1 known location can be tried.
1 known location can be tried.
In the sixteenth century the name.Siberia (Russian, Sibir) referred to Lsker, the chief settlement of the Tatar Khan Kuchum on the [rtyah River, a tributary of the Ob. 1 Subsequently, the name was extended to include all the Russian dominions in northern Asia, from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and the Amur River region.For this reason, and particularly because the natives of the Amur River region are closely related to some of the tribes of Siberia proper, or belong to the same ethnic units, both territories will he considered in this chapter.For administrative purposes, Siberia proper was divided into two sections.Western and Eastern Siberia.Western Siberia is composed of the following provinces : 1, Tobolsk; 2, Tomsk.Eastern Siberia has four provinces: 1, Yeniseisk: 2. Irkutsk: S.Yakutsk; and 4, Transbaikalia.The Russian name for province is Gvbemiya (Government) or Oblast (Territory >.Tobolsk.Tomsk.Yeniseisk, and Irkutsk were called Governments, while Yakutsk and Transbaikalia were called Territories.The districts into which the provinces were divided were called Ouyezd in the Governments and Okruq in theTerritories.Each province had its own governor: those called Gubemiyo were of greater importance, both numerically and economically.A Governor General for all of Eastern Siberia was stationed at Irkutsk.The advent of Russians in Siberia considerably influenced the distribution of aboriginal tribes.'Castren.(b).Mull.r.Max, 322.'Schrenck, (a).•Peschel.is short and flattened.However, the purity of the Mongoloid characters of the Ural-Altaics decreases toward the west.The vast territory they occupy has, in the past, been invaded by many peoples, and the Finnic tribes especially, during their westward migration, were intermixed to some degree with Aryan peoples.While the term Ural-Altaic may therefore be considered as covering both the linguistic and somatological classification, so that we may speak of Ural-Altaic languages and Ural-Altaic tribes, nevertheless such a general usage may meet with objections.The Finnic peoples number sixteen millions, only 24,797 of whom (Ostyak and Vogul) are now located in Siberia.Of course, the present European Finnic nations may be called Ural-Altaic, by virtue of their Ural or Altaic origin, but whether the Tungus-Manchu of Eastern Asia are of Altaic origin remains an open question.The Amur region is regarded as their place of origin. 1 For this reason, it is hardly fair to classify the Tungus-Manchu as Ural-Altaian.Miss Czaplicka proposed an alternative term, "Neo-Siberians'"-' for the Ural-Altaic tribes as "comparatively recent comers" to Siberia, but the writer believes this should be rejected because it excludes the Mongols, Turks, and Finns living outside of Siberia.Besides, t he " Neo-Siberians" are not newcomers to Siberia.They migrated northwest and eastward after the retreat of the last glacier, and afterwards, though in quite early See Patkanoff.(d).28.It should be added, however, that Castren.(b), "'• • Ridge as the place of origin of the Tatars and Mongols and of the Tiingii.i-Manchu, as well ' other hand.Shirokogoroff. the latest investigator of the Tungua-Msnchu tribes, places their 01 abode in northern China in the region of the lower courses of the Hwang-Ho M»d Yangtie-Kiang rivers 'Shirokogoroff.104, map, 109).'Czaplicka, (a), 15.Szinnyei maintains that the hypothesis that the place of origin of the Finno-Ugrians was in the Altai Mountains should be abandoned 1 and that it should be sought in the middle of the Urals, chiefly on the European slope, or in southeastern Russia.Admitting that the Finno- Ugrian languages are closely related to Samoyedic, he divides the Ural-Altaic languages into two groups: the Ural, including the Finno-Ugrian and Samoyedic languages and the Altaic, comprising the Mongolic, Turkic, and Manchu-Tungusic stocks.In the exposition of this theory we may again draw an analogy from the Indo-Germanic languages.Since philologists have discarded the view that Sanskrit represents the most archaic form of the Indo-European languages, the defenders of the Asiatic origin of the Indo-Europeans have lost their strongest point.Various theories have been advanced, placing their original home in northern France, the valley of the middle Danube, Scandinavia, the Vistula region, or western Russia.So we see that the original home of the Aryans is still unknown and the places mentioned as points of origin may well have been secondary places of dispersion. 2 Similarly, the Ural region and southeastern Russia may be considered secondary places of origin of the Finnic nations.As for the original home of the Finns, we must turn back to Castren and other authorities.Castren based his beliefs that the Finns formerly inhabited the Altai region on the fact that the names of streams in the Yenisei District, such as Oya, Yoga, Kolba mean in Finnic and Lapp, brook, water, and fishing water, and that in its upper course the Yenisei itself is called, Kem, which signifies stream in Finnic.3 The original home of the Samoyed, who are related to the Finn, will be discussed below (p.22).The multiform Finnic group of peoples may be divided, according to dialectic affinities into four branches: namely, the Ugrians, the Baltic Finns, Permians, and Bulgarians.THE UGHIAN8 Castren includes in the Ugrian group the Ostyak living on the right bank of the Ob River, the Vogul on the eastern slopes of the northern Urals, and the Magyar.According to the latest statistics the Magyar number about 9,500,000: the Ostyak, 17,221; and the Vogul, 7,476.Though now an aristocratic and highly civilized European nation, about 800 A.D. the Magyar appeared in their present abode as wild nomadic 'Szinnyei, 20.'There were also theories that the forefathers of the Indo-Europeans descended from Parnir or that they originated in Turkestan or in Bactria (See Schwars).•Castren, (d), 82, 84 and 107; also.(b).'Known also under name of Kangli.•A Turkic tribe known also under the names of Kuman and Kipchak. PEOPLES OF ASIATIC RUSSIASouthern Tchud, having a population of 14,000, live to the northeast of the town of Narva. THE PERMIANSThe Permian branch of Finns includes two closely related tribes : the Votyak and Zyryan.The Votyak are a numerous Finnic tribe, more than 500,000 living on the banks of the Kama, an affluent of the Volga, and its tributaries.They belong to the Greek Catholic Church, but have also retained their ancient pagan beliefs, mode of thinking, superstitions, and customs.They are agriculturists and skilful artisans.The Zyryan live to the north of the Votyak, occupying a vast stretch of territory from the 58th degree of latitude to the shores of the polar ocean and from the Urals westward to the Pinega, a tributary of the Dvina River.To the east they come into contact with the Ostyak and a division of the Samoyed.Though closely resembling the Votyak in physical traits, the Zyryan may be distinguished from them by their considerably higher culture.They are devoted Christians and have no pagan super- stitions.They are sharp traders and many centuries ago were active in commercial intercourse with the peoples to the west, south, and east.They are industrious agriculturists, and with the stubborn persistence and care, peculiarly Finnish, cultivate the soil as far north as the 65th degree of latitude and somewhat higher.In the northern part of their territory, where they may properly be regarded as newcomers, they are nomadic reindeer breeders, own large herds, and carry on a profitable trade in reindeer skins and meat.It is said that the Zyryan are wont to exploit their less civilized and poorer kin.They number about 260,000. THE BULGARIAN FINNSThe Mordvin, Cheremiss, and Chuvash, inhabiting some isolated districts of the Volga River are Bulgarians.The Mordvin are distributed in the provinces of Tambof, Nijni Novgorod, Simbirsk, Penza, Saratof , and Orenburg.In spite of its peculiarities, their language appears to be closely related to that of the Western Finns, so that the Mordvin and the Western Finns may be regarded, linguistically at least, as near relatives.They belong to one of the numerous Finnic groups and number more than 500,000.They are excellent agriculturists and, because of this quality, were sent to colonize certain districts in Astrakhan and other provinces.The Cheremiss may be distinguished from the Mordvin by their 'Winkler.'Szinnyei.'Petri, (c).'Castren, (b), 383.*Castren, (b), 380.'Castren, (b),389.•Radloff, (a), 206.'For the Yakut reindeer breeders, see p. 27.'In 1910 Primorskaya was re-named Kamchatka Provincp.
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