Kurultaj - what is it? Brief history of occurrence and its meaning

Statehood is an important stage in the life of every nation. Its formation went at different rates, it had its own peculiarities, however, at the very beginning of the formation of such an institution as the state, the organs of direct democracy had great influence even under a fairly developed class system, and the meaning of the word "kurultai" is the designation of the democracy of the Turks, and its formation and The functioning completely fits into the historical trend of that era.

Classical People's Assembly

Now we will make a short historical digression and get acquainted with the concept of "kurultai". What kind of word is it, what does it matter, and has its purpose changed for many centuries. So, by studying the history of the ancient world, one can come across such a notion as a "people's congregation". The term itself is quite simple and speaks for itself. All the important questions of that period, the ruler and the privileged part of society could not decide on their own and had to turn to the universal representation of the people in order to legitimize their orders.

In Ancient Greece, despite the fact that it was divided into a large number of city-states (policies), everywhere there was such an organ as an ecclesia. He exercised legislative, executive and judicial power. In different periods of the history of ancient Greece, he had more or less authority. Only in tyrannical and oligarchic states it was significantly limited by various kinds of advice, but nevertheless carried out its work. By the same principle, the committees in the ancient Rome of the republic period operated, then, already in the imperial era, the organs of the people's assembly disappear.

European and Russian sources of democracy

But the traditions established by classical Greece and Rome, continued to exist and with the onset of our era. Let us turn to the history of our country. In the VIII-XV centuries. Here acted "veche". This term denotes the already familiar to us people's assembly with reference to the history of Russia. The functions and powers of this authority were somewhat narrower than those of its ancient counterparts, but during the period of state formation they played a legislative, judicial and partly executive role. Gradually, the princes tried to level the significance of this body, taking away its powers. In the end, the veche turns into a decorative application of princely power, and then completely eliminated, only in Novgorod because of the established republican traditions it was preserved until its absorption by the Moscow state in the fifteenth century. And in Europe there were similar processes, different was only their temporary existence and some variability of functions.

Democracy in nomadic

Now let's return to the concept of "kurultai". What it is? The answer is simple. This is already a popular meeting for us, but it has several varieties in the Mongol and Turkic peoples (Khural, Khurul, etc.). Such an organ existed among the Turkic peoples of the ancient and medieval period. Initially, he had quite extensive rights, but the nuance is that at the kurultai strong positions were always known, which influenced decision-making. If in European countries this tendency is visible already by the end of the existence of the people's congress as a special power institution, then the kurultai was initially under the actual control of the rich people, this was caused by the psychology of the Turkic peoples, as well as the nomadic way of life and the dependence of the ordinary steppe from the mercy of the khan.

Kurultay: what is it in the modern era

This concept still exists, but its meaning has changed. The composition of our country includes many Turkic peoples. Almost all of them have their own statehood. Following the traditions of their ancestors, the legislative bodies of many Russian republics are called Kurultay. In other words, it can be called a parliament. Recently, the republic of Crimea has again joined the Russian Federation. One of the peoples living on its territory is the Tatars, who obtained national-state self-determination in the composition of our country. It is concentrated in such a concept as the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people. This is a body of representation of the Crimean Tatars, which has the right of lawmaking, but strictly in accordance with federal norms and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Now it is clear what the Kurultai is doing, what kind of body of traditional power, and what powers it has.