About the Time of the Adoption of Islam by the Population of the Southern Ural

Antonov Igor' Vladimirovich PhD in History Senior Scientific Associate, R. G. Kuzeev Institute of Ethnological Studies of Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences 450077, Russia, respublika Bashkortostan, g. Ufa, ul. Karla Marksa, 6 igan73@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionThe Southern Urals, in particular the territory of modern Bashkortostan, in the X-XIII centuries. was under the strong economic, socio-political, ideological influence of Volga Bulgaria, and in the XIII-XVI centuries. – as part of the Golden Horde and the states formed after its collapse – Nogai Horde, Kazan and Siberian Khanates.

Islam was declared the official religion in all these state entities. Bashkirs could not stay away. They failed to preserve their traditional religion surrounded by Muslim states. However, the territory of modern Bashkortostan was not part of the Volga Bulgaria, so the Bulgars could not force Bashkirs to accept Islam. But the very neighborhood with the Bulgars, noticeably ahead of the Bashkirs in the development of culture, could not pass without a trace. Becoming subjects of the Golden Horde Khans, Bashkirs had to carry out all their orders. One of such orders was the conversion to Islam, adopted in the Golden Horde as the state religion after the Uzbek Khan came to power in 1312. The Bashkirs no longer had freedom of choice, refusal to accept Islam meant disobedience to the khan's authority. Apparently, the Bashkirs, to some extent already familiar with Islam, did not resist the new religion. Islam became stronger in Bashkortostan after the collapse of the Golden Horde, as one of the conditions for the Bashkirs' voluntary entry into Russia was the preservation of Islam as a national religion.

In this paper, it is proposed to consider the question of the time of the adoption of Islam by the population of the Southern Urals according to narrative sources and archaeological data. In view of the vastness of the question posed, it is advisable to limit the review to information from narrative sources about the time of the adoption of Islam by Bashkirs, who are the indigenous people of the Southern Urals. Narrative (narrative) sources include notes of foreign travelers and oral traditions of the Bashkirs themselves, later recorded in writing. The data of archeology are considered within the framework of the modern territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan – the largest region of the Southern Urals. The most significant monuments testifying to the establishment of Islam in the region are mausoleums. There are only four mausoleums known on the territory of the republic. Of these, three are stone – the mausoleum of Huseynbek (on the outskirts of the village of Chishma), the mausoleum of Tura Khan and the "Small Keshene" (near the village of Nizhni Thermy in the Chishminsky district) - and one brick – the mausoleum of Bandebike (near the village of Maksyutovo in the Kugarchinsky district). All of them date back to the XIV century . These mausoleums belong to different architectural schools of the Golden Horde: brick mausoleums are common in the steppe, and stone mausoleums are common in the forest-steppe zone of the Volga-Ural region. Synchronous funerary monuments of the Golden Horde period are represented by unburied burial grounds of the Chiyalik culture in the north-western and central regions of modern Bashkortostan. A funeral rite without a funeral is an important evidence of the Muslimization of the local population. At the same time, the Chiyalik culture does not cover the entire territory of the Bashkir formation. Another type of burial is the burial mounds and non-burial mounds of steppe nomads, widespread mainly in the southern regions of modern Bashkortostan. A comparative analysis of narrative sources and archaeological data will help answer the question posed in the title of the work.

Historiography of the issueWithin the framework of one article, it is impossible to fully consider the historiography of the issue of the time of the adoption of Islam by the population of the Southern Urals.

It seems appropriate to focus on some of the fundamental works of recent archaeologists.

V. A. Ivanov and V. A. Krieger divided all the burials of the nomads of the Southern Urals of the Golden Horde period into two chronological groups: the Golden Horde pagan (late XIII – first third of the XIV century) and the Golden Horde Muslim (mid XIV – early XV century) ^{[17, pp. 30-41]}. However, the adoption of Islam around the middle of the XIV century did not immediately lead to the disappearance of the burial burial rite. The latest of the mounds known in the Volga-Ural region is mound 21 from the Kalinovka burial ground, dated by the coin of Pulad Khan (1407-1412) ^{[1, p. 71]}. It can be assumed that the process of Islamization of the nomadic population of the Golden Horde ended at the beginning of the XV century.

A different situation has developed in the forest-steppe zone of the Southern Urals. Burials of the Chiyalik culture of the XIII-XIV centuries are unburied, made according to the canons of Islam, things are usually found only in children's and women's graves ^{[2, pp. 52-55]}. Thus, Islamization came earlier and went faster in the forest-steppe than in the steppe, which is obviously explained by the close proximity and cultural influence of Volga Bulgaria.

The well-known Ufa archaeologist Gennady Nikolaevich Garustovich (1957-2017) was actively engaged in the problem of Islamization of the population of the Ural forest-steppe. In his PhD thesis, he noted that the early burials of the Mrasimov (or early Chiyalik) stage (late X – early XIII century.) had a pagan burial rite, whereas in the burial grounds of the late Chiyalik (late XIII – early XV century.) time, ritual norms are dictated by Sharia norms ^{[3, p. 14]}. In general, the funeral rite of the Chiyalik population of the XIII-XIV centuries "has pronounced features characteristic of the "Bulgarian Muslim" canons" ^{[3, pp. 20-21]}.

Having considered the problem of the spread of Islam in the Southern Urals in the historiographical aspect, G. N. Garustovich notes that "in the scientific literature there is a significant spread of opinions about the chronology of the Islamization process, but the general trend is quite clear – most researchers attribute the beginning of the penetration of the Muslim religion into the Bashkir environment to the tenth century, and the establishment of Islam to the XIII-XIV or by the XIV-XV centuries." ^{[4, p. 44]}. It will be shown below to what extent this trend corresponds to the data of archeology.

G. N. Garustovich himself divides the entire process of adoption of the Muslim religion by Bashkirs into three stages: 1) penetration (end of I – beginning of II millennium AD); 2) spread (XIII-XIV centuries); 3) approval (XV-XVII centuries). In the burial grounds of the X – beginning of the XIII century . (Karanaevsky, Bakalinsky and Mrasimov mounds) pagan features prevail – burial mounds, burials with weapons, jewelry and other things. But already at the burials of the beginning of the XIII century. Kushulevsky, Okhlebininsky (late), Shipovsky (late) burial grounds there are no burial mounds. Burials with things are gradually replaced here by uninventional early Muslim burials. In the soil necropolises of the XIV century . (Taktalachuksky, Azmetyevsky I, Derbeshkinsky, Bazitamaksky, Kara-Yar, Staro-Varangian I and II, Gornovsky) uninventional burials with the turn of the deceased's faces to the qibla absolutely prevail, and burials with pagan remnants are counted in units. Mausoleums and cemeteries with stone tombstones date from the same time. As for the Bashkir burial grounds of the XV-XVII centuries. (not named by name), then not a single pagan burial was found in any of them ^{[5, pp. 212-227]}. Thus, G. N. Garustovich traces the spread of the Muslim religion on archaeological material now since the beginning of the XIII century.

In a review article devoted to the Chiyalik culture, G. N. Garustovich notes that in funerary monuments, such as the Karanaev and Mrasimov mounds (Bashkortostan), ground burial grounds – Gulyukovsky (Tatarstan), Kushulevsky (Bashkortostan) and Ust-Kishert (Perm region), Islamic features become noticeable by the XII century, which indicates about the beginning of the penetration of Islam into the ethnic environment of Bashkir ancestors in the pre-Mongol period ^{[6, p. 187]}. At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, the Chiyalik culture ceases to exist. The monuments of the XV-XVII centuries have been studied very poorly. "Cemeteries of this time are characterized by the presence of sustained Islamic funeral rites with a minimum of pagan remnants. Ethnic elements in such churchyards are completely replaced by norms dictated by Sharia, so they are uninformative" ^{[6, p. 188]}. Now the author descends a whole century lower, he traces Islamic features in the archaeological material already from the XII century.

The revision of the dating of the adoption of Islam by Bashkirs is connected with the assessment of the activities of Huseynbek, who was buried in one of the stone mausoleums built on the territory of the Chishminsky district of Bashkortostan in the XIV century. Necropolises of the XII-XIII centuries. (Mrasimov burial mounds, Kushulevsky, Okhlebininsky, Selyaninsky, Kishertsky, Kazakbaevsky ground burial grounds) are characterized by the presence, and even the predominance, of Muslim features of the funeral rite. On the large burial grounds of the XIII-XIV centuries – Gornovsky, Nizhnekhozyatovsky, Kara-Yakupovsky and Novotroitsky in the Chishminsky district there is not a single pagan burial, i.e. burial with things. It follows from this that already in the XIII century. most of the Bashkirs professed Islam. And among whom did Huseynbek preach in the XIV century? – G. N. Garustovich poses the question ^{[7, p. 319]}. Moreover, he notes the presence of burials with Muslim features already in the Karanayevsky (Mechetlinsky district) and Bakalinsky (Burayevsky district) burial mounds of the XI century ^{[7, p. 319, note 10]}.

Thus, the question of the time of the adoption of Islam by the population of the Southern Urals in historiography has been repeatedly revised in the direction of antiquity. In the works of G. N. Garustovich (and none of the other archaeologists purposefully dealt with this issue), different dates of the beginning of the Islamization process are called: the end of the XIII century (1998), the beginning of the XIII century (2012), the XII century (2015), the XI century. (posthumous publication 2020). It is characteristic that the same monuments are often cited as an example, in which pagan or Muslim features of the funeral rite prevail, the dating of the monuments in question is also not entirely clear. In such a situation in archaeology, it is necessary to turn to narrative sources.

Narrative sourcesForeign travelers arrived in the Southern Urals precisely for missionary purposes, so they were very interested in the question of the religious affiliation of the population of the region.

Attempts by Catholic missionaries to convert the population of the Southern Urals to Christianity ended in failure, although the information they provide is of the greatest interest to our topic. Bashkir traditions report the adoption of Islam in the context of the general political history of Bashkortostan.

Islam began to penetrate the Bashkirs from the tenth century . Ibn Fadlan, who visited Bashkir in 922, reports about one of their number who had already converted to Islam and served in the Arab embassy. In general, Bashkirs worshipped twelve gods, as well as various animals ^{[8, pp. 130-131]}.

The Hungarian missionary Julian, who in 1236 found his fellow tribesmen "near the big river Ethil", i.e. the White River (Bask. Agidel), reports: "They are pagans, have no idea about God, but they do not worship idols, but live like animals" ^{[9, pp. 77-82]}. To distinguish the Hungarians he found from Christians, Julian used the term "pagan Hungarians" or "pagan Hungarians" ^{[9, pp. 83-90]}. As V. A. Ivanov and V. A. Zlygostev note, it is hardly worth doubting now that Julian, during his journey to "Great Hungary", communicated precisely with the Ural Ugrians – carriers of the Chiyalik archaeological culture ^{[10, p. 145]}.

The ambassador of the French King Louis IX, Guillaume de Rubruk, who traveled to Mongolia in 1253-1255, reports about the country of Paskatir, i.e. Bashkiria, subordinate to the Tatars ^{[11, p. 98]}. "What I said about the land of Paskatir," writes Rubruk, "I know through the brothers preachers who went there before the arrival of the Tatars, and since that time its inhabitants have been conquered by neighboring Bulgars and Saracens, and many of them have become Saracens" ^{[11, p. 123]}. Rubruk's path ran through the steppe, he was not in the forest-steppe zone of the Southern Urals. Rubruk learned all this information not on his journey, but from the brothers of the preachers, whom he does not name by name. Of the missionaries who went "there", we know only one Julian, the names of the others have not been preserved in the sources.

The further Islamization of the population of the region is evidenced by the "Letter of the brother of Johan the Hungarian, the Order of the Minorites, to the general of the order, Brother Michael of Cesena", given "in the Tatar camp near Baskardia in the year of the Lord 1320" ^{[9, p. 94]}. The author of the letter, brother Johan, having reached "Baskardia, a large people subordinate to the Tatars," with the Englishman Wilhelm "remained there for 6 years continuously." "We found the sovereign of all Baskardia with most of his family completely infected with the Saracen delusion. When we preached to them, they said: "If you had come first, we would at least have accepted this faith, but it is shameful for sovereigns, having adopted one law, to easily depart from it and move on to another." But when we took part in the teachings about faith and proved to the Saracen scholars by all means available to us, and by scripture, and signs, and arguments, and examples, that their whole law is false and pagan, not based on any reasonable basis and on obvious miracles, like the Christian law <...>, and when we discovered, that their law is the law of the devil, who insidiously mixed good with evil there in order to eliminate suspicion and thus lead the simple–minded into even greater deception, they, enraged, tried to kill us. We were captured and cruelly imprisoned, chained in iron, and we, suffering from hunger in prison filth among terrible worms and deadly stench, were happy to wait for death, but they, fearing the Tatars, did not dare to do it. For the Tatars love Christians, but they are hated and persecuted" ^{[9, pp. 91-92]}.

Thus, the missionaries were too late. The sovereign of "all Baskardia with most of his family" were already convinced Muslims, which the missionaries may not have known about before coming to Bashkiria. The adoption of Islam by the ruler of Bashkiria, who was apparently a vassal of the Golden Horde Khan, could be connected with the coming to power of the Uzbek Khan in 1312 and the beginning of his religious reform. In any case, it follows from the context of Johanka's letter that Islam was adopted in Bashkiria by the very "sovereign" whom the missionary does not call by name. At his court there were Saracen scholars, i.e. Muslim theologians, who had great influence. But even in such a situation, it was still far from the complete Islamization of the population of "all Baskardia". Perhaps Johanka was exaggerating when talking about the spread of Islam in Bashkiria in order to somehow justify the failure of his own mission. He could exaggerate not only his zeal, but also his suffering, posing as a martyr of the Catholic faith. He was wishful thinking when he wrote that the Tatars allegedly love Christians, and Muslims hate and persecute, because in 1320 the Golden Horde was already a Muslim state. But the freedom of religion preserved in the Horde saved the missionaries from death.

The Arab author al-Omari, who lived in the first half of the XIV century, referring to the wandering merchant Bedreddin Hassan Errumi, writes: "In the land of Bashkirds (there is) a Muslim qadi who enjoys honor" ^{[12, pp. 238-239]}. Obviously, by the middle of the XIV century. Bashkiria was already quite a Muslim country. The trial was carried out according to sharia.

The data of foreign authors complement the traditions of the Bashkirs themselves. The legend "Bulgars and Bashkirs" tells about Bashkirs living in forests, fifteen to twenty days from the Bulgars. Bashkirs were pagans, worshipped many gods. The Tabibs (healers) who healed the daughter of the Bulgarian Aidar Khan, who, having fulfilled their conditions, "turned all Bulgars into Muslims," "sent their Tabigin disciples to the Bashkirs. So Islam spread among the Bashkirs in the valleys of Agideli, Ika, Dema, Tanyp. And the Tabigins, who spread Islam among the Bashkirs, were also (like the Tabibs themselves. – I. A.) beatified" ^{[13, pp. 93-94]}.

The territory of the Bashkirs, who live next door to the Bulgars and adopted Islam from them, described in the legend, coincides with the territory of the Chiyalik culture. However, the time of adoption of Islam by Bashkirs is not specified in the legend. Judging by the content, this happened during the existence of an independent Bulgarian state, i.e. before the Mongol invasion. But who were these Tabigins who spread Islam among the Bashkirs, and why their names were not preserved by the national memory, remains a mystery. This legend echoes Rubruk's message about the land of Paskatir, whose inhabitants were conquered by neighboring Bulgars and became Muslims, which happened before the arrival of the Tatars.

But this information is contradicted by Julian, who calls the "Hungarians" he found, identified with the carriers of the Chiyalik culture, "pagans". Perhaps Julian, being a Catholic missionary, simply ignored the fact that his fellow tribesmen (at least a significant part of them) had already converted to Islam. He hoped to interest the missionaries in further work among the "pagan Hungarians". But Johanka, who arrived in Bashkiria, no longer found either "Hungarians" or "pagans" there, which indicates the parallel Turkization and Islamization of the region's population.

The legend "Burzians in the time of the Khans" says: "The Burzians came to this ancient southwestern region of Bashkortostan before the Kypsaks - they lived here in the time of the Khans-Kagans." Who is meant by the khans-kagans, follows from the following statement. The Bashkir tribes received Tamgas from Genghis Khan, and under Batu they converted to Islam. Bashkirs hid from the Khan's troops in the forests and mountains ^{[13, pp. 97-98]}. But even in such a situation, they could not preserve their traditional beliefs.

Thus, legends tell about two groups of Bashkirs. The bearers of the Chiyalik culture lived in the north-western, and the Burzians lived in the south–western and mountain-forest regions of Bashkortostan. Islam came to the bearers of the Chiyalik culture from Volga Bulgaria, and to the Buryans – from the Golden Horde. These two groups of Bashkirs united into a single people, apparently later.

Archaeological dataThe first country of the Volga-Ural region to convert to Islam was Volga Bulgaria.

Since the turn of the X-XI centuries, an exclusively Muslim funeral rite has been recorded on all burial grounds from the territory of Volga Bulgaria, "not a single pagan burial ground has been found, but not even a single pagan burial" ^{[14, p. 42]}. In Bashkiria, the neighborhood with Volga Bulgaria could not pass without a trace, but the influence of the new religion turned out to be very weak.

In the Karanaev burial mounds of the IX-X centuries, the burials of people were accompanied by finds of things and horse bones. The exception is the robbed burials (burials 4, 9, 17 and 24 mounds 3, burial of 1 mound 4, the only burial of mound 5, burial of 2 mounds 6, burial of 7 mounds 7 and burial of 3 mounds 9), where, except for individual, scattered, human bones, nothing was found ^{[15, p. 105-119]}. The latest on the monument is mound 18, dated XI-XII centuries. In burials 1 and 3, the bones lay on their backs, stretched out, with their heads to the west, there are no finds ^{[15, pp. 155-156]}.

In the Mrasimov burial mounds of the XI-XII centuries. there is only one burial with signs of a Muslim funeral rite. In the children's burial of 1 mound 17, the backbone lay on its back, stretched out, with its head to the west, there are no things. In the burial of 3 burial mounds 10, the skeleton lay crouched, on the right side, with its head to the north-northwest, there are no finds. Signs such as the position on the side and the northern orientation do not allow this burial to be considered Muslim. The rest of the burials were accompanied by things, horse bones, or were robbed (mounds 4, 8a, 13, 16, 19) ^{[15, pp. 147-155]}.

There are only two uninvented graves in the Bakalinsky burial mound of the X-XI centuries (mounds 4, 6). Both of them were destroyed by robbers, human bones were mixed. As G. N. Garustovich himself noted, "no influences of Islamic ritual are recorded here" ^{[16, pp. 47-70]}. There is no way to attribute the monument in question to the number of Muslim burial grounds.

Thus, only two burials can be considered Muslim in the Karanaev burial mounds (75 burials in total have been studied), and only one in the Mrasimov burial mounds (34 burials in total have been studied). In the Bakali burial mounds (a total of 12 burials were studied), signs of a Muslim funeral rite are not observed at all. Thus, the number of Muslims on the territory of Bashkiria in the XI-XII centuries was calculated in units. It should be remembered that Ibn Fadlan met only one Muslim among the Bashkirs in the tenth century. However, the monuments given as an example are quite far from the borders of Volga Bulgaria. As already noted, the spread of Islam among Bashkirs does not occur in the era of Volga Bulgaria, but in the era of the Golden Horde.

The volume of the article does not allow us to consider the materials of burial grounds located outside the Republic of Bashkortostan – Taktalachuksky, Azmetyevsky I, Derbeshkinsky, Staro-Varangian I and II, Gulyukovsky (Republic of Tatarstan), Selyaninsky, Kishertsky (Perm region), Kazakbaevsky (Kurgan region). All of them are not directly related to our region.

Since the materials of the Chiyalik burial grounds from the territory of Bashkortostan have not yet been introduced into scientific circulation, it seems appropriate to focus on the monuments left by the nomadic population, clearly of steppe origin. Having settled on the territory of modern Bashkortostan, the bearers of these monuments converted to Islam.

At the Urmanaevsky II ground burial ground (Bakalinsky district, excavations of S. M. Vasyutkin 1966), the burial of an adult in a deck with a northern orientation, dated XIII-XIV centuries, was opened ^{[17, p. 36, No. 29; 18, p. 134-137]}. On the Tukmak-Karan ground burial ground (Tuymazinsky district, excavations of G. N. Garustovich 2005), the burial of a nomad with inventory of the XIII-XIV centuries was cleared ^{[19, pp. 155-156]}. In the Chekmagushevsky district at d . The ground burial of an adult with things of the XIII-XIV centuries was destroyed in Rezyapovo ^{[17, p. 54, No. 247; 20, p. 126]}. In the Syntyshtamak burial mound of the XIII-XIV centuries. (Blagovarsky district, excavations of S. M. Vasyutkin 1966) six burials with belongings, the remaining eight burials are Muslim (including two burials containing only ornaments, which is allowed by the early Muslim burial rite) ^{[17, pp. 61-62, No. 324; 21, pp. 114-130]}. Muslim burials in stone mausoleums of the XIV century (Chishminsky district) belonging to representatives of the Golden Horde administration and members of their families can also be conditionally attributed to the group of monuments under consideration. In the mausoleum "Maly Keshene" (excavations by G. N. Garustovich in 1985), four burials were opened ^{[22, pp. 26-27, No. 94; 2, pp. 145, No. 161]}, in the mausoleum of Tura Khan (excavations by E. L. Hvorostova in 1976) – one burial ^{[17, pp. 100, No. 730 2, pp. 145-146, No. 162]}, there are nine burials in the mausoleum of Huseynbek (excavations of G. N. Garustovich in 1985) ^{[17, pp. 100-101, No. 732; 2, pp. 146-147, No. 163; 7]}. In the Blagovarsky district near Udryakbash accidentally discovered the burial of a nomad with a stirrup and horse bones, dated XIII–XIV centuries. ^{[23, pp. 283-285]}. In d . The burial of an adult without belongings, but with a northern orientation, dated XIV-XV centuries, was also accidentally discovered in the Dyurtyuli of the Davlekanovsky district ^{[17, p. 103, No. 761; 20, p. 164]}. At the village of Novoakkulaevo (Davlekanovsky district, excavations of N. A. Mazhitov 1969), the burial of a woman with a northern orientation and with things dated XIII–XIV centuries ^{[17, p. 103, No. 762; 24, p. 35-36, 112-115]}. In the IV Ilchigulov burial ground (Miyakinsky district, excavations of G. N. Garustovich in 1986), a Muslim burial of a man of the XIV-XV centuries was revealed ^{[25, p. 45, No. 180]}. Three Muslim burials of the XIV-XV centuries have been identified in the Chulpanov mounds (Miyakinsky district, excavations by A. H. Pshenichnyuk 1969) ^{[17, p. 109, No. 838; 20, p. 191-192]}. Kadyrov I burial ground (Duvan district) with a typically Muslim burial rite is dated to the XV-XVI centuries, but in the excavated in 1982 by a resident of D. A bronze ladle was found in Kadyrov's burial, analogies of which are found in monuments of the XIII-XIV centuries ^{[17, p. 139, No. 1172; 2, p. 105, No. 62]}. Burial in kurgan 1 near the village of Lekanda (Aurgazinsky district, excavations by A. H. Pshenichnyuk 1973) with the northern orientation of the backbone and with the things of G. N. Garustovich and V. A. Ivanov date from the XIII-XIV centuries ^{[17, p. 146, No. 1245; 26, p. 14; 20, p. 211]}. In the burial ground of Jurmata I (Fedorovsky district, excavations by M. H. Sadykova 1962), a Muslim burial of an adult of the XIV-XV centuries was opened ^{[20, pp. 175-176]}. A mound was destroyed near the village of Sarais of Sterlibashevsky district, in which a Muslim burial of the XIV-XV centuries was discovered ^{[17, pp. 158, No. 1384; 20, p. 124]}. In the Bala-Chatyrmansky III burial ground (Fedorovsky district, excavations by V. A. Ivanov and A. F. Yaminov 1994), six buried Muslim burials of the XIV century were investigated ^{[17, p. 159, No. 1398; 2, p. 181-182, No. 262; 27, p. 14]}. In 1959 and 1961, a local teacher excavated two neighboring mounds in the vicinity of the village of Batyrovo, Fedorovsky district, in one of which a paired male and female burial was revealed, in the other a male burial. These burials were made according to the Muslim rite, without things, dated from the XIV-XV centuries ^{[17, pp. 159-160, No. 1406; 20, pp. 166, 175]}. The military burials of the Aznaevsky II burial mound (Ishimbaysky district, excavations by G. N. Garustovich, V. A. Ivanov, A. F. Yaminov 1998), accompanied by numerous things and animal bones, are associated with the era of the Mongol invasion ^{[28, pp. 95-104]}. The Muslim burial of an adult in kurgan 26 of the Derbenevsky burial ground (Meleuzovsky district, excavations by A. H. Pshenichnyuk 1983) dates from the XIV-XV centuries ^{[25, p. 70, No. 284; 2, p. 185, No. 274]}. The Muslim burial of an adult of the late Middle Ages (about the middle of the II millennium AD) was revealed in one of the mounds of the Syrtlanovsky II burial ground (Meleuzovsky district) ^{[29, pp. 46-49]}. N. A. Mazhitov in 1965 in the Burzyansky district discovered an intake burial made according to the Muslim rite. N. A. Mazhitov considered it burial grave of Babsak-biya (second half of the XV century.), the head of the Karagai-Kypsak clan of the Kypsak tribe, who died in confrontation with the Bashkirs of the Burzyan tribe ^{[17, p. 171, No. 1530]}. The Muslim burial of an adult of the Late Middle Ages was located in one of the mounds of the Akimbetovsky III burial ground (Kugarchinsky district, excavations by N. A. Mazhitov 1969) ^{[17, p. 181, No. 1632; 2, p. 200, No. 319]}. In a brick mausoleum near the village of Maksyutovo (Kugarchinsky district, excavations by N. A. Mazhitov 1966-1969), a female burial performed according to the Muslim rite was revealed. Bashkirs associate this mausoleum with Bandebike, the heroine of one of the Bashkir legends. It dates from the XIV-XV centuries ^{[17, p. 182, No. 1640; 2, p. 199, No. 318; 10, p. 142]}. In Bashkir-Berkut mounds (Kugarchinsky district, excavations by N. A. Mazhitov 1968-1969), three burials in decks were uncovered, according to things dating from the XIII-XIV centuries ^{[17, p. 182, No. 1644; 24, p. 112-114, 184-185]}. In a single Bikechevsky VIII mound (Kugarchinsky district, excavations by R. B. Ismagilov, 1975), a Muslim burial of an adult of the XIII-XIV centuries was uncovered ^{[22, p. 60, No. 256; 30, p. 140]}. In one of the IV burial mounds of Ivanovo (Khaibullinsky district, excavations by A. H. Pshenichnyuk 1974), the burial of an adult man in a deck with inventory and horse bones, dated XIII-XIV centuries, was revealed ^{[17, pp. 185-186, No. 1690; 22, pp. 64, No. 276; 26, p. 40]}. The burial of the XIV century with signs of a Muslim funeral rite was revealed in the Baiguskar II single mound (Khaibullinsky district, excavations by F. A. Sungatov 1991) ^{[31, pp. 58-59]}. In the Yuldybayev II burial mounds (Zilairsky district, excavations by M. H. Sadykova in 1963), women's burials of the XIV century with a northern orientation and with things were revealed ^{[17, p. 186, No. 1700; 32, p. 145-146]}. An underground burial with things of the XIII-XIV centuries was destroyed near the village of Mullakaevo, Baymaksky district ^{[17, p. 189, No. 1747; 20, p. 168]}. In the VI Komsomol burial mounds (Baymaksky district, excavations of A. H. Pshenichnyuk 1973), two burials with inventory, one burial without belongings were investigated. All burials date from the XIII-XIV centuries ^{[22, p. 65, No. 280; 26, p. 75; 2, p. 55]}. Two burials of the II Tavlykaev burial mounds (Baymak district, excavations by Yu. A. Morozov 1973) without signs of a Muslim funeral rite date from the XIII-XIV centuries ^{[33, pp. 134-137; 1, p. 73, No. 6]}. In the Ishkulovsky II burial mound of the XIII-XIV centuries. (Abzelilovsky district, excavations by Yu. A. Morozov 1983, V. A. Ivanov 1984) three burials with belongings, the remaining nine burials are Muslim (including two burials containing only ornaments, which is allowed by the early Muslim burial rite) ^{[25, p. 87, No. 352; 2, p. 55]}. In the entrance burial of the Tuishevsky kurgan (Abzelilovsky district, excavations of M. S. Smirnov in 1920), dating from the XIII-XIV centuries, no signs of a Muslim funeral rite have been traced ^{[17, p. 209, No. 2007; 20, p. 106]}. The results of the comparative analysis are presented in the table.

Table.

"Pagan" and Muslim burials of the XIII-XV centuries.on the territory of Bashkortostan

Monument

ConclusionThus, a total of 84 burials were taken into account.

Of these, 31 were buried with a diverse, unstable funeral rite, which can be conditionally called "pagan", i.e. preceding the Muslim one; 53 burials were definitely performed according to the Muslim rite. All the considered burials date back to the XIII-XV centuries. Now it makes sense to return to the periodization developed by V. A. Ivanov and V. A. Krieger. "Pagan" burials can be dated to the XIII-XIV centuries, Muslim – XIV-XV centuries. The XIV century should be considered a transition from "paganism" to Islam. This picture corresponds to the data of written sources. Johanka the Hungarian and al-Omari report the adoption of Islam in Bashkiria in the XIV century, which was a consequence of the adoption of Islam in the Golden Horde. The process of Islamization of the population of Bashkiria began much earlier, which, in turn, was a consequence of the adoption of Islam in Volga Bulgaria. But in the pre-Mongol period, the number of Muslims in Bashkiria was calculated in units. It is difficult to trace the line on the archaeological material where the penetration ends and the spread of Islam begins, the same early Muslim burial grounds of the Chiyalik culture can be dated to the XIII and XIV centuries. Rubruk's message about the conquest of the Bashkirs by the Bulgars is not entirely clear. The formation of the Golden Horde and the unification of the Bulgars and Bashkirs as part of a single state in itself served as a powerful factor of Islamization. Islamization of the population of the forest-steppe zone of the Southern Urals could be associated with the activities of Khan Berke, the first Muslim ruler of the Jochi ulus, who came to power at the beginning of the second half of the XIII century. Berke relied on Bulgarian and Central Asian merchants who spread Islam in Bashkiria. Islamization of the nomadic population of the Volga-Ural region takes place under the Uzbek Khan, a contemporary (and probably an emissary) which was Huseynbek. As for the activities of Huseynbek, he was just supposed to monitor compliance with all the norms of Islamic rites among the population of the Ural forest-steppe subordinate to him. The establishment of a new religion in Bashkiria, apparently, comes after the XV century, which was associated with the disappearance of the burial burial rite and the transition to the Muslim funeral rite, adopted by the Bashkirs at the present time. However, the funerary monuments of modern times on the territory of Bashkiria still remain practically unexplored. Thus, the Islamization of the Bashkirs finally ended only after joining Russia, which guaranteed freedom of religion to all indigenous peoples.

The work was carried out within the framework of the state task on the topic "Cultural integration of the population of the Southern Urals in antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern times: factors, dynamics, models" No. AAAAA-A21-121012290083-9