In Russia and neighboring territories, Russian Oriental studies have accumulated some experience in the study of Sufism (Arab, at-tasawwuf), mainly based on Central Asian and Caucasian materials [Alikberov, 2003; Demidov, 1978; Islam in the former Russian Empire..., vol. 1, 2006; Knysh, 2004; Ascetics Islam: The Cult of Saints and Sufism in Central Asia and the Caucasus..., 2003; Later, 1886; Snesarev, 1983, etc.]. This work is the first attempt to analyze the history of Muslim mysticism in the Lower Volga region - the Russian region where Muslims are the most numerous (after Christianity) denomination. Sufism played a significant role in the spread of Islam in the Lower Volga region and was one of the forms of existence of the Muslim religion in this region, for centuries intertwined with folk beliefs.

I

The Central Asian Sufi fraternities (turuk, singular tariqa, or tariqat-Arab, "the [mystical] path [of God's knowledge]") yasawiya and Kubrawiya took an active part in the spread of Islam in the Golden Horde, or Jochi Ulus, whose capital region was the Lower Volga region [Vasiliev, 2003, pp. 19-24; Malov Malyshev and Rakushin, 1998, pp. 111-111; Sibgatullina, 1995, pp. 84-86]. How influential the Sufis were in the Jochid state from the very beginning of its existence can be judged from numerous sources. Thus, a number of Arab and Persian authors report that the Golden Horde Khan Berke (1258-1266) converted to Islam under the leadership of the famous Kubrawi sheikh Sayf al-Din al-Baharzi (d. 1260/1261), a disciple of the founder of the brotherhood Najm al-Din al-Kubr (1145-1221) [Sbornik materialov..., 1884, p. 235, 379, 507; Collection of materials..., 1941, p. 205; Dzhandosova, 2006, p. 169; Akimushkin, 2006, p. 220]. The anonymous 15th-century work Shajarat al-atrak ("Family Tree of the Turks") states that Uzbek Khan (1312-1342), under whom the Golden Horde converted to Islam, also converted to Islam under the leadership of the Yasawi Sheikh Sayyid-ata (d. 1291/1292 or 1310/1311), who was a disciple of the Yasawi Sheikh Zangi- ata [Collection of materials..., 1941, p. 206; Abashin, 2006, p. 152]. It is interesting that the legends of the Khorezm Uzbeks also tell about this [Snesarev, 1983, p. 167]. Sources also mention other Sufi sheikhs at the Uzbek court, in particular Numan ad-Din al-Khwarizmi [Sbornik materialov..., 1884, pp. 307, 523]. These spiritual authorities had a great influence on the rulers of the Golden Horde.

Arab-Persian sources also record the existence of Sufi monasteries in the Golden Horde - khanaka. Large khanaks had large land plots in feudal ownership with dependent peasants and slaves attached to them. Many enjoyed the patronage and protection of the khans. The Arab traveler Shams ad-Din Abu Abdallah Muhammad b. Battuta (1304 - 1377), traveling through the Golden Horde, stayed in some of them [Sbornik materialov..., 1884, p.280, 287]. Khanaks are also known from archaeological sources. So, according to G. A. Fedo-

page 27
One of them was excavated on the territory of a Saltpeter settlement (Fedorov-Davydov, 1994, p. 69).

Sufi missionaries were the most active propagators of Islam among the Turkic nomads of the Eurasian steppes, including the Turkic population of the Golden Horde and the Astrakhan Khanate.1 To facilitate the Islamization of the latter, Sufis often included in the complex of their faith a wide variety of pre-Islamic beliefs and rituals of nomads. Therefore, Islam in its Sufi form was more viable in the steppe than "orthodox" Islam. On the one hand, Sufism facilitated the Islamization of nomads, on the other hand, it made it superficial and uneven. The Turkic-Muslim peoples of the Lower Volga region preserved pre-Islamic beliefs and rituals until the beginning of the XXI century.

Sufism, in our opinion, was responsible for the formation of the cult of Muslim saints (including many Sufis) and their graves on the Lower Volga in the era of the Golden Horde (XIII - XV centuries) and the Astrakhan Khanate (XV - XVI centuries).

II

The major Sufi authorities (sheikhs/murshids, otherwise: pirs, ishan), famous for their piety, deep knowledge and religious feats, were considered people who could perform "miracles" (Arab, karamat), bearers of "divine grace" (Arab, baraka), which through them (or through visiting their graves)was not only a miracle, but also a miracle. it can be revealed to ordinary believers. Sufis were believed to be in direct contact with Allah, to act as intermediaries between him and the common people, and to be revered as patrons of various crafts and professions. Because of their closeness to the people, their tolerance for religion, and their ascetic lifestyle, Sufis often enjoyed much greater authority than representatives of "official" Islam.

Many of the Sufis who contributed to the spread of Islam in the Golden Horde were revered as saints during their lifetime or after their death, and their burial sites became objects of worship. So, in particular, the mausoleum-mazar (erected by order of the Golden Horde Khan Janibek) of the Turkmen Sheikh Husain-bek from the Yasaviya brotherhood, who preached Islam among the Bashkir tribes in the XIV century, is still revered by Bashkirs [Malov, Malyshev, Rakushin, 1998, pp. 114-115; Yunusova, 1994, p. 75].

Veneration of the holy graves of Sufi sheikhs continued in the post-Golden Horde state formations (Kazan Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, Nogai Horde, etc.), as well as after their fall. It is known that in the Kazan Khanate there was a cult of the graves of saints Ish-Muhammad, Idris, Qasim, etc. All these saints were Sufi sheikhs from the Yasawiya brotherhood (Khudyakov, 1990, p. 198). Ottoman author Evliya Celebi b. Dervish (1611-1679/1683) in his work "Siyahat-nameh" ("The Book of Travel") describes the ancient "revered tombs of members of the community of Muhammad and other prophets" in the vicinity of the ruins of the city of Sarai, apparently preserved from the Golden Horde time and the era of the Astrakhan Khanate. These tombs were revered by the local Tatar population in his time, and he himself made a pilgrimage to them while staying in the Lower Volga region in 1666 [Evliya Celebi, 1979, p. 140-142]2.

1 On Sufi sheikhs in the Astrakhan Khanate, see [Iskhakov, 1997, pp. 76-77]. The last Astrakhan khan had a completely Sufi name of Dervish-Ali b. Sheikh-Haidar.

2 By the way, according to Evliya Celebi, some of the" Heshdeks "(a collective ethnonym for the Turkish author, which in this case should be considered, in our opinion, the Yurt Nogai Tatars) living in the vicinity of Astrakhan were "introduced to Islam by Mehmed Behari Saltyk-bai, or, in other words, Sary Saltyk-Sultan" [Evliya Celebi, 1979, p. 133]. Sary Saltyk is a famous Sufi sheikh of the 13th century, whose activities are mainly connected with the Crimea and Dobrudja. He was one of the Murid disciples of Hajji Bektash, the founder of the Bektashiyya brotherhood. He was called his mentor by the famous Turkish Sufi poet Yunus Emre (1240-1320). See: [Zaitsev, 2004, pp. 186-187].

page 28
On the territory of the Astrakhan region, archaeologists have excavated a number of Golden Horde mausoleums, in particular, on the Saltpeter settlement in the Kharabala district (the remains of the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai, or Sarai al-Mahrus) [Steppes of Eurasia..., 1981, p. 233; Fedorov-Davydov, 1994, p. 26], near the village. Komsomolsky in the Kharabalinsky district [Pavlenko, 2001, p. 74-76] and others. Naturally, it is difficult to say which of them were the graves of saints and objects of worship. Most likely they were tombs of nobles or rich people. Archaeologist Yu. A. Pavlenko connects the mausoleum near the village. Komsomolsky with the Sufi zawiya-the abode of dervishes, which arose near the grave of a Sufi saint (Pavlenko, 2001, p. 4). 76]. However, another Astrakhan archaeologist, D. V. Vasiliev, more reasonably claims that representatives of the highest Golden Horde nobility, but not Sufi authorities, are buried in this mausoleum. In his opinion, this archaeological site has nothing to do with the spread of Sufism in the Lower Volga region, but only illustrates the initial stage of the Moslemization of the elite of the Golden Horde society [Vasiliev, 2003, p. 116]. It is possible that some mausoleums of the Saltpetre settlement, according to E. Celebi, are the graves of Sufi saints.

Most of the honored mausoleums of the Golden Horde are now forgotten, although there is evidence that the ruins of one of them on the territory of a Saltpeter settlement called Dzhigit-khadzhi were revered by Nogais and Tatars in the XVIII century. [Tatishchev, 1990, p. 284; Historical travels..., 1936, p. 224].

During the second half of the XVI - XIX centuries, the veneration of Lower Volga holy graves was accepted by Yurt Nogai Tatars, Tatars-immigrants (Kazan and Mishar), Turkmens, Nogai-Karagash and Kazakhs. In many respects, this perception was facilitated by the fact that Islam among these peoples was identical to the Islam practiced by the Turkic-speaking population of the Lower Volga region in the XIV-XVI centuries. It was Sunnism of the Hanafi persuasion, sufficiently "liberal" to incorporate the pre-Islamic beliefs and rituals of the nomads. Naturally, the cult of saints and their graves was reinterpreted by new Turkic migrants. The old shrines were forgotten, but the main thing was preserved - the tradition of the cult, and therefore it was replenished with the veneration of the holy graves of new peoples. Currently existing graves of saints, which in the Astrakhan region are called aulya, or avliya, evliya (from Arab, auliya, singular Wali - "saint", " under the protection of [Allah]", " close, friend of [Allah]"), mostly appeared relatively recently (XVIII-XX centuries.), with the exception of some places of worship presumably from earlier times. Thus, the cult of Muslim saints and their graves in the Astrakhan region has, in our opinion, ancient origins and was formed in the Middle Ages largely due to Sufism.

One of the most ancient Sufi saints of the Astrakhan region is Abdurakhman Tukli-baba Shashly-adzhe (literally, from Turkish, "hairy elder-haji"). This saint is quite well known in the Turkic-Kipchak ethno-cultural environment. In the heroic epic of Nogais, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Bashkirs under similar names (Baba Tuklas, Tuklyas, Baba Tukty Chachty Aziz, the most complete - Haji Ahmed Baba Tuklas Shashly Aziz Barkan), he is known as the ancestor (grandfather, great-grandfather, father) of the Golden Horde Beklerbek Edigey (d. 1419), the founder of the Nogai Horde, and The spirit-ancestor-patron (arvakh) of Nogai princes-mirz-descendants of Edige [BNT, 1999, p. 12; Idegey..., 1990, p. 17; Zhirmunsky, 1974, p.229, 355, 383].

In the Turkic epic tradition, the pedigree of Saint Baba Tuklas is traced back to the first righteous Caliph Abu Bakr (632-634). Baba Tuklas is considered an Islamizer of the Nogais and personally of the Golden Horde Khan Uzbek the Great (Trepavlov, 2002, pp. 56, 64, 86, 572; DeWeese, 1994, p. 13, 14, 381, 386 - 387]. Khorezmian author of the XVI century Utemish-haji B. Maulana Muhammad Dosti in his work "Tarikh-i Dost-Sultan", translated into Russian as "Chingiz-nam", cites the legend of the four saints,

page 29
one of them, Baba Tuklas, performed a miracle by sitting inside a red-hot tanura furnace, convinced the Khan of the truth of Islam and forced him, along with his entourage, to turn away from idolatry [Utemish-haji, 1992, pp. 105-107]. It is interesting that this tradition, with minor additions, has been preserved among the Yurt Nogai Tatars of the Astrakhan region to this day. According to him, Saint Tukli Baba spread Islam in the Lower Volga region and called pagan priests to a kind of "test of faith". Fire pits were set up, and the priests entered one of them, and the saint entered the other. The first ones were burned, and the body of Tukli baba was covered with protective fur, which fell with the fire, and the saint came out of the pit unharmed. Then most of the people converted to Islam, while the other part turned away from the saint as a" devil " (shaitan) [PMA]. A variant of this legend is given by the Soviet ethnographer N. M. Matorin: "Saint Tukli baba (shaggy grandfather) is so called because his body was wonderfully covered with protective fur when his enemies threw him into the fire" (Matorin, 1929, p.88).

According to V. M. Zhirmunsky, in some versions of the epic "Idige" Baba Tuklas is identified with the famous founder of the Turkic direction of Sufism Khwaja Ahmad al-Yasawi (1103-1166) [Zhirmunsky, 1974, p. 383], which suggests that the "hairy elder" belongs to the Yasawiya brotherhood. 3.3. Zhandarbek identifies Baba Tuklas with the Yasawi Sheikh Sadr-ata (Sadr ad-Din), one of the disciples of Sheikh Zangi-ata (Zhandarbek, 2003: 327, 333).

In addition, in the Turkic epics ("Akbuzat", "Idige" / "Edige", "Koblandy-batyr", "Alpamys-batyr", "Aleuko-batyr", "Shora-batyr", "Orak and Mamai", etc.) Baba Tuklas acts as a batyr saint, patron saint and a defender of batyrs, a maternity doctor who gives childless parents wonderful children endowed with his special grace, a werewolf saint (who takes the form of a giant Kara-Gus bird, or azhdakhar dragon), married to a fairy-tale "swan maiden", whose image goes back to the ancient Turkic mythological demon albasta [Syzranov, 2006 (1), pp. 133-134; Syzranov, 2006 (2), pp. 30-31].

V. M. Zhirmunsky, analyzing the epic image of Baba Tuklas Shashly Aziz, considers him an ancient shaman of the pre-Muslim era and the ancestor-patron (arvakh) of the Nogai princes-mirz-descendants of Edige (Zhirmunsky, 1974, p. 229). The Astrakhan ethnographer V. M. Viktorin also states that Tukli Baba was "a strong shaman of the nomadic Kipchaks and a patron of other shamans", and refers the time of his life to the XNUMXH centuries [Viktorin, 1993, p. 87; Viktorin, 2003, p.50-61]. In this regard, it is interesting to note that until recently, Kazakh shamans-bakss of the Dzhambul region of Kazakhstan prayed to Euliya Baba-Tukty-Shashty-Aziz as their patron ancestor (Baibosynov and Mustafina, 1989, p. 74).

Thus, Tukli Baba appears as a semi-legendary Sufi saint, a hero-Islamizer - one of the first preachers of Islam in the Golden Horde, perhaps an Islamized Kipchak shaman or a shamanic patron spirit who "turned" into a Muslim saint.

The burial site of Tukli Baba Shashly-adzhe is located in a Muslim cemetery near the village of Moshaik in the Leninsky district of Astrakhan (by the way, the name of the village itself comes from Arab, Masha'ih - "sheikhs"). Previously, it was located in a cemetery in the area of the modern city shipyard. According to informants, the holy spirit allegedly appeared in a dream to one of the old men and asked to move his ashes away from the"infidels". At night, the burial of Tukli Baba was secretly moved to the Moshaik cemetery, where it was united in a single cult complex with the graves of four other saints: Sheikh Masletdin Uzaman (Zaman-haji al-Bukhari), Abdrahman Say-haji, Yamgurshi-ishan and Mahmud-afandi. Shortly after the move, the cult of Aulya

page 30
Baba's Tukli has weakened considerably. Nevertheless, his grave is preserved under its own name and remains an active cult object.

Today, the most revered burial site in the Moshaik complex is that of the Sufi miracle worker, sheikh of the Naqshbandiyah-Khalidiyah Sufi brotherhood and the eponym of its Dagestani branch, Mahmudiyah Mahmud-afandi ishan b. Muhammad b. Sadiq b. Mustafa al-Almali al-Shirvani ad-Daghistani (1810 - 1877) from the Mughal village of Almalo of the Dzharo-Belokan Union of rural communities (today Kakh district of Northern Azerbaijan between Southern Dagestan and Georgia). His homeland was the historical lands of Kakheti, inhabited by Ingiloi (Islamized Georgians) and Turkic-speaking Mughals, who were ruled by rural communities of Avars.

Mahmud Afandi served for some time as secretary to Daniyal bey Sultan, ruler of the small Ilisui Sultanate on the borders of present-day Dagestan and Azerbaijan, and his confidant, Haji Agha bey al-Ilisavi. In 1844. Daniyal bey Sultan fled to the territory controlled by Imam Shamil (reigned 1834-1859, died 1871), and became one of his most prominent associates. It is not known exactly whether Mahmoud Afandi followed his master to the side of Shamil. This version may be supported by the fact that in the middle of the 19th century, the Russian authorities sent Mahmud Afandi from the Caucasus to the interior of Russia for several years. In addition, according to the information given to us by the descendants of the saint from Astrakhan, Mahmud Afandi was an associate of Shamil.

For participating in the struggle of the mountaineers of the North Caucasus against the Russian Empire, he was arrested and sent into exile, first to Siberia, and then to Kazan. During his stay in Kazan, Mahmud Afandi met a certain Sheikh Hashim al-Yamashi (or al-Yamashini), who introduced him to the naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya Sufi brotherhood. Perhaps the latter was also a native of Eastern Transcaucasia, since in some Sufi spiritual genealogies (Arabic, salasil, singular silsila - "chain"), his name is directly associated with the famous Sheikh naqshbandiya-Khalidiya Ismail al-Kurdamiri from Shirvan. Having enlisted the support of the Naqshbandi sheikhs operating in Tatarstan, Mahmud Afandi returned in 1862/1863 to his native village of Almalo, where he became a popular sheikh of Sharika Naqshbandiya. He was able to oust a rival sheikh, possibly also a member of the Naqshbandiyah-Khalidiyah brotherhood, whose Murid disciples had passed over to him. Later, Mahmud Afandi gained many followers not only in the Jara and Ilisu regions, but also in the Samur River valley in Southern Dagestan. At least eight of his caliph successors are known.

At the end of his life, Mahmud Afandi was again exiled, this time to Astrakhan. Here the saint spent the last years of his life, enjoying honor and respect among local Muslims and continuing to gather more and more Murids around him until his death on 5 Muharram 1294 (January 20, 1877) [Kemper, 2003, pp. 287-289]. According to legend, anticipating his death, he bequeathed to bury himself in the Muslim cemetery near the village of Moshaik, next to the graves of other saints.

According to oral traditions passed down by his Astrakhan descendants, Mahmud Afandi was able to travel considerable distances in a matter of seconds (in particular, he was miraculously transported from Astrakhan to his native village of Almalo, for Friday afternoon prayer), walk on water, heal, foresee the future, spell snakes and firearms, etc. After the death of the ashes of the saint he remains incorruptible, and his spirit has repeatedly appeared to people and even helped his granddaughter escape from the fire [PMA].

From this brief biography, it is clear that Mahmud Afandi found followers mainly in the Turkic-speaking regions: among the Azerbaijani-speaking population of Jara, Shirvan and the Samur Valley, Kumyks of Northern Dagestan, Tatars of the Middle Volga region, and Turks of the Lower Volga region. This significantly distinguishes the Mahmud line,

page 31
called makhmudiya, from the Dagestani branch of Naqshbandiya-Khalidiya, headed by Abd ar-Rahman as - Sughuri (Sogratlinsky-from the village of al-Mughal). Sogratl, 1792-1882), and his caliph, who operated in Central and Northern Dagestan mainly among the Avars; the main thing is that their network of branches (virds) was still concentrated in the areas covered in 1828-1859 and 1877 by the war for the faith-jihad, except for some sheikhs, living in exile.

Another characteristic feature of the new branch of the Naqshbandi brotherhood that emerged around Mahmud Afandi is that its silsila does not include Jamal ad-Din al-Ghazi-Gumuki (Kazikumukhsky-from the village of Kumukh, d. 1869), the great sheikh of the Caucasian War era. The fact is that sheikhs Mahmudiya - followers of Mahmud-Afandi - openly opposed any manifestation of violence, including jihad.

Today, the most famous and popular Astrakhan saint is Seit-Baba Khozhetaevsky, or Sayyid B. Kulvay Sayyid Gali (d. 1812)-Nogai (Karagash) saint - wonderworker, Sufi; according to legend-a native of the village of Khozhetaevskoye, Krasnoyarsk district, Astrakhan province. As a young man, he left his homeland and traveled to the East for a long time to study Islamic sciences. He visited Egypt, Arabia, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, etc. Already in his declining years, Seit Baba returned to his native village, where he began to preach Islam and treat people. According to Nogai legends, he understood the language of animals and birds, could travel on horseback on a hare. From Arabia, the saint brought a staff, a Koran, and a jug of healing water.

Seit Baba's aulya is located in the Muslim cemetery near the village of Maly Aral in the Krasnoyarsk district of the Astrakhan region. In the same cemetery, the descendants of the saint were also buried-representatives of the Seit Altayak family (ru), the founder of which is considered to be Seit Baba. Earlier, as follows from the message of V. D. Pyatnitsky, an annual festive prayer service ziyarat was held at the saint's grave [Pyatnitsky, 1930, p. 160]. According to beliefs, the holy spirit and visiting his grave help in healing mental, stomach, heart and other diseases. Next to Seit Baba's tomb are the graves of his daughter Nur Jamal-khanim, Bukey Khan (d. 1815) - the Kazakh Khan, the founder of the Inner (Bukey) Kyrgyz-Kaisat Horde, Bukey Khan's wife Gitana-khanim, and the healer Aizhamal / Nurzhamal (or Zaurshishe-baksy) - a specialist in skin diseases which Bukey Khan invited from Syria. All five auls form a single cult complex, which today tends to turn into a major center of religious pilgrimage. Thus, in early 2001, the Sayyid Baba and Bukey Khan Regional Public charitable Foundation was established in the village of Maly Aral. With donations, tombstones were restored, a house for pilgrims was built, and the territory was landscaped [Istileev, 2001, p. 7]. Maloaral auls are actively revered by the Lower Volga Turks.

The image of Saint Kydyr/Khyzir-ata, whose grave is located near the village of Yaksatovo in the Privolzhsky district of the Astrakhan region, also has a Sufi nature. This saint is considered the patron saint of travelers. According to legends, he traveled all over the world, could simultaneously be in several places, heal people with a look and touch. Before his death, Kydyr-ata bequeathed to bury himself in the following way: put the body on a horse-drawn cart, then let the horse walk freely in all four directions, and where it stops, perform the burial. And so it was done.

The image of the saint shows obvious similarities with the legendary Muslim saint (or prophet) al-Khadir, known among Muslims (variants of the name: al-Khidr, Khizr, Khizr, Kydyr, etc.; from Arab, khidr - "green"). In Arabic, Iranian, and Turkic folklore, he appears as one of the first people to be granted eternal life in order to maintain people's faith in Allah. He gained immortality after drinking the "water of life". Al-Khadir supposedly lives on the islands,

page 32
flying through the air, traveling all the time. He is the patron saint of travelers. He can be called upon to help with special prayers: he will put out a fire, save drowning people, protect them from theft, the machinations of jinns, and snake bites. The color of al-Khadir is green, it represents the life of plants, symbolizes eternity and the constant renewal of nature. Its appearance even in a dead desert can enliven everything, and it will be covered with green vegetation.

It is often combined with the Muslim prophet Ilyas (Bibl. Elijah). In tafsirs (interpretations of the text of the Qur'an) and Sufi writings, al-Khadir is identified with the "servant of Allah" who accompanied the Prophet Musa (Bibl. Moses) (Qur'an, 18: 60/59-82/81). In addition, in the Sufi tradition, the immortal Khizr is known as the light of holiness, the greatest of the mystical guides-Murshids, one of the most revered and powerful walis, the prototype and prototype of all saints. Al-Khadir's graves and other places of worship exist in many Muslim regions (Egypt, Iraq, India, Central Asia, etc.) [Klimovich, 1988, p. 199-200; Piotrovsky, 1991 (1), p. 262; Piotrovsky, 1991 (2), p. 112; Rakhimov, 2006, p. 408-411; Trimingham, 2002, p. 192, 340; Khismatulin, 2003, p. 43; Schimmel, 1999, p. 22, 86, 89, 164].

III

It seems that in the XVIII-early XX century. Astrakhan played the role of a transit point in a kind of "migration" - the wanderings of Sufi sheikhs and dervishes, some of whom "settled"here. The routes of" migration " were either from Central Asia (to Mecca, the Caucasus, or Astrakhan and the province itself), or from the Caucasus, although sometimes Muslim mystics from Iran and even from faraway India "drifted" to Astrakhan.

According to academician S. G. Gmelin (1744-1774), one of the leaders of the famous Academic Expedition of 1768-1774, who visited Astrakhan in 1770: "In the Bukhara settlements (in the Bukhara settlement of the Earth City - A. S.) there lives a foreign Bukhara Tatar, who is also called Kazy... he is a Sheikh, or a person who descends from Mahomet and goes out to the public in a green turban " [Gmelin, 1777, part 2, p. 181]. And in another place: "In the Bukhara settlement there are 374 souls, in it there is a Sheikh, 6 Mullahs, 2 Abyzs, 6 Dervishes (my italics - A. S.). In Gilyanskaya 3 178, 2 priests and 3 monks4 (my italics-A. S.)..." [Gmelin, 1777, part 2, p. 197].

The well-known Russian orientalist A. K. (M. A.) Kazem - Bek (1802-1870), who lived in Astrakhan for a long time, wrote that "Bukhara sheikhs repeatedly came to Dagestan through Astrakhan and taught the rules of tariqa there. Often Dagestani clergy traveled through Asia Minor to Mecca, from there to Turkestan, and on the way back through Bukhara in caravans came to Orenburg and Astrakhan and then returned to their homeland" (Kazembek, 1990, p.21).

The central and local authorities of the empire in the 19th century began to seriously fear the penetration of Central Asian dervishes into the territory of the Astrakhan province, primarily due to political and then medical considerations. An example of this is the case of the Bukhara dervish Kurmamabai Tash Bulatov. Among the official documents of the Committee of Ministers is the" Highly approved "regulation of February 18, 1836" On the prohibition of accepting Dervishes as Russian citizens". It reads in part:"...Dervish Kurmamabai Tash Bu-

3 Gilyanskaya sloboda was located on the territory of the Earth City (one of the three parts of Astrakhan) and was inhabited by the so-called Gilyansky Tatars, or "Tatars of the Gilyansky court "- descendants of the"Persians" -Gilyants from marriages with local Tatar women.

4 Perhaps by" monks " S. G. Gmelin means the Iranian dervishes, whom he could identify with Christian monks for their ascetic lifestyle.

page 33
lats that turned out to be... subjects of the Khan of Bukhara, who arrived in Russia in 1834, entered the Astrakhan Provincial Government with a request to be included in the society of the Yurt Tatars of the Krasnoyarsk uyezd, in the village of Khozhetaevskoye; but the Provincial Government met with difficulties in satisfying this request of Bulatov, because the Most highly approved regulation of the Asian Committee on December 5, 1834, forbade admission to the Astrakhan region. the province of Dervishes coming from Central Asia to worship in Mecca (we are talking about the Hajj - A. S.), because these people are recognized by the government as not quite useful... The regulations of the Asiatic Committee, which were most strongly approved on March 15, 1832, and December 5, 1834, forbid all Asiatics from the countries of Central Asia (including Dervishes) going to worship in Mecca to pass through our internal provinces, and the purpose of these regulations is to cut off their ties with our subjects who, from experience, are not allowed to go to Mecca. they turned out to be harmful, because these Asiatics, and especially the Dervishes, instead of going to Mecca to worship, stayed with us in places inhabited by Mahometans, aroused fanaticism in these latter and imposed all sorts of outrageous rules..."[Islam in the Russian Empire..., 2001, p. 119]. The dervishes, according to the document, have "a great influence on the minds of our Mohammedans, which they always use for evil, preaching among them hatred against Christians and against the government itself... In addition, the prohibition of TOT (to pass dervishes through Russian territories. - A. S.) is also attributed to the precautionary measures taken in Russia against the introduction of infectious diseases...". As a result, dervish Kurmamabai Tash Bulatov was refused to live in the Astrakhan province [Islam in the Russian Empire..., 2001, pp. 120-121].

A special topic is Indian Sufis in Astrakhan. It is known that since the 17th century there was an Indian trading colony in Astrakhan [Russia and India, 1986, p. 45, 50; Yukht, 1957, p. 135-143]. At the beginning of the 19th century, due to the decline of the Indian community6, its composition began to change - the number of mendicant ascetics increased. In documents, they are usually referred to as "Indian dervishes". Thus, in 1815, according to A. I. Yucht, dervishes accounted for more than half of the members of the Indian colony (Yucht, 1957, p. 143).

According to the traveler N. Ermakov, " ... famous fanatics - Indian fakirs-also came to Astrakhan. One official told me that around the thirties (XIX century-A. S.) there were still three of them here. One had been squatting, motionless, for more than twenty-five years; the other had been standing, for the same length of time, on one leg, the other bent down... and the third day and night he built a fire. Where they went, my narrator does not know; but soon they disappeared and, since then, the fakirs have not appeared here " [Ermakov, 1852, p. 171]. Most likely, the author describes Indian yogis. However, the word fakir ("poor", "beggar") is of Arabic origin and is one of the synonyms of the words Sufi, dervish. As the Russian orientalist P. P. wrote: Pozdnev, "In India, the dervishes were also called fakirs..." [Pozdnev, 1886, p.53]. In addition, in India, Islam has been closely intertwined with Hinduism for centuries, which allows some researchers to speak of a Hindu-Muslim cultural synthesis [Kotin, 2005, p. 90-93]. A. M. Schimmel cautiously suggests that the practice of Indo-Muslim Sufis experienced a certain influence of yoga practice [Schimmel, 1999, p. 278]. We can also assume the opposite process, especially since with the advent of Sufism in India, Hindu students began to appear more and more often among the students of Sufi feasts [Kotin, 2005, p. 95].

5 The Asiatic Committee existed under the Russian Foreign Ministry in 1819-1850, and was responsible for reviewing "all Asian affairs in general." The Committee's affairs were managed by the Director of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6 Due to the conquest of India by the British and the weakening of Russian-Indian trade ties.

page 34
Saypula-qadi (Sheikh Khalid Sayf Allah an-Nitsubkri al-Ghazi-Gumuki, also known as Sayfullah-qadi Bashlarov, originally from the Lak village of Nitsovkra near Kumukh in Central Dagestan, 1853-1919), a well - known Sufi mentor in Dagestan, from whom the North Caucasian branch of the Shaziliya brotherhood originates. From 1861 to 1869, he studied in Astrakhan: first for three years in one of the local madrasas, then for five years in a Russian school. After that, he returned to Dagestan, where he began his Sufi wanderings and search for mentors. In the 1890s, he came to Astrakhan for the second time and worked as a doctor there for some time. Finally, Saypula-kadi served exile in Astrakhan after 1913, probably because of his support for the so - called anti-Pisar uprising, a spontaneous movement of Dagestani Muslims against the introduction of the Russian language in rural courts. According to some sources, it was in Astrakhan that he met a certain Muhammad-Salih b. Abd al-Khaliq al-Hanafi an-Naqshbandi, who gave Saipula-qadi permission (ijaza) to become a Sufi mentor as a sheikh of the Shaziliya brotherhood. In Dagestan, Saypuly-Qadi had many students, to whom he passed on the ijaza of three fraternities at once - naqshbandiyya, shaziliya and Qadiriya. Among his modern successors is Said-afandi (Atsaev) al-Chirkavi / Chirkeevsky (from the village of Chirkey, born in 1937), the most influential sheikh of the naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya (branch of makhmudiyya) and shaziliya fraternities in Dagestan today [Kemper, 2003, pp. 298-299; Shikhaliyev, 2003, p. 72 - 73].

In addition to the newcomers, Astrakhan also had its" own " local Sufi mentors, who could trace their spiritual genealogy from some Central Asian or Caucasian sheikh. Modern American researcher A. J. Frank, based on the Muslim historical treatise of Hafiz Jahanshah b. Abd al-Jabbar an-Nijgharuti al-Haji-Tarkhani, or Zhiganshi Jabbarov "Tarikh-i Astarkhan "(Turk. "History of Astrakhan"; Astrakhan, 1907), indicates that in Astrakhan at the beginning of the XX century there were 13 Sufi sheikhs, the main one of which was Abd al-Wahhab b. Ali al-Haji-Tarkhani (d. 1899), a disciple of Mahmud-afandi al-Almali [Frank, 2001, p. 311]. It is known that already at an advanced age, Abd al-Wahhab (or, as his name sounds in archival documents, Abdulvagap Aliyev) began to build a stone mosque in Astrakhan at his own personal expense. However, the venerable elder clearly did not have enough money, and then he managed to enlist the financial support of the Tatar merchant Shakir Kazakov. By 1898, the mosque was built [GAAO, f. 3371, op. 1, d. 2, l. 93]. It became known as Mosque No. 9 of the Gilan Courtyard, or Wahhab Mosque (today also known as Mosque No. 1, or Central, Cathedral; 62 Kazanskaya St.) [GAAO, f. 286, op. 2, d. 297, l. 87; GAAO, f. 290, op. 3, d. 521, l. 65; GAAO, f. 3371, op. 1, d. 2, l. 6]. At the mosque there was a large madrasah "Wahhabiya", where representatives of Tatar and Kazakh youth studied [Irmuratov, 1967, p. 74].

Documents of the Astrakhan city Gendarme department for 1913 contain a unique description of the Sufi community headed by the Astrakhan mullah, Tatar Nurmukhamed Asfandiyarov, or Nur Muhammad b. Isfandiyar (born 1863) 7: "Decree Mullah No. 14 of the cathedral mosque in the 5th precinct on 2 Bakaldinskaya Street in Astrakhan Nurmukhamed Asfandiyarov... posing as a holy preacher, in the last three years, every week on Fridays at about two o'clock in the afternoon, he gathers his worshippers (murids) and performs some kind of prayer with them.8 40-50 people gather and for this he receives money from them. To hide these gatherings from the police, he held them in another house... "[GAAO, f. 286, op. 2, d. 414, l. 18]."..Asfandiyarov is a fanatic, a priadle-

7 However, as A. J. Frank writes, referring to "Tarikh-i Astarkhan", he was originally from the Nizhny Novgorod province [see: Frank, 2001, p. 310].

8 This is most likely about dhikr (Arabic, "remembrance of God") - a special ritual of remembering Allah, conducted in various forms: from silent meditation (dhikr-i hafi) to loud shouts and violent gestures (dhikr-i jahr).

page 35
he belongs to some Tatar sect that resembles our Freemasonry, thinks he is a saint, and makes enthusiastic speeches and religious teachings... He opposes the Russification of the Tatars and the sending of children to Russian schools. According to other sources, he does all this in order to receive money from his murids. The parishioners themselves are dissatisfied with him, he enjoys a bad reputation among them as a robber of public money" [GAAO, f. 286, op. 2, d. 414, l. 28].

N. Asfandiyarov " opposed the teaching of the Russian language in all mektebas (in his opinion, this is done in order to convert Tatar children to Orthodoxy). He opened a parish school, which, along with agitation and other anti-government actions, was the reason for his expulsion from the borders of the Astrakhan province " [GAAO, f. 1, op. 2, d. 1730, l. 22ob -23]. Previously, he was suspended "from running the newspaper mektebe" [GAAO, f. 1, op. 2, d. 1730, l. 20].

On November 15, 1930, Nurmukhamed Asfandiyarov, who apparently returned to Astrakhan after the revolutionary events, was arrested and charged with sabotage by the OGPU Plenipotentiary Office of the Lower Volga Region and sent to the Northern Territory for three years, where, apparently, he died. Rehabilitated in 1989 [From the darkness of oblivion..., 2000, p. 34].

Sufism is still represented in Astrakhan today by North Caucasian Shafi'i religious and legal migrants (Avars, Dargins, Lezgins, Chechens, Ingush, etc.), whose significant influx to the region occurred in the 1990s-2000s. On the territory of the region and in the regional center, they formed numerous communities-jamaats, which are formally part of the Astrakhan Muftiate (Astrakhan Regional Spiritual Administration of Muslims), but in fact enjoy considerable independence. Sufi traditions are strong among Shafi'is, and many of them are members of the North Caucasian tariqas and their wirds. Thus, the imam-khatib of Mosque No. 3 in Astrakhan (or the Red Mosque, today also called the Caucasian Mosque) Abu Hasan-khazryat (Musaev) - murid of the Darginsky sheikh Muhammad (Rabadanov) al-Kustaki (from the Kumyk village of Kostek in Northern Dagestan), who belongs to the Sufi tradition of naqshbandiya-khalidiya (branch of makhmudiya) and shazi-liya (PMA).

North Caucasian migrants who have settled in Astrakhan and the region (as well as pilgrims from the North Caucasus, mainly from Dagestan) especially honor Aulya Makhmud - afandi. In the early 2000s, the aulya complex at the Moshaik cemetery was renovated by Caucasians, and a large mosque for pilgrims is currently being built next to the cemetery. We know that at least twice (in 2000 and 2006) Said Afandi al-Chirkawi, mentioned above, visited the village. In addition, the city has a Sufi madrasah named after him. Makhmuda-Afandi (in the area of the city market Bolshye Isady), where representatives of North Caucasian nationalities mainly study.

list of literature

Abashin S. A. Zangi-ata // Islam on the territory of the former Russian Empire: An Encyclopedic dictionary. and ed. by S. M. Prozorov, Moscow, 2006.

Akimushkin O. F. Kubraviya / / Nelam na territorii byvshey Rossiiskoi imperii: Entsiklopedicheskii slovar ' [Nelam on the territory of the former Russian Empire: An encyclopedia]. and ed. by S. M. Prozorov, Moscow, 2006.

Alikberov A. K. The Epoch of classical Islam in the Caucasus: Abu Bakr al-Darbandi and his Sufi encyclopedia " Rayhan al-khakaik "(XI-XII centuries). Moscow, 2003.

Baibosynov K., Mustafina R. Novye informatsii o kazakhskikh shamankakh [New information about Kazakh shamans]. Issue 1. Moscow, 1989.

Bashkir Folk art (BIT), vol. 10. Istoricheskiy epos. Ufa, 1999.

Vasiliev D. V. K voprosu o roli sufizma v islamizatsii Zolotoy Hordy [On the role of Sufism in the Islamization of the Golden Horde]. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Research, No. 6, Astrakhan, 2003.
page 36
Vasiliev D. V. Mausoleums of the Golden Horde: a geographical overview and typologization experience. Proceedings of the Final Scientific Conference of ASU, April 26, 2002. Part II. Astrakhan, 2003.

Viktorin V. M. Aulya i muzhavirat (Traces of pre-Islamic beliefs among the Nogais in the vicinity of Astrakhan) / / Polovtsian Moon. Cherkessk, 1993. N 3 (7).

Victorin V. M. Tukli-baba Shashly-adzhe-holy place of Astrakhan Muslims // Ethnographic review. 2003. N 2.

Gmelin S. G. Journey across Russia for the study of the three Kingdoms of Nature. Part II. St. Petersburg, 1777.

State Archive of the Astrakhan region (GAAO). F. 1 (Office of the Astrakhan Civil Governor).

State Archive of the Astrakhan region (GAAO). F. 286 (Astrakhan provincial gendarme department).

State Archive of the Astrakhan region (GAAO). F. 290 (Astrakhan City Police Department).

State Archive of the Astrakhan Region (GAAO), F. 3371 (Documents and materials of the Authorized Council for Religious Cults under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the Astrakhan region).

Demidov S. M. Sufism in Turkmenistan (evolution and survivals). Ashgabat, 1978.

Jandosova Z. A. Kazakhstan / / Islam on the territory of the former Russian Empire: An encyclopedia. and ed. by S. M. Prozorov, Moscow, 2006.

Zaitsev V. I. Astrakhan Khanate, Moscow, 2004.
Ermakov N. Astrakhan and Astrakhan province. Description of the region and its public and private life, consisting of notes kept during an eleven-month stay in it. Moscow, 1852.

Zhandarbek Z. Z. Yasaviya i etnicheskaya istoriya naseleniya Dasht-i Kipchak (po materialam kazakhskikh shedzhere) [Yasaviya i etnicheskaya istoriya naseleniya Dasht-i Kipchak (po materialam kazakhskikh shedzhere)]. Podvizhniki islama: Kul't svyatykh i sufizm v Srednoi Azii i na Kavkaze [Ascetics of Islam: The Cult of Saints and Sufism in Central Asia and the Caucasus].

Zhirmunsky V. M. Tyurkskiy geroicheskiy epos [The Turkic Heroic Epic]. Moscow, 1974.

Idegei: Tatar Folk Epic. Kazan: Tatar Book Publishing House, 1990.

From the Darkness of Oblivion: A Book in Memory of Victims of Political Repression. 1918-1954. Vol. 1: RF, Astrakhan region / Ed. by E. M. Volodin (pred.), V. B. Dyakonov, V. A. Mylnikov et al. Astrakhan, 2000.

Irmuratov Kh. October in the village. Volgograd: Nizhne-Volzhskoe knizhnoe izdatelstvo, 1967.

Islam v Rossiiskoi imperii (zakonodatel'nye akty, opisaniya, statistika) [Islam in the Russian Empire (legislative acts, descriptions, statistics)].

Islam on the territory of the former Russian Empire: An encyclopedia. Vol. I / Comp. and ed. by S. M. Prozorov, Moscow, 2006.

Istileev A. At the holy graves of Bukey Khan and Seid Baba / / Volga (Nezavisimaya gazeta Astrakhanskoy oblasti). N 170 (24091). 16.11.2001.

Historical journeys. Extracts from memoirs and notes of foreign and Russian travelers along the Volga in the XV-XVIII centuries. Stalingrad, 1936.

Iskhakov D. M. Seyids in the Late Golden Horde Tatar states / / Tatarica: The Finest Hour of Tatar History. No. 1. Winter 1997/1998. Kazan, 1997.

Kazembek M. A. Muridism and Shamil. Makhachkala, 1990.

Kemper M. To the question of the Sufi basis of jihad in Dagestan // Ascetics of Islam: The Cult of saints and Sufism in Central Asia and the Caucasus / Comp. S. N. Abashin, V. O. Bobrovnikov. Moscow, 2003.

Klimovich L. I. Kniga o Korane, ego proiskhozhdenii i mifologii [A book about the Koran, its origin and Mythology]. Moscow, 1988.

Knysh A.D. Muslim mysticism: a brief history. St. Petersburg, 2004.

Malov N. M., Malyshev A. B., Rakushin A. I. Religion in the Golden Horde: A textbook. Saratov, 1998.

Islam in South Asia: Sword and Prayer, St. Petersburg, 2005.
Matorin N. M. Religion among the peoples of the Volga-Kama Region before and now. Paganism-Islam-Orthodoxy-sectarianism, Moscow, 1929.
Pavlenko Yu. A. K voprosu o rasprostranenii sufizma v Nizhni Povolzhye [On the issue of the spread of Sufism in the Lower Volga region]: Materials of the All-Russian scientific and practical Conference. Astrakhan, 2001.

Piotrovsky M. B. (1) Al-Khadir / / Islam: Encyclopedic dictionary, Moscow, 1991.
Piotrovsky M. B. (2) Koranic Tales, Moscow, 1991.
Ascetics of Islam: The Cult of Saints and Sufism in Central Asia and the Caucasus / Comp. S. N. Abashin, V. O. Bobrovnikov. Moscow, 2003.

Pozdnev P. Dervishes in the Muslim world. Orenburg, 1886.

Field materials of the author (PMA).

Pyatnitsky V. D. Karagachi (Based on the materials of the trip in 1927) / / Zemlevedenie. Geographical Journal named after D. N. Anuchin, vol. 32, issues 3-4, Moscow, 1930.

Rakhimov R. R. Al-Khadir // Islam on the territory of the former Russian Empire: An encyclopedia. and ed. by S. M. Prozorov, Moscow, 2006.

Russia and India / N. A. Khalfin, B. A. Litvinsky et al. N. A. Khalfin, P. M. Shastiko, Moscow, 1986.

page 37
Collection of materials related to the history of the Golden Horde. Vol. 1. Extracts from the works of the Arab / Comp. V. G. Tizengauzen. St. Petersburg, 1884.

Collection of materials related to the history of the Golden Horde, Vol. 2. Extracts from Persian Works / Comp. by V. G. Tizengausen, edited by A. A. Romaskevich and S. L. Volin. Moscow-L., 1941.

Sibgatullina A. T. Sufi tariqa among the Turkic peoples // Collection of theses of the regional scientific conference "Problems of interaction of national cultures" ("Interethnic communication in the polyethnic region"). Part 1. Astrakhan, 1995.

Snesarev G. P. Khorezm legends as a source on the history of religious cults in Central Asia. Moscow, 1983.

Steppes of Eurasia in the Middle Ages, Moscow, 1981.
Syzranov A.V. The cult of Muslim saints in the Astrakhan region / / Ethnographic Review. 2006. N 2.(1)

Syzranov A.V. Holy places of Muslims of the Astrakhan region: a historical and ethnographic essay. Astrakhan, 2006. (2)

Tatishchev V. N. Zapiski [Notes]. Letters. 1717-1750 Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1990.

Trepavlov V. V. Istoriya Nogayskoy Hordy [History of the Nogai Horde]. Moscow, 2002.

Trimingham, J. S. Sufi Orders in Islam, Moscow, 2002.
Utemish-haji. Chingiz-nameh / Facsimile, transl., transcr., text, notes, research by V. P. Yudin; comm., and edict by M. Kh. Abuseitova. Alma-Ata, 1992.

Fedorov-Davydov G. A. Zolotoordynskie goroda Povolzhya [Golden Horde cities of the Volga region]. Moscow: MSU Publishing House, 1994.

Khismatulin A. A. Sufizm [Sufism], St. Petersburg, 2003.
Khudyakov M. G. Ocherki po istorii Kazanskogo khanstva [Essays on the history of the Kazan Khanate], Izd. 3-E. M.: INSAN, Council for the Preservation and Development of Small Peoples ' Cultures, SFK, 1990.

Schimmel A. The World of Islamic Mysticism, Moscow, 1999.
Islam on the territory of the former Russian Empire: An Encyclopedic Dictionary. Issue 4. Moscow, 2003.

Evlia Celebi. The Book of Travel (Extracts from the writings of a Turkish traveler of the XVII century). Issue 2. Zemli Severnogo Kavkaza, Povolzhya i Podonya [Lands of the North Caucasus, Volga Region and Don Region]. A. D. Zheltyakov, Moscow, 1979.

Yunusova A. B. Islam in Bashkiria. 1917-1994: Textbook. Ufa, 1994.

Yukht A. I. Indian colony in Astrakhan // Questions of history. 1957. N 3.

DeWeese D. Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tukles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition. Pennsilvania, 1994.

Frank A. J. Muslim Sacred History and the 1905 Revolution in a Sufi History of Astrakhan // Studies on Central Asian History in Honor of Yuri Bregel / Ed. by D. DeWeese. Bloomington, 2001.

Permanent link to this publication: