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{{Infobox ethnic group
|group     = Tatars
|image     = 
|caption   = 
| population =  c. 6,200,000-13,000,000{{fact|date=April 2017}}
| region1    = {{flag|Russia}} (excluding the Republic of Crimea)
| pop1       = 5,319,877
| ref1       = 
| region2    = {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
| pop2       = 477,875
| ref2       = 
| region3    = {{flag|Ukraine}} (including Crimea)
| pop3       = 319,377-390,000
|ref3       = 
| region4    = {{flag|Kazakhstan}}
| pop4       = 204,903
| ref4       = 
| region5    = {{Flag|Turkey}}
| pop5       = 175,500-6,000,000
| ref5       = 
| region6    = {{Flag|Turkmenistan}}
| pop6       = 36,355
| ref6       = 
| region7    = {{Flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
| pop7       = 28,334
| ref7       = 
| region8    = {{flagcountry|Azerbaijan}}
| pop8       = 25,900
| ref8       = 
| region9    = {{Flag|Romania}}
| pop9       = 24,137
| ref9       =  
| region10   = {{Flag|Belarus}}
| pop10       = 7,300
| ref10       =  
| region11   = {{Flag|United States}}
| pop11      = 7,000
| ref11       = 
| region12   = {{Flag|Lithuania}}
| pop12      = 6,800-7,200
| ref12       =  
| region13   = {{Flag|China}}
| pop13       = 5,000
| ref13      =  
| region14   = {{Flag|Canada}}
| pop14      = 2,850
| ref14     =  
| region15   = {{Flag|Estonia}}
| pop15      = 1,981
| ref15     =  
| region16   = {{Flag|Poland}}
| pop16     = 1,916
| ref16       = 
| region17  = {{Flag|Bulgaria}}
| pop17       = 1,803
| ref17       = 
| region18  = {{Flag|Finland}}
| pop18     = 900
| ref18   = 
| languages        = [[Tatar languages (disambiguation)|Tatar languages]]
| religions = Predominantly [[Sunni Islam]]<br>Minority [[Orthodox Christianity]], [[Irreligion]]
| related          = [[Turkic peoples]]

}}
[[File:Map-Kypchak Language World.png|thumb|Contemporary distribution of [[Kipchak languages]]: <span style="background-color:#FF0000;color:white;">&nbsp;Kipchak–Bolgar&nbsp;</span>
<span style="background-color:#00B927;color:white;">&nbsp;Kipchak–Cuman&nbsp;</span>
<span style="background-color:#FF8400;color:white;">&nbsp;Kipchak–Nogay and Kyrgyz–Kipchak&nbsp;</span>]]
[[File:Szigetvar 1566.jpg|thumb|Ottoman miniature of the [[Siege of Szigetvár|Szigetvár campaign]] showing Ottoman troops and [[Crimean Khanate|Tatars]] as vanguard.]]

The '''Tatars''' are a [[Turkic people]]<ref name="global.britannica.com">http://global.britannica.com/topic/Tatar</ref> living in Asia and Europe who were one of the five major tribal confederations (''khanlig'') in the [[Mongolian plateau]] in the 12th century CE. The name "Tatar" first appears in written form on the [[Kul Tigin]] monument as 𐱃𐱃𐰺 (''TaTaR''). Historically, the term "Tatars" [[exonym|was applied to]] a variety of [[Turco-Mongol]] semi-[[nomadic empires]] who controlled the vast region known as [[Tartary]]. More recently, however, the term refers more narrowly to people who speak one of the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]<ref name="global.britannica.com"/> languages.

The [[Mongol Empire]], established under [[Genghis Khan]] in 1206, [[wikt:subjugation|subjugated]] the Tatars. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan's grandson [[Batu Khan]] (c. 1207–1255), the Mongols moved westwards, driving with them many of the Mongol tribes toward the plains of Russia. The "Tatar" clan still exists among the [[Mongols]] and [[Hazaras]].

The largest group by far that the Russians have called "Tatars" are the [[Volga Tatars]], native to the [[Volga region]] ([[Tatarstan]] and [[Bashkortostan]]), who for this reason are often also simply known as "Tatars", with their language known as the [[Tatar language]]. {{As of | 2002}} they had an estimated population close to 6 million.

==Name==
[[File:Vladimir mongols.jpg|thumb|Drawing of Mongols of the [[Golden Horde]] outside [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]] presumably demanding submission, before sacking the city.]]

The name "Tatar" likely originated amongst the nomadic [[Tatar confederation]] in the north-eastern [[Gobi]] desert in the 5th century.<ref name="BritannicaTatar">'''Tatar'''. (2006). In ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Retrieved October 28, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9071375</ref> The name "Tatar" was first recorded on the [[Orkhon inscriptions]]: [[Kul Tigin]] (CE 732) and [[Bilge Khagan]] (CE 735) monuments as [[File:Old Turkic letter N1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter D1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter O.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter B1.svg|10px]]:[[File:Old Turkic letter R1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]]:[[File:Old Turkic letter Z.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter O.svg|10px]] ''Otuz Tatar Bodun'' ('Thirty Tatar' tribe)<ref>{{cite web|title=Kül Tiğin (Gültekin) Yazıtı Tam Metni (Full text of Kul Tigin monument with Turkish transcription)|url=http://gokturkanitlari.appspot.com/kultigin.html|accessdate=5 April 2014}}</ref> and [[File:Old Turkic letter R1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]]:[[File:Old Turkic letter Z.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter OQ.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]] ''Tokuz Tatar'' ('Nine Tatar')<ref>{{cite web|title=Bilge Kağan Yazıtı Tam Metni (Full text of Bilge Khagan monument with Turkish transcription)|url=http://gokturkanitlari.appspot.com/bilgekagan.html|accessdate=5 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Kultegin’s Memorial Complex|url=http://irq.kaznpu.kz/?mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&lang=e|accessdate=5 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Ross|first=E. Denison|author2=Vilhelm Thomsen |title=The Orkhon Inscriptions: Being a Translation of Professor Vilhelm Thomsen's Final Danish Rendering|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London|volume= 5| issue =  4, 1930|pages=861–876|jstor=607024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Thomsen|first=Vilhelm Ludvig Peter|title=Inscriptions de l'Orkhon déchiffrées|year=1896|publisher=Helsingfors, Impr. de la Société de littérature finnoise|page=140|url=https://archive.org/details/inscriptionsdel00thomgoog}}</ref> referring to the Tatar confederation.

"Tatar" became a name for populations of the former Golden Horde in Europe, such as those of the former [[Kazan]], Crimean, Astrakhan, Qasim, and Siberian Khanates. The form "Tartar" has its origins in either [[Latin]] or [[French language|French]], coming to Western European languages from [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] (''tātār'', "mounted messenger").  From the beginning, the extra ''r'' was present in the Western forms, and according to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] this was most likely due to an association with ''[[Tartarus]]''.<ref>citing a letter to St Louis of Frances dated 1270 which makes the connection explicit, "In the present danger of the Tartars either we shall push them back into the Tartarus whence they are come, or they will bring us all into heaven"</ref>

The Persian word is first recorded in the 13th century in reference to the hordes of [[Genghis Khan]] and is of unknown origin, according to ''[[OED]]'' "said to be" ultimately from ''tata'', a name of the Mongols for themselves. The [[Arabic]] word for Tatars is تتار. Tatars themselves wrote their name as تاتار or طاطار. The Chinese term for Tatars was ''Dada'' 韃靼, especially after the end of the [[Yuan period]] (14th century), but also recorded as a term for Mongolian-speaking peoples of the northern steppes during the [[Tang period]] (8th century).<ref>Chen Dezhi 陳得芝, Jia Jingyan 賈敬顔 (1992). "Dada 達靼", in: ''Zhongguo da baike quanshu'' 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 1, pp. 132-133. Cited after 
"[http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/tatars.html Dada 韃靼 Tatars]" by  Ulrich Theobald, chinaknowledge.de.</ref><!-- also written 達打, 達靼, 達達, Dadan 達怛, 達旦, Tatan 塔壇, Tatar 塔塔兒 --> The name "Tatars" was used as an alternative term for the [[Shiwei]], a nomadic confederation to which these Tatar people belonged.

Russians and Europeans used the name ''Tatar'' to denote Mongols as well as Turkic peoples under Mongol rule (especially in the [[Golden Horde]]). Later, it applied to any Turkic- or Mongolic-speaking people encountered by Russians. Eventually, however, the name became associated with the Turkic Muslims of [[Ukraine]] and [[Russia]], namely the descendants of [[Volga Bulgaria|Muslim Volga Bulgars]], [[Kipchaks]], [[Cumans]], and Turkicized Mongols or Turko-Mongols ([[Nogais]]), as well as other Turkic-speaking peoples ([[Siberian Tatars]], [[Qasim Khanate|Qasim Tatars]], and [[Mishar Tatars]])<ref>'''Encyclopædia Britannica''': Tatar, also spelled Tartar,  any member of several Turkic-speaking peoples ... [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/584107/Tatar]</ref><ref>'''The Columbia Encyclopedia''': Tatars (tä´tərz) or Tartars (tär´tərz), Turkic-speaking peoples living primarily in Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Tatars.aspx#2]</ref><ref>'''Meriam-Webster''': Tatar – a member of any of a group of Turkic peoples found mainly in the Tatar Republic of Russia and parts of Siberia and central Asia [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tatar]</ref><ref>'''Oxford Dictionaries''': Tatar – a member of a Turkic people living in Tatarstan and various other parts of Russia and Ukraine.[http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Tatar]</ref><ref>'''Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa''': Turks are an ethnolinguistic group living in a broad geographic expanse extending from southeastern Europe through Anatolia and the Caucasus Mountains and throughout Central Asia. Thus Turks include the Turks of Turkey, the Azeris of Azerbaijan, and the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Turkmen, and Uzbeks of Central Asia, as well as many smaller groups in Asia speaking Turkic languages. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Turks.aspx#4]</ref> in the territory of the former [[Russian Empire]] (and as such generally includes all [[Northwestern Turkic]]-speaking peoples).<ref>'''Encyclopædia Britannica''': Tatar, also spelled Tartar,  any member of several Turkic-speaking peoples ... [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/584107/Tatar] '''The Columbia Encyclopedia''': Tatars (tä´tərz) or Tartars (tär´tərz), Turkic-speaking peoples living primarily in Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Tatars.aspx#2] '''Meriam-Webster''': Tatar – a member of any of a group of Turkic peoples found mainly in the Tatar Republic of Russia and parts of Siberia and central Asia [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tatar] '''Oxford Dictionaries''': Tatar – a member of a Turkic people living in Tatarstan and various other parts of Russia and Ukraine. They are the descendants of the Tartars who ruled central Asia in the 14th century. [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Tatar] '''Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa''': Turks are an ethnolinguistic group living in a broad geographic expanse extending from southeastern Europe through Anatolia and the Caucasus Mountains and throughout Central Asia. Thus Turks include the Turks of Turkey, the Azeris of Azerbaijan, and the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Turkmen, and Uzbeks of Central Asia, as well as many smaller groups in Asia speaking Turkic languages. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Turks.aspx#4]
</ref>

Nowadays ''Tatar'' is usually used to refer to the people, but ''Tartar'' is still almost always used for derived terms such as [[tartar sauce]] or [[steak tartare]].<ref name="OED">[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50247333 "Tartar, Tatar, n.2 (a.)"]. (1989). In ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Retrieved 11 September 2008, from Oxford English Dictionary Online.</ref>

All Turkic peoples living within the Russian Empire were named ''Tatar'' (as a Russian [[exonym]]). Some of these populations still use ''Tatar'' as a self-designation, others do not.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ru:Татары|url=http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/encyclopedia/index.php?title=Татары|publisher=Энциклопедия «Вокруг света»|accessdate=29 May 2014|language=ru}}</ref>

*Kipchak groups
**Kipchak–Bulgar branch, or "[[Tatar language|Tatar]]" in the narrow sense
*** [[Volga Tatars]]
*** [[Astrakhan Tatars]]
*** [[Lipka Tatars]]
**Kipchak–Cuman branch
*** [[Crimean Tatars]]
*** [[Karachays]] and [[Balkars]]: ''Mountain Tatars''
*** [[Kumyks]]: ''Daghestan Tatars''
**Kipchak–Nogai branch: 
***[[Nogais]]: ''Nogai Tatars'', includes the  Karagash subgroup of [[Nogais]]—''Kundrov Tatars''
*[[Siberian Turkic|Siberian]] branch: 
**[[Siberian Tatars]]
** [[Altai people|Altay people]]: ''Altay Tatars'', including the [[Tubalar]] or ''Chernevo Tatars''<ref>The name originating from the name of [[Spruce-fir forests|Spruce-fir]] [[Taiga]] forests in Russian language: ''черневая тайга''</ref>
** [[Chulyms]] or ''Chulym Tatars''
** [[Khakas people]]: ''[[Yenisei River|Yenisei]] Tatars'' (also ''Abakan Tatars'' or ''Achin Tatars''), still use the ''Tatar'' designation
** [[Shors]]: ''[[Kuznetsk Basin|Kuznetsk]] Tatars''
*Oghuz branch
** [[Azerbaijani people]]: ''Caucasus Tatars'' (also ''Transcaucasia Tatars'' or ''Azerbaijan Tatars'')

The name ''Tatar'' is also an endonym to a number of [[Tungusic peoples]] of [[Siberia]] and [[Russian Far East]], namely the [[Khakas people]].

==History==
{{main article|History of Tatarstan|Volga Bulgaria}}
[[File:Witsen - Tartaria.jpg|thumb|Map of ''Tartaria'' (1705)]]
 
As various nomadic groups became part of [[Genghis Khan]]'s army in the early 13th century, a fusion of [[Mongol]] and Turkic elements took place, and the invaders of [[Kievan Rus'|Rus']] and the [[Pannonian Basin]] became known to Europeans as Tatars or Tartars (see [[Tatar yoke]]).<ref name="BritannicaTatar" /> After the breakup of the [[Mongol Empire]], the Tatars became especially identified with the western part of the empire, known as the [[Golden Horde]].<ref name="BritannicaTatar" />

The various Tatar [[khanate]]s of the early modern period represent the remnants of the breakup of the Golden Horde and of its successor, the [[Great Horde]]. These include:

* the [[Khanate of Kazan]] (1438), conquered by the Tsardom of Russia in 1552, but continued as a Russian vassal state within the [[Qasim Khanate]] (established 1452), until 1681
* the [[Nogai Horde]] (1440s), conquered by Russia in 1634
* the [[Khanate of Crimea]] (1441), conquered by the [[Russian Empire]] in 1783
* the [[Kazakh Khanate]] (1456), gradual [[Kazakhstan in the Russian Empire|Russian conquest]] in the 18th century, but finally absorbed  into the Russian Empire only in 1847
* the [[Khanate of Astrakhan]] (1466), conquered by Russia in 1556
* the [[Siberia Khanate|Tyumen Khanate]] (1468, later [[Khanate of Sibir]]), conquered by the [[Tsardom of Russia]] in 1598

The [[Mongol]] dominance in Central Asia was absolute during the 14th and 15th centuries. 
The [[Crimean-Nogai raids into East Slavic lands|Crimean-Nogai raids]] into Russia aimed especially at the capture of  [[slavery|slaves]], most of whom were exported to the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The raids were an important drain of the human and economic resources of both{{which|date=August 2016}} countries. They largely prevented the settlement of the "[[Wild Fields]]" – the steppe and forest-steppe land that extends from a hundred or so miles south of [[Moscow]] to the [[Black Sea]]. The raids were also important in the development of the [[Cossacks]].

The end of absolute Tatar dominance came in the late 15th century, heralded by the [[Great stand on the Ugra river]] in 1480. During the 16th through 18th centuries, the gradual [[Expansion of Russia 1500–1800|expansion of Russia]] led to the absorption of the Tatar khanates into Russian territory. The Crimean Tatars attacked Russia in 1507, followed by two centuries of [[Russo-Crimean Wars]] for the [[Volga River|Volga basin]]. Similarly, the [[Russo-Kazan Wars]] lasted for the best part of a century and ended with the Russian conquest of the Kazan khanate.

The last of the Tatar khanates, the [[Kazakhs]], remained independent until 1822. Their last ruler, [[Kenesary Khan]], was proclaimed khan of the Kazakhs when the Russian Empire was already fully in control of Kazakhstan; Russian law prohibited the Kazakhs from selecting their leader after 1822. The popular rise of Kenesary Khan was in defiance of Russian control of Kazakhstan, and his time as khan was spent on continuous fighting with the Russian imperial forces until his death in 1847.

==Languages==
{{further information|Kipchak languages}}
{{further information|Tatar language|Crimean Tatar language}}
The [[Tatar language]] together with the [[Bashkir language]] forms the Kypchak-Bolgar (also "Uralo-Caspian") group within the [[Kypchak languages]], also known as Northwestern Turkic.

There are three Tatar dialects: Eastern, Central, Western.<ref>[[Gabdulkhay Akhatov|Akhatov G.]] "Tatar dialectology". Kazan, 1984. (Tatar language)</ref> The [[Mishar Tatar dialect|Western dialect (Misher)]] is spoken mostly by Mishärs, the Central dialect is spoken by Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars, and the Eastern (Sibir) dialect is spoken by Siberian Tatars in western [[Siberia]]. All three dialects have subdialects. Central Tatar is the base of literary Tatar.

These [[Tatar language#Siberian Tatar|Siberian Tatar dialects]] are independent of Volga–Ural Tatar. The dialects are quite remote from Standard Tatar and from each other, often preventing [[Mutual intelligibility|mutual comprehension]]. The claim that this language is part of the modern Tatar language is typically supported by linguists in Kazan and denounced by Siberian Tatars.

[[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]]<ref>also called ''Crimean language'', ''Crimean Turkish''</ref> is the indigenous language of the [[Crimean Tatars|Crimean Tatar peoples]]. Because of its common name, Crimean ''Tatar'' is sometimes mistaken to be a dialect of [[Tatar language|Kazan Tatar]]. Although these languages are related (as both are Turkic), the Kypchak languages closest to Crimean Tatar are (as mentioned above) [[Kumyk language|Kumyk]] and [[Karachay-Balkar language|Karachay-Balkar]], not Kazan Tatar.

==Contemporary groups==

The majority of the Tatar population are [[Volga Tatars]], native to the [[Volga region]], and the [[Crimean Tatars]] of [[Crimea]]. There are smaller groups of [[Lipka Tatars]] and [[Astrakhan Tatars]] in [[Europe]] and the [[Siberian Tatars]] in Asia.

===Volga Tatars===
{{main article|Volga Tatars}}
[[File:Ареал расселения татар в России. По данным Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года.png|thumb|The area of the settlement of Tatars in Russia. According to the National Population Census 2010]]
The present territory of [[Tatarstan]] was inhabited by the [[Volga Bulgaria|Volga Bulgars]], who settled on the [[Volga]] river in the 7th century AD and converted to Islam in 922 during the missionary work of [[Ahmad ibn Fadlan]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} After the [[Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria|Mongol invasion]], Volga Bulgaria was annexed by the Golden Horde. Most of the population survived, and there may have been a certain degree of mixing between it and the [[Kipchak people|Kipchaks]] of the Horde during the ensuing period. The group as a whole accepted the [[Exonym and endonym|exonym]] "Tatars" (finally in the end of the 19th century; although the name [[Bulgars]] persisted in some places; the majority identified themselves simply as ''the Muslims'') and the language of the Kipchaks; on the other hand, the invaders eventually converted to Islam. As the Horde disintegrated in the 15th century, the area became the territory of the [[Kazan khanate]], which was [[Russo-Kazan wars|ultimately conquered by Russia]] in the 16th century.<!-- [[File:Old Turkic letter R1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter Z.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter T1.svg|10px]][[File:Old Turkic letter O.svg|10px]] Otuz Tatar Bodun ('Thirty Tatar' tribe).{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}} -->
 
Some Volga Tatars speak different dialects of [[Tatar language]]. Therefore, they form distinct groups such as the [[Mişär]] group and the Qasim group. [[Mişär-Tatars]] (or Mishars) are a group of Tatars speaking a dialect of the [[Tatar language]]. They live in [[Chelyabinsk Oblast|Chelyabinsk]], [[Tambov Oblast|Tambov]], [[Penza Oblast|Penza]], [[Ryazan Oblast|Ryazan]], [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Nizhegorodskaya]] oblasts of Russia and in [[Bashkortostan]] and [[Mordovia]]. They lived near and along the [[Volga River]], in Tatarstan. The Western Tatars have their capital in the town of Qasím ([[Kasimov]] in Russian transcription) in [[Ryazan Oblast]], with a Tatar population of 1100.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} A minority of Christianized Volga Tatars are known as [[Keräşens]].

The Volga Tatars used the Turkic [[Old Tatar language]] for their literature between the 15th and 19th centuries. It was written in the [[İske imlâ alphabet|İske imlâ]] variant of the [[Arabic script]], but actual spelling varied regionally. The older literary language included a large number of Arabic and Persian loanwords. The modern literary language, however, often uses Russian and other European-derived words instead.

Outside of Tatarstan, urban Tatars usually speak [[Russian language|Russian]] as their first language (in cities such as Moscow, [[Saint-Petersburg]], [[Nizhniy Novgorod]], [[Tashkent]], [[Almaty]], and cities of the [[Ural (region)|Ural]] and western Siberia) and other languages in a worldwide diaspora.

In the 1910s the Volga Tatars numbered about half a million in the [[Kazan Governorate]] in [[Tatarstan]], their historical homeland, about 400,000 in each of the governments of [[Ufa]], 100,000 in [[Samara, Russia|Samara]] and [[Simbirsk]], and about 30,000 in [[Kirov, Kirov Oblast|Vyatka]], [[Saratov]], [[Tambov]], [[Penza]], [[Nizhny Novgorod]], [[Perm]] and [[Orenburg]]. An additional 15,000 had migrated to [[Ryazan]] or were settled as prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries in [[Lithuania]] ([[Vilnius]], [[Hrodna|Grodno]] and [[Podolia]]). An additional 2000 resided in [[St. Petersburg, Russia|St. Petersburg]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

Most Kazan Tatars practice [[Sunni Islam]]. The Kazan Tatars speak the [[Tatar language]], a [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] language with a substantial amount of Russian and Arabic loanwords.

Before 1917, [[polygamy]] was practiced{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} only by the wealthier classes and was a waning institution.

There is an ethnic nationalist movement among Kazan Tatars that stresses descent from the [[Bulgars]] and is known as [[Bulgarism]] – there have been graffiti on the walls in the streets of Kazan with phrases such as [http://www.omda.bg/uploaded_files/pics/articles/kazan.jpg "Bulgaria is alive" (Булгария жива)]

A significant number of Volga Tatars emigrated during the [[Russian Civil War]], mostly to Turkey and [[Harbin]], China. [http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/premade/9052/autonomy.htm According to the Chinese government], there are still 5,100 Tatars living in [[Xinjiang]] province.

===Crimean Tatars===
{{main article|Crimean Tatars}}
[[File:Józef Brandt - Potyczka Kozaków z Tatarami.jpg|thumb|[[Cossacks]] fighting Tatars of [[Crimean Khanate|Crimea]].]]

The number of Crimean Tatars is estimated at 650,000. The Crimean Tatars emerged as a nation at the time of the [[Crimean Khanate]]. The [[Crimean Khanate]] was a Turkic-speaking Muslim state that was among the strongest powers in Eastern Europe until the beginning of the 18th century.<ref>Halil İnalcik, 1942 {{Page needed|date=June 2011}}</ref>

The nobles and rulers of the Crimean Tatars were the descendants of [[Hacı I Giray]], a [[Jochid]] descendant of [[Genghis Khan]], and of Batu Khan of the Mongol Golden Horde.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}} The Crimean Tatars mostly adopted Islam in the 14th century and thereafter Crimea became one of the centers of Islamic civilization. The Khanate was officially a vassal state of the [[Ottoman Empire]] with great autonomy after 1448. The Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) resulted in the defeat of the Ottomans by the Russians, and according to the [[Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca]] (1774) signed after the war, Crimea became independent and Ottomans renounced their political right to protect the Crimean Khanate. After a period of political unrest in Crimea, Russia violated the treaty and annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783.

The Crimean Tatars are subdivided into three sub-ethnic groups: the Tats (not to be confused with [[Tat people (Caucasus)|Tat people]], living in the Caucasus region) who used to inhabit the mountainous Crimea before 1944 (about 55%), the [[Yalıboyu]] who lived on the southern coast of the peninsula (about 30%), and the [[Noğay]] (about 15%).

====Crimean Tatars in Romania and Bulgaria====
{{further information|Tatars of Romania|Crimean Tatars in Romania|Crimean Tatars in Bulgaria}}
Crimean Tatars have been present on the territory of today's [[Romania]] and [[Bulgaria]] since the 13th century. In Romania, according to the 2002 census, 24,000 people declared their ethnicity as Tatar, most of them being Crimean Tatars living in [[Constanța County]] in the region of [[Dobruja]]. The Crimean Tatars were colonized there by the [[Ottoman Empire]] beginning in the 17th century.

===Lipka Tatars===
{{main article|Lipka Tatars}}
[[Image:Battle of Warsaw 1656.PNG|thumb|Swedish King [[Charles X Gustav of Sweden|Charles X Gustav]] in skirmish with Tatars near [[Warsaw]] during the [[Second Northern War]].]]

The Lipka Tatars are a group of [[Turkic languages|Turkic-speaking]] Tatars who originally settled in the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] at the beginning of the 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their [[shamanistic]] religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians.<ref name="galve.lt">{{lt icon}} [http://www.galve.lt/lt/numeriai/2007062225/Trakai%20ir%20pasaulio%20paveldas/koranas Lietuvos totoriai ir jų šventoji knyga – Koranas]</ref> Towards the end of the 14th century, another wave of Tatars—Muslims, this time—were invited into the Grand Duchy by [[Vytautas the Great]]. These Tatars first settled in [[Lithuania proper]] around  [[Vilnius]], [[Trakai]], [[Hrodna]] and [[Kaunas]]<ref name="galve.lt"/> and later spread to other parts of the Grand Duchy that later became part of [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. These areas comprise present-day [[Lithuania]], [[Belarus]] and [[Poland]]. From the very beginning of their settlement in Lithuania they were known as the Lipka Tatars.

From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the [[Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth]]. This was promoted especially by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania because of their reputation as skilled warriors. The Tatar settlers were all granted [[szlachta]] (nobility) status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. They included the [[Lipka Tatars]] (13th–14th centuries) as well as Crimean and [[Nogai people|Nogay]] Tatars (15th–16th centuries), all of which were notable in Polish military history, as well as [[Volga Tatars]] (16th–17th centuries). They all mostly settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

[[File:Tatar attack warsawa 1656.jpg|thumb|left|At the [[Battle of Warsaw (1656)|Battle of Warsaw]] in 1656 Tatars fought with the Poles against the Swedes]]

Various estimates of the number of Tatars in the Commonwealth in the 17th century are about 15,000 persons and 60 villages with mosques. Numerous royal privileges, as well as internal autonomy granted by the monarchs, allowed the Tatars to preserve their religion, traditions, and culture over the centuries. The Tatars were allowed to [[Interethnic marriage|intermarry]] with Christians, which was uncommon in Europe at the time. The [[Constitution of May 3, 1791|May Constitution]] of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish [[Sejm]].

Although by the 18th century the Tatars adopted the local language, the Islamic religion and many Tatar traditions (e.g. the sacrifice of bulls in their mosques during the main religious festivals) were preserved. This led to formation of a distinctive Muslim culture, in which the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with religious tolerance formed a relatively liberal society. For instance, the women in Lipka Tatar society traditionally had the same rights and status as men, and could attend non-segregated schools.

About 5,500 Tatars lived within the inter-war boundaries of Poland (1920–1939), and a Tatar cavalry unit had fought for the country's independence. The Tatars had preserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including a Tatar archives and a museum in ([[Vilnius]]).

The Tatars suffered serious losses during [[World War II]] and furthermore, after the border change in 1945, a large part of them found themselves in the [[Soviet Union]]. It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars live in present-day Poland, of which about 500 declared Tatar (rather than Polish) nationality in the 2002 census. There are two Tatar villages ([[Bohoniki]] and [[Kruszyniany]]) in the north-east of present-day Poland, as well as urban Tatar communities in [[Warsaw]], [[Gdańsk]], [[Białystok]], and [[Gorzów Wielkopolski]]. Tatars in Poland sometimes have a Muslim surname with a Polish ending: ''Ryzwanowicz''; another surname sometimes adopted by more assimilated Tatars is ''Tatara'' or ''Tataranowicz'' or ''Taterczyński'', which literally mean "son of a Tatar".

The Tatars were relatively noticeable in the Commonwealth military as well as in Polish and Lithuanian political and intellectual life for such a small community.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} In modern-day Poland, their presence is also widely known, due in part to their noticeable role in the historical novels of [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]], which are universally recognized in Poland. A number of Polish intellectual figures have also been Tatars, e.g. the prominent historian [[Jerzy Łojek]].

A small community of Polish-speaking Tatars settled in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]], in the early 20th century. They established a mosque that is still in use today.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

===Astrakhan Tatars===
{{main article|Astrakhan Tatars}}
[[File:Grigory Gagarin. Armenie. Djighit a Sardar-Abbat. (Kurdes, tatars).jpg|thumb|right|[[Tatar]] cavalry training in their [[Caravanserai|Sarai]].]]

The Astrakhan Tatars (around 80,000) are a group of Tatars, descendants of the [[Astrakhan Khanate]]'s nomadic population, who live mostly in [[Astrakhan Oblast]]. For the [[Russian Census (2010)|Russian census in 2010]], most Astrakhan Tatars declared themselves simply as Tatars and few declared themselves as Astrakhan Tatars. A large number of Volga Tatars live in Astrakhan Oblast and differences between them have been disappearing.

===Siberian Tatars===
{{main article|Siberian Tatars}}

The [[Siberia]]n Tatars occupy three distinct regions—a strip running west to east from [[Tobolsk]] to [[Tomsk]]—the [[Altay Mountains|Altay]] and its spurs—and South [[Yeniseisk]]. They originated in the agglomerations of various indigenous North Asian stems<!--tribes?--> that, in the region north of the Altay, reached some degree of culture between the 4th and 5th centuries, but were subdued and enslaved by the Mongols.
The [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census]] recorded 6,779 Siberian Tatars in Russia. According to the 2002 census there are 500,000 Tatars in Siberia, but 400,000 of them are [[Volga Tatars]] who settled in Siberia during periods of colonization.<ref>[http://newasp.omskreg.ru/hist/fotatlas/rezumeen.htm Siberian Tatars]</ref>

==Genetics==
According to over 100 samples from the Tatarstan DNA project, the most common Y-DNA haplogroup of the ethnic Volga Tatars is [[Haplogroup R1a]] (over 20%), predominantly from the Asian R1a-Z93 subclade.<ref>{{cite web|title=Family Tree DNA - Tatarstan|url=https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Tatarstan/default.aspx?section=yresults|website=www.familytreedna.com}}</ref> 
[[Haplogroup N-M231|Haplogroup N]] is the other significant haplogroup. According to different data J2a or J2b may be the more common subclade of [[Haplogroup J2]] in Volga Tatars. The haplogroups C and [[Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)|Q]] are among the rare haplogroups.

Haplogroups of 450 Tatars, summarized from the studies Rootsi 2007, Tambets 2004, Balanovsky in prep., Wells 2001<ref>"Балановский О.П., Пшеничнов А.С., Сычев Р.С., Евсеева И.В., Балановская Е.В. Y-base: частоты гаплогрупп Y хромосомы у народов мира, 2010</ref>
*N1c2: 21,0%
*R1a: 19,0%
*I1: 13,2%
*N1c1: 13,0%
*J2: 8,1%
*R1b1b2: 6,0%
*E1b1a: 4,0%
*O: 3,0%
*I2a1: 2,8%
*C: 2,7%
*I2a2: 1,8%
*G: 1,0%
*J1: 1,0%
*L: 1,0%
*Q: 1,0%
*T: 1,0%

Haplogroups in Volga Tatars(122 samples):<ref>http://pereformat.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/russian-plain-01.jpg</ref>
*C2: 2%
*E: 4% (V13: 3%)
*G2a: 2%
*I1: 6%
*I2a1: 5%
*I2a2: 2%
*J2a: 7%
*J2b: 2%
*L1: 2%
*N1c2: 9%
*N1c1: 16%
*O3: 2%
*Q1: 2%
*R1a: 33% (Z282: 19%, Z93: 14%)

Haplogroups in Crimean Tatars(22 samples):<ref>http://s017.radikal.ru/i415/1112/bf/0ea62065dd07.jpg</ref>
*R-M17: 32%
*R-M173: 9%
*O-M175: 5%
*O-M122: 5%
*J-M172: 14%
*I-M170: 5%
*F-M89: 18%
*C-M130: 9%
*E-M96: 5%

According to Mylyarchuk et al. "''It was found that mitochondrial gene pool of the Volga Tatars consists of two parts, but western Eurasian component prevails considerably (84% on average) over eastern Asian one (16%).''" among 197 Kazan Tatars and [[Mishans]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Malyarchuk|first1=Boris|last2=Derenko|first2=Miroslava|last3=Denisova|first3=Galina|last4=Kravtsova|first4=Olga|title=Mitogenomic Diversity in Tatars from the Volga-Ural Region of Russia|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|date=1 October 2010|volume=27|issue=10|pages=2220–2226|doi=10.1093/molbev/msq065|url=http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/10/2220.full|language=en|issn=0737-4038|pmid=20457583}}</ref>

The study of Suslova et al found indications of two non-[[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] sources of admixture, Finno-Ugric and Bulgar: "''Together with Tatars, Russians have high frequencies of allele families and haplotypes characteristic of Finno-Ugric populations. This presupposes a Finno-Ugric impact on Russian and Tatar ethnogenesis.... Some aspects of [[Human leukocyte antigen|HLA]] in Tatars appeared close to Chuvashes and [[Bulgarians]], thus supporting the view that Tatars may be descendents of ancient [[Bulgars]].''"<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Suslova|first1=T. A.|last2=Burmistrova|first2=A. L.|last3=Chernova|first3=M. S.|last4=Khromova|first4=E. B.|last5=Lupar|first5=E. I.|last6=Timofeeva|first6=S. V.|last7=Devald|first7=I. V.|last8=Vavilov|first8=M. N.|last9=Darke|first9=C.|title=HLA gene and haplotype frequencies in Russians, Bashkirs and Tatars, living in the Chelyabinsk Region (Russian South Urals)|journal=International Journal of Immunogenetics|date=1 October 2012|volume=39|issue=5|pages=394–408|doi=10.1111/j.1744-313X.2012.01117.x|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-313X.2012.01117.x|language=en|issn=1744-313X|pmid=22520580}}</ref>

==Gallery==

===Flags===
<gallery>
File:Nogai flag.svg|Flag of [[Nogai Khan]]
File:Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg|Flag of the Crimean Tatars
File:Golden Horde flag 1339.svg|[[Golden Horde]] flag
</gallery>

===Pictures===
<gallery>
File:Tatar women of the Caucasus, Russian Empire, ca. 1895.jpg|Tatar women of the Caucasus
File:RIAN archive 320886 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in the Kul Sharif Mosque during his visit to Tatarstan.jpg|[[Mintimer Shaimiyev]] (left), the president of the republic of [[Tatarstan]], in the [[Qolşärif Mosque]], Kazan, with [[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]] (right)
</gallery>

===Paintings===
<gallery>
File:Tatar.jpg|Tatar elder and his horse.
File:Sloane-Tatar.jpg|Tatar in Ottoman service.
File:Marco Polo - costume tartare.jpg|Marco polo wearing Tatar outfit
File:Tatar woman XVIII century.jpg|Tatar woman
File:Markov EL Tatar girl 1890.jpg|Tatar woman
File:Costumes de Differents Pays, 'Femme Tatar Tobolsk' LACMA M.83.190.220.jpg|Tatar woman
File:Costumes de Differents Pays, 'Femme Tatar Kastchintz' LACMA M.83.190.226.jpg|Tatar woman
File:Markov EL Tatar shepherd-boy 1972.jpg|Tatar shepherd-boy
File:Circassians, Tatars, Turkic people, Zaurnåa.jpg|Tatars
File:Lithuanian Tatars of Napoleonic army.JPG|Lithuanian Tatars of Napoleonic army
File:Tatar de Khourzouk. Grove, Florence Craufurd. Le Caucase. 1899. P.16.png|Tatar elder
File:Soyembika.jpg|Tatar family
File:Siberia Tartar Woman, Kalmucks.JPG|Siberian Tatars
File:Nicolae Tonitza - Rachiş Ali, Balcic 1936.jpg|Tatar girl
File:Vasnetsov Tatary Idut.jpg|Tatars' raid on Moscow
File:Kalmyk and kuban tatar2.jpg|Tatar riders
File:Recovery of Tartar captives.PNG|Recovery of Tatar captives.
File:Yeget-1.jpg|Tatar costumes.
File:Франц Рубо - Татарский всадник.jpg|Tatar rider 
File:MarkovEL Akmulla 1872.jpg|Tatar elder inviting guests.
File:Markov EL Suuksu 1872.jpg|Tatar horsemen
File:Ryszkiewicz Tatars in the vanguard.jpg|Tatars in the vanguard of the Ottoman army
</gallery>

===Language===
<gallery>
File:Qur'an book made by tartars.JPG|Quran of the Tatars.
Kazan Millennium tamğa.svg|The word ''[[Kazan|Qazan]]'' – قازان is written in [[Yaña imlâ alphabet|Yaña imlâ]] in the semblance of a [[Zilant]].
Borongi bolgarlar Gaziz cover.jpg|Cover page of Tatar [[Yana imla]] book, printed with Separated Tatar language in Arabic script in 1924.
Хальфин Азбука татарского языка 1778.pdf|A Tatar alphabet book printed in 1778. Arabic script is used, Cyrillic text is in Russian. [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/%D0%A5%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%90%D0%B7%D0%B1%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0_1778.pdf Хальфин, Сагит. Азбука татарского языка. — М., 1778. — 52 с.]
Nizhny-Novgorod-Mosque-inscription-C0274.jpg|Tatar sign on a [[madrasah]] in [[Nizhny Novgorod]], written in both [[Persian language|Persian]] and Cyrilic Tatar scripts.
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of Tatars]]
*[[Turkic peoples]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Tatar people}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Tatars |short=x}}

{{Tatars}}
{{Turkic peoples}}
{{European Muslims}}
{{Ethnic groups of Russia}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatar}}
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