List all the peoples of the Caucasus. Russia

The Caucasus is the southern border of Europe and Asia; more than 30 nationalities live here. The Greater Caucasus Range divides the region in half: its northern slopes (North Caucasus) are almost entirely part of Russia, while its southern slopes are shared by Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. For centuries, the Caucasus remained an arena of rivalry between world powers: Byzantium, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, the Caucasus almost entirely became part of the Russian Empire. At the end of the twentieth century, with the collapse of the USSR, the Transcaucasian republics gained independence, and the North Caucasian peoples remained part of Russia.

From the Taman Peninsula along the Black Sea coastline to Sochi, the western part of the Caucasus Range stretches - this is the historical homeland of the Circassians (another name is the Adyghe), a group of related peoples who speak the Adyghe language. After the Crimean War of 1853-1856, in which the Circassian Circassians supported the Turks, most of them fled to the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and the Russians occupied the coast. The Western Circassians, who remained in the mountains and accepted Russian citizenship, began to be called Circassians. Today they live on the territory of Adygea, the westernmost North Caucasian republic, surrounded on all sides like an island by the Krasnodar Territory. To the east of Adygea - on the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic live the Circassians, East End the Adyghe ethnic group, and even further - the Kabardins, also a people related to the Adygs. Adyghe, Kabardians and Circassians speak languages ​​belonging to the same language family: Abkhaz-Adyghe. Like many North Caucasian peoples, the Circassians, originally pagans, adopted Christianity around the 6th century (almost four centuries before Rus'); there even existed their own episcopal sees, however, with the fall of Byzantium, under the influence of Persian and later Ottoman influence, most of the Circassians converted to Islam by the 15th century, so now the Circassians, Adygeans and Kabardians are Muslims.

To the south of the Circassians and Kabardians live two close Turkic-speaking peoples: the Karachais and the Balkars. Ethnically, the Karachais form a single people with the Balkars, divided purely administratively: the former, together with the ethnically dissimilar Circassians, form Karachay-Cherkessia, the latter, with the Kabardians, form the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. The reasons for this bizarre administrative division are unclear. Like the Circassians, these peoples once professed Christianity, but, having fallen out of the circle of Byzantine influence, they converted to Islam.

Ossetia is located east of Kabardino-Balkaria. The ancient Christian kingdom of Ossetians (a people of Iranian origin) - Alania - was one of the largest Christian states Caucasus. Ossetians still remain the only North Caucasian people who have retained the Orthodox religion. By the time of general Islamization, the Ossetians had managed to become sufficiently strong in their faith to withstand external onslaught and conjuncture, while other peoples, having not completely eliminated pagan beliefs, in fact, never fully becoming Christians, converted to Islam. At one time, the ancient Alanian kingdom included the lands of the Karachais, Circassians, Balkars and Kabardins. There are still surviving communities of Mozdok Kabardians who have retained their Orthodox self-identification. Before late XIX centuries, Muslim Balkars, who settled many Alanian lands after the fall of medieval Alania, preserved “remnants” of Christianity in the form of veneration of churches and the sign of the cross.

Even further east live two related peoples: the Ingush and the Chechens. Only in the early 90s of the twentieth century did these two peoples form two separate republics on the site of the once united Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The overwhelming majority of Ingush and Chechens are Muslims; Christianity is professed only by Chechens living in the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia.

From the eastern border of modern Chechnya to the Caspian Sea is Dagestan, on whose territory more than ten nationalities live, of which the people closest to the Chechens are those belonging to the so-called Nakh-Dagestan language family: Avars, Lezgins, Laks, Dargins, Tabasarans and Aguls. All these peoples live in mountainous areas. On the Caspian coast of Dagestan there are Turkic-speaking Kumyks, and in the northeast there are also Turkic-speaking Nogais. All these peoples profess Islam.

The Caucasus in Russia is perhaps the most distinctive ethno-demographic region. There is linguistic diversity and neighborhood different religions and peoples, as well as economic structures.

Population of the North Caucasus

According to modern demographers, approximately seventeen million people live in the North Caucasus. The composition of the population of the Caucasus is also very diverse. The people living in this territory represent a wide variety of nations, cultures and languages, as well as religions. Dagestan alone is home to more than forty peoples speaking different languages.

The most widespread language group represented in Dagestan is Lezgin, whose languages ​​are spoken by approximately eight hundred thousand people. However, within the group there is a noticeable difference in the status of languages. For example, about six hundred thousand people speak Lezghin, but residents of only one mountain village speak Achinsk.

It is worth noting that many peoples living on the territory of Dagestan have a history of thousands of years, for example, the Udins, who were one of the state-forming peoples of Caucasian Albania. But such fantastic diversity creates significant difficulties in studying the classification of languages ​​and nationalities, and opens up scope for all kinds of speculation.

Population of the Caucasus: peoples and languages

Avars, Dargins, Chechens, Circassians, Digois and Lezgins have been living side by side for centuries and have developed a complex system of relationships that has made it possible to maintain relative peace in the region for a long time, although conflicts caused by violations of folk customs still occurred.

However, a complex system of checks and balances came into play in the mid-19th century, when the Russian Empire began to actively invade the territories of the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus. The expansion was caused by the empire's desire to enter Transcaucasia and fight Persia and the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, in the Christian empire, Muslims, who were the absolute majority in the newly conquered lands, had a hard time. As a result of the war, the population of the North Caucasus on the shores of the Black and Azov Seas alone decreased by almost five hundred thousand.

After the establishment of Soviet power in the Caucasus, a period of active construction of national autonomies began. It was during the USSR that the following republics were separated from the territory of the RSFSR: Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Ossetia-Alania. Sometimes Kalmykia is also included in the North Caucasus region.

However, interethnic peace did not last long and after the Great Patriotic War The population of the Caucasus underwent new tests, the main one of which was the deportation of the population living in the territories occupied by the Nazis.

As a result of the deportations, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush, Karachais, Nogais and Balkars were resettled. it was announced that they must immediately leave their homes and go to another place of residence. The peoples will be resettled in Central Asia, Siberia, and Altai. National autonomies will be liquidated for many years and restored only after the cult of personality is debunked.

In 1991, a special resolution was adopted that rehabilitated peoples subjected to repression and deportation only on the basis of origin.

The young Russian state recognized the resettlement of peoples and the deprivation of their statehood as unconstitutional. Under the new law, peoples could restore the integrity of their borders to the moment before their eviction.

Thus, historical justice was restored, but the trials did not end there.

In Russian federation

However, the matter, of course, was not limited to simply restoring borders. The Ingush who returned from deportation declared territorial claims to neighboring North Ossetia, demanding the return of the Prigorodny district.

In the fall of 1992, a series of murders on ethnic grounds occurred in the Prigorodny region of North Ossetia, the victims of which were several Ingush. The killings provoked a series of clashes using heavy machine guns, followed by an Ingush invasion of the Prigorodny region.

On November 1, Russian troops were brought into the republic in order to prevent further bloodshed, and a committee was created to save North Ossetia.

Another important factor that significantly influenced the culture and demography of the region was the first Chechen war, which is officially called the Restoration of Constitutional Order. More than five thousand people became victims of the fighting and many tens of thousands lost their homes. At the end of the active phase of the conflict, a protracted crisis of statehood began in the republic, which led to another armed conflict in 1999 and, consequently, to a reduction in the population of the Caucasus.

Updated version - at www.RANDEVU.nm.ru

PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES OF THE CAUCASUS
If the genetic and typological connections of many languages ​​of the Caucasus have been determined, then the question of the relationship of the Adyghe-Abkhaz, Kartvelian and Nakh-Dagestan languages ​​(and the language of the Basques living in Spain) still remains open.
Until recently, there were several classifications.
The first: considered the relationship of languages ​​on modern level. I did not find any common features in the Georgian, Adyghe-Abkhaz, Biscay (Basque) and Nakh-Dagestan languages: they have different grammatical structures, syntax and morphology. In accordance with this, the following families were distinguished: Biscay, Kartvelian, Western Caucasian (Adyghe-Abkhazian) and Eastern Caucasian (Nakh-Dagestan).
The second: established kinship at the grammatical and vocabulary level among the Adyghe-Abkhaz and Nakh-Dagestan languages, which were united into the North Caucasian family. Phonetically and syntactically, these languages ​​separated in the 5th millennium BC, emerging from a single Hatto-Hurrian family. The Basque and Georgian peoples were separated into their own families: Biscay and Kartvelian.
The third: united the North Caucasian languages ​​with Kartvelian into the Iberian-Caucasian family. I considered the Basque language separately.
Fourth: distinguished the North Caucasian (Japhetic) and Iberian families. The second included the Basques and Kartvelian peoples.
Fifth: united the above groups into the Iberian-Caucasian family based on the relationship:
Basque ~> Kartvelian (Georgian) languages ​​~> Adyghe-Abkhaz ~> Nakh-Dagestan.
Sixth: In accordance with the most recent (late 20th century) macrofamily theory of academicians S.A. Starostina, A.Yu. Militareva, V.M. Illich-Svitych, H. Peterson, G. Sweet, A. Trombetti and many others, the Kartvelian languages ​​are included in the Nostratic macrofamily, along with Indo-European, Altaic, Afroasiatic, Dravidian, Paleo-Asian, Eskimo-Aleutian and Ural-Yukaghir. This relationship was determined based on 12,000 lexical and grammatical matches.
This same macrofamily includes all the languages ​​of Tropical Africa, with the exception of the Khoisan languages ​​of Botswana and Namibia. Some scientists distinguish Afroasiatic (Semitic-Hamitic) and African languages ​​into a separate macrofamily.
The Adygo-Abkhaz, Nakh-Dagestan and Basque languages ​​are united in the Sino-Caucasian macrofamily, along with the Sino-Tibetan, Yenisei, Burushaski, Nakhali, Kusunda and languages ​​of the North American Indians of the Na-Dene family. All common features of the North Caucasian and Georgian languages ​​are subjective in nature; they are due to similar sentence structures and borrowings.
More details about macrofamilies can be found in a separate work.
The groups discussed below are given taking into account macrofamiliality. IN general view the ethnographic map looks like this (only the peoples represented in the Caucasus + Basques of Spain are indicated).

N O S T R A T I C H E N O R D
ALTAI family
INDO-EUROPEAN family
1. Turkic group
phonetic area "SATEM"
1.1. Kipchak subgroup
1. Armenian group
Nogai
Armenians
Kumyks
2. Iranian group
Karachais
2.1. Northeast subgroup
Balkars
Ossetians
1.2. Oguz subgroup
2.2. Northwestern subgroup
Meskhetian Turks
Tats
Azerbaijanis
Talysh
Turks

2. Mongolian group
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kalmyks
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SEMITE-HAMITIC family
KARTVEL family
Semitic group
Georgians
Northwestern subgroup
Svans
Assyrians
Megrelians and Chans
Mountain Jews
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

S I N O - K A V K A Z S K I E people
NORTH CAUCASIAN family
1. ADYGO-ABKHAZ group
2. NAKH-DAGESTAN group
1.1. Abkhazian subgroup
1.2. Adyghe subgroup
2.1. Vainakh subgroup
2.2. Dagestan subgroup
Abkhazians
Circassians
Chechens
Avaro-Ando-Tsez peoples
Abazins
Circassians
Ingush
Lezgin peoples
1.3. Ubykh subgroup
Kabardians
Batsbians
Dargin peoples
BIZCAY family
Basque
KARTVEL FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
Georgians (Kartvelians) are a generalized name for a group of peoples who are divided into two linguistic subgroups:
a) speakers of the Georgian language and its mutually intelligible dialects - the majority:
In Western Georgia - Adjarians, Gurians, Imeretians, Lechkhumis, Rachinians
In Eastern Georgia - Kizikians, Kartlians, Kakhetians, Mokhevians, Mtiuls, Gudamakarians, Pshavians, Tushins, Khevsurs
In Southern Georgia - Javakhs, Meskhs
In Azerbaijan - Ingiloys
In Iran - Fereydans (resettled by the Iranian Shah in the 17th century)
In Turkey - Imer-Khevs (mixed Imeretian-Khevsur ethnic group)
The Georgian literary language was formed on the basis of the Kakheti and Kartli dialects.
b) speaking their own languages ​​(based on the method of glottochronology (read “Macrofamilies”), it was established that the separation of these languages ​​and Georgian occurred back in the 8th century BC):
Mingrelians (Mingrelians, Margal) (Mingrelian language) - Western Georgia and Abkhazia
Svans (Mushvan) (including dialect groups) - Western mountainous Georgia and Abkhazia
Lazy (Chan language) - Adjara and Türkiye
Sometimes the Mingrelian and Chan languages ​​are considered dialects of the Mingrelian-Chan (Zan) language.
The Svan language has largely retained the appearance of the archaic proto-Kartvelian language.
Some of the Kartvelian peoples have characteristic endings to their surnames. The most common endings are: “-dze”, “-shvili” (in “-shvili” - the bulk of Georgian Jews, the so-called Ebraeli), “-eli” (Gverdtsiteli), “-ani” - princely origin (Orbeliani ), "-iya" (Mingrelian suffix), "-ava" (Mingrelian suffix) and some. other.
Surnames of Abkhazian Greeks starting with “-idi” are often considered Georgian.
The ethnic group of Tushins is divided into 4 subethnic groups: Chagma-Tushins and Gometsari-Tushins - they speak the Tushin dialect of the Georgian language, the Tsova-Tushins and Pirikita-Tushins speak the Batsbi language, which belongs to the Nakh-Dagestan family of languages ​​and are part of the Vainakh group.
Kartvelians are usually called all peoples who speak languages ​​of the Kartvelian family, and Georgians are the same peoples, with the exception of Svans, Mingrelians and Laz, who in every possible way emphasize their isolation.
Its own written language (asomtavruli) was created in the 4th century. BC. based on the Eastern Aramaic alphabet.
The bulk of Georgians are Orthodox Christians of the Georgian Autocephalous Church.
Adjarians, Laz, Meskhs and Ingiloys are adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam.
Fereydans are Shiites.
In anthropological terms, the Georgian peoples belong to various types of the Caucasian race (see appendix):
Mingrelians, Imeretians and part of the Gurians - mainly Pontic type
eastern (Kakhetians, Kartlians from Shida Kartliya), mountain (Svans, Mokhevs, Mtiuls, Gudamakarians, Rachins, Pshavs, Tushins, Khevsurs) and Ingiloys - Caucasian type
Adjarians, Fereydans, Kizikians (Caucasian type - ?), Imer-Khevians, Laz, Javas, Meskhi and Kartlians from Kvemo-Kartliya, part of the Gurians are of the Near Asian type (Colchis and Khorasan subtypes)
The total number is about 4 million people, of which 30% are Mingrelians.
* * *
History: After the collapse of the Nostratic linguistic macrofamily, in the southern regions of Asia Minor (Turkey) and Palestine, the formation of the pre-Kartvelian ethnos (belonging to the Near East type) began. This territory in the Bible is called Tubal ("tubal" in Semitic - "blacksmith"). According to scientists Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, Indo-European, Semitic and Kartvelian languages ​​have “similarities to the point of isomorphism in the design of linguistic structures...”. The work of linguist Paltimaitis (1984) “Five important Kartvelian-Baltic and Kartvelian-Semitic convergences” makes it possible to clarify the level of similarity, both ancient European with common Kartvelian, and common Kartvelian with ancient Semitic.
Approximately 20-19 centuries. BC. There was a division (divergence) of the proto-language (proto-language) into Svan and a single Georgian-Mingrelian-Chan (scientists combine the Mingrelian and Chan languages ​​under the same name Zan language, using what in the Svan language “myzan” means “Mingrelian”). Forced out by the Semites, the Kartvels (more precisely, their Svan part) broke through the Hurrian-Urartian and Hittite cities, and invaded the swampy Colchis lowland, where racial mixing took place with the Hurrians (Caucasian type), as a result of which the future Svans took on the appearance of representatives of the Caucasian type. Soon they were driven into the mountains by a new wave of Kartvelian settlers (Georgian-Zans). In the 8th century. BC. There was a divergence of the single Georgian-Zan language into Georgian proper (including dialects) and Zan (Mingrelo-Chan).
In the 1st millennium AD In Western Georgia, the Kartvelian Kulha Union was formed, which was founded in the 6th century. BC. State of Colchis. The descendants of the Iberians, who mixed with the Hurrians, formed the Iberians union, and created in the 4th century. BC. state of Kartli (Iberia, Iberia). The ethnonym "Iber" (Iver) comes from "Fubal" (Tubal): phonetic distortions "fuval-tubal-tabar-taber-tibar-tiber-tibaren". The name of the Spanish Iberians (hibern) has a different origin and goes back to the Greek name of the Libyan-Berber peoples of northern Africa - berberos, i.e. "bearded". The Greeks used the same term to call Germanic tribes, from which the term “barbarians” comes. At the end of the 1st millennium AD. Under the onslaught of the Arab conquerors, the South Georgian Meskhi (Mtskhe) were forced to retreat to the coast, where the Adyghe-Abkhaz peoples of the Pontic racial type lived. As a result of the Kartvelization of the local population and partly mixing (this applies to Mingrelians), mixed ethnic groups of Western Georgia arose. The bulk of Georgians (Central, Southern and Eastern Georgia) and Laz retained the features of the Near Asian type.
NORTH CAUCASIAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
1.) Adyghe-Abkhaz group.
Abkhazian subgroup:
- Abkhazians (Apsua)
- Abazins
Ubykh subgroup:
- Ubykhs
Kasog subgroup:
- Adyghe people
- Kabardians, Circassians

The existence of a single Adyghe-Abkhaz proto-language dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. This proto-language and the Nakh-Dagestan proto-language (which, along with Hattic and Hurrito-Urartian, were part of the so-called Hatto-Hurrian family) split in the 4th millennium BC.
The ancient Greeks called the population of the Kuban, the Black Sea coast and the north of Asia Minor - henioch. Another name for the Adyghe people is Kasogi. The Adyghe-Abkhaz peoples are descendants of the Sino-Caucasians, including the Hutt group, who moved to the Caucasus during the period of decomposition of the macrofamily. The ancient state of Hettia (2nd millennium BC) arose on the ethnic basis of the Hattians, who lived in the east of Asia Minor, and then conquered by the Indo-European peoples of the Anatolian group - the Luwians, Palais and Nesites.
Anthropologically, the Adyghe-Abkhaz peoples belong to the Pontic type of the Balkan-Caucasian branch of the Caucasian race.
(see Attachment)
The ethnogenesis of the peoples of the northern subgroup involved tribes of the Cimmerians (a Thracian group of the Indo-European family), who came from the Don and representatives of the so-called. Maikop Semitic culture - descendants of a small group of settlers from the Middle East (~3rd millennium BC).
Abaza (Abaza):
Descended from ethnic community Abazgians, first mentioned in the 2nd century. Then the Abazgs inhabited northern part modern Abkhazia, from Sukhum to the Bzyb River; in the 3rd-5th centuries. The Abazgs, displaced by the Kartvels, moved north to the Psou River and beyond, pushing back and assimilating another Adyghe-Abkhaz ethnic group, the Sanigs. Since the 8th century, the Abazgs have politically dominated the formed Abkhazian kingdom (8th-10th centuries), which is why the entire territory of this state, including modern Abkhazia and Western Georgia (Samegrelo, i.e. Megrelia, distorted - Mingrelia) is called in written sources from different countries of that time Abazgia (even in the 12th century in Russian sources Georgia is sometimes called Obesia, i.e. Abazgia). During the period of the collapse of united Georgia (1466), a new movement of the Abazgs began to the north and northeast, to the lands devastated by Tamerlane’s campaign in the North Caucasus (1395). When settling in new places, the Abazgs came into close contact with the Adyghe tribes, related to the Abazgs in language. In the course of ethno-historical development, part of the Abazgs became one of the main ethnic components in the ethnogenesis of the Abkhaz people (the direct descendants of the Abazgs are the Abkhaz of the Gudauta region of Abkhazia, speaking the Bzyb dialect of the Abkhaz language), the other part became part of some Adyghe ethnic groups (the group of the so-called "Abadze") - Bzhedugs, Natukhaevites, Shapsugs and especially Abadzekhs (16-17th centuries), the third - formed an independent ethnic group - Abazas (Abaza).
The Abazins were forcibly resettled by the tsarist authorities to the plain (1860s), some migrated to the Middle East. There are subethnic groups that speak dialects: Tapanta and Ashkarahua.
Currently there are about 45 thousand people. Sunnis.
Abkhazians (Apsua):
According to folk legends, they trace their ancestry to Japhet. They call their country Apsny - “Country of the Soul”.
Number of people: 115 thousand people. The bulk of believers are Orthodox.
According to science, there are 2 main versions of the origin, which are a reflection of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. The first version is the most reasoned and proven.
First version (Abkhazian). The Abkhazian people were formed by the 8th century. AD The ethnic basis was made up of the Ubykh tribes of Abeshla, Abazg, Sanig and Apsil (indigenous population of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus). The consolidation of the Ubykh peoples is associated with the adoption in the 6th century. AD Christianity, which replaced local pagan cults, including the cult of human sacrifice. In the 6th century, on the territory of modern Abkhazia, such formations as Abazgia, Apsilia, Misiminia and Sanigia were formed. The same period (6th - 8th centuries) is characterized by other significant events:
- The Abkhaz style of the Byzantine architectural direction has emerged.
- The Arab army was defeated near Iveron Mountain (Anakopia).
- Abkhazia began to provide political asylum for fugitive “politicians” from Armenia and Iran.
Abkhazians are divided into 4 territorial ethnic groups: Samu Rzakan (east of Abkhazia), Bzyb (west of Abkhazia), Gudout (in the Gudauta region), Abzhui (center), which use their own dialects of the Abkhaz language (literary - Abzhui), and have characteristic endings of surnames:
-ba (Chanba), -ia (Gulia), -aa (Ashkharaa), -ua (Charrua).
The Abkhaz language is divided into two dialects: Kodori (it includes dialects - Abzhui, Samu Rzakan, Gum<гудоут>) and Bzybsky.
Second version (Georgian). Georgian historian Otar Ioseliani believes that the current Abkhazians are the North Caucasian Muslim Apsua tribe, which in the 17th century. AD came from Kuban, and assimilated the local Georgian people of Abkhazians, who inhabited the territory from Poti to Sukhumi. The newcomers adopted Christianity and the ethnonym "Abkhazians".
However, the word "Abkhaz" represents the Georgian transcription of the ethnonym "Abazg".
Version by Dimitri Gulia.
Dimitri Gulia in his book “History of Abkhazia” (1925) developed the Ethiopian hypothesis of the origin of the Abkhazians, emphasizing that “the Abkhazians and their ancestors the Geniokhs are the Colchians who came from Egypt and, mainly, from Abyssinia.” These assumptions were based on “the tales of Herodotus about the exit of the Colchians from Egypt, and from Africa in general.” Conquerors ancient egypt The Hyksos, due to frequent rebellions among the Egyptians, “could have deported some of the Egyptians and Ethiopians to their country and to its outskirts - to the regions adjacent to Transcaucasia... The descendants of these involuntary migrants could have been partly those Colchians, Egyptian origin which, for Herodotus, was beyond doubt." The kinship of the Abkhazians was also suspected with the Semites and Hamites, based on the "kinship of the Semitic and Japhetic (Adyghe-Abkhazian) languages." In particular, the presence of prefixes in the Abkhazian language was meant as a feature indicating the connection of the Adyghe -Abkhaz languages ​​with Hamitic (Berber), and the presence of similar phenomena in one of the Hittite languages ​​(the Hittite languages ​​were Indo-Europeanized Adyghe-Abkhaz languages ​​of the Hattians).The theory of kinship with the Hamitic (including Western Chadic) languages ​​was also discussed in relation to the Nakh- Dagestan languages. It was also suggested that the Abkhaz language in its phonetics is similar to the languages ​​of the Khoisan tribes South Africa- Bushmen and Hottentots.
However, this version has not been confirmed anthropologically: the Abkhazians belong to the Pontic subtype of the Balkan-Caucasian branch, and the Egyptians belonged to the Cushitic branch, although there are certain similarities between these types, in particular in the shape of the nose and the width of the face.
Ubykh:
Ancestors of the Abkhazians. About 1,000 representatives live in the Sochi area, the rest - in the Middle East. They are identified with the Abkhazians, but speak the relic Adyghe-Abkhazian language, intermediate between the Abkhaz subgroup and the Adyghe one.
Adyghe people (Adyghe):
Direct descendants of the Kasog tribes of the Adyghe-Abkhaz group. The Cimmerians (Thracian tribes who came from the Balkans via the Don and Danube) and the Achaeans (Illyrian tribes who came from the Balkans) took part in the formation of this, as well as the Kabardian and Circassian ethnic groups. They speak the Adyghe language, which breaks down into several dialects spoken by subethnic groups: Abadzekhs, Beslenei, Bzhedugs, Yeger-Ukaevtsy, Mamkhegs, Makhosheys, Natukhaytsy, Temirgoyevtsy (literary dialect), Shapsugs, Khatukayevtsy. As a result of tsarist repressions associated not only with accusations of friendship with Turkey (as stated in the article by Georgy Apkhazuri “Towards the concept of non-traditional aggression: Abkhaz technology”, www.newpeople.nm.ru, www.abkhazeti.ru), but also with massive involvement of Caucasians in agricultural work (after the abolition of serfdom, many peasants of the Kuban bought themselves out and left for the north), 300 thousand Circassians went to Turkey, and from there to Serbia, to the Kosovo field, where they settled on primordially Albanian land. Currently, the population is ~ 2.2 million people, of which 2 million are in Turkey and Kosovo.
Since the 10th century AD Christianity dominated in the western Caucasus, which in the 18th century. replaced by the Sunni branch of Islam.
Circassians and Kabardians:
The ancestors of the Kabardians - Zikhs - until the 6th century. AD lived north of the Kuban, from where they were driven out by the Huns. Kabardians in the 14th century. moved to the area of ​​Pyatigorye (Besh-Tau), where they displaced the descendants of the Alans - Ossetians.
The Kabardians also call themselves “Adyghe”, however, in the Middle Ages they towered over other peoples who paid tribute to the Kabardian princes. The ethnic group owes its name to Prince Kerbertey. The population is about 1 million people, with 600 thousand outside Russia.
The majority of Kabardians are Sunnis, while those from Mozdok are Orthodox.
The Circassian ethnos arose as a result of the mixing of the Beslenei Circassians with their related Kabardians in the 18th century. AD
"Circassian" is the literary name of the Caucasian peoples in the 18th century. This word, according to the most common version, comes from the Turkic word “cher-kesmek” (robber) or from the Kerket tribe. The number of Circassians is 275 thousand people.
They speak dialects of the Kabardian-Circassian language: the literary dialect of Greater Kabarda, Mozdok, Besleneevsky, Kuban.
Characteristic of the Adyghe-Abkhaz languages ​​is a huge number of consonant sounds: in the Ubykh language - 82, in the Bzyb dialect of the Abkhaz language - 67, in the Adyghe dialect - 55, in Kabardian - 48. There are very few vowels: in the Abkhaz language - two, in Abaza - two in a stressed syllable and one in an unstressed syllable, in Ubykh - three. In total, the North Caucasian languages ​​have a total of 299 different sounds.
* * *
2.) Vainakh group.
- Chechens (Nokhchiy, Nakhcho), Akkintsy (Aukhovtsy)
- Ingush (Galgai)
- Batsbis (Tsova- and Pirikita-Tushins)
Anthropologically, the Vainakhs emerged at the end of the Bronze Age, during the heyday of the Koban and Kayakent-Kharachoi cultures in the North Caucasus. They are representatives of the Caucasian subtype of the Balkan-Caucasian type of the Caucasian race. (see Attachment). The Caucasian type retained the features of the ancient Caucasian population of the Upper Paleolithic. According to one version, the ethnonym “nakh” comes from the name of the Hurrian tribe of Nakhs - descendants of the Dzurdzuks, immigrants from the Urartian province of Shem (in the area of ​​Lake Urmia). After the defeat of the state of Urartu by the Phrygians and Thracians (the ancestors of the Armenians), the Nakhs lived at different times: in Nakhchuvan (modern Nakhichevan Autonomy within Azerbaijan), Khalib, Kyzymgan, and then crossed the Caucasus Range and settled among the related Hurrian peoples of the North Caucasus. The Vainakhs, as the population of the Terek valley and the mountainous regions, appear in Strabo’s “Geography” (1st millennium BC) under the name “gargarei” (from the Hurrian “gargara” - “relative”). The same term was then used to describe the Hurrian population of Karabakh. Gargarei are also known as Glygvae. Until 8th century AD pagan beliefs similar to the Abkhazian and Adyghe were preserved, which were supplanted by Orthodoxy, which came from Georgia. Traces of Christianity are present in the Vainakh language, beliefs and culture. Islam entered Chechnya from the Golden Horde in the 17th century. AD The division of the Vainakhs occurred in the 16th century. The history of the Vainakh states is closely intertwined with the history of the Dagestan jamaats. The first states began to appear in the 15th century. AD In February 1944, the Chechen-Ingush autonomy was liquidated, and part of the population was deported to Kazakhstan. In 1956, CHI autonomy was restored. The returning Ingush discovered that some of their villages were occupied by Ossetians. This situation led to an “explosion” and the Ossetian-Ingush conflict in the early 90s.
Chechens (Nakhcho, Nokhchiy):
The self-name of the ethnic group - "Nakhcho" - comes from the name of a large Vainakh tribe that lived until the 17th century. in the area of ​​the Argun River and the village of Bolshoi Chenchen. The name of the aul in a modified form began to designate the Vainakhs in many European languages. From the 18th century they began to settle with the Cossacks in the area of ​​the Sunzha River, on the plain. The clan-tribal structure, the so-called teip system, is still developed. There are 170 teips in total, of which 100 are mountainous and 70 are lowland. The most notable teips: Gunoy (Sheikh Mansur), Varanda (Hadji Murat), Bekovichi-Cherkassky<иногда ставится под сомнение чеченское происхождение этого тейпа>(Ruslan Khasbulatov), ​​Orstho<Це Чо>(Dzhokhar Dudayev). Some teips are national in nature: Zhyukti (Jewish teip), Gyurdzhi (Georgian), Gabarto (Kabardian), Gumi (Kumyk). Along with the Cyrillic alphabet, the so-called Uslar alphabet.
They speak subdialects of the Chechen dialect of the Vainakh language: Mountain Chechen (literary), Cheberloevsky, Melkhi, Itumkalinsky, Galanchozovsky (?), Kistinsky, Sharoevsky, Kildikharovsky.
There are also Akkin Chechens living in the Khasav-Yurt region. The Akkins are descendants of the former inhabitants of the mountain village of Aukh, who settled on the plain in the 17th century. The number of Akkins is 20 thousand people. They speak the Akkin subdialect of the Chechen dialect.
The total number of Chechens around the world is about 2 million people. Large diasporas are in Turkey and Lebanon.
By religion they are adherents of the Shafiite movement of Sunnism.
Ingush (Galgai):
The self-name comes from the name of the large teip Galgaev. The word "Ingush", which entered European languages, appeared in the 17th century, when large Vainakh teips (Galgai, Tsorinkh, Dzheirakh, Metskhal, Feppin) moved from the mountains to the plain (to the Tara Valley and the bed of the Kambilevka River) and founded the village of Ingush there (Ongusht, Angush). They speak the Ingush dialect of the Vainakh language. Supporters of the Shafi'i trend of Sunnism. Number of people: 320 thousand people.
Batsbians:
By the end of the 16th century. The settlement of the Kist (Batsbi) tribe in Georgia was completed. Fleeing from the raids of the Avar khans, the Batsbis (Vainakh-Kists) moved up to mountainous Tusheti, where they found protection from the Kakheti king Leon and began to be called “Tsova-Tushins” and “Chagma-Tushins”. They speak the Batsbi language with significant borrowings from the Tushin language of the Kartvelian family. The number is about 2000 people, including Kartvelian Tushins.
3.) Dagestan group.
Avaro-Ando-Tsez subgroup:
a) Avars (maarulal)
b) Andians (Kuannal), Botlikhs (Buyhadi), Godoberi
(gibbidi), karata (kirdi), bagulal (bagwali, gintlyal),
chamalal, tindals (tindi, ideri), akhvah (ashvado),
sydykyilidu, gshakhvahal)
c) Tsez (Didoi, Tsuintal), Khvarshi (Khuani), Ginukh
(Gyenose), Gunzib (Khunzalik, Enzsbi, Wizo), Bezhta
(kanuchi, Georgian capuchin, avar-khvannal, beshitl)
Lezgin subgroup:
- Lezgins, Tabasarans, Aguls (agutakani), Rutulians,
Tsakhurs, Shahdags<крыз, будухцы, хиналугцы (ханалыг,
kattiddur)>, Udi people, Archin people (arshishtib, rochisel)
Dargin subgroup:
- Dargins
- Laks

Anthropologically (Caucasian type with a high proportion of humped nasal bridge) and historically, the peoples of Dagestan are close to the Vainakhs. The ancestors of the Dagestanis - Leks, lived in the Caucasus mountains since ancient times. The names of other Hurrian peoples - the Caspian, Agvan (Caucasian Albanians) and Uti - are also associated with the name of the Leks.
The isolation of the Leks left its mark on the development of the languages ​​of this group. A situation has arisen that the residents of some village, without an interpreter, understand only the residents of neighboring villages, and absolutely do not understand the residents living across the village.
Avar-Ando-Tsez subgroup.
The largest ethnic group is the Avars (self-name - Maarulal), there are about 600 thousand of them. From the 5th century AD The territory inhabited by the Avars is called the state of Serir. From the 17th century Serir is known as the Avar Khanate. In addition to Serir, there are also the names of other jamaat states: Tindi, Khvarshi, Di-Duri (Dido), Chama-iga, Kos, Andalal, Chamalal, Karakh, Kapucha (the state of the Bezhti people, who are sometimes called Capuchins; please do not confuse these Bezhti people - cappuccinos with medieval monastic order Capuchins and the famous cappuccino coffee), Guide and Antsukh. Even the king of Georgia paid tribute to the Avar Khan.
During this period, the consolidation of the Khunzakh, Hedalal, Naka-Hindalal, Kuannanal-Andal, Baktli, Tlurutli, Tehnutsal, Sado-Kilidi (Tsunta-Akhvakh) tribes and, partly, Tsezo, Karata, Bagulal, which made up the Avar ethnos, took place. The Avar language is divided into a number of dialects: northern (Salatav, Chadakolob and Khunzakh<литературный>dialects), southern (Anchukh, Karakha, Andalal, Gid, Shulani, Gidatl, Batlukh dialects), intermediate (Keleb, Untib).
Bagulaly - 5 thousand people. Dialects: Khushtadinsky, Tlondodinsky, Tlisi-Tlibishinsky, Kvanadinsky, Gemersoevsky.
Bezhta residents - 9 thousand people. They live in Vost. Georgia and the area of ​​​​the village of Bezhta (Dagestan). Dialects: Hoshar-Hota, Tladalan.
Ginukh people - 600 thousand people.
The Botlikh people speak the Botlikh language, which includes the Miarsuev dialect.
Gunzib - 1.7 thousand people. They live on the border of Dagestan and Georgia. The dialect is Nakhadinsky.
The Ahvakhs descended from the Khunzakh Avars. Number of people: 6.5 thousand people.
Three dialects: northern, Ratlub and southern (two dialects - Tsekob and Tlyanub).
The Godoberinians speak the Godoberinian language, incl. Ziberkhalinsky dialect.
The Andians number 25,000 people. They speak 7 dialects, united into 2 dialects - upper and lower, including Munib and Kvankhidatlin.
The Tsez are considered an Avar subethnic group. 6000 people They speak dialects of the Tsez language: Kideroevsky, Shaitlinsky, Asakhsky, Shapigasky, Sagadayevsky.
Karata - 6.4 thousand. They speak the Karata language, incl. Tokitaevsky dialect.
Chamalali - 9.5 thousand people. They live in the Tsumandinsky region of Dagestan and Chechnya. The language is Chamalal, dialects: Gakvarinsky, Gadyrinsky and Gigatlinsky.
Khvarshyn - 2,000 people. They live in the Kizilyurt and Khasavyurt districts. They speak dialects of the Khvarshi language: Inkhokvarinsky, Kvantladinsky, Santladaevsky, which are sometimes considered separate languages.
Tindal dialects: Angidaevsky, Aknadinsky.
Lezgin subgroup.
Lezgins are direct descendants of the population of Caucasian Albania. From the 10th century AD have a written language, first - Arabic Tana,
and from the 15th century. - ajame (own graphics). The number of Lezgins is 385 thousand people.
They have 3 dialect groups:
-Kyurinsky (dialects: Güney, Yarkin, Kurakh; dialects: Giliyar and Gelkhen)
-Samur (dial: Dokuzparinsky and Akhtynsky; dialects: Fiysky, Khlutsky and Kurushsky)
-Cuban dialect.
In terms of language, they are very close to the Archins, residents of the village of Archib, which is on the Khatir River (1000 people), Tsakhurs (20 thousand people) who speak two dialects of the Tsakhur language: Tsakh (Mikik) and Helmet, Tabasarans (100 thousand people). ), having a unique language (northern, including Dyubek and Khanag dialects and southern<литературный>dialects incl. Kandik dialect), in which > 50 cases (!!!), Aguls and others (see list).
Aguls are a people that formed in the 7th century. AD based on the Agutakani tribes who lived in the southeast of the Caucasus range. Currently it is divided into 4 groups of tribes: Aguldere, Kurakhdere, Khushgander, Khpyukdere. They speak the following dialects: Kerensky (including the Richa dialect), Koshansky (including the Burshan dialect), Gekhunsky, Tpigsky, Burkihansky, Fite, Kuragsky. 18.7 thousand people
The Udinians living on the border of Azerbaijan and Georgia are Orthodox. The language is derived from Agvan (Caucasian Albanian). Dialects: Nidzkh and Vartashen.
Kryz. They speak dialects of the Kryz language: Alikov, Dzhek, Kaputli.
Rutulians. Dialects of the Rutul language: Mukhad (including Luchek dialect), Mishlesh, Shinaz, Ikhrek, Khnov.
Dargin subgroup.
The large ethnic group of Dargins, living mainly in Azerbaijan, is divided into 2 tribes: Kaytags (Khaidak) and Kubachi (Urbugan). They speak dialects of the Dargin language: Mekegin, Akushin-Kurkhili (literary), Urakhin (Khyurkilin), Tsudahar, Sirkhin, Meklin, Muerin, Khaidak, Kubachi, Chirag (including Amukh dialect), Kadar, Megeb, Gubden. The total number of Dargins is 332 thousand people. They belong to the Caucasian type.
The closest language to them are the Laks (70 thousand people). They speak dialects of the Lak language: Kumukh (literary), Khosrekh, Bartkhian, Vitskhiy. First Lak public education mentioned by Arab sources back in the 7th century. AD
All Dagestan peoples are Sunnis. However, cults and beliefs contain elements of paganism.
BISQAYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
- Basque
- Aquitanians (mixed with the French in the Middle Ages)
Basques (Euskaldunak, Biscayans, Biscay, Vascos):
A people of about 1.5 million people (660 thousand in Spain and 80 thousand in France). Basques live in Spain (provinces of Gipuzkoa, Vizcaya, Alava and Navarre), France (departments of Sula, Labourde and Lower Navarre), as well as in the USA and Latin America.
They speak the Euskara language (dialects: Suletinian, Bathua, Biscaya, Suberoa and others), which is close to the Aquitanian language of southern France, which died out in the Middle Ages.
The Basques call their territory Euskadi, but there are also other names: Baskonia, Biscay.
Anthropologically, the Basques belong to separate type within the framework of the Caucasoid race (Basque type), which, based on various estimates of anthropometric indicators, is included either in the Indo-Mediterranean, or in the Berber, or in the Balkan-Caucasian branches. Basques are characterized by short stature, a protruding nose, a narrow face, and dark pigmentation of the eyes and hair. The Basque language is clearly included in the Sino-Caucasian macrofamily, the closest to it is the language of the Hutts - the oldest population of Asia Minor, from which the Adyghe-Abkhaz peoples descended. Around 9 thousand BC part of the proto-Sino-Caucasians moved from Asia Minor to the west, laying the foundation for the unique Basque ethnic group. The uniqueness lies in the fact that this people has certain psychophysiological characteristics, namely that their oculomotor functions do not correspond to classical European standards.
In psychology and medicine, it is noticed that a person (resident of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East) raises his eyes when he remembers (up to the left) a visual image or tries to construct it (up to the right). A person looks to the side, remembering (to the left side) or constructing (to the right side) auditory images. A person lowers his eyes when he thinks about or remembers any physical sensation. This “technology” does not work for the Basques. The continuity of the Basques and Iberians of the Iberian Peninsula raises justifiable doubts. Archaeological and anthropological evidence indicates that the Iberians of Spain (tah-nu), known to the Greeks, Celts and Romans, came in the 6th-4th centuries. BC. from North Africa and were the people of the Berber group and representatives of the Berber type of the Cushitic branch of the Caucasian race. The newcomers, after the Pyrenees, also populated the British Isles. According to historians’ descriptions, “the Celts who inhabited the British Isles at the end of the 1st millennium BC encountered tall, long-headed people of the European type,” as evidenced by the study of fossil remains. The Berber language is not related to the Basque language, and even stands out as a parallel Afro-Asian macrofamily. From this it follows that the Basques already lived on the Iberian Peninsula before the Berbers. Of course, the Berber presence was reflected in the appearance of the Basques, who, nevertheless, retained their primitive language. The anthropological appearance of the Basques was also affected by the Celtic influence, expressed in the Celtoiberian ethnic group, formed as a result of the conquest of the Iberians and Basques (who lived compactly in the territories adjacent to the Bay of Biscay) by the Celts.
Romanization did not affect the Basques, unlike the Celtiberians and “pure Iberians.” Based on mixing Latin language Spanish, Galician and Catalan languages ​​arose with Celtiberian, and when Lusitanian (the language of the Iberians of the western Iberian Peninsula) was mixed with Latin, Portuguese was born. However, these languages ​​do not contain any elements of the Basque language, although they do have Iberian (Berber) elements.
Characteristics of the Euskara language:
- 24 sounds, 6 complex sounds (ay, oh, ay, rr, ll, ey)
- 24 cases of nouns
- the conjugation of verbs is analytical (the semantic verb is in the participial form, and the auxiliary verb - “to be” or “to have” - carries the meaning of mood, tense, person, number and sometimes gender, as well as transitivity and causation). There are a number of verbs that are conjugated synthetically, i.e. by changing the root and adding a suffix.
- person, number, gender, definiteness, uncertainty, declensions are expressed by adding suffixes and prefixes
- 11 tense verb forms
- there are only two genders: male and female
- three numbers: indefinite, singular and plural
- stress falls on the second syllable from the beginning
- the sentence structure is ergative.
Ergativity is expressed as follows:
Ni-k iraqasle-a ikusten dut [literally: I-am the teacher-I see him] “I see the teacher”
Irakasle-a-k ni ikusten nau [teacher-he-I sees me] “The teacher sees me”
Ni iraqasle nais [I am a teacher I am] "I am a teacher"
Hura iraqasle da [he is a teacher he is] "He is a teacher"
Ni ibiltschen nays [I am going I am] "I am coming"

*****Legends and theories about Georgians, Basques, Iberians and others...*****
The similarity of the geographical names of the Caucasus, the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles led scientists to the common origin of the Iberians of the Caucasus and the Iberians of Spain and Britain. A huge amount of linguistic and historiographical work was done, however, no concrete results were achieved. At the end of the 20th century, within the framework of the Macrofamily theory, scientists established the genetic and linguistic kinship of the Basques with the North Caucasian peoples, and the Kartvelians were allocated to the Nostratic family, an intermediate link between the Afroasiatic and Indo-European families.
* * *
I theory. This is the most common and yet erroneous theory. According to it, Iberians who came from the west participated in the ethnogenesis of the Georgian peoples. They had little influence on the anthropotype of modern Georgians; mainly, their role was expressed in the Iberization of local Hurrian, Adyghe-Abkhaz, Indo-European peoples and dialects. The first European researcher to raise the question of the need for a comparative study of the Georgian and Basque languages ​​is the famous philologist Lorenzo Hervas. The information about the Laz dialect presented in Ervas’s works is very valuable, which is given in comparison with the Kartli (literary) dialect of the Georgian language in order to show the similarities and differences between them. In the Italian edition of the Catalog of Languages, Hervas expressed his opinion about the kinship of Western (Basques) and Eastern (Georgians) Iberians.
There are various reasons given for why the Western Iberians moved east:
a) According to some ancient writers (names and writings have not survived), to which Strabo refers in his “Geography,” the European Iberians could move to Asia as a result of an earthquake in the west. Strabo noted that “the western Iberians moved to the areas above Pontus and Colchis..., separated from Armenia by the Araxes River.”
b) According to other authors, the ancient Western Iberians moved to the East as a result of their conquest by King Nebuchadnezzar (VI century BC), who, having taken the Iberians captive, took them away and settled them on the shores of the Black Sea. This was first pointed out by the Greek writer, historian and geographer Megasthenes (IV-III centuries BC) in his essay on India. This work of Megasthenes is known from the works of authors who mentioned Megasthenes and cited excerpts from his work.
Strabo and Josephus mentioned Nebuchadnezzar's transfer of his troops from Iberia to the Caucasus.
Eusebius and Mar-Abbas-Katina pointed out that Nebuchonezzador did not transfer his troops to Pontus, but resettled part of the tribes he had conquered in Spain and Africa to settle them on the Black Sea coast.
According to other historical data, Nebuchadnezzar never visited the West.
Science finds an explanation for the legend attested in ancient sources, suggesting that Megasthenes' information was based on factual material concerning other military campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar.
Geographer Dionysius Periagetes (1st-2nd centuries AD), speaking in his poetic “Description of the Earth” about the isthmus “between the Caspian and Euxine” seas, indicates that “the eastern people of the Iberians live on it, who once came from the Pyrenees to the east "...".
c) Socrates Scholastic (IV-V centuries AD) wrote: “It’s time to talk about how the Iberians adopted Christianity. One woman, virtuous and immaculate, by the will of divine providence was captured by the Iberians. These Iberians live near Pontus Euxine, and they come from the Iberians living in Spain."
Eusebius (XNUMXth century) in his “Commentaries” mentioned “a very large and wide isthmus between the Caspian and Euxine seas,” where “... the eastern country of the Iberians, lying between Colchis and Albania,” is located. “There live the eastern Iberians,” who migrated from the western Iberians who live near the Pirina, which, as we know, also curls around the Pyrenees Mountain.”
Byzantine historian of the 11th century. Michael Ataliat wrote: "... The real Iberia and Celtic Iberia itself are located in the western parts of Rome, along the western ocean. Nowadays this region is called Spain. The inhabitants of Iberia, brave and strong, fought against the Romans for a long time... the Romans barely conquered them ... The greatest of all sovereigns, Constantine, singled out a considerable part of them, from the western Iberians, and resettled them to the east, and hence the name Iberia was given to the country that received them..."
Historian Nikita Xanthopoulos, in his multi-volume work “Ecclesiastical History,” also expressed the opinion that the Iberians of Georgia are “the resettled part of the Iberians of Spain.”
Medieval Georgians repeatedly tried to undertake voyages to the west in order to “get acquainted with the life of Western Georgians,” but these attempts were unsuccessful for various reasons. And since the 10th century. AD Iberians and Georgians are no longer identified.
The Basque writer Navarro in his novel “Amala” points out the analogy of the names of mountains, rivers and settlements in the Iberian Peninsula and the Caucasus.
II theory. According to it, the Iberians of Spain descended from the Iberians of the Caucasus. This took place somewhere in the 5th century. BC, when the Iberians began to populate the Iberian Peninsula from the south, where they founded the state of Almeria, leaving for their descendants megalithic buildings similar to the Stonehenge megaliths in Britain.
The first to express such an opinion was the most ancient writer - the grammarian Varro (II-I centuries BC). A similar opinion was held by the Roman writer Priscian (V-VI centuries AD), who in his work “Grammar Guide” noted: “Actually, “hiberes” is the name of the tribe that moved out from the Iberians who live beyond Armenia,” i.e. expressed the idea of ​​the Caucasian origin of the Western Iberians.
One of the legends widespread in the Basque region tells about the resettlement of the Basques.
The Basques themselves call themselves “newcomers from the East.”
Interesting considerations on this matter are contained in the work of John Marian “General History of Spain”: “The Iberians, who formerly lived on the shores of the Black Sea in the Caucasus Mountains, came in great numbers to Spain, scattered and built Ibera in it above Tortosa, and gave the name the river that flows nearby, and then the entire province."
Bascologist A. Doring, considering the question of the origin of the Basques, connects their self-name - “euskaldunak” with the names of the historical places of Georgia - Dioskuria, Iskuria, Isgaura. From these ports, located in Caucasian Iberia on the Black Sea coast, part of the Iberian tribe went to the West. The Iberians, having moved to the Iberian Peninsula from the region of the highest civilization in the East at that time, brought from Caucasian Iberia the skill of making weapons and the tradition of making objects from copper, iron and steel. The name of the Basque Country is Euskadi (the geographical localization suffix “-adi” echoes the Kartvelian suffix “-eti”).
Professor R. Gordesiani touches on the important issue of the relationship between the Iberian-Caucasian languages ​​and the ancient languages ​​of the Mediterranean. The researcher notes that at the beginning of this century, the theory of a certain pre-Indo-European linguistic and cultural unity throughout the Mediterranean basin, the remnants of which are currently the Caucasian tribes in the Caucasus, and the Basques in the west, was very popular. The author notes the facts of the presence in the Basque and Aegean (Creto-Mycenaean) languages ​​of individual words and forms that have their parallels in different groups of Caucasian languages, and focuses attention on those lexical parallels in which a certain pattern can be established. These parallels, in his opinion, can only be explained by the movement of a wave of immigrants from the Caucasus to the West.
III theory. “In the history of the Iberian kings, it is said regarding them that Torgomos came to the Ararat region with his eight sons, three of whom, namely Hayos, Kartlos and Kokasos, having marked themselves with exploits, took possession of the countries that they called by their names: Hayk, Kartl and Kokos, they dominated [over the countries], starting from the Pontic Sea (Black Sea) to the Caspian Sea until the time of Mikhran and his grandson, Arbok, who brought himself a Parthian wife from Partav, named Sahak-dukht. Being barren, she believed in Christ , who gave her a son, Vakhtang, nicknamed Gurg-aslan, because he wore on his helmet the image of a wolf and a lion. He had as a wife the daughter of Emperor Leo, and from him descend the kings until Teumos, whom Abas blinded. After him, Bagrat, the son of Gurgen, son of Ashot the Merciful, reigned. This is according to the story of Priest Mkhitar. And from the name of Gurgen the name Georgia came."
[General history of Vardan the Great, 1861].
This version can be supported by the book by T.V. Gamkrelidee and G.I. Machavariani, published in 1965 in Tbilisi, “The System of Sonants and Ablaut in the Kartvelian Languages.” “The authors convincingly proved the closeness of the Kartvelian base language to the family of Indo-European languages.” This means that Torgomos was the leader of the Indo-Europeans, since Hayk is considered the founder of the Armenian kingdom. Some linguists were more reserved about the book's main conclusions. One can name a very deep and meaningful article by A. Chikobav “The relationship between the Kartvelian languages ​​and Indo-European languages.” A. Chikobava writes: “Discoveries in Kartvelology are not so rare: the first of them was made by the Frenchman Bopp (Kartvelian languages ​​are related to Indo-European languages ​​- 1847), the second belongs to N. Ya. Marr (Kartvelian languages ​​are the closest relatives of Semitic languages ​​- 1888- 1908), the third is given in the study "System of sonants...".
In his works, the scientist N. Ya. Marr identified a number of etymological parallels between Basque and Georgian words, drew attention to a similar counting system, similarities in vocabulary, and correspondences between Basque and Caucasian prefixation systems. However, back in the 19th century, the agglutinative principle of morphology gave reason to bring the Kartvelian languages ​​closer to the Altai languages. The works of the above scientists were also used in constructing the macrofamily theory.
IV theory. Spanish Iberians (their descendants are Basques) and Caucasian Iberians have nothing in common. Peoples developed autochthonously and autonomously. This theory was put forward by the famous celtologist Adolphe Pictet. The relationship of geographical names is accidental, and all attempts to compare Georgian and Iberian languages ​​are strained.
V theory. The Iberians of Spain and Georgia are related, but within this theory, the Basques (and the pre-Celtic population of the British Isles) are considered a people close to the North African Berbers (Caucasian people). It is believed that at the end of the 1st millennium BC. The Basques were pushed into the mountains by Caucasian Iberians who came from the east.
VI theory. The Basques (and Iberians in general, both Spanish and Caucasian) are considered the descendants of the mythical Atlanteans, the population of Atlantis, which was located in the Azores region, and in 8-6 thousand BC. disappeared under water as a result of the earthquake.
VII theory. The rector of the Athos Academy, Evgeniy Bulgarsky, having collected information from ancient sources, was of the opinion about the kinship of Georgians and Spaniards: “Their (Spaniards’) king and princes are from Georgians.” Bulgarsky put forward his own assumptions on this issue: the Georgians moved to Spain, and then, “after the Spaniards multiplied again, the Spaniards went to Georgia.” As a result of this "movement", the tribes of Georgians and Spaniards are called the same. And so the interpreters changed their names. This same direction includes church leaders Maxim the Confessor (VII century) and St. George the Svyatogorets (Mtazzindeli) (XI century AD).
VIII theory. For a long time in Georgian historiography, an opinion was expressed about the kinship of Georgian tribes with the ancient peoples of Western Asia; the corresponding facts were explained by the “relocation” of Georgian tribes to the current territory of Georgia. Based on an in-depth analysis of numerous materials, Academician S. N. Janashia stated that “the Hittite-Subarians were the ancestors of the Georgians” and that “the ethnicity of the Chaldeans is indisputable: they formed part of the Georgian nation” (“History of Georgians...”, part, I).
ALTAI FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
A very common family, includes wide range peoples: from Turks to Japanese and Koreans. Consists of several groups. In the Caucasus, the peoples of the Kipchak and Oguz subgroups of the Turkic group are represented, as well as the Kalmyks, the people of the Mongolian group.
1.) Turkic group.
* Kipchak peoples of the Caucasus:
- Karachais, Balkars
- Nogais, Nogais, Kumyks
* Oghuz peoples of the Caucasus:
- Azerbaijanis
- Meskhetian Turks

Karachais and Balkars:
The self-name of the Balkars is taulu-mallkyarly, malkar, kunnyum.
There are local groups of Balkars: the Balkars proper (Malkars, malkarlyla), Bizingievo people (byzyngychyla), Kholam people (holamlyla), Chegem people (chegemlile), Urusbi people, Ilibaksans (baksanchyla).
The self-name of the Karachais is Karachayla.
Descendants of the local Adyghe-Abkhaz population, who mixed anthropologically with the Alans (5th century AD), and linguistically with the Volga Bulgars and Khazars (8th-9th centuries AD). Ethnogenesis ended by the end of the 1st millennium AD.
Karachay-Balkar language of the Kipchak subgroup of the Turkic group.
Religion: Sunni Muslims.
Number: Karachais - 150 thousand people. , Balkars - 80 thousand people.
Mixed (Pontic-Caucasian) type of race.
In March 1944, 40 thousand people - the entire Balkar population - were deported to Siberia. 20 thousand died. Their fate was shared by the Karachais, of whom 40 thousand (out of 100) died.
Nogai and Nogai:
The latest Kipchak settlers (17th century). Descendants of the Bulgaro-Khazar Nogai and Greater Nogai. Ethnicity is divided into clans, and those into cubes. Due to the national policy of Tsarist Russia, many Nogais left their homeland.
Nogai language. Sunni Muslims. Mongoloid Ural type of race. They live in the North of Dagestan.
Kumyks (kumuk):
Descendants of the Nakh-Dagestan peoples assimilated by the Bulgar Turks and their Khazar branch, with a significant anthropological Iranian element. They took shape as a people in the 13th century. A feature of life is matriarchy (even at the present time). They live in the north of Dagestan.
Religion: adherents of local traditional beliefs, Judaism, Sunnism and Christianity.
The language is part of the Kipchak subgroup of Turkic languages, but it also contains more ancient elements of the language of the Scythians (8th-3rd centuries BC), Cimmerians (8th century BC), Huns (IV century AD). BC), Bulgars, Khazars (V-X centuries) and Oghuz (XI-XII centuries). In the Middle Ages, the Kumyk language was an interethnic language in Dagestan.
Dialects: Buynak, Kaitag, Piedmont, Khasavyurt and Terek, the latter is also represented in Chechnya, Ingushetia and North Ossetia. The literary language developed on the basis of the Khasavyurt and Buynak dialects.
The process of ethnocultural consolidation did not eliminate the division into ethnographic groups (Bragun, Buynak, Kayakent, Mozdok, Khasavyurt Kumyks) and subethnic groups (Bashlyntsy, Kazanishchentsy, Endireevtsy), which retained some specific features in culture, way of life, language, folklore.
Anthropologically they represent a mixture of Caspian and Caucasian types.
Number of people: 350 thousand people.
* * *
Azerbaijanis (azeriler, azerbaijanlilar):
History: The original population of the Kura-Arksinskaya lowland were the peoples of the Sino-Caucasian macrofamily, who separated in the 5th millennium BC. into a Hurrian family. The Hurrians had close contacts with the Dravidian peoples of Iran (including the Elamites). Neighbors of the Hurrians from the 2nd millennium BC. The linguistically unclassified peoples of the Kassites, Gutians and Lullubeys became (anthropologically, judging by fossil remains and drawings, they were Caucasians, probably fragments of the Nostrati who migrated to the east). According to the most recent theory, the Kutians were Indo-European Tocharians, displaced from Central Asia, and the Kassites are a possible branch of the Kartvelian family, formed in the Iranian Plateau during the collapse of the Nostratic macrofamily.
In the 10th century BC. the first state emerges on the territory. Azerbaijan - Zamua, and in the 9th century. BC. in the area of ​​Lake Urmia - the state of Mannei. The population of these states were Hurrians (Agvan-Albanians, Caspians, Utians, Caduseans, Mikis, etc.). In the 70s of the 8th century. BC. In the Elburz mountains and the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, Media emerges, a kingdom founded by Aryan peoples who came from the Black Sea region through Central Asia. In the 6th century. BC. Media was captured by the Persian Achaemenid dynasty. After the campaigns of A. the Great and the division of his Empire, East Azerbaijan (currently a province of Iran) came into the possession of Atropat, a Macedonian military leader. From the name Atropatene (“possession of Atropate”) comes the modern name “Azerbaijan” (Turkic pronunciation of this word).
At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. In the northern part of Azerbaijan and the middle reaches of the Kura River, a state arose known as Caucasian Albania with a Hurrian population. In the 8th century. AD The Arabs destroyed Albania, which in the 12th century. transformed into the Khachen Principality (Khachkinazi) with its location in Karabakh (the Turkic name for the Armenian province of Artsakh). There was a strong infiltration of Scythians and Khazars.
In the 9th century AD the state of Shirvan arose with a significant Iranian (Atropatenes) element, which left its mark on the anthropological appearance of the population (as a result of the mixing of Hurrians of the Caucasian type with Iranians of the Pamir-Fergana type, the so-called Caspian type of the Indo-Mediterranean branch was formed). In the 11th-13th centuries, the Oghuz Turks, also called Seljuks, who came from Central Asia, began to establish the Oghuz language instead of the Atropatene Indo-Iranian group and the mountain Nakh-Dagestan languages ​​descended from the Hurrian family.
The Qashqai peoples of Central Iran are very close to the Azerbaijanis.
Ethnic groups: Karadags, Shahdags (not to be confused with the Lezgin Shahdags), Shahsevens, Karapapakhs, Afshars, Padaris, Ayrums.
Some Azerbaijanis live in Dagestan.
Azerbaijani language. Dialect groups: eastern, western, northern, southern. Dialects: Cuban, Baku, Shamakhi, Salyan, Lenkoran, Gazakh, Borchali, Ayrum, Nukha, Zakatala, Kutkashen, Nakhichevan, Ordubad, Yerevan, Kirovabad, Karabakh.
Religion: Shiite Muslims.
Population: 18 million people.
Anthropologically, Azerbaijanis living on the plain belong to the Caspian type of the Indo-Pamir (Indo-Mediterranean) branch of the Caucasoid race. Mountain Azerbaijanis belong to the Caucasian type of the Balkan-Caucasian branch. Nakhichevan Azerbaijanis are representatives of the Central Asian type of the Indo-Mediterranean branch.
(see Attachment)
Meskhetian Turks:
Mixed Georgian-Turkish ethnic group. Population of southwestern Georgia in the Chorokhi River basin. In 1944, in order to “strengthen border security”, due to the possibility of Turkey acting on the side of Nazi Germany, 100 thousand Meskhetian Turks and the Turks, Hemshin Armenians living with them, part of the Laz, Azerbaijanis and Kurds were deported to Uzbekistan. According to another version, they were deported due to internal Georgian nationalist politics. The deportees lived there until 1990, when the Uzbek-Meskhetian conflict occurred in the Fergana Valley, after which they were expelled from Uzbekistan. Georgia refused to accept refugees who flocked to the Don and Kuban. If the Rostov and Voronezh regions accepted refugees without problems, then in the Krasnodar Territory there is an infringement of the rights of the Meskhetian Turks.
They speak a dialect of Turkish.
Believers: Sunni Muslims.
* * *
2.) Mongolian group.
The Mongolian group is represented by the Kalmyks (Khalmg). Kalmyks are descendants of the Oirat Mongols who migrated in the 15th century. from Center Asia to the Volga. In Russian written sources, the ethnonym "Kalmyk" appeared at the end of the 16th century, from the end of the 18th century. The Kalmyks themselves began to use it. This name first appeared in Turkic languages, it comes from the Mongolian "halmg" and means "breakaway", since the Kalmyks were the result of the separation of part of the population from the Mongolian tribes.
Kalmyk is the language of the western subgroup of the Mongolian group of the Altaic family.
Central Asian type of Mongoloid race: large flat face, thin lips, short stature, beard.
Believers are Buddhist-Lamaists of the northern branch, some are Orthodox.
Number of people: 166 thousand people. In 1946 they were deported to eastern Kazakhstan, to their “historical” homeland. Returned in 1953.
INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
In the Caucasus, this family is represented by Armenian and Iranian groups. Russian communities are very numerous.

1.) Armenian group.
The only representative of this language group are Armenians. The self-name of the people is haik.
At the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The tribes of southern Transcaucasia began to develop, in the area of ​​lakes Van and Sevan. Already in the 13th century. BC. here unions of the Adyghe-Abkhaz, Kartvelian and Hurrian tribes are created (Diaukh, Khubushkia, Uruatri, Gilzai, Mana, Musasir, Nairi, Erikuakhi, Dzurdzuki, Ganakh, Kahi, Khalib, Mekhelon, Khon, Tsanar, Malkhi, Soda). In the 1st millennium BC. the most famous was the Nairi unification. In the middle of the 9th century. BC. the largest tribe from the Nairi union - the Urartians - formed the state of Urartu (Kingdom of Ararat, Biaini). The capital was the city of Tushpa. By the end of the 1st millennium BC. The Urartians become a national minority in their country: they are replaced by the Indo-European people of the Anatolian group, who came from the Balkans - the Hayas. In 590 BC. Urartu perishes under the blows of the Scythians, Cimmerians and Medes. In the 4th century. BC. In the historical region of Arma, to the west of Lake Van, the state of Armatana (Armenia) was created, which, in addition to the Hayas, included the Phrygian-Thracian tribes of the Armi. In the linguistic classification, the Phrygian-Thracian languages ​​occupy an intermediate position between Greek and Armenian. The formation of the Armenian ethnic group was completed by the 3rd century. BC. In the 1st century BC. Armatana was divided into two states: Armenia and Sophene, which by the 1st century. AD united again. In 303, Armenia became the first Christian country. In 396 AD Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet and writing. Over the following centuries, Armenia was subjected to brutal attacks from all sides, especially from the Oghuz Turks. As a result, the Armenian people rank second in terms of the number of diasporas in the world (after the Jewish people).
Currently, there are two dialect groups of Armenians: Western (Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, USA, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, European countries) and Eastern (Caucasus, Iran). The eastern group also includes Circassian Gay ( Krasnodar region), Nor-Nakhichevan (Rostov), ​​Karabakh (Artsakh) dialects. The Western dialect includes the Hamshen dialect (Abkhazia).
Classic Armenian surnames have the ending “-yan”. Karabakh Armenians have surnames with the prefix “Ter-”. There are distorted Armenian surnames with the prefix “M-” and the ending “-yants”, which are essentially Genitive from the classical surname (M-khitaryan-ts).
By religion they are Monophysite Christians (Armenian-Gregorian Church).
The Hemshin Armenians living in southern Georgia are Sunnis.
Number - 6.5 million people.
Anthropologically, the Armenians of Armenia and representatives of various diasporas belong to the Western Asian (Armenoid, Alaroid, Syrian-Zagros, Khorasan) type of the Balkan-Caucasian branch. (see Attachment). Karabakh Armenians (population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic of Artsakh) belong to the mixed Western Asian-Caucasian type. In diasporas there is mixing with the local population.

2.) Iranian group.
Talysh:
They live in the southeast of Azerbaijan, in the Talysh Mountains and in Iran on the Elborz ridge. Descendants of Iranian tribes of the Indo-European family: Medes and Atropatenes. They speak the Talysh language of the northwestern Iranian group, derived from the Atropatene dialect of the Median language. Number of people: 120 thousand people. The believers are Shiites.

Ossetians (Alans):
The Scythians and Sarmatians belonged to the Iranian-speaking group of Indo-European peoples. They were representatives of the steppe Central European type of the Caucasoid race (this was established using modern computer technology based on the study of ancient skulls): straw-colored hair, Blue eyes, average height, fleshy nose, round face, powerful physique. Iranian tribes maintained cultural unity for a long time. But at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. their world was shocked by the preaching of Zarathushtra (Zoroast). Those who accepted it, rejecting the pagan gods, became historical Iranians. Those who retained the old faith (they were mostly nomads) received the nickname Turanians and were expelled. The outcasts moved to the territory. original habitat - the Black Sea region and the Don. Although many pagan gods were later rehabilitated, unity was lost forever. The time of appearance of the Scythians proper is the 8th century. BC. They ousted another branch of Indo-Europeans - the Cimmerians - from the Black Sea region and, following in their footsteps, launched several invasions into Western Asia. The Scythians destroyed the Urartian kingdom, defeated Phrygia and were defeated only by the Median king Cyaxares. They also penetrated into Central Europe and the Volga region. This was the heroic era of the Scythians, the time of the so-called “first kingdom”. At the end of the 6th century. BC. the Persian king Darius I made a great invasion of their lands, which ended in complete failure. After the victory, the Scythian state arose in the Black Sea region - the “second kingdom”, called the time of the “golden autumn”. 4th century BC. - the period of the reign of King Atey was an era of the highest cultural upsurge. In 339 BC. Atey was defeated by the troops of Philip of Macedon and died, and his kingdom disintegrated. In the 3rd century. BC. a less extensive Scythian state arises with its center in the Crimea - the “third kingdom”. Its economic basis was the export of grain to Greek city-states. This formation suffered greatly from the invasions of a related ethnic group, the Sarmatians, and in the 3rd century. n. e. it was finally destroyed by the German Goths and Vandals. During the era of the Great Migration of Peoples (4-6 centuries AD), the remnants of the Scythians dissolved among many tribes. In the time of Herodotus, it was no longer the Scythians who lived east of the Don, but the Sarmatians. According to the legend conveyed by Herodotus, they descended from Amazons who married Scythian youths. This legend reflects high position women among the Sarmatians. Despite the obvious kinship of these peoples, the Sarmatians always showed hostility towards the Scythians, and they played a decisive role in the defeat of the latter. Gradually, the Alans stood out among the Sarmatian peoples and “pulled all the close tribes under their family name” (by the 2nd century AD). The Sarmatians began to be called Alans. They finished off the Scythians and more than once devastated the border areas of the Roman Empire and Sasanian Iran. The Alans (their federation stretched from the Danube to the Aral) were in alliance with the Goths of Germanarich, but at the end of the 4th century. n. e. Aliens from Central Asia - the Huns - defeated both of them. Some of the Alan tribes went to the far West and, together with the Vandals, created on the territory of Iberia, and then North Africa, the barbarian kingdom of the Ostrogoths, which died in the 6th century. AD under the swords of the Byzantine army of Belisarius. Another strengthened itself in the North Caucasus, building many stone castles. At times they fell under the rule of powerful neighbors - the Huns, Savirs (Uralians), Khazars, Mongols, but always maintained national and cultural unity. In the middle of the 6th century. n. e. The Alans adopted Christianity from Byzantium and since then have traditionally focused on the Orthodox world. In the 7th century. BC. The Vainakh state of Kobane began to be attacked by Alan nomads. The Alan tribe, led by Sar-Osl (emphasis on the first "o"), conquered Kobane. The Vainakhs accepted the imposed language, however, they retained their Caucasian features in the anthropotype. In the 19th century n. e. their descendants, the Ossetians, became part of Russia.
The self-name of Ossetians is Iron, Digoron, but there are also other names - Alan, Oron, Ovs, Yavs, Tulag, Khusairag. There are three territorial groups: northern, southern and those living on the Kura River in central Georgia.
The language belongs to the northeastern subgroup of the Iranian group of the Indo-Iranian zone of the Indo-European family of languages. North Ossetians are divided into 2 dialect groups: Iron (base literary language) and Digorskaya (west of North Ossetia).
Number of people: 500 thousand people.
For the most part, they profess the pagan cult of the god Uastirdzhi; Orthodoxy and Sunnism are also found.
Caucasian type, there are also representatives of the Central European type.
Tats:
Close in origin and language to the Persians. They are divided into 2 groups: northern (Dagestan), speaking the northern dialect, which formed the basis of the literary language, and southern, speaking the southern dialect (Azerbaijan, Iran). Language of the northwestern Iranian group. 325,000 people, of which 300,000 are in the Tehran area.
Anthropologically, the Talysh belong (I have contradictory data at my disposal) to the Western Asian type of the Balkan-Caucasian branch or the Caspian type of the Indo-Mediterranean branch.

1. Features of ethnic history.

2. Economy and material culture.

3. Features of spiritual culture.

1. The Caucasus is a unique historical and ethnographic region characterized by a complex ethnic composition of the population. Along with large nations numbering millions of people, such as Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Armenians, in the Caucasus, especially in Dagestan, there live peoples whose number does not exceed several thousand.

According to anthropological data, the indigenous population of the Caucasus belongs to the large Caucasian race, to its southern Mediterranean branch. There are three small Caucasian races in the Caucasus: Caucasian-Balkan, Western Asian and Indo-Pamir. The Caucasian-Balkan race includes the Caucasian anthropological type, which is common among the population of the central foothills of the Main Caucasian Range (Eastern Kabardins and Circassians, Mountain Georgians, Balkars, Karachais, Ingush, Chechens, Ossetians), as well as Western and Central Dagestan. This anthropological type developed as a result of the conservation of the anthropological characteristics of the ancient local Caucasian population.

The Caucasian-Balkan race also includes the Pontic type, the carriers of which are the Abkhaz-Adyghe peoples and Western Georgians. This type was also formed in ancient times in the process of gracilization of the massive protomorphic Caucasian type in conditions of high mountain isolation.

The Central Asian race is represented by the Armenoid type, the origin of which is associated with the territory of Turkey and Iran and neighboring regions of Armenia. Armenians and eastern Georgians belong to this type. The Indo-Pamir race includes the Caspian anthropological type, which arose within Afghanistan and North India. The Azerbaijanis belong to the Caspian type, and as an admixture to the Caucasian type, this type can be traced among the Kumyks and the peoples of Southern Dagestan (Lezgins and Dargins-Kaitags). Of all the peoples of the Caucasus, only the Nogais, along with Caucasoid ones, also have Mongoloid characteristics.

A significant part of the indigenous population of the Caucasus speaks the languages ​​of the Caucasian language family, which numbers about 40 languages, divided into three groups: Abkhaz-Adyghe, Kartvelian and Nakh-Dagestan.

The languages ​​of the Abkhaz-Adyghe group include Abkhazian, Abaza, Adyghe, Kabardino-Circassian and Ubykh. Abkhazians (Apsua) live in Abkhazia, partly in Adjara, as well as in Turkey and Syria. Close to the Abkhazians in language and origin are the Abazins (Abaza), who live in Karachay-Cherkessia and other regions of the Stavropol Territory. Some of them live in Turkey. Adygeis, Kabardians and Circassians call themselves Adyghe. Adygeans inhabit Adygea and other areas Krasnodar region. In addition, they live in Turkey, Syria, Jordan and other countries in the Middle East and Balkans. Kabardians and Circassians live in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. They are found in the countries of the Middle East. In the past, the Ubykhs lived along the Black Sea coast, north of Khosta. Currently, a small number of them live in Syria and Turkey.

The Kartvelian languages ​​include the Georgian language and three languages ​​of Western Georgians - Mingrelian, Laz (or Chan) and Svan. The Nakh-Dagestan group of languages ​​includes Nakh and Dagestan. The closely related Chechen and Ingush languages ​​belong to the Nakh languages. Chechens (Nakhcho) live in Chechnya, Ingush (Galga) in Ingushetia, some Chechens also live in Georgia (Kists) and Dagestan (Akkins).

The Dagestan group consists of: a) Avar-Andocese languages; b) Lak-Dargin languages; c) Lezgin languages. Of all the listed languages, only Georgian had its own ancient writing, based on the Aramaic script. The peoples of the Caucasus also speak languages ​​of the Indo-European, Altaic and Afroasiatic language families. The Indo-European family is represented by the Iranian group, as well as the Armenian and Greek languages. Iranian-speaking people are Ossetians, Tats, Talysh and Kurds. The Armenian language stands apart in the Indo-European family. Some Caucasian Greeks (Romans) speak Modern Greek.

After the annexation of the Caucasus to Russia, Russians and other peoples from European Russia. The Altai family of languages ​​in the Caucasus is represented by its Turkic group. The Turkic-speaking people are Azerbaijanis, Turkmen (Trukmen), Kumyks, Nogais, Karachais, Balkars and Urum Greeks.

Assyrians speak a language of the Semitic group of the Afroasiatic language family. They live mainly in Armenia and other places in Transcaucasia.

The Caucasus has been developed by man since ancient times. Archaeological cultures of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic were discovered there. Based on materials from linguistics and anthropology, we can conclude that the descendants of the ancient “autochthonous” population of the Caucasus are peoples who speak languages ​​of the Caucasian language family. In the course of their further ethnic development, they entered into ethnocultural contacts with other ethnic groups and, depending on specific historical conditions, mixed with them, incorporating them into their ethnic environment, or were themselves subjected to assimilation.

In the 1st millennium BC. and in the first centuries AD. The steppe spaces north of the Caucasus ridge were occupied by successive Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes: Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians and Alans. In the middle of the 4th century. Turkic-speaking nomads - the Huns - invaded the North Caucasus. At the end of the 4th century. here a large confederation of Turkic tribes was formed at the head.

In the VI-VII centuries. Some of the nomads switched to semi-settled life and sedentary life in the plains and foothills, engaging in agriculture and pastoralism. During this period, processes of ethnopolitical consolidation took place among the Caucasian-speaking population: among the eastern and western Circassians.

In the middle of the 6th century. Avars migrated to the Cis-Caucasian steppes from across the Volga. At the beginning of the 7th century. in Western Ciscaucasia a new confederation of Turkic tribes arose, known as “Great Bulgaria”, or“Onoguria”, which united under its rule all the nomads of the North Caucasian steppe. In the middle of the 7th century. this confederation was defeated by the Khazars. The Khazar Khaganate dominated the population of the North Caucasus steppe. During this period, nomads began settling on the land not only in the foothills, but also in the steppe regions.

From the middle of the X to the beginning of the XIII century. in the foothills and mountainous regions of the North Caucasus there was a rise in productive forces, primitive communal relations continued to collapse, and the process of class formation took place within the framework of stable political associations that took the path of feudalization. During this period, the Alanian kingdom especially stood out. In 1238-1239. Alania was subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion and was included in the Golden Horde.

The Adyghe peoples in the past lived in a compact mass in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the river. Kuban, its tributaries Belaya and Laba, as well as on the Taman Peninsula and along the Black Sea coast.. Kabardians who moved at the beginning of the 19th century. in the upper reaches of the Kuban, they were called Circassians. The Adyghe tribes that remained in the old places made up the Adyghe people. The Chechens and Ingush were formed from tribes related in origin, language and culture, representing the ancient population of the northeastern spurs of the Main Caucasus Range.

The Caucasian-speaking peoples of Dagestan are also descendants of the ancient population of this region.

The formation of the peoples of Transcaucasia took place under different historical conditions. Georgians are descendants of the oldest autochthonous population. The ethnogenetic processes that took place in ancient times on the territory of Georgia led to the formation of East Georgian and West Georgian ethnolinguistic communities. Western Georgians (Svans, Mingrelians, Laz, or Chans) occupied larger areas in the past.

With the development of capitalism, the consolidation of Georgians into a nation took place. After the October Revolution, in the process of further development of the Georgian nation, local ethnographic features gradually weakened.

The ethnogenesis of the Abkhazians took place from ancient times on the territory of modern Abkhazia and adjacent areas. At the end of the 1st millennium BC. Two tribal unions formed here: the Abazgs and the Apsils. From the name of the latter comes the self-name of the Abkhazians - Apsua.

In the 1st millennium BC, within the Urartian state, the process of formation of the ancient Armenian ethnos took place. The Armenians also included Hurrians, Chalds, Cimmerians, Scythians and other ethical components. After the fall of Urartu, the Armenians entered the historical arena.

Due to the prevailing historical situation, due to the conquests of the Arabs. Seljuks, then Mongols, Iran, Turkey, many Armenians left their homeland and moved to other countries. Before the First World War, a significant part of Armenians lived in Ottoman Turkey (more than 2 million). After acts of genocide inspired by the Ottoman government in 1915-1916. Armenians, including those expelled, began to move to the countries of Western Asia Western Europe and America.

The ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people is closely connected with the ethnic processes that took place in Eastern Transcaucasia during the Middle Ages.

In the 4th century. BC. An Albanian union of tribes arose in the north of Azerbaijan, and then at the beginning of our era the state of Albania was created, the borders of which in the south reached the river. Araks, in the north it included Southern Dagestan.

By the IV-V centuries. refers to the beginning of the penetration of various groups of Turks into Azerbaijan (Huns, Bulgarians, etc.).

During the feudal era, the Azerbaijani nation took shape. In Soviet times, along with the consolidation of the Azerbaijani nation, there was a partial merger with the Azerbaijanis of ethnic groups speaking both Iranian and Caucasian languages.

2. Since ancient times, the main occupations of the peoples of the Caucasus have been agriculture and cattle breeding. Development of these sectors of the economy, especially agriculture. was directly dependent on the level of location of natural zones G ory region. The lower zone was occupied by arable land, which rose to one and a half thousand meters above sea level. Above them were hayfields and spring pastures, and even higher were mountain pastures.

The beginning of agriculture in the Caucasus dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. Previously, it spread to Transcaucasia, and then to the North Caucasus. Farming in the highlands was especially labor-intensive. The lack of arable land led to the creation of artificial terraces descending in steps along the mountain slopes. On some terraces, soil had to be brought in baskets from the valleys. Terrace farming is characterized by a high level of artificial irrigation.

Centuries of experience in farming made it possible to derive for each natural area special varieties of cereals - wheat, rye, barley, oats, frost-resistant in mountainous areas and drought-resistant in the plains. An ancient local crop is millet. Since the 18th century Corn began to spread in the Caucasus.

Crops were harvested everywhere with sickles. The grain was threshed using threshing discs with stone liners on the underside. This method of threshing dates back to the Bronze Age. Viticulture, which has been known since the millennium BC, has deep roots in the Caucasus. Many different grape varieties are bred here. Along with viticulture, gardening also developed early.

Cattle breeding appeared in the Caucasus along with agriculture. In the 2nd millennium it became widespread in connection with the development of mountain pastures. During this period, a unique type of transhumance cattle breeding developed in the Caucasus, which exists to this day. In summer, cattle were grazed in the mountains, in winter they were herded to the plains. They raised large and small livestock, especially sheep. On the plains, cattle were kept in stalls in winter. Sheep were always kept on winter pastures. As a rule, peasants did not breed horses; the horse was used for riding. Oxen served as draft power.

Crafts developed in the Caucasus. Carpet weaving, jewelry making, and the manufacture of weapons, pottery and metal utensils, and cloaks were especially widespread.

When characterizing the culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, one should distinguish between the North Caucasus, including Dagestan, and Transcaucasia. Within these large regions, peculiarities in the culture of large nations or entire groups of small ethnic groups are observed. In the pre-revolutionary period, the bulk of the population of the Caucasus were rural residents.

The types of settlements and dwellings that existed in the Caucasus were closely connected with natural conditions, with the vertical zoning characteristic of the Caucasus. This dependence can be traced to some extent even today. Most of the villages in the mountains were distinguished by significant crowded buildings: the buildings were closely adjacent to each other. For example, in many mountain villages of Dagestan, the roof of the underlying house served as a yard for the one above it. On On the plain, villages were located more freely.

For a long time, all the peoples of the Caucasus maintained a custom according to which relatives settled together, forming a separate quarter.

The dwellings of the peoples of the Caucasus were characterized by great diversity. In the mountainous regions of the North Caucasus, Dagestan and Northern Georgia, the typical dwelling was a one- or two-story stone building with a flat roof. IN these battle towers were built in areas. In some places there were fortified houses. The houses of the inhabitants of the lowland regions of the North Caucasus and Dagestan were significantly different from the mountain dwellings. The walls of the buildings were erected from adobe or wattle. Turluchnye (wattle) structures with a gable or hipped roof were typical for the Adyghe peoples and Abkhazians, as well as for the inhabitants of some regions of lowland Dagestan.

The dwellings of the peoples of Transcaucasia had their own characteristics. In some regions of Armenia, South-Eastern Georgia and Western Azerbaijan, there were peculiar buildings made of stone, sometimes somewhat recessed into the ground. The roof was a wooden stepped ceiling, which was covered with earth from the outside. This type of dwelling (darbazi - among Georgians, karadam - among Azerbaijanis, galatun - among Armenians) is one of the oldest in Transcaucasia and in its origin is associated with the underground dwelling of the ancient settled population of Western Asia. In other places in Eastern Georgia, dwellings were built of stone with a flat or gable roof, single- or two-story. In the humid subtropical regions of Western Georgia and Abkhazia, houses were built of wood, on pillars, with gable or hipped roofs. The floor of such a house was raised high above the ground, which protected the home from dampness.

Currently, in the Caucasus, the urban population predominates over the rural population. Villages with few households disappeared and large, comfortable rural settlements of several hundred households arose. The layout of villages has changed. On the plain, instead of crowded ones, villages with a street layout appeared, with personal plots near houses. Many high-mountain villages have descended lower, closer to the road or river.

The home has undergone major changes. In most areas of the Caucasus, two-story houses with large windows, galleries, wooden floors and ceilings are widespread. In addition to traditional building materials(local stone, wood, adobe bricks, tiles), new ones are used.

There was great diversity in the clothing of the peoples of the Caucasus in the pre-revolutionary period. It reflected ethnic characteristics, class affiliation and cultural ties between peoples. All Adyghe peoples, Ossetians, Karachais, Balkars and Abkhazians had a lot in common in the costume. Everyday clothing for men included a beshmet, trousers, rawhide boots with leggings, a sheepskin hat, and a felt hat in summer. A mandatory accessory of a man's costume was a narrow leather belt with silver or cohesive decorations, on which a weapon (dagger) was worn. In damp weather, they wore a bashlyk and a burka. In winter they wore a sheepskin coat. Shepherds used to wear a coat made of felt with a hood.

Women's clothing consisted of a tunic-like shirt, long pants, a swinging dress at the waist with an open chest, hats and bedspreads. The dress was tightly belted with a belt. The men's costume of the peoples of Dagestan was in many ways reminiscent of the clothing of the Circassians

The traditional clothing of the peoples of Transcaucasia was significantly different from the clothing of the inhabitants of the North Caucasus and Dagestan. There were many parallels with the clothing of the peoples of Western Asia. The men's costume of the entire Transcaucasus was generally characterized by shirts, wide or narrow trousers, boots, and a short swing shirt. outerwear. Women's clothing different nations Transcaucasia had its own figurative features. The Georgian women's costume resembled the clothing of women of the North Caucasus.

Armenian women dressed in bright shirts (yellow in Western Armenia, red in Eastern Armenia) and equally bright pants. Over the shirt they put on an open-lined garment with shorter sleeves than the shirt. They wore small hard caps on their heads, which were tied with several scarves. It was customary to cover the lower part of the face with a scarf.

Azerbaijani women, in addition to shirts and pants, also wore short sweaters and wide skirts. Under the influence of Islam, they, especially in cities, covered their faces with veils. It was typical for women of all peoples of the Caucasus to wear a variety of jewelry, made mainly of silver by local craftsmen. The festive attire of Dagestani women was especially distinguished by the abundance of decorations.

After the revolution traditional clothes Both men's and women's clothing began to be replaced by urban costume; this process was especially intense in the post-war years.

Currently, the male Adyghe costume is preserved as clothing for participants in artistic ensembles. Traditional elements of clothing can be seen on older women in many areas of the Caucasus.

The traditional food of the peoples of the Caucasus is very diverse in composition and taste. In the past, these peoples observed moderation and unpretentiousness in food. The basis of everyday food was bread (made from wheat, barley, oatmeal, rye flour), both unleavened dough and sour dough (lavash).

Significant differences were observed in the diet of residents of mountainous and lowland areas. In the mountains, where cattle breeding was significantly developed, in addition to bread, dairy products, especially sheep's milk cheese, were a big part of the diet. We didn't eat meat often. The lack of vegetables and fruits was compensated by wild herbs and forest fruits. On the plain, flour dishes, cheese, vegetables, fruits, wild herbs predominated, and meat was eaten occasionally. For example, among the Abkhazians and Circassians, thick millet porridge (paste) replaced bread. Among the Georgians, there was a widespread dish made from beans; among the Dagestanis, pieces of dough in the form of dumplings were cooked in broth with garlic.

There was a rich selection of traditional dishes during holidays, weddings and funerals. Predominated meat dishes In the process of urbanization in national cuisine Urban dishes have penetrated, but traditional food is still widespread.

According to religion, the entire population of the Caucasus was divided into Christians and Muslims. Christianity began to penetrate the Caucasus in the first centuries of the new era. In the 4th century. it established itself among Armenians and Georgians. The Armenians had their own church, called “Armenian-Gregorian” after its founder, Archbishop Gregory the Illuminator. At first, the Armenian Church adhered to the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine orientation, but from the beginning of the 6th century. became independent, accepting the Monophysite teaching, which recognized only one “divine” nature of Christ. From Armenia, Christianity began to penetrate into Southern Dagestan and Northern Azerbaijan - into Albania (VI century). During this period, Zoroastrianism was widespread in Southern Azerbaijan, in which fire-worshipping cults occupied a large place.

From Georgia and Byzantium, Christianity came to the Abkhazians and Adyghe tribes, to the Chechens, Ingush, Ossetians and other peoples. The emergence of Islam in the Caucasus is associated with conquests Arabs (UP-USH centuries). But Islam did not take deep roots under the Arabs. It began to truly establish itself only after the Mongol-Tatar invasion. This primarily applies to the peoples of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. Islam began to spread in Abkhazia from the 15th century. after the Turkish conquest.

Among the peoples of the North Caucasus (Adyghe, Circassians, Kabardians, Karachais and Balkars), Islam was implanted by the Turkish sultans and Crimean khans. From Dagestan, Islam came to the Chechens and Ingush. The influence of Islam has especially strengthened in Dagestan. Chechnya and Ingushetia during the liberation movement of the highlanders under the leadership of Shamil. The majority of Muslims in the Caucasus are Sunni; Shiites are represented in Azerbaijan. However, neither Christianity nor Islam supplanted ancient local beliefs (cults of trees, natural phenomena, fire, etc.), many of which were included integral part into Christian and Muslim rituals.

The oral poetry of the peoples of the Caucasus is rich and varied. The oral poetry of the Caucasian peoples is characterized by a variety of subjects and genres. Epic tales occupy a significant place in poetic creativity. In the North Caucasus, among the Ossetians, Kabardians, Circassians, Adygeis, Karachais, Balkars, and also Abkhazians, there is the Nart epic, tales of the Nart heroic heroes.

The Georgians know the epic about the hero Amirani, who fought with the ancient gods and was chained to a rock for this; the romantic epic “Eteriani”, which tells the story of the tragic love of Prince Abesalom and the shepherdess Eteri. Among the Armenians, the medieval epic “The Heroes of Sasun”, or “David of Sasun”, is widespread, glorifying the heroic struggle of the Armenian people against their enslavers.

For the wrath of the Lord is against all nations, and his wrath is against all their armies: he has given them over to the slaughter, he has given them over to the slaughter.

The Caucasus is a mighty mountain range stretching from west to east from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Caspian Sea. Georgia and Azerbaijan are located in the southern spurs and valleys, in the western part its slopes descend to the Black Sea coast of Russia. The peoples discussed in this article live in the mountains and foothills of the northern slopes. Administratively, the territory of the North Caucasus is divided between seven republics: Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan.

The appearance of many indigenous inhabitants of the Caucasus is homogeneous. These are light-skinned, predominantly dark-eyed and dark-haired people with sharp facial features, a large (“humpbacked”) nose, and narrow lips. Highlanders are usually taller than lowlanders. The Adyghe people often have blond hair and eyes (possibly as a result of mixing with the peoples of Eastern Europe), and in the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Dagestan and Azerbaijan there is an admixture of, on the one hand, Iranian blood (narrow faces), and on the other - Central Asian (small noses) ).

It is not for nothing that the Caucasus is called Babylon - almost 40 languages ​​are “mixed” here. Scientists distinguish Western, Eastern and South Caucasian languages. West Caucasian, or Abkhaz-Adyghe, is spoken by Abkhazians, Abazins, Shapsugs (who live north-west of Sochi), Adygheians, Circassians, Kabardians. East Caucasian languages ​​include Nakh and Dagestan. Nakh languages ​​include Ingush and Chechen, while Dagestan languages ​​are divided into several subgroups. The largest of them is Avaro-an-do-tsezskaya. However, Avar is not only the language of the Avars themselves. There are 15 small peoples living in Northern Dagestan, each of which inhabits only a few neighboring villages located in isolated high-mountain valleys. These peoples speak different languages, and Avar for them is the language of interethnic communication; it is studied in schools. Lezgin languages ​​are spoken in Southern Dagestan. Lezgins live not only in Dagestan, but also in the regions of Azerbaijan neighboring this republic. While the Soviet Union was a single state, such division was not very noticeable, but now, when the state border has passed between close relatives, friends, acquaintances, the people are experiencing it painfully. Lezgin languages ​​are spoken by Tabasarans, Aguls, Rutulians, Tsakhurs and some others. In Central Dagestan, the dominant languages ​​are Dargin (it is spoken, in particular, in the famous village of Kubachi) and Lak languages.

Turkic peoples also live in the North Caucasus - Kumyks, Nogais, Balkars and Karachais. There are mountain Jews - Tats (in Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Kabardino-Balkaria). Their language, Tat, belongs to the Iranian group of the Indo-European family. Ossetian also belongs to the Iranian group.

Until October 1917 almost all the languages ​​of the North Caucasus were unwritten. In the 20s for the languages ​​of most Caucasian peoples, except for the smallest ones, they developed alphabets on a Latin basis; A large number of books, newspapers and magazines were published. In the 30s The Latin alphabet was replaced by alphabets based on Russian, but they turned out to be less suitable for transmitting the sounds of speech of Caucasians. Nowadays, books, newspapers, and magazines are published in local languages, but literature in Russian is still read by a larger number of people.

In total, in the Caucasus, not counting the settlers (Slavs, Germans, Greeks, etc.), there are more than 50 large and small indigenous peoples. Russians also live here, mainly in cities, but partly in villages and Cossack villages: in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia this is 10-15% of the total population, in Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria - up to 30%, in Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea - up to 40-50%.

By religion, the majority of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus are Muslims. However, Ossetians are mostly Orthodox, and Mountain Jews profess Judaism. For a long time, traditional Islam coexisted with home-Muslim, pagan traditions and customs. At the end of the 20th century. In some regions of the Caucasus, mainly in Chechnya and Dagestan, the ideas of Wahhabism became popular. This movement, which arose on the Arabian Peninsula, demands strict adherence to Islamic standards of life, rejection of music and dancing, and opposes the participation of women in public life.

CAUCASIAN TREAT

The traditional occupations of the peoples of the Caucasus are arable farming and transhumance. Many Karachay, Ossetian, Ingush, and Dagestan villages specialize in growing certain types of vegetables - cabbage, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, etc. In the mountainous regions of Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria, transhumance sheep and goat breeding predominate; Sweaters, hats, shawls, etc. are knitted from the wool and down of sheep and goats.

The diet of different peoples of the Caucasus is very similar. Its basis is grains, dairy products, meat. The latter is 90% lamb, only Ossetians eat pork. Cattle are rarely slaughtered. True, everywhere, especially on the plains, a lot of poultry is bred - chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese. Adyghe and Kabardians know how to cook poultry well and in a variety of ways. The famous Caucasian kebabs are not prepared very often - lamb is either boiled or stewed. The sheep are slaughtered and butchered according to strict rules. While the meat is fresh, different types of boiled sausage are made from the intestines, stomach, and offal, which cannot be stored for a long time. Some of the meat is dried and cured for storage in reserve.

Vegetable dishes are atypical for North Caucasian cuisine, but vegetables are eaten all the time - fresh, pickled and pickled; they are also used as a filling for pies. In the Caucasus, they love hot dairy dishes - they dilute cheese crumbles and flour in melted sour cream, and drink a chilled fermented milk product - ayran. The well-known kefir is an invention of the Caucasian highlanders; it is fermented with special fungi in wineskins. The Karachays call this dairy product “gypy-ayran”.

In a traditional feast, bread is often replaced with other types of flour and cereal dishes. First of all, these are a variety of cereals. In the Western Caucasus, for example, with any dishes, much more often than bread, they eat hard millet or corn porridge. In the Eastern Caucasus (Chechnya, Dagestan), the most popular flour dish is khinkal (pieces of dough are boiled in meat broth or simply in water, and eaten with sauce). Both porridge and khinkal require less fuel for cooking than baking bread, and therefore are common where firewood is in short supply. In the highlands, among shepherds, where there is very little fuel, the main food is oatmeal - wholemeal fried until brown, which is mixed with meat broth, syrup, butter, milk, or, in extreme cases, just water. Balls are made from the resulting dough and eaten with tea, broth, and ayran. All kinds of pies - with meat, with potatoes, with beet tops and, of course, with cheese - have great everyday and ritual significance in Caucasian cuisine. Ossetians, for example, call this pie “fydiin”. There must be three “ualibahs” (cheese pies) on the festive table, and they are placed so that they are visible from the sky to St. George, whom Ossetians especially reverence.

In the fall, housewives prepare jams, juices, and syrups. Previously, sugar was replaced with honey, molasses or boiled grape juice when making sweets. Traditional Caucasian sweet - halva. It is made from toasted flour or cereal balls fried in oil, adding butter and honey (or sugar syrup). In Dagestan they prepare a kind of liquid halva - urbech. Roasted hemp, flax, sunflower seeds or apricot kernels are ground with vegetable oil diluted in honey or sugar syrup.

In the North Caucasus they make excellent grape wine. Ossetians have been brewing barley beer for a long time; Among the Adygeis, Kabardians, Circassians and Turkic peoples, it is replaced by buza, or makhsyma, a type of light beer made from millet. A stronger buza is obtained by adding honey.

Unlike their Christian neighbors - Russians, Georgians, Armenians, Greeks - the mountain peoples of the Caucasus do not eat mushrooms, but they collect wild berries, wild pears, and nuts. Hunting, a favorite pastime of the mountaineers, has now lost its importance, since large areas of the mountains are occupied by nature reserves, and many animals, such as bison, are included in the International Red Book. There are a lot of wild boars in the forests, but they are rarely hunted, because Muslims do not eat pork.

CAUCASIAN VILLAGES

Since ancient times, residents of many villages in addition to Agriculture were engaged in crafts. The Balkars were famous as skilled masons; Laks made and repaired metal products, and at fairs - unique centers of public life - residents of the village of Tsovkra (Dagestan) often performed, who mastered the art of circus tightrope walkers. The folk crafts of the North Caucasus are known far beyond its borders: painted ceramics and patterned carpets from the Lak village of Balkhar, wooden products with metal incisions from the Avar village of Untsukul, silver jewelry from the village of Kubachi. In many villages, from Karachay-in-Cherkessia to Northern Dagestan, they are engaged in felting wool - they make burkas and felt carpets. Burka is a necessary part of mountain and Cossack cavalry equipment. It protects from bad weather not only while driving - under a good burka you can hide from bad weather, like in a small tent; it is absolutely indispensable for shepherds. In the villages of Southern Dagestan, especially among the Lezgins, magnificent pile carpets are made, highly valued throughout the world.

Ancient Caucasian villages are extremely picturesque. Stone houses with flat roofs and open galleries with carved pillars are built close to each other along the narrow streets. Often such a house is surrounded by defensive walls, and next to it rises a tower with narrow loopholes - previously the whole family hid in such towers during enemy raids. Nowadays the towers are abandoned as unnecessary and are gradually being destroyed, so that the picturesqueness little by little disappears, and new houses are built of concrete or brick, with glazed verandas, often two or even three floors high.

These houses are not so original, but they are comfortable, and their furnishings are sometimes no different from those in the city - a modern kitchen, running water, heating (though the toilet and even the washbasin are often located in the yard). New houses are often used only for entertaining guests, and the family lives either on the ground floor or in an old house converted into a kind of living kitchen. In some places you can still see the ruins of ancient fortresses, walls and fortifications. In a number of places there are cemeteries with ancient, well-preserved grave crypts.