Editing Molokans (section)

===11th–14th centuries CE & origins of milk-drinking during Lent===
There are approximately 200 [[fasting]] days —especially the [[Great Fast]] (Lent)— when drinking milk was prohibited by Christian Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities. The practice of milk-drinking during these fasts was first sanctioned by the [[Nestorian Church]] in the 11th century in order to accommodate the conversion of some 200,000 [[Turkic Christians]], who lived on meat and milk, to Nestorian Christianity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Borbone|first=Pier Giorgio |url=https://pisa.academia.edu/PierGiorgioBorbone/Papers/537579/Some_Aspects_of_Turco-Mongol_Christianity_in_the_Light_of_Literary_and_Epigraphic_Syriac_Sources |title=Some Aspects of Turco-Mongol Christianity in the Light of Literary and Epigraphic Syriac Sources (Pier Giorgio Borbone) - Academia.edu |publisher=Pisa.academia.edu |access-date=2012-09-20}}</ref>

Two theories emerge regarding the formation of the milk-drinking practice during Lent:

The first one suggests that the [[Keraites|Keraite]] Khan, Markus Buyruk Khan (formerly [[Cyriacus Buyruk Khan|Sadiq Khan]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Togan, İsenbike.|title=Flexibility and limitation in steppe formations : the Kerait Khanate and Chinggis Khan|date=1998|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-10802-5|location=Leiden|oclc=37806168}}</ref> prior to Christian conversion), had converted to Nestorian Christianity along with around 200,000 of his Turco-Mongolic nomadic tribespeople in 1007 CE. The Keraite people were one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol tribes of the Tatar confederation prior to Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan united the Tatar tribes into the Mongol Empire. The Keraite resided upon the Orkhon Steppes, south of Lake Baikal and north of the Gobi Desert, also referred to as the Altai-Sayan region. The Nestorian [[Church of the East|Metropolitan]], upon the conversion of the Turco-mongolic people, asked the Patriarch John the VI,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Unnik|first=Willem Cornelis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYdJwrUEe3gC&q=nestorian+milk+drinking&pg=PA104|title=Nestorian Questions on the Administration of the Eucharist, by Isho'Yabh IV: A Contribution to the History of the Eucharist in the Eastern Church|date=1970-01-01|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-90-6032-122-5|language=en}}</ref> also known as [[Prester John]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grousset|pages=191}}</ref> what the appropriate fast for lent should be for the new converts and it was decreed that the converts should abstain from meat eating and instead of drinking "soured" milk should consume "sweet" milk. Meat and fermented horse milk were staples of the Turco-Mongolic diet prior to the conversion to Christianity and instead of eliminating a long-held tradition of the nomadic people it was Christianized. Soured milk refers to fermented milk and sweet milk refers to fresh milk.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Halbertsma|first=Tjalling H. F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tR2oBgAAQBAJ&q=nestorian+milk+drinking&pg=PA32|title=Early Christian Remains of Inner Mongolia: Discovery, Reconstruction and Appropriation. Second Edition, Revised, Updated and Expanded|date=2015-07-28|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28886-7|language=en}}</ref>

Arriving in [[All-Russian nation#Background|the Rus' lands]] with the 13th century Tatar (Mongolian) invasion<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cheshire|first1=Harold T|year=1926|title=The Great Tartar Invasion of Europe|journal=The Slavonic Review|volume=5|issue=13|pages=89–105|jstor=4202032}}</ref> of [[Batu Khan|Batu]] and [[Möngke Khan|Möngke]], the practice was adopted by other Christian groups, who had pastoral communities on the Eurasian plains.

The second theory proposes that [[David IV of Georgia|King David the IV of Georgia]] converted 40,000 [[Cumans|Cuman]]-[[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] tribal families to Christianity and resettled them in Georgia between 1118-1120 CE. King David the IV assimilated these northern Turkic tribes because he was at war with the Muslim Seljuk Turks to the South and desired to reform his army. Each Kipchak family was required to provide one soldier with a horse and weapons. Though David the IV is not reported as being a religious adherent he was a promoter of [[Christian culture]].

The Cumans, Kipchaks, [[Tatars]], Mongolians, and Bashkirs (who descend from Kipchaks) all have the tradition of making fermented milk products. The Cumans call it ''[[kumis]],'' Mongolians call it ''airag,''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Airag - Fermented Mare's Milk - Mongolian Beverage|url=https://www.mongolfood.info/en/recipes/airag.html|access-date=2020-07-12|website=www.mongolfood.info}}</ref> Tatars call it ''azegay'', and the Baskir call it ''azekay''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Csáki|first=Éva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qARHlq4kK5wC&q=kipchaks+fermented+milk&pg=PA42|title=Middle Mongolian Loan Words in Volga Kipchak Languages|date=2006|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05381-5|language=en}}</ref> This lends itself to the possibility of the second theory, as well as the first.

100 families of the original Molokan Karaits were settled in Halychyna (specifically Lviv) by hostage arrangement between Daniel of Galicia and Batu Khan in 1246 CE.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Claims over Crimean Territory |url=https://voxukraine.org/en/historical-claims-over-crimean-territory |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=voxukraine.org |language=en-US}}</ref>