Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: MadIvan
Why is the call to prayer in Arabic? Russia has had a sizable Muslim minority for a long time; are these immigrants from Arab countries?

As for Eurabia, many Americans consider Russia part of Europe.

Russians (and EUers and Americans) should have more babies and not abort them.

4 posted on 12/06/2006 6:12:05 AM PST by Jedi Master Pikachu ( For the Republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Jedi Master Pikachu; ninenot; sittnick; steve50; Hegemony Cricket; Willie Green; Wolfie; ...
Russia has had a sizable Muslim minority for a long time; are these immigrants from Arab countries?

Muslims were present in Russia for several centuries in large numbers. Even more, they were ruling Russia for a while as Mongols/Tartars converted to Islam. It took long time and heroic effort to liberate Russia. It was as hard or maybe harder than for Spaniards.

Interestingly enough Russians were more kind in their treatment of defeated Muslims, they did not expel them, they let keep their culture, customs and religion. So you have old historical Muslim cities with large Muslim population in the core Russian territories.

One of the last lands recovered from Mongol/Tartar rule was ancient Crimea. Settled by Greeks since ancient times, then part of old Russia/Rus was place where prince Vladimir married the sister of Emperor Basil II in 989 AD and started the conversion of Russia to the Christian religion.

After Muslim conquest the Crimea became the center of harsh rule and constant predatory invasion reaching even Poland. In 1571 the Tartar hordes of Crimean Khanate burned Moscow. The original Christian population of Crimea was enslaved and reduced in numbers.

This is the quote from Wikipedia article on Crimean Khanate:

[...]

The Crimean Khanate was one of the strongest powers in Eastern Europe until the 18th century[citation needed]. Crimean Tatars played an invaluable role in defending the borders of Islam, especially against the Muscovites and Europeans. In order to prevent the Slavic settlement in the steppes, Crimean Tatar war parties (cambuls), in cooperation with the Nogays engaged in raids to Danubian principalities, Poland-Lithuania, and Muscovy.

In a process called "harvesting of the steppe" they enslaved many Slavic peasants, and acquired booty, from which the khan received a fixed split (savða) of 10 or 20%. The campaigns by Crimean forces could be divided into "sefers" - officially declared military operations led by the khans themselves, and "çapuls" - raids undertaken by separate groups of noblemen (sometimes illegal and banned because of coming in contradiction with the treaties concluded by the khans with the neighbor rulers). For a long time, until the early 18th century, the khanate maintained massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East. Kefe was one of the best known and significant trading ports and slave markets.

[...]

The Crimea was recovered by Russia at the end of XVIII century. The Muslim/Tartar population was allowed to stay and was left alone well into the Soviet time when during the War World Two, Stalin being worried about alliance of Tartar Muslims with invading Nazi armies, resettled them to the other parts of Russia. After WWII majority of population there was Russian, yet it was gifted to Ukraine in 1954 by Nikita Khrushchev.

25 posted on 12/06/2006 1:44:15 PM PST by A. Pole ( Napoleon Bonaparte:There, is a sleeping giant. Let him sleep! If he wakes, he will shake the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson