Christianization of the Tatars Living in the Area of the Vyatka and Great Perm Diocese in the 18th Century

Abstract

The article examines the process of dissemination of the Orthodox faith among the Tatars of the VyatkaKama region. In the 18th century, the attention of the religious and civil authorities of Russia was drawn to the Tatar population of the Volga region and the Urals. The Kazan Tatars were under the closest scrutiny. The Tatars of the Vyatka province found themselves at the periphery of Russian policy making. There was no sustained missionary activity in relation to the Vyatka Tatars on the part of the Orthodox clergy in the mid-18th century. The adoption of the Orthodox Faith by the Tatars of the Vyatka-Kama region was conditioned by the benefits provided by the tsarist decrees. After the abolition of the Novokreschenskaya office, the process of Christianization of the Vyatka Tatars did not stop. By the end of the 18th century, the number of baptized Tatars remained small, which can be attributed to the fact that baptized Tatars and Muslim Tatars still mixed and lived together, the lack of special training among the clergy, and the rather firm ideological attitudes of the Tatars.