The community was formed between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, when Mishar Tatar merchants emigrated from the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire, and eventually settled in Finland.

Tradition tells, that the first Tatar merchant in Finland was the grandfather of Hasan Hamidulla, who arrived from Saint Petersburg to Vyborg in 1868.

Some of them; Ibrahim Rahman, Halidulla Utarbai, Zekeriye Abdulla and Salih Zahidulla joined the Tatar congregation after being freed but by the end of the decade they had left Finland.

Some of the few who were able to stay for longer included an Avar named Halid Hamido, who during the war had married a Finnish woman and converted to Christianity.

They registered as political refugees and applied to the Finnish military forces, where three Estonian Tatars, Ibrahim Zarip, Ahmed Haerdinov and Rafik Moks were admitted.

[18][19] By the beginning of the 20th century, Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) had its own Tatar community, largely formed by Mishars from Nizhny Novgorod region.

It wasn't until the turn of the 1960s and 1970s however that contacts with Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan began to strengthen as they received Tatar guests from across the border.

The Soviet intelligence agency Joint State Political Directorate was also aware of this; "The Muslims of Kazan, St. Petersburg and Finland maintain very active contacts with Berlin, where the head of the foreign Tatar counter-revolution currently gathers".

Tatar activists Sarif Daher and Hasan Kanykoff were founding members of the association called "Etuvartiokansojen klubi", which purpose was to help the minority peoples in Russia and create cooperation with them and independent Finland.

In Finland, after the era of Turkish influence, a new connection to "Tatar roots" started to form after they received visitors from Tatarstan in the late 1960s.

[70] In 1987, the names of the fallen Tatar soldiers were carved on a memory plate, which was placed inside on their congregation's main building wall.

[71] According to the Finnish authorities, the motive for the majority of merchants to come to the country was not discrimination experienced in Russia, but apparently simply the pursuit of a better standard of living.

[59] Based on individual interviews of later generations of Finnish Tatars, there has not been much discrimination in Finland apart from the occasional name calling, most notably "tattari", a kind of intentionally skewed version of tataari.

[74][75][76] Two more serious attacks against the community are known in Finland: In 1942, soldier Siadetdin Samlihan, during his free time, was shot to death in Helsinki, while walking on the street with his friend.

Idris and Battal stayed in the country for longer, due to operating as teachers and cultural influencers among the community, but the others shortly continued elsewhere, such as Germany, France or Turkey.

In 2020, the imam of the congregation is Russian-born Ramil Belyaev (Bilal) and the chairman of the board economist Gölten Bedretdin, who at the same time is the first female in given position.

These include for example theologian Musa Bigiev, Idel-Ural president and refugee Sadri Maksudi Arsal, Muftis Talgat Tadjuddin from Ufa and Rawil Gaynetdin from Moscow, Turkologist Reşit Rahmeti Arat and professor of Medina university, Abdullah Ahmed Zadri.

Battal strove to make the Tatar vowels clearly and consistently visible in the Arabic script and also to standardize the marking of consonants.

[104] Example of Finnish Tatar language in the Latin alphabet in 2021:[105] Finlandiyä tatarlarınıñ törki cämiyäte 1800 nçe yıllarnın ahırında oyışkan.

Ul vakıtta Tübän Novgorod guberniyäse Sergaç öyäzeneñ avıllarınnan tatar säüdägärläreneñ törkeme Finlandiyägä kilgän.

[117][118][119][120] The musical tradition, which is largely based on old folk songs, originates from Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, where the first generation was born.

First ones to come were Röstäm Yäxin, İlham Şakirov, Venera Şäripova, Ayrat Arslanov, Marat Äxmätov and Mars Makarov.

[133][134] The national Volga Tatar poet Ğabdulla Tuqay (Abdulla Tukay for Mishars) is held in high regard among the community.

Other plays include for example Fäyzi's Asıl Yar, Zöleyha by Ayaz Ishaki, Bülek öçın, Bırınçı teater and Behıtsız Yıgıt by Ğäliäsğar Kamal.

Kazan Tatar Saniye İffet (Сания Гыйффәт, Saniyä Ğiffät; 1899–1957) wrote some plays while living in Finland in the late 1930s.

Given activity can be divided as such: history, memoirs, biographies, poetry, proverbs, music, religious literature, Tatar language textbooks, children's books and magazines.

Researchers such as Antero Leitzinger and Alimdzhan Orlov have stated, that while features of many different so called foreign influences can be found in Mishar culture, are they still one of the "purest representatives" of ancient Turkic Kipchaks today.

Some anonymous quotes from the members of the community; The first generation of Finnish Tatars (born in the late 1800s on average) consisted of approximately 160 families, of which two thirds married within their people.

Such cases were accepted as exceptions though, since traditionally mixed marriages are thought of negatively among the community, so much so that during the 1900s, it might have left the child without parental inheritance.

[121][122][162] Among the more meritorious Tatar athletes are footballer Atik Ismail, ice hockey players Lotfi Nasib and Räshid Hakimsan.