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Idel-Ural State (Russia, 1918)

by Ivan Sache, 03 Jun 2001

Historical background
Discription of the flag

See also:

Historical background

(All this refering to the Kazan based Idel-Ural separatist government in c. 1918, and unrelated to the Idel-Ural panturkic flag.)
António Martins, 01 May 2000

January 1918: Congress of Muslims from Russia’s Interior and Siberia proclaimed Independent State in the territory of Kazan and Ufa Governorates (guberni). Selection of the Government of the State, Milli Idare. Creation of VMVS (All-Russia Muslim Military Council). Election of Idel-Ural delegates to Versaille Conference.
February 1918: Non-Muslim nations of Chuvashia (Bolgaria), Udmurtia, Mari and Moksho-erzia (Mordovia) joined Tatars and Bashkirs in the new state.
April 1918: Red Army, after the Brest Peace Treaty was concluded, liquidated the state.
July 1918: With the help of the Czech Legion, the Idel-Ural administration was restored.
End of 1918: Troops of VMVS were incorporated into Kolchak’s White Army as the 16th Tatar Regiment and suffered decicive defeat at the hands of Red Army.

It was the end of the dream of recreating, also partially only, the State of the Golden Horde (Altin Ordu). It was to be a free federation of Turkic and Ugro-Finnic peoples of Volga-Ural Region, still remembering the glory of the Golden Horde. In 1920, against the wishes of at least Tatars and Bashkirs, the Soviets split all those nations into separate administrative units — divide and conquer.
Chris Kretowicz, 02 Jun 2001

"Idel" ("Ătal", in chuvash), by the way, means "Volga" in a number of turkic languages.
António Martins, 01 May 2000

Discription of the flag

The blue flag with the tamga (originally the Mongol branding mark, later heraldic device of Tatar and related nobility) was the unifying symbol of all those nations derived from the Golden Horde.
Chris Kretowicz, 02 Jun 2001

The flag is light blue with the tamga on the upper fly; the original image shows a pole with a typical tatar finial clearly indicating where’s the hoist. But... considering that the upper fly is the least visibility corner of a flag (obviously it is so on every cultures — wind and cloth dynamics is the same everywhere), could this image be a spurious reconstruction from a cloth only design showing the upper right hand side instended as the hoist (because of muslim tradition) and not as the fly?...
António Martins, 05 Jun 2001

The Crimean Tatar tamga is differently shaped.
António Martins, 14 Oct 2002