Ethnic factor on the frontier territory

We consider Tsna region territory in the late of 14th – early 17th century from the point of view frontier theory. We made a conclusion that about Tsna region of the first quarter of the 17th century, one can speak about the inner frontier, that is, as existing on the contact zone, where permanent Russian settlements interspersed in places of residence of the local autochthony population. Based on the sources analysis we identify ethnic composition of the population of Tsna region. In this study we raise the interaction problem of different ethnic groups in the border area. The study deals with the gradual formation of a local intercultural society within the inner frontier of Tsna region at the turn of the 14th – 17th centuries.

Tsna region, frontier, Tsna Mordovian, Tatar Tsna, Russian immigrants, Muscovite state