Mythologies of the Aghul Tribe

Aghuls (Aghul: агулар/agular, Lezgian: Агъулар) are a people in Dagestan, Russia. According to the 2010 census, there were 34,160 Aghuls in Russia (7,000 in 1959). The Aghul language belongs to the Lezgian language family, a group of the Northeast Caucasian family. Ethnically, the Aghuls are close to the Lezgins. There are four groups of the Aghul people, who live in four different gorges: Aguldere, Kurakhdere, Khushandere, and Khpyukdere. Like their neighbors the Kaitaks, the Aghuls were converted to Islam at a fairly early date, subsequent to the Arab conquest of the eighth century. Their oral traditions claim Jewish descent. Each Aghul village had a village council, on which each of the three or four tukhums were represented. The council was headed by an elder. The village mullah and qadi also played an important role in local affairs. In some cases the wealthier tukhums exerted a disproportionate strong influence on village government. As elsewhere in Daghestan, the Aghuls were divided into tukhums (clans), comprising twenty to forty households. Each tukhum had its own cemetery, pastures, and hay fields, and the members were bound by obligations of mutual support and defense. The Aghuls tended to practice endogamy within the tukhum—marriages with outsiders were very rare. In the past the Aghuls lived in extended family households, though not especially large ones (fifteen to twenty members, on average). A senior male, father or eldest brother, functioned as chief, with fairly broad authority over the affairs of the household and its members. Should the extended family split up, sisters—even those who had already married and left the household—received a portion of the land as well as the movable property. They were each apportioned one-half of the land share given to each of their brothers, a practice that was unusually generous by Daghestanian standards.

The Aghuls are one of the indigenous peoples of Daghestan, culturally and linguistically akin to the Lezgins and Tabasarans. Traditionally the Aghuls identified themselves only by their village name (Khutkhul, Khorej, etc.). The Aghuls inhabit twenty-one settlements in four valleys in the southern highlands of Daghestan. Sixteen of the settlements—including Tpig, the largest—are situated in Aghuldere ("the valley of the Aghuls"), which is believed to be the original homeland of this ethnic group. Until recently the Aghul villages were reachable only by narrow mountain pathways, frequently rendered impassable by landslides and snowfall. (The situation improved in the 1930s with the opening of an automobile road between Tpig and the Lezgin village of Kasumkent). The immediate neighbors of the Aghuls are the Lezgins to the south, the Rutuls to the west, the Dargins and Kaitaks to the north, and the Tabasarans to the east. After the annexation of Daghestan by the Soviet Union, the Aghul territories, along with those of the Lezgins, were incorporated in the Kurakh Raion (district) of the Daghestan Autonomous Republic within the Russian Federated Republic. The earliest enumeration of the Aghuls, in 1886, gave their population as 6,522. The 1979 census counted 12,078 Aghuls, a sharp rise from the 1970 figure of 8,831. About 95 percent of the Aghuls live in the Daghestan Republic, and over 99 percent claim Aghul as their native language. The Aghul language belongs to the Lezghians (Samurian) Subgroup of the Daghestanian Group of the Northeast Caucasian Family. It is most closely related to Tabasaran. Aghul has never been used as a written language; writing is done in Russian or, for local purposes, Lezgin. Knowledge of Lezgin, Russian, and sometimes other local languages (Lak, Dargin, Tabasaran) is widespread among the men. In earlier times Aghul women were largely monolingual, a situation that has changed with the introduction of universal education.

Aghul is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Aghuls in southern Dagestan, Russia and in Azerbaijan. It is spoken by about 29,300 people (2010 census). In 2002, Aghul was spoken by 28,300 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 32 people in Azerbaijan.

There are nine languages in the Lezgian language family, namely: Aghul, Tabasaran, Rutul, Lezgian, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Udi and Archi. Aghul has contrastive epiglottal consonants. Aghul makes, like many Northeast Caucasian languages, a distinction between tense consonants with concomitant length and weak consonants. The tense consonants are characterized by the intensiveness (tension) of articulation, which naturally leads to a lengthening of the consonant so they are traditionally transcribed with the length diacritic. The gemination of the consonant itself does not create its tension, but morphologically tense consonants often derive from adjoining two single weak consonants. Some Aghul dialects have an especially large number^[vague] of permitted initial tense consonants.

Aghul is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Aghuls in southern Dagestan, Russia and in Azerbaijan. It is spoken by about 29,300 people (2010 census). Aghul belongs to the Eastern Samur group of the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. In 2002, Aghul was spoken by 28,300 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 32 people in Azerbaijan. There are nine languages in the Lezgian language family, namely:

Aghul, Tabasaran, Rutul, Lezgian, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Udi and Archi. Aghul has contrastive epiglottal consonants. Aghul makes, like many Northeast Caucasian languages, a distinction between tense consonants with concomitant length and weak consonants. The tense consonants are characterized by the intensiveness (tension) of articulation, which naturally leads to a lengthening of the consonant so they are traditionally transcribed with the length diacritic. The gemination of the consonant itself does not create its tension, but morphologically tense consonants often derive from adjoining two single weak consonants. Some Aghul dialects have an especially large number of permitted initial tense consonants.

The typical Aghul mountain village was set along the mountain slope at the head of a river valley, with the buildings ranged more or less in rows going up the slope, giving the impression of a large amphitheater. The individual houses often shared walls and roofs with their neighbors. This sort of village was the easiest to defend from enemies; under the relatively more peaceful conditions of the past century the Aghuls have established settlements in the more accessible downriver regions of their valleys. Each village had a central square, with a mosque and a place for village council meetings, community festivals, and the like. The villages were divided into three or four quarters, corresponding to clan ( tukhum ) groupings. Each Aghul village also had one or more defense towers. The traditional Aghul dwelling was of the typical Daghestanian type. The hearth was placed at the center of the main room, and external light was admitted through small rectangular openings that could be boarded up from within if necessary for defense. One noteworthy feature of Aghul domestic layout is the division of the interior space into two halves, not for the two sexes (as is the case elsewhere in the Caucasus) but for family and guests. Upon arrival visitors traditionally went directly to their quarters, removed their traveling clothes and weapons, relaxed for a while, and only then came out to be greeted by their hosts. The Aghuls do not pronounce toasts at table, an omission almost unheard of in other Caucasian communities.

Aghul or Agul, as it is sometimes spelled, is mainly spoken by the Dagestan of Russia and also in Azerbaijan. It belongs to the Lezgic category under the Northeast Caucasian language family. Due to the isolation of the Aghul people from other ethnic groups as a result of the rugged terrain of Dagestan, the Aghul have been able to preserve their culture but unfortunately, not their language. This language is primarily spoken within the home or family. Little or no literacy of the language, coupled with the fact that most of its speakers prefer to use other languages means that fewer people can speak the language. Other languages spoken by the people in this community includes Russian, Lak, Dargwa, Lezgian and Tabasaran. Aghul has never been used as a written language. Writing is done using Russian or Lezgin. The Aghul occupy 21 villages located in four valleys. In most instances, men left their villages to seek work in other areas. This resulted in their exposure as they interacted with people from different ethnic groups. Consequently, most Aghul men know Lak, Tabasaran and Dargin. In contrast, most of the women were monolingual. This is largely because most of them remained in the village with the children and elderly people throughout the year. However, this is changing as more and more women are becoming educated. Also, the government encourages speakers to use other languages. Other outside interferences on the group include the 18th century Arab conquest of Aghul people. This resulted in most of them being converted to Islam. Most villages now have a square with a mosque in the middle.