F.M. Takazov
Ph.D., Head. department of folklore SOIGSI

The work was carried out with financial support
RGNF 08-01-371004 a/u

The North Caucasus is a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional region. More than 50 nationalities live here, differing from each other not only in language, but also in culture and mentality. Ethnic diversity is present with the existence of all world religions here. The majority of the ethnic population lives in 7 national republics, which, except for the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, are dominated by Islam.

First acquaintance of peoples North Caucasus with Islam dates back to the 7th century. In 651, detachments of Arab cavalry under the command of the military leader Suleiman invaded Southern Dagestan and passed through the Caspian Gate to the north. But this invasion was not a success either military or political. In 652, their leader Suleiman died north of Derbent. Although the Arabs were unable to gain a foothold in Dagestan, the invasions continued for 150 years. From the second half of the 7th century, the Arabs began to spread Islam in the occupied territories of Dagestan. At the same time, they resorted not only to force of arms, but also to peaceful means, in particular to tax policy. This planting method new religion The Arabs used it in almost all occupied territories. Those who converted to Islam were freed from the poll tax and sometimes the land tax. In addition, the Arabs also launched missionary activities. As a result, Islam in Dagestan began to gradually spread further and further into the mountainous regions. The appearance of the first Muslim mosques also associated with Dagestan. The oldest mosque “Dzhuma”, built in Derbent, belongs to VIII century. At the same time, the process of Islamization of the peoples of Dagestan lasted for centuries. A significant part of the population, especially in the mountains, remained adherents of previous beliefs until the end of the 15th century. For example, as the researcher of the religious beliefs of the peoples of Dagestan I.A. points out. Makatov, residents of the village of Kubachi and nearby villages adopted Islam only at the beginning of the 15th century, and the population of the Gidatlin society only in 1475. But Islam did not advance further to the north of the Caucasus at that time and had no success.

The penetration of Islam into the North Caucasus came not only from the south. In the lower Volga region there was the Golden Horde, in which Islam began to spread from the 13th century. There is some information about the penetration of Islam from the Golden Horde into the North Caucasus along trade routes. But, apparently, this influence was very insignificant and did not leave noticeable traces.

Among the tribes that were part of the Golden Horde and converted to Islam were the ancestors of the current Nogais. Already in the XVI - XVII centuries Nogais were considered Muslims. In fact, they were one of the first peoples of the North Caucasus to convert to Islam, although they were indifferent to issues of the Muslim faith for a long time. Thus, one of the travelers who visited the North Caucasus in the 17th century wrote: “They (Nogais - F.T.) are Mohammedans, but do not observe the rules of their religion, do not fast, do not gather for prayer; mullahs and trevijis (Muslim theologians - F.T.) do not live among them, since they cannot get used to their way of life.” Nevertheless, coming into contact with other peoples of the North Caucasus, the Nogais could not help but introduce the latter to Islam. In his historical and ethnographic essay “Abazins”, the famous Caucasian scholar L.I. Lavrov noted that the relationship between the Abazas and the Kuban Nogais undoubtedly contributed to familiarization with the Muslim religion, which gradually began to penetrate more and more into the life of the population of the Northwestern Caucasus. Sunni Islam penetrated to the Abazas from the Nogais and Crimean Tatars. The nobility perceived it first, and then the rest of the people. This could happen, according to L.I. Lavrov, during the 17th - 18th centuries. The appearance of the first Muslims in the North Caucasus, the famous historian and archaeologist V.A. Kuznetsov also dates it to the period of the Golden Horde. According to V.A. Kuznetsov, the Muslim religion has gained significant popularity since the 14th century due to the inclusion of most of the North Caucasus in the ulus of Jochi - the Golden Horde. According to some researchers, the largest Islamic economic and cultural center Ciscaucasia in the 14th century became the city of Majar on the Kuma River with a mixed Turkic-Mongolian and Alan population. Archaeological excavations of the North Caucasus archaeological expedition in the Upper Julata discovered the ruins of two Muslim mosques out of three, attested in 1771 by I.A. Gyldenstedt. I. Blaramberg also wrote about the three minarets in the “Tatar Valley” of Tatartupa in 1834. Consequently, it can be argued that already in the 13th - 15th centuries there were Muslim denominations in the North Caucasus, which the other peoples of the Central and Northwestern Caucasus, including the Ossetians, could not help but encounter. The third wave of the spread of Islam is associated with Turkey and the Crimean Khanate. In the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire, which rose from the ruins of Byzantium, became a powerful power. The Turkish Sultan was declared the Caliph of all Sunni Muslims. Already in the 15th century, the Black Sea coast of Georgia and Abkhazia fell into the hands of Turkey. In 1475, the Genoese and Venetian colonies on the shores of the Black Sea were captured. Crimea fell into the hands of Turkey, whose khan became a vassal of the Turkish Sultan.

In the 16th century, they began to seize the Black Sea coast, inhabited by Adyghe tribes. Gradually they managed to strengthen themselves along the entire coastline. The main goal The Turks were advancing to the Caspian Sea, capturing Astrakhan and the Derbent Pass. To solve these problems, they began to attract the Crimean khans, whose raids on Kabarda and other regions of the North Caucasus became more and more frequent. In the occupied areas, the Turks and Crimean khans tried to introduce Islam to consolidate their influence. According to A.A. Avksentyev, Turkish penetration into the coastal regions of the North Caucasus dates back to the end of the 15th century, and into the deep ones - to the beginning of the 16th century. It was at that time, in the middle of the 16th century, that the Islamization of the peoples of the North Caucasus, the Adyghe and Abaza tribes began. And the Crimean khans were active preachers of this policy in the 16th - 17th centuries.

But even among the Adyghe tribes, the process of Islamization took place depending on the political situation. The center of the spread of Islam was Anapa, which until 1829 was located in Turkey. Therefore, the Adyghe societies that lived closer to the coast previously came under the influence of Islam and the Turkish clergy. Thus, according to the testimony of travelers visiting the North-Western Caucasus at that time, by the middle of the 16th century Islam had strengthened only among the Adyghe tribe of the Zhaneevs, and the Circassian and Abaza tribes living to the east of them as far as Kabarda were pagans. The Turkish traveler Evliya, who visited these parts in 1641, wrote that Islam was slowly penetrating the Abaza, Circassians and Kabardians. He noted that the Temirgoy Circassians who inhabited the Laba River basin were only partially Muslim at that time. The Abazins of the Atemi tribe also had not yet become Muslims, and their relatives of the Bebirdkach tribe (Biberdukovites) were unreliable Muslims.

Although Islam began to penetrate intensively into the Adyghe tribes from the 16th century, among the Adyghe, Kabardians and Circassians it finally took root only at the end of the 18th century under the influence of Turkish expansion, and in some places even by the beginning of the 19th century. The fundamental academic work “Peoples of the Caucasus” directly states on this matter that “Islam began to penetrate the Adyghe people in the 16th century, but individual tribes accepted Islam only at the end of the 18th and even the first half of the 19th century under pressure from the Turks.” But, at the same time, it should be noted that many elements of paganism and Christianity among the Abazas, Adygeis, Kabardians and Circassians were preserved even when they were already considered Muslims. Even in the 19th century, Islam received a superficial perception among these peoples. The “Essays on the History of Adygea” quotes the words of a witness in the 60s of the 19th century, reflecting the then state of the religious beliefs of the population: “We have only mullahs and qadi Muslims, but they are from Turkey or from the Nogais; only two people out of a thousand of us read the Koran.”

The spread of Islam among the Karachais dates back to an even later period. Islam and the Muslim clergy did not have time to take deep roots in Karachay until the second half of the 19th century.

Islam began to penetrate the Balkars in the middle of the 18th century. But he finally strengthened only in mid-19th centuries.

Thus, by the middle of the 19th century, almost all the peoples of the North Caucasus encountered Islam, although they accepted its teachings superficially. Islam penetrated all these peoples from the outside: some - by Arabs, others - by Turks and Crimean Tatars. Only the Nogais moved here after the collapse of the Golden Horde as Muslims. In addition to the Nogais, Stavropol Turkmens also came to the North Caucasus, already Muslims. Pressed by the Khiva khans, who drove them from fertile lands and deprived them of water, the Turkmen were forced to leave their native places and roam in search of better life. Through Mangyshlak they reached the Astrakhan steppes, and in 1653 - to the banks of Manych and Kuma. Here they initially wandered in the footsteps of the Kalmyks, and then, pushing the latter beyond the Manych, they began to wander along the Kuma and Kalaus rivers.

In fact, the spread of Islam in the North Caucasus was accelerated by the protracted Caucasian War of the early 19th century. By this time, Islam had become a symbol of opposition to the imposition of its own customs and culture by the tsarist administration. Since the Russian authorities did not recognize any other religion other than Christianity and Islam, the North Caucasian peoples began to en masse declare themselves Muslims, which made it possible to oppose themselves to Christian Russia.

The traditional folk beliefs that preceded Islam by that time were already to some extent syncretized by early Christianity, which had the greatest influence on the peoples of the Western and Central Caucasus. Christianity penetrated into the North Caucasus from Byzantium. Already at the end of the 9th century, the Caucasian Alans adopted Christianity, although, as the Arab author Masudi pointed out, the Alans accepted Christianity during the time of the caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty, but after 932 they returned to paganism again, expelling from their country the bishops and priests sent by the Byzantine emperor. Evidence of this short-lived Christianity in Alanya are the ruins of Christian churches in Karachay-Cherkessia, dated by specialists to the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries.

Hudud al-Alem also wrote about the adoption of Christianity by the Alans, who mentioned the king of the Alans as a Christian. At the same time, he noted that among the inhabitants of Alanya there are Christians and idolaters. V.F. Minorsky, in the “history of Shirvan and Derbent” of the 10th-11th centuries, also wrote that “the kings of the Alans were Christians for a short time, but then returned to paganism.”

Although nothing definite is known about the existence of Christianity among the ancestors of the Circassians of that time, they could not help but find themselves in the sphere of influence on the one hand - Christian Byzantium, on the other hand - the Alans who converted to Christianity. Only with the fall of Byzantium and Alania, the peoples of the North Caucasus were cut off from the rest of the Christian world, as a result of which pre-Christian folk beliefs supplanted Christianity. But even that short period of existence of Christianity among them had a significant impact on the folk beliefs of all Caucasian peoples without exception. Many Christian rituals were transformed into pagan ones, no longer perceived as alien. Christianity also influenced the pantheon of the peoples of the North Caucasus, replacing the names of many pagan deities with the names of Christian saints. Thus, in the pantheon of many peoples of the North Caucasus the names are found in various versions: St. George (Uastirdzhi, Wasgergi, Geurge, Ashdzherdzhi), St. Elijah (Uacilla, Vacil, Elia, Eliya, Elta, Seli), St. Nicholas the saint (Nikola, Nikol). Although the listed saints entered the pantheon of folk beliefs of the Balkars, Karachais, Kabardins, Circassians, Ossetians, Ingush and some peoples of Dagestan, they retained only their names from Christian images, only replacing the names of pagan characters. Although the term “paganism” does not fully correspond to the nature of the beliefs of the North Caucasian peoples before their Islamization, since acquaintance with monotheistic Christianity transformed the consciousness of the peoples, as a result of which little was preserved from classical paganism.

In addition to Byzantium, Georgia carried out active missionary work on the Christianization of mountain peoples, thus trying to secure its borders from constant raids by mountaineers. A fragment of such missionary activity in Ingushetia is considered to be the pagan temple of Thaba-Erda, attributed by researchers to Christian temple pre-Mongol period. According to E. Krupnov, “the active spread of Christianity from Georgia to Ingushetia dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. during the heyday of the Georgian feudal monarchy." In his geography, Vakhushti Bagrationi, describing Ossetia and the Ossetians, noted: “In the old days, they were all Christians by faith and made up the flock of Nikozel, the main example is the Dvalians, but in the present time the Dvalians are only called Christians, because they observe Lent, they honor and worship icons, churches and priests, but are ignorant of everything else. They do not have a priest and remain unbaptized, except for those who receive baptism in Kartalinya and Racha. But in Tagauria, Kurtauli, Valagiri, Paikomi, Digoria and Basian, the leaders and nobles are Mohammedans, and the simple peasants are Christians, but they are ignorant of this and other faiths: the difference between them is only that those who eat pork are considered Christians, and those who eat horse meat - Mohammedans. Nevertheless, they honor the likeness of an idol, which they call Vachila, for they slaughter a goat to Elijah, eat the meat themselves, and stretch the skin onto a high tree and worship this skin on the day of Elijah, so that he would deliver them from the hail and give the harvest of the Earth.

In the XIII-XIV centuries. An attempt was made by the Genoese to spread Catholicism in the North Caucasus. Author of the 15th century I. Schiltberger noted that “their priests belong to the Carmelite order, who do not know Latin, but pray and sing in Tatar so that their parishioners will be firm in the faith. Moreover, many pagans accept holy baptism, since they understand what the priests read and sing." However, this attempt at Christianization was not crowned with success. The memory of the Genoese was preserved in the folklore of the Karachais, Balkars and Ossetians. Apparently this period left the names of Christian saints in the Karachay calendar in the names of the days of the week: Elia (St. Elijah), Nikol (St. Nicholas), Endreyuk (St. Andrew), abustol (apostle), Geurge (St. George), Baras (St. Paraskeva).

The folk beliefs of the peoples of the North Caucasus were not united. As much as one people differed from another, so did their beliefs. But there were also many similarities. These are mainly mythological images that reflected similar conditions of the social and economic structure of peoples. Thus, throughout the Caucasus until the end of the 19th century. hunting occupied an important place, which is observed by the existence of a hunting deity among all peoples. Even if the names of this deity did not coincide (Dal, Afsati, Apsat, etc.), the main stories around the deity of hunting were distributed from the Black to the Caspian Sea. The image of Elijah as a thunder deity received the same distribution. Even the rituals associated with someone killed by lightning were similar in their semantics. The differences could only concern the external form of the ritual. For example, the Circassians had a custom of putting those killed by lightning in a coffin, which they then hang on a tall tree, after which neighbors come, bring food and drinks and begin to dance and have fun. They slaughter bulls and rams, and distribute most of the meat to the poor. They do this for three days and repeat the same thing every year until the corpses are completely decayed, considering that a person killed by lightning is a saint. The Kabardians called the Thunder God Shible. He had water, fire, and thunder in his power. It was believed that during a thunderstorm, Shible gallops across the sky on a black stallion and that the rumbles of thunder are nothing more than the echoes of his heavenly horse riding. During the period of Christianization of the Circassians, the functions of Shible passed to Ilie (Elle). In honor of Yelle, the Circassians had a dance called “Shibleudzh”.

The Ossetians performed a circular ritual dance “tsoppai” over someone killed by lightning, after which they placed him on a cart with an ox harness and released them. Where the oxen stopped, the dead were buried there. The very place where lightning struck, regardless of whether someone was killed, or lightning hit a tree, or a building, this place became a place of worship, just like among the Circassians, Karachay-Balkars, and Ingush.

Accepting Christian rituals and Christian saints, Caucasians tried to adapt them to their cults and in accordance with their beliefs. If any Christian elements were contradictory popular ideas, then they were simply ignored, and in such cases Christianity left its mark only on the name of the deity.

The combination of Christianity with pagan cults before the Islamization of the Caucasus became the predominant form religious ideas. Christian missionaries continued to penetrate the North Caucasus until the 18th century. But under the influence of traditional cults and customs, Christianity in the Western and Central Caucasus was significantly transformed. The peoples of the North Caucasus have always tried to adapt Christian rites and saints to their ancient folk cults and traditional beliefs.

Despite the penetration of world religions - Christianity and Islam - into the peoples of the North Caucasus, folk beliefs continued to play a significant role until the 20s. XX century, despite the fact that officially by that time the entire North Caucasus professed only Islam and Christianity.

Today Islam in the North Caucasus is represented by the Sunni school of various interpretations. The peoples of the Russian Caucasus follow the following directions of Islam:

Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi persuasion: Abazins (Muslims from the 17th-18th centuries, 33,000 people - 1989), Adygeis (Adygs, Muslims from the 16th-19th centuries, 130,000 people - 1989), Balkars ( Muslims from the 18th century, 78,000 people - 1989), Kabardians (Muslims from the 17th century, 390,000 people - 1989), Karachais (Muslims from the 18th century, 150,000 people - 1989), Circassians (Muslims since the 18th century, 50,000 people - 1989), and others;

Sunni Muslims of the Shafiite persuasion: these are mainly the peoples of Dagestan - Avars (Muslims from the 15th century, 545,000 people - 1989), Ando-Tsez peoples (Muslims from the 15th-18th centuries, 60,000-1989) , Dargins (including Kubachi and Kaitag people, Muslims from the 14th century, 355,000 people - 1989), Kumyks (Muslims from the 12th century, played a significant role in the history of Islam among the peoples of Dagestan, 277,000 people - 1989 g.), Laks (one of the first Muslims of Dagestan - converted to Islam in the 9th century, 106,000 people - 1989), Lezgins, Aguls, Rutuls, Tabasarans, Tsakhurs (Muslims from the 11th century, about 400,000 in total - 1989), as well as Chechens (Muslims from the 16th-17th centuries, 900,000 people - 1989), Ingush (among them, Islam was finally established only in the mid-19th century, 215,000 people - 1989. ), and other peoples.

In the North Caucasus there are also Shiite Muslims (Azerbaijanis) and Jews (Tats, the so-called Mountain Jews).

With the strengthening of Islam over the past decade, there has been a growing trend in the number of supporters of traditional folk beliefs. In the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, two religious organizations professing traditional Ossetian folk beliefs have already been registered. The same trend is observed in Kabardino-Balkaria and Ingushetia.

Religious syncretism is observed in the ritual practice of mountain peoples. This is most clearly manifested in funeral and wedding ceremonies. Christianity and Islam also had a certain impact on ancient holidays (first furrow, flowers, cherries, harvest, New Year, etc.). Ossetians, Kabardians, Balkars and other peoples celebrate folk holidays, outwardly taking on a religious overtones. Religious syncretism began to prevail in the system of traditional culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus.

Thus, the evolution of religious beliefs among the peoples of the North Caucasus went through 4 stages.

The first stage is associated with early pre-Christian pagan beliefs. The second stage was the penetration of early Christianity into the North Caucasus from Byzantium, which resulted in the syncretization of folk beliefs and paganism. The third stage is associated with the Caucasian War at the beginning of the 19th century, which resulted in the Islamization of the bulk of the population of the North Caucasus. Traditional Islam is superimposed on popular beliefs, which have come to be perceived as Muslim. In North Ossetia, the main population of which were declared Christians, while a smaller part were Muslims, in fact, traditional folk beliefs did not lose their positions. As a result, there was a mixture of Christianity and folk beliefs, Islam and folk beliefs.

The fourth stage is associated with the collapse of the USSR and the fall of Soviet ideology. The fourth stage is characterized by the purification of Islam and Christianity from pagan traditions. During the reign of Soviet atheism, there was a struggle against all forms of religion. But Christianity and Islam retained their institutions, the continuity of transmission of traditional folk beliefs was broken, as a result of which they could no longer, like Christianity and Islam, be revived in post-Soviet times.

Notes:

2. Alekseeva E.P. Essays on the economy and culture of the peoples of Circassia in the 16th-17th centuries. Cherkessk, 1957.

3. Blumberg Johann. Caucasian manuscript. Stavropol, 1992.

4. Vakhushti. Description of the Georgian kingdom // History of Ossetia in documents and materials.

5. Krupnov E.I. Medieval Ingushetia - M: 1971.

6. Kuznetsov V.A. Elkhot Gate in the 10th – 15th centuries. Vladikavkaz, 2003.

7. Mythology of the peoples of Dagestan. Digest of articles. – Makhachkala, 1984.

8. Essays on the history of Adygea. Maykop, 1957.

9. Rizhsky M. About the cult of Shible among the Shapsugs // Materials of the Shapsug expedition of 1939, edited by Tokarev S.A. and Schilling E.M.. M., 1940. P. 47.

10. Smirnov V. Crimean Khanate under the supremacy of the Otoman Porte in the 18th century. Odessa, 1889. P. 11.

11. Proceedings of the Karachay-Cherkess Scientific Research Institute of History, Language and Literature. Vol. 4. Historical series. Stavropol, 1964.

12. Khan-Magomedov S.O. Derbent. M., 1958.

13. Tskhinvali. 1962. T. 1. P. 217.

14. Shortanov A. Adyghe cults. Nalchik, 1992. P. 115.

The North Caucasus is a predominantly Islamic region. Adygeis, Abazas, Circassians, part of the Ossetians, Kabardins, Karachais, Balkars, Nogais, North Caucasian Turkmen - Sunni Muslims (see Sunnism) of the Hanafi madhhab (comprehension); almost all the peoples of Dagestan (including the Turkic-speaking Kumyks), Chechens and Ingush are Sunni Muslims of the Shafiite madhhab. Kalmyks are Lamaist Buddhists (see Buddhism in Russia), some are Orthodox. Orthodoxy is adhered to by the Russian population, including the Cossacks (see Cossacks in Russia), a significant part of the Ossetians, and the Mozdok Kabardians. A small part of the Cossacks are Old Believers (see Old Believers). Some of the Tats (the so-called “Mountain Jews”) are Judaists (see Judaism in Russia).

Before Islam, from the 4th-5th centuries, Christianity appeared in the North Caucasus. Christian influence came from Byzantium, Georgia and Caucasian Albania. On the lands of the Circassians there was a Zikh diocese (from the 7th century), in Alania there was an Alan metropolitanate (from the beginning of the 10th century). Numerous finds of objects of Christian worship, remains of churches, chapels throughout the North Caucasus testify to the extensive missionary activity of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Despite this, the population remained largely semi-pagan, and in many places completely pagan. Judaism in the North Caucasus penetrated with the Tatami Judaists in the 5th-6th centuries and was supported by the political influence of the Khazar Kaganate, where this religion was the state religion, but did not become widespread. Islam began to penetrate into the North Caucasus in the 7th-8th centuries in connection with the Arab conquests. The first to undergo Islamization were the peoples of Dagestan, who adopted the madhhab of Imam Shafii from the Arabs. The Northwestern and Central Caucasus experienced big influence the Hanafi Golden Horde, and later - the Crimean Tatars, Turks and Nogais, who also spread the Abu Hanifa madhab here. The spread of Islam proceeded gradually: first, representatives of the nobility became Muslims, and then people dependent on them. Chechens and Ingush, converted to Islam by preachers from Dagestan (16-19 centuries), became Shafiites. Here, as in Dagestan, the Sufi brotherhood of Naqshbandiya spread (see Sufism in Russia).

By the beginning of the 19th century, the majority of the population of the North. The Caucasus was converted to Islam. The national liberation movement of the mountaineers during the Caucasian War acquired religion. coloring In Dagestan and Chechnya it resulted in a religious and political movement, which received the name muridism in literature. Imam Shamil, who led the movement and created a theocratic state - the Imamate, successfully used the traditions of the Naqshbandi Sufi brotherhood. The ideology was based on the idea of ​​gazavat - a holy war for faith; Adat was consistently replaced by Sharia. In the 50-60s of the 19th century, a new movement arose in Chechnya, led by Sheikh Kunta-Hadji, who called for peace and tranquility. He preached the ideas of the Sufi brotherhood of Qadiriya, which he learned during his stay in the Middle East. Tsarist officials dubbed the teachings of Kunta-Hadji “zikrism”, since in the ritual practice of the Qadirites, zikr occupies an important place - loud zeal with the repetition of the name of Allah, accompanied by dancing in a circle. “Zikrism” covered the mountainous regions of Chechnya and the entirety of Ingushetia. After the Caucasian War, a significant part of the Muslims of the North. Caucasus moved to Turkey. There were no obstacles to the worship of those who remained; every village had a mosque, often more than one.

After the revolution, as Soviet power strengthened, Muslim legal proceedings were eliminated, mosques and madrassas began to close. In the 1930s and 40s, there was active persecution and deportation of mullahs, qadis, and sheikhs. This policy met with the greatest opposition in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan, where Sufism largely contributed to the preservation of Islam. By the end of the 20s in Chechnya and Ingushetia, about half of the population were murids. The forced eviction of the Vainakhs in 1944 strengthened their religiosity. People rallied even more around the sheikhs, whose authority increased immeasurably. In Checheno-Ingushetia, by the beginning of the 80s, the number of officially unregistered mosques exceeded the number of registered ones tens of times. The situation in the North-West Caucasus was somewhat different. Here anti-religious activities achieved significant success. The bulk of the population abandoned religious duties.

In the late 80s and early 90s, religious organizations were able to act openly. If in the North-East Caucasus this was the release of repressed religiosity (for example, in Chechnya and Ingushetia by 1993 there were already 2,500 mosques compared to 12 in the early 80s), then in the North-West Caucasus a true revival of Islam and Christianity began . The construction of mosques and churches began, and religious schools began to open. There are Islamic universities in the North Caucasus, young people are studying in other Islamic states Oh.

The penetration of monotheistic religions into the North Caucasus over time, the loyalty of the North Caucasian peoples to the traditions of their ancestors, and the long-term preservation of patriarchal orders in the mountainous region led to the persistence of ancient beliefs and rituals. The religious beliefs of the North Caucasian peoples have developed some common features: special veneration of the deity of thunder and lightning, functional similarities of other deities and patrons. Beliefs associated with agricultural practices are highly developed; These are mainly magical performances and rituals. Many people are gradually passing away. characters of demonology, but the belief in genies remains.

In the beliefs of the peoples of the North. In the Caucasus, remnants of the cult of ancestors are woven into Muslim holiday rituals. On the days of Eid al-Fitr and Kurban Bayram, as well as the spring holiday of Navruz, prayers are offered for deceased relatives and their graves are visited. Mawlid, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, is widely celebrated throughout the region. Mawlid is also often carried out on some occasion important occasion, not necessarily in the month of Rabi al-aw-wal (when the Prophet was born). A big family holiday is the circumcision of a son (Sunnet). The cult of saints, associated with Sufism in the North-Eastern Caucasus, is widespread.

IN last years among the Muslim population of the North. Wahhabi ideas began to spread in the Caucasus (see Wahhabism), which causes alarm among officials. clergy. Wahhabism penetrates from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic states both through direct missionary activity and indirectly through young people who studied abroad. The Wahhabis have strong financial support and publish the lion's share of local Islamic literature. Wahhabism gained strength mainly in environmentally and socially disadvantaged places: Chechnya, the foothills of Dagestan, etc. The main focus is on young people. Much attention is paid to studying Arabic, Koran and Hadith in the original language. Adat is completely denied, only Sharia and the Sunnah of the Prophet are recognized. Many customs and rituals that are ingrained in people's minds as Islamic are also denied. Thus, it is prohibited to read the Koran at the grave or in the house of the deceased, to read talkyn (instructions to the deceased) at a funeral, to use rosaries, to worship shrines, etc. Muslims who do not accept Wahhabism are accused of idolatry. On this basis, discord in families and clashes in mosques occur. The extremism of the Wahhabis causes caution and condemnation from officials. clergy.

In 1989, a single Spiritual Administration Muslims of the North Caucasus (residence - Buinaksk) split into republican Spiritual Administrations, headed by their own muftis. Religious organizations of the Orthodox population of the North Caucasus are under the jurisdiction of the Stavropol diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A. A. Yarlykapov

Quoted here from the publication: Religions of Nations modern Russia. Dictionary. / editorial team: Mchedlov M.P., Averyanov Yu.I., Basilov V.N. and others - M., 1999, p. 270-273.

The Caucasus has long been part of the zone of influence of the high civilizations of the East, and part of the Caucasian peoples (ancestors of Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis) ancient times had their own states and high culture.

But in some, especially in the high mountain regions of the Caucasus, until the establishment Soviet power Very archaic features of the economic and social structure were preserved, with remnants of patriarchal-tribal and patriarchal-feudal relations. This circumstance was reflected in religious life: although in the Caucasus since the IV-VI centuries. Christianity spread (accompanying the development of feudal relations), and from the 7th-8th centuries. - Islam and formally all Caucasian peoples were considered either Christian or Muslim, under the outer cover of these official religions Many backward peoples of the mountainous regions actually retained very strong remnants of more ancient and original religious beliefs, partly, of course, mixed with Christian or Muslim ideas. This is most noticeable among the Ossetians, Ingush, Circassians, Abkhazians, Svans, Khevsurs, Pshavs, Tushins.

It is not difficult to give a generalized description of their beliefs, since they have many similarities. All these peoples have preserved family and tribal cults associated with them funeral rites, as well as communal agricultural and pastoral cults.

Family and tribal cults

Family-tribal cults held quite firmly in the Caucasus due to the stagnation of the patriarchal-tribal structure. In most cases, they took the form of reverence for the hearth and home - a material symbol of the family community. It was especially developed among the Ingush, Ossetians, and Mountain Georgian groups.

The Ingush, for example, considered the hearth and everything connected with it (fire, ash, fire chain) to be a family shrine. If any stranger Even if he was a criminal, he entered the house and grabbed the chain of custody, he came under the protection of the family, the owner of the house was obliged to protect him with all measures. This was a kind of religious interpretation of the well-known patriarchal custom of hospitality of the Caucasian peoples. Before each meal, small sacrifices - pieces of food - were thrown into the fire. But there was apparently no personification of the hearth, or fire (unlike the beliefs of the peoples of Siberia). Among the Ossetians, who had similar beliefs, there was something like a personification of the chain of fire: the blacksmith god Safa was considered its patron. The Svans attached sacred significance not to the hearth in the living room, but to the hearth in a special defensive tower, which every family previously had and was itself considered a family shrine; This hearth was not used at all for everyday needs; it was used only for special family rituals.

Tribal cults are noted among the same Ingush, Ossetians, and individual Georgian groups. Among the Ingush, each surname (that is, clan) honored its patron, perhaps an ancestor; A stone monument was built in his honor - sieling. Once a year, on the day of the family holiday, a prayer was held near the sieling. Associations of clans also had their own patrons - the Galgai, the Feappi, from which the Ingush people later formed. Similar customs are known among the Abkhazians: among them, each clan had “its own shares of the deity” that patronized this one clan. The clan annually organized prayers for its patron in a sacred grove or in another specific place under the leadership of the eldest in the clan *. The Imeretians (Western Georgia) until recently had a custom of organizing annual family sacrifices: they slaughtered a kid, or a lamb, or a rooster, prayed to God for the well-being of the entire family, then ate and drank wine, stored in a special ritual vessel.

* (See Sh. Inal-Ipa. Abkhazians. Sukhumi, 1960, pp. 361-367.)

Funeral cult

The funeral cult, which was very developed among the peoples of the Caucasus, merged with the family-tribal cult, and in some places took on overly complicated forms. Along with Christian and Muslim funeral customs, some peoples, especially the North Caucasus, also preserved traces of Mazdaist customs (see below, Chapter 18) associated with burial: the old burial grounds of the Ingush and Ossetians consisted of stone crypts in which the bodies of the dead would be isolated from the earth and air. Some peoples had the custom of funeral games and competitions. But the custom of organizing periodic commemorations for the deceased was especially carefully observed. These commemorations required very large expenses - for treating numerous guests, for sacrifice, etc. - and often completely ruined the household. Such a harmful custom was especially noted among the Ossetians (Hist); it is also known among the Abkhazians, Ingush, Khevsurs, Svans, etc. They believed that the deceased himself was invisibly present at the wake. If a person, for whatever reason, did not arrange a wake for his deceased relatives for a long time, then he was condemned, believing that he was keeping them from hand to mouth. Among the Ossetians, it was impossible to inflict a greater offense on a person than by telling him that his dead were starving, that is, that he was carelessly fulfilling his duty to organize a funeral.

Mourning for the deceased was observed very strictly and was also associated with superstitious beliefs. Particularly severe restrictions and regulations of a purely religious nature fell on the widow. Among the Ossetians, for example, she had to make the bed for her deceased husband every day for a year, wait for him at the bedside until late at night, and prepare water for him to wash in the morning. “Getting out of bed early in the morning, every time she takes a basin and a jug of water, as well as a towel, soap, etc., she carries them to the place where her husband usually washed himself during his lifetime, and stands there for several minutes in this position, like as if serving to wash. At the end of the ceremony, she returns to the bedroom and puts the utensils in place."

* (E. Binkevich. Ossetian beliefs. In the collection: " Religious Beliefs peoples of the USSR", vol. II. M.-L., 1931, p. 156.)

Agrarian communal cults

Extremely characteristic is the form of religious rites and beliefs of the peoples of the Caucasus, which was associated with agriculture and cattle breeding and in most cases was based on a communal organization. The rural agricultural community remained very stable among the majority of Caucasian peoples. Its functions, in addition to regulating land use and solving community rural affairs, also included caring for the harvest, the well-being of livestock, etc., and for these purposes religious prayers and magical rituals. They were different among different peoples, often complicated by Christian or Muslim admixtures, but basically they were similar, being always connected in one way or another with the economic needs of the community. To ensure a good harvest, drive away drought, stop or prevent the loss of livestock, magical rituals or prayers to patron deities (often both together) were performed. All the peoples of the Caucasus had ideas about special deities - patrons of the harvest, patrons of certain breeds of livestock, etc. The images of these deities among some peoples experienced a strong Christian or Muslim influence, even merged with some saints, while among others they retained a more original appearance .

Here is an example of a description of the ritual of an agricultural communal cult among the Abkhazians: “Residents of the village (atsuta) organized every spring - in May or early June, on Sunday - a special agricultural prayer called “atsu prayer” (atsyu-nykhea). Residents made a contribution. for the purchase of rams or cows and wine (by the way, not a single shepherd refused, if necessary, to give a casted goat or ram for public prayer, although rams were rarely used as sacrificial animals. In addition, every smoke (that is, the farm. - C). . T.) was obliged to bring boiled millet (gomi) with him to a designated place, which was considered sacred according to legend; there they slaughtered cattle and cooked meat. Then a respected old man in that village was chosen, who was given a stick with liver and heart skewered on it. a glass of wine, and he, having accepted this and becoming the head of the worshippers, turned to the east and said a prayer: “God of the heavenly powers, have pity on us and send us your mercy: give us the fertility of the earth, so that we, our wives and our children would not know hunger, no cold, no grief "... At the same time, he cut off a piece of the liver and heart, poured wine over them and threw them aside, after which everyone sat in a circle, wished each other happiness and began to eat and drink. The skin was received by the worshiper, and the horns were hung on a sacred tree. Women were not allowed not only to touch this food, but even to be present during dinner..." *.

* (Inal-Ipa, pp. 367-368.)

Purely magical rituals of combating drought are described among the Shapsug Circassians. One of the ways of causing rain during a drought was for all the men of the village to go to the grave of a man killed by lightning (a “stone grave,” which was considered a community shrine, like the trees around it); among the participants in the ceremony there must certainly have been a member of the clan to which the deceased belonged. Arriving at the place, they all joined hands and ritual songs They danced, barefoot and without hats, around the grave. Then, raising the bread, the relative of the deceased addressed the latter on behalf of the entire community with a request to send rain. Having finished his prayers, he took a stone from the grave, and all participants in the ritual went to the river. A stone tied with a rope to a tree was lowered into the water, and everyone present, right in their clothes, plunged into the river. The Shapsugs believed that this ritual was supposed to cause rain. After three days the stone had to be removed from the water and returned to its original place; According to legend, if this is not done, the rain will continue to fall and flood the entire earth.

Among other methods of magically causing rain, walking with a doll made from a wooden shovel and dressed in a woman’s outfit is especially typical; This doll, called hatse-guashe (princess-shovel), was carried around the village by the girls and was doused with water near each house, and finally thrown into the river. The ritual was performed only by women, and if they happened to meet a man, he was caught and also thrown into the river. Three days later, the doll was taken out of the water, undressed and broken.

Similar rituals with dolls were known among the Georgians. The latter also had magic ritual“plowing out” the rain: the girls dragged the plow along the river bottom back and forth. To stop the rain that was too long, they plowed a strip of land near the village in the same way.

Deities

Most of the deities, whose names are preserved in the beliefs of the peoples of the Caucasus, are associated either with agriculture or with cattle breeding - directly or indirectly. There are also patron deities of hunting.

Among the Ossetians, for example, the gods were most revered (their images were overlaid with Christian features and even christian names): Uacilla (that is, Saint Elijah) is the patron saint of agriculture and cattle breeding, sending rain and thunderstorms; Falvar - patron of sheep; Tutyr is a wolf shepherd who allows the wolves to slaughter the sheep; Avsati is the deity of wild animals, the patron of hunters.

Among the Circassians, the main deities were considered: Shible - the deity of lightning (death from lightning was considered honorable, a person killed by lightning was not supposed to be mourned, his grave was considered sacred); Sozeresh - patron of agriculture, god of fertility; Emish - patron of sheep; Ahin - patron cattle; Meriem is the patroness of beekeeping (the name, apparently, from the Christian Virgin Mary); Mezith - patron of hunters, forest deity; Tlepsh - patron of blacksmiths; Thash-huo - supreme god sky (a rather dim figure, there was almost no cult of him).

Among the Abkhazians, the most important places in religion were occupied by: the goddess Daja - the patroness of agriculture; Aitar - creator of domestic animals, god of reproduction; Airg and Azhveipshaa are hunting deities, patrons of forests and game; Afa is the god of lightning, similar to the Circassian Shibla.

Of course, the images of these deities were usually complex; they were often assigned different and very vaguely delimited functions.

These most famous deities were popular throughout the people, although their veneration often took the form of the same communal cult. But in addition to these national deities, there were purely local patron deities, each community having its own; It is sometimes difficult to distinguish them from their generic patrons, because the rural community of some peoples of the Caucasus itself has not yet completely freed itself from the generic shell.

Sanctuaries

The cult of local, community patrons was usually tied to local sanctuaries, where rituals were performed. Among the Ossetians these were dzuars. Dzuar is usually an old building, sometimes former Christian church, and sometimes just a group of sacred trees. At each sanctuary there was an elected or hereditary community priest - dzuar-lag, who supervised the performance of rituals. The Ingush had communal shrines - Elgyts, as a rule, special buildings; There were also sacred groves.

Nothing is known about whether the Circassians and Abkhazians had such religious buildings, but each community previously had its own sacred grove; by the beginning of the 20th century. Only a few sacred trees have survived. The Khevsurs especially revered sacred places: these are the so-called khati - sanctuaries built among huge ancient trees (these trees were forbidden to be cut down). Each hati had its own land plot, its own property, and livestock. All income from this land and livestock went to religious needs - the organization of rituals and holidays. Elected priests - Khutsi, or Dasturi and Dekanosi - managed the property and led the rituals. They enjoyed enormous social influence and were listened to in matters not related to religion.

Blacksmith Cult

The Caucasian highlanders also preserved traces of professional and craft cults, especially the cult associated with blacksmithing (as is known among the peoples of Siberia, Africa, etc.). The Circassians revered the god of blacksmiths, Tlepsh. Supernatural properties were attributed to the blacksmith, forge, and iron, and above all the ability to magically heal the sick and wounded. The forge was the place where such healing rituals were performed. Connected with this is the special barbaric custom of “treating” the wounded among the Circassians - the so-called chapsh: they tried to entertain the wounded person (especially with a broken bone) day and night, not allowing him to fall asleep; fellow villagers gathered to see him, organized games and dances; Each person entering loudly struck the iron. The wounded man had to strengthen himself and not reveal his suffering. According to an eyewitness, sometimes, “exhausted by illness, noise, dust, the patient falls asleep. But that was not the case. A girl sitting next to the patient takes a copper basin or an iron ploughshare in her hands and begins to hit the hammer with all her might. copper basin(or ploughshare) over the patient’s head. The patient wakes up groaning..." *

* ("Religious Beliefs of the Peoples of the USSR", vol. II, p. 51.)

The Abkhazians had a similar cult of the blacksmith god Shashva. They also preserved traces of the veneration of the goddess Erysh, the patroness of weaving and others. women's work. Little is known about other cults associated with women's domestic activities in the Caucasus.

The magical significance of iron as a talisman was noted among all the peoples of the Caucasus. For example, there is a well-known custom of holding newlyweds under crossed checkers.

Vestiges of shamanism

Along with the described family-tribal and communal agricultural-pastoral cults, remnants of more archaic forms of religion, including shamanism, can also be found in the beliefs of the peoples of the Caucasus. The Khevsurs, in addition to the usual community priests - dasturi and others - also had soothsayers - kadagi. These are either nervously abnormal people who are prone to seizures, or people who can skillfully imitate them. There were men and women Kadagas. “During a temple holiday, mainly in the morning on New Year’s Day, some Khevsur trembles, loses his memory, becomes delirious, screams, and thereby lets the people know that the saint himself has chosen him to serve. The people recognize him as a kadagi.”* . This picture differs very little from the “calling” of a shaman by spirit among the peoples of Siberia. Kadagi gave various advice, especially in the event of any misfortunes, and explained why exactly the hati (saint) was angry. He also determined who could be a dasturi or a dekanosi.

* ("Religious beliefs of the peoples of the USSR", vol. II, pp. 119-120.)

Religious syncretism

All these beliefs of the peoples of the Caucasus, as well as the witchcraft, witchcraft, erotic and phallic cults, reflecting different aspects of the communal-tribal system and its remnants, were mixed to varying degrees, as mentioned above, with religions brought to the Caucasus from the outside - Christianity and Islam, which are characteristic of a developed class society. Christianity once dominated most of the peoples of the Caucasus; later, some of them leaned toward Islam, which was more in line with the patriarchal conditions of their lives. Christianity remained predominant among the Armenians, Georgians, part of the Ossetians and Abkhazians. Islam took root among the Azerbaijanis, the peoples of Dagestan, the Chechens and Ingush, the Kabardians and Circassians, some Ossetians and Abkhazians, and a small part of the Georgians (Adjarians, Ingiloys). Among the peoples of the mountainous part of the Caucasus, these religions, as already mentioned, dominated in many cases only formally. But among those peoples where stronger and more developed forms of class relations have developed - among the Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis - original beliefs were preserved only in weak remnants (just as it was, for example, among the peoples Western Europe), they were, as it were, reworked by Christianity or Islam and merged with these religions.

Now the population of the Caucasus, for the most part, has already freed itself from the dominance of religious ideas. Most of the old rituals and religious customs have been abandoned and forgotten.

The traditional beliefs of the peoples of the North Caucasus were not united and had a number of similar features and differences. A common feature, for example, were mythological images that reflected similar conditions of the social and economic system of peoples. Since throughout the Caucasus from the Black to the Caspian Sea until the end of the 19th century. Hunting occupied an important place; almost all nations had a hunting deity, even if his names differed (Dal, Afsati, Apsat). The image of St. Elijah as a thunder deity. The rituals associated with someone killed by lightning were similar in their semantics, differing only in their external form. Thus, the Circassians, according to custom, placed those killed by lightning in a coffin, which was hung on a high tree, after which the neighbors came with food and drinks, who began to dance and have fun. The meat of bulls and rams slaughtered during the ritual was distributed to the poor. The holiday lasted for three days and was repeated every year until the body of the deceased had completely decayed, since it was believed that a person killed by lightning was a saint. The Kabardians called the thunder deity Shible; he had water, fire and thunder in his power. It was believed that during a thunderstorm, Shible gallops across the sky on a black horse, and the rumbles of thunder are the echoes of his heavenly horse riding. During the Christianization of the Circassians, the functions of Shible passed to Ilya (Ella). In honor of Yelle, the Circassians had a dance called “Shibleudzh”.

The Ossetians, in turn, performed a circular ritual dance over the person killed by lightning, then placed him on a cart with an ox team and released it. The deceased was buried in the place where the animals stopped, and the very place where the lightning struck, like among the Circassians, Karachais, Balkars, and Ingush, became a place of ritual worship.

Paganism was not eradicated among the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus. Julian in the 13th century argued that the Alans “represent a mixture of Christians and paganism.” Archbishop John testifies that the Circassians sacrificed animals on holidays and displayed their heads on tree branches, “which suggests food for spirits.” Near the church one could see a tree with a cross, which was called the “lord tree.” In addition to the heads of sacrificial animals, various other offerings were hung on it. A circle was drawn around such a tree, inside which nothing could be touched. For the time being, fugitive slaves and bloodshed could hide there.

During this period, the traditional pre-Islamic beliefs of the North Caucasian peoples had already undergone syncretism by Christianity, which had the greatest influence on the population of the Western and Central Caucasus. In his geography, Vakhushti Bagrationi, when describing Ossetia and the Ossetians, wrote: “In the old days, they were all Christians by faith and made up the flock of Nikozel, the main example is the Dvalians, but in the present time the Dvalians are only called Christians, because they observe Lent, honor and worship icons, churches and priests, and ignorant of everything else. They do not have a priest and remain unbaptized, except for those who receive baptism in Kartalinya and Racha. But in Tagauria, Kurtauli, Valagiri, Paikomi, Digoria and Basian, the leaders and nobles are Mohammedans, and the simple peasants are Christians, but they are ignorant of this and other faiths: the difference between them is only that those who eat pork are considered Christians, and those who eat horse meat - Mohammedans. Nevertheless, they honor the likeness of an idol, which they call Vachila, for they slaughter a goat to Elijah, eat the meat themselves, and stretch the skin onto a high tree and worship this skin on the day of Elijah, so that he would deliver them from the hail and give the harvest of the Earth.

Taking rituals and Christian pantheon saints, the North Caucasian peoples, if possible, adapted them to their religious cults. If some elements of the new religion contradicted traditional folk beliefs and customs, they were ignored. The combination of Christianity with folk pagan beliefs before the Islamization of the North Caucasus was the predominant form of religious ideas of local peoples. Missionaries carrying the word of Christ continued to penetrate the region until the 18th century, but traditional cults and customs had a very significant influence on Christian rituals and norms in the Western and Central Caucasus. The peoples of the North Caucasus also tried to adapt Christian rituals and saints to their traditional folk beliefs. The latter continued to play an important role in the life of the North Caucasian peoples until the 20s. XX century, despite the leading positions of Christianity and Islam in the region.

The most striking manifestations of religious syncretism among mountain peoples are manifested in funeral and wedding rites. Both Christianity and Islam have had a certain influence on holidays going back centuries - the first furrow, flowers, cherries, harvesting, New Year's Eve, spring equinox, etc. Ossetians, Kabardians, Balkars and a number of other peoples celebrate folk holidays, outwardly of a religious nature. According to F.M. Takazov, the evolution of the religious views of the North Caucasian peoples went through 4 stages:

1. Domination of pre-Christian, traditional cults in the North Caucasus.

2. Penetration of early Christianity into the region from Byzantium and syncretization of folk beliefs and paganism.

3. The Caucasian War, one of the consequences of which was the Islamization of the bulk of the population of the North Caucasus. At the same time, traditional Islam was influenced by pagan cults, which began to be perceived as Muslim.

4. Socio-political events of the early 90s. XX century, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the distinction between Christianity and Islam on the one hand, and pagan traditions on the other. During the period of the dominance of state atheism, the Soviet state opposed all forms of religion, but Christianity and Islam retained their institutions, while the continuity of transmission of traditional folk beliefs was disrupted. Therefore, in post-Soviet times, the latter were no longer able to fully revive, although, of course, they have their supporters.

Undoubtedly, Islam and Christianity had a significant impact on the ideology of the Caucasian peoples, although they could not eradicate pagan ideas, including animist and totemistic ones. The abstract ideas of these beliefs among the mountaineers adapted to historical reality and received their own interpretation. Christianization and Islamization were never a complete break with the pagan past. Most likely, they were a process of adapting new concepts and names to the old content. The old gods received new names. However, their nature and the religious holidays and rituals associated with them remained the same. Paganism as the fundamental basis of the ideological views of the North Caucasian highlanders is characterized by fully formed ideas about gods, images of gods as personal beings, and the emergence of a polytheistic pantheon with a pronounced tendency toward monotheism. However, the monotheistic system did not reach its completion. There are a number of reasons for such an amazing vitality of paganism in the ideological ideas of the mountaineers:

1. The enormous role of tradition, which permeates the entire spiritual life of the highlanders.

2. Traditional religion lived where community ties remained.

3. Pagan religions unlike monotheistic religions, they were tolerant: people were allowed to worship different gods and make sacrifices, etc.

4. Commitment to paganism was a unique form of social protest of the ordinary peasantry against the feudal lords.

The religious views of the peoples of the North Caucasus are syncretic in nature, based on a pagan mentality with varying degrees of influence from Christianity and Islam.

conclusions

Summarizing the above, it should be noted that:

The spread of Christianity in the territory of the North Caucasus and the Northern Black Sea region is associated with three sources of Christianity, which played and contributed a significant role to the development of the peoples of the Caucasus. The main source is Greek-Byzantine Orthodoxy, which spread over a large area of ​​the North Caucasus. The second source is influence Georgian Church in the highlands of the region. The third source is short-term Roman Catholic missionary activity in the 13th-15th centuries.

The penetration and spread of Islam in the North Caucasus is associated with the Arab expansion of the Eastern Caucasus and begins in the second half of the 7th century. Missionary activity to spread Islam did not only come from the south. In the lower Volga region there was a Golden Horde state, in which from the 13th century. Islam began to spread. It spread from the Golden Horde to the North Caucasus along trade routes and communications. The next wave of the spread of Islam in the 15th century. was associated with the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. A new stage of Islamization of the population of the North Caucasus occurred in the 18th – early XIX V. and was associated with the annexation of the Caucasus to Russia. The Caucasian War accelerated the spread of Islam in the North Caucasus. By the middle of the 19th century. Almost all the peoples inhabiting the North Caucasus felt the influence of Islam, but they perceived this religion rather superficially. For some, Islam was brought to them by the Arabs, to others by the Ottoman Turks or Crimean Tatars, and only the Nogais moved here after the collapse of the Golden Horde, already professing Islam.

Islam and Christianity had a significant impact on the ideology of the Caucasian peoples, although they could not eradicate pagan ideas, including animist and totemistic ones. Christianization and Islamization were never a complete break with the pagan past. Paganism, as the fundamental basis of the ideological views of the North Caucasian highlanders, is characterized by fully formed ideas about gods, images of gods as personal beings. The religious views of the peoples of the North Caucasus are syncretic in nature, based on a pagan mentality with varying degrees of influence from Christianity and Islam.

Questions for self-control

1. What world religions in the North Caucasus can you name?

2. When did Christianity penetrate into the North Caucasus?

3. What are the main stages of the Christianization of the peoples of the North Caucasus?

4. Name the main monuments Christian religion?

5. What impact did Roman Catholic colonization have on the development of the peoples of the North Caucasus?

6. When did Islam penetrate into the North Caucasus?

What are the main stages of the spread of Islam in the North Caucasus?

7. What are the main monuments of the Muslim religion?

8. What pagan cults of the peoples of the North Caucasus can you name?

9. What is the nature of the religious views of the peoples of the North Caucasus?

Literature

Main

1. History of the North Caucasus: textbook / rep. ed. D.V. Sen, A.T. Urushadze. – Rostov-on-Don, 2017. – 282 p.

2. Klychnikov Yu.Yu. History of the peoples of the North Caucasus: textbook. – Pyatigorsk, 2013. – 125 p.

Additional

1. Artamonov M.I. History of the Khazars. - St. Petersburg, 2001. - 2002. - 548 p.

2. Kuznetsov V.A. Introduction to Caucasian studies (historical and ethnological essays on the peoples of the North Caucasus). – Vladikavkaz, 2004. – 184 p.

3. Kuznetsov V.A. Nizhny Arkhyz in the X-XII centuries. – Stavropol, 1993. – 464 p.

4. Kuznetsov V.A. Essays on the history of the Alans. – Vladikavkaz, 1992. - 392 p.

5. Kuznetsov V.A. Christianity in the North Caucasus until the 15th century. – Vladikavkaz, 2002. - 159 p.

6. Morkovin V.I., Munchaev R.M. North Caucasus. Essays on ancient and medieval history and culture. – Tula, 2003. - 340 p.

7. Materials for studying the course “History of the Peoples of the North Caucasus.” – Pyatigorsk, 2012. - 491 p.

8. Pishulina V.V. Christian temple architecture of the North Caucasus during the Middle Ages. – Rostov-n/D, 2006. – 320 p.

9. Problems of integration of ethnic communities into the structure Russian state and ways to solve them (using the example of the North Caucasus) / Ed. S.A. Dudareva. - Armavir, 2014 – 252 p.

10. Northern Caucasus from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century (historical and ethnographic essays): Tutorial/ Ed. V.B. Vinogradova. - Pyatigorsk: PGLU, 2010. – 318 p.

11. Tmenov V.Kh., Besolova E.B., Gonoboblev E.N. Religious views of Ossetians (history of religion - in the history of the people). – Vladikavkaz, 2000. – 503 p.

Sources

1. Blaramberg I.F. Historical, topographical, statistical, ethnographic and military description of the Caucasus / I. F. Blaramberg; Translation by I.M. Nazarova. – M.: Publishing house. Nadyrshin A.G., 2010. – 400 p.

2. Travel of Ivan Shiltberger through Europe, Asia and Africa from 1394 to 1427 // Notes of the Imperial Novorossiysk University. - Odessa, 1867. T.1. Issue 1.

3. The story of the Roman Catholic missionary Dominican Julian about the journey to the country of the Volga Hungarians // Notes of the Odessa Society of History and Russian Antiquities. - Odessa, 1863. T. 5.

4. Epigraphic monuments of the North Caucasus in Arabic, Persian and Turkish // Texts, translations, comments, introduction and applications by L.I. Lavrova. - M., 1968. - Part 2.

Internet resources

1. http://kavkaz-uzel.ru / “Caucasian Knot”

2. http://www.ethnology.ru / “Ethnography of the peoples of Russia”

3. http://www.iriston.com / “History and culture of Ossetia”

4. http://ricolor.org/europe/gruziya/gr/ist/4/ “The Caucasus and Russia”

5. http://www.okavkaze.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=5&id=16&Itemid=138 / Social and historical portal “Okavkaze” - history and archeology of the North Caucasus

6. http://www.archaeolog.ru / “Institute of Archeology RAS”

7. http://www.kolhida.ru / “Archaeology and ethnography of Abkhazia”

8. http://www.archeologia.ru / “Archaeology of Russia”

9. http://hist.ctl.cc.rsu.ru / “History of the Don and the North Caucasus from ancient times to 1917”

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

Open full size

Scientists identify a group autochthonous peoples, (translated from Greek - local, indigenous, aborigine), which have lived in this area since their inception. In the northern and central Caucasus these 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 people, 123,000, of which 96 thousand 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: Türkiye, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia.

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

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 Chechen descendants live in the Middle East;
• Ingush(self-name - galgai), 215,000 people, most of them live in the Republic of Ingushetia, the Chechen Republic and North Ossetia, Sunni Muslims;
• kistina(self-name - cysts), in the mountainous regions of the Republic of Chechnya, they speak Nakh dialects.

Chechens and Ingush have a common name Vainakhs.

Looks the most difficult Dagestan branch of Iberian-Caucasian languages, it is divided into four groups:

1. Avaro-Ando-Tsez group, which includes 14 languages. The most significant thing is the language spoken Avars(self-name - maarulal), 544,000 people, 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 smaller numerically and have significant differences from the Avar language (for example, Andes– 25 thousand, Tindinians or tyndales– 10 thousand people).
2. Group Dargin language . The main people - Dagrinians(self-name - dargan), 354 thousand people, with more than 280 thousand living in the mountainous regions of Dagestan. Large diasporas of Dargins live in the Stavropol Territory and Kalmykia. Muslims are Sunnis.
3. Lak language group. Main people - laks (lacks, kazikumukh), 106 thousand people, in mountainous Dagestan - 92,000, Muslims - Sunnis.
4. Lezgin 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: Dagestan 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 (my abdyr), 20,000 people, of which 15,000 live in Dagestan, Sunni Muslims;
   • tsakhurs (yykhby), 20,000, most live in Azerbaijan, Sunni Muslims;
   • aguly (agul), 18,000 people, 14,000 in Dagestan, Sunni Muslims.
     The Lezgin group includes 5 more languages, which are spoken by a small number of peoples.

Peoples who later settled in the North Caucasus region

Unlike autochthonous peoples, the ancestors Ossetian came to the North Caucasus later and for a long time they were known under the name Alan from the 1st century AD. According to their 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, there are three major dialects, according to which self-names are derived:

• Iranians (iron)– Orthodox;
• Digorians (Digoron)– Sunni Muslims;
• Kudarians (kudaron)– South Ossetia, Orthodox.

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

1. Karachais (Karachayls), 150,000 people, of which 129 thousand live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. There are Karachai diasporas in the Stavropol Territory, Central Asia, Turkey, and Syria. The language belongs to the Kipchak group of Turkic languages ​​(Polovtsy). Sunni Muslims;
2. Balkars (Taulu), mountaineers, 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 (Nogailar), 75,000, are divided into three groups according to territory and dialect:
   • Kuban Nogais (aka Nagais), living in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic;
   • Achikulak Nogais living in the Neftekumsky district of the Stavropol Territory;
   • Kara Nagais (Nogai steppe), Sunni Muslims.
5. Turkmen (trukhmen), 13.5 thousand people, live in the Turkmen region of the Stavropol Territory, but the language belongs to Oghuz group of Turkic languages, Sunni Muslims.

Separately, we should highlight those that appeared in the North Caucasus in the mid-17th century. Kalmyks (Khalmg), 146,000 people, the language belongs to the Mongolian language group (Mongols and Buryats are related in language). Religiously, they are Buddhists. Those Kalmyks who were in the Cossack class of the Don Army professed Orthodoxy were called Buzaavs. Most of them are nomadic Kalmyks. Turguts.

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