Mişär people (original) (raw)

The people

• Мишаристан - татары Мещерского края
• Misharistan - Tatars of Mishar Land
• Mişäristan - Mişärlär - tatarlarnıñ törkeme

Mishars are a Tatar ethnic group inhabiting originally the right bank of Volga river up to the right bank of Oka river in the north.

Forced migration relocated them first to Bashkiria and Ural region, then to the territories of Niznyi Novgorod, Penza and Ulyanovsk oblasti, where most live today.

It is believed the ethnos was formed by the complicated mixing of Kipchak, Bolgar, Magyar, Nogay and Ugric elements

They speak misharian dialect of the Tatar language. According to the census of 1926 there were c.200000 Mishars then. Present population is unknown.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 21 Jul 2009