example, yagushkas (swing women's clothing made of reindeer skin), like the Nenets, did not have, they dressed in otter skins (a hint of deaf outerwear). One day appeared big water, which flooded all low-lying places in Yamal. The subsoil of the elevated hills-sed became the dwellings of the sirty.
According to another version, the Sirtya “went to the hills” because with the advent of “real people” - the Nenets - the former land turned upside down.Having become underground inhabitants, the Sirtya were henceforth afraid to go out into the daylight, which made their eyes burst. They began to consider the day as night, and the night as day, because only at night could they leave the hills, and even then when everything in the surrounding area was quiet and there were no people.Now there are few orphans left, and they come to the surface less and less often. Only a shaman can determine which hill has Sirtya and which does not.
As L.P. points out. Lashuk (1968), there is undoubtedly a realistic basis in these legends and is confirmed by scientific data, but the legends do not give a specific answer about the ethnicity of the Sirtya.

The Chud tribe is one of the most mysterious phenomena on the territory of our country. Its history has long been overgrown with secrets, epics and even rumors, both quite plausible and completely fantastic. Not much is known about this tribe to judge from this information full history its representatives, but quite enough to give birth to the most incredible legends. Scientists and researchers have tried and are trying to unearth evidence of that era, to decipher that amazing world, full of mysteries, which the Chud tribe gave us.

The Chud tribe is sometimes compared to the Mayan tribe American Indians. Both those and others suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only memories. In official history, the term "Chud" is considered Old Russian name several Finno-Ugric tribes. The very name of the tribe Chud"It’s also not entirely clear. It is popularly believed that this is what the representatives of these tribes were called for their incomprehensible language, which they spoke and which other tribes did not understand. There is an assumption that the tribe was originally Germanic or Gothic, which is why they were called Chud. In those days, “Chud” and “Alien” were not only of the same root, but also had same value. However, in some Finno-Ugric languages, the name Chud was used to name one of the mythological characters, which also cannot be discounted.

This tribe, which suddenly disappeared, is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, where the chronicler directly narrates: " ...Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on Chud, Ilmen Slovenes, Merya and Krivichi..."However, not everything is so simple here either. For example, the historian S.M. Solovyov made the assumption that in the Tale of Bygone Years the inhabitants of the Vodskaya valley of the Novgorod Land pyatina were called Chud. Another mention dates back to 882 and refers to Oleg’s campaign: " ... went on a campaign and took with him many warriors: Varangians, Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi, all, Chud and came to Smolensk and took the city...".

Yaroslav the Wise undertook a victorious campaign against Chud in 1030: “and he defeated them and established the city of Yuryev.” Subsequently, it turned out that a number of tribes were called Chud, such as: Estonians, Seto (Chud of Pskov), Vod, Izhora, Korely, Zavolochye (Chud of Zavolochskaya). In Novgorod there is Chudintseva Street, where noble representatives of this tribe previously lived, and in Kyiv there is Chudin Dvor. It is also believed that the names were formed on behalf of these tribes: the city of Chudovo, Lake Peipus, and the Chud River. IN Vologda region There are villages with names: Front Chudi, Middle Chudi and Rear Chudi. Currently, Chudi’s descendants live in the Penezhsky region Arkhangelsk region. In 2002, Chud was included in the register of independent nationalities.

Of particular interest, in addition to the historical, is folklore, in which the tribe appears as the White-Eyed Chud. Strange epithet " White-eyed", which the representatives of the Chud were dubbed, is also a mystery. Some believe that the white-eyed Chud is because it lives underground, where there is no sunlight, while others believe that in old times gray-eyed or blue-eyed people were called white-eyed. Chud white-eyed, as a mythological character, is found in the folklore of the Komi and Sami, as well as Mansi, Siberian Tatars, Altaians and Nenets. To explain it in a nutshell, the white-eyed miracle is a vanished civilization. Following these beliefs, the legendary white-eyed Chud lived in the north of the European part of Russia and the Urals. Descriptions of this tribe include descriptions of short people who live in caves and deep underground. In addition, chud, chud, shud - a monster, and meant a giant, often a cannibal giant with white eyes. People who, with the adoption of Christianity in Rus', did not accept new religion and went underground. Thus, it turns out that the white-eyed Chud is a demonized tribe that did not accept Christianity and is therefore considered unclean.

One of the legends that was recorded in the village of Afanasyevo Kirov region, reads: " And when other people began to appear along the Kama, this miracle did not want to communicate with them. They dug a large hole, and then cut down the pillars and buried themselves. This place is called - Peipus Coast". The mistress of the copper mountain, the tale of which was told to us by the Russian writer P.P. Bazhov, is considered by many to be one of that same Chudi.

Judging by the legends, a meeting with representatives of the white-eyed miracle, who sometimes appeared out of nowhere, came out of caves, appeared in the fog, could bring good luck to some and misfortune to others. They live underground, where they ride dogs and herd mammoths or earthen deer. The mythical representatives of the white-eyed miracle are considered to be good and skilled blacksmiths, metallurgists and excellent warriors, which can be compared with the belief of the Scandinavian tribes in gnomes, who are also short in stature, are good warriors and skilled blacksmiths. Chud white-eyed (they are also Sirtya, Sikhirtya) can steal a child, cause damage, and scare a person. They know how to suddenly appear and disappear just as suddenly.

Testimonies from missionaries, researchers and travelers have been preserved about the earthen settlements of Chud. For the first time, A. Shrenk spoke about orphans in 1837, who discovered Chud caves with the remains of a certain culture in the lower reaches of the Korotaikha River. Missionary Benjamin wrote: " The Korotaikha River is remarkable for its abundance of fisheries and Chud earthen caves, in which, according to Samoyed legends, Chud once lived in ancient times. These caves are ten miles from the mouth, on the right bank, on a slope, which from ancient times was called Sirte-sya in Samoyed - “Chudskaya Mountain”". I. Lepekhin wrote in 1805: " The entire Samoyed land in the Mezen district is filled with desolate dwellings of the once ancient people. They are found in many places: near lakes, on the tundra, in forests, near rivers, made in mountains and hills like caves with openings like doors. In these caves they found ovens and found fragments of iron, copper and clay household items.". This same question was once puzzled by V.N. Chernetsov, who wrote about the Chud in his reports of 1935-1957, where he collected many legends. In addition, he discovered monuments of the Sirtya in Yamal. Thus, the existence of a tribe that actually existed in these places once, is documented. The Nenets, whose ancestors witnessed the existence in these places mysterious tribe, they claim that it went underground (into the hills), but did not disappear. And to this day you can meet people of small stature and with white eyes, and this meeting most often does not bode well.

After the Chud went underground, after other tribes came to their lands, whose descendants live here to this day, they left many treasures. These treasures are enchanted and, according to legend, only the descendants of the miracle itself can find them. These treasures are guarded by miracle spirits, who appear in a variety of guises, for example, a hero on a horse, a bear, a hare and others. Due to the fact that many would like to penetrate the secrets underground inhabitants and take possession untold riches, some are still taking various steps to find these caches full of gold and jewelry. There are a huge number of legends, tales and stories about daredevils who decided to search for miracle treasures. All, or most of them, end, alas, in tears for the main characters. Some of them die, others remain crippled, others go crazy, and others go missing in a dungeon or caves.

He also writes about the legendary miracle Roerich in his book "Heart of Asia". There he describes his meeting with an Old Believer in Altai. This man took them to a rocky hill where there were stone circles of ancient burials and, showing them to the Roerich family, told the following story: " This is where Chud went underground. When the White Tsar came to Altai to fight and as the white birch blossomed in our region, Chud did not want to stay under the White Tsar. Chud went underground and blocked the passages with stones. You can see their former entrances yourself. But Chud is not gone forever. When will he return happy time and people will come from Belovodye and give to all the people great science, then Chud will come again, with all the obtained treasures". A year earlier (1913) of these events, Nicholas Roerich, being a wonderful artist, painted the painting “The Miracle Has Gone Under the Ground.” Be that as it may, the mystery of the Chud tribe still remains open. Official story represented by archaeologists, ethnographers, and local historians, ordinary tribes, for example, Ugrians, Khanty, Mansi, who were not different in anything special and left their habitats because other tribes came to their lands, are considered miracles. Others consider the White-Eyed Chud to be a great people who have the gift of sorcery and magic, who live deep in caves and underground cities, who from time to time appear on the surface to warn people, warn, punish or protect their treasures, the hunters of which are never will decrease.

"“But somewhere to this day,” says Vasily, “the Lapps believe not in Christ, but in “chud.” Eat high mountain, from where they throw deer as a sacrifice to the god. There is a mountain where a noid (sorcerer) lives, and deer are brought there to him. There they cut them with wooden knives, and hang the skin on poles. The wind shakes her, her legs move. And if there is moss or sand below, then the deer seems to be walking. Vasily has met such a deer more than once in the mountains. Just like alive! It's scary to watch. And it can be even more terrible when in winter a fire sparkles in the sky and the abysses of the earth open, and monsters begin to emerge from the graves."

On the eve of the celebration of Russia Day, it is interesting to look into the depths of centuries and see where the Russian people came from. The oldest Russian chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, reports the names of the peoples who, along with the Slavs, took part in the formation Old Russian state. These were the Varangians, Rus, Chud, Ves, Merya and a number of other peoples. There was no more accurate information then. Anthropological studies of ancient Russian burials showed that there were also representatives of Indo-Iranian peoples unknown to us.

In relation to the tribes that bore the names “Chud”, “Ves”, “Merya”, etc., it is known that they belong to the Finno-Ugric peoples, i.e. peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages ​​and not related in language to the Slavs (Peoples of the Volga and Urals: Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Permyaks, Mari, Mordovians, Udmurts. - M.: Publishing house science (Series of Peoples and Cultures), 2000, - 579 s).

The Slavs called Chudya several Finno-Ugric tribes and nationalities in the north, northwest and northeast of the European part modern Russia.

This is a collective name. At first all northwestern Finns were called this. Then historians confused the Chud with the Estonians - the Finno-Ugric Baltic people. One of the versions of the origin of the word “Chud” is that the language of Chud was incomprehensible, “wonderful”. Regarding the Chud people in historical sources stable turnover was maintained. Chud Zavolochskaya - this is what they said in relation to the ancestors of the modern Komi people living on the territory of the Komi Republic Russian Federation(sometimes they said Chud Zavolotskaya). Chud Pskovskaya is the name given to the Seto people (sometimes they say Seto people), which belongs to the Finno-Ugric group of peoples.

The Seto people live in the Pechora region of the modern Pskov region of Russia and in the adjacent regions of Estonia (Võrumaa and Põlvamaa counties), which until 1920 were part of the Pskov province of Russia. The historical area of ​​residence of the Seto people is called Setumaa (literally - Land of Seto).

It is difficult to establish the exact number of Setos, since this people, not included in the lists of peoples living on the territory of Russia and Estonia, was subjected to strong absorption by other peoples (assimilation), but the data of 10 thousand people is more often voiced. In population censuses, Setos usually recorded themselves as Estonian or Russian.

Modern Chud are the descendants of the Zavolotsk Chud, which written sources place within the boundaries of the current Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions. Despite the similarities and family ties with the Vepsian world, Chud clearly separates itself from the Vepsians themselves, as well as from the Western Komi, who were adjacent to Chud. In the 20th century, after the return of the majority of Finno-Ugric peoples to their indigenous names (Vadyalaiset, Bepsya, Izuri, Komi, Komi-Mort), the word “Chud” seemed to have lost its owner. Only this helped small groups of the Finno-Ugric population in the Arkhangelsk region find given name, using the word “chud” for self-designation. The authorities of Arkhangelsk were unpleasantly surprised by the appearance of people who designated their nationality during the 2002 census as “Chud”. Attempts were made to classify this fact as a curiosity, placing Chud self-determination on the same level as the marginal “elves, Cossacks, goblins.” However, today it is a generally accepted fact that the indigenous peoples of the Arkhangelsk region are not only Russians and Pomors, but also Chud.

Vesya was the name given to one of the most ancient peoples who lived in the northern part of the territory of the Russian state. All these people were called Slavs. There are many controversial points of view about the roots of this people. The people named “Ves” are considered to be of Chud origin; the similarity of the name of this people with the name “Vody”, unproven by historians, makes it possible to believe that they reached in the west the settlements of the “Vody” people, i.e., to Lake Ladoga and the Volkhov River. Our chronicle mentions that “the whole”, together with the “Varangians, Chud, Slovenians, Merya and Krivichi”, took part in Oleg the Prophet’s campaign against Smolensk and Kyiv against Askold and Dir.

According to the chronicles, tribes with the name “Ves” lived in the area White Lake on the territory of the modern Vologda region. According to historical toponymy, the Vesi tribes occupied the territory from the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga to White Lake. It is assumed that the “All” people were known to Arab geographers of the 10th-14th centuries. under the name of the “Visu” people, who lived north of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria (a state that existed in the 10th-13th centuries in the middle Volga region and the Kama River basin) and neighboring Ugra (the modern Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation).

In the old days, Ugra was the name given to the lands between the Pechora River and the Northern Urals. Ugra was also called ancient population these lands of the Finno-Ugric people, preserved in the person of the Voguls and Ostyaks. The Ostyaks then began to be called Khanty by their self-name (hante - man), and the Voguls began to be called Mansi, also by their self-name: Mansi Makhum (Mansi people).

From the end of the 12th century to the 1470s, Yugra was owned by Velikiy Novgorod- Novgorod feudal republic - a state that existed in the North-West of the Russian Plain in the 12th-15th centuries. The population of Ugra paid tribute to the Novgorodians in furs and walrus ivory. Over time, as the power of the Moscow Grand Duchy grew, Ugra came into its possession.

Bulgarian merchants traded with the Ves people, exporting furs in exchange for metal products. The Belozersk group of “vesi” was already part of the Old Russian state from the 9th century ( Kievan Rus) and partially Russified. The descendants of the “vesi” are the modern “Vepsians” and, presumably, the Ludic Karelians and Livvik Karelians. Although the Ludic Karelians or simply Ludics, and the Livvik Karelians or Olonets Karelians belong to the Karelian people, they differ significantly in culture and language (even to differences in alphabets) from the Karelians themselves. Ludics and Livviks live on the shores of Lake Onega.

Vepsians are the Finno-Ugric people who have been living in the modern territory of the Republic of Karelia, Vologda and Leningrad regions of the Russian Federation since ancient times. Currently, these people have indigenous status small people Russia. The self-name of the Vepsians is Vepsya, bepsya, vepslyayzhed, bepslaajed, lyudinikad. Until 1917, the Vepsian people were officially called the “Chud” people, although the name Chud historically for Russians was a collective name for a number of Finno-Ugric tribes and peoples, because they spoke wonderfully. Depending on the historical chronology and the meaning of the word “chud” is somewhat different depending on the territory of use. Currently, there are three groups of Vepsians: northern, middle and southern Vepsians.

Northern or Onega Vepsians live on the southwestern coast of Lake Onega. In the south of Karelia, on the border with the Leningrad region, there was previously located the territory of the former Vepsian national volost with its capital in the village of Sheltozero, abolished in 2005.

Middle (Oyat) Vepsians live in the northeast of the modern Leningrad region and in the northwest of the Vologda region, in the upper and middle reaches of the river. Oyat, the left tributary of the Svir River, in the area of ​​​​the sources of the Kapsha and Pasha rivers (emphasis on the last syllable). The Kapsha River is a right tributary of the Pasha River, and the Pasha River is a left tributary of the Svir River. Both rivers belong to the Lake Ladoga basin and flow through the territory of the modern Leningrad region. The source of the Kapsha River is Kapshozero. From west to east, the lake has a highly elongated shape, its length is about 13 km and its width is less than 1 km.

Southern Vepsians live on the southern slopes of the Vepsian Upland. This hill is also called Vepsian. It is located between the Onega, Ladoga and White lakes, and is part of the watershed of the rivers of the Baltic and Caspian seas and reaches 304 m above sea level. The hill is composed of limestones, is characterized by hilly terrain, and is replete with karst sinkholes, lakes and swamps. The Vepsian Upland occupies part of the territory of the east of the Leningrad region and the north-west of the Vologda region.
Historians suggest that the Vepsians separated from other Baltic-Finnish peoples around the second half of the first millennium new era and settled on the southeastern coast of Lake Ladoga.

The earliest mentions of the Vepsians in historical sources belong to the Gothic historian Jordan, although he called the Vepsians by the name “you”. Russian chronicles in the 11th century called the Vepsian people “vesya,” but in the land inventories of the population (Russian scribal books), which appeared in the 14th century, the Vepsians were called Chudya. Arab travelers, for example, Ibn Fadlan (Ahmed ibn Almer Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hammad), who lived in the first half of the 10th century and ended up in Volga-Kama Bulgaria and Khazaria as part of the embassy of his caliph, left notes in which he outlined and what I saw and what I heard. In particular, he mentions the Visu people, who brought beautiful furs.

The name of the people “Ves” is associated with the Baltic-Finnish tribes that lived around the 7th century BC. until the 7th century AD on the territory of modern Moscow, Tver, Vologda, Vladimir, Yaroslavl and Smolensk regions of Russia. This is evidenced by archaeological data from the remains of found Vesi settlements, which are associated with the so-called Dyakovo archaeological culture. The name is archaeological finds received the Dyakov settlement near the village of Dyakovo (city of Moscow, on the modern territory of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve).

Excavations began back in 1864 and lasted forty years. They began with the Russian archaeologist Professor Dmitry Yakovlevich Samokvasov (1843-1911). Then they were continued by another Russian archaeologist Vladimir Ilyich Sizov (1840-1904), one of the founders of the Historical Museum in Moscow, a member of the Moscow Archaeological Society. A generalization of the results of the excavations of the Dyakov settlement was made by the Russian-Soviet archaeologist Alexander Andreevich Spitsin (1858-1931).

A. A. Spitsin is known not only as a venerable archaeologist, but also as a school friend of K. E. Tsiolkovsky at the Vyatka gymnasium. In 1891, while in Borovsk for research purposes - A. A. Spitsyn conducted research on ancient human sites in the area of ​​​​the St. Pafnutev Borovsky Monastery and at the mouth of the Isterma River - he stayed for several days with K. E. Tsiolkovsky, who was teaching at that time mathematics at the Borovsky School. Spitsin helped K. E. Tsiolkovsky publish his first book about a metal airship of an original design. Correspondence between scientists continued until 1931. Since 1892, Professor A. A. Spitsin was an employee of the Russian Imperial Archaeological Commission, transformed in 1919 into Russian Academy history of material culture. He was a unique specialist in medieval Russian inscriptions and dating of archaeological sites. It was A. A. Spitsin who gave general characteristics Dyakovo archaeological culture.

The carriers of the Dyakovo culture are usually considered the ancestors of the Meri and Vesi tribes, and the tribes of the related Gorodets culture were the ancestors of the Murom, Meshchera, and Mordovian people. Gorodetskaya archaeological culture according to the assumption of many researchers, since the 1930s. associated with the tribes of the Volga Finns (Mordovians and Mari). However, this is currently being revised in connection with the revision of the previously prevailing theory of the autochthonous origin of the overwhelming majority of peoples who inhabited the territory of modern Russia in ancient times. The term autochthonous comes from the Greek word local (aut chth n). IN scientific literature this term is widely used to denote the dominance of local phenomena as opposed to those introduced from outside.

On their main territory between Lakes Onega and Lake Ladoga, the Vepsians lived from the end of the first millennium of the new era, gradually moving east. Some groups of Vepsians left these lands and joined other peoples, merging with other ethnic groups. For example, in the XII-XV centuries the Vepsians, who penetrated into the regions north of the river Svir, they became Karelians-Ludiks and Karelians-Livviks. In contrast, the northern Vepsians are descendants of later settlers who were not mixed with the Karelians. The main part of the Vepsians until the last third of the 15th century lived within the boundaries of the Obonezh Pyatina of the Novgorod Land, and after the annexation of Novgorod to the Moscow State, the Vepsians were included in the number of state (black-mush) draft peasants. This is how in Russia of the 16th-17th centuries they called personally independent (non-serf) peasants who bore taxes in favor of Russian state, and not in favor of the landowner. Tax was the name given to the system of monetary and in-kind state duties of peasants and townspeople in the Russian state in the 15th century. - early XVIII century, and the basic salary unit of the tax population was called a plow. At the beginning of the 18th century, the northern Vepsians were assigned to the Olonetsky (Petrovsky) metallurgical and weapons factories, and the Oyat Vepsians were assigned to the shipyard in Lodeynoye Pole, a place located on the left bank of the Svir River 200 km from St. Petersburg.

For a long time it was customary to associate them with the Finno-Ugric peoples, since they were mentioned in places where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples lived or still live.

But the folklore of the latter also preserves legends about the mysterious ancient Chud people, whose representatives left their lands and went somewhere, not wanting to accept Christianity.

They talk especially a lot about them in the Komi Republic. So they say that the ancient tract Vazhgort “Old Village” in the Udora region was once a Chud settlement. From there they were allegedly driven out by Slavic newcomers. In the Kama region you can learn a lot about the Chud: local residents describe their appearance (dark-haired and dark-skinned), language, and customs. They say that they lived in dugouts in the middle of the forests, where they buried themselves, refusing to submit to more successful invaders.

There is even a legend that “the Chud went underground”: they dug a large hole with an earthen roof on pillars, and then collapsed it, preferring death to captivity. But none popular belief, no chronicle mention can answer the questions: what kind of tribes were they, where did they go and whether their descendants are still alive.

Some ethnographers attribute them to the Mansi peoples, others to representatives of the Komi people who chose to remain pagans. The boldest version, which appeared after the discovery of Arkaim and the “Land of Cities” of Sintashta, claims that the Chud are ancient arias. But for now one thing is clear, the Chud are one of the aborigines ancient Rus' that we have lost.

Merya

Unlike Chud, Mary had a “more transparent story.” This ancient Finno-Ugric tribe once lived in the territories of modern Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Tver, Vladimir and Kostroma regions of Russia. That is, in the very center of our country. There are many references to them; merins are found in the Gothic historian Jordan, who in the 6th century called them tributaries of the Gothic king Germanaric. Like the Chud, they were in the troops of Prince Oleg when he went on campaigns against Smolensk, Kyiv and Lyubech, as recorded in the Tale of Bygone Years. True, according to some scientists, in particular Valentin Sedov, by that time ethnically they were no longer a Volga-Finnish tribe, but “half Slavs.” Final assimilation apparently occurred by the 16th century.

Door to the kingdom of Chudi

By opening the list of languages ​​and nationalities of the Russian Federation approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia, you can learn a lot of interesting things. For example, the fact that in Russia there are people who consider themselves to be among the mythical people of wizards is a miracle.

Most likely this is a misunderstanding. After all, according to the legends of the north of Russia, these people went to live underground more than a thousand years ago. However, in Karelia and the Urals, even today you can hear eyewitness accounts of a meeting with representatives of the Chud. The famous ethnographer of Karelia, Alexey Popov, told us about one of these meetings.

Alexey, how plausible is the story of the existence of the Chud, this mythical people?

Of course, the miracle really existed, and then went away. But it’s not known exactly where. Ancient legends say that underground. Moreover, surprisingly, there is a mention of this people even in Nestor’s “Tale of Bygone Years”: “... the Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on the Chud, Slovenes, Merya and Krivichi, and the Khazars from the glades, northerners, and Vyatichi took tribute in silver coins and the verite (squirrel) from the smoke.” It is also known from the chronicles that in 1030 Yaroslav the Wise made a campaign against Chud “and defeated them and established the city of Yuryev.” Today it is one of the largest cities in modern Estonia - Tartu. At the same time, on the territory of Russia there is a huge number of toponymic names reminiscent of the mysterious people who once lived here, but the people themselves are not there, as if they never existed.

What did the chud look like?

According to most researchers, ethnographers and historians, these were creatures that looked very much like European gnomes. They lived on the territory of Russia until the ancestors of the Slavs and Finno-Ugrians came here. In the modern Urals, for example, there are still legends about unexpected helpers of people - short, white-eyed creatures that appear from nowhere and help travelers lost in the forests of the Perm region.

You said that the chud went underground...

If we summarize numerous legends, it turns out that the miracle descended into dugouts, which it itself dug in the ground, and then blocked all the entrances. True, the dugouts could well have been entrances to caves. This means that it was in the underground caves that this mythical people hid. At the same time, completely break with outside world they most likely failed. For example, in the north of the Komi-Permyak Okrug, in the Gain region, according to the stories of researchers and hunters, you can still find unusual bottomless wells filled with water. Local residents believe that these are wells of ancient people leading to underworld. They never take water from them

Are there any known places where the miracle went underground?

Today no one knows the exact places; only numerous versions are known according to which similar places are located in the north of Russia or in the Urals. It is interesting that the epics of the Komi and the Sami tell the same story about the departure of the “little people” into the dungeons. If you believe ancient legends, then the Chud went to live in earthen pits in the forests, hiding from the Christianization of those places. Until now, both in the north of the country and in the Urals, there are earthen hills and mounds called Chud graves. They supposedly contain treasures “sworn” by miracles.

N.K. Roerich was very interested in the legends of miracles. In his book “The Heart of Asia,” he directly tells how one Old Believer showed him a rocky hill with the words: “This is where the Chud went underground. This happened when the White Tsar came to Altai to fight, but the Chud did not want to live under the White Tsar. The chud went underground and blocked the passages with stones...” However, as N.K. Roerich stated in his book, the chud should return to earth when certain teachers from Belovodye come and bring great science for humanity. Allegedly, then the miracle will emerge from the dungeons along with all its treasures. Great traveler He even dedicated the painting “The Miracle Has Gone Under the Ground” to this legend.

Or maybe the Chud meant some other people, whose descendants still live happily in Russia?

There is also such a version. Indeed, legends about the miracle are most popular precisely in the places of settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples, which include the Komi-Permyaks. But! There is one inconsistency here: the descendants of the Finno-Ugric peoples themselves always spoke about the Chud as about some other people.

Legends, just legends... Are there real monuments left by the miracle that you can touch with your hands?

Of course have! This is, for example, the well-known Sekirnaya Mountain (local historians also call it Chudova Gora) on the Solovetsky archipelago. Its very existence is surprising, because the glacier, passing through these places, cut off, like a sharp knife, all the unevenness of the landscape - and there simply cannot be large mountains here! So the 100-meter-high Miracle Mountain looks on this surface like an obviously man-made object of some kind ancient civilization. At the beginning of the 2000s, scientists who examined the mountain confirmed that it is partly of glacial origin, and partly of artificial origin - the large boulders of which it consists are not laid chaotically, but in a certain order.

And what, the creation of this mountain is attributed to a miracle?

Archaeologists have long established that the Solovetsky archipelago, centuries before the monks came here, belonged to local residents. In Novgorod they were called Chudya; their neighbors called them “Sikirtya”. The word is curious, because translated from ancient local dialects “shrt” is the name of a large, long, elongated mound. Thus, an elongated haystack is directly called a “stack”. It is obvious that ancient people neighbors called them sikirtya for their life in “mounded hills” - houses built from improvised materials: moss, branches, stones. This version is also confirmed by the ancient Novgorodians - in their chronicles they note that the Sikirtya live in caves and do not know iron.

You mentioned mysterious encounters with miracles in Karelia and the Urals these days. Are they real?

To be honest, knowing many similar stories, I always treated them with a fair amount of skepticism. Until, at the end of the summer of 2012, an incident occurred that made me believe in the real existence of this mythical people in the mountains or underground. Here is how it was. At the end of August, I received a letter with a photograph from an ethnographer who, in the summer months, works part-time as a tour guide on a ship on the Kem-Solovki route. The information was so unexpected that I contacted him. So. The photo showed a rock in which the outline of a large stone door could be discerned. To my question: “What is this?” - the guide told an amazing story. It turns out that in the summer of 2012, he and a group of tourists sailed past one of the islands of the Kuzov archipelago. The ship sailed close to the shore, and people looked at it with pleasure. picturesque rocks. The guide at this time told them stories about mysterious encounters with the mythical miracle-sikirtya. Suddenly one of the tourists screamed heart-rendingly, pointing to the shore. The whole group immediately turned their gaze to the rock to which the woman was pointing.

The whole action lasted a few seconds, but the tourists managed to see a huge (three meters by one and a half meters) stone door closing in the rock, hiding the silhouette of a small creature behind it. The guide literally tore the camera from his neck and tried to take a few pictures. Unfortunately, the shutter of his camera clicked when only the silhouette of a stone door remained visible. A second later he disappeared too. This was the first case of mass observation of the entrance to the dungeons of the Chud. After this event, there is no need to doubt the reality of the existence of this legendary people in the rocks and underground!