Everything about The Meshchera totally explained
The
Meshchera (
Meshchyora) were a
Finno-Ugric tribe which lived in the territory between the
Oka River and the
Klyazma river. It was a land of forests,
bogs and lakes. The area is still called the
Meshchera Lowlands.
The name may be related to
mesh (meaning "bee" in the Mordvinian
Moksha language),
erzya (the self-designation of the Mordvinians speaking the
Erzya language) and
Eritsia (meaning "inhabitant" or "local" in the same language). Consequently, the name may mean "beekeepers", a fitting name considering the traditional importance of beekeeping in the area.
Records
The first Russian written source which mentions them is the
Tolkovaya Paleya, from the 13th century. They are also mentioned in several later Russian chronicles from the period before the 16th century. This is in stark contrast to the related tribes
Merya and
Murom, which appear to have been assimilated by the
East Slavs by the 10th and the 11th centuries.
Ivan II, prince of Moscow, wrote in his will, 1358, about the village Meshcherka, which he'd bought from the native Meshcherian chieftain
Alexander Ukovich. The village appears to have been converted to the
Christian Orthodox faith and to have been a vassal of
Muscovy.
Several documents mention the Meshchera concerning the
Kazan campaign by
Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. These accounts concern a state of Meshchera (known under a tentative name of
Temnikov Meshchera, after its central town of
Temnikov) which had been assimilated by the
Mordvins and the
Tatars.
Prince
A. M. Kurbsky wrote that the
Mordvin language was spoken in the lands of the Meshchera.
Archaeology
In the village of
Zhabki (
Egorievsk district,
Moscow Oblast), Meshchera burial sites were found in 1870. Women's bronze decorations identified as
Finno-Ugric were found and dated to the 5th-8th centuries. Very similar finds soon appeared in the
Ryazan Oblast and the
Vladimir Oblast, enabling archaeologists to establish what characterized the material culture of the Meshchera. 12 such sites were found from the
Moskva River, along the
Oka River to the town
Kasimov. The general opinion is nowadays, that the Oka-Ryazan culture is identical to that of the Meshchera.
The graves of women have yielded objects typical of the Volga Finns, of the 4th-7th centuries, consisting of
rings, jingling
pendants,
buckles and
torcs. A specific feature was round breast plates with a characteristic ornamentation.
Some of the graves contained well-preserved
copper oxides of the decorations with long black hair locked into small bells into which were woven pendants.
It appears from the remains that
Slavic tribes arrived into Meshcheran territories in the period 10th-12th centuries.
Disappearance
In the
Oka river valley, the Meshchera culture appears to have disappeared by the 11th century. There are no indications of genocide, but the fast changes appear to show that the Meshchera were partially pushed away by the Slavs.
In the
marshy north, they appear to have stayed and to have been converted into the
Orthodox faith. The Slavs were not as interested in the wetlands and allowed the Meshchera to stay for some time. The Meshchera nobility appears to have been converted and assimilated by the 13th century, but the common Meshchera huntsman and fisherman may have kept elements of their language and beliefs for a longer period. In the 16th century, the St Nicholas monastery was founded in
Radovitsky in order to convert the remaining Meshchera pagans. It is possible that they still spoke their old language.
The princely family
Meschersky in Russia derives its nobility from having originally been native rulers of some of these Finnic tribes.
Remaining ethnic influence
Ethnographers treat the modern Meshchera as a local group within the Russian ethnos. These Russian-speakers live in the massive forests on the frontier between the
Moscow,
Ryazan and
Vladimir Oblasts. Some Meshchera also appear in the regions of
Tambov,
Penza and
Saratov Oblasts. They are generally dark and of medium height and they continue to live as fishermen, bee-keepers and huntsmen.
External source
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