Yugra

"Yugor" redirects here. For the strait also known as Yugor Strait, see Yugorsky Strait.
Yugran principalities in the 15th century.

Yugra or Iuhra (Old Russian: Югра, Jugra) was a collective name for lands and peoples in the region to the east of the northern Ural Mountains (modern north-west Russia), in the Russian annals of the 12th–17th centuries. During this period the region was inhabited by the Khanty (a.k.a. Ostyaks) and Mansi (Voguls) peoples.

In a current context, the word "Yugra" generally refers to a political constituent of the Russia Federation formally known as Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, located in the lands historically known as Ioughoria. In modern Russian this word is rendered "Югория" (Yugoria) and is used as a poetic synonym of the region.

In beginning of the 16th century, the similarity between Yugria (latinized form of the name) and ugry, an Old Russian ethnonym for the Hungarians, was noted by scholars such as Maciej Miechowita. The modern name of the Ugric language family, which includes Khanty and Mansi together with Hungarian, was also adopted on the assumption that the two words share a common origin.[1] However, even though the linguistic connection between the Ugric languages is well established, the etymological connection between Yugra and ugry is disputed.[2] András Róna-Tas has suggested that the name Yugria is related to a 10-11th century ethnic name Ugur, whereas the Hungarian ethnonym derives from On Ugur, 'ten Oghurs'.[3]

From 16th century onwards, Yugra was often assumed to be the Hungarians' ancestral home. Contemporary Uralic linguistics locates the Urheimat of the Ugric language family to Southwestern Siberia, at the margin of the Eurasian steppe.[4]

  1. ^ Honti, László (1979). "Characteristic Features of Ugric Languages (observations on the Question of Ugric Unity)". Acta Linguistica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 29 (1/2): 1–26. ISSN 0001-5946.
  2. ^ Vásáry, István (1982). "The 'Yugria' Problem". In Róna-Tas, András (ed.). Chuvash studies. Bibliotheca orientalis hungarica. Budapest: Akadémiai kiadó. ISBN 978-963-05-2851-1.
  3. ^ Róna-Tas, András (1999). Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: an introduction to early Hungarian history. Translated by Bodoczky, Nicholas. Budapest New York: Central European Univ. Press. p. 434-436. ISBN 978-963-9116-48-1.
  4. ^ Skribnik, Elena; Laakso, Johanna (2022). "Ugric: General introduction". In Bakró-Nagy, Marianne; Laakso, Johanna; Skribnik, Elena K. (eds.). The Oxford guide to the Uralic languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198767664.003.0028. ISBN 978-0-19-876766-4.