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Kumyks (, ) are a Turkic
ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
living in
Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
,
Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
and
North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...
. They are the largest Turkic people in the
North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
. They traditionally populate the Kumyk Plateau (northern Dagestan and northeastern Chechnya), lands bordering the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
, areas in North Ossetia, Chechnya and along the banks of the
Terek River The Terek () is a major river in the Northern Caucasus. It originates in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of Georgia and flows through North Caucasus region of Russia into the Caspian Sea. It rises near the juncture of the Greater Caucasus ...
. They speak the
Kumyk language Kumyk (,L. S. Levitskaya, "Kumyk language", in ''Languages of the world. Turkic languages'' (1997). , ) is a Turkic language spoken by about 520,000 people, mainly by the Kumyks, in the Dagestan, North Ossetia and Chechen republics of the ...
, which until the 1930s had been the
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
of the
Northern Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
. Territories where Kumyks have traditionally lived, and where their historical state entities used to exist, are called
Kumykia KumykiaEurasian Studies, Volume 2, Turkish International Cooperation Agency, 1995, page 70 (), or rarely called Kumykistan, is a historical and geographical region located along the Caspian Sea shores, on the Kumyk plateau, in the foothills of Dage ...
Валерий Александрович Тишков, Вадим Александрович Александров -Народы России: энциклопедия Науч. изд-во Большая российская энциклопедия, 1994 — С.214А. Л. Нарочницкий. И90 История народов Северного Кавказа (конец XVIII в. — 1917 г.). — М.: Наука, 1988, стр. 605 ().Ярцева В. Н. и др. (ред.) Языки Российской Федерации и соседних государств. Том 2. К-Р, стр. 182—183 Цитата: «До 1917 г. слово къумукъ обозначало и территорию, где живут кумыки — Кумыкия.» All of the lands populated by Kumyks were once part of the independent Tarki Shamkhalate.


Population and present settlement area

Kumyks comprise 14% of the population of the Republic of Dagestan, the third-largest population of Chechnya, and the fifth-largest population of North Ossetia, all of which are parts of the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Kumyks are the second largest Turkic-speaking ethnic group after
Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...
in the Causasus, the largest Turkic people of the North Caucasus and the third largest ethnic group of Dagestan. According to the Russian national census of 2010 there were more than 500,000 Kumyks in Russia.


Russian Federation

In terms of administrative division in their native lands, Kumyks today are mostly divided between a few administrative regions of Russia, such as
Republic of Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
, Republic of North-Ossetia,
Chechen Republic Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and share ...
.


Turkey and the Middle East

In the 19th century, during and following the
Caucasian War The Caucasian War () or the Caucasus War was a 19th-century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. It consisted of a series o ...
, numbers of Kumyks were subject to or willingly resettled (made ''hijra'') to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
as a result of Russian deportation campaigns in the region. In the 1910s–1920s, during the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
, another emigration wave to Turkey took place. Among the '' muhajirs'' (migrants) of that period were many prominent Kumyk nobility. Kumyks also used to move to Syria and Jordan, where a few Kumyk families still live. The Syrian village of Dar-Ful was established in 1878-1880 by Kumyk emigrants. There is no official state census of ethnic minorities in Turkey (ethnic or racial censuses are outlawed), but according to the studies of 1994–1996, there were more than 20 settlements with Kumyk population.


Ethnonym

The majority of researchers (Bakikhanov, S. A. Tokarev, A. I. Tamay, S. Sh. Gadzhieva) derive the name "Kumyk" from a Turkic ethnonym '' Kimak'', or from another name for
Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...
— ''
Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...
''. According to P. Uslar, in the 19th century the names "Kumyk" and "Kumuk" pertained to the Turkic speaking population of the Northern Caucasian lowlands.Услар П. К. Этнография Кавказа. Языкознание. 4. Лакский язык. Тифлис, 1890, с. 2. In Dagestan, Chechnya and
Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...
, the name Kumyk, or originally Kumuk pertained to the Kumyks only. Y. Fyodorov wrote, based on sources from the 8–19 cc., that "Gumik — Kumyk — Kumuk" is originally a Dagestani toponym from the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. In various Russian, European, Ottoman and Persian sources Kumyks were also called Dagestan Tatars (or Dagestan Turks), Circassian and Caucasus Tatars.


Origin

There is no universal opinion regarding the origin of the Kumyks. Some scholars propose that the population of the Kumyk plains of the 8th-10th centuries were directly ancestral to modern Kumyks. A view close to that is that the Kumyks appeared in Dagestan along with the
Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...
in the 8th century and stayed afterwards. Whereas others believe that the Kumyks appeared in Dagestan in the 12th-13th centuries along with
Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...
. Kumyk verbal tradition carried through ages some proverbs and sayings coming from the times of the
Khazar Kaghanate The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, and ...
. S. Tokarev wrote that: A modern interpretation was proposed that "''from the Turkified
Lezgins Lezgins ( or ) are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native to southern Dagestan, a republic of Russia, and northern Azerbaijan, who speak the Lezgin language. Their social structure is firmly based on equality and deference to individuality ...
, Kumyks also emerged"''. However, professor of Caucasus studies L. Lavrov doubted the "Turkification" hypothesis of Kumyk origin:Лавров Л. И. Историко-этнографические очерки Кавказа. Ленинград. 1978. C. 37-38. Another prominent Russian Orientalist, V. Minorsky, proposed his adjustment to the views mentioned, stating that: The final stages of the Kumyk ethnogenesis stretched from the 12th-17th centuries. Some of the Turkic peoples who assimilated into the Kumyk nation were those of Tumens from the Tumen Khanate (Caucasian Tumen), which emerged in the 15th century as a fragment of the dissolved
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
; those of Bothe Bogans, Sople and pre-Cuman Turks, who populated the Botheragan-Madjar region in the 7th century, which encompassed the vast North Caucasian plains.


History

Kumyks historically were related to the states of the Caucasian Huns, Cuman-Kipchaks, and the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
. The beginning of the Kumyk nation is often considered to be in the Khazar Kaganate era. Until the 19th century, the Kumyks were a largely feudal, decentralized entity of strategical geographic and political importance for Russia, Persia and the Ottomans, headed by a leader called the Shamkhal (originally ''Shawkhal,'' in Russian sources ''Shevkal''). The Kumyk polity known as the Shamkhalate of Tarki was mentioned as early as the 14th century by
Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of ...
historians. Other Kumyk states included the Endirey Principality, Utamish Sultanate, Tumen Possession,Тюменское княжество в контексте истории взаимоотношений Астраханского ханства и Кумыкского государства с Русским в XVI в., Г.-Р. А.-К. Гусейнов Braguny Principality, Mekhtuly Khanate, Kaytag Uzminate and others.


Expansion of the Russian state, Ottoman Empire, and Persia

In the 16th century, Kumyk rulers tried to balance their relationships with their three neighbouring states, and as a result the Shamkhalate established itself as a considerable regional power. The two empires and yet-to-be one Russian state considered the Caspian area as their influence domain. Shamkhal Chopan became a subject of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in the late 16th century, and participated in the 1578–1590 Ottoman-Persian War. The 1560s marked the start of the numerous campaigns of the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
against Kumyks, provoked by the requests of the
Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...
and
Kabardians The Kabardians (Kabardian language, Kabardian: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Adyghe language, Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; ) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassians, Circassian tribes, representing one ...
. Commander Cheremisinov seized and plundered the capital of Tarki in 1560. The Tumen Khanate, allied with the Shamkhalate also resisted the invasion, but was conquered by Russia in 1588. The Russians established the Terki stronghold (Not to be mistaken for
Tarki Tarki (, ; ) formerly also spelled Tarkou and also known as Tarku, is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of Sovetsky City District of the City of Makhachkala in the Republic of Dagestan, Russi ...
) in its former capital. Tumen ruler Soltaney fled to the protection of Sultan-Mahmud of Endirey, recognized today as a pan-Caucasian hero. In 1594, the other campaign of Khvorostinin in Dagestan was organised, during which Russian forces and
Terek Cossacks The Terek Cossack Host was a Cossack host created in 1577 from free Cossacks who resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. The local aboriginal Terek Cossacks joined this Cossack host later. In 1792 it was included in the Caucasus Line Co ...
seized Tarki again, but were blocked by the Kumyk forces and forced to retreat to Terki, which resulted in a stampede. In 1604–1605, Ivan Buturlin conducted one more campaign against the Kyumks, often known as the Schevkal campaign. This also failed and resulted in a significant loss for Russia at the Battle of Karaman. The united forces of the Dagestani peoples under the banners of the Kumyk Shamkhalian, Prince Soltan-Mahmud of Endirey prevailed, and according to the prominent Russian historian
Nikolay Karamzin Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin () was a Russian historian, writer, poet and critic. He is best remembered for his fundamental ''History of the Russian State'', a 12-volume national history. Early life Karamzin was born in the small village of ...
, stopped Russian expansion for the next 118 years until the rule of
Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–68 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholicos ...
. In 1649 and 1650, Nogai leader Choban-murza sought the protection of their allies in the Shamkhalate. Russia, at war with the Nogais, sent 8,000 men in order to force the nomadic tribe to return to Russian territory. Surkhay-Shawkhal III attacked and routed Russian troops at the Battle of Germenchik. Kumyk military success continued from 1651 to 1653, when the Kumyks, this time in an alliance with
Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
forces, destroyed the Russian fortress at the
Sunzha River The Sunzha ( rus, Су́нжа, p=ˈsunʐə; , ; ) is a river in North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya, Russia, a tributary of the Terek. It flows northeast inside the great northwest bend of the Terek River and catches most of the rivers t ...
. Shah Abbas II intended to strengthen the Persian hold on the Kumyk lands, which didn't match with Surkhay's plans. In an alliance with Kaytag Uzmi Rustem, Surkhay III confronted Persians but was forced to withdraw. Nevertheless, the high losses disrupted the Shah's intentions of building fortresses in the Kumyk lands.


Resistance to Peter I

In the 18th century, Russian Emperor Peter I organised the Persian campaign of the 1722–1723. The Endirey principality was the first to oppose the Russian forces, and despite their defeat, caused great losses which shocked the Emperor. Kumyks of the Utamish Soltanate also fiercely resisted during the Battle at the River Inchge. Peter I stated afterwards: The Tarki Shamkhalate initially took a pro-Russian stance, but after a new Russian fortress had been built they confronted Russia again. However, this time the Shamkhalate could not unite the neighboring local peoples and remained alone in their struggle. Russian historian Sergey Solovyov wrote:


Caucasian War

Russian 19th century general Gregory Phillipson, known for his important actions in subjugating the Adyghe and Abaza ethnic groups at the left flank of the Caucasian front in
Circassia Circassia ( ), also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in . It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Circassia was conquered by the Russian Empire during ...
, wrote: Kumyks were one of the major forces in the late 18th century Sheikh Mansur's insurgence. Kumyk prince Chepalow, in alliance with Mansur made several attempts to attack the Russian stronghold of
Kizlyar Kizlyar (; ; , ''Qızlar'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the border with the Chechen Republic in the river delta, delta of the Terek River northwest of Makhachkala, the cap ...
. In the final battle, Mansur led the Kumyk forces himself. Despite the formal acceptance of the Russian sovereignty over the Shamkhals at the beginning of the Caucasian war (resulting from the Treaty of Gulistan), there were numerous revolts in Kumykia. In 1825 the village of ldAksay was destroyed and 300 men from the settlement were gathered for their participation in the insurgence against
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
led by the Chechen leader Taymiyev Biybolat, and murdered when Ochar-Haji, one of the Kumyks, killed two Russian generals on the spot. In the same year the people of
Endirey Endirey (; OKATO: 82254815001) is a village#Russia, village (''selo'') in the Khasavyurt District of the Republic of Dagestan in Russia. It is the center of the Endireyskoe Rural Settlement and has a population of 7,863 (2015). Endirey is an imp ...
joined forces with mountain communities against the Russians. In total, there were at least five revolts in Shamkhalate and on the Kumyk plateau (called also ''Kumyk plains''): the Anti-Russian revolt, resulting in the defeat of Northern Kumyks (Endirey and Aksay principalities) and the then-disestablished Mekhtula Khanate, the Shamkhalate Revolt of 1823, participation in Beybulat Taymiyev's revolt (who though recently had pledged allegiance to Russia), the Shamkhalate Revolt of 1831,Н.И. Покровский Кавказские войны и имамат Шамиля. – Москва: «Российская политическая энциклопедия» (РОССПЭН), 2000. - С.207-218 the revolt at the Kumyk plains in 1831 and the Shamkhalate Revolt of 1843. There were also preparations for an insurgency on the Kumyk plains in 1844 and for a general Kumyk insurgency in 1855,Н.И. Покровский Кавказские войны и имамат Шамиля. – Москва: «Российская политическая энциклопедия» (РОССПЭН), 2000. which had been planned as a joined action with the advance of
Imam Shamil Imam Shamil (; ; ; ; ; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in the 1800s, the third Imam of the Caucasian Imamate (1840–1859), and a Sunni Muslim ...
, but the advance didn't progress enough into the Kumyk lands. In the insurgency in Dagestan in 1877–1878, one of the major centres of conflict was the Kumyk village of Bashly. Despite the devastation brought by the Imperial Army for their attempts to rise against Russia, the Kumyk plains were also exposed to plundering forays from the neighboring tribes. For instance, in 1830, one Chechen leader, Avko, gathered forces in a call to allegedly join the troops of the leader of the Caucasian resistance, Gazi-Muhammad, but at the last moment declared the true reason "to use the opportunity to attack the city of Endirey and plunder Kumyks' cattle". However, the troops disbanded in disappointment. Gazi-Muhammad himself tried to make Kumyks resettle higher in the mountains from the plains and join his resistance by destroying Kumyk settlements, as stated in the Russian military archives: During the Caucasian War, Kumyks found themselves between a rock and a hard place, not always supported by the insurgents on one hand, and being a target of retaliation from Russians on the other. The same archives also described that: Kumyks during the War gave the Caucasus many common heroes. Imam of Dagestan and Chechnya Shamil was of Kumyk descent, as well as his companion and the second pretender to the Imam's position Tashaw-Hadji. Also, Kumyks were the leaders of the earlier Dagestani revolts, such as Soltan Ahmed-Khan of the Avars, and Umalat-bek of Boynak (the heir of the Tarki throne), companion of the imam Gazi-Muhammad Razibek of Kazanish, trusted companion of the Imam Shamil — Idris of Endirey.


Genetics

According to genetic studies in 2023, the following haplogroups are found to predominate among Kumyks : * J1 (36%) *
R1b Haplogroup R1b (R-M343), previously known as Hg1 and Eu18, is a human Y-chromosome haplogroup. It is the most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe, as well as some parts of Russia (e.g. the Bashkirs) and across the Sahel in ...
(19%) * J2 (13%) * G2 (11%) * R1a (5%) * C2 (4%)


Colonization by Russia

The tsarist and Soviet government pursued a policy of settling the Kumyk lands with other peoples from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Back in 1811,
Tormasov Count Alexander Petrovich Tormasov (; 22 August 1752 – 25 November 1819) was a Russian cavalry general prominent during the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Alexander Tormasov was born on 22 August 1752 into an old Russian noble family. At t ...
is known to order ''"to incline the Chechens to retire from the mountains to the plane."'' Another governor of the Caucasus, Vorontsov, pursued the same policy of "colonizing" the possessions of the Kumyks, also by Chechens, arguing that ''"the Kumyks have no right to those lands."'' Kumyk possessions also included such areas as Kachkalyk and Aukh, gradually settled by Chechens, and the region of Salatavia. In the late 1870s, the entire southern part of the Khasavyurt district, from Gerzel-aul to Endirey, was populated by Chechens, sometimes by force, by the decree of Russia. From 1870 to 1877, the number of Chechens in the region increased from 5,912 Aukh to 14,000 Chechens and continued to rise to 18,128 in 1897.З. Х. Ибрагимова ЧЕЧЕНЦЫ В ЗЕРКАЛЕ ЦАРСКОЙ СТАТИСТИКИ (1860—1900) Монография Москва «ПРОБЕЛ-2000» 2006 The possessions of the Kumyks in the Terek-Sunzha interfluve were lost, some of them along with the Kumyk population are now part of Chechnya. In the 1850s, the Kumyk princes of the Kumyk district of the Terek region voluntarily gave up half of their lands in favor of the Kumyk people, however, documents confirming the relevant rights were issued only to the princes and uzdens, and the rights of the rest of the population were not documented. Local authorities, using various pretexts, moved newcomers to Kumyk lands. This policy of neglecting the right of the Kumyk population was recorded as continuing in 1907.


Dissolution of Shamkhalate and the Kumyk Okrug

When the Caucasian War ended on 30 December 1869, the Kumyk district of the
Terek oblast The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created ...
(Northern Kumykia) was dissolved and renamed as Khasavyurt okrug. According to the
Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume encyclopaedia in Russian. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps. It was published in the Russian Em ...
, issued at the turn of the 19 - 20th centuries, there were 32,087 thousand Kumyks in Dagestan (which at that time did not comprised the Northern Kumykia). According to an 1891 survey, 108,800 Kumyks lived in the
Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
and
Terek Oblast The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created ...
s of the Russian Empire. Somewhat earlier, in 1867 the Tarki Shamkhalate was abolished by the Russian authorities, which might be considered as the end of the Kumyk statehood.


1916 revolt, Russian Revolution, Soviet and modern times

In mid-July 1916 (late July 1916 ), Kumyk rebels rose up against Russian authorities in Aksay. The cause of the uprising laid in the Kumyk's unwillingness to be conscripted into the Russian Imperial Army. The uprising ended on 24 July (6 August ), when the draft was cancelled. During the establishment of the Soviet Union, Kumyk political elite were an active part in the creation of the
Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC), also referred to as the United Republics of the North Caucasus, Mountain Republic, or the Republic of the Mountaineers, was a transcontinental state in Eurasia. It encompassed the entiret ...
. Haydar Bammate was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and one of the ideologists of the state, Prince Rashitkhan Kaplan was the Minister of Internal Affairs, one of the major military leaders was prince Nuh-bek Tarkovskiy, and Zubair Temirhanov was the speaker of the Alliance Council ("Mejlis" - Senate) of the Republic. In 1926 the Soviet Population Census stated that there were 94 549 Kumyks in the Russian Empire, indicating demographic crisis, compared to the 1891 data.


Demographics

In 1795, the Russian Empire's estimates give a number of 100 thousand people in the lands of Shamkhal (including other than Kumyks). In 1833, rough estimations showed around 88 thousand Kumyks within the areas of influence of the Russian Empire. In 1866, after the end of the Caucasian War, some estimations showed around 78 thousand. In 1886, 1891 and 1897 accordingly — 88, 108, 83 thousand, in 1916 — 98 thousand. The Soviet census of 1926 showed 88 thousand. Thus, there are no indications of any growth almost in a century, due to wars, emigration from Russian-conquered territories and disease. Due to the continuous resettlement policies by the Russian Empire, then the Soviet government, and continuing today in the modern Republic of Dagestan of the Russian Federation, during the 19th through 21st century the native territories of Kumyks have been dramatically reduced; Kumyks became a minority in their own lands.


Ethnocide by Soviet Union


Deportation

By the decree of Stalin's government, on the 12 of April 1944 the Kumyk population of historical Kumyk capital Tarki and adjacent villages were entirely deported to the Central Asian SSRs (Chechens, Karachays, Balkars and Crimean Tatars also were deported). The reason was stated as "freeing the area for the agricultural needs" of mountain peoples being resettled in the region. The deportation, despite the historical record in Russian law, is still not acknowledged by the Russian government. As a result of this event, the local population lost for years their ancient capital of Tarki, which led to the permanent destruction of most of the Kumyk cultural heritage.


Reasoning for ethnocide

As UNPO describes the membership of Kumyks as follows: In 1925, Russian scholar Nikolay Trubetskoy expressed opinions, which may explain the given policy of Russia with regard to Kumyks:
Kumyk is the "international" language of almost the entire North Caucasus (from the Caspian Sea to Kabarda inclusive), Azerbaijani dominates in most of the Transcaucasia (except the Black Sea coast) and, in addition, in Turkish Armenia, Kurdistan and Northern Persia. Both of these languages are Turkic. It must be held in mind that with the intensification of economic life, the use of "international" languages acquires such importance that it displaces native languages: many auls of the southern districts of Dagestan have already become completely "Azerbaijanified". It is hardly in Russia's interests to allow such a Turkification of Dagestan. After all, if the whole of Dagestan becomes Turkic, then there will be a continuous mass of Turks from Kazan to Anatolia and Northern Persia, which will create the most favorable conditions for the development of Pan-Turan ideas with a separatist,
Russophobic Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is the dislike or fear of Russia, Russian people, or Russian culture. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia. Historically, Russophobia has included state-sponsored and grassroots mistreatment and dis ...
bias. Dagestan should be used as a natural barrier to the Turkification of this part of Eurasia.
Communist leader of Dagestan, who conducted the deportation of Kumyks, reasoned non-ethnical administrative bordering of Dagestan in this way:
"Firstly, it eaning splitting Dagestan by non-ethnic principlewas necessary to do this for economic reasons. If it were decided to grant national autonomy to at least the main peoples of Dagestan (Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans), then the main wealth of Dagestan (arable land, pastures) would go to the Kumyks, because they were located on their territory... Secondly, political and ethnic considerations were taken into account. So, the Avars in the entire history of their existence did not have a unified state entity..."


Language

Kumyks speak the Kumyk language, which is a part of the
Kipchak-Cuman Cuman or Kuman (also called Kipchak, Qypchaq or Polovtsian, self referred to as Tatar () in Codex Cumanicus) was a West Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans (Polovtsy, Folban, Vallany, Kun) and Kipchaks; the language was similar to toda ...
subfamily of the
Kipchak Kipchak may refer to: * Kipchaks, a medieval Turkic people * Kipchak languages, a Turkic language group * Kipchak language, an extinct Turkic language of the Kipchak group * Kipchak Khanate or Golden Horde * Kipchak Mosque, a mosque in the villa ...
family of the
Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...
. It is a direct descendant of the
Khazar The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...
languages and in addition contains words from the Bulghar and Oghuz
substratum Substrata, plural of substratum, may refer to: *Earth's substrata, the geologic layering of the Earth *''Hypokeimenon'', sometimes translated as ''substratum'', a concept in metaphysics *Substrata (album), a 1997 ambient music album by Biosphere * ...
. Nikolay Baskakov, based on a famous 12th century scripture named Codex Cimanicus, included modern Kumyk, Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, Karaim, and the language of Mamluk Kipchaks in the Cuman-Kipchak languages.
Alexander Samoylovich Alexander Nikolaevich Samoylovich (; 29 December 1880 – 13 February 1938) was a Russian Orientalist- Turkologist who served as a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1929), Rector of the Leningrad Oriental Institute (1922–1925), academic s ...
also considered Cuman-Kipchak close to Kumyk and Karachai-Balkar. Kumyk had been a lingua-franca of a great part of the Northern Caucasus, from Dagestan to
Kabarda The Grand Principality of Great Kabarda, also known as East Circassia or Kabardia (), was a historical country in the North Caucasus corresponding partly to modern-day Kabardino-Balkaria. It existed as a political community from the fifteenth ce ...
, until the 1930s. In 1848, a professor of the "Caucasian Tatars" (Kumyks) Timofey Makarov published a grammar of Kumyk, the first ever grammar written in Russian for a language spoken in the North Caucasus. Kumyk was an official language of communication between the Northeastern Caucasian nations and the Russian administration. Amongst the dialects of the Kumyk there are Kaitag, Terek (Güçük-yurt and Braguny),
Buynaksk Buynaksk (; ; ; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus on the Shura-Ozen River, southwest of the republic's capital city, capital Makhachkala. P ...
( Temir-Khan-Shura) and Xasavyurt. The latter two became basis for the literary language. Kumyk is the oldest script literary language of Dagestan. During the 20th century, the writing system of the language was changed twice: during Soviet times in 1929 traditional
Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...
(called
ajam (, ) is an Arabic word for a non-Arab, especially a Persian. It was historically used as a pejorative—figuratively ascribing muteness to those whose native language is not Arabic—during and after the Muslim conquest of Iran. Since the ea ...
) was substituted by the
Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
, and then in 1938 by
Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...
. The closest languages to Kumyk are the Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, and Karaim languages. More than 90% of Kumyks in Russia, according to the 2010 census, also speak Russian, and those in Turkey and the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
(
Sham Sham may refer to: Arabic use * Al-Sham or Shām (شام), the Arabic term for the Greater Syria region, known in English as the Levant or the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the modern countries of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus ...
) speak Turkish and Arabic.


In Russian and European classical literature

German poet Paul Fleming, travelling together with the Holstein embassy through Kumyk lands in 1633 and 1636, had dedicated to Kumykia and its towns a few verses. The Kumyk language was a subject of studies for Russian classical authors such as
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...
and
Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romanticism, Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called ...
, both of whom served with the Imperial Russian Army in the Caucasus. The language is present in such works of Tolstoy as '' The Raid'', ''
Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
'', '' Hadji Murat'', and Lermontov's ''
A Hero of Our Time ''A Hero of Our Time'' ( rus, Герой нашего времени, links=1, r=Gerój nášego vrémeni, p=ɡʲɪˈroj ˈnaʂɨvə ˈvrʲemʲɪnʲɪ) is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839, published in 1840, and revised in 1841. It ...
''. Tolstoy described Kumyk village of Khamamatyurt in his ''Hunting in the Caucasus''.
Alexander Bestuzhev Alexander Alexandrovich Bestuzhev ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бесту́жев, p=bʲɪˈstuʐɨf, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Byestuzhyev.oga; ) was a Russian writer and Decembrist. After the Decembrist revo ...
also featured the Kumyk language and Kumykia in his works "Molla-nur" and "Ammalat-bek", and described in some details Russian military raids on Kumyk settlements in his ''Letters from Dagestan''.
Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
also described some areas of Kumykia and the time when he was a guest of a Kumyk prince Ali Qazanalp.


See also

* Russian-Kumyk Wars * List of Kumyk people


References


Further reading

*


External links


Kumyk information portal kumukia.com

Kumyk dictionaries, study materials and online library

Kumyk newspaper Yoldaş
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumyk Ethnic groups in Dagestan Turkic peoples Muslim communities of Russia Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization Peoples of the Caucasus Muslim communities of the Caucasus