The significance behind the Tatar month names
Let’s go through a year of a Tatar villager together:
🌱 21.3-21.4
Yañarış (Renewal):
Marking the New Year, it involved the "Qarğa botqası" ritual, aiming to ease the yearning felt after the Turko-Bulgarian state's collapse, when the sons of Kubrat Khan dispersed to different regions. People went to fields, greeting birds and awaiting news from separated relatives.
🌱 21.4-21.5
Saban (Plough):
In Tatar, Saban signals the start of spring fieldwork. From April 21, Tatars and Bashkorts in the Volga-Ural-Siberian regions celebrated the Saban tuyı, marking the start of spring fieldwork. In the 1930s, the Bolsheviks merged this tradition with the holiday of Cıyın in the month of Peçən.
🌱 21.5-21.6
Çereşmə (striving, aspiration):
A month representing spring and vegetation growth, when the meat of domestic cattle and wild deer is inedible due to its leanness. In this period, cattle rejuvenate by grazing on fresh grass. The youth of the Volga-Ural-Siberian Turkic peoples engaged in evening meadow activities, including games, dances, and singing.
☀️ 21.6-21.7
Peçən (Hay):
In early Peçən, the Volga-Ural-Siberian Turks traditionally celebrated the Cıyın holiday, marking the voluntary and official conversion to Islam in Bilər-Bolğar. In the 1930s, Bolsheviks banned this holiday, citing "religious content," replacing it with the Saban tuyı that used to be celebrated in April.
Since 1989, there have been efforts to revive the Oluğ Cıyın ceremony. On the 22nd day of the Peçən month (today’s July 12), women held a flower festival, coinciding with cattle fattening and abstaining from consuming meat in that period.
☀️ 21.7-21.8
Uraq (Harvest):
Harvesting of ripe crops began in the Volga-Ural-Siberian regions in this month. Summer was a good time to start eating the meat of cattle fattened by grazing.
☀️ 21.8-21.9
Indır (Threshing):
The period of processing grains in the “ındır tabağı” (threshing floor) by Turkic peoples of the region.
🍂 21.9-21.10
Bilek (expresses being wealthy like a “bi”):
The Turkic peoples of the Volga-Ural-Siberian region celebrated that year's yield this month.
🍂 21.10-21.11
Qaraköz (Dark Autumn):
indicates the middle of autumn.
🍂 21.11-21.12
Kerəw (denotes entering into winter):
In the Volga-Ural-Siberian regions, this term indicates the transition from autumn to winter. In this month, cattle are usually slaughtered to create a winter meat supply.
❄️ 21.12-21.01
Qırlaç (Hunting):
Considered the coldest month of winter. People go hunting wild ungulates during this month.
❄️ 21.01-21.02
Aqman:
It's the middle of winter, and the whole land is covered in white snow.
❄️ 21.02-21.03
Buşay (Free month):
It is the season of livestock breeding, representing free time before spring fieldwork.
These terms reflect cultural practices, seasonal activities, and historical events in the Volga-Ural-Siberian region.