The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire. Margus Kolga
The Bezhtas are similar to other Avar-Ando-Dido peoples in that the greatest influence has been the Avar culture. Material culture and traditional dress have local characteristics and mainlydiffer in details. The sole differentiating cultural element is language. The Bezhtas’ ancestors are considered to be the Proto-Avar tribes, but opinions differ concerning the time the Bezhtas separated from the others and there are disputes over the course of their development. The abundance of Mountain Dagestan languages is accounted for by territorial isolation. Contacts and economic integration between the peoples of the Andi-Koisu river basin, however, are not in keeping with this statement. The mountains isolate the Ando-Dido nations from the outer world, but not from each other. Today, there are more supporters for theories that put the reason for the great number of languages in endogamy (L. Lavrov) or the polystructural political system in Mountain Dagestan (M. Aglarov).
Historically the Bezhtas have been closely connected with A varia, first mentioned as a geographical unit by classical authors. The earliest records of a larger union (including the Bezhta territory) in Avaria date from the 11 th century. When the state consolidated in the 15th—16th century the ruler of Avaria took the title of khan. Invaders who had been attacking Avaria for centuries also reached the territory of the Bezhtas in the 8th century: firts marauding Arabs followed, in the 12th—13th century by the Turks and Persians. Other influential factors were Georgia and Kakhetia, especially in the southwestern part of MountainDagestan. Nominally dependent on the Avar khanate, the Bezhtas formed the free community of Huanal-Kapucha, which was united with the associated communities of Antlritlya. The free community was ruled by a community assembly ( rukken) , that elected the administrative and judical organs. The religious head of the community was the qadi, who was nominated by the A var Khan. Social life was controlled by two codes of law, adat (customary law) and shariah (Islamic law). In 1806 the Bezhta villages were annexed to Russia although the new central power only made itself in the 1860—70s after having subjected the whole area to its colonial policy.
Due to the abundance of mountain pastures conditions favoured the breeding of livestock. The Bezhtas reared sheep and to some extent also oxen and horses, which were necessary as pack animals in the mountains. In spite of the mountainous landscape and the lack of farming land, the Bezhtas also took up tilling, especially terrace farming, which proved to be quite productive. Grain, wheat and rye were the main crops. At the end of the 19th century the potato was introduced, though it gave a poor yield because of the primitive agricultural equipment employed. Long-term economic integration between the Ando-Dido peoples gave rise to active trading. Mountain Dagestan was famous for its fairs and its people’s fondness for trading. The Bezhtas came to be known as good builders. As distinct from other AndoDido peoples their houses are large and have several storeys.
Towards the end of the 1920s, at a time of political instability in the region, two movements started to spread among the Bezhtas — one nationalist and one religious. These were Dagestan separatism and PanIslamism. Bolshevism, though rife in industrial centres and bigger settlements in Dagestan, did not reach the mountain villages. In the war of independence, which lasted for four years (1917—1920), the nationalist forces confronted imperialism (supporters of Denikin, Bolshevists) or foreign expansionism (England, Turkey). There were two separate centres of power whose aim was the independence of Caucasus and Dagestan — the Dagestan National Committee, founded in 1917 and the Federal Council of Mountain Peoples, founded in Tbilisi in 1918. The nationalists, exhausted by fighting the White Guard, had to surrender to the 11th army of the Red Army in the autumn of 1920. Soviet rule was established in Dagestan in the autumn of 1920, though actually it came into effect only in the larger settlements and industrial regions. The people in Mountain Dagestan were able to maintain the old order and its institutions for a further 10—15 years, until under the guise of collectivization the Soviet authorities were able to rid themselves of all nationalists through deportation or execution.
After World War II Moscow switched from brute force to more peaceful methods in order to mould Bezhta thought and behaviour. These new methods were best employed within the educational and cultural policies of the central power. In the first five forms the language used in teaching was Avar and after that Russian. Colonial policy continued to prevail within the economy. Urbanization, the growth of industrialization, the development of a communications network and the rise in educational standards have resulted in changes in the Bezhtas’ material and intellectual culture, and their way of thinking is disappearing. Soviet customs are gaining more popularity. Alongside traditional festivals and holidays Soviet holidays are also celebrated. The abolition of customary law and Islamic law and the weakening of endogamous rules have brought about changes in family life. There are more mixed marriages and families prefer to live separately from their relatives. Every year migration to other districts of the Caucasus increases. Together with the weakening of Islamic rules there has been a gradual rise in alcohol abuse.
THE BOTLIKHS
The Botlikhs use the self-designation buihalji and they call their language buihadalji mitshtshi (the language of the Botlikh). The Botlikh language belongs to the Andi subgroup of the northwestern (the Avar-Dido) group of the Dagestan languages. The lexical fund of the Botlikh language has preserved its richness and originality, although the centuries-long proximity of the Avars has brought about the use of a number of loans from the Avar language. In the 20th century Russian has also come to exert a heavy influence. The Botlikhs have no written language and they use the Avar written language. The Avar language is so widespread that the Botlikhs have become bilingual. There has been little research done on the Botlikh language. Some references can be found in works by R. Erckert and A. Dirr. In the 1960s and 1970s a linguist from Tbilisi, T. Gudava, devote some time to a study of the Botlikhs.
Habitat: The Botlikhs live in the northwestern part of mountainous southern Dagestan. Administratively, the two Botlikh villages — Botlikh (the Botlikh Buihe) and Miarsi (Kilu) — are situated in the Botlikh district of the Dagestan Autonomous Republic. Their closest neighbours are the Avars to the north, the Andis to the east, the Godoberis to the south and the Chechens. to the west. The region inhabited by the Botlikhs is the wettest in the whole of Dagestan. .
Population. An official census of the Botlikhs has occurred only once, in 1926, since then they have been counted as Avars. The data from the 1950s and 1960s comes from academic research work on the Botlikh and is approximate. 1926, 3,354 (native language speakers 86.2 %), 1958 (Y. Desheriyev) 2,000, 1967 (T. Gudava) 3,000.
Anthropologically, the Botlikhs belong, together with the other AndoDido peoples, to the Caucasian type of the Balkano-Caucasian race. Stronger pigmentation and differences in the proportions of skull indicate a closeness to the Caspian type.
Religion. The Botlikhs are Muslims (Sunnites). In former times (8th—9th century) Christianity was propagated by the Georgians, but in the 14th century, after the campaign of Timur, Islam supplanted Christianity. However, it wasn’t until the 18th century that Islam was fully consolidated in Botlikh society. Before Christianity and Islam various forms of paganism had predominated (animism, magic, fetishism etc.).
Ethnologically, the Botlikhs are close to the Avars. Their intellectual and material cultures share many common features and differences are evident only in details. For instance, the head-dress of the Botlikh women has a slightly different shape than that of the Avars. The only cultural element clearly differentiating the Botlikhs from the Avars is their language which was formed in political and territorial isolation from the Proto-Avar tribes.
History. The history of the Botlikhs resembles that of the Avars, and has been shaped by all the major events that have taken place in Avaria. Since the 8th century this area has been under the rule of a foreign power (the Arabs, the Mongols and Tatars, the Turks, the Russians). In the 14th century, the Avar Khanate was formed, and the Botlikh area was nominally a part of it. In the 18th century, several small political bodies were set up in West Avaria (free communities, the associated communities). The two Botlikh villages were included in one of these, the Tehnutsali community. The political bodies were not exactly on friendly terms with each other. The mountain pastures were usually the main point of contention. Due to the atmosphere of constant enmity and corresponding insecurity, several military alliances were