Islam came to Siberia more than 600 years ago. The ancient manuscripts stored in the Tobolsk city museum-preserve tell of the coming of 366 Sufi of the Nakshbandiya tariqah and 1,700 warriors of Sheban Khan from Central Asia to Siberia. On the banks of the Irtysh they "committed a great battle for faith."

 

The Sufis carried the Word of Allah

 

"A martyr's crown was put on some three hundred sheikhs, fallen, who on land, who on the water, who in the swamp," says Said Vakkas Allakulov, a Muslim preacher. "After this, the Islamic faith appeared here, and the paths were opened, so that caravans began to come along the Irtysh river and Alims, Hadjis and Ishans came here to teach faith; most of them were people who could do wonders."

 

The Sufis carried the Word of Allah to all Siberian peoples, as they all then adhered to paganism. The message most firmly established among the Siberian Tatars, as well as among those living in the basin of the Irtysh and its tributaries Finno-Ugric peoples, Voguls and Ostyaks, more known nowadays as the Khanty and Mansi.

 

"The Sheikhs used the river as their main transport route," says Elena Mikhaylovna Glatskaya, Doctor of historical sciences, "and therefore the directions of the spread of Islam among the Khanty and Mansi coincided with the riverbeds. The most serious impact was on the Mansi, who lived along Tura and Tavda, and the Khanty of the Irtysh basin and its tributaries."

 

The active missionary work of Islamic preachers for a long period and close ethno-cultural and economic contacts with the Turkic peoples, especially Siberian Tatars, led to certain religious changes in the province. Thus, in the Siberian chronicle, compiled in 1636 by Savva Esipov, the deacon of the Tobolsk bishop's house, it was reported that the "tatars" - the population of the rivers Tura, Tobol and Irtysh (including the Khanty and Mansi) marked by a common ethnonym - "follow the Mohammetan law."

 

"Meanwhile, one can not talk about the complete Islamization of the Khanty and Mansi," explains Elena Mikhailovna, "only certain elements of Islam have penetrated their lives. And this process began early enough, much earlier than Christianity penetrated into Siberia."

 

Now it is very difficult to restore the process of conversion to Islam of these peoples, because medieval sources have remained extremely few. But, apparently, Islam is very firmly entered into their lives.

 

Suffice it to say that in the battle of Iskera, which was staged by the detachments of Khan Kuchum against the squad of Yermak, both Voguls and Ostyaks fought along with the Siberian Tatars. This is depicted even in the famous painting "The Conquest of Ermak of Siberia."

 

In the essay devoted to the ethnographic description compiled in the first quarter of the 18th century by the Ukrainian colonel Grigory Novitsky, exiled to Siberia and who participated in missionary trips along the margin of Metropolitan Philotheus of Leszczynski, one can find interesting information. Novitsky reports that the Khanty had armed resistance to the Orthodox mission in the region of Chernykh Yurt and Yurt Burenkov, and, according to the author, they "... called themselves as Besurman ... and raised the klichi."

 

"Besurmans" in the 18th century called Muslims, and "klichi" - the word of Ukrainian origin, in this case meaning a minaret, from which believers were called to pray. Apparently, it was a small eminence, located in the middle of the yurts.

 

As the researchers note, because of the lack of sources it is very difficult to determine now how exactly these northern peoples professed Islam. The fact is that the evidence of the religiosity and beliefs of the local population was collected by representatives of Christianity.

 

It was important for them to eradicate what they called "paganism." It is clear that they probably did not pay much attention to the elements of Islam, therefore now it is difficult to say something definite.

 

But along with the adoption of Islam to the southern Khanty and Mansi came the rudiments of farming and animal husbandry, which they were taught by the Siberian Tatars. Borrowings can be traced both in clothes and in everyday life. Thanks to the active trade conducted by the state entities of Siberia with the Muslim countries of the Volga and Central Asia, the Voguls and Ostyaks abandoned the pottery profession, as metal utensils appeared in each yurt.

 

Although, even being in the bosom of advanced Islamic culture, the Khanty and Mansi continued to lead a traditional way of life, based on hunting and fishing. By the way, that is why in the 17th century the state tried to keep the most zealous representatives of the church or the public from missionary activities.

 

"It was important for the government to protect the Khanty and Mansi from violent Christianization," says Elena Glatskaya, "the economic interests of the state were predominant here. From these peoples in the form of yasak authorities received precious furs, which was one of the basic elements of the export of the Russian state."