Purgaz or Inäzor Purgaz was an Erzä

Erzya

Erzya could refer to:*Erzya language, a Uralic language spoken in Russia.*Erzya Oblasts, the areas of Russian in which Erzya is spoken.*Erzya literature, literature written in the Erzya language....

n leader in the first half of the 13th century. He was a Grand Duke (inäzor) of Erzän Principality of Purgaz. Being an ally of the Volga Bulgaria

Volga Bulgaria

Volga Bulgaria, or Volga–Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia.-Origin:...

, he resisted Suzdal

Suzdal

Suzdal is a town in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, situated northeast of Moscow, from the city of Vladimir, on the Kamenka River. Population: -History:...

 Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

's expansion to the region. In later times, he became a symbol of Erzän

Erzya

Erzya could refer to:*Erzya language, a Uralic language spoken in Russia.*Erzya Oblasts, the areas of Russian in which Erzya is spoken.*Erzya literature, literature written in the Erzya language....

 independence and a figure of legend.

Life

Purgaz was named in the Russian chronicles several times. In January, 1229 his army repulsed a raid of the Russian princes Yaroslav Vsevolodovich

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich may refer to the following Russian princes:*Yaroslav II of Russia, Grand Prince of Vladimir*Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich , prince of Chernigov...

, Vasily Konstantinovich

Vasily Konstantinovich

Vasily Konstantinovich was the Prince of Ryazan in 1301–1308, son of Konstantin Romanovich.The only recorded mentioning of Vasily Konstantinovich dates back to 1308, when he was killed by the Mongols for reasons unknown during his visit to the Golden Horde...

 and Vsevolod Konstantinovich. Then Purgaz defeated the Mokshan

Moksha language

The Moksha language is a member of the Finno-Volgaic subdivision of the Uralic languages with about 500,000 native speakers. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia....

 prince, Puresh

Puresh

Puresh was a Moksha kanazor , ruler of Murunza kingdom in Middle Volga. Ally of Russian Grand Prince Yuri II and Cuman khan Köten against Bulgars and Erzyas in 1220s. In September 1237 Mongols invaded to Murunza and Puresh was forced by Jebe and Sübötäi to join the Mongols in their Europe campaign...

. In April, 1229 he tried to regain Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

 from the Russians, which was formerly the Erzyan settlement of Obran Osh. His troops burned the settlement, but the citadel stayed safe. Several months later he was defeated by Puresh.
It's known that during the rule of Purgaz Russian peasants fled to his principality.

In summer 1237 he successfully resisted the advance of the Mongols

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

, but in autumn-winter 1238-1239 he was defeated.

Later perception

Since the 13th century, Purgaz had been idolized as a mythical hero; he started to be erroneously called a King of Mordovia. In the following centuries, Purgaz continued to be seen as a Erzän hero.

See also

• Erzän Kiel
  Erzya language
  The Erzya language is spoken by about 500,000 people in the northern and eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhniy Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in Russia...
  
  
• Erzän Mastor
• Erzän Kannt