Kryashens

Scholars associate the formation of groups of Kryashens with the process of voluntary and violent Christianization of Muslim and Animist Volga Tatars during the 16th to 19th centuries. The first wave of Kryashens were the result of forced conversions soon after the Russian conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates. However, most of these converts reverted to Islam and Christianity made little headway among the Tatars. A more lasting and significant presence of Kryashens emerged during a period of mosque destruction and anti-Muslim oppression from the Russian authorities during the 18th century. During the reign of Anna of Russia, many Muslims were forced or pressured to convert. == Culture ==

with the text of the "Nicene Creed" in the Tatar (Church Kryashen) language. The earliest Kryashen works and literature were written using the Arabic script. A modified Cyrillic script was adopted in 1862. By the early 20th century over 100 books were published using this script. In 1922, a modified Arabic script for writing Tatar was introduced to the Kryashens although the Cyrillic script continued in use until 1928 as this was when both scripts were replaced by the Latin script. The earliest literature was mainly religious in nature but around the 1910s a steady rise of secular works began being published. A newspaper for the Kryashen community was published from 1928 to 1929 in Kazan but soon ceased to exist afterwards. The Kryashens had little religious and educational infrastructure in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, during the 18th century they were given many privileges and facilities were built or accommodated for the Kryashens. The first Tatar school for converts was established in 1863 while the first seminary was founded in 1872. ==Notable people of Kryashen descent==

• Oleg Fazylzhanov • Dmitry Karbyshev • Aleksei Antonov • Pyotr Gavrilov ==See also==