- there are no people who spoke in different languages. This systematization was not formed immediately. Regardless of the new everyday way of life, people from the local peoples have their own unique approach.

Vcheni see the group autochthonous peoples, (in the translation from walnut – mіsceviy, korіnny, aborigine), who linger on this place from the hours of their formation. In the Northern and Central Caucasus such people are represented by three peoples

• Kabardians, 386 thousand people are hanging around the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, Pivnichny Ossetia. The language belongs to the Abkhaz-Adiz group of the Iberian-Caucasian language. Believers are Sunni Muslims;
• Adigeans, 123 thousand, of which 96 thousand live in the Republic of Adigea, Sunni Muslims.
• Circassians, 51,000 people, over 40 thousand live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

The Adigians live in the lower regions: Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia.

People are included in the Abkhaz-Adizka group Abazini(self-identified abase), 33,000 people, 27 thousand live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and the Republic of Adigea (shared part), suniti. The Abazians and Adigians live in the Turechchyna region and the regions of the Close Similarity, and in mutual relations with their settlements the Abkhazians (self-called absolute).

Another large group of indigenous peoples that occupy the Southern Caucasus - representatives Nakh group of mov:

• Chechens(self-named - boring), 800,000 people, live in the Republic of Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan (Chechens-Akiens, 58,000 people), Sunni Muslims. Diasporas of Chechens hesitate at the Close Gathering;
• Ingush(self-named - galgai), 215,000 people, most of them living in the Republic of Ingushetia, the Chechen Republic and Southern Ossetia, Sunni Muslims;
• brushes(self-named - brushes), in the Girsky regions of the Republic of Chechnya, they speak in Nakh dialects.

Chechens and Ingush have a secret name Vainakhs.

Looks most complicated Dagestani Gilka Iberian-Caucasian language, and can be divided into four groups:

1. Avaro-ando-tsezka group, until which lies 14 mov. The most significant is the language, to say the least Avars(self-named - maarulal), 544,000 people, central and Georgian regions of Dagestan, settlements of Avars and the Stavropol Territory and southern Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims.
   The other 13 peoples that belong to this group are rich in numerical relations and may have similar ties to the Avar language (for example, Indians- 25 thousand, tindintsi or else tindalee- 10 thousand people).
2. Dargin language group. Head people - Dagrintsi(self-named - dargan), 354 thousand people, with over 280 thousand living in the Girsky districts of Dagestan. A large diaspora of Darginians live near the Stavropol region and Kalmikiya. Muslims are Suniti.
3. Latvian language group. Main people - lacsi (lacquers, kazikumukh), 106 thousand people, in Georgian Dagestan - 92,000, Muslims - Sunitis.
4. Lezginska movna group- Day of Dagestan with the city of Derbent, people Lezgini(self-named - Lezgiyar), 257,000, Dagestan itself lingers about 200,000. There is a large diaspora in Azerbaijan. In terms of religion: Dagestani Lezgins are Sunni Muslims, and Azerbaijani Lezgins are Shiite Muslims.
   • tabasarantsi (tabasaran), 94,000 people, 80,000 of them live in Dagestan, Rasht in Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims;
   • rutultsi (mikh abdir), 20,000 people, of which 15,000 live in Dagestan, Sunni Muslims;
   • Tsakhuri (yikhbi), 20,000, most live in Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims;
   • aguli (agul), 18,000 people, 14,000 in Dagestan, Sunni Muslims.
     To go to the Lezgin group 5 more mov What to say is insignificant due to the number of people.

Peoples who later settled in the Pivnichno-Caucasian region

On the rise of the autochthonous peoples of the Fatherland Ossetian came to the Eastern Caucasus later and for a long time the stench was visible under the name Alan from the 1st century of our era. Follow my Ossetia to Iranian movable group and their closest relatives Iranians (Persians) and Tajiks. Ossetians live in Pivnichnaya Ossetia, numbering 340,000 people. The Ossetian language is divided into three great dialects, apparently leading to self-names:

• Iranian (iron)- Orthodox;
• digortsi (digoron)- Sunni Muslims;
• kudartsi (kudaron)– Pivdennaya Ossetia, Orthodox.

p align="justify"> A separate group consists of peoples whose formation and appearance in the Eastern Caucasus is associated with the late Middle Ages (15-17 centuries). In the case of newborn stinks, insure yourself until Turks:

1. Karachays (Karachayli), 150,000 people, of which 129 thousand live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. The Karachay diaspora is located in the Stavropol Territory, Central Asia, Turkey, and Syria. The language dates back to the Kipchak group of Turkic languages ​​(Polovtsians). Sunni Muslims;
2. Balkars (Taulu), mountain people, 80,000 people, of which 70,000 live in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Great diaspora in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Muslims – suniti;
3. kumiki (k'umuk'), 278 thousand people, mostly living in Pivnichny Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Pivnichny Ossetia. Muslims – suniti;
4. Nogaytsi (nog'aylar), 75,000, by territory and dialect they are divided into three groups:
   • Kuban Nogais (yak Nagais), to live near the Karachay-Cherkess Republic;
   • Achikulak Nogais to live near the Naftokumsky district and Stavropol region;
   • Kara Nagaytsi (Nogay steppe), Suniti Muslims.
5. Turkmeni (trukhmeni), 13.5 thousand people who live near the Turkmen region and Stavropol region, Alemov will reach Oguz group of Turkic languages Sunni Muslims.

Here you can see what appeared in the Eastern Caucasus in the mid-17th century. Kalmiki (halmg), 146,000 people, the language belongs to the Mongolian group (related to the Mongols and Buryats). Buddhism is a religious concept. Those from the Kalmyks, who were near the Cossack camp of the Don Army, professed Orthodoxy, were called buzaavi. Most – nomadic Kalmiki – Turguti.

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The Caucasus is a perfect border that divides Europe and Asia. There are about thirty different nationalities hanging around here.

Its part, the Northern Caucasus, is almost entirely part of Russia, and is shared by such republics as Virginia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The peoples of the Northern Caucasus live in the most complex region of our region, which includes many territorial structures that were formed under the national type. This densely populated and richly national region with its different traditions, languages, and also beliefs is accepted to respect Russia in miniature.

Due to its unique geopolitical and geocultural status, the relatively small Eastern Caucasus has long been considered a contact zone and at the same time a barrier that separates the civilization of the Mediterranean, Shidno In Europe there are a lot of processes that are taking place in this region.

The majority of the people of the Eastern Caucasus, however, are of a different breed: as a rule, they are dark-eyed, light-haired and dark-haired, they have sharp chins and thin lips. Cultivate the mountains in the plains with the plain inhabitants of great growth.

Their strong ethnicity, religious syncretism, various ethnic codes, in which the songs of rice are respected, are thought to occupy their new canopies, such as agriculture, alpine cattle breeding , knowledge.

According to their general classification, the people of the Eastern Caucasus include up to three groups: to the Adigo-Abkhazian (I mean Adigs, Abkhazians, Circassians and Kabardians), to the Vainakhs - Chechens, Ingush, and to the Kartvelian group, native to the Svans, Adjars and Mingrelians.

The history of the Northern Caucasus is richly intertwined with Russia, which has always had great plans for this region. As early as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, intensive contacts with the local peoples, especially the Circassians and Kabardians, began to develop, helping them in the fight against

The peoples of the Northern Caucasus, who suffer from the aggression of Turkey and Shah Iran, have always looked to Russian real allies to help them lose their independence. The eighteenth century became a new stage for these years. After the successful Petro I, having accepted the sovereignty of many regions under his control, as a result there was a sharp rise in tension between his borders and Turecchina.

The problems of the Northern Caucasus have always been at the forefront of the foreign political orders of Russia. This explained the importance of this region in the fight for access to the strategically important Black Sea for the Russians. So, as a way of consolidating their positions, the royal order generously bestowed the Georgian princes, who transferred to their position, with their native lands.

Dissatisfaction with the Ottoman Turkish region led to the Russian-Turkish war, in which Russia began to conquer great territories.

The Caucasian War became the official source for the remaining entry into this region to the warehouse of Russia.

And today, the Northern-Caucasian region, which dates back to the nineteenth century, has expanded into these autonomous republics of the Russian Federation: Karachay-Cherkessia, Adigea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Alania, Ingush Etiya, Dagestan and Chechen Republic.

The area where it is located is less than one hundred meters from the entire territory of our region.

There are close to a hundred nationalities and nationalities living in Russia, and perhaps half of them are the peoples of the Northern Caucasus. Moreover, according to estimates of demographic statistics, their number itself is steadily increasing, and today’s figure exceeds sixteen million people.

In the past, one of the great Adig tribes, Nini, is ethnographic. group Adigeans. Loitering in the village of Shovgenivsky Shovgenivsky district of the Adigey AT. Speak in the Abadze dialect Adigean language, what a step by step the summer goes by. Adigean mine. Believers A. are Sunni Muslims. The main occupations are agriculture, livestock farming, and gardening.

Abaza(aka Abaza hordes) - among the Dzherelakhs of the XVI-XVIII centuries. the chosen name of the peoples who inhabited the Black Sea coast of Pivn. Caucasus (Abkhazians, Sadzi, Ubikhs, Black Sea Adigi and in). However, most often under this name they pay respect to the Siberian Caucasus. Abazini According to the words of A. Genk, all the basic tribes began to increasingly form a single team, “mutual understanding between them in the past was much more important, even more so” (Slovenian Encyclopedia). also Abazini

Zikhs - (Zigs), ancient tribes at the southern end of the Caucasus (1st century BC - 15th century).

Iberi - a long-time inhabitant of the territory of the present-day Georgian Skhidna; lived the whites of Iberia (Iberia).

Kasogi- Names of Adigians in Russian chronicles. Kasogi is Russian. called middle school. Adigivs, who hesitated in Prikubannya. First mention. Byzantine by the authors between VIII - IX centuries. The Arabs called the Kasogs “keshaks” (Masudi – X century) and respected them as a more “orderly” tribe. U X st. Kasogs entered the Khazarian warehouse. At 1022 rub. Tmutarakan. book Mstislav Volodimirovich Khorobriy zdolav kazozk. book Rededyu. At 1024 rub. The Kasogs took their part in the struggle between Mstislav and his brother, Viv. book Kyiv. Yaroslav Volodimirovich Wise, for supremacy in Russia. At 1223 rub. Kasogs were subjugated by the Tatar-Mongols during the march of the rest to Pivn. Caucasus and Black Sea steppes. Later, the Kasogs may have reached the center. Pivn districts. Caucasus.

Caspian Sea- Ancient Caucasian tribes of nomads-cattlemen near Skh. Azerbaijan (1st millennium BC)

The Kerketis are an ancient tribe of the northwestern Caucasus, the ancestors of the Adigians.

Colchis is the literal name of the ancient agricultural tribes at the beginning of their entry into Transcaucasia in the 1st millennium. BC e.

Coraxi- an ancient Greek name for one of the Western Georgian tribes on the territory of present-day Abkhazia (5th century BC – 2nd century AD)

In the ancient Caucasus, over 50 distinct national ethnic groups live in compact groups on the lands of their ancient ancestors. Over time, under the rich historical process in this region, all different peoples had a single share, and the so-called Trans-Caucasian ethnographic unit was gradually formed.

The Pivnichno-Caucasian Federal District has a population of 9,428,826 people, of which the majority are Russians – 2,854,040 residents, while national regions and republics have significantly fewer Russians. The other largest people in Pivnichny are the Chechens, who number 1,355,857 people. And the third largest nation in the Northern Caucasus is the Avars, with 865,348 people living here.

Adigeans

The Adigeans are classified into the Adigean ethnic group and call themselves “Adige”. Today's Adigeans are independent in ethnic terms and occupy the administrative territory of residence of the Adigean AT near the Krasnodar Territory. There are 107,048 people living along the lower reaches of the Labi and Kuban River on an area of ​​4,654 square meters. km.

The fertile lands of the Great Plain and frontiers with a peacefully warm climate and black earth soils, oak and beech forests are wonderfully suitable for the development of agricultural rule. The Adigs have long been aborigines of the Eastern-Caucasian locality. After the consolidation of the Kabardians into a single population of Adigs, subsequent resettlement, in some parts of the Kuban the tribes of the Temirgois, Bzhedugs, Abadzekhs, Shapsugs, Natukhais were lost, From whom the united Adigean nationality was established.

The number of all Adig tribes before the end of the Caucasian War amounted to 1 million people, but in 1864 a large number of Adigs moved to Turechchina. The Russian Adigs were concentrated on a small area of ​​\u200b\u200bpeaceful lands in the I Labi. After the revolution of 1922, the Adigeans were transferred to an autonomous region behind the national sign.

In 1936, the region was completely expanded to the Giaginsky district and the city of Maykop. Maykop becomes the capital city of the region. In 1990, the Adigean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established in the Krasnodar region, and shortly after 1992, an independent republic was established. Over the course of the Middle Ages, the Adigeans preserved the traditional rule, growing wheat, corn, barley, orchards and vineyards, and growing thin.

Virmeni

The region has a population of 190,825 Virmen, and although the Virmen ethnicity has historically been formed since the day of the Virmen Highland, part of whose people live within the boundaries of the Pivnichno-Caucasian Federal District. They are ancient people who appeared in the historical arena in the XIII-VI centuries. to sound that is, as a result of the mixing of a large number of different tribes of the Urartians, Luwians and Hurrians in the Virmen region. The Virmen language goes back to the great Indian-European homeland of the language.

The historical process of the sovereignty of the times is 2.5 thousand years old, since Alexander the Great took over Mala Virmenia, then 316 rubles. BC e. Airarat kingdom, later Sophen kingdom. At III-II Art. to sound e. the political and cultural center of the Republic moved to Transcaucasia in the Ararat Valley. Z IV Art. n. That is, the Virmens adopted Christianity, and the Christian world of the Virmens Apostolic Church was established here. Most of the time after the terrible genocide of 1915, perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks, today people live their historical fatherland.

Circassia

The indigenous inhabitants of Karachay-Cherkessia, Adigea and other regions of Kabardino-Balkaria are the Circassians, a former Caucasian people numbering 61,409 people of which 56.5 thousand live mainly in 17 high-altitude regions streets of Karachay-Cherkessia. Long ago Greek historians called them “kerket”.

According to archaeologists, the ancient culture of Kobanska, dated back to the 13th century, belongs to this ethnic group. to sound e. In the study of the ethnographic group of Circassians, they could have suffered the fate of “proadiga” and “provainakh”. We will forever feel the fate of the enlightened ethnicity of the Circassians and the fate of the ancient Scythians.

In 1921, the Georgian ARSR was established, and later in 1922, the national Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Republic was established in the URSR. The Adigs themselves were called Circassians for a long time, and many hours passed before the Adigs were recognized as an independent people. In 1957, the Stavropol Territory established the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Republic based on the ethnic principle.

The main traditional occupations of the Circassians have long been livestock farming, breeding cows, sheep, horses, and cattle. In the valleys of Karachay-Cherkessia, orchards and vineyards have been growing for a long time, barley, water and wheat are growing. The Circassians were famous among other peoples for the weaving of high-yax cloth and the production of clothes from it, the blacksmith's craft and the production of armor.


Karachay

Another indigenous Turkic people who live in Karachay-Cherkessia along the valleys of the Kuban, Teberdi, Urup and Velikaya Labi are numerous Karachais. The Pivnichno-Caucasian Federal District currently has 211,122 individuals.

The first thing about nationality “in short” and “in short” can be seen in the notes of the Russian ambassador Fedot Yelchin to Mergeliya in 1639. The story about the “character”, like living on the high peaks of the Kuban and speaking in the “Tatar” language, will come to mind more than once.

In the study of the ethnicity of the Karachays in the VIII-XIV centuries. The local Alans and the Kipchak Turks took their fate. The closest peoples in the gene pool to the Karachais are the Circassians and the Abazins. After negotiations and decisions between the elders in 1828, the Karachay lands went to the Russian state.

The VVV Karachaivska AT is on the move for a long time, born in 1942-1943. was under fascist occupation. Through complicity with the enemies, showing the fascists the passes near Transcaucasia, the mass entry to the lava zagarbniks, the capture of German spies in the spring of 1943, a decree of the RNK of the SRSR was issued about the resettlement of 69,267 Korochaevites to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The Karachais were dispersed in other regions of the Caucasus, 2543 people were demobilized from the army.

For a long time, over the course of three centuries from the 16th to the 19th centuries, the process of Islamization of the Karachay tribes, they still preserved in their beliefs the sum of paganism, worshiping the great spirit of nature Tengri, believing in nature magic, sacred stones and trees with Christian beliefs and Islam. Today, most Karachais are Sunni Muslims.

Balkartsi

One of the Turkic peoples of the region who live in the frontiers and mountains in the center of the region, in the upper reaches of Khaznidon, Chegem, Cherek, Malki and Baksan and the Balkars. There are two versions of the similarity to the ethnonym, one of them assumes that the word “Balkar” is modified from “Malkar”, a resident of the Malkar Gorge, or from the Balkan Bulgarians.

Today, the main population of Balkars, 110,215, lives in Kabardino-Balkaria. Balkars pray in Karachai-Balkar language, which practically does not divide into dialects. The Balkars live high in the mountains and are considered one of the poorest high-altitude peoples in Europe. In the trival ethnogenesis of the Balkars, the Alan-Ossetian, Svan and Adig tribes took the same fate.

He first mentioned the ethnonym “Balkar” in his notes of the 4th century. Mar Abas Katina, these invaluable records were preserved in the “History of Virmenia”, recorded in the 5th century by Movses Khorenatsi. In Russian historical documents, the first ethnic name is “Basiani”, which refers to the Balkars, who appeared in 1629. Ossetians-Alani have long called the Balkars aces.

Kabardians

At 57% of the population of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, the Kabardian ethnic group is becoming more numerous in this region. Between the Russian part of the region, representatives of this ethnic group live 502,817 people. The closest people to my cultural traditions to the Kabardians are the Circassians, Abkhazians and Adigeans. Kabardians pray with their Kabardian language, which is close to the Circassian language, which is related to the Abkhaz-Adizian language group. Crimea of ​​Russia, the largest diaspora of Kabardians lives in Turechchyna.

Until the 14th century, the closest peoples of the Adigis had little history. Significantly later, the divisions of these peoples developed their own histories. And the age is 30 years ago. BC That is, under the Zagal ethnonym, the Adigas were the home of representatives of the original Maykop culture, from which the early Caucasian, Kuban and Koban cultures appeared.

Emperor of Byzantium Kostyantin Porphyrogenitus 957 r. In the ontogenesis of the Kabardians, according to the thoughts of many of their predecessors, they took the fate of the Scythians and Sarmatians. In 1552, the Kabardian princes, together with Temryuk Idarov, began a policy of rapprochement with Russia, so that it would help them defend themselves against the Crimean Khan. Later they took the part of the buried Kazan for Ivan the Terrible, the Russian Tsar established a political love affair with the daughter of Temryuk Idarov.

Ossetians

The main populations of Pivnaya Ossetia, Alania and Pivdennaya Ossetia are home to the fearless warriors of the ancient Alans, who will resist, and those unconquered by the great Tamerlane - the Ossetians. There are 481,492 individuals living in the southern Caucasus, which seem to belong to the Ossetian ethnic group.

The ethnonym “Ossetians” is responsible for the name of the region where representatives of this people “Ossetia” have long lived. This is what the Georgians called the Qiu region in the Caucasus Mountains. The word "asi" is similar to the self-name of one of the curtains of the Alans "asi". In the well-known code of warriors “Nart Epos” there is another Ossetian self-name “allon”, which is similar to the word “alan”.

The Ossetian formal language belongs to the Iranian group and is the same middle world, which is closest to the ancient Scythian-Sarmatian language. In this language, there are two native dialects of Ossetians: Ironskiy and Digorskiy. The feathers of many noses follow the Ironic dialect, becoming the basis of the literary Ossetian language.

In the ethnogenesis of the Ossetians, the ancient Alans, the tribes of the Pontic Scythians shared the same fate, and the stinks were shared with the local tribes. The fearless Alans in the Middle East became a great danger for the Khazars, they were valiant warriors and allies for Byzantium, they fought on equal terms with the Mongols and stood up to Tamerlane.

Ingush

The indigenous people of Ingushetia, Eastern Ossetia and the Sunzhensky region of Chechnya are known by Strabo as “Gargarei” - the Eastern Caucasian Ingush. Their ancestors were native to the rich Caucasian peoples of the Koban culture. Today, 418,996 Ingush people linger here in the native lands.

In the Middle Ages, the Ingush belonged to a union of Alanian tribes, both from the ancestors of the Balkars and Ossetians, Chechens and Karachais. Here in Ingushetia there are the ruins of the so-called Ekazhevsko-Yandirsky settlement, according to archaeologists, the capital city of Alania - Magas.

After the defeat of Alania by the Mongols and the alliance between the Alans and Tamerlane, the surpluses of the competing tribes went to the mountains, and the establishment of the Ingush ethnic group began there. In the 15th century, the Ingush made several attempts to return to the plains, but during the campaign of 1562 Prince Temryuk, they turned to the mountains.

The resettlement of the Ingush to the Tarsk Valley ended only after annexation to Russia in the 19th century. The Ingush have been at the Russian warehouse since the decision of the elders since 1770. When the Vladikavkaz fortress was built through the lands of the Ingush in 1784, the fortress of Vladikavkaz was founded on the birch of the Terek.

Chechens

The indigenous inhabitants of Chechnya are Chechens, the self-name of the Vainakh tribe “Nokhchi”. First of all, the people of Iz called “Sasan”, the same as “Nokhcha”, the divinations from the chronicle of Persian Rashid ad-Din XIII-XIV centuries. Today, 1,335,857 Chechens live in the region, most of them in Chechnya.

Hirska Chechnya passed to the Russian state in 1781 by the decisions of the honorable elders of 15 villages of the fallen part of the republic. After the protracted and bloody Caucasian War, over 5 thousand Chechen families went to the Ottoman Empire, their lands became the basis of the Chechen diaspora in Syria and Turkey.

In 1944, over 0.5 million Chechens were resettled to Central Asia. The reason for the deportation was banditry, there were up to 200 gangs of up to 2-3 thousand. osib. Few people know that a serious reason for the deportation was the work of the underground organization of Hasan Israilov in 1940, which was a way of strengthening the region from the USSR and impoverishment of all Russians here .

Nogaytsi

Another Turkic people of the region are the Nogais, a self-called “Nogai” ethnic group, sometimes called Nogai Tatars or Crimean Steppe Tatars. In the study, the ethnic group suffered the fate of over 20 ancient peoples, among them the Siraks and Uyghurs, Nogomans and Dormens, Kereits and Asi, Kipchaks and Bulgars, Argins and Keneges.

The ethnonym “nogay” comes from the name of the Golden Ordian political figure of the 13th century, Temnik Beklerbek Nogay, who united all the disparate proto-Nogay ethnic groups into a single ethnicity under its own kernel. . The first sovereign united Nogais became so called the Nogai Horde, which appeared on the historical stage with the collapse of the Golden Horde.

The formation of the Nogai state continued with the Golden Ordian temnik Edig, a legendary and heroic ruler, a preacher of Islam, who continued to unite the Nogais. Having continued all the traditions of the ruling Nogaya, he completely strengthened the Nogais as the rulers of the Khans of the Golden Horde. The Nogai Horde can be seen in the chronicles and Russian embassy books for 1479, 1481, 1486, the sheets of European rulers, King of Poland Sigismund I, in the charters and sheets of Russia and middle Poland, the Crimean khans c.

Caravan routes between Central Asia and Europe passed through the capital city of Nogai Horde Saraichik on the Ural River. Before becoming part of the Russian Empire, the Nogais reached the decisions of the elders in 1783, which were confirmed by the Manifesto of Catherine II. Numerous groups of Nogais were still fighting for independence, but the military leadership talent of A.V. Suvorov did not deprive them of the chance. Only a small part of the Nogais gathered near the border between Terek and Kumi, on the territory of present-day Chechnya.

Other peoples

At the frontiers of the Caucasus, the absence of other ethnicities and nationalities lingers. There are 865,348 Avars living here, 466,769 Kumyks, 166,526 Laks, 541,552 Dargins according to the latest census results, 396,408 Lezgins, 29,979 Aguls, 29,413 Rutuls, 127,941 – tabasarani and inshi.

PEOPLE

PEOPLE OF THE CAUCASUS

The Caucasus is a mighty mountain range that stretches from the descent of the Azov Sea to the Caspian Sea. At the spring winds and valleys Georgia and Azerbaijan rose up, at the western part of their mountains they descended to the Black Sea coast of Russia. The people, as this statistic has it, live near the mountains and the frontiers of mountainous mountains. Administratively, the territory of the Eastern Caucasus is divided among the following republics: Adigea, Karachay-Cherkova-Siya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Eastern Ossetia-Alania, Ingushet Yes, Chechnya and Dagestan.

The external appearance of the rich indigenous people of the Caucasus is the same. These are light-skinned, especially dark-eyed and dark-haired people with sharp facial hair, a large (humped) nose, and narrow lips. The Goryans call for greater growth in the villages with the inhabitants of the plains. The Adigeans often have light-colored hair and eyes (possibly as a result of mixing with the peoples of Common Europe), and the Meskans of the coastal regions of Dagestan and Azerbaijan seem to have a home, on one side, of Iranian blood (big noses), and from another – Central Asian (small noses )).

It’s not for nothing that the Caucasus is called Babylon - there were about 40 languages ​​“mixed” here. Nowadays one can see the striking similarity of the native Caucasian language. The Western Caucasians, or the Abkhaz-Adizians, seem to be Abkhazians, Abazins, Shapsugs (living on the outskirts of Sochi), Adigeans, Circassians, Kabardians. Similar languages ​​include Nakh and Dagestan. The Nakhs include Ingush and Chechen, and the Dagestanis are divided into several subgroups. The largest of them is Avaro-an-do-tsezka. Prote Avarska - the language is not less than the Avars themselves. There are 15 small peoples living in Pivnichny Dagestan, of which there are only a few living forces, grown in the isolated high-altitude valleys. The people speak in different languages, and the Avar language is an interethnic language that is taught in schools. In Pivdennoye Dagestan, Lezgin languages ​​are lured. Lezgins live near Dagestan, and in neighboring regions of Azerbaijan. As long as the Radyansky Union is a single power, such a part will not be noticeable, but at the same time, if the power cordon passes between close relatives, friends, acquaintances, the people experience it painfully. Speak Lezgin languages. Tabasarani, Aghuli, Rutulians, Tsakhuri and others. In Central Dagestan, Dargin (her, zokrema, to speak from the famous village of Kubachi) and Lak language are highly respected.

Turkic peoples also live in the Eastern Caucasus - Kumiks, Nogais, Balkars and Karachais. Mountain Jews - Tati (in Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Kabardino-Balkaria). Their language, Tatsky, relates to the Iranian group of the Indian European family. Before the Iranian group, there is Ossetian.

Until the end of 1917. Perhaps all the languages ​​of the Pivnichny Caucasus were unwritten. In the 20's rocks. for most of the Caucasian peoples, in addition to the youngest ones, alphabets were developed on a Latin basis; there were a great number of books, newspapers and magazines. In the 30's rocks. The Latin alphabet was replaced by alphabets based on Russian, but they appeared less suitable for transmitting the sounds of the Caucasian language. You can see books, newspapers, magazines, and Russian literature is still read by a large number of people.

In the Caucasus, in addition to settlers (Slovenians, Germans, Greeks and others), there are more than 50 great and small indigenous peoples. Russians live here, chiefly in the towns, and often in villages and Cossack villages: in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia - 10-15% of the total population, in Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria - up to 30%, in Karachay-Cherts i-sii and Adigea - up to 40-50%.

By religion, most of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus are Muslims. Prote Ossetians are predominantly Orthodox, and mountain Jews adhere to Judaism. Traditional Islam has lived for a long time with Muslim and pagan traditions at home. For example, XX century. In many regions of the Caucasus, most importantly in Chechnya and Dagestan, the ideas of Wahhabism became popular. This current that has broken out in the Arabian Peninsula emphasizes the harsh development of Islamic norms of life, in the form of music, dancing, and against the participation of wives in general life.

Caucasian chastuvannya

The traditional occupations of the peoples of the Caucasus are agricultural farming and transhumance. Many Karachai, Ossetian, Ingush, Dagestan villages specialize in the most popular types of vegetables - cabbage, tomatoes, cibul, chasnik, carrots, etc. In the Girsky regions of Karachay-Cherkessia і Kabardino-Balkaria is important to drive; From the outside and the down of the sheep, knit sun hats, hats, shawls and so on.

The food habits of different peoples of the Caucasus are very similar. The basis of yogurt is grains, dairy products, and meat. The rest is 90% lamb, pork and some Ossetian. Great horned thinness is rare. It is true, however, especially on the plains, that a lot of birds are raised – chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese. The Adigean and Kabardian birds are preparing to take a good and varied approach. The famous Caucasian kebabs are not prepared so often - lamb is either boiled or stewed. Slaughter and harvest a sheep according to strict rules. While the meat is fresh, remove various types of boiled cowbass from the intestines, meatballs, and giblets, as they cannot be preserved for a long time. Dry and dry a portion of the meat to keep in reserve.

Vegetable herbs are not typical for Caucasian cuisine, but vegetables can be eaten steadily - in fresh, pickled and pickled form; They are also used as a filling for pies. In the Caucasus, they love hot milk herbs - dilute the sour cream with sirna krichta and boroshno, drink cooled fermented milk product - ayran. Everyone knows kefir - the wine of the Caucasian mountaineers; Yogo ferment with special fungi in wineskins. Karachays call this dairy product “Gip-ayran”.

In traditional festivals, bread is often replaced with other types of borot and cereal herbs. We have a variety of porridges in front of us. In the Western Caucasus, for example, it is more common to eat hard millet and corn porridge from various herbs, including bread. In the Skhidny Caucasus (Chechnya, Dagestan), the most popular borog grass is khinkal (small pieces of dough boiled in meat broth or simply in water, and served with sauce). Both porridge and khinkal are used for preparing less hot, less baked bread, and so is more abundant where firewood is in short supply. At high altitudes, among shepherds, there is very little burning; the main ingredient is oatmeal - greased until brown with a coarse broom, then mixed with meat broth, syrup, olive oil, milk, and in extreme cases, simply with water. Make balls from the scraped dough and eat them with tea, broth, and ayran. All kinds of pies are of great everyday and ritual significance in Caucasian cuisine - with meat, with potatoes, with beet badillas and, especially, with cheese. Among Ossetians, for example, such a pie is called “fidiin”. On the Yuletide table there are obligatory three “ualibakhs” (pies with cheese), and they are placed in their hands so that the stinks are visible from the sky to St. George, whom the Ossetians are especially fond of.

In the spring, the gentlemen prepare jam, juices, and syrups. Previously, tsukor was replaced with honey, molasses or boiled grape juice when preparing malt. Traditional Caucasian drink - halva. Make it from lubricated flour or coated cereal balls in oil, adding olive oil and honey (or cherry syrup). In Dagestan they prepare a kind of rare halva - urbech. Rub lubricated hemp, lyon, dormouse or apricot kernels with algae, diluted in copper or lemon syrup.

In the Pivnichny Caucasus, drink miracle grape wine. Ossetians have long brewed barley beer; among the Adigeans, Kabardins, Circassians and Turkic peoples it is replaced by buza, or maxima, a type of light millet beer. Greater results will come out when honey is added.

In exchange for their Christian neighbors - Russians, Georgians, Virmens, Greeks - the mountain peoples of the Caucasus do not eat mushrooms, instead they collect wild berries, wild pears, and peas. Polivanna, a favorite pastime of the mountaineers, has lost its significance, the remains of the great mountain plots are occupied by nature reserves, and a lot of animals, such as bison, are included in the International Book of Red Books. There are plenty of wild boars in the forests, but there is little love for them, since Muslims do not eat pork.

Caucasian villages

Since ancient times, residents of wealthy villages outside the rural dominion engaged in crafts. The Balkars were famous as masters of the people; Metals were prepared and repaired, and at fairs - the centers of everyday life - residents of the village of Tsovkra (Dagestan) often performed to celebrate the mystique of circus tightrope walkers. The folk crafts of the Eastern Caucasus are visible far beyond its borders: painted ceramics and stoneware from the Lak village of Balkhar, wooden pots with metal inlays from the Avar village of Untsukul, folk decorations from the village of Kub achi. In many villages, from Karacha-in-Cherkessia to Pivnichny Dagestan, they engage in felting - they prepare burkas, covered with keels. The burka is an indispensable part of the Georgian and Cossack cavalry combat. It's not only during an hour of driving that it takes away from you - under a burning cloak you can get into trouble, like a little tentative; It is absolutely indispensable for shepherds. In the villages of Pivdennoye Dagestan, especially among the Lezgins, they prepare wonderful pile keels, which are highly valued in this world.

The old Caucasian villages are called Malovnichny. Stone booths with flat doors and open galleries with fissured pillars stick to the sides of the narrow streets. It is not uncommon for such a tower to be surrounded by defensive walls, and next to it to stand a tower with tall warriors - previously, the whole homeland would hang out at such towers during the hour of enemy raids. Because of the lack of need for a home, they are gradually building up, so that the festivities gradually begin to appear, and the new huts will be made of concrete or concrete, with covered verandas, often on two or three surfaces.

These huts are not so original, but they are handmade, and their furnishings do not change from time to time - a daily kitchen, running water, a burning room (however, a toilet and a sink are often located in the yard). New huts often serve only for receiving guests, and the family lives either on the lower side or in an old hut, converted into a kind of residential kitchen. Today you can still explore the ruins of ancient forts, walls and fortifications. A number of towns have preserved treasures from ancient burial crypts that have been well preserved.