Shor

The Shor, who call themselves shor-kizhi, are a Turkic people of the Mountainous Shoria highlands in the upper Tom basin, along the Kondoma and Mras-Su rivers. They took shape between the eighth and ninth centuries from Turkic clans, Turkicized under Yenisei Kyrgyz influence, mixing with Ugric, Samoyedic and Yeniseian hunters.

Unusually for Siberian natives, the Shor smelted iron from ore and forged tools and weapons, supplying ironware to the Kyrgyz and Oirats, which is why Russian documents knew them as Kuznetsk, or smith, Tatars.

In 1618 Cossacks from Tomsk raised the Kuznetsk ostrog on the Tom in their midst, and after the conquest Russian traders undercut their smithing while officials levied the yasak in furs, driving many into hunting and casual town labour. They kept a shamanic cosmology of three worlds ruled by Ul'gen and Erlik, recited in throat-sung epics accompanied by the two-stringed kai-komus.