Historical-Etymological Analysis of the Names and Surnames of Some Bashkir Elder Steers (Based on the Manuscript “Lexicon, or Topographical Dictionary of the Orenburg Province” by P.I. Rychkov)

In this article, a historical, etymological, and structural analysis of the first and last names of some Bashkir elders was carried out based on the manuscript work of P. Rychkov, “Lexicon or topographical dictionary of the Orenburg province.” The dictionary is estimated to contain the first and last names of 24 foremen. The article aimed not to examine all anthroponyms but only those whose spelling and origin are doubtful. By studying historical documents, we found out that all the foremen, with the exception of Ashir Bokshurin, took part in the Peasants’ War of 1773–1774. The study revealed that the names and surnames of some Bashkir elders are recorded in historical sources in different phonetic versions. Based on facts from various historical documents and taking into account the patterns of the Bashkir language, the author was able to identify errors in the spelling of the abovementioned onyms. For example, it was established that the Amir Bokshurgin mentioned in the dictionary was, according to historical documents, of Kalmyk origin and not of Bashkir origin, as described in the work of A. Kamalova. It has also been proved that the spelling of the surname of Tarkhan Rasul Ettimasov is not in the form Itzheimasov, Etzhimmyasov, Idzhimyasov, as in some sources, but in the form Ettimasov, which goes back to a name formed based on an ancient belief. The relevance of this article lies in the fact that it contains anthroponyms that are included in the source of our research - the handwritten dictionary of P. Rychkov – and have been studied for the first time from historical, etymological, structural, and word-forming aspects.