by Nick Ford

Created on: March 16, 2010   Last Updated: March 17, 2010

The Mordvins are an ancient people who have lived an area of southern Russia close to the river Volga since at least  500 BC The autonomous republic of Mordavia, which was set up by the Soviets, roughly corresponds to their homelands. However less than one third of the current Mordvin population of about 1 million live in Mordavia. Most have dispersed and can be found living throughout Russia.

There are several clues that the Mordvins are a very ancient people. Their languages come from the ancient Finno-Volgaic family of languages. This means that the language predates those of Western Europe. In ancient times Ptolemy talked of a river to the north of the Black Sea called Rha. This word has the same root as the word Rha, which is the modern Mordvin word for the Volga. This also suggests that the Mordvins have lived in the same area since ancient times

Archaeologists think that the Mordvins split into two cultural sub-groups during the first century AD.  The archaeological evidence shows that northern Mordvins buried their dead from north to south whereas southern Mordvins buried their dead from south to north. There were other differences in clothing and jewelry.  The northern tribes, known as the Eryza, developed a different language from the Moksha people in the south. The linguistic differences still pertain. About half the Mordvins speak the Eryzan tongue. The other half speak a Mokshan language.

The reasons for the cultural and linguistic differences are simple. The Eryza were less exposed to cultural influences. The Moksha were more influenced by the neighbouring Persian, Bolgar and Turkic tribes.

From the ninth century the Erza came under the increasing influence of the Rus people based at Kiev in the Ukraine. In time the Rus converted to Orthodox Christianity and became the Russians. In 1221 AD Nizhny Novgorod was established by the Rus in the heart of Mordvin territory. Although some Erza converted to Christianity others fled beyond the Urals to the south and east.

At the same time the southern Mordvins came under the influence of the Islamic kingdom of the Bolgars. In places the Mokshan continued to pay tributes to the Bolgars until the 12th century. When the Bolgars halted the Rus advance to the east,  most Moldvins were forced to pay tribute to the Bolgars and the Golden Horde until the sixteenth century.

In the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries the Russians made significant advances east of the Volga. During this process many

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