Sluzhilaya Mordva in the XVII-XVIII century

The research focuses on the study of the ethnic and social group of the Mordovian people, viz. the Mordovian servicemen (Mordovian mourza). the main aspects of the problem are the origin of the Mordovian servicemen (ethnic identity, territorial localization), social status of the Mordovian servicemen, social position in the system of servicemen of the Moscow rule of the XVI-XVII centuries (specifics of service and recruitment, participation in the government etc.), social structure of the Mordovian servicemen (the sources mention different categories: servicemen, princes, Tarkhans, Mordovian mourza, Mordovian princes, Cossacks of the Mordovian servicemen), social role of the Mordovian servicemen in the history of the Mordovian people, relations between the servicemen and Yasak-paying Mordovians (political, economic (e. g. charging the prince's Yasak) and legal specifics), evolution of the Mordovian servicemen in the XVIII century: christianization, ennoblement in the envitonment of the Russian nobility, social downcasting and descent to peasantry, ethnic and social self-identification and self-perception.