BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLES OF THE CAUCASUS AND THE HISTORICAL ANCESTORS OF THE CHUVASH

DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2023-3-132-139

УДК 93/94

ББК 63.51

Anton K. SALMIN

Key words

beliefs, peoples of the Caucasus, historical ancestors of the Chuvash, history, ethnography

Abstract

The relevance of the publication is explained by the need to strengthen research on the ethnic history of the Chuvash people. The study of traditional beliefs is closely connected with the history of the ethnos. In other words, there is always a need to take into account the chronology, region and dynamics of the material under study. That is why the researcher cannot do without comparative passages with the sources of historical neighbors. Moreover, the analysis should be conducted in a unified bundle of “time–space”. Although there are studies in this direction, they are clearly not sufficient to make the arguments put forward more convincing.

The purpose of the study is to identify and show the identity of the main components contained in the traditional rituals and beliefs of the peoples of the Caucasus and the historical ancestors of the Chuvash.

The scientific novelty of the article lies in the primacy of formulating the topic under study.

Materials and methods. The research methodology is based on the comparative historical approach. For this purpose, the materials of the traditional (= folk) beliefs of the peoples under study are used. The topic under discussion is studied taking into account new sources and the most notable publications that appeared in the XVIII–XXI centuries.

Results. The analysis of materials and research on the topic under study is carried out in two sections – “The peoples of the Southern Caucasus” and “Proper Caucasian storylines”. The recorded and preserved traces of parallels between the historical ancestors of the Chuvash and the peoples of the Caucasus are analyzed. For example, the coincidence between the Armenian name of the deity Torg/Tork/Turk and the Chuvash Tor/Tur, the Elam-Assyrian spirit Lamassu/Lamastu and the Chuvash Alpasta, the Ararat deity Kuera and the Chuvash Kӑvar. The work also explores the ritual traditions of the Caucasian and Chuvash peoples that completely coincide in content.

Conclusions. Similarities, parallels and even direct coincidences of traditional Chuvash beliefs with Transcaucasian and Caucasian storylines indicate that the historical ancestors of the Chuvash inhabited the territory within the limits of the Anterior Asia – the North Caucasus.

The author sees the practical significance of the research in understanding the histories of the peoples of the Caucasus and the Volga region.

References

1. Abayev V.I. Istoriko-etimologhicheskii slovar‘ osetinskogo yazyka [Historical and etymological dictionary of the Ossetian language]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1958, vol. 1, 655 p.
2. Akiyeva P.Kh. Arkhetipicheskoye v etnokul‘ture ingushei (na materiale mifologhii, nartskogo eposa i obryadov zhyznennogo tsikla): dis. … d-ra ist. nauk [Archetypal in the ethnoculture of the Ingush (based on mythology, the Nart epic and the rites of the life cycle): Doct. Diss.]. Makhachkala, 2016, 425 p.
3. Albogachiyeva M.S.-G. Etnografiya i istoriya ingushskogo naroda v pis‘mennykh istochnikakh kontsa XVIII – pervoi treti XX v. [Ethnography and History of the Ingush People in Written Sources of the Late XVIII – First Third of the XX Century]. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2011, 180 p.
4. Amayakyan S.G. Gosudarstvennaya relighiya Vanskogo tsarstva: avtoref. dis. … d-ta ist. nauk [The State Religion of the Kingdom of Van: Abstract of Doct. Diss.]. Yerevan, 1986, 22 p.
5. Bardavelidze V.V. Drevniye relighioznyye verovaniya i obryadovoye graficheskoye iskusstvo gruzinskikh plemen [Ancient religious beliefs and ritual graphic art of Georgian tribes]. Tbilisi, 1957, 305 p.
6. Dalgat B.K. Pervobytnaya relighiya chechentsev i ingushei [Primitive religion of the Chechens and Ingush]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2004, 240 p.
7. Eremeyev D.Ye. “Tyurk” – etnonim iranskogo proiskhozhdeniya? (K probleme etnogheneza drevnikh tyurkov) [Is “Turk” an ethnonym of Iranian origin? (On the problem of ethnogenesis of the ancient Turks)]. Sovetskaya etnografiya, 1990, no. 3, pp. 129–135.
8. Karaketov M.D. Traditsionnyye verovaniya [Traditional beliefs]. In: Balkartsy [Karachais. Balkars]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2014, pp. 394–442.
9. Kakhovskii V.F. Proiskhozhdeniye chuvashskogo naroda: Osnovnyye etapy etnicheskoi istorii [The Origin of the Chuvash People: The Main Stages of Ethnic History]. Cheboksary, Chuvash Publ. House, 1965, 484 p.
10. Klimov G.A., Edel‘man D.I. K etimologhii Albasty/Almasty [On the etymology of Albasty/Almasty]. Sovetskaya tyurkologhiya, 1979, no. 3, pp. 57–63.
11. Kovalevskii M. Sovremennyi obychai i drevnii zakon [Modern Custom and Ancient Law]. Moscow, 1886, vol. 1, VII, 340, II p.
12. Kunina A. Semeinyye obychai i obryady u shapsugov [Family customs and ceremonies of the Shapsugs] Relighioznyye perezhytki u cherkesov-shapsugov [Religious remnants of the Circassian Shapsugs]. Moscow, Moscow University Publ., 1940, pp. 19–22.
13. Madurov D.F. Traditsionnoye dekorativnoye iskusstvo i prazdniki chuvashei [Traditional decorative arts and Chuvash festivals]. Cheboksary, Chuvash Publ. House, 2004, 287 p.
14. Mikhailov S.M. Sobraniye sochinenii [Collected Works]. Cheboksary, Chuvash Publ. House, 2004, 512 p.
15. Piotrovskii B.B. Karmir-Blur: II [Karmir Bloor: II]. Yerevan, 1952, 88 p.
16. Piotrovskii B.B. Vanskoye tsarstvo (Urartu) [Kingdom of Van (Urartu)]. Moscow, 1959, 284 p.
17. Salmin A.K. Narodnaya obryadnost‘ chuvashei [Folk Rites of the Chuvash]. Cheboksary, 1994, 339 p.
18. Salmin A.K. Prazdniki, obryady i verovaniya chuvashskogo naroda [Holidays, rituals and beliefs of the Chuvash people]. Cheboksary, Chuvash Publ. House, 2016, 688 p.
19. Seferbekov R.I. Panteon yazycheskikh bozhestv narodov Daghestana (tipologhiya, kharakteristika, personifikatsii) [Pantheon of pagan deities of the peoples of Dagestan (typology, characteristics, personifications)]. Makhachkala, 2009, 407 p.
20. Ter-Sarkisyants A.Ye. Istoriya i kul‘tura armyanskogo naroda s drevneishykh vremen do nachala XIX v. [History and culture of the Armenian people from ancient times to the beginning of the XIX century] Moscow, 2008, 686 p.
21. Tsaroyeva M.G. Ob ingushskikh polubozhestvakh nartakh [About the Ingush demideities of the Narts]. In: Kavkaz: perekrestok kul‘tur [About the Ingush demideities of the Narts]. St. Petersburg, 2015, pp. 10–64.

22. Tóth Alfréd. Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian. The Hague, Holland: Mikes International, 2007. IV, 788 p.
23. Turner R.L. Celected papers 1912– London, Oxford Unier. Press, 1975, XVI, 435 p.

Information about the author

Anton K. Salmin – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia, St. Petersburg (antsalmin@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1072-9933).

For citations

Salmin A.K. BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLES OF THE CAUCASUS AND THE HISTORICAL ANCESTORS OF THE CHUVASH. Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, 2023, no. 3, pp. 132–139. DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2023-3-132-139 (in Russian).

Download the full article