Mythologies of the Botlikh Tribe


The Botlikh tribe (also known as Bótligh, Botlig, Botlog or Buikhatli) are an Andi–Dido people of Dagestan. Until the 1930s they were considered a distinct people. Since that time they have been classified as Caucasian Avars and have faced a campaign to have them assimilate into that population. The Botlikh are primarily Sunni Muslims. They adopted the religion by the 16th century due to the influence of Sufi missionaries. They numbered 3,354 people in 1926. They speak the Botlikh language, which belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family. According to the 2021 Russian census, 3,788 people in Russia declared themselves as Botlikhs (all of them in Dagestan), and 5,073 people declared speaking the Botlikh language. The number of speakers is higher, about 5,500, according to a survey by Koryakov in 2006. The village of Botlikh is just north of the Andi Koysu River. During the Murid War Russian forces gathered here for their final push against Shamil. During the Dagestan uprising the Reds were defeated here several times. 


The Botlikhs use the self-designation buihalji and they call their language buihadalji mitshtshi (the language of the Botlikh). The Botlikh language belongs to the Andi subgroup of the northwestern (the Avar-Dido) group of the Dagestan languages. The lexical fund of the Botlikh language has preserved its richness and originality, although the centuries-long proximity of the Avars has brought about the use of a number of loans from the Avar language. In the 20th century Russian has also come to exert a heavy influence. The Botlikhs have no written language and they use the Avar written language. The Avar language is so widespread that the Botlikhs have become bilingual. There has been little research done on the Botlikh language. Some references can be found in works by R. Erckert and A. Dirr. In the 1960s and 1970s a linguist from Tbilisi, T. Gudava, devote some time to a study of the Botlikhs. Ethnologically, the Botlikhs are close to the Avars. Their intellectual and material cultures share many common features and differences are evident only in details. For instance, the head-dress of the Botlikh women has a slightly different shape than that of the Avars. The only cultural element clearly differentiating the Botlikhs from the Avars is their language which was formed in political and territorial isolation from the Proto-Avar tribes.


The Botlikh people (also known as Bótligh, Botlig, Botlog or Buikhatli) are an Andi–Dido people of Dagestan. Until the 1930s they were considered a distinct people. Since that time they have been classified as Caucasian Avars and have faced a campaign to have them assimilate into that population. The Botlikh are primarily Sunni Muslims. They adopted the religion by the 16th century due to the influence of Sufi missionaries. They numbered 3,354 people in 1926. They speak the Botlikh language, which belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family. According to the 2021 Russian census, 3,788 people in Russia declared themselves as Botlikhs (all of them in Dagestan), and 5,073 people declared speaking the Botlikh language. The number of speakers is higher, about 5,500, according to a survey by Koryakov in 2006. The village of Botlikh is just north of the Andi Koysu River. During the Murid War Russian forces gathered here for their final push against Shamil. During the Dagestan Uprising (1920) the Reds were defeated here several times.


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