The Budukhs ( Budukh: Будад, ''Budad'') are an ethnic group primarily from the mountainous village of Buduq in northeastern Azerbaijan, one of the Shahdagh peoples. They speak the

Budukh language Budukh or Budugh (Будад мез, ''Budad mez'') is a Samur language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan. It is spoken by about 200 of approximately 1,000 ethnic Budukhs. Budukh is a s ...

, which is a

Northeast Caucasian language The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Nakh-Daghestani or ''Vainakh-Daghestani'', is a language family, family of languages spoken in the Republics of Russia, Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia and ...

of the Lezgic branch. The

Azerbaijani language Azerbaijani () or Azeri (), also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish, is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan where the North Azerbaija ...

is widely spoken.

History

The area where the Budukh inhabit was part of the

Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...

. The Budukh served in the military for the Shah but were given tax and tribute exemptions. In the early 18th century, the Budukh participated in a Sunni-Shia conflict taking place in Shirvan. However, the conflict soon transformed into a revolt against the Shah which also gained the attention of the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

and Safavids. During the late 18th century, the Budukhs were part of the Khuba Khanate but then became incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1806. The Budukhs participated in the Murid War during the mid-19th century. In the Soviet era, the Budukh were faced with collectivization and various socio-political policies that negatively affected their traditional way of life and beliefs.

Culture

The Badukhs traditionally engage in raising sheep and cattle. The Badukhs also engage in trading and some limited farming, mainly cultivating barely and rye. The Budukh people are overwhelmingly

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

History

Culture

References

Further reading