The Aktash (russian: Акташ) is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in the
Kasbek and
Khasavyurt
Khasavyurt (russian: Хасавю́рт; av, Хасаюрт; ce, Хаси-Эвл, ''Xasi-Evl''; kum, Хасав-ю́рт, ''Xasav-yurt'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Population:
His ...
districts of the
Republic of Daghestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
in
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. It is long, with its width varying from 1.5 meters (5 ft) to . It has an overall slope of 14%. Its watershed is .
Name
Aktash derives from the
Turkic ''ak-'' ("
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
") and ''taş'' ("
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
").
History
The river's basin was settled by the
Mountain Cossacks
The Terek Cossack Host (russian: Терское казачье войско, ''Terskoye kazach'ye voysko'') was a Cossack host created in 1577 from free Cossacks who resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. The local aboriginal Terek Cossacks ...
from the 1520s. The
Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...
arrived under
Andrei Shadrin in the late 1570s, founding
Andreyevo (present-day
Endirey
Endirey (russian: Эндирей; OKATO: 82254815001) is a 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 ...
). The two groups eventually formed the
Terek Cossacks
The Terek Cossack Host (russian: Терское казачье войско, ''Terskoye kazach'ye voysko'') was a Cossack host created in 1577 from free Cossacks who resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. The local aboriginal Terek Cossack ...
. The mountainous area of the river was depopulated in 1877 by the Russian Adjutant-General
Svistunov to prevent possible uprisings in support of
Alibek Haji.
Diversion of the river for
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
now means that it usually does not reach the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
during the summer months.
Tributaries
Major tributaries include:
[
* Tsyrkikal
* Salasu
* Yaryksu
* Aksay
]
See also
* Other places named Aktash or Aktaş
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
* {{citation , editor-last=Zonn , editor-first=Igor S. , editor2-last=Kosarev , editor2-first=Aleksey N. , editor3-last=Glantz , editor3-first=Michael , editor4-last=Kostianoy , editor4-first=Andrey G. , display-editors=1 , ref={{harvid, Zonn, 2010 , contribution=Aktash , contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fvqYSoRvAI4C&pg=PA10 , p=10 , title=The Caspian Sea Encyclopedia , isbn=978-3-642-11523-3 , doi=10.1007/978-3-642-11524-0 , publisher=Springer-Verlag , location=Berlin , date=2010 .
Rivers of Dagestan