Burtas (Russian:Буртасы,Burtasy;Chuvash:Пăртассем,Părtassem;Tatar:Бортаслар,Bortaslar,بُرطاس) were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting thesteppe region north of theCaspian Sea in medieval times (modernPenza Oblast,Ulyanovsk Oblast andSaratov Oblast of the Russian Federation). They were subject to theKhazars.[1]
In the1380s or earlier at least part of them settled inTemnikov Principality.[2] The Tatar-speakingBurtashi ethnic group is sometimes mentioned in forums.[3]
The ethnic identity of the Burtas is disputed, with several different theories ranging from them being aUralic tribal confederacy (probably later assimilated to Turkic language), and therefore perhaps the ancestors of the modernMoksha people.[4][5]
Some scholars maintain that the Burtas are supposed to be Turkic-speaking and ethnically related to the Volga Bulgars.[6]
Recently some scholars have suggested that the Burtas wereAlans or anotherIranian ethnolinguistic group. An Alanic (Sarmatian) origin would also explain their name asfurt/fort ('big river' inMiddle Iranian language or 'beehive' inTurkic language)[7] and the Alanic endonymas.[8][4]
Some Soviet and modern Russian historians such as A.E Alikhova and A.N.Gren connected the Burtas to theChechens and noted that their neighbourAvars call them "Burti".[9]
Nikolai Ashmarin believed that the wordMordas - i.e.Mordvins - comes from the ethnonym Burtas since they divide themselves intoErzya andMoksha. The transition took place through a linguistic transition typical forBulgars (Ogurs) andOguzes, where the typicallyKypchak "M" turns into "B" and "P": the word "I am" (oguzes andogurs) even in ancient times, they pronouncedBӓ(n), andkipchaks –Mӓn. Tat.men, chuv.pin, turk.bin - "thousand"; tat.milәsh, chuv.pilesh - "mountain ash"; tat.mәçә, chuv.pĕşi, pĕşuk - "cat"; tat.mich., chuv.pichev - "harness, harness", etc. In Tatar, even in Russian borrowings, instead of the initial sound "p" is "m":oven - pech > mich, barrel - bochka > michke. TheVolga Bulgarian word "Burtas" passed through the Tatars toMordas, then toMordva, where the wordbort < mord, as in the wordUdmort (Udmurt) means a person,sanskrit: त्रिमूर्ति (tri mūrti) andas - a tribe. In the European part of Russia there are quite a lot of surnames "Mordasov" and "Burtasov", as well as the names of the settlements of Burtasy and Mordasy, Mordasovo.[10]
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