“Russia and Islamic Cooperation Countries – a common history”

Venue: Halls 3–4, International Exhibition Centre Kazan Expo, Kazan

Time: May 19, 2023, 10:00–12:00

Organizers: The State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan on Archives

Moderator:

Mohamad Monir El Shuveyki, genealogist researcher, Ph.D., Arab Institute for History and Scientific Heritage in Higher Education, League of Arab Historians;

Ugur Onal, Head of the State Archives Department under the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Turkey, Professor, Ph.D.

Speakers:

Gulnara Gabdrakhmanova, Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan on Archives;

Bobir Aminov, Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan, Faculty of History, Department of Archaeology, Doctor of Historical Sciences;

Faizulkhak Islayev, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor;

Mohammed Sharif Zadran, Director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan;

Hamed Iranshahi, Candidate of Historical Sciences, General Director of the Khaneh Tarikh Institute of Culture and former General Director of the Archive Unit of the National Library and Archival Organization of Iran;

Albina Valieva, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, Academician of the International Humanitarian Academy, Director of the International Centre for Science and Culture, Republic of Bulgaria;

Natalia Shishlina, Head of the Department of Archaeological Monuments in the scope of the State Museum of Fine Arts’ project “Faces of the Museum”;

Ismail Kerimov, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, Director of the Research Institute of Crimean Tatar Philology, History and Culture of the Ethnic Groups of Crimea;

Oleg Vladimirov, Researcher at the Sh. Marjani Institute of History;

Jevad Galiyashevich, expert on international terrorism and political Islam, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the Islamic world, great importance was traditionally attached to the genealogy of people; the Shariah prescribes believers to know their ancestors. Preserving the national identity and strengthening cultural ties between nations is highly relevant in the Russian Federation. People’s interest to learn the history of their families is growing. Handwritten sources, including parish registers of marriages, births and deaths, census records, household books kept in archives, mosques and civil registry offices allow them to make their genealogy trees. That’s why finding the handwritten sources, reading and translating their contents into modern language are highly relevant.

The “Шәҗәрә – иман нигезе” (“Genealogy as the Basis of Faith”) forum held within the framework of this session was organized to study the best global practices of genealogical research, present the modern resources available to genealogists in the Republic of Tatarstan to make family trees with the use of artificial intelligence. International cooperation in making genealogical tables and studying people’s origin based on the documents kept in a particular country, as well as archival materials from other countries was discussed during the forum.

Ugur Onal, Head of the State Archives Department under the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Turkey, told about the activities of the State Archives Department under the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Turkey. Modern tools allow diving deeply into the study of genealogical roots over 8 centuries, back to the 13th century. The more significant was a person’s social status, the more detailed information about him or her is currently available. The Turkish archives also contain records about the history of Tatar nation’s resettlement.

Gulnara Gabdrakhmanova, Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan on Archives, said that currently it is possible to obtain a family tree via the public services portal. The Republic of Tatarstan implements a project named “Yadkyar” (“Memory”). Genealogical portal “Yadkyar” presents a unique opportunity for all residents of the Republic of Tatarstan to get access to a database with more than 111 million records about people who lived on its territory. The records entered to the database make it possible to automate data processing and organize family connections based on archival documents. Thanks to this portal, making a family tree is becoming much faster and will take 1 day instead of several months. ​Gulnara Gabdrakhmanova noted that today in Russia there are no specialized universities or faculties for genealogists, although such specialists are in high demand, and the cost of their services ranges from 60 thousand to 1.5 million roubles.

Bobir Aminov, Professor of Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan, added that people in Uzbekistan attach special importance to preserving the memory of their ancestors. The lives of sheikhs are studied with particular care.

Faizulkhak Islayev, Doctor of Historical Sciences, told about Tatar tamgas, the ancestral family signs that were used in the past as seals. Tamgas also served to sign documents, and until early 20th century most of the Tatar public registers contained tamgas of spouses’ parents and attestors in marriage records.

Albina Valieva, Director of the International Centre for Science and Culture of Bulgaria, told about the collection of the Department of the East in the National Library of Bulgaria that contains more than 160 sijils, 1000 defters and registers, individual documents, and numerous registers of religious donations. As a part of the study of Bulgarian Muslims’ cultural heritage, more than 1,000 units were digitized and described (books, manuscripts, court records, certificates of first and second marriages and divorces. Photographic materials).