Mythologies of the Caucasus/Adyghe Tribe
Address by the President of Ukraine to the indigenous peoples of Russia
The peoples of the Caucasus, or Caucasians, are a diverse group comprising more than 50 ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus. The peoples of the Caucasus, or Caucasians, are a diverse group comprising more than 50 ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus. The largest peoples speaking languages which belong to the Caucasian language families and who are currently resident in the Caucasus are the Georgians (3,200,000), the Chechens (2,000,000), the Avars (1,500,000), the Lezgins (about 1,000,000) and the Kabardians (600,000), while outside the Caucasus, the largest people of Caucasian origin, in diaspora in more than 40 countries (such as Jordan, Turkey, the countries of Europe, Syria, and the United States) are the Circassians with about 3,000,000-4,000,000 speakers. Georgians are the only Caucasian people who have their own undisputedly independent state—Georgia. Abkhazia‘s status is disputed. Other Caucasian peoples have republics within Russia: Adyghe (Adygea), Cherkess (Karachay-Cherkessia), Kabardians (Kabardino-Balkaria), Ingush (Ingushetia), Chechens (Chechnya), while other Northeast Caucasian peoples mostly live in Dagestan.
Caucasian peoples, various ethnic groups living in the Caucasus, a geographically complex area of mountain ranges, plateaus, foothills, plains, rivers, and lakes, with grasslands, forests, marshes, and dry steppes. The complex of regions harbours more than 50 separate peoples, ranging from language communities with only a few hundred speakers to large national groups numbering millions. This diversity is not of recent date. Pliny the Elder related that the Romans carried on their business there through 80 interpreters. Arab geographers called the Caucasus Jabal al-Alsun, Mountain of Languages. The languages of the Caucasus belong to four families: Caucasian (or Paleocaucasian), Indo-European, Turkic, and Semitic. Whereas speakers of the latter three groups are known to have migrated to the Caucasus in historical times, speakers of the Caucasian languages occupied the area at the dawn of history.
The rural population of the Caucasus is unevenly distributed, with the most densely populated part of the region along the Black Sea coast. The Rioni River valley and several smaller valleys in Transcaucasia are intensively cultivated and support large farm populations, and the foothills of the mountains also have a considerable population density. The alpine regions of the Caucasus and the arid steppes and lowlands of the Caspian coast, however, are sparsely populated. Urban dwellers account for nearly three-fifths of the entire population, and in Armenia and North Ossetia the proportion is even greater. Three cities—Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan—have populations of more than one million. More than 50 different peoples inhabit Caucasia. Russians and Ukrainians, who constitute more than four-fifths of the total population of Ciscaucasia, speak Slavic languages of the Indo-European family. The language of the Armenians is also Indo-European but distinct from other groups of languages in the family. The Ossetes, the Kurds, the Tats, and the Talysh speak Indo-European languages of the Iranian branch. The majority of the peoples, however, speak tongues that are sometimes classified as a Caucasian language “family,” although there is no proof of any linguistic relationship between the Kartvelian (or South Caucasian) and North Caucasian languages. The most important Caucasian language is Georgian, spoken by a nation into which numerous groups have long been amalgamated. Georgian and its many dialects belong to the Kartvelian family, the other groups being the Abkhazo-Adyghian and the Nakho-Dagestanian divisions of the North Caucasian family. The Abkhazo-Adyghian group comprises the languages of Kabardian (Circassian), Adyghian, and Ubykh, as well as Abaza and Abkhaz (both of which have been strongly influenced by the neighbouring Georgian). The Nakho-Dagestanian group consists of the Nakh languages, including Chechen and Ingush, and the Dagestanian languages, chiefly represented by the Avar-Andi-Dido, Lak-Dargin (Lakk-Dargwa), and Lezgian languages. The Dagestanian group of Caucasian languages is quite distinct from the Turkic languages spoken in Dagestan—namely, those of the Kumyk and of the Nogay. Other Turkic languages of Caucasia include Karachay and Balkar, and the widely spoken Azerbaijani.
Between the Black and Caspian Seas rise the Caucasus Mountains, stretching in a line 1,000 km (600 mi) long from the northeast corner of the Black Sea, near the Sea of Azov, south-eastward to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, near northwestern Iran. The region has traditionally been considered the southeast corner of Europe. As such, it contains the highest mountains in that continent: Mount Elbruz, whose twin peaks rise to heights of 5,621 m (18,441 ft) and 5,642 m (18,510 ft), and Mount Kazbek at 5,047 m (16,512 ft), all of which are higher than Mount Blanc in the Alps, 4,810 m (15,781 ft). In the north, the region extends into the plains of southern Russia and is bordered by the Kuban and Terek rivers. In the south, it runs into the highlands of eastern Turkey and northern Iran, where it may be thought of as ending at the borders of these two nations, which in part follow the Aras River. The region is a meeting place for European, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern civilizations and exhibits a mixture of features from these cultures as well as some that are strictly its own.
The North Caucasus is a place of spectacular beauty with most people wanting nothing more than to live in peace and see their children prosper. The cycles of violence continue to be very hard to break, however, and occasionally the targets of revenge go beyond Russians to anyone taken to be an enemy of Islam. The Tsarnaev brothers of course bear full responsibility for what they did. But for young men who may have lost their way after being disappointed in life, the powerful myths of revenge and identity nurtured in the Caucasus may have been too seductive to resist. The Caucasus is mountainous. In this part of the world geography is destiny. The Greater Caucasus Range, with its spectacular peaks including Mt. Elbrus at 18,510 feet, divides the region into the North Caucasus and the South Caucasus; other mountains split the area further. The North Caucasus includes Dagestan, Chechnya, and other small republics that are part of today’s Russian Federation. The South Caucasus is comprised of the independent states of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. In the old Soviet Union Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were among the 15 national republics, whereas Chechnya and Dagestan were so-called “autonomous regions” within the Russian Republic. In today’s terminology Chechnya and Dagestan are referred to as republics, meaning they are non-Russian ethnic areas in the Russian Federation.
Countries and regions of the Caucasus:
* Azerbaijan
* Georgia
* Armenia
* Russia
* Adygea
* Dagestan
* Ingushetia
* Kabardino-Balkaria
* Karachay-Cherkessia
* North Ossetia
* Chechnya
* Krasnodar region
* Stavropol region
* Republic of Abkhazia (frequent recognition)
* South Ossetia (frequent recognition)
* NKR (unrecognized)
The peoples of the Caucasus by language are divided into 3 main groups:
- Caucasian families:a) The peoples of the Kartvelian language family: Georgians, Mingrelians, Svansb) Peoples of the Abkhaz-Adyghe language family:
Abazins, Abkhazians, Adygs (Kabardins, Circassians, Adyghe, Shapsugs)c) The peoples of the Nakh-Dagestan language family:* Nakh languages: Batsbians, Ingush, Chechens* Dagestan languages: Avars (including Ando-Tse
people), Aguls, Dargins, Laks, Lezghins( or lezgins), Rutuls, Tabasarans, Tsakhurs - Peoples of the Altai language family:a) Turkic-speaking peoples: Azerbaijanis, Balkars,
Karachais, Kumyks, Trukhmens (Turkmens), Nogais and Meskhetian Turks. - Peoples of the Indo-European language family:a) Iranian branch: Ossetians, Yezidis, mountain Jews, Kurds, Talysh and tats;b) Others: Armenians, Greeks, Russians.
For thousands of years, people have lived on the 1,000-mile span of mountains stretching, high and low, from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, or in the numerous mountain valleys that delineate the Caucasus – an area where Asia and Europe meet. Throughout history, the indigenous peoples living in the northern and southern mountain ranges frequently fought among themselves and, over many centuries, encountered incursions from the east and the west by a variety of people, including Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Persians, Scythians, Turks, and Mongols. The complexity of Caucasian history, culture, and religious diversity (even today, the region is home to Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Armenian Christians, among others), overlaid with a plethora of extremely diverse peoples who have rich and dazzling pasts and speak over 50 languages – Arab geographers called the Caucasus Jabal al-Alsun, ‘mountain of languages’ – all combine to make the writing of a history of the Caucasus a daunting, formidable, and near impossible task. It is perhaps ironic that, out of this ancient and complex turbulence, white people today are described as ‘Caucasian’, even though many have not the slightest idea what that nomenclature means or its region of origin.
The Avars, also known as Maharuls (Avar: магӀарулал, maⱨarulal, “mountaineers”) are a Northeast Caucasianethnic group. The Avars are the largest of several ethnic groups living in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The Avars reside in the North Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Alongside other ethnic groups in the North Caucasus region, the Avars live in ancient villages located approximately 2,000 m above sea level. The Avar language spoken by the Caucasian Avars belongs to the family of Northeast Caucasian languages. Sunni Islam has been the prevailing religion of the Avars since the 13th century. The Avarians are a Northeast Caucasian people who speak Avar, a Northeast Caucasian language. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Turanian nomads also share the name Avar. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the Turanian nomads as “a people of undetermined origin and language.”
Why the Caucasus Has So Many 100-Year-Olds
In the mountains and foothills, rural villages remain relatively unchanged for centuries. Perhaps a daily diet of cheese, fermented goat milk and yoghurt combined with a lack of alcohol and abstaining from smoking hold the answer. People also grow vegetables in their gardens without pesticides and eat fruit straight from the trees. The high concentrations of anti-oxidants, vitamin C and other minerals in these promote a healthy and robust body.
Legendary Longevity of the Abkhasia People
On the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the southwestern section of the Caucasus region is a partially recognized state known as Abkhazia (or the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia). Living in the Caucasus mountains in this region is the Abkhasia, a society of people known for their incredible longevity and lifespans. This relatively small group of people have long had a reputation for extremely long and healthy lives. In fact, in the 1960s and 1970s, claims were made for lifespans of 150 years and marriages at age 110! The greatest claim, made by the propaganda-obsessed Soviet Union, was that one Abkhasian man named Shirali Muslimov reached a remarkable 168 years old. The Soviets honored him and his longevity with a postage stamp, leaving some to ask, are the stories true? The Abkhasia live in the mountains and spend nearly every day going up and down, and up and down in the thin mountain air. This constant activity is said to have kept the older members of the Abkhasia fit without resorting to fitness programs or formal exercising.
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