Kumyks

Kumyks

Kumyk: къумукълар, qumuqlar
Abdul-Wahab son of Mustafa — a prominent Kumyk architect of the 19th century pictured wearing a traditional Caucasian papakha and chokha.
Total population
near 600,000
Regions with significant populations
Russia	565,830[1]
Turkey	10,000[2]
Uzbekistan	1,200[3] (2016)
Ukraine	718[4] (2001)
Kazakhstan	481[5] (2009)
Belarus	360[6] (2009)
Latvia	33[7] (2020)
Languages
Kumyk language
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Crimean Tatars, Balkars, Karachays,[8] Karapapakhs[9]

Kumyks (

Territories where Kumyks have traditionally lived, and where their historical state entities used to exist, are called Kumykia^[12][13][14] (Kumyk: Къумукъ, Qumuq).^[15] All of the lands populated by Kumyks were once part of the independent Tarki Shamkhalate.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

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.^[25]

Kumyks are the second largest Turkic-speaking ethnic group after Azerbaijanis 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

Turkey and the Middle East

In the 19th century, during and following the Caucasian War, numbers of Kumyks were subject to or willingly resettled (made hijra) to the Ottoman Empire^[38] as a result of Russian deportation campaigns in the region.

In the 1910s-1920s, during the

Kumyks also used to move to Syria and Jordan, where a few Kumyk families still live.^[41] The Syrian village of Dar-Ful was established in 1878-1880 by Kumyk emigrants.^[42][43]

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.^[44][45]

Ethnonym

The majority of researchers (Bakikhanov, S.A. Tokarev, A.I. Tamay, S. Sh. Gadzhieva) derive the name "Kumyk" from a

According to P. Uslar, in the 19th century the names "Kumyk" and "Kumuk" pertained to the Turkic speaking population of the Northern Caucasian lowlands.[47] In Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, the name Kumyk, or originally Kumuk pertained to the Kumyks only.^[47] Y. Fyodorov wrote, based on sources from the 8–19 cc., that "Gumik — Kumyk — Kumuk" is originally a Dagestani toponym from the Middle Ages.^[48]

In various Russian, European, Ottoman and Persian sources Kumyks were also called Dagestan Tatars (or Dagestan Turks),^[49] Circassian^[50] and Caucasus Tatars.^[51]

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.^[52] A view close to that is that the Kumyks appeared in Dagestan along with the Khazars in the 8th century and stayed afterwards.^[53] Whereas others believe that the Kumyks appeared in Dagestan in the 12th-13th centuries along with Kipchaks.^[54]

Kumyk verbal tradition carried through ages some proverbs and sayings coming from the times of the

S. Tokarev wrote that:[56]

...Kumyks have very diverse ancestry. Its ancient stratum is, undoubtedly, pre-Turkic,

Japhetic

. There is an opinion that people of Kami, Kamaks, mentioned as long ago as by Ptolemaeus, are historically related to Kumyks. Their turkization started at the times of Khazars already, in the second half of the first millennium... Arrival of Cumans extended Turkic element further. That time point, marked by dissolution of the Khazar Kaghanate, is likely to be the period of the core formation for Kumyks, although some researchers (Bartold) linked their appearance to the latter period, when remains of Cumans defeated by Mongols fled to the lands of Dagestan.

A modern interpretation was proposed that "from the Turkified Lezgins, Kumyks also emerged".^[57][58]

However, professor of Caucasus studies L. Lavrov doubted the "Turkification" hypothesis of Kumyk origin:^[59]

It's unlikely that Kumyks might be Turkified Dagestanians, as some claim. Rather, their ancestors are considered to be Kipchaks, Khazars and, probably, other Turks of the early Middle Ages. It would be preferable to also identify whether Kamaks, who used to be settled in the North Dagestan in the beginning of our era, are related to Kumyks.

Another prominent Russian Orientalist, V. Minorsky, proposed his adjustment to the views mentioned, stating that:^[60]

Today's Kumyk Turks, who populate North Eastern part of Dagestan, along the shore, possibly come from the basic Khazar stratum, strengthened and assimilated by the later re-settlers from the Kipchak steppes.

The final stages of the Kumyk ethnogenesis stretched from the 12th-17th centuries.^[61]

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; those of Bothe Bogans, Sople^[62] and pre-Cuman Turks,^[63] who populated the Botheragan-Madjar region in the 7th century, which encompassed the vast North Caucasian plains.^[64]

History

Kumyks historically were related to the states of the Caucasian Huns, Cuman-Kipchaks, and the Golden Horde.^[63][65][66]

The beginning of the Kumyk nation is often considered to be in the

Until the 19th century, the Kumyks were a largely feudal, decentralized entity of strategical geographic and political importance for Russia, Persia and the Ottomans,[68]^[69] 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.^[70]

Other Kumyk states included the Endirey Principality,^[71] Utamish Sultanate,^[72] Tumen Possession,^[73] Braguny Principality,^[73] Mekhtuly Khanate,^[74] Kaytag Uzminate^[75] and others.^[75]

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

The 1560s marked the start of the numerous campaigns of the Russian army against Kumyks, provoked by the requests of the Georgians and Kabardians. 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) in its former capital. Tumen ruler Soltaney fled to the protection of Sultan-Mahmud of Endirey,^[77] 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.^[78]

In 1649 and 1650

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.^[81] Kumyks of the Utamish Soltanate also fiercely resisted during the Battle at the River Inchge. Peter I stated afterwards:^[82]

If these people had a comprehension of the Military Science [Art], no other nation could take arms against them.

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:^[83]

In October 1725 general-majors Kropotov and Sheremetev embarked to devastate the possessions of the Shamkhal and burned down twenty settlements, including Tarki, the capital of the Shamkhal, which comprised 1,000 households; the total number of destroyed households amounts to 6,110. Shamkhal, having only 3,000 troops, couldn't resist the overwhelming number of Russians, who had in their ranks 8,000 Cossacks and Kalmyks only, not counting the regular troops, and two infantry regiments and two cavalries; Adil-Girey [Shamkhal] left Tarki and together with the Turkish ambassador had sent letters to other mountaineer possessors, asking for help, but got a refusal.

Caucasian War

Russian 19th century general

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. In the final battle, Mansur led the Kumyk forces himself.^[84] 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 [Old] Aksay 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.^[85] In the same year the people of Endirey joined forces with mountain communities against the Russians.^[86]

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,^[87] the Shamkhalate Revolt of 1823,^[88] participation in Beybulat Taymiyev's revolt (who though recently had pledged allegiance to Russia),^[89] the Shamkhalate Revolt of 1831,^[90] the revolt at the Kumyk plains in 1831 and the Shamkhalate Revolt of 1843.^[91]

There were also preparations for an insurgency on the Kumyk plains in 1844 and for a general Kumyk insurgency in 1855,^[92] which had been planned as a joined action with the advance of Imam Shamil, but the advance didn't progress enough into the Kumyk lands.^[92] In the insurgency in Dagestan in 1877–1878, one of the major centres of conflict was the Kumyk village of Bashly.^[92]

Despite the devastation brought by the Imperial Army for their attempts to rise against Russia,^[93] 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.^[94] 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:^[93]

Kazi-mulla, trying to hold Kumyks close, came up with a strange trick: destroying their auls [settlements] in order to force them to resettle in the mountains by depriving of living spaces. On the 24th of July he, in front of our troops, made the first experiment on Endirey village and burned down the third of it. Prince [Knyaz] Bekovich [Russian officer] at that time was burning Kumyks' bread at the slopes of the mountains...

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:

...Kazi-mulla... used all the means to push away from us the population of the Small Chechnya and Kachkalik ridge, which however remained loyal to us only by their appearance, and namely because they didn't want to get between two fires as Kumyks did.

Kumyks during the War gave the Caucasus many common heroes. Imam of Dagestan and Chechnya Shamil was of Kumyk descent,^[95][96][97] as well as his companion and the second pretender to the Imam's position Tashaw-Hadji.^{[92][98][99][100]} 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 is known to order "to incline the Chechens to retire from the mountains to the plane."^[101] 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."^[102] Kumyk possessions also included such areas as Kachkalyk and Aukh, gradually settled by Chechens, and the region of Salatavia.^{[103][104][105]}

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.^[106] 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.^[107]

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.^[108]

Dissolution of Shamkhalate and the Kumyk okrug (district)

When the Caucasian War ended on 30 December 1869, the Kumyk district of the Terek oblast (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 time did not comprised the Northern Kumykia^[109]). According to an 1891 survey, 108,800 Kumyks lived in the Dagestan and Terek oblasts of the Russian Empire.^[110]

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, Soviet and Modern times

In mid-July 1916 (late July 1916

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.^[112] 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,^[113] 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.^{[114][115][116][117][118]}

Due to the continuous resettlement policies by the Russian Empire, then the Soviet government, and continuing today in the modern Republic of Dagestan of the Russian Federation, during the 19th through 21st century the native territories of Kumyks have been dramatically reduced; Kumyks became a minority in their own lands.^[119]

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.^[120]

Reasoning for Ethnocide

As UNPO describes the membership of Kumyks as follows:^[121]

Under Soviet occupation, a policy of ethnocide was implemented and leaders of the Kumyk movements were repressed, persecuted and killed. The introduction of mono-culture agriculture, the exploitation of the soil and deforestation led to an economic and ecological crisis in the area. In addition, the Kumyk people were unable to preserve their culture, as, for example, they were denied the right to write their language in the traditional Arabic script or teach their language in schools.
During their UNPO membership, the Kumyk people advocated for an administrative reform in the Republic of Dagestan and seek self-determination in the form of national autonomy. They also strived to preserve their traditional way of life, culture and customs.

In 1925 Russian scholar

“Firstly, it [meaning splitting Dagestan by non-ethnic principle] was 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... "