Caucasology

The article investigates the issues of foundation development and ways of administering national capital in the Central Caucasus in the late of the 1840s, using the Malokabardin public administration as an example. The article identified the routes of replenishment and spending of monetary fees from the Malokabardinsky public during 1848-1849. It was determined that the primary source of income were monetary fees collected from the Malaya Kabarda population for the export of timber outside the Caucasian Line for sale, fines for crimes, and funds from the sale of property owned by locals who voluntarily moved from their native region to territories beyond the control of the Russian government. The Caucasian line’s head administers collected funds. The Caucasian Line forces’ headquarters, Chernomoriya, the head of the Caucasian Line Center, the Center’s state treasurer, and the Malaya Kabarda bailiff define their main operational areas within their respective jurisdictions. The mechanism for the treasurer to keep a specific corded ledger to record the arrival and expenditure of the Malokabardinsky public sum has been established, and the preservation of periodic reports on the arrival, expenditure, and balance of its amount has been examined. It is determined that in the late 1840s, the Malokabardinsky social sum was a significant financial instrument that established the principles and foundations for the growth and administration of the national capital. Its operation reflected the authorities’ goal to build a competent system of managing and accounting for financial resources in the Caucasus.

The article defines the role of the Committee for the Extermination of Locusts in the Tersk region, one of the structures of the economic part of the Tersk regional government in the last quarter of the 19th century. During this period, one of the ways to include the population of the Central Caucasus in the socio-economic space of the Russian Empire was to address issues of improving agricultural efficiency through the introduction of new agricultural practices, including improving measures to control insect pests such as ranching. The article examines the functions of the Locust Extermination Committee and the mechanisms for its activities to develop and implement measures to control locusts using the example of the Nalchik district. The financial aspects of implementing a pest protection system for crops and crops are analyzed. The conclusion is made about the synthesis of a scientific and research approach in the study of natural factors that favored the emergence and spread of a locust population, such as monitoring its life cycle from egg laying to the appearance of adults, studying the natural and climatic conditions of specific localities that increased the likelihood of locust spread, and practical activities to develop a com-a set of measures for the extermination of locusts, ways of their implementation, as well as their systematic introduction into the daily agricultural life of the population.

The article is devoted to the problems of the reorganization of the police security guard in the Tersk region in the political discourse of the regional and district boards in 1911-1913.  In the course of the work, the instructions of the head of the Tersk region to the heads of districts and departments, reports of the heads of districts and departments to the regional chief, reports of the head of the region to the regional board, drafts of new staff of the Tersk police security guard, etc. were analyzed. The law "on the temporary change of the staff of the administration of the districts of the Tersk region" dated December 29, 1911 is analyzed. The proposals of the heads of districts and departments of the Tersk region (including the head of the Nalchik district) to improve the effectiveness of the Tersk police security guard, the need to modernize it and increase its staffing are described. The report of the head of the Tersk region to the Tersk regional government on the transformation of the police unit dated September 11, 1912, compiled taking into account the opinions of the heads of districts and departments, is analyzed in detail. It is concluded that the opportunity of the heads of districts and departments of the Tersk region to participate in the discussion of the issues of the transformation of the Tersk Security Guard and the development of its staff represented an important step in strengthening state power and ensuring the safety of the population in the region.

The study is devoted to the role of the national elite in the revolutionary events of 1917, the civil war and the formation of Soviet power. The role of representatives of national elites in the 1917 revolution was complex and ambiguous, reflecting the diversity of their interests in the context of the collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of a new political order. The local nobility and intelligentsia sought to adapt to the changes caused by the revolution. They tried to maintain their positions and influence in the new political realities, often supporting the Interim Government or participating in national movements. The biography of Batyrbek Abukov shows the social mobility of the Kabardian traditional elite and its high degree of adaptation to the events taking place.

The 1917 Revolution opened up opportunities for national movements that advocated the autonomy or independence of their regions. Representatives of the elites, such as Bashirbek Abukov, actively participated in the creation of national councils and self-governing bodies, seeking to protect the interests of their peoples. Many representatives of the traditional elite faced a difficult choice: whether to support the Bolsheviks, who advocated radical social transformations, or to remain faithful to their former ideals. Some, like Abukov, initially opposed the Bolsheviks, but later switched sides, seeing them as a force capable of ensuring stability. 

The article examines the system of dispossession and forced eviction of kulaks in the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Region. The article examines the legal framework for the administrative and forced eviction of kulaks. The reasons, number and procedure for administrative eviction of third-category kulaks within the North Caucasus Region are determined. The features of socio-economic development on the eve of the complete collectivization of mountainous and lowland areas of the region are revealed. The reasons, procedure for dispossession and the number of evicted wealthy peasants are established. The reasons and consequences of peasant protests are determined. The system of political repression is examined. It is concluded that political repressions were caused by the establishment of an authoritarian regime of power in the center and locally and were used to solve political, socio-economic problems.

The peoples of the North Caucasus have long prioritized the preservation of genealogical information. In recent decades, there has been an increased interest in such expertise. The purpose of this article is to look into the genealogy of Taubi Islam (Dadasha) Balkarukov, a well-known Karachay-Balkarian aristocrat.

The following is based on published materials by travelers and scientists prior to October, as well as the writings of current Russian historians and ethnographers. A large portion of the research is based on documentary sources discovered by the author in the archives of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (hereinafter KBR), Krasnodar Territory, and Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (hereinafter RSO-A). The article features a generational painting by Taubiy Balkarukov in a straight falling line. The picture offers information on specific individuals who are Islam’s direct ancestors (Dadasha), as well as himself and his children. Some emphasis is placed on the bond with individuals who played crucial roles in the fates of both Islam’s forebears (Dadash) and himself. The study explores the Balarukovs’ marriage relations with the aristocratic families of Balkaria and Karachay, as well as other peoples from the North Caucasus.

Some information about the genealogy of the Taubi Balkarukovs is inconsistent, as evidenced by multiple versions of the legends documented by researchers before to October. Finally, the paper concludes that Islam (Dadasha) Balkarukov’s genealogy gives a lot of data for both professional scientists and history and ethnology enthusiasts to explore. However, this issue requires additional investigation.

The article is devoted to one element of the traditional funeral and memorial rituals among the peoples of the Northwest Caucasus (using the example of the Abkhazians and Karachays), associated with rituals and beliefs about the return of the soul of the deceased to his native home. According to popular beliefs, the soul of a person did not completely leave his family, clan and community, it remained a part of the person himself, embodying his own personality. All the rituals that were performed after a person’s death were aimed at ensuring that the soul did not need anything in the “next world” and stayed with previously departed relatives. Death among these peoples was perceived, on the one hand, as a tragic event, but on the other hand, they talked about it quite calmly and realized that people were temporarily in this world. The unexpected death of a person was especially tragically perceived. In the case when a person died outside the home or community space, it was necessary to perform appropriate rituals “to return the soul of the deceased to his native home in order to reunite it with his family,” so that it would not become lost and dangerous primarily for relatives. The rite given in the article as an example, associated with the resurrection of the soul of a drowned man, was similar among some peoples of the North-Western Caucasus. 

The article introduces for the first time in scientific circulation creativity of Osman Korkmasov – author of three books prose - «And I had a home», «Timur», «Dagger», representative of Karachaevo-Balcarus near abroad, in which an attempt is made at artistic historical retrospective on several topics. The purpose of the study is to reveal the features of O. Korkmazov’s creativity, which was due in large part to his personal fate, as well as historical circumstances, despite the fact that he remained faithful to the age-old traditions of the mountain people. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that for the first time the work introduces into scientific circulation the creativity of O. Korkmasov, its story and story are analyzed, their place is determined in the literature devoted to the topic of Stalin deportation. The results of the scientific research showed the relevance of the topic, revealed the commitment to the Caucasus theme and the author’s skill in revealing the mountain character. The chosen angle of research demonstrated its importance for understanding O. Korkmasov’s creative searches and relevance for understanding the author’s design, as well as the need to further study the author’s innovations in national literature, especially in estheology.

The article presents a literary analysis of symbolic images as the most expressive artistic means in the novel «A Wreath on the Grave of the Wind» by the modern Russian-speaking Ossetian prose writer Alan Cherchesov. Symbolism, among other things, forms a mytho-epic idiostyle, necessary for reconstructing the myth-novel, a genre specific to modern North Caucasian literature. Such genre affiliation determines the typically animistic manifestations of A. Cherchesov's heroes. Actualizing modern moral and psychological problems, the author leaves his heroes within the framework of archaic traditional societies. Thus, surprisingly stable patterns of consciousness that developed in the prehistoric era are demonstrated. The most prominent symbols are such images of dead wind, river, time, road, landscape, egg. The novel presents an archetypal dual image of a new cultural hero and antihero (Atsamaz-Kazgeri), collective characters reflecting the positive and negative sides of civilization.

The imagological approach, which combines methodological components drawn from literary studies, linguistics and historiography, provides opportunities for a systemic and comprehensive study of images of countries and peoples in written discourse. The relevancy of this approach for the analysis of textual representations of the Adyghe identity is dictated, in particular, by the problem of the deficit of relevant medieval documentary sources. The method helps reveal little-known documents and broaden the source base of Adyghe studies. The proposed article, based on the materials of the author's monograph (quoted in the text), explores the question of the historical conditionality of the image of Circassian Argante, one of the main characters in Torquato Tasso's poem "Liberated Jerusalem". The article provides historiographical and narrative sources containing information on the commanders of Circassian (Adyghe) origin who served the Hamdanids of Aleppo and the Egyptian Fatimids. The typological reliability of the image of Argant, an ethnic Circassian included by the author of the poem in the state structure of Fatimid Egypt, is demonstrated.

Single-root words, especially word variants, synonyms and paronyms, are often mixed in the process of their use. The prerequisites for this are created by: 1) phonetic similarity of words, 2) common root morpheme, 3) belonging to the same part of speech, 4) identity or certain proximity of concepts of a pair (or group) of words. However, they differ significantly. The majority of synonyms for the same root, as well as word variations, have identical meanings but differ functionally and stylistically. However, unlike word variations, which have no semantic distinctions, single-root synonyms can have different shades of meaning. If the affixes of such formations are independent, then they should be qualified as synonyms if their affixes are variable, then they are variants of the word. Single–root synonyms express the same meaning, and paronyms express different meanings; single-root synonyms belong to the same semantic class, and paronyms belong to different semantic classes. Single-root synonyms and homonyms have certain structural and semantic similarities. Synonyms, like homonyms, are formed from the same root, but they differ from homonyms, both in semantic and functional-stylistic terms. Synonyms of the same root express the same concept, while homonyms express different concepts.

The article focuses on the vocabulary of the Karachay-Balkarian language.  It examines the zoo-lexeme tulkyu 'lisa' using multivector analysis, reveals its word-formation possibilities, and discusses its representation in phytonyms, toponyms, and anthroponyms.  The research observes that the examined zoonymic lexeme is differentiated by archaic components specific to the Karachay-Balkarian ethnoculture.  In its most generic form, the fox appears in the ethnos' worldview as an animal distinguished by traits like as cunning, cleverness, and ingenuity. It is viewed as a predator that harms poultry husbandry, and the skin of the black-brown type is regarded as a talisman that aids in the preservation and enhancement of human well-being.  In animal legends, the fox beats larger predators thanks to its cunning and resourcefulness, yet it loses to some bird species.  The corpus of Karachay-Balkarian paremias demonstrates a variety of cognitive qualities relevant to both foxes and humans, which are determined by people's mentalities.  The studied factual material allows us to discuss broadly about the universals linked with the image of a fox.  The tulkyu zoolexeme is an important part of the zoomorphic cultural code in the Karachay-Balkarian worldview.

The article is dedicated to a thorough examination of Karachay-Balkarian toponymic models generated by combining colorative epithets with physico-geographical appellations. Descriptive-type definitional phrases and relay structures address nomination patterns for physical and geographical items.

The examination of toponymic phrases reveals that “dual” colorative names, which have nominative-common and term-forming meanings, have a lexico-semantic and grammatical link between the combined components.

On the one hand, such sentences communicate lexical meanings; on the other, they generate words; and finally, they are formative. The colorative constructions of the Karachay-Balkarian language are examined not only in terms of morphological component compatibility but also in terms of lexico-semantic structure development and lexicographic interpretation.

The research focuses on the toponymization of free phrases produced from plant and animal origins.

The article discusses the results of a cognitive analysis of phraseological nominations and the associative field of the concept of "Death" as an important component of human existence. Russian Regional Associative Dictionary provides empirical material on phraseological units, the associative field "death", as well as reactions to the Russian stimulus word "death" by bilingual students of Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov (KBSU). The cognitive interpretation of Russian phraseological units with the meaning of "death" and evaluative associative units included in the associative field of "death" of monolinguals and bilinguals allowed us to identify cognitive features, the totality of which forms the evaluative component of the concept, combined by such a classification feature as "negative assessment". The article shows that the right-wing part of the "life-death" opposition is characterized by such an essential feature as inevitability. A comprehensive study of the linguistic units represented in phraseological and associative thesauri makes it possible to expand the description of the nominative field of the concept and gain a more complete understanding of its content and structure.

Against the backdrop of global crises threatening the very existence of humanity, research on the phenomenon of identity as a mechanism for protecting the integrity of the individual and a psychological regulator of social life has gained prominence in the social sciences. Today, particular interest lies in the factors contributing to the formation and successful functioning of identity. One of the most critical questions in analyzing identity is understanding the decisive role of culture and verbal languages in its formation. This fundamental idea leads the authors to argue that the development of identity is rooted in one’s native language, along with the ethnocultural features it shapes. To confirm this conclusion, an analysis was conducted on the role of the Kabardian-Circassian language within the structure of identity, which, according to the authors, comprises the following components: cognitive, value-based, personal identity, and social solidarity. An empirical study of Adyghe students studying outside the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic revealed that educational migration heightens the significance of their native language as a symbol of cultural belonging. The language transforms into a tool of resistance against assimilation, aligning with Berry’s theory of "cultural tension." Even when a language loses its everyday functional role, it retains its function as an identity marker, as demonstrated by the example of Adyghe Etiquette (Khabze).  

In June 2024, Lyolya Zamakhshyarievna Kunizheva defended her thesis within the walls of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Ethnography named after N. N. Miklukho-Maclay of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamer) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She became the first professional ethnographer of the Abaza people and rightfully entered the galaxy of the best domestic Caucasian scholars.

We attempted to identify the direction of action of this complex personality in this piece, rather than attempting to analyze her work. The biography, which follows the scientist's scientific endeavors and his civic role in promoting Abazin history and culture, is described in full in the article.

In conclusion, it is noted that the influence of Leli Zamakhsherievna Kunizheva on science and culture cannot be overestimated. Her multifaceted activities had a significant impact on the preservation and popularization of Abaza culture, laid a solid foundation for future research and cultural initiatives.

When writing the article, a biographical method was used, which made it possible to consider various aspects of the life of L.Z. Kunizheva.