Tatars

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Tatars (Tartars) Turkic-speaking people of central Asia. In medieval Europe, the name Tatar referred to many different Asiatic invaders. True Tatars originated in e Siberia, and converted to Islam in the 14th century. They divided into two groups: one in s Siberia, who came under Russian rule; the other in the Crimea, which was part of the Ottoman Empire until annexed by Russia in 1783.

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