Editing Bashkirs

{{Short description|Turkic ethnic group}}
{{Other uses|Bashkir (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Bashkirs
| native_name      = {{native name|ba|Башҡорттар}}
| native_name_lang = ba
| flag             = Flag of Bashkortostan.svg
| flag_caption     = Flag of [[Bashkortostan]]
| population       = 1.59 million<ref name="perepis">{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=M. Paul|year=2009|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bak|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th edition|newspaper=Ethnologue|publisher=Dallas, Tex.: SIL International}}</ref>
| popplace         = [[File:Bashkirs by federal subject 2010.svg|center|frameless|260x260px]]
{{Flagcountry|Russia}}{{nbsp|2}}1,571,879<ref>[http://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx Ethnic groups of Russia in the 2021 census]. {{in lang|ru}}</ref><br /> • {{flag|Bashkortostan}} 1,268,806
| region2          = {{flag|Kazakhstan}}
| pop2             = 19,996 (2023)
| ref2             = {{cn|date=December 2024}}
| region3          = {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
| pop3             = 3,707 (2000)
| ref3             = {{cn|date=December 2024}}
| region4          = {{flag|Ukraine}}
| pop4             = 3,200
| ref4             = <ref name="un.org">[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcensus/V2_table4.xls Population by national and/or ethnic group, sex and urban/rural residence: each census, 1985—2003]</ref>
| region5          = {{flag|Belarus}}
| pop5             = 607 (2009)
| region6          = {{flag|Turkmenistan}}
| pop6             = 3,820 (1995)
| ref6             = <ref name="tm">{{cite web|url= http://asgabat.net/turkmenistan/itogi-vseobschei-perepisi-naselenija-turkmenistana-po-nacionalnomu-sostavu-v-1995-godu.html|title= Итоги всеобщей переписи населения Туркменистана по национальному составу в 1995 году|access-date= 2013-03-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130313015500/http://asgabat.net/turkmenistan/itogi-vseobschei-perepisi-naselenija-turkmenistana-po-nacionalnomu-sostavu-v-1995-godu.html |archive-date= 2013-03-13}}</ref>
| region7          = {{flag|Moldova}}
| pop7             = 600
| ref7             = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=9|title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.|website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref>
| region8          = {{flag|Latvia}}
| pop8             = 205 (2023)
| ref8             = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.stat.gov.lv/pxweb/en/OSP_PUB/START__POP__IR__IRE/IRE010/table/tableViewLayout1/|title=Population by ethnicity at the beginning of year – Time period and Ethnicity &#124; National Statistical System of Latvia |website=data.stat.gov.lv}}</ref><ref>[https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/lv/media/9756/download?attachment Latvijas iedzīvotāju sadalījums pēc nacionālā sastāva un valstiskās piederības, 01.01.2023. - PMLP]</ref>
| region9          = {{flag|Lithuania}}
| pop9             = 84 (2011)
| region10         = {{flag|Estonia}}
| pop10            = 112
| ref10            = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://andmed.stat.ee/et/stat|title=Vali tabel|website=andmed.stat.ee}}</ref>
| region11         = {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
| pop11            = 1,111
| ref11            = <ref>[Национальный статистический комитет Кыргызской Республики. Численность постоянного населения по национальностям по переписи 2009 года]</ref>
| region12         = {{flag|Georgia}}
| pop12            = 379
| ref12            = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=6|title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.|website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref>
| region13         = {{flag|Azerbaijan}}
| pop13            = 533
| ref13            = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=7|title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.|website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref>
| region14         = {{flag|Armenia}}
| pop14            = 145
| ref14            = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=13|title = Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей}}</ref>
| region15         = {{flag|Tajikistan}}
| pop15            = 143 (2010)
| ref15            = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stat.tj/ru/img/526b8592e834fcaaccec26a22965ea2b_1355501132.pdf|title=Перепись населения и жилищного фонда Республики Таджикистан 2010 года|access-date=2024-10-26|archive-date=2013-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014054442/http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/526b8592e834fcaaccec26a22965ea2b_1355501132.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| langs            = [[Bashkir language|Bashkir]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Tatar language|Tatar]]<ref name="языки">{{cite web |url= http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-08.pdf |title= 8. НАСЕЛЕНИЕ НАИБОЛЕЕ МНОГОЧИСЛЕННЫХ |publisher= Gks.ru |access-date= 2015-03-16 |archive-date= 2019-07-13 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190713195309/http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-08.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |fix-attempted=yes |url=}}</ref>
| rels             = [[Sunni Islam]]
| related          = [[Kazakhs]],<ref name="Бижанова">{{cite journal |author = Бижанова М. Р. |editor=  |format= |url= http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/bashkiro-kazahskie-otnosheniya-v-xviii-veke |title= Башкиро-казахские отношения в XVIII веке |journal= Вестник Башкирского Университета|type= журнал | agency =  |edition= Вестник Башкирского университета  |year= 2006 |volume= 11 |number= 4|pages = 146–147}}</ref> [[Nogais]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Trepavlov |first=Vadim|date=2002|title=History of the Nogai Horde|url= https://d37e98a2-3644-435d-b7be-ef61b4252a03.selcdn.net/distr/files/ministerstvodistr8/e8cf3af04aba4ced20ee350d16a7f38c.pdf|location=Moscow |publisher=«Восточная литература»|page=72, 205, 210|isbn=5-02-018193-5}}</ref> [[Crimean Tatars]],<ref>Салихов А.Г. [https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=29059842 О башкирско-крымско-татарских культурных связях]. Издательство "ГУП РБ Издательский Дом «Республика Башкортостан»", Уфа, 2017</ref> [[Hungarians]]<ref>Nature.com [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44272-6] Y-chromosomal connection between Hungarians and geographically distant populations of the Ural Mountain region and West Siberia, 2019.</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2025}}
}}

The '''Bashkirs''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|b|æ|ʃ|ˈ|k|ɪə|z}} {{respell|bash-KEERZ}}, {{IPAc-en|US|b|ɑː|ʃ|ˈ|k|ɪər|z}} {{respell|bahsh-KEERZ}}) or '''Bashkorts''' ({{langx|ba|Башҡорттар|Başqorttar}}, {{IPA|ba|bɑʂ.qʊɾt.ˈtaɾ|pron}}; {{langx|ru|Башкиры}}, {{IPA|ru|bɐʂˈkʲirɨ|pron}}) are a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] ethnic group indigenous to [[Russia]]. They are concentrated in [[Bashkortostan]], a [[Republics of Russia|republic of the Russian Federation]] and in the broader [[historical region]] of [[Badzhgard]], which spans both sides of the [[Ural Mountains]], where [[Eastern Europe]] meets [[North Asia]]. Smaller communities of Bashkirs also live in the [[Tatarstan|Republic of Tatarstan]], [[Perm Krai]] the [[Oblasts of Russia|oblasts]] of [[Chelyabinsk Oblast|Chelyabinsk]], [[Orenburg Oblast|Orenburg]], [[Tyumen Oblast|Tyumen]], [[Sverdlovsk Oblast|Sverdlovsk]], [[Kurgan Oblast|Kurgan]] and other regions in [[Russia]]; sizeable minorities exist in [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Uzbekistan]].

[[File:Baschkiren, Baymak rayon 2.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs in traditional clothing]]

Most Bashkirs speak the [[Bashkir language]], which is similar to the [[Kazakh language]]. The Bashkir language belongs to the [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] branch of [[Turkic languages]]; they share historical and cultural affinities with the broader [[Turkic peoples]]. Bashkirs are mainly [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] of the [[Hanafi school]] [[madhhab]], or school of jurisprudence, and follow the [[Jadid]] doctrine. Previously nomadic and fiercely independent, the Bashkirs gradually came under Russian rule beginning in the 16th century; they have since played a major role through the history of Russia, culminating in their autonomous status within the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia.

==Ethnonym==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2023}}

The etymology and indeed meaning of the [[endonym]] ''Bashqurt'' has been for a long time under discussion.

The name Bashqurt has been known since the 10th century, most researchers etymologize the name as "main/leader/head" ('''bash''') + "wolf" ('''qurt''' being an archaic name for the animal), thus "''wolf-leader''" (from the totemic hero ancestor).

This prevailing [[folk etymology]] relates to a legend regarding the migration of the first seven Bashkir tribes from the [[Syr Darya]] valley to the Volga-Ural region. The legend relates that the Bashkirs were given a green and fertile land by the fertility goddess of [[Tengrism]] [[Umay]] (known locally also as ''Umay-əsə''), protected by the legendary Ural mountains (in alignment with the famous Bashkir epic poem "Ural-Batyr"). A wolf was sent to guide these tribes to their promised land, hence ''bash-qurt, "leading wolf"''. The [[ethnographers]] [[Vasily Tatishchev|V. N. Tatishchev]], P. I. Richkov, and [[Johann Gottlieb Georgi]] provided similar etymologies in the 18th century.

Although this is the prevailing theory for an etymology of the term ''bashqurt'', other theories have been formulated:
* In 1847, the historian V. S. Yumatov speculated the original meaning to have been "[[beekeeper]] or beemaster".<ref>{{citation|publisher=Оренбургские губернские ведомости|title=О названии башкирцев|page=297|year=1847|language=ru}}</ref>
* [[Douglas Morton Dunlop]] proposed ''bashqurt'' being derived from the forms ''beshgur'', ''bashgur'', which means "five [[oghurs]]". Since modern ''sh'' corresponds to ''l'' in [[Bulgar language]]. Therefore, Dunlop proposes the ethnonyms Bashqurt and Bulgar are equivalent.<ref>{{cite book|author=D. M. Dunlop|title=The History of the Jewish khazars|year=1967|location=New Jersey|page=34}}</ref> [[Zeki Velidi Togan]] also suggested this.<ref>{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|title=BAŞKIRT Orta Asya Türk kavimlerinden.|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/baskirt}}</ref>
* Historian and [[ethnologist]] A. E. Alektorov has suggested that ''Bashqurt'' meant "distinct [[nation]]".{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}
* [[Anthropologist]] R. M. Yusupov considered ''Bashqurt'' may originally have been an [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] [[compound word]] meaning "wolf-children" or "[[wikt:descendant|descendant]]s of heroes", on the basis of the words ''bacha'' "descendant, child" and ''gurd'' "hero" or ''gurg'' "wolf".
* Historian and [[archaeologist]] Mikhail Artamonov suggested that the word is a [[linguistic corruption|corruption]] of the name of the Bušxk (or ''Bwsxk''), a tribe of [[Scythia]] that lived in the area now known as Bashkortostan.<ref name="Golden">[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=3ZzXjdyK-CEC Peter B. Golden, Haggai Ben-Shammai & András Róna-Tas, The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives], Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2007, pp. 422.</ref>
* Ethnologist N. V. Bikbulatov suggested that the term originated from the name of a legendary [[Khazar]] warlord named [[Bashgird]], who ruled an area along the [[Ural River|Yayıq]] river.
* Ethnologist R. G. Kuzeev derived the ethnonym from the morphemes ''bash'' "leader, head" and ''qurt'' "tribe".{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}
* Historian and [[linguist]] [[András Róna-Tas]] argued the ethnonym "Bashkir" to be a [[Bulgar language|Bulgar]] [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] reflex of the Hungarian endonym ''[[Hungarian language|Magyar]]'' (or the [[Old Hungarian language|Old Hungarian]] ''Majer'').<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Róna-Tas |first1=András |title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: an introduction to early Hungarian history |last2=Róna-Tas |first2=András |publisher=Central European Univ. Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-963-9116-48-1 |location=Budapest New York |pages=289–294 |translator-last=Bodoczky |translator-first=Nicholas}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Bashkortostan}}

===Origins===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2022}}

The Bashkir group was formed by [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] tribes of South Siberian and Central Asian origin, who, before migrating to the [[Southern Urals]], wandered for a considerable time in the [[Syr Darya|Aral-Syr Darya]] steppes (modern day central-southern [[Kazakhstan]]), coming into contact with the [[Pechenegs|Pecheneg-Oghuz]] and [[Kimek–Kipchak confederation|Kimak-Kipchak]] tribes. Therefore, it is possible to note that the Bashkir people originates from the same tribes which compose the modern [[Kazakhs]], [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyzes]] and [[Nogais]], but there has been a considerable cultural and a small ethnic exchange with [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz]] tribes.

The migration to the valley of the Southern Urals took place between the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century, in parallel to the Kipchak migration to the north.

===Middle Ages===
{{More citations needed|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Mausoleum of Huseynbek.jpg|thumb|Mausoleum of Husseinbek of the 14th century in Bashkortostan]]
[[File:Mausoleum of Turahan.jpg|thumb|Mausoleum of Turakhan of the 15th century in Bashkortostan]]
[[File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs of [[Baymak]] in traditional dress]]

The first report about Bashkirs may have been in the [[Chinese people|Chinese]] chronicle [[Book of Sui]] (636 AD). Around 40 Turkic [[Tiele people|Tiele]] tribes were named in the section "A Narration about the Tiele people"; Bashkirs might have been included within that narration, if the tribal name 比干 ([[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] ''Bǐgān'' ← [[Middle Chinese]] [[Zhengzhang Shangfang|ZS]]: *''piɪ<sup>X</sup>-kɑn'') (in ''[[Book of Wei]]'') were a scribal error for 比千 (''Bĭqiān'' ← *''piɪ<sup>X</sup>t͡sʰen'') (in ''[[History of the Northern Dynasties]]''), the latter reading being favored by Chinese scholar Rui Chuanming.<ref>{{citation|last=Cheng|first=Fangyi|title=The Research on the Identification Between Tiele and the Oghuric Tribes|url=https://www.academia.edu/4314856|language=en|pages=83–84}}</ref>

In the 7th century, Bashkirs were also mentioned in the Armenian [[Ashkharatsuyts]].

However, these mentions may refer to the precursors of the [[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] Bashkir tribes who travelled in the Aral-Syr Darya region before the migration. The [[Book of Sui]] may have mentioned "Bashkirs" when the Turkic peoples were still travelling through [[South Siberia|southern Siberia.]]

In the 9th century, during the migration of the Bashkirs to the Volga-Ural region, the first [[Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]]-written reports about Bashkirs are attested. These include reports by Sallam al-Tardjuman who around 850 travelled to the Bashkir territories and outlined their borders.

In the 10th century, the Persian historian and polymath [[Abu Zayd al-Balkhi]] described Bashkirs as a people divided into two groups: one inhabiting the Southern Urals, the other living on the [[Wallachian Plain]]–[[Danubian_Plain_(Bulgaria)|Danubian Plain]] near the boundaries of [[Byzantium]].<ref group="A">These sources may have confused Bashkirs with [[Hungarians]], since the area of Modern Bashkortostan is often referred as "[[Magna Hungaria]]", the zone where the [[Magyar tribes]] dwelled before their migration to Europe; it is believed that Bashkirs may have come into contact with these Magyar tribes, since some of the Northern Tribes of the modern Bashkirs do have genetic correspondence with Hungarians</ref> [[Ibn Rustah]], a contemporary of [[Abu Zayd al-Balkhi]], observed that Bashkirs were an independent people occupying territories on both sides of the [[Ural Mountains]] ridge between [[Volga River|Volga]], [[Kama River|Kama]], and [[Tobol River]]s and upstream of the [[Ural River|Yaik river]].

[[Ahmad ibn Fadlan]], ambassador of the Baghdad Caliph [[Al-Muqtadir]] to the governor of [[Volga Bulgaria]], wrote the first ethnographic description of the Bashkir in 922. The Bashkirs, according to Ibn Fadlan, were a warlike and powerful people, which he and his companions (a total of five thousand people, including military protection) "bewared... with the greatest threat". They were described as engaged in cattle breeding. According to ibn Fadlan, the Bashkirs worshipped twelve gods: winter, summer, rain, wind, trees, people, horses, water, night, day, death, heaven and earth, and the most prominent, the sky god. Apparently, Islam had already begun to spread among the Bashkirs, as one of the ambassadors was a Muslim Bashkir. According to the testimony of Ibn Fadlan, the Bashkirs were [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], living on the southern slopes of the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]], and occupying a vast territory up to the river [[Volga River|Volga]]. They were bordered by [[Oghuz Turks]] on the south, [[Pechenegs]] to the south-east and [[Bulgars]] on the west.

The earliest source to give a geographical description of Bashkir territory, [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]'s ''Divanu Lugat'it Turk'' (1072–1074), includes a map with a charted region called ''Fiyafi Bashqyrt'' (the Bashkir steppes). Despite a lack of much geographic detail, the sketch map does indicate that the Bashkirs inhabited a territory bordering on the [[Caspian Sea]] and the [[Volga River|Volga]] valley in the west, the Ural Mountains in the north-west, and the [[Irtysh River|Irtysh]] valley in the east, thus giving a rough outline of the area.

[[Said Al-Andalusi]] and [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] mention the Bashkir in the 12th century. The 13th-century authors [[Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi]], [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] and [[Zakariya al-Qazwini|Qazvini]] and the 14th-century authors [[Al-Dimashqi (geographer)|Al-Dimashqi]] and [[Abu'l-Fida]] also wrote about Bashkirs.

The first European sources to mention the Bashkirs were the works of [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpini|Joannes de Plano Carpini]] and [[William of Rubruck|William of Rubruquis]] of the 13th century.

By 1226, [[Genghis Khan]] had incorporated the lands of Bashkortostan into his empire. During the 13th and 14th centuries, all of Bashkortostan was a component of the [[Golden Horde]]. The brother of [[Batu Khan|Batu-Khan]], Sheibani, received the Bashkir lands east of the [[Ural Mountains]].

After the disintegration of the [[Mongol Empire]], the Bashkirs were divided among the [[Nogai Horde]], the [[Khanate of Kazan]] and the [[Khanate of Sibir]], founded in the 15th century.

===Early modern period===
[[File:Башкирские казаки в Европе.jpg|thumb|Bashkir riders]]
[[File:Basjkier in Veessen bij de haven.jpg|thumb|Bashkir sculpture in the haven of [[Veessen]], [[Netherlands]]]][[File:Башкиры в Париже.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs in Paris during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], 1814]][[File:Allan, David - Bashkirs - 1814.jpg|thumb|''Bashkirs'' [[William Allan (painter)|William Allan]], 1814]][[File:Башкиры на празднике Джиен.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs at the Jien festival]]

In the middle of the 16th century, Bashkirs were gradually conquered by the [[Tsardom of Russia]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=1-57958-468-3|editor-last=Skutsch|editor-first=Carl|location=New York|pages=188, 189}}</ref> Primary documents pertaining to the Bashkirs during this period have been lost, although some are mentioned in the ''shezhere'' (family trees) of the Bashkir.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

During the Russian Imperial period, Russians and Tatars began to migrate to Bashkortostan which led to eventual demographic changes in the region. The recruitment of Bashkirs into the Russian army and having to pay steep taxes pressured many Bashkirs to adopt a more settled lifestyle and to slowly abandon their ancient nomadic pastoralist past.<ref name=":0" />

In the late 16th and early 19th centuries, Bashkirs occupied the territory from the river [[Sylva River|Sylva]] in the north, to the river heads of [[Tobol]] in the east, the mid-stream of the river [[Ural River|Yaik]] (Ural) in the south; in the Middle and Southern Urals, the Cis-Urals including Volga territory and Trans-Uralsto, and the eastern bank of the [[Volga River|river Volga]] on the south-west.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

===Bashkir rebellions of the 17th–18th centuries===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2019}}

The Bashkirs participated in the [[Bashkir rebellion (1662–1664)|1662–64]], [[Bashkir rebellion of 1681–1684|1681–84]] and [[Bashkir Uprising (1704–11)|1704–11]] uprisings. In 1676, the Bashkirs rebelled under a leader named Seyid Sadir or 'Seit Sadurov', and the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] had great difficulties in ending the rebellion. The Bashkirs rose again in 1707, under Aldar and Kûsyom, due to perceived ill-treatment by Imperial Russian officials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/5874|title=Opinion: Lessons from History: Russia's Repression of the Bashkirs|first=Askold S.|last=Lozynskyj|website=Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost|date=26 December 2022 }}</ref>

At the founding of [[Orenburg Oblast|Orenburg]] in 1735, the [[Bashkir rebellion of 1735–1740|fourth insurrection]] occurred in 1735 and lasted six years.<ref>Акманов И. Г. Башкирские восстания XVII–XVIII вв. Феномен в истории народов Евразии. – Уфа: Китап, 2016</ref> Ivan Kirillov formed a plan to build the fort to be called Orenburg at [[Orsk]] at the confluence of the [[Or River]] and the [[Ural River]], south-east of the Urals where the Bashkir, Kalmyk and Kazakh lands met. Work on Fort Orenburg commenced at Orsk in 1735. However, by 1743 the site of [[Orenburg]] was moved a further 250&nbsp;km west to its current location. The next planned construction was to be a fort on the [[Aral Sea]]. The consequence of the Aral Sea fort would involve crossing Bashkir and the [[Little jüz|Kazakh Lesser Horde]] lands, some of whom had recently offered a nominal submission to the Russian Crown.

The southern side of Bashkiria was partitioned by the Orenburg Line of forts. The forts ran from [[Samara, Russia|Samara]] on the Volga east as far as the [[Samara (Volga)|Samara River]] headwaters. It then crossed to the middle of the [[Ural River]] and following the river course east and then north on the eastern side of the Urals. It then went east along the [[Uy River (Tobol basin)|Uy River]] to Ust-Uisk on the [[Tobol River]] where it connected to the ill-defined 'Siberian Line' along the forest-steppe boundary.

In 1774, the Bashkirs, under the leadership of [[Salawat Yulayev|Salavat Yulayev]], supported [[Pugachev's Rebellion]]. In 1786, the Bashkirs achieved tax-free status; and in 1798 Russia formed an [[Irregular military|irregular]] Bashkir army from among them.

===Napoleonic Wars===
[[File:Baschkiren gegen Franzosen.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs against French soldiers]]

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], many Bashkirs served as mercenaries in the Russian army to defend from the [[France|French]] invaders during [[French invasion of Russia|Napoleon's invasion of Russia]].<ref name="rbth.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/2014/07/29/how_russias_steppe_warriors_took_on_napoleons_armies_37029|title=How Russia's steppe warriors took on Napoleon's armies|last1=Vershinin|first1=Alexander|last2=RIR|first2=specially for|date=2014-07-29|website=www.rbth.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-14}}</ref> Subsequently, the Bashkir battalions were the most notable fighters during the Napoleonic wars on the north German and Dutch plateau. The Dutch and the Germans called the Bashkirs "Northern Amurs", probably because the population was not aware of who the Bashkirs actually were or where they came from, therefore the usage of "[[Amur]]s" in the name may be an approximation; these battalions were considered as the liberators from the [[First French Empire|French]], however modern Russian military sources do not credit the Bashkirs with these accomplishments. These regiments also served in the [[Battle of Paris (1814)|Battle of Paris]] and the subsequent [[Occupation of France 1815-1818|occupation of France]] by the coalition forces.<ref name="rbth.com"/>

===Establishment of First Republic of Bashkortostan===
[[File:Holiday Bashkir national costume 65.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs in traditional national costume]]

After the [[Russian Revolution]], the All-Bashkir Qoroltays (convention) concluded that it was necessary to form an independent Bashkir republic within Russia. As a result, on 15 November 1917, the Bashkir Regional (central) Shuro (Council), ruled by [[Zeki Velidi Togan|Äxmätzäki Wälidi Tıwğan]] proclaimed the establishment of the first independent Bashkir Republic in areas of predominantly Bashkir population: Orenburg, Perm, Samara, Ufa provinces and the autonomous entity [[Bashkurdistan]] on November 15, 1917. This effectively made Bashkortostan the first ever [[Democracy|democratic]] [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[republic]] in history.

===Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic===
In March 1919, the [[Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] was formed based on agreements of the Russian Government.

===World War II===
[[File:Bashkir elder.jpg|thumb|This Bashkir wears a medallion, which identifies him as the village chief. Photo by G. Fisher, Orenburg, 1892]]
[[File:Давлеканово. Кумысники.jpg|thumb|[[Davlekanovo]] ([[Ufa Governorate]]). [[Kumis]] cooking, the beginning of the 20th century]]
[[File:Башкиры в Оренбурге.1913.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs in [[Orenburg]], at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the victory in the [[Patriotic War of 1812]], 1913]]

During [[World War II]], Bashkir soldiers served in the [[Red Army]] to defend the [[Soviet Union]] and fought against the Germans during the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ibragimov|first=N. G.|date=1988|title=[Public and private aid to evacuated hospitals in the Bashkir ASSR during the years of the war]|journal=Sovetskoe Zdravookhranenie|issue=3|pages=64–67|issn=0038-5239|pmid=3287647}}</ref>

===Second declaration of independence===
On October 11, 1990, Declaration of State Sovereignty by the Supreme Council of the Republic was proclaimed. On March 31, 1992 [[Bashkortostan]] signed a federal agreement on the delimitation of powers and areas of jurisdiction and the nature of contractual relations between the authorities of the [[Russian Federation]] and the authorities of the sovereign republics in its composition including the [[Republic of Bashkortostan]].

==Bashkir tribes==
North-eastern group: Aile, Badrak, Bikatin, Bishul, Duvan, Kalmak, Katai, Kossy, Kuvakan, Kudey, Kumruk, Murzy, Salyut, Syzgy, Synryan, Syrzy, Tabyn, Tersyak, Upey.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Northwest group: Baylar, Balyksy, Bulyar, Gaina, Gere, Duvaney, Elan, Adyak, Adey, Irekte, Kanly, Karshin, Kirghiz, Taz, Tanyp, Uvanysh, Un, Uran, Jurmi.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

South-eastern group: Burzyan, Kypsak, Tamyan, Tangaur, Usergan, Jurmaty.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Southwest group: Ming.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Genetics==

===Haplogroups===

====Maternal haplogroups====
[[File:Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA).PNG|thumb|300px|right|[[Haplogroup R1b]] is most common in Bashkirs and in Western Europe]]

====Paternal haplogroups====
Genetic studies on [[Y chromosome|Y-DNA haplogroups]] have revealed that the three dominant paternal haplogroups for Bashkir males are the [[haplogroup R1b]], [[haplogroup R1a]], and the [[Haplogroup N-M231|haplogroup N1c]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Trofimova |first1=N. V. |last2=Litvinov |first2=S. S. |last3=Khusainova |first3=R. I. |last4=Penkin |first4=L. N. |last5=Akhmetova |first5=V. L. |last6=Akhatova |first6=F. S. |last7=Khusnutdinova |first7=E. K. |date=2015-01-01 |title=Genetic characterization of populations of the Volga-Ural region according to the variability of the Y-chromosome |journal=Russian Journal of Genetics |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=108–115 |doi=10.1134/S1022795414120138 |pmid=25857199 |issn=1608-3369}}</ref> Haplogroups [[Haplogroup C-M217|C-M217]], [[Haplogroup O-M175|O]], and [[Haplogroup D1|D1]], were found at lower frequencies among Bashkir males, and together make up roughly 11,5%.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1093/molbev/msr221|title = The Caucasus as an Asymmetric Semipermeable Barrier to Ancient Human Migrations|year = 2012|last1 = Yunusbayev|first1 = B.|last2 = Metspalu|first2 = M.|last3 = Jarve|first3 = M.|last4 = Kutuev|first4 = I.|last5 = Rootsi|first5 = S.|last6 = Metspalu|first6 = E.|last7 = Behar|first7 = D. M.|last8 = Varendi|first8 = K.|last9 = Sahakyan|first9 = H.|last10 = Khusainova|first10 = R.|last11 = Yepiskoposyan|first11 = L.|last12 = Khusnutdinova|first12 = E. K.|last13 = Underhill|first13 = P. A.|last14 = Kivisild|first14 = T.|last15 = Villems|first15 = R.|journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume = 29|pages = 359–365|pmid = 21917723}}</ref><ref name="lob">{{Cite web|url=http://ftp.anrb.ru/molgen/Lobov_AS.PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816193639/http://ftp.anrb.ru/molgen/Lobov_AS.PDF|title=Лобов А. С. Структура генофонда субпопуляций башкир. Диссертация кандидата биологических наук. — Уфа, 2009.- 131 с.|archive-date=August 16, 2011|language=ru}}</ref> Near Eastern-associated haplogroups J2 and G2 make up roughly 8,5%.<ref name="lob" />

In some specific regions and clans of ethnic Bashkir, the North Asian and Eastern Siberian haplogroup (N3) range from moderate to high frequencies (29 to 90%).<ref name="lob"/>

Archaeogenetic analyses show a similarity between historical [[Hungarians]], whose homeland is around the [[Ural Mountains]], and Bashkirs; analysis of [[Haplogroup N-M231|haplogroup N]]3a4-Z1936 which is still found in very rare frequencies in modern Hungarians, and showed that Hungarian "sub-clade [N-B539/Y13850] splits from its sister-branch N3a4-B535, frequent today among Northeast European Uralic speakers, 4000–5000 ya, which is in the time-frame of the proposed divergence of Ugric languages", while on N-B539/Y13850+ sub-clade level confirmed shared paternal lineages with modern Ugric (Mansis and Khantys via N-B540/L1034) and Turkic speakers (Bashkirs and Volga Tatars via N-B540/L1034 and N-B545/Y24365); these suggest that the Bashkirs are mixture of Turkic, Ugric and Indo-European contributions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Post|first1=Helen|last2=Németh|first2=Endre|last3=Klima|first3=László|last4=Flores|first4=Rodrigo|last5=Fehér|first5=Tibor|last6=Türk|first6=Attila|last7=Székely|first7=Gábor|last8=Sahakyan|first8=Hovhannes|last9=Mondal|first9=Mayukh|last10=Montinaro|first10=Francesco|last11=Karmin|first11=Monika|date=24 May 2019|title=Y-chromosomal connection between Hungarians and geographically distant populations of the Ural Mountain region and West Siberia|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|page=7786|doi=10.1038/s41598-019-44272-6|pmid=31127140|pmc=6534673|bibcode=2019NatSR...9.7786P|issn=2045-2322}}</ref>

A genetic study published in ''Scientific Reports'' in November 2019 examined the remains of 29 [[Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin|Hungarian conquerors of the Carpathian Basin]]. The majority of them (60%) carried Y-DNA of West Eurasian origin, but at least 40% of East Eurasian (N1a-M2004, N1a-Z1936, Q1a and R1a-Z2124). They carried a higher amount of West Eurasian paternal ancestry than West Eurasian maternal ancestry. Among modern populations, their paternal ancestry was the most similar to modern Bashkirs. [[Haplogroup I-M438#I2a-L621|Haplogroup I2a1a2b]] was observed among several conquerors of particularly high rank. This haplogroup is of European origin and is today particularly common among [[South Slavs]]. A wide variety of [[phenotype]]s were observed, with several individuals having blond hair and blue eyes, but also East Asian traits. The study also analyzed three Hunnic samples from the Carpathian Basin in the 5th century, and these displayed genetic similarities to the conquerors. The Hungarian conquerors appeared to be a recently assembled heterogenous group incorporating both European, Asian and Eurasian elements.<ref name="Neparaaczki20192">{{Cite journal |last1=Neparáczki |first1=Endre |last2=Maróti |first2=Zoltán |display-authors=1 |date=November 12, 2019 |title=Y-chromosome haplogroups from Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian period nomadic people of the Carpathian Basin |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=9 |issue=16569 |page=16569 |bibcode=2019NatSR...916569N |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-53105-5 |pmc=6851379 |pmid=31719606 |ref={{harvid|Neparáczki et al.|2019}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fóthi |first1=Erzsébet |last2=Gonzalez |first2=Angéla |last3=Fehér |first3=Tibor |last4=Gugora |first4=Ariana |last5=Fóthi |first5=Ábel |last6=Biró |first6=Orsolya |last7=Keyser |first7=Christine |date=2020-01-14 |title=Genetic analysis of male Hungarian Conquerors: European and Asian paternal lineages of the conquering Hungarian tribes |journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=31 |doi=10.1007/s12520-019-00996-0 |issn=1866-9565|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020ArAnS..12...31F }}</ref> A group of Bashkirs from the [[Burzyansky District|Burzyansky]] and [[Abzelilovsky District|Abzelilovsky]] districts of the Republic of [[Bashkortostan]] in the [[Idel-Ural|Volga-Ural]] region who belong to the R1a subclade [[R1a-SUR51]] are the closest kin to the Hungarian [[Árpád dynasty]], from which they got separated 2000 years ago.<ref name="Nagy202">{{Citation |last1=Nagy |first1=P.L. |title=Determination of the phylogenetic origins of the Árpád Dynasty based on Y chromosome sequencing of Béla the Third |date=2020 |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=164–172 |doi=10.1038/s41431-020-0683-z |pmc=7809292 |pmid=32636469 |display-authors=etal |last2=Olasz |first2=J. |last3=Neparáczki |first3=E. |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=R-SUR51 Y-DNA Haplogroup |url=https://www.yfull.com/tree/R-SUR51/ |website=YFull}}</ref>

===Autosomal DNA===
According to Suslova, et al. (2012) the Bashkir population shared immune genes with both West and Eastern Eurasian populations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Suslova |first1=T. A. |last2=Burmistrova |first2=A. L. |last3=Chernova |first3=M. S. |last4=Khromova |first4=E. B. |last5=Lupar |first5=E. I. |last6=Timofeeva |first6=S. V. |last7=Devald |first7=I. V. |last8=Vavilov |first8=M. N. |last9=Darke |first9=C. |title=HLA gene and haplotype frequencies in Russians, Bashkirs and Tatars, living in the Chelyabinsk Region (Russian South Urals): HLA gene and haplotype frequencies in Russians, Bashkirs and Tatars |journal=International Journal of Immunogenetics |date=October 2012 |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=394–408 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-313X.2012.01117.x |pmid=22520580 |s2cid=20804610 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-313X.2012.01117.x |language=en|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:Population structure of Turkic-speaking populations in the context of their geographic neighbors across Eurasia.PNG|thumb|Population structure of Turkic-speaking populations in the context of their geographic neighbors across Eurasia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yunusbayev |first1=Bayazit |last2=Metspalu |first2=Mait |last3=Metspalu |first3=Ene |last4=Valeev |first4=Albert |last5=Litvinov |first5=Sergei |last6=Valiev |first6=Ruslan |last7=Akhmetova |first7=Vita |last8=Balanovska |first8=Elena |last9=Balanovsky |first9=Oleg |last10=Turdikulova |first10=Shahlo |last11=Dalimova |first11=Dilbar |last12=Nymadawa |first12=Pagbajabyn |last13=Bahmanimehr |first13=Ardeshir |last14=Sahakyan |first14=Hovhannes |last15=Tambets |first15=Kristiina |date=2015-04-21 |title=The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Turkic-Speaking Nomads across Eurasia |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=e1005068 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068 |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=4405460 |pmid=25898006 |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]

A genetic study by Yunusbayev et al. 2015 found that the Bashkirs display a significant amount of [[East Asians|East Asian]]-derived ancestry (c. 40%), of which roughly the half can be associated with Siberian ancestry maximized in modern-day [[Nganasan people|Nganasans]], and the other half with [[Ancient Northeast Asian]]s. The remainder of the Bashkirs ancestry was linked to West Eurasian, primarily European sources. The results point to admixture between local Indo-European-speakers, Uralic-speakers and Turkic-speakers. The admixture event dates to the 13th century, according to an analysis of the identical-by-descent segments. According to the authors, the admixture thus occurred after the presumed migrations of the ancestral [[Kipchaks]] from the Irtysh and Ob regions in the 11th century.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Yunusbayev|first1=Bayazit|last2=Metspalu|first2=Mait|last3=Metspalu|first3=Ene|last4=Valeev|first4=Albert|last5=Litvinov|first5=Sergei|last6=Valiev|first6=Ruslan|last7=Akhmetova|first7=Vita|last8=Balanovska|first8=Elena|last9=Balanovsky|first9=Oleg|last10=Turdikulova|first10=Shahlo|last11=Dalimova|first11=Dilbar|last12=Nymadawa|first12=Pagbajabyn|last13=Bahmanimehr|first13=Ardeshir|last14=Sahakyan|first14=Hovhannes|last15=Tambets|first15=Kristiina|last16=Fedorova|first16=Sardana|last17=Barashkov|first17=Nikolay|last18=Khidiyatova|first18=Irina|last19=Mihailov|first19=Evelin|last20=Khusainova|first20=Rita|last21=Damba|first21=Larisa|last22=Derenko|first22=Miroslava|last23=Malyarchuk|first23=Boris|last24=Osipova|first24=Ludmila|last25=Voevoda|first25=Mikhail|last26=Yepiskoposyan|first26=Levon|last27=Kivisild|first27=Toomas|last28=Khusnutdinova|first28=Elza|last29=Villems|first29=Richard|title=The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Turkic-speaking Nomads across Eurasia|journal=PLOS Genet|date=21 April 2015|volume=11|issue=4|pages=e1005068|doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068|issn=1553-7404|pmc=4405460|pmid=25898006 |doi-access=free }} "For example, the present-day Tatars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Kyrgyz span from the Volga basin to the Tien-Shan Mountains in Central Asia, yet (Fig 5) showed evidence of recent admixture ranging from the 13th to the 14th centuries. These peoples speak Turkic languages of the Kipchak-Karluk branch and their admixture ages postdate the presumed migrations of the ancestral Kipchak Turks from the Irtysh and Ob regions in the 11th century [37]."</ref>

[[File:Turkic origin and expansion.png|thumb|The origin and later expansion of the Turkic peoples from Uchiyama et al. 2020 "the ultimate Proto-Turkic homeland may have been located in a more compact area, most likely in Eastern Mongolia, that is, close to the ultimate Proto-Mongolic homeland in Southern Manchuria and the ultimate Proto-Tungusic homeland in the present-day borderlands of China, Russia and North Korea. This hypothesis would explain the tight connections of Proto-Turkic with Proto-Mongolic and Proto-Tungusic, regardless of whether one interprets the numerous similarities between the three Altaic families as partly inherited or obtained owing to long-lasting contact."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Uchiyama |first1=Junzo |last2=Gillam |first2=J. Christopher |last3=Savelyev |first3=Alexander |last4=Ning |first4=Chao |date=January 2020 |title=Populations dynamics in Northern Eurasian forests: a long-term perspective from Northeast Asia |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=2 |pages=e16 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.11 |pmid=37588381 |pmc=10427466 |issn=2513-843X|hdl=21.11116/0000-0007-7733-A |hdl-access=free }}</ref>]]

A full genome study by Triska et al. 2017 found that the Bashkir genepool is best described as a multi-layered amalgamation of Turkic, Uralic, and Indo-European contributions. They further argue that "this disparity between cultural and genetic affinities of Tatar and Bashkir can be attributed to a phenomenon of cultural dominance: the population ancestral to Bashkir adopted the Turkic language during Turkic expansion from the east (language replacement event)".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Triska |first1=Petr |last2=Chekanov |first2=Nikolay |last3=Stepanov |first3=Vadim |last4=Khusnutdinova |first4=Elza K. |last5=Kumar |first5=Ganesh Prasad Arun |last6=Akhmetova |first6=Vita |last7=Babalyan |first7=Konstantin |last8=Boulygina |first8=Eugenia |last9=Kharkov |first9=Vladimir |last10=Gubina |first10=Marina |last11=Khidiyatova |first11=Irina |last12=Khitrinskaya |first12=Irina |last13=Khrameeva |first13=Ekaterina E. |last14=Khusainova |first14=Rita |last15=Konovalova |first15=Natalia |date=2017-12-28 |title=Between Lake Baikal and the Baltic Sea: genomic history of the gateway to Europe |journal=BMC Genetics |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=110 |doi=10.1186/s12863-017-0578-3 |issn=1471-2156 |pmc=5751809 |pmid=29297395 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A genetic analysis on genetic data of Hun, Avar and Magyar conqueror samples by Maroti et al. 2022, revealed high genetic affinity between Magyar conquerors and modern day Bashkirs. They can be modeled as ~50% [[Mansi people|Mansi-like]], ~35% [[Sarmatians|Sarmatian-like]], and ~15% [[Huns|Hun/Xiongnu-like]]. The admixture event is suggested to have taken place in the Southern Ural region at 643–431 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maróti |first1=Zoltán |last2=Neparáczki |first2=Endre |last3=Schütz |first3=Oszkár |last4=Maár |first4=Kitti |last5=Varga |first5=Gergely I. B. |last6=Kovács |first6=Bence |last7=Kalmár |first7=Tibor |last8=Nyerki |first8=Emil |last9=Nagy |first9=István |last10=Latinovics |first10=Dóra |last11=Tihanyi |first11=Balázs |last12=Marcsik |first12=Antónia |last13=Pálfi |first13=György |last14=Bernert |first14=Zsolt |last15=Gallina |first15=Zsolt |date=2022-07-11 |title=The genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=32 |issue=13 |pages=2858–2870.e7 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.093 |pmid=35617951 |s2cid=246191357 |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022CBio...32E2858M }}</ref>

==Language==
{{Main|Bashkir language}}

[[Bashkir language]] is a [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] of the [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] group. It has three main dialects: Southern, Eastern and North-Western located in the territory of [[historical Bashkortostan]].

The [[Russian Census (2010)|Russian census of 2010]] recorded 1,152,404 Bashkir speakers in the [[Russian Federation]]. The Bashkir language is native to 1,133,339 Bashkirs (71.7% of the total number of Bashkirs, reporting mother tongue). The [[Tatar language]] was reported as the native tongue of 230,846 Bashkirs (14.6%), and [[Russian language|Russian]] as the native tongue of 216,066 Bashkirs (13.7%). Most Bashkirs are [[Multilingualism|bilingual]] in [[Bashkir language|Bashkir]] and [[Russian language|Russian]].

The first appearance of a "Bashkir" language is dated back to the [[9th century|9th century AD]], in the form of stone inscription using a Runic alphabet, most likely, this alphabet derives from the [[Yenisey|Yenisei]] variant of the [[Old Turkic script|old Turkic runic script]]. This archaic version of a Bashkir language would be more or less a dialect of the proto-Kipchak language, however, since then, the Bashkir language has been through a series of vowel and consonant shifts, which are a result of a common literary history shared with the [[Tatar language|Idel Tatar]] language since the formation of the [[Cumania|Cuman-Kipchak confederation]], when the [[Volga Bulgaria|Oghuric Volga Bulgars]] started to receive [[Kipchaks|Kipchak Turkic]] influence and became the [[Tatars|Idel Tatars]], most likely between the 10th and 11th centuries.

The [[Nogai language|Nogai]] and [[Karachay-Balkar]] languages are most likely the closest-sounding extant languages to the extinct Proto-Kipchak Bashkir language.

From an arc of time of roughly 900 years, the Bashkir language and Idel Tatar language, previously being completely different languages, "melded" into a series of dialects of a common [[Volga Turki|"Volga Kipchak" or "Volga Turki"]] language. The Idel Tatars and Bashkirs are and always were two peoples of completely different origins, cultures and identities, but because of a shared common literary history in an arc of 900 years, the two languages ended up in a common language, spoken in different dialects with features depending on the people which spoke them.

For example, the dialects spoken by Bashkirs, tend to have an accent which mostly resembles other Kipchak languages, like [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], [[Nogai language|Nogai]], [[Karakalpak language|Karakalpak]], and many other languages of the [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] sub-group, while the dialects spoken by Idel Tatars, have accents more resembling the original [[Volga Bulgaria|Oghuric Volga-Bulgar language]] spoken before the [[Cumans|Cuman invasion]].

At the start of the 20th century, particularly during the [[Russian Revolution]], [[Bashkortostan]] and [[Tatarstan]] emerged as separate republics, leading to the recognition of Bashkir and Tatar as distinct literary languages. Each was based on the most prominent dialects of the Volga Kipchak language spoken by the Bashkir and [[Kazan Tatar]] peoples.

The Cyrillic alphabet is the official script used to write Bashkir.

==Demographics==
[[File:Bashkirs by federal subject 2010.svg|thumb|The area settled by the Bashkirs according to the national census of 2010.]]

The ethnic Bashkir population is estimated at 2 million people (2009 [[SIL Ethnologue]]). The 2021 Russian census recorded 1,571,879 ethnic Bashkirs in [[Russia]], of which 1,268,806 live in [[Bashkortostan]] (31.5% of the total population of the republic).

==Culture==
[[File:Holiday Bashkir national costume 52.jpg|thumb|200px|Bashkirs in traditional clothing, [[Ufa]], 2016]]
[[File:Baschkirisches Stickmuster Swastika Linksdrehung.jpg|thumb|200px|Bashkir embroidery pattern]]
[[File:Mosque in the Bashkir village Yakhino (1910).jpg|thumb|200px|The mosque in the Bashkir village of Yahya. Photo by S.M. [[Prokudin-Gorskii]], 1910]]

The Bashkirs traditionally practiced agriculture, cattle-rearing and bee-keeping. The half-nomadic Bashkirs travelled through either the mountains or the steppes, herding cattle. Wild-hive beekeeping is another attested tradition, which is practiced in the same [[Burzyansky District]] near the [[Kapova Cave]].<ref name=":0" />

Traditional Bashkir dish [[Beşbarmaq|bishbarmaq]] is prepared from boiled meat and halma (a type of noodle), sprinkled with herbs and flavored with onions and some [[:wikt:ҡорот|{{lang|ba-Latn|qorot|nocat=yes}}]] (young dry cheese). Dairy is another notable feature of the [[Bashkir cuisine]]: dishes are often served with dairy products, and few celebrations occur without the serving of {{lang|ba-Latn|qorot}} or [[:wikt:ҡаймаҡ|{{lang|ba-Latn|qaymaq|nocat=yes}}]] (sour cream).

===Epic poems and mythology===
The Bashkirs have a rich [[folklore]] referencing the genesis and early history of the people. Through the works of their [[Oral tradition|oral folk art]], the views of ancient Bashkirs on [[nature]], their wisdom, psychology, and moral ideals are preserved. The genre composition of the Bashkir oral tradition is diverse: [[Epic poetry|epic and fairy tales]], [[legend]]s and traditions, riddles, songs (ritual, epic or lyrical), etc.

The Bashkir poems, like the epic creations of other peoples, find origin in the ancient [[Turkic mythology]], in fact the Bashkir epic tale culture can be considered a more developed and expanded version of old Turkic epic culture. Majority of the poems of Bashkir mythology have been written down and published as books at the beginning of the 20th century, these poems compose a great part of the literature of the Bashkir people and are important examples of further-developed Turkic culture.

Some of these poems became important on a continental level, for example the epic poem the "[[Ural-batyr|Ural Batyr]]", which tells the tale of the legendary hero Ural, is the origin of the name of the [[Ural Mountains|Ural mountains]]. Other poems constitute a great part of the Bashkir national identity, other tales apart from the Ural Batyr include "[[Akbuzat|Aqbuzat]]", "{{lang|ba-Latn|Qara yurga}}", "{{lang|ba-Latn|Aqhaq qola}}", "{{lang|ba-Latn|Kongur buga}}", and "{{lang|ba-Latn|Uzaq Tuzaq}}".

===The Ural-Batyr and its impact===
The poem ''[[Ural-batyr|Ural Batyr]]'' is an epic which includes deities of the [[Tengrist]] pantheon. It takes basis on the pre-Islamic Bashkir conception of the world. In the ''Ural Batyr'' the world is three-tiered. It includes a heavenly, earthly and underworld (underwater) trinity: in the sky, the heavenly king Samrau resides, his wives are the Sun and the Moon, he has two daughters, Umay and Aikhylu, who are incarnated either in the form of birds or beautiful girls. In the ''Ural Batyr'', Umay is incarnated into a [[swan]] and later assumes the aspect of a beautiful girl as the story proceeds.

People live on the earth, the best of whom pledge honor and respect to the existence of nature. The third world is the underground world, where the ''Devas'' (also singular ''Deva'' or ''Div'') live, incarnated as a snake, the incarnation of the dark forces, who live underground. Through the actions and divisions of the world related in the Ural Batyr, the Bashkirs express a manichaean view of [[good and evil]]. The legendary hero Ural, possessing titanic power, overcoming incredible difficulties, destroys the ''deva'', and obtains "living water" (the idea of water in nature, in the pre-Islamic Bashkir pantheon of the [[Turkic mythology]], is considered a spirit of life).

Ural thus obtains the "living water" in order to defeat death in the name of the eternal existence of man and nature. Ural does not drink the "living water" to live eternally. Instead, he decides to sparkle it around himself, to die and donate eternity to the world, the withered earth turning green. Ural dies and from his body emerge the [[Ural Mountains]]; the name of the Ural mountain range comes from this poem.

===Music===
{{Further|topic=the folk song|Beiesh|Irandyk}}

The Bashkirs have a style of overtone singing called ''{{lang|ba-Latn|özläü}}'' (sometimes spelled ''{{lang|ba-Latn|uzlyau}}''; [[Bashkir language|Bashkort]] '''{{lang|ba|Өзләү}}'''), which has nearly died out. In addition, Bashkorts also sing ''{{lang|ba-Latn|uzlyau}}'' while playing the [[Kurai (flute)|kurai]], a national instrument. This technique of vocalizing into a [[flute]] can also be found in [[folk music]] as far west as the [[Balkans]] and [[Hungary]].

===Mentality===
The Bashkirs give rise to the following essential characteristics of the Bashkir mentality: philosophical, poetic thinking, hospitality and courage, serenity, simplicity, modesty, tolerance, pride, a keen sense of justice and competitiveness. The fundamental value of the Bashkir mentality is humanism, it is this idea that runs through the entire axis of the culture of the people.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

==Religion==
[[File:Башкиры.1890.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs in the midday prayer in the vicinity of the village Muldakaevo. Photo by Maxim Dmitriev, 1890]]
[[File:Mechet 25 prorokov.JPG|thumb|[[Mosque of Twenty-Five Prophets]] in [[Ufa]], Bashkortostan]]

In the pre-Islamic period the Bashkirs practised [[animism]] and [[shamanism]], and incorporated the cosmogony of [[Tengrism]].<ref>Shireen Hunter, Jeffrey L. Thomas, Alexander Melikishvili, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=hVhHGJkfZDoC&dq=tengrism+of+Bashkirs&pg=PA199 Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security]", M.E. Sharpe Inc.</ref><ref>[http://www.vatandash.ru/index.php?article=212 К вопросу о тенгрианстве башкир] // Compatriot, Popular Science Magazine {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

Bashkirs began converting to Islam in the 10th century.<ref>Shirin Akiner, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=LUe0AAAAQBAJ&dq=islam+Bashkirs&pg=PA78 Islamic Peoples Of The Soviet Union]", Second edition, 1986</ref><ref name=":0" /> Arab traveler [[Ibn Fadlan]] in 921 met some of the Bashkirs, who were already Muslims.<ref>Allen J. Frank, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=nx2FwBKJ3MYC&dq=islam+Bashkirs&pg=PA168 Islamic Historiography and "Bulghar" Identity Among the Tatars and Bashkirs]", Brill, 1998</ref> The final assertion of Islam among the Bashkirs occurred in the 1320s and 1330s during the [[Golden Horde]] period. The Mausoleum of Hussein-Bek, burial place of the first Imam of historical Bashkortostan, is preserved in contemporary Bashkortostan. The mausoleum is a 14th-century building. [[Catherine the Great]] established the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly in 1788 in [[Ufa]], which was the first Muslim administrative center in Russia.

Religious revival among the Bashkirs began in the early 1990s.<ref>Jeffrey E. Cole, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=M9fDifnkMJMC&dq=religion+of+Bashkirs&pg=PA37 Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia]", Greenwood publishing group</ref> According to [[Talgat Tadzhuddin]] there were more than 1,000 mosques in Bashkortostan in 2010.<ref>[http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=38780 Интерфакс. Говорить о притеснении ислама в России кощунственно, считает Талгат Таджуддин] // [[Interfax]], 17 December 2010</ref>

The Bashkirs are predominantly [[Sunni Muslims]] of the [[Hanafi]] [[madhhab]].<ref name="encyclopedia">"[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404100124.html Bashkortostan and Bashkirs]", Encyclopedia.com</ref>

==Notable Bashkirs==
* See [[list of Bashkirs]]

==See also==
* [[Bashkir horse]]
* [[Karayakupovo culture]]
* [[National Liberation Struggle of the Bashkir People]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=A}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Bashkirs|volume=3|page=466}}
* {{cite book| last = Rudenko| first = S. I.| script-title=ru:Башкиры: историко-этнографические очерки| language=ru| trans-title= The Bashkirs: historical and ethnographic essays| year = 2006| publisher = Kitap| location = Ufa| isbn = 5-295-03899-8}}
* {{cite book| last = Kuzeev| first = R. G.| script-title=ru:Происхождение башкирского народа. Этнический состав, история расселения| language=ru| trans-title=The origin of the Bashkir people. Ethnic composition, history of settlement| year = 2010| publisher = DizainPoligrafServis| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-94423-212-0}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Bermisheva| first1 = M. A.| last2 = Ivanov| first2 = V. A.| last3 = Kinyabaeva| first3 = G. A.| display-authors = et al| script-title = ru:Антропология башкир| language = ru| trans-title = Anthropology of the Bashkirs| year = 2011| publisher = Aleteya| location = Saint-Petersburg| isbn = 978-5-91419-386-4| url = http://www.rfbr.ru/rffi/ru/books/o_491765| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-date = 2017-06-03| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170603105350/http://www.rfbr.ru/rffi/ru/books/o_491765| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. I| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. I| year = 2009| publisher = Nauka| location = Moscow| isbn = 978-5-02-037010-4| url = http://rihll.ru/library/188-istoriya-bashkirskogo-naroda-tom-1.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170306154009/http://rihll.ru/library/188-istoriya-bashkirskogo-naroda-tom-1.html| archive-date = 2017-03-06}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. II| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. II| year = 2012| publisher = Gilem| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-91608-100-8| url = http://rihll.ru/library/255-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-2.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170321123942/http://rihll.ru/library/255-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-2.html| archive-date = 2017-03-21}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. III| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. III| year = 2011| publisher = Gilem| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-7501-1301-9| url = http://rihll.ru/library/228-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-3.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-date = 2017-09-29| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170929080400/http://rihll.ru/library/228-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-3.html| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. IV| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. IV| year = 2011| publisher = Nauka| location = Moscow| isbn = 978-5-02-038276-3| url = http://rihll.ru/library/231-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-4.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-date = 2017-09-29| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170929071409/http://rihll.ru/library/231-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-4.html| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. V| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. V| year = 2009| publisher = Gilem| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-7501-1199-2| url = http://rihll.ru/library/189-istoriya-bashkirskogo-naroda-tom-5.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305094743/http://rihll.ru/library/189-istoriya-bashkirskogo-naroda-tom-5.html| archive-date = 2016-03-05}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. VI| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. VI| year = 2009| publisher = Nauka| location = Moscow| isbn = 978-5-02-036494-3| url = http://rihll.ru/library/230-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-6.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170115050228/http://rihll.ru/library/230-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-6.html| archive-date = 2017-01-15}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Kulsharipov| editor-first = M. M.| title = История башкирского народа: в 7 т. Т. VII| language = ru| trans-title = History of the Bashkir people: 7 vol. Vol. VII| year = 2012| publisher = Gilem| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-4466-0040-3| url = http://rihll.ru/library/256-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-7.html| access-date = 2016-10-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141006185817/http://rihll.ru/library/256-rssrsres-rrsryeressryerrr-rrsrrr-rrr-7.html| archive-date = 2014-10-06}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Asfandiyarov| editor-first = A. Z.| script-title=ru:Военная история башкир: энциклопедия| language=ru| trans-title= Military history of Bashkirs: Encyclopedia| year = 2013| publisher = Bashkir encyclopedia| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-8818-5076-0 }}
* {{cite book| editor-last1 = Kuzeev| editor-first1 = R. G.| editor-last2 = Danilko| editor-first2 = E. S.| script-title=ru:Башкиры| language=ru| trans-title= The Bashkirs| year = 2015| publisher = Nauka| location = Moscow| isbn = 978-5-02-039182-6}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Ilgamov| editor-first = M. A.| script-title = ru:Башкирская энциклопедия: в 7 томах| language = ru| trans-title = Bashkir encyclopedia: 7 vol.| year = 2015–2016| publisher = Bashkir encyclopedia| location = Ufa| isbn = 978-5-88185-306-8| url = http://xn----7sbacsfsccnbdnzsqis3h5a6ivbm.xn--p1ai/| access-date = 2017-02-19| archive-date = 2020-01-22| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200122002035/https://xn----7sbacsfsccnbdnzsqis3h5a6ivbm.xn--p1ai/}}
* {{cite book |title=İdil-Ural (Tatar ve Başkurt) sihirli masalları üzerine karşılaştırmalı motif çalışması: Aktarma – motif tespiti (motif - İndex of Folk-Literature'a göre) – motif dizini |first=Erkan |last=Karagöz |volume=1 |location=Ankara |publisher=Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Başkanlığı |date=2021 |pages=587–950 (Bashkir tales) |isbn=978-975-17-4742-6 |language=TR}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bashkir people}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=bashkirs&st=gallery Photos of Bashkirs and their life in funds of the Library of Congress]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161118164442/http://www.kunstkamera.ru/kunst-catalogue/index.seam?path=62%3A3495499%3A3507971&c=PHOTO&cid=83033 Photos of Bashkirs and their life in funds of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)] (archived 18 November 2016)

{{Turkic peoples}}
{{European Muslims}}
{{Ethnic groups of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashkirs}}
[[Category:Bashkir people]]
[[Category:History of Ural]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Russia]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Russia]]
[[Category:Turkic peoples of Asia]]
[[Category:Turkic peoples]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Europe]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]