The Caucasus is a mighty mountain range stretching from west to east from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Caspian. 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 that will be discussed in this article live in the mountains and foothills of the northern slopes. Administratively, the territory of the North Caucasus is divided among seven republics: Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan.

The appearance of many indigenous people of the Caucasus is homogeneous. These are fair-skinned, mostly dark-eyed and dark-haired people with sharp features, with a large (“humped”) nose, and narrow lips. Highlanders are usually taller than plains dwellers. The Adyghe people often have blond hair and eyes (perhaps as a result of mixing with the peoples of Eastern Europe), and in the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Dagestan and Azerbaijan, an admixture is felt, on the one hand, of Iranian blood (narrow faces), and on the other hand, of Central Asian blood (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 Abkhazian-Adyghe, is spoken by Abkhazians, Abaza, Shapsugs (they live northwest of Sochi), Adyghes, Circassians, Kabardians. East Caucasian languages ​​include Nakh and Dagestan. Ingush and Chechen are classified as Nakh, and Dagestan is divided into several subgroups. The largest of them is the Avaro-an-do-tsezskaya. However, Avar is not only the language of the Avars themselves. 15 small peoples live 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. In Southern Dagestan, Lezgi languages ​​are spoken. 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 a division was not very noticeable, but now, when the state border has passed between close relatives, friends, acquaintances, the people are experiencing it painfully. Lezgi languages ​​are spoken by Tabasarans, Aguls, Rutuls, Tsakhurs and some others. Dargin (in particular, it is spoken in the famous village of Kubachi) and Lak languages ​​predominate in Central Dagestan.

Turkic peoples also live in the North Caucasus - Kumyks, Nogais, Balkars and Karachays. 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 of the Caucasian peoples, except for the smallest ones, alphabets were developed on the Latin basis; A large number of books, newspapers and magazines were published. In the 30s. the Latin alphabet was replaced by Russian-based alphabets, but they turned out to be less adapted to the transmission of Caucasian speech sounds. Nowadays, books, newspapers, and magazines are published in local languages, but more people still read literature in Russian.

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, the Ossetians are mostly Orthodox, and the Mountain Jews profess Judaism. Traditional Islam has long coexisted with domo-Sulmanic, pagan traditions and customs. At the end of the XX century. in some regions of the Caucasus, mainly in Chechnya and Dagestan, the ideas of Wahhabism became popular. This current, which arose on the Arabian Peninsula, requires strict observance of Islamic norms of life, the rejection of music, dances, 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—cabbages, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, and so on. sweaters, hats, shawls, etc. are knitted from the wool and down of sheep and goats.

The nutrition of different peoples of the Caucasus is very similar. Its basis is cereals, 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 birds are bred - chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese. The Adyghe and Kabardians know how to cook poultry well and in a variety of ways. The famous Caucasian kebabs are not cooked very often - lamb is either boiled or stewed. The ram is slaughtered and butchered according to strict rules. While the meat is fresh, different types of boiled sausages are made from the intestines, stomach, offal, which cannot be stored for a long time. Part of the meat is dried and dried for storage in reserve.

Vegetable dishes are not typical for the North Caucasian cuisine, but vegetables are constantly eaten - fresh, pickled and pickled; they are also used as a filling for pies. In the Caucasus, they love hot dairy dishes - they dilute cheese crumbs and flour in melted sour cream, they drink a chilled sour-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-airan".

In a traditional feast, bread is often replaced with other types of flour and cereal dishes. First of all, these are various cereals. In the Western Caucasus, for example, with any dish, they eat steep millet or corn porridge much more often than bread. 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 to brown, which is kneaded with meat broth, syrup, butter, milk, in extreme cases, just water. Balls are molded from the resulting dough, and they are eaten with tea, broth, ayran. All kinds of pies are of great everyday and ritual significance in Caucasian cuisine - with meat, with potatoes, with beet tops and, of course, with cheese. Among Ossetians, for example, such a pie is called "fydiin". Three "walibakhs" (pies with cheese) must be on the festive table, and they are arranged so that they are visible from the sky to St. George, whom the Ossetians especially revere.

In autumn, housewives prepare jams, juices, syrups. Previously, sugar in the manufacture of sweets was replaced with honey, molasses or boiled grape juice. Traditional Caucasian sweetness - 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. Toasted seeds of hemp, flax, sunflower or apricot kernels are rubbed with vegetable oil diluted in honey or sugar syrup.

Fine grape wine is made in the North Caucasus. Ossetians have been brewing barley beer for a long time; among the Adyghes, Kabardians, Circassians and Turkic peoples, it is replaced by buza, or makhsyma, a kind 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 gather wild berries, wild pears, and nuts. Hunting, a favorite activity of the highlanders, has now lost its importance, since large sections 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.

CAUCASUS VILLAGES

Since ancient times, the inhabitants of many villages, in addition to agriculture, were engaged in crafts. The Balkars were famous as skillful masons; Laks made and repaired metal products, and at fairs - original centers of public life - residents of the village of Tsovkra (Dagestan) often performed, who mastered the art of 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 items with metal notches from the Avar village of Untsukul, silver jewelry from the village of Kubachi. In many villages, from Karachay-Cherkessia to Northern Dagestan, they are engaged in felting wool - they make cloaks, felt carpets. Burka is a necessary part of mountain and Cossack cavalry equipment. It protects from bad weather not only while riding - under a good cloak you can hide from bad weather, like in a small tent; it is absolutely irreplaceable for shepherds. In the villages of Southern Dagestan, especially among the Lezgins, magnificent pile carpets are made, which are highly valued all over the world.

Ancient Caucasian villages are extremely picturesque. Stone houses with flat roofs and open galleries with carved pillars are molded close to each other along the narrow streets. Often such a house is surrounded by defensive walls, and a tower with narrow loopholes rises next to it - earlier, 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 gradually disappears, and new houses are built of concrete or brick, with glazed verandas, often two or even three stories high.

These houses are not so original, but they are comfortable, and their furnishings sometimes do not differ from the city - a modern kitchen, plumbing, heating (although a toilet and even a washbasin are often located in the yard). New houses often serve only for receiving guests, and the family lives either on the ground floor or in an old house turned 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, cemeteries with old, well-preserved grave crypts have been preserved.

Targamos is mentioned in the Bible, in the so-called "Table of Nations", being, as in the Georgian chronicles, the grandson of Japhet (see "Genesis", ch.10, article 3). True, in the Bible the name of this character sounds like Torgama

The scholar-monk Leonti Mroveli, who lived in the 11th century, wrote a historical work called “The Life of the Kings of Kartli”. This work, based on even more ancient chronicle sources of Georgians and, perhaps, Armenians, is the beginning of all known copies of the collection of ancient Georgian chronicles “Kartlis tskhovreba” (“Life of Georgia”), brought together in a single book between the 12th and 14th centuries. Leonti Mroveli draws the origin of the indigenous Caucasian peoples as follows: “First of all, we mention that the Armenians and Kartlians, Rans and Movakans, Ers and Leks, Mingrelians and Caucasians - all these peoples had a single father named Targamos. This Targamos was the son of Tarshish, the grandson of Japheth, the son of Noah. That Targamos was a hero. After the separation of the languages, when the tower of Babylon was being erected, the languages ​​differed and scattered from there throughout the whole world. Targamos came with all his tribe and established himself between two mountains inaccessible to man - Ararat and Masis. And his tribe was great and countless, he acquired many children, children and grandchildren of his sons and daughters, for he lived for six hundred years. And the lands of Ararat and Masis did not contain them.
The countries of the one that they inherited, these are the borders: from the east - the Gurgen Sea, from the west - the Pontic Sea, from the south - the Oretsky Sea and from the north - Mount Caucasus.

Among his sons, eight brothers distinguished themselves, powerful and glorious heroes, whose names were as follows: the first - Gaos, the second - Kartlos, the third - Bardos, the fourth - Movakan, the fifth - Lek, the sixth - Eros, the seventh - Kavkas, the eighth - Egros ... ” The circle of Caucasian peoples, perceived by the ancient historian as “descendants of Targamos”, is limited. If everything is clear with Armenians, Kartlians (Georgians), Mingrelians and Rans (Albanians), then other names require decoding, which we receive from G.V. Tsulai in the relevant notes. So, the Movakans turn out to be a tribe of Caucasian Albania, related to the modern Lezghins, the eras are an ancient powerful people who lived in the adjacent territories of modern eastern Georgia and western Azerbaijan (historical Kakhetia), the Leks are the “Georgian name for the peoples of Dagestan as a whole” and, finally, the Caucasians are the ancestors not only modern Chechens, Ingush and Batsbi, but also other Nakh tribes and ethnic groups that have not survived to our time.

The boundaries of the “country of Targamos” are clearly delineated, in which scientists see memories of the kingdom of Urartu during the period of its power. We would like to draw the attention of readers to the fact that by naming the eponym (the name of the legendary ancestor) of this or that people, Mroveli nowhere else confuses this relationship, that is, the Dagestanis for him always remain “descendants of Lekos”, Vainakhs - “descendants of Kavkas”, Georgians - “descendants of Kartlos”, etc. At the same time, new eponyms can also be named (for example, among the Dagestani Khozonih), but it is always emphasized that the new legendary character introduced into the pages of the narrative is a son, grandson or more distant, but always direct, a descendant of one of the eight brothers - the sons of Targamos.

In the future, Mroveli tells of the victorious struggle of the Targamosians (in which, as already noted, one can see the Urartian Khalds) with Assyria. Having repelled the onslaught of the Assyrians and defeated their forces, eight brothers - the sons of Targamos, receive their destinies in the Caucasus for residence. The six brothers and the peoples corresponding to them (Armenians, Georgians, Mingrelians, Movakans, Albanians, eras) remain in Transcaucasia. About the settlement of the North Caucasus, Mroveli writes as follows:
“The lands north of the Caucasus were not only not the lot of Targamos, but there were no inhabitants north of the Caucasus either. Those spaces from the Caucasus to the Great River that flows into the Daruband Sea (Caspian Sea; “Great River” - Volga - author) were deserted. That is why he chose Targamos from a multitude of two heroes - Lekan (Lekos) and Kavkas. He gave Lekan lands from the Daruband sea to the Lomek (Terek) river, to the north - to the Great Khazareti River. Kavkasu - from the Lomek River to the borders of the Caucasus in the West.

So, the Dagestanis settled from the Caspian Sea to the Terek, and the Vainakhs - from the Terek "to the borders of the Caucasus in the West." It is interesting that near Mroveli we also find the most ancient name of the Terek (Lomeki), which is composed of the Vainakh phrase “mountain river” (lome-khi). As for the geographical term “Caucasus”, it should be taken into account that the ancient Georgian authors, including Mroveli, always meant the Central Caucasus and specifically Mount Elbrus by this term. this mountain.

Further, after describing the settlement by the Dagestanis and Vainakhs of the North Caucasus, Mroveli returns to the events that took place in the Transcaucasus, in the “lot of Kartlos”. He talks about his descendants, about attempts to introduce royal power in Georgia, about internecine strife, and so on. The narrative is brought to the ancient era and, despite the chronological uncertainty, two characteristic moments are clearly emphasized - the rise and flourishing of the capital Mtskheta among the ancient Georgian cities and the paganism of the Georgians, who during the period under review worshiped “the sun and the moon and the five stars, and their first and main shrine was the tomb of Kartlos.

Here is a quote from the source:
“At that time, the Khazars intensified and started a war with the tribes of Leks and Caucasians. The Targamosians at that time were in mutual peace and love. The sons of Kavkas were ruled by Durdzuk, the son of Tiret. Six Targamosians decided to seek help in the fight against the Khazars. And all of the Targamosians gathered, crossed the mountains of the Caucasus, conquered the borders of Khazareti and, having erected cities on its outskirts, returned.”

Let's stop quoting for a moment. Some clarification is needed here. In the ancient Armenian version of “Kartlis tskhovreba”, the passage cited above is conveyed in the following words: “At that time, the Khazrats tribe strengthened, they began to fight against the Lekats and Kavkas clans, who fell into sorrow because of this; they asked for help from the six houses of Torgom, who at that time were in joy and peace, so that they would come to them for salvation, who went in full readiness to help and crossed the mountains of the Caucasus and filled the lands of Khazrats with the hands of the son of Tiret - Dutsuk, who called them for help".

The ancient Armenian version significantly complements the Georgian one. Firstly, it becomes clear that the main burden of the war with the Khazars fell on the shoulders of the Vainakhs (Durdzuks, as Georgians called them almost until the 19th century), and it was they who turned to the Transcaucasians with a request for help. Help was provided, but the conquest of the Khazar lands was carried out by the Vainakh forces (“they captured the lands of Khazrats with the hands of the son of Tiret - Dutsuk ...”). Let us return, however, to the interrupted quote: “Following this (that is, after the military defeat - auth.), the Khazars elected a king for themselves. All the Khazars began to obey the elected king, and the Khazars led by him passed the Sea Gate, which is now called Darubandi (that is, Derbent - author). The Targamosians were unable to resist the Khazars, for there were countless of them. They captivated the country of Targamosians, crushed all the cities of Ararat, Masis and the North...”

Further, it is told about the frequent raids of the Khazars in Transcaucasia, about taking people into captivity, etc. It is noted that for the raids the Khazars used not only the Derbent passage, but also the Darial Gorge. Then Mroveli records the first appearance of Ossetians in the Caucasus: “On his very first campaign, the Khazar king crossed the mountains of the Caucasus and captured the peoples, as I wrote above. He had a son named Uobos, to whom he gave Somkhiti and Kartli captives (that is, Armenia and Georgia - author). Gave him part of the country of Kavkas, west of the Lomek River to the western reaches of the mountains. And Wobos settled. Its descendants are oats. This is Ovseti (Ossetia), which was part of the inheritance of the Caucasus. Durdzuk, who was the most famous among the sons of Kavkas, left and settled in a mountain gorge, to which he gave his name - Durdzuketi ... "

The Chechens once had three such symbolic items: "koman yai" ("national cauldron"), "koman teptar" ("national chronicle") and "koman muhar" ("national seal"). All of them were kept in Nashakh, in the ancestral tower of Mozar (Motsarkhoy), an ancient clan that was the custodian of these national Chechen relics.

On the bronze strips, which were vertically soldered to the outer side of the cauldron, the names of these 63 types were engraved.

The cauldron was destroyed on the orders of Imam Shamil by two Chechen naibs in 1845 or 1846. Naibs were representatives of Nashkho and Dishni types. Realizing what they had done, they began to blame each other for this sacrilege. An enmity ensued between them, and their descendants were reconciled only in the 30s of the XX century.

The original manuscript of Alan Azdin Vazar has recently been discovered. This Arabic manuscript was found by Jordanian historian Abdul-Ghani Hassan al-Shashani among 30,000 ancient manuscripts stored in the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. Azdin, according to the manuscript, was born in the year of the invasion of the hordes of Tamerlane to the Caucasus - in 1395. He calls himself a representative of the “Alan tribe of Nokhchis”. Azdin's father, Vazar, was a high-ranking officer, one of the military leaders-mercenaries of the Mongol-Tatar army and lived in the capital of the Tatars - the city of Saray. Being a Muslim, Vazar sent his son to study in Muslim countries. Then he returned to his homeland in order to preach Islam among his compatriots. According to him, one part of the Alan-Vainakhs professed Christianity, the other - paganism (“magos tsIera din” - that is, the sun - and fire worship). The mission of Islamization of the Vainakhs at that time did not have tangible success.

In his book, Azdin Vazar describes the borders and lands of the settlement of the Alan-Vainakhs: north of the Kura and Tushetia rivers, from the Alazan river and Azerbaijan to the northern limits of the Darial and the Terek current. And from the Caspian (along the plain) to the Don River. The name of this plain, Sotai, has also been preserved. The manuscript also mentions some settlements of Alanya: Mazhar, Dadi-ke (Dadi-kov), Balanzhar Fortress, Balkh, Malka, Nashakh, Makzha, Argun, Kilbakh, Terki. The area in the lower reaches of the Terek, at its confluence with the Caspian Sea, is also described - the Keshan plain and the island of Chechen. Everywhere Alans and Vainakhs are completely identical for Azdin. Among the Vainakh clans listed by the missionary historian, the majority have survived to this day. However, he also mentions those clans that today are not in the Vainakh taip nomenclature, for example: Adoi, Vanoi, Subera, Martnakh, Nartnakh, etc.
took here

The indigenous peoples of the Caucasus prefer to live on their lands. Abazins settle in Karachay-Cherkessia. More than 36 thousand of them live here. Abkhazians - right there, or in the Stavropol Territory. But most of all, Karachays (194,324) and Circassians (56,446 people) live here.

850,011 Avars, 40,407 Nogais, 27,849 Rutuls (south of Dagestan) and 118,848 Tabasarans live in Dagestan. Another 15,654 Nogais live in Karachay-Cherkessia. In addition to these peoples, Dargins live in Dagestan (490,384 people). Almost thirty thousand Aguls, 385,240 Lezgins and a little more than three thousand Tatars live here.

Ossetians (459,688 people) settle on their lands in North Ossetia. About ten thousand Ossetians live in Kabardino-Balkaria, a little more than three in Karachay-Cherkessia, and only 585 in Chechnya.

Most Chechens, quite predictably, live in Chechnya itself. There are more than a million of them here (1,206,551), moreover, almost a hundred thousand know only their native language, about a hundred thousand more Chechens live in Dagestan, and about twelve thousand live in Stavropol. About three thousand Nogais, about five thousand Avars, almost one and a half thousand Tatars, the same number of Turks and Tabasarans live in Chechnya. 12,221 Kumyks also live here. There are 24,382 Russians left in Chechnya. 305 Cossacks also live here.

The Balkars (108587) populate Kabardino-Balkaria and almost do not settle in other places of the northern Caucasus. In addition to them, half a million Kabardians live in the republic, about fourteen thousand Turks. Among the large national diasporas, one can single out Koreans, Ossetians, Tatars, Circassians and Gypsies. By the way, the latter are most numerous in the Stavropol Territory, there are more than thirty thousand of them. And about three thousand more live in Kabardino-Balkaria. There are few gypsies in other republics.

Ingush in the amount of 385,537 people live in their native Ingushetia. In addition to them, 18765 Chechens, 3215 Russians, 732 Turks live here. Among rare nationalities there are Yezidis, Karelians, Chinese, Estonians and Itelmens.

The Russian population is concentrated mainly on the arable land of Stavropol. There are 223,153 of them here, another 193,155 people live in Kabardino-Balkaria, about three thousand live in Ingushetia, a little over one hundred and fifty thousand live in Karachay-Cherkessia and 104,020 live in Dagestan. 147,090 Russians live in North Ossetia.

The Caucasus, located between mighty mountain ranges and luxurious valleys, belongs to the most ancient regions with a multinational population. The peoples of the Caucasus, distinguished by their traditions and ethnic characteristics, live together here. Despite the territorial limitations of the region, it has bred about a hundred nationalities in its entire history.

Bearers of ethnic cultures in the region

Now the Caucasian mountain civilization, one of the oldest in the world, has a single type of culture. It consists not only of ethnic rituals, spiritual aspects, traditional features of production, but also of all the material concepts of culture and family, social values ​​of the proud highlanders. That is why the modern Southern region of Russia is considered amazing and interesting.

For many centuries, the common Paleo-Caucasian roots have contributed to the unification and close partnership of the bearers of different ethnic cultures, living surrounded by mountain ranges. The peoples living side by side in the Caucasus have similar historical destinies and therefore a very fruitful cultural exchange is observed in this region.

To date, the carriers of ethnic cultures, which are autochthonous for this region, are:

• Adygei, Avars and Akhvakhs.
• Balkars and Ingush.
• Dargins.
• Ossetians and Chechens.
• Circassians and Mingrelians.
• Kumyks, Nogais and others.

The Caucasus is practically an international region. Most of it is inhabited by Russians and Chechens. As the history of the peoples of the Caucasus shows, the Chechens preferred to take root in the lands of Ciscaucasia, Dagestan, Ingushetia, as well as in the region of the Caucasus Range on the territory of Chechnya.

The central part of the region and North Ossetia are home to a very heterogeneous composition of the population. According to statistics, 30% of Russians and Ossetians live here, 5% of Ingush, the rest are:

• Georgians.
• Armenians.
• Ukrainians.
• Greeks, Tatars and other nationalities.

In terms of population within the Russian Federation, it is the Caucasus that occupies the third place. This region has always been considered the region with the most intensive influx of population. And if earlier the main flows of movement were formed by migrants from the city to the suburbs, then recently the situation has changed in the opposite direction.

For five centuries, scientists have carefully studied the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus. And, despite the fact that a huge factual material on this topic has already been accumulated, there is still a lot of unknown in the fertile Caucasian lands.

Formation of an ancient civilization

The formation of a multifaceted mountain civilization was under the yoke of complex processes of the relationship of numerous nations. Traditional beliefs and religious trends also had a special impact on its development. Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism are just some of the religions of the peoples of the North Caucasus, which contributed to the revival of a mighty civilization.

The cultures of the ancient countries of Urartu, Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece and medieval Iran, the Ottoman and Byzantine empires underlie the type of culture that is now relevant in the southern region of Russia. Historians also consider India and China to be other indirect sources of the cultural formation of the mighty mountain civilization.

But the deepest and strongest connection, which was valued by the most ancient peoples of the Caucasus, was relations with nearby ones: Armenia and Azerbaijan. But the deepening of the North Caucasian culture during the time of the Eastern Slavs also had a strong influence on many other nationalities, making adjustments to their everyday habits and traditions.

The culture of the peoples of the Caucasus has become one of those "highlights" that make the mechanism of Russian culture more diverse. And the main qualities that make historical civilization very valuable for modern humanity are intolerance and tolerance.

Characteristic qualities of mountaineers

Tolerance still helps the North Caucasian nations to cooperate fruitfully with other peoples, loyally overcoming problems and striving to resolve conflicts peacefully. And thanks to intolerance (and in this particular situation it refers to the unacceptability of anything else), the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus were able to avoid excessive pressure from outside and preserve their "author's" identity.

And against the background of the popularization of tolerance to solve the problem of successful contact of the existing peoples, the history and traditions of the North Caucasian highlanders began to attract scientists even more. They think that it is tolerance that contributes to the beneficial adaptation of mountain culture in the modern environment.

The Caucasus is both an amazing and complex region. And this means not only the religious features of this mountainous region, but also ethnic relations, linguistic specifics. The peoples of the North Caucasus are carriers of more than three dozen languages ​​and dialects. Therefore, sometimes historians call this amazing corner of Russia “Russian Babylon”.

Scientists were able to identify three main linguistic directions, which became key for the formation of secondary ones. The languages ​​of the peoples of the Caucasus are classified as follows:

1. East Caucasian. Dagestan came out of them, which are divided into several groups (Avar-Ando-Tsez, Nakh, Dargin, Lezgin and others), as well as Nakh languages. Nakh, in turn, is divided into two branches: Chechen, Ingush.
2. West Caucasian (they are also called Abkhaz-Adyghe). They are spoken by the Shapsug people, who live northwest of the resort town of Sochi. Abaza, Adyghe, Abkhaz, Kabardians, and also Circassians also speak this language.
3. South Caucasian (Kartvelian) - distributed mainly in Georgia, as well as in the western part of Transcaucasia. They are divided into only two types of languages: southern and northern Kartavelian.

Almost all languages ​​used in the North Caucasus remained unwritten until 1917. Only with the beginning of the 1920s did alphabets begin to be developed for the predominant part of the peoples of the region. They were based on the Latin language. In the 30s, it was decided to replace the Latin alphabets with Russian-language ones, but in practice they turned out to be not so adapted to convey all the sound varieties of the highlanders.

One of the features of the southern region and the population living on its territory is the ethnic group of the peoples of the Caucasus. Characteristic for it is that numerous inconsistencies existed not only within the boundaries of a single established community, but also within each individual ethnic group.

Against this background, often in the Caucasus you can find entire villages, towns and communities that have become isolated from each other. As a result, “their own”, local customs, rituals, rituals, and traditions began to be created. Dagestan can be considered a vivid example of this. Here, the established rules and order in everyday life were observed by individual villages and even tukhums.

Such endogamy led to the fact that the concepts of "one's own" and "alien" had clear designations and frameworks. The concepts of “Apsuara” and “Adygage” became characteristic of the Caucasian peoples, with the help of which the highlanders designated a set of moral norms for the behavior of the Abkhazians and Adyghes, respectively.

Such concepts became the personification of all the values ​​of the peoples of the mountains: conceivable virtues, the importance of the family, traditions, etc. All this helped the mountaineers develop ethnocentrism, a sense of dominance and superiority over others (in particular, over other peoples).

Three very famous mountain rites

To date, three traditions of the peoples of the North Caucasus are considered the brightest and most famous:

1. Happy meeting. The concepts of the Caucasus and hospitality have long been considered synonymous. The customs associated with welcoming guests are firmly rooted in the ethnos of the highlanders and have become one of the most important aspects of their life. It is worth noting that the traditions of hospitality are still actively practiced in the modern South of the Caucasus, which is why tourists love to visit this region again and again.
2. Bride kidnapping. This custom can be attributed to the most controversial, but widespread throughout the region. Initially, the staging was supposed to help the groom's relatives avoid paying bride price. But later, the plot of the kidnapping, agreed on by both sides, began to be applied to different situations. For example, when parents do not approve of the feelings of their children or when the youngest daughter plans to marry before the other ... In such situations, “stealing” the bride is a suitable solution, as well as “Ancient and beautiful custom”, as one of the main characters of the famous “Prisoner of the Caucasus” said . By the way, now for the implementation of such an undertaking, the heroes of the occasion can be punished by law, because the tradition of kidnapping is pursued by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
3. Tradition of blood feud. The Caucasus is a region where many traditions contradict the secular and moral standards of the state. And the customs of blood feuds are the most striking example. Surprisingly, this tradition has not ceased to exist since the very moment when the history of the North Caucasus began its independent development. Without a statute of limitations, this tradition is still practiced in some regions of the mountainous region.

There are other traditions of the peoples of the North Caucasus. There are interesting wedding ceremonies that surprise with their beauty and originality. For example, the tradition of "wedding concealment", which implies a separate celebration of marriage. The newlyweds celebrate the event in different houses for the first days after the wedding and do not even see each other.

The culinary traditions that the mountain peoples of the Caucasus still practice are also interesting. No wonder hot Caucasians are recognized as the most skillful cooks. Juicy, fragrant, bright, with harmonious overflows of spices and taste qualities, the traditional dishes of the highlanders are definitely worth a try. Popular among them are: pilaf, achma, kharcho, satsivi, khachapuri, kebab and everyone's favorite baklava.

Tribute to ancient traditions is also observed within the family in the Caucasus. Recognition of the authority and supremacy of elders is the basic foundation of the organization of families. It is worth noting that many scientists explain the phenomenon of Caucasian longevity by the fact that age and wisdom are still revered in this region.

These and other extraordinary traditions of the highlanders in many ways change their world for the better. Perhaps that is why many representatives of modern humanity are increasingly paying attention to them, trying to apply them in their society.

The epic of the charismatic highlanders

The general epic of the peoples of the Caucasus deserves special attention. Formed on the basis of legends about strong men breaking mountains with swords, demigod heroes fighting giants. It originated over many decades and took material from the 3rd century BC as its legacy.

Ancient legends eventually became cycles that were united by chronology and a common plot. Traditions originating in the Caucasian mountains and valleys formed the Nart epic. It is dominated by a pagan worldview, closely intertwined with the symbols and paraphernalia of monotheistic religions.

The peoples living in the Caucasus have formed a powerful epic, which has certain similarities with the epic works of other peoples. This leads scientists to the idea that all the historical materials of the highlanders are a beneficial product of their interaction with other communities in ancient times.

One can still praise and exalt the peoples of the Caucasus for a long time, who played a far from unimportant role in the formation of the culture of the great Russian State. But even this brief overview of the characteristics of the population of this region testifies to the diversity, value and richness of culture.

- many peoples who spoke different languages. However, such a systematization did not take shape immediately. Despite the same way of life, each of the local peoples has its own unique origin.

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Scientists identify a group autochthonous peoples, (translated from Greek - local, indigenous, aboriginal), which have lived in the area since their formation. In the northern and Central Caucasus, these are, which are represented by three peoples

• Kabardians, 386 thousand people, live in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, in the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories, North Ossetia. The language belongs to the Abkhaz-Adyghe group of the Iberian-Caucasian language. Believers are Sunni Muslims;
• Adyghe, 123,000, of which 96,000 live in the Republic of Adygea, Sunni Muslims
• Circassians, 51,000 people, more than 40 thousand live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

The descendants of the Adygs live in a number of states: Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia.

The Abkhaz-Adyghe language group includes the people Abaza(self-name abaza), 33,000 people, 27 thousand live in the KChR and the Republic of Adygea (eastern part), Sunnis. The descendants of the Abazins, like the Adygs, live in Turkey and the countries of the Middle East, and linguistically their descendants are the Abkhazians (self-name- absula).

Another large group of indigenous peoples that occupies the North Caucasus are representatives Nakh group of languages:

• Chechens(self-name - nokhchiy), 800,000 people, live in the Republic of Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan (Akkin Chechens, 58,000 people), Sunni Muslims. Diasporas of descendants of Chechens live in the Middle East;
• Ingush(self-name - galgai), 215,000 people, most live in the Republic of Ingushetia, the Chechen Republic and North Ossetia, Sunni Muslims;
• cysts(self-name - cysts), in the mountainous regions of the Republic of Chechnya, speak Nakh dialects.

Chechens and Ingush have a common name Vainakhs.

Looks the hardest Dagestan branch of the Ibero-Caucasian languages, it is divided into four groups:

1. Avaro-Ando-Tsez group, which includes 14 languages. The most significant is the language spoken Avars(self-name - maarulal), 544,000 people, the central and mountainous regions of Dagestan, there are Avars settlements in the Stavropol Territory and northern Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims.
   The other 13 peoples belonging to this group are much inferior in number and have significant differences from the Avar language (for example, andeans- 25 thousand, tindinians or tyndals- 10 thousand people).
2. Dargin language group. The main people Dagrinians(self-name - dargan), 354 thousand people, while more than 280 thousand live in the mountainous regions of Dagestan. Large diasporas of the Dargins live in the Stavropol Territory and Kalmykia. Muslims are Sunnis.
3. Lak language group. The main people Laks (Laki, Kazikumukh), 106 thousand people, in mountainous Dagestan - 92,000, Muslims - Sunnis.
4. Lezgi language group- south of Dagestan with the city of Derbent, people Lezgins(self-name - lezgiar), 257,000, over 200,000 live in Dagestan itself. A large diaspora exists in Azerbaijan. In religious terms: Dagestani Lezgins are Sunni Muslims, and Azerbaijani Lezgins are Shiite Muslims.
   • Tabasarans (Tabasaran), 94,000 people, 80,000 of them live in Dagestan, the rest in Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims;
   • rutulians (myh abdyr), 20,000 people, of which 15,000 live in Dagestan, Sunni Muslims;
   • tsakhuri (yykhby), 20,000, mostly in Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims;
   • agul (agul), 18,000 people, 14,000 in Dagestan, Sunni Muslims.
     The Lezgi group includes 5 more languages spoken by minority peoples.

Peoples who later settled in the North Caucasus region

Unlike the autochthonous peoples, the ancestors Ossetian came to the North Caucasus later and for a long time they were known as Alan from the 1st century AD. According to the language, Ossetians belong to Iranian language group and their closest relatives are Iranians (Persians) and Tajiks. Ossetians live on the territory of North Ossetia, numbering 340,000 people. In the Ossetian language itself, three large dialects are distinguished, according to which self-names are derived:

• Iranians (Iron)- Orthodox;
• Digorians (Digoron)- Sunni Muslims
• kudartsy (kudaron)- South Ossetia, Orthodox.

A special group is made up of peoples whose formation and appearance in the North Caucasus is associated with the late Middle Ages (15-17 centuries). Linguistically, they are Turks:

1. Karachays (Karachayly), 150,000 people, of which 129 thousand live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. There are Karachay diasporas in the Stavropol Territory, Central Asia, Turkey, and Syria. The language belongs to the Kypchak group of Turkic languages ​​(Polovtsy). Sunni Muslims;
2. Balkars (taulu), highlanders, 80,000 people, of which 70,000 live in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Large diasporas in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Muslims are Sunnis;
3. Kumyks (Kumuk), 278,000 people, mainly live in Northern Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia. Muslims are Sunnis;
4. Nogais (Nogaylar), 75,000, are divided into three groups according to territory and dialect:
   • Kuban Nogais (ak Nagais) living in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic;
   • Achikulak Nogais living in the Neftekumsk region of the Stavropol Territory;
   • Kara Nagai (Nogai steppe), Sunni Muslims.
5. Turkmens (Truhmens), 13.5 thousand people live in the Turkmen region of the Stavropol Territory, but the language belongs to Oguz group of Turkic languages, Sunni Muslims.

Separately, it should be noted that appeared in the North Caucasus in the middle of the 17th century. Kalmyks (halmg), 146,000 people, the language belongs to the Mongolian language group (Mongols and Buryats are related in language). Religiously, they are Buddhists. Those of the Kalmyks who were in the Cossack class of the Don army, professed Orthodoxy, were called buzaavy. Most of them are nomadic Kalmyks - turguts.

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