Lipka Tatars

"Lithuanian Tatars" redirects here. For the Tatar population in Lithuania proper, see Tatars in Lithuania.

Lipka Tatars
Tatarzy polscy
Lietuvos totoriai
Літоўскія татары
One of the variations of the flag of Lipka Tatars, almost resembling the flag of Golden Horde but with smaller and reversed tamga located on the upper hoist side.
Total population
10,000–15,000
Regions with significant populations
 Belarus8,445 (2019 census)[1]
 Lithuania2,142 (2021 census)[2] – 3,200[3]
 Poland1,916 (2011 census)[4]
Languages
Tatar, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian
Religion
Sunni Islam[5][6][7]
Related ethnic groups
Crimean Tatars, Tatars in Lithuania, Volga Tatars

The Lipka Tatars (the term Lipka refers to Lithuania; they are otherwise known as Lipkas or Lithuanian Tatars; later referred to as Polish Tatars, Polish–Lithuanian Tatars, Belarusian Tatars, Lipkowie, Lipcani, Muślimi, and Lietuvos totoriai) are a Tatar ethnic group and minority in Lithuania, who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century.

The first Tatar settlers tried to preserve their Turco-Mongol shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the pre-Christian Lithuanians.[8] Towards the end of the 14th century, another wave of Tatars—this time, Islamized Turks, were invited into the Grand Duchy by Vytautas the Great. These Tatars first settled in Lithuania proper around Vilnius, Trakai, Hrodna, and Kaunas[8] and later spread to other parts of the Grand Duchy that later became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These areas comprise parts of present-day Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. From the very beginning of their settlement in Lithuania they were known as the Lipka Tatars. From the Battle of Grunwald onwards, the Lipka Tatar light cavalry regiments participated in every significant military campaign of Lithuania and Poland.

The Lipka Tatar origins can be traced back to the descendant states of the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, and Kazan Khanate. They initially served as a noble military caste but later they became urban-dwellers known for their crafts, horses, and gardening skills. Throughout centuries they resisted assimilation and kept their traditional lifestyle. While they remained very attached to their religion, over time they lost their original Tatar language, from the Kipchak group of Turkic languages, and for the most part adopted Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish.[9][10] There are still small groups of Lipka Tatars living in Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland, as well as their communities in the United States.

  1. ^ "Перепись-2019". Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Gyventojų ir būstų surašymai – Oficialiosios statistikos portalas". Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Eastern Europe and migrants: The mosques of Lithuania". The Economist. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Ludność. Stan i struktura demograficzno-społeczna – NSP 2011" (PDF) (in Polish).
  5. ^ https://culture.pl/en/article/in-the-footsteps-of-the-tatars [bare URL]
  6. ^ https://www.new-east-archive.org/features/show/9945/polish-muslim-lipka-tatars [bare URL]
  7. ^ Katliarou, Yury (January 2016). "Belarusian Tatars: Religious, Linguistic and Cultural Peculiarities of the Community". TEHLIKEDEKI TÜRK DILLERI II B/ENDANGERED TURKIC LANGUAGES II B: ÖRNEK ÇALISMALAR/CASE STUDIES.
  8. ^ a b (in Lithuanian) Lietuvos totoriai ir jų šventoji knyga – Koranas Archived 29 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, "Polish or Lithuanian Tartars", Harvard University Press, pg. 990
  10. ^ Leonard Drożdżewicz, Biographical Dictionary of Polish Tatars of the Twentieth Century, „Znad Wilii", nr 4 (68) z 2016 r., pp. 77–82, http://www.znadwiliiwilno.lt/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Znad-Wilii-68.pdf