In our sixth episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets Berlin-based genealogist Asad Khabibullin, who shares how he got interested in researching his family history, the challenges of researching roots from the Republic of Tatarstan, and his thoughts on how the genealogy community could be more helpful for new starters.

Listen to the episode

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and others…

The Life Story – Valit Halitov

Asad has chosen to tell the life story of his relative Valit Halitov born in 1819, from the village of Olı Mäñgär (aka Bolshoy Menger/Bol’shoi Menger) in the Ätnä District of the Republic of Tatarstan.

By 1878, the villagers were being increasingly oppressed and rumours were rife that they would be forced to convert to Christianity. An uprising occurred with an area declaring itself as an independent republic, but this simply increased the oppression with food and livestock then being taken. On one occasion, a constable visited Olı Mäñgär and was beaten, so Russian officials, led by the regional Governor Nikolai Skariatin, came to the village to punish them.

Valit was picked out as one of the perpetrators, and Skariatin decided that he should face the same treatment that the constable received – beatings!

Valit was beaten, but whilst the threat of having to convert to Christianity proved to just be rumours and faded away, and the villagers were left alone again, the Tatar community decided that a complaint should be made to the Senate in St. Petersburg, against the officials. It was decided that the use of the army was valid, but surprisingly, the treatment of Valit (specifically) was deemed too excessive. Nikolai Skariatin’s time as Governor swiftly ended…

Asad reminds us, that he’d never have found any of this information through the conventional records in the archive or from the mosque, but that he found it by reading a book that he’d found by using Google to search for the village’s name.

The Brick Wall – Hasan-Husain

It’s a brick wall also in the village of Olı Mäñgär that has Asad needing help. The villagers kept records of family trees, and by luck it includes Asad’s tree too. At the top of that tree is a man named Hasan-Husain with roots from Crimea.

However, he has also found references connected to this tree of two brothers; one named Hasan and the other named Husain… which gives him quite a puzzle to try to solve.

In Asad’s tree, this name combination lived in the late 16th Century, but in the local tree the Hasan-Husain (as two men) lived in the early 16th Century.

Can you help?

• Is Hasan-Husain one person or two?
• Is Hasan-Husain part of Asad’s tree?

If you think that you can help Asad with a research clue or idea, then you can contact him via his Instagram page, or alternatively you can send him a message via our contact form and we’ll pass it on to him.

In the meantime, Asad is curious of Andrew’s offer of help… but will it work out?

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Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin – Host and Producer
• Asad Khabibullin – Guest