The
Permians are a branch of
Finno-Ugric peoples including
Komis and
Udmurts, speakers of
Permic languages. Formerly also the name
Bjarmians was used of them. The recent research on the Finno-Ugric substrate in northern Russian dialects however suggests that in
Bjarmaland there lived also several other Finno-Ugric groups than permians.
The ancestors of Permians inhabited originally the land called
Permia covering the middle and upper
Kama River. Permians split into the 2 groups in the 9th century.
The Komis came under the rule of
Novgorod Republic in the 13 century and were converted into Orthodox Christianity in the 1360-70s. In 1471-1478 the lands were conquered by the
Grand Duchy of Moscow that later became
Tsardom of Russia. In the 18 century the Russian authorities opened the southern parts of the land to colonization and the northern parts became a place for exiling criminal and political prisoners.
The Udmurts became under the rule of
Tatars, the
Golden Horde and
Khanate of Kazan until the land was ceded to Russia and the people where christianized in the beginning of 18th century.
See also
