Tatars came to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century and have survived there until the beginning of the 21st century, i.e. over 500 years. They have tried to adapt to the principles governing the area of historic Lithuania. These principles were set by Christian neighbourhood and then remained constant, or by different state authorities, and in that case they were altered with every change of the national status of the area.
Muslims in Lithuania in practice were not polygamists, and the Islam they professed was merged with some elements of other beliefs existing in their environment. This fact could have been influential in abating conflicts with their Christian neighbours. Although Tatars were breaking some of the legal bans put upon them (they married Christians, employed Christian servants, sold their premises burdened with a military service duty, purchased nobility’s premises, enlisted companies (chorągiew), etc.) – it happened with a consent of or even in a cooperation with the Christian environment. The restrictive legal rules were lessening its rigours this way.
Tatars also stressed their loyalty to the authorities both of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. They served not only as translators and recorders – people linking with the Islamic world, but also, to a great extent, as soldiers. After the fall of the Polish–Lithuanian state they also preserved loyalty towards the new authorities. Most of them stayed passive during the November Uprising of 1830 and the January Uprising of 1863. A small part of them backed Russian authorities and an even smaller part joined the uprisings. However, this situation was not awkward: similar proportions were among Christian habitants of Lithuanian provinces (gubernia) under the Russian rule.
In the 20th century, after Poland gained independence, Polish authorities wanted to demonstrate tolerance towards national minorities, which was by no means troublesome, and took a kind attitude to Tatars postulates. Tatars took advantage of the situation and were intensively creating structures of social, cultural and religious movements. In the Republic of Lithuania, the background was similar and Tatars acted likewise, although due to a three times smaller population than in Poland, on a lesser scale. The situation of Muslims was much worse in the USSR where a strict policy in national and religious matters adopted by Soviet authorities took its toe not only on Belarusians and – after World War II – on Lithuanians, but also on Muslims.
After the fall of the iron curtain and disintegration of the USSR, all ideological and administrative limitations put upon Muslims were abandoned. In the 80s of the 20th century, conditions for rebuilding the social, cultural and religious life of the Tatars were created in Poland and soon also in Lithuania and Belarus. Muslim newspapers have been published, schools of religion have been founded, mosques have been reopened (like in Kaunas in 1991) and reconstructed. In the course of the process Muslims have gained some support from state authorities. It resulted from the constitutionally equal rights for all prophesies as well as from political reasons. An example of small minorities – just like before World War II – was ideal for showing that the state carries out a policy of equal rights for minorities. Small minorities did not create – contrary to large ones – much problems. Their postulates and demands were relatively easy to fulfil and did not have a political nature.
Tatars in the past times obeyed the rules set by the majority, their honesty and decency (as also of Karaims) was even set as a positive example for Christians. They remained loyal to the state. The positive attitude towards the state and their neighbours Christians has secured Tatars a relatively calm existence for over five centuries. Therefore they could preserve their religion, some of their customs and, to a some extent, their ethnic type.
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