The earliest archaeological signs of modern humans in the area of Mordovia are from theNeolithic era.Mordvins are mentioned in written sources from the 6th century[citation needed]. Later, Mordvins were under the influence of bothVolga Bulgaria and theKievan Rus. Mordvin princes sometimes raided Muroma and Volga Bulgaria and often despoiled each other's holdings.
Mordovia was briefly united under thePrincipality of Purgaz, led by Erzya princePurgaz, who fought against the colonisation of the region byVladimir-Suzdal. The Mordvin tribes were then plunged into a civil war between Purgaz, who was supported by Volga Bulgaria, andPuresh, a Moksha prince backed by Vladimir-Suzdal.[12] The Principality of Purgaz survived the war with Vladimir-Suzdal, which ended in 1232, and was later subjugated to theGolden Horde as theMukhsha Ulus.[13]
The Golden Horde disintegrated in the 1430s, which resulted in some Mordvins becoming subjects of theKhanate of Kazan, whereas others were incorporated intoMuscovy.
AfterIvan IV of Russia annexed theKhanate of Kazan in 1552, the Mordvin lands were subjugated by theRussian monarchy. The Mordvin elite rapidly adopted the Russian language and Russian customs, whereas 1821 saw the publication of the New Testament inErzya to address the non-elite population. In rural areas, the Mordvin culture was preserved. Russians started to convert Mordvins toOrthodox Christianity in the mid-18th century. Mordvins gave up their ownshamanist religion only slowly, however, and many of the shamanist features were preserved as parts of local culture, though the population became nominally Christian. Translations of literature toMordvinic languages were mostly religious books. In the 18th century, theLatin alphabet was used to write Mordvin, but from the mid-19th century,Cyrillic was used. The region of modern-day Mordovia was mainly organized as a part ofPenza Governorate over the late 18th and the 19th centuries.
During theRussian Revolution andRussian Civil War, Mordovia was held byBolsheviks from the beginning of the war. When the Bolsheviks prevailed in the war, Mordovia became a part of theRussian SFSR. In 1925, the Soviet government founded autonomous districts and village councils in the area of the Mordvins. During the Soviet era, two written languages were developed, one based on theErzya dialect in 1922 and one on theMoksha dialect in 1923, both usingCyrillic script. TheMordovian Okrug was founded on 16 July 1928, and it was elevated to the status of anautonomous oblast becoming theMordovian Autonomous Oblast [ru] on 10 January 1930. The autonomous oblast was transformed into theMordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 20 December 1934.[2] Several forced labor Gulags were established under the Bolsheviks, such asTemlag.
When the Soviet Uniondisintegrated, the Mordovian ASSR proclaimed itself the Mordovian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990 and remained a part of the Russian Federation. Mordovia was one of only two republics that did not proclaimsovereignty.[14] On 25 January 1994, it was renamed the Republic of Mordovia.
The republic is located in the eastern part of theEast European Plain of Russia. The western part of the republic is situated in theOka–Don Plain; its eastern and central parts are located in theVolga Upland.
During theParade of Sovereignties among other former Russian autonomous republics, Mordovia established a presidency in 1991.
In that same year,Vasily Guslyannikov, a physicist by training, was elected in the general election. Guslyannikov had previously been a senior researcher at the Institute of Power Electronics and was the leader of the republican branch of theDemocratic Russiapolitical movement.
In 1993, the Supreme Council of Mordovia abolished the post of president, on the basis of which Guslyannikov was removed from his post. Guslyannikov appealed the action of the supreme legislative body of the republic in theRussian Constitutional Court, but the Constitutional Court declared its conformity with the Constitution of Russia.
The head of the government in the Republic of Mordovia is theHead of the Republic. The office is currently held by Artyom Zdunov, who was made acting head on 18 November 2020. His predecessor wasVladimir Volkov who held the office from 2012.
As arepublic of Russia, Mordovia has its own supreme court, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mordovia (Russian:Верховный Суд Республики Мордовия). Its current headquarters lie in the capitalSaransk, on Leo Tolstoy Street, 21.[17]
The most developed industries are machine construction, chemicals, woodworking, and food industries. Most of the industrial enterprises are located in the capitalSaransk, as well as in the towns ofKovylkino andRuzayevka, and in the urban-type settlements ofChamzinka andKomsomolsky.
The Mordvin people are aVolga Finnic group speaking two related languages,Moksha andErzya. The Mordvins identify themselves as separate ethnic groups:[23] the Erzya andMoksha. Only one-third of allMordvinic languages speakers live in the Republic of Mordovia. During the Soviet period, school textbooks were published in each language.[24]
According to the2010 Census,[11]Russians make up 53.4% of the republic's population, while ethnic Erzya andMoksha are 39.8%. Other groups includeTatars (5.2%),Ukrainians (0.6%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.
13,153 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[26]
Ethnographic Museum «Ethno-kudo» named after V. Romashkin
There are many museums in the republic. The largest ones include theMordovian Republican United Museum of Regional Studies and theMuseum of Mordvinian Culture in Saransk.
TheNational Library of the Republic of Mordovia is the largest library in the republic.
Mordovia is home to multiplepenal colonies. Prisons in Mordovia are regarded by many as having conditions harsher than most Russian prisons. According to University of Helsinki sociologist Olga Zeveleva, who works with theGulag Echoes project studying Russian prison conditions, "Prisons in Mordovia are notoriously terrible, even by Russian standards. The prisons there are known for the harsh regimes and human rights violations."[29] According toThe Guardian, a popular saying among female prison inmates in Russia is "If you haven't done time in Mordovia, you haven't done time at all."[29] The prison was built as a part of a system of similar prisons in the region in the 1930s during theSoviet era.[29][30] University of Oxford scholarJudith Pallot described the prison as being "stuck in time for 50 years."[29] Violence from other prisoners and prison guards is not as frequent as in men's prisons, but is not uncommon.[29][31] As of 2022, among the prisoners held in Mordovia's penal colonies isPaul Whelan, a U.S. citizen accused of spying and sentenced to 16 years.[32]
The Mordvinic languages,[33] alternatively Mordvin languages,[34] or Mordvinian languages (Russian:Мордовские языки,Mordovskiye yazyki, the official Russian term for the language pair),[35]are a subgroup of theUralic languages, comprising the closely relatedErzya language andMoksha language.[36]Previously considered a single "Mordvin language",[37] it is now treated as a small language grouping consisting of just two languages. Due to differences inphonology,lexicon, andgrammar, Erzya and Moksha are not mutually intelligible, so the Russian language is often used for intergroup communications.[38]
The two Mordvinic languages also have separate literary forms. The Erzyaliterary language was created in 1922 and the Mokshan in 1923.[39]
The two Mordvinic languages are official languages of Mordovia along withRussian.
^Barbara A. Anderson and Brian D. Silver, "Equality, Efficiency, and Politics in Soviet Bilingual Education Policy, 1934-1980,"American Political Science Review 78 (December 1984): 1019-1039.
Конституционное собрание Республики Мордовия. 21 сентября 1995 г. «Конституция Республики Мордовия(текст в ред. от 15 марта 2011 г.)», в ред. Закона №62-З от 3 сентября 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в статьи 71 и 94 Конституции Республики Мордовия». Вступил в силу 22 сентября 1995 г. Опубликован: "Известия Мордовии", №180, 22 сентября 1995 г. (Constitutional Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia. September 21, 1995Constitution of the Republic of Mordovia(text of rev. of March 15, 2011), as amended by the Law #62-Z of September 3, 2015On Amending Articles 71 and 94 of the Constitution of the Republic of Mordovia. Effective as of September 22, 1995.).
Государственное Собрание Республики Мордовия. Закон №50-З от 19 ноября 2002 г. «О государственном гимне Республики Мордовия». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Известия Мордовии", #179, 21 ноября 2002 г. (State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia. Law #50-Z of November 19, 2002On the State Anthem of the Republic of Mordovia. Effective as of the day of official publication.).
Государственное Собрание Республики Мордовия (State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia). "Республика Мордовия. Административно-территориальное деление" (Republic of Mordovia. Administrative-Territorial Division). Саранск, 1998.
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