Transcript Nations of Dagestan

Nations of
Dagestan
Gasanova Jannat
Form 11
Tubinskaya SOSH
• Land of dreams and myths
Dagestan is situated in the NorthEast of the Caucasus mountain
range. It borders the Caspian Sea in
the East, the Chechen Republic and
Stavropol Territory in the West, the
Kalmukya Republic in the North,
and Azerbaijan and Georgia in the
South. The republic measures
50.300 square km and had 37.5
inhabitants per square km in 1989.
28 percent Avar, 16 percent Dargin,
13 percent Kumyk, 11 percent Lezgi,
9 percent Russian, 5 percent Lak, 4
percent Tabasaran, 4 percent Azeri,
2 percent Nogai and others (1989).
Rural population: Avar 69 percent,
Dargin 69 percent, Kumyk 54
percent, Lezgi 52 percent, Lak 34
percent, Tabasaran 63 percent,
Nogai 81 percent and Rutul 69
percent (1989).
• It is one of the most ethnically
diverse regions in the world,
counting 36 ethnic groups and
80-odd nationalities. Dagestan
was the center for Islam in the
North Caucasus and the capital,
Makhachkala, is the seat of the
Muslim spiritual board of
Dagestan and the North
Caucasus. The Dagestan
landscape changes from high
mountains in the South to flat
steppe land in the North.
Because there is no easily
accessible pass over the
Caucasian mountains, the
coastal plain of Dagestan,
bordering the Caspian Sea, is an
important North-South
passage. The mountainous
areas are still extremely
isolated, notably in winter.
• Dagestan is the largest republic in the region
with almost two million people. It is a highly
multiethnic republic with 10 groups sharing
power. Many of the smaller peoples have been
assimilated by bigger ones. This has happened
mainly through lack of official recognition in
terms of official registration as well as in
terms of language. Dagestan still has a strong
Islamic identity of the more conservative kind
and the clan structure is still functioning and
is the foundation for today's ethnic structure.
Birth rates are high - the population has
doubled in the last 30 years - and there is an
increasing pressure on land.
• The capital of Dagestan
Makhachkala. The
population in Makhachkala
is about 400 000.It is
seaport and main industrial
and cultural centre of the
country. Makhachkala is
situated between the Tarki
mountainside and Caspian
sea.
Climate is transitive from
sea to continental. Winter
is soft; average temperature
of January-1C. Summer is
very warm , dry; average
temperature of July +24 C.
•
Makhachkala, Petrovskoye in
the past, was founded by Peter I
in summer 1722. In 1857 it was
renamed as Port- Petrovsk and
in 1921 it was again renamed in
Makhachkala to honor one of
the local revolutionaries. Since
then it became the official
capital of the Dagestan
Republic. Makhachkala has a
number of industries, different
universities , cinemas, theatres
and museums.
Makhachkala is the largest
railway junction in Dagestan
on a turnover of goods.
Makhachkala is the main
seaport on Caspian sea, where
the new seaport of the
International value now is
under construction. In a city
boundaries the international
airport is constructed.
The Avars
• The self-name is the Maarulal.
The Language is the Avarian.
The Avars (577 thousand
persons were in 1996; the
Iberian-Caucasian language
group) are settled in the central
and western Dagestan, in the
basin of the Sulak river inflows.
The Andian (the Andians, the
Akhvakhs, the Bagulals, the
Botlikhs, the Godoberins, the
Karatins, the Tindals, the
Chimalals) and the Didoian (the
Bezhtins, the Ginukhs, the
Gunzibins, the Khvarshins, the
Tsezy - Didoians) nationalities
and the Archins are related with
them by origin, culture and
language
• They occupy basins of the rivers
Andijskoe and Avarian Koysu and the
Kara-Koysu riverhead. Traditional
occupations are: cattle breeding and
agriculture.
Crafts: cloth weaving, pileless carpets
and carpet products (the Khunzakh,
the Chirkey, the Urma), pattern
knitting (the Tlyrata, the Bezhta,
theTsumada), manufacture of felt,
felt cloaks (the Andians), processing
of a leather, wood and stone
engraving (the Sogratl, the Rugudja,
the Gidatl, the Charoda), blacksmith's
craft, copper embossing, weapon,
jeweler crafts (the Gotsatl, the
Ichichaly, the Gamsutl, the Chokh,
the Sogratl), gold sewing (the Chokh,
the Khunzakh), a wood peening (the
Unzukul). Diversified economy
present by: cattle breeding, field
husbandry, gardening. Most of the
Avars are employed in the industry.
• During the Soviet times the
Avars preserved an Islamic and
the Sufi way of life. In some
places the sheiks and the
theologians as bearers of the
Islamic traditions has survived
prosecutions. Privately many
settlements had a mosque. Now
mosques actively are under
construction, the Arabian
literacy is distributed. The main
Muslim holidays - the End of
Fasting and the Sacrifices are
widely celebrated. The Prophets
birthday also is popular among
the Avars. The Saints cult is also
widespread. Some elements of
pre-monotheistic beliefs still
exist: belief in demons,
observance of agricultural and
family ceremonialism.
The Dargins
• The Dargins are considered to be
an indigenous people of the
Caucasus, that lived relatively
isolated from foreign influence
until the beginning of the great
Arab conquests in the 8th c.,
when they were exposed to Islam
for the first time. From the 14th
c., they were controlled politically
by the Kaytaks, who are now
considered a sub-group of
Dargins.
Although introduced to Islam in
the 8th c., the Dargins remained
primarily animist until the 15th c.,
when Muslim influence became
stronger, with Persian traders
coming in from the south, and the
Golden Horde increasingly
pressing from the north.
• In the 16th c., the
Ottoman Turks occupied
the area, and also helped
to consolidate Islam. By
the 19th c., all but a few of
the Dargins had been
converted to Islam. The
Dargins refused to
participate in programs to
relocate them out of the
highlands and into
lowland towns and
collective farms. Thus, the
majority of the Dargins
still maintain a traditional
lifestyle.
The Kumyks
• The Kumyks live in the
Republic of Dagestan,
Chechnya, Ingushetia and
North-Ossetia.
The Kumyks are divided
into three traditional
groups: The northern
Kumyks (Khasavyurt
dialect), the central Kumyks
(Buynaksk dialect) and the
southern Kumyks (Kaytak
dialect).
Language: Kumyk (3 main
dialects + more), mutually
intelligible with
Azeri/Azerbaijanian
Religion:Sunni-muslims, a
few Shia Muslims
• The Kumyks probably originated
from a mixing of the indigenous
Caucasus peoples with Turkicspeaking people, that started with
the 5th c. migrations of Turkic
and Mongolian people heading
west across the steppes of Central
Asia. Between the 11th and 13th
c., the Kumyks strengthened their
sense of ethnic identity and
moved into the lowlands of the
steppes in the North Caucasus.
The rate of urbanization is high
among the Kumyks, but still, they
have maintained a strong sense of
ethnic identity. The vast majority
of them use Kumyk as their first
language, and Kumyk is actually
also being adopted by large
The Territory Where the Kumyks numbers of individuals of
neighboring groups, especially
Live
Dargins and Avars.
The Lezgins
• The Lezgins live in Dagestan.
Neighboring ethnic groups are:
the Tsakhurs, the Rutuls, the
Aguls, the Tabasarans and the
Azerbaijanians.
There are three sub-groups, all
with distinctive dialects: the
Kurin, the Kuba, and the Akhty
(Sumar).
Before the Russian revolution,
also the Aguls, Rutuls and
Tabasarans were counted as
Lezgins
Language: Lezgin (three main
dialects). Most Lezgins are
bilingual with Azeri as second
language.
Religion: Sunni-Muslims, also
Shia Muslim minority
concentrated in one region.
• The Lezgin ethnic group probably
resulted from a merger of the
Akhty, the Alty and Dokus Para
federations, and some clans from
among the Rutuls.
Although they were first
introduced to Islam perhaps as
early as the 8th c., the Lezgins
remained primarily animist until
the15th c., when Muslim influence
became stronger, with Persian
traders coming in from the south,
and the Golden Horde
increasingly pressing from the
north. In the 16th c., the Ottoman
Turks occupied the area, and also
helped to consolidate Islam. By
the 19th c., the Lezgins had all
been converted to Islam, and they
have since then been very devout
in their faith.
The Laks
• They live in Lak, Kuli and New
Lak regions of Dagestan and
Stavropolsky Krai. Neighboring
ethnic groups are the Avars and
the Dargins.
language: Lak (5 main dialects),
closely related to Dargin, belongs
to Nakhsko-dagestanian group
The Laks are one of the
indigenous groups of the
Caucasus, probably descendants
of the Gumik tribe.
They were first introduced to
Islam through Arab traders in
the 8th c., but the majority kept
their traditional beliefs. More
Muslim influence came with
Persian traders in the 15th c.,
and with Mongol invasions in
the 16th and 17th c.
• The Laks were slower than most
other Dagestani peoples in
adopting Islam, however, and not
until the mid-1800s they had
been thoroughly converted,
religiously and culturally. Coming
late, they still developed a very
strong and devout faith.
The Laks had their own semiindependent principality, known
as the Shamkhalat, on the
Southern border of the Golden
Horde from the 14th c. They
expanded to the northeast in the
15th c., and came to control a
large amount of Kumyk land.
In the beginning of the 19th c.,
the Laks fought to resist the
increasing Russian influence, but
to no avail. In 1865, Russia
abolished the Shamkhalat and
brought Lak territory under direct
Russian administrative control.
The Rutuls
• The Rutuls live in 20 villages
of the Rutul District on the
upper reaches of the River
Samur in South Dagestan
(19,5 th. p.) The region
inhabited by the Rutuls is not
ethnically homogeneous.
Interlaced with Rutul villages
are settlements of Laks,
Azerbaijani and Lezgi people.
Two Rutul villages, Shin and
Kainar, are situated in
Azerbaijan. The biggest Rutul
villages, Rutul, Borch, Khnov,
Luchek, Ikhrek, Amsar and
Mjukhrek, are on the banks of
the Rivers Samur, Ahty-Chai
and Kara-Samur
• Like everywhere in the Caucasus, the
climate is severe - cold winter, cool,
foggy and windy in summer. In winter
all communication with the outer
world is broken off. There are
numerous pastures on the mountain
slopes as well as occasional forests.
Neighbours are the Laks to the north,
the Dargwas to the north-east, the
Lezginst to the east, the Azerbaijanis to
the south and the Tsakhurs to the west.
The self-designation is mjukhadar
meaning 'an inhabitant of the Mjukhad
village'. Among the Lezgins and
Azerbaijan the village is known as
Rutul, hence the internationally
recognized name for the people. The
Rutul language has numerous dialects,
and belongs to the Lezgian -Samur
subgroup of the Dagestan languages. At
present the majority of the Rutuls
recognize their ethnic unity, although
the inhabitants of some bigger and
older villages still apply to themselves
their village names. The Rutuls have no
written language.
The Aguls
• The self-name is the Aguls; the
Agular is the nation in Russia.
They are indigenous population
of Dagestan. The Aguls live in
the central part of southeastern
Dagestan - in the Agul, the
Kurakh and the Derbent areas in remote gorges or in cities. A
total number of the Aguls is 18.7
thousand people. The
traditional occupations are
agriculture and cattle breeding.
The crafts are wood-working,
stone processing, carpet
weaving, patten knitting and
manufacture of leather. By
religion the Aguls are the
Moslems-Sunni.
• Rather large sizes of the
Middle Age monuments on
the Agul area and huge
quantity of the deserted
terraces in vicinities of these
settlements testify to
intensive agricultural
development of the given area
and various kinds of craft
manufacture. "The day of the
first plough" was the most
important point of the
ploughing. In different
districts this day fell on
different calendar day. The
Entry into the field was
accompanied by a number of
archaic ceremonies,
celebrations etc. The
celebrations lasted for two
days. Only after that the
home-folks could start the
field works.
The Tabasarans
•
In the foothills of northeast
Dagestan and in the mountains
of the Darvag, Rubas, ChirahChai and Karchag-Su rivers,
there is a people whose selfdesignation is Tabasaran (tab 'top', saran -- 'district'.
The Tabasaran language belongs
to the southeast group of
Dagestan languages (the LezgiSamur languages).
Administratively, the Tabasarans
do not inhabit a single defined
territory but are spread through
the Tabasaran (centre, Khuchni)
and Khiv (centre, Khiv) districts
of Dagestan. In the former, there
are 98 Tabasaran settlements, in
the latter, 25
• Most Tabasarans, however, still live in their ancient region where the
people are united by a common economy and language. Nevertheless,
Tabasaran rural life is not without problems. The development of
agriculture and gardening, as well as the onslaught of Soviet ideology,
caused many changes in the domestic situation and mentality. An
increase in crop capacity has diversified and enlarged the food supply,
living standards have risen, all of which have facilitated the use of
manufactured goods in households.
Food is vegetative (grain, beans, wild-growing grasses) and meat-andmilk. The basic daily dish is khinkal with meat and without meat. The
basic drink is airan.
The Andians
• The Andians call themselves the
Andal, the Andny, the G'vanal.
They live in Russia. The
Andians have 25 thousand
persons of population. The
Andians is the aboriginal
population of Dagestan; they
are related with the Andian
nations. The Andians speak the
Andian language. There are 7
patois, which are united in 2
dialects - the Upper Andian and
Lower Andian. The writing is
based on the Russian writing.
The Avarian, Russian and
Chechen languages are
common among the Andians.
The Religion is the Islam of the
Sunni kind.
• The traditional occupations of the
Upper Andians were agriculture and
the Alpine cattle breeding and the
Lower Andians - the specialized
gardening.
Traditional family is not large.
Traditional settlements are dense.
Village of Andy, as other
settlements, has traditional
medieval city topography. The
Andians wear the Avarian type of
clothes. The products of agriculture
and cattle breeding, vegetables and
fruits are the basis of the Andians
nutrition. Dishes basically are local
and the Caucasian.
Traditional entertainment is a horse
gallop. The most significant events
are weddings, the First Furrow
Celebration, the End of the Fasting.
The Andians have kept belief in
magic and different spirits. Folklore
is bilingual (the Andian and the
Avarian).
The Nogai
• The Nogai, often called the
Caucasian Mongols, are a
Turkic people and an important
ethnic group in the Dagestan
region who speak the Turkic
Nogai language. They are related
to the Crimean Tatars.
Caucasian Mongols is the
Mongol horde that controlled
the Caucasus, when the Mongol
arrived in the region. The Nogai
are descendants of Kipchaks
who mingled with their Mongol
conquerors and formed the
Nogai Horde. Most Nogai are
Sunni Muslims. The name
Nogai is derived from Nogai
Khan, a general of the Golden
Horde. Kipchaks are an ancient
Turkic people, first mentioned
in the historical chronicles of
Central Asia in the 1st
millennium BC.
Their language was also known
as Kipchak. Nogai Khan aka
Kara Nogay (died 1299) was a
Khan of the Golden Horde and a
great-grandson of Genghis
Khan. The Nogai separated from
the Golden Horde in the
fourteenth century. Until the
sixteenth century their nomadic
pastures were located easy of the
Volga when they came under
territorial pressure from
Kalmyks and Russians. They
came under the rule of the
Crimean Tatars, and in the
eighteenth century were finally
pressured into the Caucasus
region by Kuban Cossacks. Some
of their summer pasturelands
are located in Kalmykia. They
mostly live in Nogai region in
the north of Dagestan.