Purgas Volost

the territory between the Oka River and the Temnikov-Votian forests, along the lower Moksha River, settled by the union of Mordovian tribes that formed in the early 13th century. Named after Prince Purgas, its ruler, the Purgas Volost was inhabited not only by the Mordva population but also by Russian settlers who had fled from feudal oppression. It was allied with Bulgaria on the Volga. In 1229 and 1232, Iurii Vsevolodovich, the grand prince of Vladimir, launched campaigns against the Purgas Volost. In the mid-13th century the volost came under the Mongolian Tatar yoke.