Karachay-Balkars
 |
| File:Karachay patriarchs in the 19th c.jpg Karachay patriarchs in the 19th century | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Russia | 305,106 (2010 population census)[2] |
| Languages | |
| Karachay-Balkar (Old Turkic) | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Turkic | |
The Karachay-Balkars or Alans[1][3] ([sg. - alan, pl. - alanla] error: {{lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)[4][5][1][6][7][8][9][10]) are a Turkic-speaking people of the North Caucasus, mostly situated in the Russian North Caucasus. Karachays and Balkars constitute together the one nation, the Karachay-Balkars, and they are direct descendants of the Turkic-speaking Alans.[1] On the territory of the Karachay was the capital of Alania (Lower-Arkhyz settlement).[11]
History
The Karachay-Balkars are a Turkic people descended from the Turkic-speaking Alans,[1] and share their language with other Turkic tribes. In Turkic, "Karachay" means "Black River".
The state of Alania was established in the Middle Ages and had its capital in Maas, which some authors locate in Arkhyz, in the mountains currently inhabited by the Karachay. In the 14th century, Alania was destroyed by Timur and the decimated population dispersed into the mountains. Timur's incursion into the North Caucasus introduced the local nations to Islam.
In 1828 the Russian army invaded the Caucasus region, including Karachay-Balkaria. On October 20, 1828, the Battle of Hasaukinskoe took place, a battle in which the Russian emperor's troops, under the command of General Emanuel, killed or injured 163 people. The day after the battle, as Russian troops were approaching Dzhurtu, the Alan (Karachay-Balkar) elders met with the Russian leaders. To prevent the massacre of Alan villages, an agreement was reached for the inclusion of the Alans into the Russian Empire.
After this annexation, the internal self-government of Karachay remained intact, including its officials and courts. Interactions with neighboring Muslim peoples continued based on both folk customs and Sharia law. Soldiers were recruited from among the Alans, pledging an oath of loyalty, and were assigned arms.
From 1831 to 1860, the Alans (Karachay-Balkar) participated in the bloody anti-Russian struggles waged by the Caucasian peoples. Between 1861 and 1880, to escape reprisals by the Russian army, large numbers of Karachays migrated to Turkey.
Geography
The Karachay-Balkarian nation, along with the Nogays, occupies the valleys and foothills of the Central Caucasus in the river valleys of the Kuban, Big Zelenchuk River, Malka, Baksan, Cherek, and others.
The Alans (Karachay-Balkars) consider Mount Elbrus, the highest twin-peaked mountain in Europe with an altitude of 5,642 meters, a symbol of their nation.
Language and religion
The Karachay-Balkar language comes from the northwestern branch of Turkic languages. The Kumyks, who live in northeast Dagestan, speak a closely related language, the Kumyk language.
Diaspora
Many Karachay-Balkars migrated to Turkey after the Russian annexation of the Karachay-Balkar nation in the early 19th century. They were also forcibly displaced to the Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan during Joseph Stalin's relocation campaign in 1944. Since the Nikita Khrushchev era in the Soviet Union, many Alans (Karachay-Balkars) have been repatriated to their homeland from Central Asia. Today, there are sizable Karachay-Balkar communities in Turkey (centered around Afyonkarahisar), Uzbekistan, the United States, and Germany.
Culture
The Karachay's isolation among the Caucasus Mountains was one of the reasons for the establishment of the Karachay-Balkar's unique character.[citation needed]
Alan (Karachay-Balkar) people live in communities that are divided into families and clans (Tukum). A tukum is based on a family's lineage. Prominent tukums include: Aci, Batcha (Batca), Baychora, Bayrimuk (Bayramuk), Bostan, Catto, Cosar (Çese), Duda, Hubey (Hubi), Karabash, Laypan, Lepshoq, Ozden, Silpagar, Teke, Toturkul, and many others.[citation needed]
Karachay people are very independent and have strong traditions and customs that dominate many aspects of their lives: e.g., weddings, funerals, and family pronouncements. They are fiercely loyal to both their immediate family and their "tukum". They will never offend a guest. Cowardice is the most serious shame for a male.[citation needed]
See also
External links
- An online Karachay networking site Archived 2014-08-19 at the Wayback Machine.
- Ulu Cami: A Karachay Mosque serving Muslim Community in Northern Jersey (in English)(in Turkish)
- American Karachay Benevolent Association
- I. Miziev. The history of Karachays from ancient times.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS): ИЭА РАН. Editor in chief V. A. Tishkov. Series "Народы и культуры" - "Карачаевцы. Балкарцы.". 2014, М.: "Наука", 2014, - pages 815., ISBN 978-5-02-038043-1, chapter 2, page 35" Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Sciences 2014, pages 815" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Окончательные итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года
- ↑ Ėmma Shirii︠a︡zdanovna Geni︠u︡shene, Zlatka Guentchéva, Reciprocal Constructions, Vol. 3, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007, p. 971
- ↑ "The most important fact of Karachay ethnographic tradition is that even today Karachays use the word "alan" to refer to each other. In fact, we have an ancient endonym of Karachay-Balkars." (S.H. Hotko. Essays on the history and culture of Karachay. pp. 12–13 - Maikop: JSC "Polygraph Yug", 2011.- 448 pp. With illustrations. ISBN 9785799206550.)
- ↑ Ėmma Shirii︠a︡zdanovna Geni︠u︡shene, Zlatka Guentchéva, Reciprocal Constructions, Vol. 3, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007, p. 971
- ↑ Volkova N.G., Этнонимы и племенные названия Северного Кавказа. — М.: Наука, 1973. — С. 94, 98.
- ↑ Bekaldiev M.D., История Кабардино-Балкарии. — Нальчик: Эльбрус, 2003. — С. 382. — ISBN 5-7680-1714-3.
- ↑ Alekseeva E.P. Карачаевцы и балкарцы – древний народ Кавказа. — Черкесск, 1963. — С. 15.
- ↑ Karachay-Balkar-Russian dictionary / E.R. Tenishev, H.I. Suyunchev. — М., 1989. — p. 48.
- ↑ Turkic peoples of Central Caucasus included Balkars and Karachays. In its origin, language, spiritual culture of the material these people are so close that their ethnogenesis considered separately does not make sense... Sources say directly that Balkars and Karachay - the last (and first) media ethnonyms Alans and Ases ("Yases" - in Russian sources). (Y.A. Fedorov, «Историческая этнография Северного Кавказа»)
- ↑ The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS): ИЭА РАН. Series "Народы и культуры" - "Карачаевцы. Балкарцы.". 2014, М.: "Наука", 2014, - pages 815., ISBN 978-5-02-038043-1, chapter 2, page 33"
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