500 years in the Caucasus
Read on the website Vestnik Kavkazaestani culture has rich traditions of good-neighbourly relations between different ethnic groups. That is why, perhaps, Dagestan has been a united socio-political formation for thousands of years. In the course of the 17th century Dagestan added another unique ethnic group to its rich ‘collection’: migrants from the Volga region formed the Terek Cossack Host, some sub-divisions of it dwelling in northern Dagestan.
Over the course of 500 years Caucasian and Cossack traditions merged with each other. This cultural ‘interpenetration’ can be seen in the traditional clothing, dances and warfare. It might be the love of freedom that made Highlanders, Cossacks and Turkic peoples of the region better understand each other. After decades of war, the Russian Imperial authorities decided to leave self-governing institutions in the Caucasus as the administration of the khans was inefficient. So the union of Muslim and Orthodox peoples in Dagestan grew stronger and the authority of the khans and princes grew weaker, laying the foundation for the confederation Russian liberals dreamt of. However, in the Soviet era, all the institutions of self-government – elections for qadis and atamans, sharia and traditional law – were abolished.
At the beginning of the 1990s these institutions and traditions of Caucasian peoples, including the Cossacks, started to reappear again. However, the same period is marked by a disturbing tendency: Russian emigration from the Caucasus increased considerably, 7,100 Russian residents left the Caucasus in the year 1995 alone. This migration puts the unique ethnic group of Terek Cossacks in danger of complete extinction.
In the period 1989-2002, the size of the Russian population decreased by 27%. People are eager to leave the region because of constant tensions, even armed conflicts, the high crime rates and atrocities between different ethnic groups. Information about Dagestan’s possible secession from the Russian Federation and the creation of an Islamic State there, promoted by the international and Russian mass media, also creates unrest for Dagestani citizens of both Russian and Caucasian origin. The close territorial position of Dagestan to zones of international conflicts and wars – Chechnya, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh – also contributes to this migration from the Caucasus.
According to the statistics, the main reasons for leaving Dagestan are: ‘family and personal matters’ – 62%, ‘job matters’ – 20%. Only 0.3% of the migrants explained their departure being due to an increase in inter-ethnic tensions.
However, after the year 2001, the drift of the Russian population away from Dagestan decreased by 20% and even a process of counter-migration started. The Republic’s authorities put the problem of Russian migration from Dagestan at the top of their priority list, organizing special festivals and educational and social programs for citizens of Russian origin.
Musa Musaev, Makhachkala, exclusively to VK.
Over the course of 500 years Caucasian and Cossack traditions merged with each other. This cultural ‘interpenetration’ can be seen in the traditional clothing, dances and warfare. It might be the love of freedom that made Highlanders, Cossacks and Turkic peoples of the region better understand each other. After decades of war, the Russian Imperial authorities decided to leave self-governing institutions in the Caucasus as the administration of the khans was inefficient. So the union of Muslim and Orthodox peoples in Dagestan grew stronger and the authority of the khans and princes grew weaker, laying the foundation for the confederation Russian liberals dreamt of. However, in the Soviet era, all the institutions of self-government – elections for qadis and atamans, sharia and traditional law – were abolished.
At the beginning of the 1990s these institutions and traditions of Caucasian peoples, including the Cossacks, started to reappear again. However, the same period is marked by a disturbing tendency: Russian emigration from the Caucasus increased considerably, 7,100 Russian residents left the Caucasus in the year 1995 alone. This migration puts the unique ethnic group of Terek Cossacks in danger of complete extinction.
In the period 1989-2002, the size of the Russian population decreased by 27%. People are eager to leave the region because of constant tensions, even armed conflicts, the high crime rates and atrocities between different ethnic groups. Information about Dagestan’s possible secession from the Russian Federation and the creation of an Islamic State there, promoted by the international and Russian mass media, also creates unrest for Dagestani citizens of both Russian and Caucasian origin. The close territorial position of Dagestan to zones of international conflicts and wars – Chechnya, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh – also contributes to this migration from the Caucasus.
According to the statistics, the main reasons for leaving Dagestan are: ‘family and personal matters’ – 62%, ‘job matters’ – 20%. Only 0.3% of the migrants explained their departure being due to an increase in inter-ethnic tensions.
However, after the year 2001, the drift of the Russian population away from Dagestan decreased by 20% and even a process of counter-migration started. The Republic’s authorities put the problem of Russian migration from Dagestan at the top of their priority list, organizing special festivals and educational and social programs for citizens of Russian origin.
Musa Musaev, Makhachkala, exclusively to VK.