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Definition of a Tartar
Tartars, also knows as Tatars
Turkic-speaking peoples living mostly in Russia and Central Asia. They are largely Sunni Muslims. Originally a nomadic tribe from E. Central Asia, the Tatars intermixed with Mongols in the hordes of Gengis Khan, and the term Tatars came to mean invaders under Mongol leadership. When the Mongols receded eastward, the Tatars continued to dominate Russia, Ukraine, and Siberia. They adopted Islam in the 14th cent. In the late 15th cent. the Tatar empire broke up into separate states that fell under Russian or Ottoman Turkish rule. By the 16th cent. most Tatars were settled agriculturists. Tatar leaders, traders, and institutions had great influence on Russian history. In 1783 the last Tatar state, the Crimea, was annexed to Russia. Most Tatars live in the Volga region (where Tatarstan, the Tatar republic, is located) and the Urals, and some live in small groups in W Siberia. The Crimean Tatars were exiled to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in 1945 for alleged collaboration with the Germans in WORLD WAR II; in 1956 they regained their civil rights, and since the late 1980s many have returned to Crimea. Following the disintegration of the USSR, Tatarstan leaders began to press the Russian government for increased powers for the autonomous republic. In a 1992 referendum, over 61% of the voters supported a sovereign Tatarstan.