Types of settlements of the peoples of Western Siberia

The traditional occupations of the peoples of Siberia were hunting, fishing and reindeer husbandry.

Reindeer herders of Western Siberia, if they lived in one place, would not be able to provide food for themselves or their pets. Settlements of peoples leading a nomadic lifestyle are called "camps". There are from two to five plagues in the Nenets camp. But a hundred years ago (according to V. Tarasov) the camps consisted of one or two chums. The distance between the camps was 20−50 kilometers.

For peoples living more or less sedentary, hunters and fishermen, settlements are called "yurts" (a log dwelling was also called a yurt), Mansi settlements were called "paul". In ancient times, there were fortified towns located on high river banks. This is reflected in the terminology. For example, the eastern Khanty village is called "pugol" and "vach", the northern Khanty — "Kurt" and "vosh", the northern Mansi — "paul" and "us".

The settlements of the Siberian Tatars, like those of the Khants, were called "yurts". Another name for Tatar settlements (of a later date) is "villages". Often one settlement had two names, for example, Arapovsky yurts — Khan-aul.

Another interesting type of settlement, which simultaneously has the features of a camp and a village, is called a "trading post". The word is of foreign origin. Trading settlements or posts of European states on the territory of colonies were called trading posts. Then they began to designate places where representatives of the indigenous population of Siberia, the Far East and Russian America came to exchange furs, fish, meat for fabrics, jewelry, weapons, gunpowder, tobacco and alcohol. Then trading shops began to open at the trading posts, and many points later turned into villages. In the USSR, trading posts were called remote fishing points where hunters brought their furs for delivery.

The Tyrlo

The camp is a camp of nomadic pastoralists.

The Great Russian Encyclopedia gives such a definition of the word "Tyrlo" (camp) — a place for cattle to rest on a pasture. They are usually arranged near a watering hole in places with solid soil. There are temporary ones (in the heat they are arranged in elevated places where the animals are blown by the wind, in cold weather — in sheltered hollows) and permanent ones. The latter are equipped with troughs for watering, feeders for feeding and distributing salt, splits (rooms for working with cattle) for dividing into groups, weighing animals, etc. Sheds and milking tethers are being set up for dairy cattle. For shepherds light premises are being built on permanent turrets, and mobile houses are being used on temporary ones."

Trading posts

A trading post is a trading settlement (post) formed by foreign (most often European) merchants on the territory of another state or colony. Similar formations in remote areas of their country were also called factoria. The same name is given to trading offices formed in remote regions for the same purpose. Trading posts were a typical element of early settlements in Russian America, Canada, and the United States, where they served to exchange furs and other local products for manufactured goods (cloth, jewelry, weapons, alcohol, and so on). Originally located in remote, sparsely populated areas, some trading posts eventually turned into villages and even towns.

In Siberia, trading posts began to be created in the nineteenth century. Established in the second half of the nineteenth century for the purchase of furs and fish, trading posts exist today, only their function has changed. If they used to make a profit, today they are socially significant objects, islands of civilization in an inter—settlement territory, where representatives of the indigenous population of Siberia can receive medical care, wait out bad weather, use communication services, and also replenish food supplies, including bread — there are bakeries at some factories.

Yurts, auls

The settlements of the Siberian Tatars were called "yurts", which speaks of echoes of the nomadic time. In addition, there was the name "auls" (villages) - most often those where Bukharans settled. Tatar yurts and villages were located mainly along the banks of rivers and lakes, their streets followed the outline of the shores. Depending on the time of year and seasonal activities, there were winter and summer yurts.

The names of Tatar villages have different origins. For example, the village of Shamsha in Tobolsk district has several variants of the origin of the name: 1) from the Persian word "shamsi" - sunny; 2) from the Khanty "shamshi" - black currant; 3) from the Persian "shamshir" - saber. The unofficial name of the Tobolsk district: "Tubyl" - R. Tobol; "Tora" - settlement, kurgan. The name of the Staritsky Yurt (Ullar-Tysh) comes from the fact that the village stands on the old riverbed of the Irtysh.

In the second half of the XIX – early XX century Tatar villages were very crowded. There were yurts of more than a thousand inhabitants.

There was a mosque with a high minaret in the center of the village, so the Tatar yurts could be seen from afar. Not far from the mosque, the houses of rich Tatars were located in good prominent places.

There was a cemetery near the village, always fenced off. The cemetery was the object of care for all residents of yurts.