MISSIONARY ACTIVITY OF N.I. ILMINSKY AMONG THE CHUVASH

Abstract

On the basis of available sources and literature, the confessional situation among one of the non–Russian peoples of the Middle Volga region, the Chuvash, is investigated. If in the XVIII – early XIX century while carrying out conversion of the non-Slavs (that was the name for non-Russian peoples before the revolution) to the Orthodox the Senate and the Synod gave privileges to the newly baptized and resorted to harsh punitive measures against those who refused, then from the middle of the XIX century the ways of dealing with the unbaptized and those who have fallen into Islam are changing dramatically. Missionaries are gradually coming to the opinion that it is necessary to speak with the non-Slavs in their language, to train priests and teachers from their environment, and also to take into account their traditional holidays and rituals. For example, the priests equally named Turӑ both the Chuvash deity and the Orthodox supreme God. This trend continues to this day. In order to reflect the peculiarities of the Orthodox enlightenment of the Chuvash and to protect them from Islam, the author of the article uses the phrase “indigenization/”alienation” of Orthodoxy.” The creator and the engine of this whole system in Kazan, Simbirsk, Samara, Vyatka, Ufa and Orenburg governorates was N.I. Ilminsky. As a result, the Chuvash began to accept Orthodoxy consciously.