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The most ancient archeological discoveries certify that the territory of Udmurtia has been populated since VIII-V millenia b.c. Differentiation of the Finno-Ugric nations took place in the western part of the Urals region in the subsequent archeological epochs. In the early Iron Age (VIII-III centuries b.c.) in the Kama region there was formed the Ananjinskaia cultural and historical community of the ancestors of the Perm nations – Udmurts and Komi.
Inclusion of the Udmurts in the X century into the first state in the Lower Kama region – Volzhskaia Bulgaria – caused a significant impact on their development. Since the XIII century the southern Udmurts were under the power of the Golden Horde and after that – of the Kazan Khanate. In the Middle Ages the largest handicraft, religious and administrative center of the northern Udmurts, who stayed independent, was the settlement of Idnakar.
The first Russian settlers came to the Viatka river in the XII-XIII centuries. The north of Udmurtia became a part of the developing Russian state. By 1557, after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the Udmurts joined Russia in full.
Up to the middle of the XVIII century the peoples of Udmurtia were mainly engaged in agriculture, hunting and fishing. In 1756 the first factory – Bemyshski copper-melding works – was set up, and later – several iron-making foundries: Pudemsky and Votkinsky (1759), Izhevsky (1760) and Kambarsky (1761). Rapid growth of culture and industry took place in the second half of the XIX century. In that period there were opened many private factories, workshops, banks, partnership, gymnasias, technical schools, theaters, libraries. Local enterprises presented their products at All-Russian and foreign exhibitions. In 1899 in the north and at the beginning of the XX century in the south the railways Perm-Kotlas and Kazan-Yekaterinburg ran over the territory of Udmurtia and contributed to further economic development of the region.
Before the October Revolution the territory of Udmurtia constituted a part of the Kazanskaia and Viatskaia provinces. On November 4, 1920 there was established the Votskaia autonomous oblast (region) (since 1934 – Udmurtskaia ASSR, since 1991 – Udmurt Republic).
In the XX century due to its favorable geographical location Udmurtia turned into a large center of the military and industrial complex of the USSR and Russia. During the Great Patriotic War over 40 factories were evacuated to that republic.
National and state system and defense industries of the region still determine historical, social, economic and cultural features of the Udmurt Republic.
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History