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The '''history of Chuvashia''' spans from the region's earliest attested habitation by [[Finno-Ugric peoples]] to its incorporation into the [[Russian Empire]] and its successor states.

==Early history==
The first inhabitants to leave traces in the area later known as [[Chuvashia]] were of the possibly Finno-Ugric [[Comb Ceramic Culture]]. Later, people of the possibly Indo-European [[Battle Axe Culture]] moved into the area and established several villages. These two peoples assimilated to become the [[Hillfort Culture]] of the [[Middle Volga Area]]. They had strong economic and linguistic ties with southern steppe peoples like the [[Scythians]] and [[Sarmatians]].

The ancestors of the Chuvash were [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[Bulgars]] and [[Sabir people|Suars]] (Sabirs) residing in the Northern [[Caucasus]] in the 5th to 8th centuries (after having been driven from the Pannonian Basin following the death of their greatest leader, [[Attila]]). In the 7th and 8th centuries, a part of the Bulgars left for the [[Balkans]], where, together with local [[Slavs]], they established the state of modern [[Bulgaria]]. Another part moved to the Middle Volga Region (see [[Volga Bulgaria]]), where the Bulgar population that did not adopt [[Islam]] formed part of the ethnic foundation of the Chuvash people.<ref name="USPC">{{cite web|title=Economic Overview of the Republic of Chuvashia |publisher=United States Peace Corps Business Development Volunteers in Chuvashia |author=Steven Brown and Olin Lagon |url=http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bisdoc/0106Chuvashia.htm |date=June 2001 |accessdate=2008-08-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050704084704/http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bisdoc/0106Chuvashia.htm |archivedate=2005-07-04 }}</ref>

During the [[Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria]], the steppe-dwelling Suar migrated north, where [[Volga Finnic]] tribes, such as the [[Mordvins]] and [[Mari people|Mari]] lived. The Chuvash claim to be descendants of these Suars who assimilated with the Mari.

They became vassals of the [[Golden Horde]] in 1242, after a bloody uprising which the Mongols brutally suppressed with an army of 40,000 warriors. Later [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] and [[Tatars|Tatar]] rulers did not intervene in local internal affairs as long as the annual tribute was paid to [[Sarai (city)|Sarai]]. The [[Tokhtamysh–Timur war]] (1361–1395) devastated 80% of the Suar people. When the power of the Golden Horde began to diminish, the local [[Volga Tatars#Mishar Tatars|Mişär Tatar]] Murzas from [[Pyana]] and [[Temnikov]] tried to rule the Chuvash area.

==Russian Empire==
During [[Ivan the Terrible]]'s war of conquest against the [[Khanate of Kazan]], in August 1552, the Chuvash Orsai and Mari [[Akpar Tokari]] princes swore their loyalty to the [[Grand Duchy of Muscovy]] at [[Alatyr, Chuvash Republic|Alatyr]] on the [[Sura River]]. This ended nearly 120 years under the rule of the Khanate of Kazan. In return, Ivan promised to honor all historic land rights of the Chuvash and Maris on both sides of the Volga River from the [[Kerzhenets River|Kerzhenets]] to the [[Sviyaga River]]. In addition, Ivan ordered a five-year period freedom from tribute for the Chuvash and Mari leaders. The Chuvash provided 15,000 soldiers and the Mari 10,000 to Ivan's army for the final attack against [[Kazan]], giving the Muscovites a force of 100,000 against the Khanate's 30,000 [[Nogai Tatars]] defending the fortified city.

Disappointed by Russian rule, a portion of the Chuvash population rebelled and joined with the Mari during the [[Kazan War]] of 1552–1594. During the [[Time of Troubles]], they joined the troops of the [[False Dmitry I|False Dmitri]].

Within the [[Russian Empire]], the territory of modern Chuvashia was divided into two administrative districts: the northern part under the [[Kazan Governorate]] and the southern part under the [[Simbirsk Governorate]]. The border ran roughly from Kurmish to Buinsk.

The Chuvash and Mari joined the [[Stenka Razin]] and [[Pugachev's Rebellion|Pugachev]] rebellions in 1667–1671 and 1773–1775 respectively, when the Volga area from [[Astrakhan]] to [[Nizhni Novgorod]] was in open revolt. During these years, many Chuvash escaped east to the southern Urals.

[[File:Ch20.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Church in Cheboksary]]
Between 1650 and 1850, the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] sent [[Chuvash language|Chuvash]]-speaking missionaries to try to convert the Chuvash to the Orthodox faith. A group of these missionaries created a written Chuvash language. The first Chuvash grammar was published in 1769. Chuvash had earlier been written with a Runic script or the Arabic alphabet. A [[Cyrillic alphabet variants#Chuvash|revised Cyrillic alphabet for Chuvash]] was first introduced in 1873 by [[Ivan Yakovlevich Yakovlev]]. The Latin alphabet has been used as well, though there is no standard transcription. Most of the Chuvash who stayed in the area became Orthodox Christians, but some remained [[pagan]].

A number of Russian noble families received large estates in the Chuvash lands as reward for their services to the Tsar. The formerly independent landowning Chuvash peasants became [[Serfdom|serfs]] to rich Russian landowners. Russian became the official language. Few attempts were made to provide primary education in the Chuvash language, and all higher education was in Russian.

After [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] abolished serfdom, many land-hungry Chuvash peasants moved to other areas in Russia to seek their own land. Between 1860 and 1914, nearly half of the Chuvash population left their home areas. The final wave of migration occurred during the [[Stolypin reform|Stolypin agrarian reforms]].

==Soviet Union==
During the 19th and early 20th century, national feelings started to grow among the Chuvash [[intelligentsia]]. They connected with other minority pro-independence movements in the middle Volga area. Marxist ideology gained popularity among the poorest peasants and industrial workers. On May 15, 1917, the Chuvash joined the [[Idel-Ural]] Movement and in December 1917 joined the short-lived [[Idel-Ural State]], when an agreement was reached with [[Tatarstan|Tatar]] representatives to draw the eastern border of Chuvashia at the [[Sviyaga River]].

The Chuvash promised to respect the [[Islam]]ic Tatars' religion and grant them local and cultural autonomy inside the League of Idel Ural States. The southern border with the [[Mordovia|Mordvins]] was set along the [[Sura River]], with equal rights guaranteed to the Chuvash living west of the Sura. In the south, the border went along the [[Barysh]], [[Bolshoi Akla]] and [[Tsilna]] Rivers between the Sura and Sviyaga. In the north, there was a dispute with representatives of the [[Mari people|Mari]]-populated [[Kozmodemyansk|Tsykma]] (Kozmodemyansk) and other areas in Chuvashia.

In 1918–1919, the [[Russian Civil War]] encompassed the area. This ended with victory for the [[Bolsheviks]], who were mainly ethnic [[Russians]], with strong support from Nizhny Novgorod troops. The local Chuvash independence-minded politicians were executed by the Bolsheviks.

To gain support from the local population, Lenin ordered the creation of a Chuvash state within the [[Russian SFSR]]. On June 24, 1920, the [[Chuvash Autonomous Oblast]] was formed, which was transformed into the [[Chuvash ASSR]] in April 1925.

The 1930–1931 Communist campaign against the rich [[kulak]] peasant class, which resulted in their deportation to [[Gulag]] prison camps and the elimination of independent peasant farms, hit the Chuvash ASSR's agricultural production hard. The [[Great Purge]] in 1936–1938 dealt a great blow to the Chuvash intelligentsia; many were shot or deported to prison camps. Most of the local Chuvash teachers were [[execution by firing squad|shot]], making it difficult to teach Chuvash, as the Russian replacements did not know the language. Ethnic Russians kept control of the area, and the [[Russification]] of the Chuvash and Mari peoples intensified.

From 1930 to 1940, a shift from mainly agriculture to industry was initiated. By 1940, the Chuvash ASSR produced 35,000,000 kWh of electricity, 848,000 m2 raw timber, 369,000 m2 sawn timber, 40,000 m cotton cloth, 200,000 pairs of hosiery, 184,000 pairs of leather footwear, and 600 tons of animal fats.

According to an order dated May 28, 1940 by the Central Committee of Communist Party, 20,000 [[Kolkhoz]] peasant families of Belarusian, Chuvash, Mordvin and Tatar origin were transferred to the "New districts of the [[Leningrad Oblast]] and the [[Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]]", recently conquered in the [[Soviet-Finnish war]]. In 1941, another 20,000 families followed, each family averaging five persons. [[Lavrentiy Beria]] even suggested to transfer the entire Chuvash population from Chuvashia to [[Karelia]] to form a population security belt "against the Finnish Fascists".

During the [[Great Patriotic War]] and the postwar industrialization period, more and more Russians moved to the expanding towns of Chuvashia. The rural population remained mostly agriculturally oriented Chuvashians and Kuruk Maris. In the south of the republic, Russians and other minorities, such as Ukrainians, moved in to work in the newly created [[Chuvash Forest Industry Combinate]].

In 1964, the Chuvash ASSR produced 350,000,000 kWh electricity, 1,073,000 m2 raw timber, 760,000 m2 sawn timber, 113,100,000 m cotton cloth, 28,800,000 pairs of hosiery, 1,800,000 pairs of leather footwear, and 3,200 tons of animal fats.

On January 1, 1966, the population of the Chuvash ASSR was 1,178,000.

In 1990, the republic was renamed the Chuvash Soviet Socialist Republic.

==Post-Soviet period==
[[File:Chuvashia03.png|thumb|right|200px|Map of modern Chuvash Republic]]
In 1992, it was given its present name.

The Chuvash Republic is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. As a republic, the region has greater sovereignty than other areas of Russia in determining local policies and procedures. [[Nikolay Fyodorov (politician)|Nikolay Fyodorov]], a former minister of justice of the Russian Federation, was elected the first [[President of the Chuvash Republic]] in 1994. He has a reputation as a pro-market reformer and has pressed the region to establish closer economic ties with other countries. He has also encouraged the growth of small businesses. The mayor of Cheboksary, [[Anatoly Igumnov]], is also eager to work with international companies. Both republic and city governments have departments of foreign economic relations to work with foreign businesspeople.

As of 2011, the President of the Republic is [[Mikhail Ignatyev (politician)|Mikhail Ignatyev]].<ref name="President">Official website of the Chuvash Republic. [http://gov.cap.ru/main.asp?govid=712 Mikhail Vasilyevich Ignatyev] {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

== Literature ==
* Т.Н. Таймасова, В.В. Степанов, «Краткая история Чувашии и чувашского народа», Чувашское книжное издательство. Чебоксары, 2019.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{History of Chuvashia}}
{{History of Russia navbar}}

[[Category:Chuvashia]]

History of Chuvashia - Revision history

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