From the history of the Erzya-Mordovian village of Kuraevo of the Tengushevsky district of the Republic of Mordovia (socio-economic, ethnopolitical, demographic aspects)

Introduction. The history of small rural settlements, with some exceptions, is usually not considered in individual research works. As a rule, brief historical information about them is provided only in specialized encyclopedic and reference publications, toponymic dictionaries. This article discusses the history of the old Erzya-Mordovian village of Kuraevo, Tengushevsky district of the Republic of Mordovia.
Materials and Methods. The article is mainly based on archival materials. Various methods were used in the research: problem-chronological, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, observation, statistical, descriptive, logical, as well as the method of actualization, which allowed to connect the development of modern processes with the historical experience of the past.
Results and Discussion. The fi rst historical information about the settlement of Kuraevo dates to the beginning of the XVII century. At that time from the lands of the Mordovian Arzamas people left a village, and together with its elder Kurai Tolbaev went to the river Moksha. There, among the woods they built a camp, giving it the name of the fi rst settler. Over the long period of its formation and development the settlement grew and became stronger. During the imperial period the population of Kuraevo were state peasants who paid yasak and tribute to the treasury and were mostly engaged in breadgrowing. In soviet times it established a collective farm “Renewal”. The collective farm functioned until 1997. Later, peasant (farmer) households were organized. At present, the village is undergoing the same processes that are typical of many villages today: the migration of the youth to the cities, ageing and loss of residents.
Conclusion. The study of the history of a settlement reveals in more detail the uniqueness of the historical fate of the people, its past and present, refracting the events and processes that took place on a national scale, through the prism of the local history of its regions.