Burtas (Russian: Буртасы, Burtasy; Chuvash: Пăртассем, Părtassem; Tatar: Cyrillic Бортаслар, Latin Bortas, Arabic بُرطاس) were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting the steppe region north of the Caspian Sea in medieval times (modern Penza Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast and Saratov Oblast of the Russian Federation). They were subject to the Khazars.
The ethnic identity of the Burtas is disputed, with several different theories ranging from them being a Uralic tribal confederacy (probably later assimilated to Turkic language), and therefore perhaps the ancestors of the modern Moksha people.[1][2]
Some scholars maintain that the Burtas are supposed to be Turkic-speaking and ethnically related wwith the Volga Bulgars.[3][4]
Recently some scholars have suggested that the Burtas were Alans or another Iranian ethnolinguistic group. An Alanic (Sarmatian) origin would also explain their name as furt/fort ('big river' in Middle Iranian language or 'beehive' in Turkic language)[5] and the Alanic endonym as.[6][7]
References
- ^ Брасос — Веш. — М. : Советская энциклопедия, 1971. — 600 с. — (Большая советская энциклопедия : [в 30 т.] / гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров ; 1969—1978, т. 4).
- ^ Новосельцев А. П. Хазарское государство и его роль в истории Восточной Европы и Кавказа, гл.2, прим.96., гл.4 прим. 186—187.
- ^ Халиков, А. Х. К вопросу об этнической территории буртасов во второй половине VIII — начале Х вв. //Советская этнография. № 5.1985. — С. 161—164
- ^ Пензенская Энциклопедия Архивная копия retrieved 16. Dez. 2008 at Wayback Machine
- ^ Афанасьев Г. Е. Буртасы и лесостепной вариант салтово-маяцкой культуры // Советская этнография. — 1985. № 3.
- ^ Галкина Е. С. Тайны Русского каганата М., 2002
- ^ Буртасы // БРЭ. Т.4. М.,2006.
Literature
- Kevin Alan Brook. The Jews of Khazaria. 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2010.ISBN 978-0-7425-4981-4
- "Бортаслар". Tatar Encyclopaedia (in Tatar). Kazan: The Republic of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. Institution of the Tatar Encyclopaedia. 2002.