The origins and first publicized use of the name Inkeri

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Geographical Inkeri, and the indigenous people of the Inkeri nation.

Inkeri-land is the geographical area, located at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland, and Lake Ladoga (Karelian Isthmus) along the Neva River, Narva River and Lake Peipus. The area in which the Inkeri ethnic group of Baltic Finns historically lived from around 2000 BC. C. until the 1920s. The name Inkeri is in Finnish. Izora is Russian. Ingria in Latin and Ingermanland in German. There are many theories about where and how the name originated, and most likely it had many applications: it is the name derived from the Finnish Baltic tribe (Izora), which was probably adopted from a river Inkeren (Izora) flowing from the Lake Ladoga to Neva. , and to the Gulf of Finland.

The other explanation is that the daughter of the King of Sweden, given in marriage to (Ingregardin Kiovan) Prince Jaroslav of Kiova, her gift in return to the King of Sweden was the City of Straja Ladogan with its surrounding land. Most likely, if this were true, the mansion would have had a name change and official documentation. The earlier theory of the name of the Izora river is more convincing. (Saressalo 2000)

In the historical record, the name Inkeri-land people begins in 859 AD, when the Baltic Sea Finns, especially in the Gulf of Finland and the east side of Lake Ladoga, there are groups of people of ethnological names. The public record of the Chuds (Tsuudit) appears in the Russian Chronicles, and the Vows (Vatjalaiset), entered the pages of history for the first time in 1069. The Izora (Izortsy) in 1228, also in the Russian Chronicles. The Ingria-land community once comprised around 55,000 square kilometers, an area from present-day Estonia to Lake Ladoga. Ingria-land covered the land bridge between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, an area of ​​​​more than 200 kilometers long, and extends to the isthmus on the river to the border.

Obviously, the Baltic Sea Finns had and kept their Finnish language stock together, speaking their own unique Finnish language. It was sometime during the first year AD 1000 that groups of Finnish-speaking people began to subdivide into Finn groups and to separate both in spoken language and politically.

The area was already populated in the first centuries of d. C. by votes and then colonized by the Karelians, which is mentioned in the Russian chronicles, as well as the Izhorian Karelians. Votes and Ingrians were already in the sphere of influence from 1300 in Novgorod and Moscow under the auspices from 1478. At the same time, they were also linked to the Greek Catholic Church. Orthodox Church services were held in the old Slavic Orthodox Church, the Slavic religion and language influenced some of the Finns over time to become more Russian in church tradition and customs. Votes today are virtually extinct nations, the Ingrians living in western Ingria, number only a few 100.

The Finnish-speaking community remained intact and strong in Ingria until the late 1920s. In 1926, according to the census of the Leningrad region, it was estimated that there were 115,000 Ingrian Finns and 15,500 Finns (Suomensuomalaista). The Ingrian Finns lived mainly in the villages, which in the 1920s numbered about 900 in total, only about 7,000 Ingrians lived in the cities.

For the Ingrians, the Finnish language was their mother tongue. Most of the Ingrians did not speak Russian at all. Women and children lived in the villages of Ingria, ethnic Finnish communities until well into the 1930s. For almost 300 years, the closely knit Ingrian peoples had managed to preserve their mother tongue, their national customs and their own identity. . With the growing Russian population, that came with trade and commerce. There was also pressure from the Russian government for minority groups to integrate and Russify. The men of Ingria relied on their knowledge of the Russian language to communicate and secure employment and income.

A map of the Inkeri land, with all townships in the early 1900s, can be found on the Internet by the following source and author.

(J.Niemenmaa)

There are at least five main phases in the struggles that affected the Inkeri people and undermined their identity and community as a minority group. After some 3000 years, the increasing migration of foreigners and how they co-existed and grew as a community of people with their own unique language:

The language survived with the new generations and the education of the culture/tradition of the Inkeri people, despite the following list of influence, integration and hostilities.

A. Initially an indigenous group of pioneers, when they settled on the shores of the Gulf of Finland and grew/developed as a peace-loving rural community.

B. Followed by the changes that took place when there was integration with the battleaxe tribes that came to the Inkeri-land region along the sea route from the west.

C. And thirdly, how the other people of the Eastern Slavic groups came centuries later, migrating to the land of Ingria from the south and east.

D. Regional politics and wars between East and West. 800-1900AD.

E. WW1 and WW2 had a significant impact on the Inkeri community and culture. The totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union, its goal was to prepare the Soviet soil for further communism and eliminate any resistance to its doctrine.

The war in the region for the land of Ingria began around 1200 AD, in the west were Sweden, Denmark and Germany. In the east, there was the alliance of Novgorod and Russia, who wanted to establish their commercial and political presence in the region, as well as further north to Karelia and western Finland. There was also a fight for the souls of the people between the Byzantine Church and the Catholic Church.

The war and fighting continued almost non-stop until AD 1600. Denmark lost to the German knights, who also had to give in to Sweden. In the west, actively fighting for territory, there were also Poland and Latvia. Two centuries earlier, in the east, Russians from Moscow settled in the Novgorod area in 1400 AD By the 15th century, Russia had reached the Inkeri region.

New churches were being built in the Ingria region.

The Nava river was also a natural border between the Byzantine and Roman churches. Churches were built in the Ingria region. In the year 1500 AD. C., there were 50 points of ecclesiastical activity, with a population of 70,000. Ingria’s actions and vows, and later Russian ones, were initially orthodox. It should be noted that the Eastern Church was more tolerant than the Western Church. There were the wars and also the fight for the souls of the people between the Byzantine and the Catholic Church.

War and conflict continued despite the building of churches.

There was still no peace in Ingria. Swedish foreign policy of expansion threatened Russian interests in the Baltic region. The land of Ingria often stood in the way of warring troops. During these regional wars, there were also intimidation and partisan movements, which were fought against the Russian occupation policy in Ingria, as well as in the Karelia region. It was during these events that the first record of the first evacuation to escape warring troops was recorded. They evacuated to Karelia and further north to Finland.

Sources:

Saressalo, L. (2000). Inkeri, kertomus Inkerin Kansoista ja kulttuurista. Tampere: Tampere Museum.

Inkeri.com. (2006). Who are the Ingrians, where is Ingria? Retrieved on November 11, 2011, from Inkeri.com:

J. Niemenmaa. (North Dakota). Wiki/File:Inkeri-2.png. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Inkeri-2.png

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