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, image = Abdul-Wahab son of Mustafa — a prominent Kumyk architect of the 19th century. , population = near 600,000 , region1 = , pop1 = 503,060 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 10,000 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 718 , ref3 = , langs = Kumyk language , region4 = , pop4 = 1200 , ref4 = , region5 = , pop5 = 481 , ref5 = , region6 = , pop6 = 360 , ref6 = , region7 = , pop7 = 33 , ref7 = Распределение населения Латвии по национальному составу и государственной принадлежности на 01.01.2020
, rels =
Sunni Islam 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 disag ...
, related =
Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
,
Balkars The Balkars ( krc, Малкъарлыла, Malqarlıla or Таулула, , 'Mountaineers') are a Turkic people of the Caucasus region, one of the titular populations of Kabardino-Balkaria. Their Karachay-Balkar language is of the Ponto-Ca ...
,
Karachays The Karachays ( krc, Къарачайлыла, Qaraçaylıla or таулула, , 'Mountaineers') are an indigenous Caucasian Turkic ethnic group in the North Caucasus. They speak Karachay-Balkar, a Turkic language. They are mostly situa ...
, native_name_lang = Kumyks ( kum, Къумукълар, Qumuqlar, russian: Кумыки) are a
Turkic people The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose memb ...
, indigenous to
Dagestan 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 Ca ...
,
Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
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' ...
. They are the largest Turkic people in the
North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
. They traditionally populate the Kumyk plateau (northern
Dagestan 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 Ca ...
and north-eastern Chechnya), lands bordering 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 A ...
, areas in
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' ...
,
Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
and along the banks of the Terek river. They speak the Kumyk language, which until the 1930s had been the lingua-franca of the Northern Caucasus. Territories where Kumyks have traditionally lived, and where their historical state entities used to exist, are called KumykiaВалерий 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 ( kum, Къумукъ, Qumuq).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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. Kumyks are the second largest Turkic-speaking ethnic group after
Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most nume ...
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 ( ; 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 ...
, Republic of North-Ossetia,
Chechen Republic Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
.


Turkey and the Middle East

In the 19th century, during and following the
Caucasian War The Caucasian War (russian: Кавказская война; ''Kavkazskaya vojna'') or Caucasus War was a 19th century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the ...
, numbers of Kumyks were subject to or willingly resettled (made ''hijra'') to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
as a result of Russian deportation campaigns in the region. In the 1910s-1920s, during the
Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
, another emigration wave to Turkey took place. Among the ''
muhajir Muhajir or Mohajir ( ar, مهاجر, '; pl. , ') is an Arabic word meaning ''migrant'' (see immigration and emigration) which is also used in other languages spoken by Muslims, including English. In English, this term and its derivatives may refer ...
s'' (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 or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the ...
— ''
Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...
''. 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 (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. ...
, 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 late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. 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 ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
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 or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the ...
. Kumyk verbal tradition carried through ages some proverbs and sayings coming from the times of the
Khazar Kaghanate The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
. S. Tokarev wrote that: A modern interpretation was proposed that "''from the Turkified
Lezgins Lezgins or Leks ( lez, Лезгияр, Лекьер. lezgijar) are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native predominantly to southern Dagestan, a republic of Russia, and northeastern Azerbaijan. The Lezgin are predominantly Sunni Muslims and s ...
, 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, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...
; 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, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...
. 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 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, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
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 Russian army against Kumyks, provoked by the requests of the
Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...
and
Kabardians The Kabardians ( Highland Adyghe: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Lowland Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; russian: Кабардинцы) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of t ...
. Commander Cheremisinov seized and plundered the capital of Tarki in 1560. The Tumen khanate, allied with the Shamkhalate also resisted the invasion, but in 1588 was conquered by Russia. The Russians established the Terki stronghold (Not to be mistaken for
Tarki Tarki ( kum, Таргъу, Tarğu; russian: Тарки́) 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 ...
) 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 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 Shevkal 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 Karamzin, 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. 64–88 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 in The Battle of Germenchik. Kumyk military success continued from 1651 to 1653, when the Kumyks, this time in an alliance with
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
forces, destroyed the Russian fortress at the river
Sunzha Sunzha (russian: Сунжа, Sunzha; inh, Шолжа-Пхье, Šolža-Pꜧe; is a town and the administrative center of the Sunzhensky District of the Republic of Ingushetia Russia. Before 2016 it was called Ordzhonikidzevskaya ( inh, Ордж ...
. Iranian 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 at 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 couldn't unite the neighboring local peoples and remained alone in their struggle. Russian historian Sergey Solovyov wrote:


Caucasian War

Russian 19th century general , 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 Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...
, 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 (russian: Кизля́р; av, Гъизляр; kum, Къызлар, ''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 ...
. 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 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 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 ( av, Шейх Шамил, Şeyx Şamil; ar, الشيخ شامل; russian: Имам Шамиль; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in ...
, 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.


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 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 (district)

When the Caucasian War ended on the 30th of December 1869, the Kumyk district of the
Terek oblast The Terek Oblast was a province ('' oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created out of the former territories of ...
(Northern Kumykia) was dissolved and renamed as Khasavyurt okrug. According to The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, issued at the turn of the 19 - 20th centuries, there were 32,087 thousand Kumyks in Dagestan (which at that tim did not comprised the Northern Kumykia). According to an 1891 survey , 108,800 Kumyks lived in the
Dagestan 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 Ca ...
and Terek oblasts 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 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, 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. 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 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 The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
, then the Soviet government, and continuing today in the modern Republic of Dagestan of the
Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, 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 the 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 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) was a Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans (Polovtsy, Folban, Vallany, Kun) and Kipchaks; the language was similar to today's various languages of the Kipchak-Cuman branch. C ...
subfamily of the Kipchak family of the
Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 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 Western Asia. The Turki ...
. It is a direct descendant of the Khazar languages and in addition contains words from the Bulghar and Oghuz
substratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
. 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 (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Самойло́вич, 1880–1938) was a Russian Orientalist-Turkologist who served as a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1929), Rector of the Lenin ...
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 Grand Principality of Great Kabarda or East Circassia was a historical country in the North Caucasus corresponding partly to the modern Kabardino-Balkaria. It had better political organization than its neighbors and existed as a political commu ...
, 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 North-Eastern Caucasian nations and Russian administration. Amongst the dialects of the Kumyk there are Kaitag, Terek (Güçük-yurt and Braguny), Buynaksk ( 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 and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and th ...
(called
ajam ''Ajam'' ( ar, عجم, ʿajam) is an Arabic word meaning mute, which today refers to someone whose mother tongue is not Arabic. During the Arab conquest of Persia, the term became a racial pejorative. In many languages, including Persian, Tu ...
) was substituted by the
Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic 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 southern ...
, and then in 1938 by
Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking 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 an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
( Sham) 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 TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
and
Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...
, both of whom served with the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
in the Caucasus. The language is present in such works of Tolstoy as " The Raid",
Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
, 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"''. Aelxander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky 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"''. Alexander Dumas 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.comKumyk dictionaries, study materials and online libraryKumyk newspaper Yoldaş
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumyk Ethnic groups in Dagestan Turkic peoples of Europe Muslim communities of Russia Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization Peoples of the Caucasus