Polish Muslim Tatars, their history, present day and culture

What is it about?

This chapter presents selected aspects of the cultural and religious life of Polish Muslim Tatars with a special focus on their religious practices. On the one hand, the Polish Muslim Tatars are part of the Muslim religious minority; on the other hand they are a cultural minority without necessary religious connotations, though most of them describe themselves as Poles of Tatar origin and of Muslim denomination.

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Why is it important?

This essay considers how a Muslim minority in a European country has gone about shaping its modern identity and cultural memory. The minority in question differs from other frequently studied groups of Muslims in Europe, composed either of economic migrants and refugees or their descendants; indeed is unlike any other, for it is the Muslim Tatars who live in modern-day Poland. They are group of indigenous European Muslims of Turkic origin who emigrated from their homeland—the state of the Golden Horde—six centuries ago. Since such a long time has passed since their arrival to their new home country, they are quite different to Crimean, Kazan, or Finnish Tatars. Unlike these other groups, the Polish Tatars went over to one of the local Slavic languages, losing their native language in the process, and they have become fully part of Polish society. Therefore, when discussing the cultural identity and memory of Polish Muslim Tatars, one must bear in mind that their cultural identity is entwined with a broader Polish cultural identity and memory.