Features of Formation of the Tobolsk Bukharians Group in the 16th – 19th Centuries

Purpose. The article considers the process of formation of the Tobolsk Bukharians – one of the groups of immigrants from Central Asia, who lived in the Tobolsk area in the 17th – 19th centuries. Results. The process of formation of a separate group of Bukharians is traced in a historical retrospective over a long period. It is shown that a significant Central Asian component entered the Siberian-Tatar community at an early stage of its formation. The main components were the Central Asian Muslim clergy and military service nobility, who became part of the upper stratum of the Siberian-Tatar community and disappeared into it, further adding to the category of service Tatars. This process was considered based on the example of a representative of the clergy, a native of Urgench, Seyyid Din-Ali Khodja, and the Central Asian people of the Kulmametevs. The initial stage of the process of resettlement and settling of immigrants from Central Asia in the territory around Isker (in the Russian period – Tobolsk) refers at least to the period of the Siberian Khanate. The system of settlement of the Tobolsk Bukharians during the 17th – 19th centuries is considered, data on the dynamics of the group’s size in the period under consideration are presented. It is shown that the Siberian Bukharians, as an ethnosocial group, were formed in the 17th century, and the status of Bukharians in the Moscow period was an ethnosocial one. The main Central Asian territories, from where they arrived in Tobolsk in the 17th century, have been identified. Conclusion. The features of the group of Tobolsk Bukharians have been identified, which include: early penetration into Siberia, joining a significant number of Islamic clergy, including Seyyids, as well as military service nobility during the period of the Siberian Khanate; joint residence of the Tobolsk Bukharians with other groups of the Turkic-Tatar population.