Mokshas
 Zubu Moksha women. Photo by Ivan Dubasov. |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (296,900) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Russia:
|
4,767 |
| Languages | |
| Moksha, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Russian Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Paganism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Uralic peoples (Volga Finns), particularly Erzya and Mari | |
The Mokshas (also Mokshans, Moksha people, in Moksha: Мокшет/Mokšet) are a Mordvinian ethnic group belonging to the Volgaic branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples who live in the Russian Federation, mostly near the Volga and Moksha rivers, a tributary of the Oka River.
Their native language is Mokshan, one of the two surviving members of the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic language family. According to the 1994 Russian census, 49% of the autochthonal Finnic population in Mordovia identified themselves as Mokshas, totaling more than 180,000 people. Most Mokshas belong to the Russian Orthodox Church; other religions practised by Mokshas include Lutheranism and paganism.
Rubruck, the Franciscan monk who was sent to the Mongols, called them "Moxel". The same term is used in the Persian chronicle of Rashid-al-Din. According to popular tradition the Russians first used the term "Mordva" to refer only to the Erzya people but later used it for both the Erzyas and the Mokshas. The term "Moksha" begins to appear in Russian sources in the 17th century.
The Mokshas are known in local languages as:
The breakup of the Volga Finns into separate groups is believed to have begun around 1200 BC. The Moksha people cannot be traced earlier because they did not possess a distinctive burial tradition before that time. According to archeological data, bodies in early Mokshan burials were oriented with their heads to the south. Herodotus mentions Androphagi living in the forests between the upper waters of the Dnieper and Don, north of Scythia; this people is believed to be identifiable with the Gorodets culture, and with the early Moksha, making Herodotus's report the first appearance of the Mokshas in written history. Herodotus also describes the Scythian-Persian war of 516-512 BC, which involved the entire population of the Middle Volga. During this war the Sarmatians forced out the Scythians and subdued some Moksha clans. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, Antes, Slavs, Mokshas and Erzyas became the most numerous and powerful population in East Europe. By the end of the 4th century, most Mokshas had joined the Hunnic tribal alliance, taken part in the defeat of the Ostrogothic Empire in 377, and subsequently moved eastward and settled in Pannonia. Evidence of the Hunnic connection includes Mokshan battle harnesses, especially the bits and psalia, which are identical to early Hunnic battle harnesses. Archeological data show that the boundaries of Moksha territory did not change between the fourth and 8th centuries. In 450, the Mokshas were in alliance with a people of the Middle Volga known as the Burtas, who were possibly Alans.
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