View source for Volga Finns

{{Short description|Historical group of Uralic peoples in Russia}}
[[File:Finno-ugrian-map.svg|thumb|200px|Approximate ethno-linguistic map of European Eastern Rus in the 9th century: the five Volga Finnic groups of the Merya, Mari, Muromians, Meshchera and Mordvins are shown as being surrounded by the Slavs to the west, the (Finnic) [[Vepsians|Veps]] to the northwest, the [[Permians]] to the northeast, and the ([[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]) [[Bulgars]] and [[Khazars]] to the southeast and south.]]

The '''Volga Finns'''{{efn|Also known as ''Volga Finnic peoples''<ref name="Golden 2011">{{cite book | last=Golden | first=Peter B. | title=Central Asia in World History | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=New York | date=2011 | isbn=978-0-19-515947-9 | oclc=587229744 | language=en | page=108}}</ref> and ''Volga Finno-Ugrians''<ref name="Hajdu 1975">{{cite book | last=Hajdú | first=Péter | title=Finno-Ugrian Languages and Peoples | publisher=Deutsch | publication-place=London | date=1975 | isbn=978-0-233-96552-9 | page=159}}</ref>}} are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the [[Volga]], who speak [[Uralic languages]]. Their modern representatives are the [[Mari people]], the [[Erzyas|Erzya]] and the [[Mokshas|Moksha]] (commonly grouped together as [[Mordvins]])<ref>{{cite book |title=Pre- and Proto-historic Finns |year=1898 |last=Abercromby |first=John |author-link=John Abercromby, 5th Baron Abercromby |orig-year=1898|publisher=D. Nutt/Adamant Media Corporation |isbn=1-4212-5307-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/preandprotohist01abergoog }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |title=Finno-Ugric religion: Geographic and cultural background » The Finno-Ugric peoples |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207665/Finno-Ugric-religion/65421/Geographic-and-cultural-background |access-date=2008-06-10 |year=2008 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |volume=15th edition}}</ref> as well as speakers of the extinct [[Merya language|Merya]], [[Muromian language|Muromian]] and [[Meshchera language|Meshchera]] languages.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia |last=Sinor |first=Denis |year=1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-24304-1 |page=151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC&pg=RA1-PA151 }}</ref>

The modern representatives of Volga Finns live in the basins of the [[Sura River|Sura]] and [[Moksha River|Moksha river]]s, as well as (in smaller numbers) in the interfluve between the Volga and the [[Belaya River (Kama)|Belaya river]]s. The [[Mari language]] has two dialects, the [[Meadow Mari]] and the [[Hill Mari]].

Traditionally the Mari and the [[Mordvinic languages]] ([[Erzya language|Erzya]] and [[Moksha language|Moksha]]) were considered to form a ''Volga-Finnic'' or ''Volgaic'' group within the Uralic language family,<ref>{{cite book |title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore |year=2003 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-1298-3 |pages=PA80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nn3xDTiL0PQC&q=Mordvinic+languages&pg=PA80 }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp-tB08yd2EC The Uralic Language Family: Facts, Myths and Statistics; By Angela Marcantonio; p57]; {{ISBN|0-631-23170-6}}</ref><ref>Voegelin, C. F.; & Voegelin, F. M. (1977). Classification and index of the world's languages. New York: Elsevier. {{ISBN|0-444-00155-7}}.</ref> accepted by linguists like [[Robert Austerlitz]] (1968), Aurélien Sauvageot & Karl Heinrich Menges (1973) and [[Harald Haarmann]] (1974), but rejected by others like [[Björn Collinder]] (1965) and Robert Thomas Harms (1974).<ref>{{cite book |title=A Guide to the World's Languages: Classification |last=Ruhlen |first=Merritt |year=1991 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-1894-6 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYwmDE3f6wUC&pg=PA68 }}</ref>
This grouping has also been criticized by Salminen (2002), who suggests it may be simply a [[areal (linguistics)|geographic]], not a [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|phylogenetic]], group.<ref>{{cite web |author=Salminen, Tapani |year=2002 |title=Problems in the taxonomy of the Uralic languages in the light of modern comparative studies |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/kuzn.html |publisher=Helsinki.fi }}</ref>

==Mari==
{{main|Mari people}}
The '''Mari''' or '''''Cheremis''''' ({{langx|ru|черемисы}}, ''cheremisy''; {{langx|tt|{{lang|tt-Latn|Çirmeş}}}}) have traditionally lived along the [[Volga]] and [[Kama (river)|Kama]] rivers in Russia. The majority of Maris today live in the [[Mari El]] Republic, with significant populations in the [[Tatarstan]] and [[Bashkortostan]] republics.
The Mari people consists of three different groups: the Meadow Mari, who live along the left bank of the Volga, the Mountain Mari, who live along the right bank of the Volga, and Eastern Mari, who live in the Bashkortostan republic. In the 2002 Russian census, 604,298 people identified themselves as "Mari," with 18,515 of those specifying that they were Mountain Mari and 56,119 as Eastern Mari. Almost 60% of Mari lived in rural areas.<ref>{{cite web |title=Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года |url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/index.html?id=87 |publisher=Perepis2002.ru }}</ref>

==Merya==
{{see also|Merya language|}}{{Main|Meryans}}

The '''Merya''' people ({{langx|ru|меря}}, ''merya''; also ''Merä'') inhabited a territory corresponding roughly to the present-day area of the [[Golden Ring of Russia|Golden Ring]] or [[Zalesye]] regions of [[Russia]], including the modern-day [[Moscow Oblast|Moscow]], [[Yaroslavl Oblast|Yaroslavl]], [[Kostroma Oblast|Kostroma]], [[Ivanovo Oblast|Ivanovo]], and [[Vladimir Oblast|Vladimir]] oblasts.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nason.ru/ozera/1815/ | title=Насон - История города Вологды - Озера }}</ref> In the modern Vepsian language, the word ''meri'' means {{gloss|sea}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nason.ru/ozera/1540/ | title=Насон - История города Вологды - Озера }}</ref> It is likely that they were peacefully assimilated by the [[East Slavs]] after their territory became incorporated into [[Rus' people|Rus']] in the 10th century.<ref name="Janse 2000 A108">{{cite book |last=Janse |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JdzVePSApMgC&pg=PA108 |title=Language Death and Language Maintenance |author2=Sijmen Tol |author3=Vincent Hendriks |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |year=2000 |isbn=978-90-272-4752-0 |page=A108}}</ref>

In the 6th century [[Jordanes]] mentioned them briefly (as '''Merens'''); later the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'' described them in more detail. Soviet archaeologists believed that the capital of the Merya was [[Sarskoe Gorodishche]] near the bank of the [[Nero Lake]] to the south of [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]]. The annalists also mention the Merya people in connection with some notable events: in 859 they were taxed by the [[Vikings]], and in 862 they took part in the battle against them. In 882 they accompanied [[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]] to Kiev, where he established his power, and in 907 they were among the participants in Oleg's [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] campaign.<ref name=":3" /> In 1235, the [[Friar Julian]] sets out to visit the [[Eastern Hungarians|Hungarians who remain in the east.]] In his second travelogue, he mentions that the [[Mongol Empire|Tatars]] have conquered a country called Merovia.<ref name=":3" />

One hypothesis classifies the Merya as a western branch of the [[Mari people]] rather than as a separate tribe. Their ethnonyms are basically identical, ''Merya'' being a [[Russian language|Russian]] transcription of the Mari self-designation, ''Мäрӹ (Märӛ)''.<ref>Petrov A., KUGARNYA, Marij kalykyn ertymgornyzho, #12 (850), 2006, March, the 24th.</ref> <!--All Merya toponymy is translated on the base of the [[Mari language]]. Moreover, the Russian chronicle "Kazanskaya Istoriya" mentions ''Cheremis people (Mari)'' as aborigines of [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]].-->

The unattested [[Merya language]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://multitree.org/codes/0tw |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120719084520/http://multitree.org/codes/0tw |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 19, 2012 |title= Merya |publisher= MultiTree |date= 2009-06-22 |access-date= 2012-07-13}}</ref> is traditionally assumed to have been a member of the Volga-Finnic group.<ref name="Janse 2000 A108"/><ref>{{cite book |title= The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History |last= Wieczynski |first= Joseph |year= 1976 |publisher= Academic International Press |isbn= 978-0-87569-064-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?q=%22Merian+and+Muromian%2C+belong+to+the+so-called+Volga+branch+of+the+Finno-Ugric+languages%22&btnG=Search+Books}}</ref> This view has been challenged: [[Eugene Helimski]] supposes that the Merya language was closer to the [[Finno-Samic languages|"northwest" group of Finno-Ugric]] ([[Finnic languages|Balto-Finnic]] and [[Sami languages|Sami]]),<ref>{{cite book |last= Helimski |first= Eugene |author-link= Eugene Helimski |title= The Slavicization of the Russian North (Slavica Helsingiensia 27) |editor-last= Nuorluoto |editor-first= Juhani |chapter= The «Northwestern» group of Finno-Ugric languages and its heritage in the place names and substratum vocabulary of the Russian North |year= 2006 |publisher= Department of Slavonic and Baltic Languages and Literatures |location= Helsinki |isbn= 978-952-10-2852-6 |pages= 109–127 |url= http://www.helsinki.fi/venaja/nwrussia/eng/Conference/pdf/Helimski.pdf }}</ref> and [[Gábor Bereczki]] supposes that the Merya language was a part of the Balto-Finnic group.<ref>{{cite book|first= Gábor|last= Bereczki|year= 1996|chapter= Le méria, une language balto-finnoise disparue|pages= 69–76|title= Contacts de languages et de cultures dans l'aire baltique / Contacts of Languages and Cultures in the Baltic Area|editor1-first= M.M. Jocelyne|editor1-last= Fernandez|editor2-first= Raimo|editor2-last= Raag|series= Uppsala Multiethnic Papers}}</ref>

The Meryans were stated to have fought with the [[Bulgars]] in wars against [[Tatars]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=DSpace |url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/38908 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=helda.helsinki.fi}}</ref>

Some of the inhabitants of several districts of [[Kostroma Oblast|Kostroma]] and [[Yaroslavl Oblast|Yaroslavl]] oblasts present themselves as Meryan, although in recent censuses, they were registered as [[Russians]]. The modern Merya people have their websites<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merjamaa.zzl.org|title="Meryan Mastor"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merjamaa.ru/|title=Меря - Меряния - Залесская Русь - НОВОСТИ|website=www.merjamaa.ru}}</ref> displaying their flag, coat of arms and national anthem,<ref>{{YouTube|Iavd1VI2xIA|«National Anthem of Merya»}}</ref> and participate in discussions on the subject in Finno-Ugric networks.

2010 saw the release of the film [[Silent Souls|''Ovsyanki'']] (literal translation: 'The [[Bunting (bird)|Buntings]]', English title: ''Silent Souls''), based on the novel of the same name,<ref>{{cite web |author= 13/07/2012+26°C |url= http://themoscownews.com/arts/20100907/188029978.html?referfrommn |title= Silent Souls (film) |publisher= Themoscownews.com |access-date= 2012-07-13 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140301074633/http://themoscownews.com/arts/20100907/188029978.html?referfrommn |archive-date= 2014-03-01 |url-status= dead }}</ref> devoted to the imagined life of modern Merya (or Meadow Mari) people.

In the early 21st century, a new type of social movement, the so-called "Merya [[Ethnofuturism]]", has emerged. It is distributed across central regions of Russia, for example, in [[Moscow]], [[Pereslavl-Zalessky]], [[Kostroma Oblast]], and [[Plyos, Ivanovo Oblast|Plyos]]. In May 2014, the ''New Gallery'' in the city of [[Ivanovo]] opened the art project mater ''Volga, Sacrum'' during the "Night of Museums".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vrns.ru/news/etnofuturizm-i-separatizm//|title=Этнофутуризм и сепаратизм|website=www.vrns.ru|access-date=2021-11-27|archive-date=2021-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125193150/https://www.vrns.ru/news/etnofuturizm-i-separatizm//|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 2014, a presentation of "Merya Language" was held at the III Festival of Languages at Novgorod University.

== Meshchera ==
{{see also|Meshchera language}}{{see also|Meshchera people}}
The '''Meshchera''' ({{langx|ru|мещера}}, ''meshchera'' or {{lang|ru|мещёра}}, ''meshchyora'') lived in the territory between the [[Oka (river)|Oka River]] and the [[Klyazma|Klyazma River]]. It was a land of forests, [[bog]]s and lakes. The area is still called the [[Meshchera Lowlands]].

The first Russian written source which mentions them is the ''[[Tolkovaya Paleya]]'', from the 13th century. They are also mentioned in several later Russian chronicles from the period before the 16th century. This is in stark contrast to the related tribes [[Merya people|Merya]] and [[Muroma people|Muroma]], which appear to have been assimilated by the [[East Slavs]] by the 10th and the 11th centuries.

[[Ivan II of Russia|Ivan II]], prince of Moscow, wrote in his will, 1358, about the village Meshcherka, which he had bought from the native Meshcherian chieftain [[Alexander Ukovich]]. The village appears to have been converted to the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Christian Orthodox]] faith and to have been a vassal of [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]].

The ''Meschiera'' (along with ''[[Mordva|Mordua]]'', ''[[Sibir Khanate|Sibir]]'', and a few other harder-to-interpret groups) are mentioned in the "Province of Russia" on the [[Venice|Venetian]] [[Fra Mauro Map]] (ca. 1450).<ref>"Tuti questi populi, çoè nef, alich, marobab, balimata, quier, smaici, meschiera, sibir, cimano, çestan, mordua, cimarcia, sono ne la provincia de rossia"; item 2835 in: {{citation|title=Fra Mauro's World Map|author-link=Piero Falchetta|first=Piero |last=Falchetta|publisher=Brepols |year=2006|isbn=2-503-51726-9|pages=700–701, item 2835}}; also in [http://geoweb.venezia.sbn.it/cms/images/stories/Testi_HSL/FM_iscr.pdf the list online]</ref>

Several documents mention the Meshchera concerning the [[Kazan]] campaign by [[Ivan the Terrible]] in the 16th century. These accounts concern a state of Meshchera (known under a tentative name of [[Temnikov Meshchera]], after its central town of [[Temnikov]]) which had been assimilated by the [[Mordvins]] and the [[Tatars]]. Prince [[A. M. Kurbsky]] wrote that the [[Mordvin language]] was spoken in the lands of the Meshchera.

The [[Meshchera language]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://multitree.org/codes/0tx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712155021/http://multitree.org/codes/0tx |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 12, 2012 |title=Meshcherian |publisher=MultiTree |date=2009-06-22 |access-date=2012-07-13}}</ref> is unattested, and theories on its affiliation remain speculative.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aikio|first1=Ante|title=An essay on Saami ethnolinguistic prehistory|journal=Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne|date=2012|volume=266|pages=63–117|url=http://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_aikio.pdf|access-date=5 July 2017|publisher=[[Finno-Ugrian Society]]|location=Helsinki, Finland}}</ref> Some linguists think that it might have been a dialect of [[Mordvinic languages|Mordvinic]],<ref name="Janse 2000 A108"/> while Pauli Rahkonen has suggested on the basis of [[toponym]]ic evidence that it was a [[Permic languages|Permic]] or closely related language.<ref>{{citation
| last = Rahkonen
| first = Pauli
| title = The Linguistic Background of the Ancient Meshchera Tribe and Principal Areas of Settlement
| journal = Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen
| year = 2009
| volume = 60
| issn = 0355-1253
}}</ref> Rahkonen's speculation has been criticized by other scientists, such as by the Russian Uralist [[Vladimir Napolskikh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://forum.molgen.org/index.php/topic,443.msg76477.html#msg76477 |title=Вопросы Владимиру Напольских-2. Uralistica |publisher=Forum.molgen.org |access-date=2012-07-13}}</ref>

Some toponyms which Rahkonen suggested as Permic are the [[hydronym]]s stems: Un-, Ič-, Ul and Vil-, which can be compared to Udmurt uno 'big', iči 'little', vi̮l 'upper' and ulo 'lower'. Rahkonen also theorized the name Meshchera itself could be a Permic word, and its cognate be Komi mösör 'isthmus'.<ref name=":0">[https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/38908/southeas.pdf Pauli Rahkonen. South-Eastern contact area of Finnic languages in the light of onomastics: dissertation, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki. 2018]</ref>

==Mordvins==
{{main|Mordvins}}
The ''' Mordvins''' (also ''Mordva'', ''Mordvinians'') remain one of the [[List of larger indigenous peoples of Russia|larger indigenous peoples of Russia]]. Less than one third of Mordvins live in the autonomous republic of [[Mordovia]], [[Russian Federation]], in the basin of the [[Volga River]]. They consist of two major subgroups, the '''[[Erzya people|Erzya]]''' and '''[[Moksha people|Moksha]]''', besides the smaller subgroups of the ''Qaratay'', ''Teryukhan'' and ''Tengushevo'' (or ''[[Shoksha]]'') Mordvins who have become fully [[Russification|Russified]] or [[Turkified]] during the 19th to 20th centuries.

The Erzya Mordvins ({{langx|myv|эрзят}}, ''Erzyat''; also ''Erzia'', ''Erzä''), who speak [[Erzya language|Erzya]], and the Moksha Mordvins ({{langx|mdf|мокшет}}, ''Mokshet''), who speak [[Moksha language|Moksha]], are the two major groups. The Qaratay Mordvins live in Kama Tamağı District of [[Tatarstan]], and have [[language shift|shifted to speaking]] [[Tatar language|Tatar]], albeit with a large proportion of Mordvin vocabulary ([[Substrata (linguistics)|substratum]]). The Teryukhan, living in the [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]] of Russia, switched to [[Russian language|Russian]] in the 19th century. The Teryukhans recognize the term ''Mordva'' as pertaining to themselves, whereas the Qaratay also call themselves ''Muksha''. The Tengushevo Mordvins are a transitional group between Moksha and Erzya. They are also called ''[[Shoksha]]'' (or ''Shokshot''). They are isolated from the bulk of the Erzyans, and their dialect/language has been influenced by the Mokshan dialects.
==Muroma==
{{Split portions|date=July 2024|Muromians|section=y}}
{{see also|Muromian language}}[[File:Muroma jewels.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of women's clothing and headdress metal parts from a 9th-10th century Muroma tomb.|431x431px]]The '''Muromians''' ({{langx|orv|Мурома}}, ''Muroma'') lived in the [[Oka River]] basin. They are mentioned in the [[Primary Chronicle]] and by the [[Rogosk Chronicler]]. The Muromas as an ethnic group was formed around the seventh century AD, according to the date of the Muroma cemeteries.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Klima |first=László |title=A finnugor és szamojéd népek története |pages=49–50}}</ref> The old town of [[Murom]] still bears their name. The Muromians paid tribute to the [[Rus' (people)|Rus']] princes and, like the neighbouring [[Merya people|Merya]] tribe, were [[cultural assimilation|assimilated]] by the [[East Slavs]] in the 11th to 12th century as their territory was incorporated into the [[Rus' people|Rus']].<ref>{{cite book |language=sv|title=Finnougrierna och deras språk |last=Uibopuu |first=Valev |author2=Herbert, Lagman |year=1988 |publisher=[[Studentlitteratur]] |isbn=978-91-44-25411-1 }}</ref> A group of them migrated to the [[Pannonian Basin|Carpathian Basin]] with the [[Hungarians]], or [[Bulgars]], as they are listed by the [[Rogosk Chronicler]], among the peoples who inhabited the Carpathian Basin in 897.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Remete |first=Farkas László |title=Magyarok eredete [The origin of Hungarians] |year=2010 |location=Budapest |pages=37 |language=Hungarian |quote=}}</ref>

During the excavation of the Muroma tombs, archaeologists uncovered a rich archaeological legacy. Weapons were among the best in the surrounding areas in terms of workmanship, and the jewellery, which is found in abundance in the burials, is remarkable for its ingenuity of form and meticulous workmanship. The Muroma were characterised by arc-shaped head ornaments woven from horsehair and strips of leather, which were spirally braided with bronze wire. This is interesting because it is not observed in other Volga Finnic peoples.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Рябинин Е. А. |title=Finno-Ugric Tribes in Ancient Russia |publisher=Publishing house of St. Petersburg State University |year=1997}}</ref>

Like other medieval Volga Finns, animal bones were present in the burials as funeral food. Horses were buried separately, bridled and saddled, giving them a pose imitating a living animal lying on its belly with legs tucked up and head raised (it was placed on a step in the grave).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Зеленцова О. В. |first=Яворская Л. В. |url=https://www.academia.edu/8505849 |title=К вопросу об особенностях ритуальных действий с животными в погребальных обрядах муромы (по археозоологическим материалам Подболотьевского могильника)}}</ref>

In 2023, 13 Muroma tombs were excavated on the banks of the [[Oka (river)|Oka River]], accompanied by a number of artefacts - one of which was a belt buckle, which was most similar to the belt buckles of the [[Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin|conquering Hungarians]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND MUROMIAN BURIAL GROUND IN MUROMA |work=Heritage Daily |url=https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/archaeologists-find-muromian-burial-ground-in-muroma/148339 }}</ref> Weapons such as spears and axes, as well as coins ([[Dirham|dirhams]]) and five lead weights, among other things, were recovered from the grave of one of the presumably noble men.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=A magyarok ősi rokonainak nyomára bukkantak |url=https://ng.24.hu/kultura/2023/08/27/a-magyarok-osi-rokonainak-nyomara-bukkantak/ |journal=National Geographic |date=27 August 2023 |language=Hungarian}}</ref>

The Muroma settlements were located on high ground above the floodplain meadows. Livestock farming formed the basis of the Muroma economy, with pigs, large horned cattle, and to a lesser extent, sheep being raised. Horses played a special role, and they were also bred for meat. The [[Slash-and-burn|Slash-and-burn agriculture]] played a minor role in their economy. Their commercial hunting was aimed at [[Fur trade|fur hunting]].<ref name=":1" />



The [[Primary Chronicle]] about the Muromians: <blockquote>"''Along the river [[Oka (river)|Oka]], which flows into the [[Volga]], the '''Muroma''', the Cheremisians, and the Mordva preserve their native languages."''<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Russian Primary Chronicle |pages=55}}</ref></blockquote>The [[Rogosk Chronicler]] about the Muromians: <blockquote>"''In the year 6405 [897] there were [[Slavs]] living along the [[Danube]], as well as the [[Hungarians|Ugrics]], '''Muromas''' and the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Danubian Bulgars]].''"<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>

==See also==
* [[Baltic Finns]]
* [[Permians]]

==Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|first=László|last=Klima|title=The linguistic affinity of the Volgaic Finno-Ugrians and their Ethnogenesis|year=1996|publisher=Societas Historiae Fenno-Ugricae|location=Oulu|url=http://mek.oszk.hu/01700/01794/|access-date=2014-08-26}}
*[[Aleksey Uvarov]], "Étude sur les peuples primitifs de la Russie. Les mériens" (1875).
*{{cite book |title=The Finno-Ugric Republics and the Russian State |last=Taagepera |first=Rein |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-91977-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGqWcZu42hUC |page=51}}

==External links==
*[http://www.egorievsk.ru/eng/history/lwmecshera.html The Gateway to the Meshchera]

{{Ethnic groups of Russia}}
{{Uralic peoples}}
{{owl}}

[[Category:Volga Finns| ]]