In the XI-XIII centuries. the rulers of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria and the Russian princes fought for control over the lands of the Mordovians. In the XII-XIII centuries. there were new Mordovian fortifications ("firmament", according to Russian annals) with powerful fortifications (Windree, Fedorovskoe). Among the population there was a category of professional soldiers who had riders, shields, etc. In the conditions of an increasing external threat, a large military alliance of the Mordvinian tribes formed and on its basis an early state association (according to the Hungarian missionary Julian of the middle of the 13th century, the "kingdom of Mordvans"). One of its divisions was the "Purgasova Volost", headed by Purgas, mentioned in the Russian chronicle. According to the researchers, the Purgasova Volost took up the interfluve of the Moksha and Toshi rivers, where numerous Mordovian settlements were located (including the Sarov fortress - a major trade and trade center and, apparently, a political center). Archaeological evidence indicates the inflow of mostly Erzyan and Mokshan into these lands, which indicates the ethnic consolidation of the Mordovian people. In the 1220-1230's. Vladimir princes made several trips to the territory of modern Mordovia, the most significant of them - in the "Purgasov volost" (1228). Another Mordovian education developed in the upper and middle Prikomshane. Some researchers believe that he was headed by Puresh. On the southern border of the Mordovian lands (the territory of the present-day Penza region) there were fortifications - strong points on the trade route from Volga-Kama Bulgaria to Kiev (Zolotaryovskoye, Yulovskoye and others).



The political and economic development of the Mordovian people was interrupted by the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The first blow to the Mordovian lands was inflicted in 1237, in 1239 they were again ruined; finally the Mordovians were subdued in 1242.

In the middle of XIII - mid XV century. a significant part of the modern territory of Mordovia was part of the Golden Horde. At the beginning of the XIV century. Here there was a large administrative center of the Horde - the city of Mohsha, in which from 1313 the coin was minted. Settlements of the local feudal nobles were usually located near large rivers in high places difficult to access. On one of them, the Ityakovskoe settlement, found a bronze badge, issued to officials by the Golden Horde administration. In the second half of the 14th century, during the internecine strife in the Golden Horde, some Horde princes tried to establish independent ulus in the territory of modern Mordovia: in Moksha Tagay, in Prisurye Segiz-bey, in Prisoume-Behan, etc. After Timur's campaigns at the end of the XIV century. Mohsi lost his importance as an outpost of the khan's power. From the middle of the XV century. After the collapse of the Golden Horde, these territories turned out to be part of the Kazan Khanate.

In the 1480s. a considerable part of the Mordovian lands was already a part of the Russian state. In connection with the aggravation of relations with the Kazan Khanate and the frequent raids of the Nogai biys and the Crimean khans, the rulers strengthened the eastern borders. To this end, the construction of new fortress towns on the outskirts of Mordovia began. Against the Kazan Khanate, Kazan campaigns were undertaken, as a result of which in 1552 it was annexed to the Russian state (about 10,000 Mordovian warriors participated in the march).

After 1552, a system of the All-Russian Provincial Administration was introduced in the province, incorporating military, administrative and judicial functions. The participation of the local nobility as volost sotnikas, Pentecostals was allowed. In some cases, special officials were appointed to manage the Mordovia - "Mordovian heads", clerks, etc. Finally, the system of voivodship management developed during the construction of zase lines (Shatsk-Kadom-Temnikov-Alatyr-the second half of the 16th century, Insar-Atamar-Saransk-Troitsky Ostrog-40s of the 17th century), which contributed to the strengthening of centralization in the region local government. The governor was entrusted with the task of building fortresses and checkpoints; they had full authority in the region. Russian lands appeared on the lands granted to the nobles for their service in the zasechnoy line. Local landed property was formed, while land plots and population grew. Mordovian and Tatar princes were attracted to the military, border guard service, to participate in administrative management, for which they received land and monetary compensation.

In the era of the Time of Troubles, the Mordovian Territory provided substantial support to the 2nd militia. In the summer of 1612, Mordovian Murza Baiush, leading a detachment of Alatyr Murzas, Mordvinians and servicemen, spoke out against the Crimean and Nogai Tatars, who broke through the guard lines near the river. Alatyr and moved to Arzamas and Nizhny Novgorod. Won the battle with. Chukaly and in the Ardatov forest, the detachment saved the rear of the militia.

2 nd half of the XVII century. was characterized by the expansion of local and patrimonial landownership as a result of the mass distribution of estates from state funds and by the unauthorized seizure of land by the Mordvinian peasants by landlords. In the years 1661-1700. in the Penza, Insara, Temnikovsky uyezds they were given 75% of the land from its total number. The princes of Golitsyna, Romodanovsky, Trubetskoe, noble families of the Naryshkins and others received lands on the territory of modern Mordovia. Mordva was engaged in cartage, trade, logging, tarning. Carpentry, coal, mill, tannery, cooperage and other industries were developed, trade in farming and livestock products, honey, wax, furs, and fish.

In 1708, Peter I conducted a provincial reform, according to which the Mordovian territory was divided between Kazan (Temnikov) and Azov (the cities of Saransk, Krasnaya Sloboda, Insar, Troitsk, Atemar, Shishkeevo) by provinces. In 1719 the provinces were divided into provinces and counties. The structure of the Azov province included Insara (3rd province), Temnikovsky, Kadomsky and Krasnoslobodsky counties (4th); in the province of Kazan - Saransk county (3rd province). The newly formed Nizhny Novgorod province included the lands of Arzamas (2nd province) and Alatyr (3rd) counties. In 1725, the Azov Province was transformed into the Voronezh province, which included the Insarsky province of Tambov, Shatskoy - Temnikovsky and Krasnoslobodsky districts. The Provincial Reform of Catherine II (1775) also introduced changes in the administrative-territorial division of the Mordovian region. He was in the Tambov vicegerency (Temnikovsky, Spassky counties), Nizhny Novgorod (Lukoyanovsky, Sergachsky uyezds), Simbirsky (Ardatovsky district), Penza (Krasnoslobodsky, Insara, Saransk districts). In 1796 the viceroyalties were transformed into provinces. According to the decree of Paul I (1797), the Penza province was abolished, the Saransk district was transferred to Simbirsk gubernia, Krasnoslobodsky and Insara to Tambov. In 1801 the Penza province was restored in its former composition. Throughout the XIX century. the administrative and territorial division of the Mordovian region did not change. His lands belonged to the Penza (Krasnoslobodsky, Insara, Saransk counties), Simbirsk (Ardatov, part of Karsun), Nizhny Novgorod (part of Lukoyanovsky, Sergach) and Tambov (Temnikovsky, part of Spassky) provinces. In the years 1917-1918. from the composition in the main Insara Uyezd was allocated Ruzaevsky uyezd.

In 1717 the territory of modern Mordovia was devastated during the Great Kuban pogrom, which became the last raid of nomads in the region. In the second half of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century. Orthodoxy was established in the Mordovian environment, becoming an integral part of the way of life.

In the XVIII century. significant development was achieved in potash production, distillation (1.5 million buckets of wine per year), large state distilleries - Brilovsky and Shtyrmensky operated, small metallurgical enterprises operated (Ryabkinsky, Sivinskiy, Vindreysky, Insara plants, etc.). In the first half of the XIX century. there was a state Troitsko-Ostrozh distillery, the August metallurgical plant of ND Manukhin. In the late XIX - early XX century. the forestry industry developed rapidly. Its main centers were concentrated in the Spassky and Temnikovskoye districts, rich in forests. The development of the timber industry stimulated the Moscow-Kazan Railway (1893-1902) along the territory of modern Mordovia.

The first representatives of the Mordovian intelligentsia appeared, mostly rural teachers. In 1905, Z.F. Dorofeev, one of the founders of Mordvinian literature, began his career. In 1906 the publisher of the first newspaper of the edge "Muzhik" V.V. Bazhanov, the sculptor S.D. Erzya, the public figure and prose writer S.V. Anikin, the teacher GKUlyanov declared themselves.

In late 1917 - early 1918 on the territory of modern Mordovia, Soviet power was established. In 1918 and 1919 years. Mordovye uyezds were the front line, the immediate rear of the Eastern Front of the Red Army in the course of the Civil War of 1917-1922; In April-May 1919, the Bashkir Revolutionary Committee was located in Saransk. The actions of the food detachments and the comrades became the occasion for the peasant revolts of spring and summer of 1918, the unrest and uprisings of the peasants in the villages of Bolshaya Azia, Yakovshchina, Barancheevka, Lada, Pyatina, Gumny, Old Sidrovo, etc. The policy of war communism, especially the surplus-appropriation, increased the discontent of the peasantry . Major uprisings took place in the region in 1919. Along with the peasant revolts, there were performances in military units, deserters became participants in the riots. By 1920, desertion in the province grew into a "green movement". A complex situation arose on the territory of modern Mordovia during the Tambov uprising of 1920-1921. under the leadership of Antonov. Temnikovsky and Krasnoslobodsky counties were declared in a state of war, a tense situation was created in Ardatov, Karsun, Saransk, Insara and Spassky districts. In the years 1921-1922. the region was struck by famine, accompanied by outbreaks of epidemics of typhus, malaria, etc.

In 1926, Mordovia's counties emerged as leaders in terms of the level of gross agricultural production in the Middle Volga region, and by 1928 the restoration of agriculture was completed. Restoration of the industry was slow and uneven, many enterprises of the province were closed (including iron foundry and sawmills in Zubova Polyana, Sivinsk Iron Works, Temnikovskaya earthenware factory, etc.). At the same time in 1920-1930-ies. a canning factory, a cotton factory, a hemp factory in Saransk, and an engineering plant in Sarov were built.

July 16, 1928 in the Mid-Volga region was formed Mordovia district with the center in Saransk. On January 10, 1930 the Mordovian District was transformed into the Mordovian Autonomous District, on December 20, 1934, to the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

In the late 1920's - early 1930's. The labor of prisoners began to be actively used in the economy of Mordovia. The main directions of their economic activity were logging, sawmilling and railway construction. The largest camp of the Gulag system in the territory of Mordovia was the Temnikovsky ITL (Temlag, administration in the village of Javas), established in 1931 (in 1948-1954 - Special Camp No. 3, or Dubravlag). By the early 1940's. Mordovia was one of the main producers in the Volga region of the cotonine, ropes and ropes; the textile, food, processing, logging and woodworking industries developed.

In the Great Patriotic War, parts of the 6th Sapper Army, 9 divisions, 3 regiments, 5 battalions, a special armored train division, 7 air units, the 178th branch of the communication battalion, etc. were deployed on the territory of Mordovia, 14 hospitals were also located here (including 6 in Saransk). In the territory of Mordovia, the 326th Roslavl Rifle Division was formed, a link of combat aircraft and a tank column "Mordovian collective farmer" were built with the means of the population. In 1941, equipment from 17 enterprises from the Ukrainian SSR, the BSSR, and also from the Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol regions, etc. was evacuated to Mordovia. Thanks to the commissioning of the Saransk Mechanical Plant and the Electrovypryamitel plant, the foundation was laid for the post-war development of the large industry in Mordovia. The Republic accepted about 80 thousand people evacuated population (including 25 thousand children under 15 years old).

In the spring of 1946 Mordovia was seized by a drought, which led to famine. Gradually, the development of industry began: the construction of a complex of chemical and lighting facilities, a foundry, the expansion of the construction base (Kovylkinsky silicate brick plant and slate brick in the working village of Komsomolsky), the instrument-making plant, the reconstruction of the cable, tool and other plants was started, I am a turbine of Saranskaya CHPP-2, a workshop of a dump truck plant, a pasta and a furniture factory. By the mid-1960's. Mordovia has evolved from an agrarian-industrial region into an industrial-agrarian one. The industrial development was facilitated by the Saratov-Gorky gas pipeline (1959-1960) on its territory.

In the second half of the 1980s - the first half of the 1990s. in Mordovia the social forces in defense of the national languages, culture, identity of the Mordvinian people became more active; 3 congresses of the Mordovian people were held (1992, 1995, 1999), a number of public organizations emerged, such as the Council for the Revival of the Mordvinian people (1992), the Erzya Language Rescue Foundation, AP Ryabova (1993), and others.

December 7, 1990 at the session of the Supreme Council of the Mordovian ASSR adopted a Declaration on the state and legal status of the republic, the Mordovian ASSR was transformed into the Mordovian SSR. On December 25, 1991 the post of president was established, VD Guslyannikov was elected to this post. On April 7, 1993, the Supreme Council of the MSSR abolished this post. On January 25, 1994 the Mordovian SSR was renamed the Republic of Mordovia. September 21, 1995 adopted the Constitution of the Republic of Mordovia, approved a new system of public authorities. September 22, 1995 NI Merkushkin was elected the head of the Republic of Mordovia (since January 1995 he was the Chairman of the State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia, he was popularly elected the Head of the Republic of Mordovia in 1998, reelected in 2003, empowered by President Vladimir V. Putin 2005, in 2010 was approved for the post of the head of the republic for another term). May 14, 2012 at the seventh session of the State Assembly of the fifth convocation in the post of the Head of the Republic of Mordovia approved VD Volkov.

Transition to market relations in the first half of the 1990s. led to a decrease in the level of social and economic development of the republic. Only since 1997 in Mordovia the tendency of growth of industrial production was outlined on the basis of restructuring, introduction of advanced technologies, attraction of investments, the agro-industrial complex was developed. The non-state sector became dominant in the economy.