The name Finns, originally Fenni, as used by the Romans, is used variously It is sometimes applied to all Finnic-speaking peoples, a branch of the language family of Finno-Ugrics (see Finno-Ugrians). As such it is sometimes used for particular groupings of Finnic-speaking peoples, such as the Baltic Finnics or Finns (or Eastern Finnics), that is, all the Finnic-speaking people living near the Baltic sea in present-day Finland, Russia, and Estonia, sometimes called Western Finnics; and the Volga Finnics or Finns, that is, all the Finnic-speaking people living along the Volga River in Russia or its tributaries, sometimes called Eastern Finnics. The name Finns also appears as part of the name of those Finnic-speaking peoples—the Ingrian Finns— who migrated from present-day Finland and settled in the region of Ingria in present-day
Finns time line
FINNS
Location:
Southern and western parts of Finland near Kokemaeki and Kymi Rivers
Time period:
First century c. e. to present
Ancestry:
Finno-Ugrian
Language:
Balto-Finnic (Finnic)
C. E.
First century Finnic-speaking peoples have separated into various tribal groups.
Mid-ninth century Rus have contacts with Finns. late ninth century Rus rule southern part of Karelia.
10th century Eastern Orthodox Christianity introduced. mid-12th century Swedes invade Finland.
1230s Catholic missionaries reach Finns.
13th century Swedes and Russians wage war over Finland.
1323 Russian-Swedish border divides Karelian territory.
1617 Treaty of Stolbovo between Sweden and Russia mid-17th century Swedes suppress Finnish revolt.
1721 Treaty of Nystad (Uusikaupunki); Sweden cedes Karelia to Russia.
Northwestern Russia and maintained a political identity and cultural tradition apart from that of other Finnic peoples there (see Ingrians). Similarly the Esths of present-day Estonia are sometimes called the Estonian Finns, and the Livs, the Livonian Finns. The name Finns is of course also applied to the peoples who have lived or live in the territory comprising what is now the modern nation of Finland, including ancient tribal people, as well as those of the historic region or modern nation of Finland (see Finns: nationality).
Among the tribal peoples who settled Finland, classified by dialectal differences as well as by geography, are the suomalaiset (Suomalaiset; Suomea) in the southwest, the Tavasts (Tavastians; Hamalaiset; Hame; Hemes; lames) in the interior southern and western lake district, and the Karelians (Carelians; Karjalaiset) to the north and east, also including lands in the region of Karelia, now a republic in the Russian Federation. Other Finnic tribes are a mixture of these main groups. The Savolaiset, or people of Savolax, are a linguistic mixture of Tavasts and Karelians. The Kainulaiset or Kvens on the Gulf of Bothnia in present-day Finland and sweden, as well as in present-day Norway to the north, can be considered a subgroup of the Karelians.
The suomalaiset, in addition to being known as southwestern Finns because they inhabited southwestern Finland (Varsinais-Suomi, now the province of Turku ja Pori), are sometimes called the Finns proper because they were the first Finnish people known to the neighboring Swedes. The Finnish name for Finland, suomi, is derived from their tribal name. The Tavasts are thought to be the first Finnic people to reach Finland from Estonia, but this idea has not been proved archaeologicall}.
The Saami (Lapps; Laplanders) of Lapland (consisting of Finland, the Scandinavian peninsula of Sweden and Norway, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia) are also a Finnic-speaking people but are culturally and to some extent physically distinct from the Finns of Finland. It is uncertain whether or not they were indigenous inhabitants of Lapland who had lived in their homeland for millennia, possibly from as early as 9000-8000 b. c.e., adopting the Finnic language in the first millennium b. c.e. Some anthropologists have seen affinities in the physical type of some among the Saami with Asian peoples in the eastern Ural Mountain region where European and Asian peoples had probably been meeting and mingling since the end of the last Ice Age. Similarities between
Finno-Ugric languages and those of the Asian Uralic language group may document such interactions. Some Saami ancestors may have thus migrated to Finland. Although in Finland they are generally discussed as separate from other Finnic peoples, in Norway because of their Finnic language they are sometimes called Finns.
ORIGINS
The first people to inhabit Finland were Neolithic peoples (of the Kiukainen culture), who are assumed to have settled there after the northward retreat of the glaciers. A Karelian folk epic, the Kalevala, tells of a mythical land, Pohjola, against which the Kalevala people, identified with the Finns, struggled and triumphed.
Finnics are thought to have departed their ancestral homeland in the volga River basin and eventually reached the north coast of the Gulf of Finland. Theories vary widely as to the time of this event; the earliest is generally given as 3500 b. c.e. At some point too, Finnic peoples crossed to Finland and displaced or absorbed pre-Finnic peoples. It is thought that at least some among the Finnic peoples of the Baltic area were organized in loosely federated small states by the first century c. e. By the ninth century the Karelians settled the shores of the White Sea, the northern extent of their territory.
Other peoples intermingled with the Finns over the centuries, especially Germanics. From the first through the fourth century c. e., an apparently thriving seafaring culture spread throughout the region from as far west as the Jutland Peninsula (present-day Denmark), including the Elbe and Vistula estuaries. During this period people in Finland began to bury deceased in graveyards with abundant grave goods. The culture spread inland to Tavastia and Ostrobothnia through trade and settlement.
LANGUAGE
The Finns’ language is in the Balto-Finnic group of Finnic in the Finno-Ugric language family and is closely related to Estonian. Dialects vary considerably; some of them have elements of both Estonian and Germanic.
HISTORY
From the ninth century the ancient Finns, loosely organized into states, were contending with coastal raids by Vikings. The Finns themselves tended to colonize inland, following rivers, although they too carried out raids beyond Finland’s shores. The Kainulaiset became known as raiders in the Middle Ages. The Rus ruled the southern part of Karelia from the late ninth century In the next century the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church extended its influence to Finnic peoples of Novgorod (see Rus), Karelia, and Tavastia. In the mid-12th century the Swedes invaded Finland. In the 1230s the Catholic Church, in conjunction with the Germanic military and religious order Brothers of the sword, active to the south among the Balts in present-day Latvia, established a presence in Tavestia.
For much of the century sweden and Russia fought a border dispute over Finnish lands, with Karelia as the battlefield. In 1323 the Russian-swedish border divided the Karelian territory, but continuing conflict became part of state policy on both sides. Centuries later, in 1617, the Peace Treaty of stolbovo finally produced relative stability in Karelia but also the migration of many Karelian peoples to Russia to escape feudal taxes and the Lutheranism of the swedes. Russia supported the emigration from swedish lands and freed the Karelians temporarily from taxes.
Aland, an archipelago and now a province of Finland, was known to have been colonized by Germanics out of Sweden, who traded with peoples inhabiting Finland’s coast in the Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland from Ostrobothnia in the north to Hanko in the south. The Swedes also made inroads on the mainland. A revolt by the Tavasts was suppressed in the mid-17th century by the Swedish noble Birger Jarl, who encouraged crusades against the pagan Finns and colonization of Finnish lands along the Gulf of Finland as far west as Vipiurii (Viborg) in Russia (formerly part of Finland). He also captured Karelia.
In 1721 by the Peace of Nystad, Sweden ceded Karelia (and Estonia) to Russia and, after defeat in a war in 1808-09, the rest of Finland.
CULTURE (see also Finno-Ugrians)
The livelihood of the Finns varied significantly depending on geography: The southwestern Suomalaiset were more likely to be agrarian, and the inland Tavasts and Karelians more likely to subsist on hunting. Fish from oceans, lakes, and rivers were also a valued resource. Finns living near the coast or up accessible rivers were more like to engage in trading. Evidence of Arabic silver coins in Finland indicates that the Finns, as did the Vikings, prospered from Eastern trade.
The ancient Finns were actually a number of different tribal groups, about which little is known. In the Middle Ages they coalesced into a people with a distinct identity, eventually becoming a modern nation.
World History
