The Balkars are a Turkic-speaking people, living mostly in the North Caucasus region of Karbardino-Balkaria, a republic in southwestern Russia (Balkaria is the southern mountainous part). Their ancestors included Turkics— possibly Karachay, Kipchaks, Khazars, and Bulgars—as well as Alans and Caucasians. They are included among the people known as Tatars, going back to the 13th century. The Balkar language, related to that of the Karachay, is of the Turkic Northwestern (Kipchak) group, Karachay-Balkar, but with some Iranian elements.
The Balkars were incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1827. In 1922 Karbardino-Balkaria was organized by the soviet union (USSR) as a region; it became an autonomous republic in 1936. The Kabardians, a subgroup of Circassians, shared the region (with growing numbers of Slavs as well). In 1943-44
Joseph stalin accused the Balkars of collaborating with Nazi Germany and had the majority deported and scattered throughout present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In 1956-57 after stalin, the Balkars were allowed to return to their homeland. But they presently make up less than 10 percent of the population of Karbardino-Balkaria.
The Balkars were traditionally nomads. Until the mid-18th century they practiced an animist religion; they were converted to Islam by the Nogay and Crimean Tatars. Their nomadic lifestyle gradually changed to farming and stock raising. In 1991 the First Congress of the Balkar People met with the aim of promoting the Balkar identity
See also Russians: nationality.
World History
