be saved – for now at least – and at last Nahratsh who had consulted the elders of the village proposed a compromise: This arrangement seems to have lasted for a while, but later it is recorded that this agreement was broken and the totems and idols so sacred to the Mansi and Khanty were burned by Russian Christian zealots. Many of these totems were not destroyed, but hidden, their locations kept secret over the generations. Even during repression of the 1930s many of these sacred sites remained undiscovered by the authorities and some can be found today. Yugrian Principalities and relations with the Tatars and Russians There are three or four known proto-states of the Yugran inhabitants, both Khanty and Mansi. The Principality of Pelym was located in the basin of the Konda river and stretched from the mouth of the Sosva River near Tavda up to Tabory. The stronghold of the Pelym princes was also a significant religious centre; a sacred Siberian larch grew in its surroundings and even in the 18th century people used to hang the skins of sacrificed horses on its branches. Near the sacred tree was a worship storehouse with five idols of human figure, and smaller storehouses with high pillars and human-faced peaks around it for storing sacrificial instruments. The bones of sacrificial animals were stored in a separate building (Novitski: 81). The Principality of Konda (mainly Mansi) formed a large semi autonomous part of the Pelym principality, according to the tax registers from 1628/29 it was inhabited by 257 tax-paying Mansi. The treasures of Prince Agai of Konda who was imprisoned by the Russians in 1594 gives us a good picture of the wealth of the Yugran nobles of this period. Namely, the Russians confiscated two silver crowns, a silver spoon, a silver beaker, a silver spiral bracelet, "precious drapery" and numerous pelts and precious furs (Bahrushin 1955,2:146). The third part of the Pelym principality was the region of Tabary, in which inhabited 102 adults in 1628/29. Preceding the coming of the Russians the Mansi of this region were farmers and according to the tradition Yermak collected tribute in the form of grain (Bahrushin 1955, 2:147). It is believed the Yugran people or Ob-Ugrians had made trade with many countries far and wide since the earliest times. This trade was described in journals attributed to Abu Hamid al-Gharnati the Arab traveller during