The Cohen gene is found among some Armenians.
Many researchers hail the inscription on the Behistun Rock as making the connection. This large inscription, carved into the faceof a cliff overlooking the main caravan route fromBaghdad to Teheran, was commissioned by Darius I, King of Persia (521-486 B.C.E.). The inscription, written in three languages—Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian (Babylonian), chronicles Darius’s defeat of ten local rebel chieftains. Now ten is definitely aninteresting number to a “lost tribes” researcher, but itdoes not render proof of identity. The inscription does prominently mention the area of “Armenia” which is where the Israelite deportees were resettled. What most researchers consider to be proof of the Israelite identity of the Scythian/Cimmerians is thatin the list of the nations that Darius subjugated is apopulation group known as the Sakka (Scythians) inthe Persian and Elamite inscriptions and as Gimiri (Cimmerian) in the Akkadian inscription.
Different sources have proven that many Moslem peoples from Caucasia have Jewish origins. They were forced to join Islam. There's a toponym in Caucasia found in England: Kent. Both areas are regarded as peopled by Israelites. It doesn't seem to be coincidental. The toponym Kala'a is also found in Israelite populated areas as well. As the Bukharan Jews, the Caucasian Jews have a tradition of descending from the Lost Tribes of Israel. These Israelites would be a remnant of the greater Israelite groups that went to Western Europe.
Azerbaijanis circumcise like the Jews.
It's interesting that the Georgian Jews (Gruzim) are regarded to come from the Israelite tribe of Isachar. The Georgians as a whole are regarded as Lost Israelites. I suggested that because the nation of Georgia is called "Sakartvelo" in Georgian, the Georgians would come from Isachar. The fact that the Sakarveloan Jews have Isakarite roots reinforces my theory that Sakarvelan Georgians are Isakarites. We can call Sakarvelans as Bnei Isakar.
Media was part of the Israelite captives were the Laks, Lurs... are.
Kabar in Hebrew means "to be much, be many, be in abundance, intertwine, multiply (Hiphil) to make many, make great", typical attributes given to the Israelites, as blessings, from Bible times. Kabar is found as a toponym in Yemen, an area where many Jews have lived for over a millenia. In fact Yemen, under the name Hymiar was a religiously & ethnically Jewish kingdom. It's also found in northern Iran (other versions of the local name are Givar & Gabar), area of the Israelite dispersion. The Kabards, Kabardians or Kabardays are regarded as having Israelite origin so their name could have come from Hebrew, adding a suffix "d".
Other peoples from the Caucasus mountains (& Central Asia) with Israelite origin: Azeris, Mingrelians, Armenians, Chechens, Ingushes, Albanians, Tats, Ossetians, Lezgians, Svans, Laz, Abkhaz, Aghul, Rutul, Tsakhur, Dargwa, Tabasarans, Mingrelians, Qajars, Hazaras, Daghestan, Adyghes, Hemshins, Mountain Jews & Karaites
Lands of the Dispersion: Britons from Armenia; Picts from Scythia
The island Britain is 800 miles long, and 200 miles broad. And there are in the island five nations; English, Welsh (or British), Scottish, Pictish, and Latin. The first inhabitants were the Britons, who came from Armenia, and first peopled Britain southward. Then happened it, that the Picts came south from Scythia, with long ships, not many; and, landing first in the northern part of Ireland, they told the Scots that they must dwell there. But they would not give them leave; for the Scots told them that they could not all dwell there together; ‘But,’ said the Scots, ‘we can nevertheless give you advice. We know another island here to the east. There you may dwell, if you will; and whosoever withstandeth you, we will assist you, that you may gain it.’ Then went the Picts and entered this land northward. Southward the Britons possessed it, as we before said. And the Picts obtained wives of the Scots, on condition that they chose their kings always on the female side; which they have continued to do, so long since. And it happened, in the run of years, that some party of Scots went from Ireland into Britain, and acquired some portion of this land. Their leader was called Reoda, from whom they are named Dalreodi (or Dalreathians).
This chronicle is particularly interesting from the standpoint of the dispersion of the tribes of Israel. It is well-known that British and Scots have a large amount of Ephraimite blood. Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite of Scotch-English descent. Most of the early Church members were of Scottish, English, and Scandinavian descent. The blood of Ephraim was highly concentrated in these nations.
It is also widely believed that the Lost Tribes of Israel traveled through Armenia. Local Armenian traditions, some archaelogical evidence, and apocryphal scriptures all corroborate this. Church Patriarch Hyrum G. Smith, Assistant Church Historian Elder Andrew Jenson, and others have cited the passage from 2 Esdras about a group from the Ten Tribes traveling through the area of present-day Armenia in the exodus from their captors. In fact, after citing this passage, Elder Jenson states that ‘there are undoubtedly many things in Esdras that are just as reliable as things found in the scriptures that are called canonical.’
The Anglo-Saxon chronicle connects the two by stating that the Britons came from Armenia. This same reading occurs in all of the earliest copies of the Chronicle. The editors, supposing this to be erroneous, postulate in their footnote that ‘Armorica’ was intended. But I think that the original records here are faithful on this account, and there is no reason to disbelieve it. To the contrary, the proximity of ‘Armenia’ and ‘Scythia’ in the same paragraph makes the account fully credible as it is written.
The Chronicle is also interesting because it notes that the Picts — who, with the Scots, formed the Scottish nation — were Scythians. Scythians lived in the area north of the Black Sea at the time of the migration of the northern ten tribes. While Scythian ancestry and history is still controversial, it is generally agreed that much Scythian blood [in addition to other influences] is preserved in Ukrainians and Russians. If the Chronicle is accurate, it appears that the Scots are relatives of the Ukrainians and of some Russians.
The account of the Scythian sailors — who left their homeland for reasons not indicated in the text — arriving in Scotland explains the maternal transmission of clan leadership. It is possible — if there was some early mixing of the Scythians with the Ten Tribes — that the Scythian sailors could have contributed to the high concentration of the Blood of Israel among the Scots.
The Throne of David in Prophecy
The five sons of Zarah were, “Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara:” In 1 Kings 4:31 it has, “For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.” These two names are spelt, “Darda” and “Chalcol,” in the book of Kings, being more Phoenician in language as opposed to the book of Chronicles. Josephus in at least one translation of the Antiquities, in mentioning King Solomon gives Dara’s name as “Dardanos.” So perhaps Dara and Dardanus were regarded as the same man during the 1st Century AD.
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Two of these can be identified as Cecrops and Dardanus. Two groups that ancient history reveals came from Egypt and migrated to Greece and became the founders of Athens and Troy.
Now there were a people in ancient Greece called the “Colchians.” Herodotus says these were Egyptians as well, “For it is plain to see that the Colchians are Egyptians; and what I say, I myself noted before I heard it from others. When it occurred to me, I inquired of both peoples; and the Colchians remembered the Egyptians better than the Egyptians remembered the Colchians; the Egyptians said that they considered the Colchians part of Sesostris’ army. I myself guessed it, partly because they are dark-skinned and woolly-haired; though that indeed counts for nothing, since other peoples are, too; but my better proof was that the Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practiced circumcision”
“To Hippocrates the Phasians of Colchis were sallow (ochros) (Aer 15) whilst the complexions of the modern-day Georgian population have been described as ‘fair, sallow or ruddy’. Interesting how King David was described as “ruddy.” Israelites are described as “ruddy” (1 Sam 16:12; 17:42; Songs 5:10; Lam 4:7). All can be described with reddish hair, “flush” or “rosy” cheeks with “fair eyes”. One source says, “Ruddy: red; reddish; of the color of healthy skin in white-skinned peoples”
“That indeed counts for nothing, since other peoples are, too;” But to prove our point, the Colchians do look like the descriptions of the Israelites in the Bible.
The Land of Colchis is in, “…ancient region at the eastern end of the Black Sea south of the Caucasus, in the western part of modern Georgia. It consisted of the valley of the Phasis (modern Riuni) River. In Greek mythology Colchis was the home of Medea and the destination of the Argonauts, a land of fabulous wealth and the domain of sorcery. Historically, Colchis was colonized by Milesian Greeks to whom the native Colchians supplied gold, slaves, hides, linen cloth, agricultural produce, and such shipbuilding materials as timber, flax, pitch, and wax”
Diodorus Siculus writes, “They say also that those who set forth with Danaus, likewise from Egypt, settled what is practically the oldest city in Greece, Argos, and that the nation of the Colchi in Pontus and that of the Jews, which lies between Arabia and Syria, were founded as colonies by certain emigrants from their country; and this is the reason why it is a longestablished institution among these two peoples to circumcise their male children, the custom having been brought over from Egypt. Even the Athenians, they say, are colonists from Saïs in Egypt, and they undertake to offer proofs of such a relationship; for the Athenians are the only Greeks who call their city ‘Asty,’ a name brought over from the city Asty in Egypt.” (Book 1, ch.28, v.2-4). So Diodorus confirms what Herodotus says that these people are of Egyptian origin.
Now how do we link Athens with the Colchi? To the immediate northeast of Athens lies the great island of Euboea whose great central territory was known as Chalcis. Says historian Will Durant, “Its coastal plains were rich enough to lure Ionians from Attica in the days of the Dorian invasion [ca. 1100 B.C.]” ( The Story of Civilization , Vol. 2, p. 106). So Athenians migrated here.
But the Athenian Chalcians followed another migration pattern as well. We later find them on the Macedonian coast in northern Greece: “Greeks, mostly from Chalcis and Eretria [just south of Chalcis on Euboea], conquered and named the three-fingered peninsula of Chalcidice”.
East of here, on the Bosporus Straits leading up into the Black Sea, where now sits the Asian side of Istanbul, was established ancient Chalcedon—which was also a colony of Miletus. Then, passing into the Black Sea and traveling further east along the length of its southern shore we eventually come to Colchis. So there is a likely migratory pattern linking these areas after all.
Cecrops was the founder of Athens and the first. Being the first king of Athens he is obviously Colchi, of the Royal scepter tribe of Zerah-Judah. Some do not see the connection of Cecrops and Calcol simply by the two names, but the history of the two are similar. Totten explains, “In tracing the history of this family we shall use indiscriminately the various spellings common to the several records, and which are often found to be different even in the same record.
There is nothing odd in the fact of these numerous names for each of these celebrated individuals, for we find numberless parallels in modern times. As to the matter of variety in spelling, as for instance Chalcol, Calcol, Dara, Darda, Mahol, Mohul, etc., it was a common thing among the Hebrews; we find a notable case in Abraham and Abram, Bram and Brahma, and as instances of several names for the same individual we need only refer to the cases of Jacob, Joseph and Daniel.
Different circumstances gave them different names, and with the change of venue as they wandered from land to land (we refer now particularly to the sons of Zerah or Zarah) they naturally appear with different names without loss of identity. Thus Chalcol or Calcol became Calchis to the Phoenicians, Cecrops to the Greeks and Niul, Niulus, or Nilus to the Egyptians, while his father Mahol was the Scytha and Phaanius of the Phoenicians, and the Fanesia Farsa of the Irish. The reader will understand the matter as he proceeds.”
Then, passing into the Black Sea and traveling further east along the length of its southern shore we eventually come to Colchis. So there is a likely migratory pattern linking these areas after all.
Israelites from Scythian-Parthian Lands to the World
Sir William Jones, Sir John Malcolm and the missing Chamberlain, after full investigation, were of the opinion that the Ten Tribes migrated to India, Tibet, and Cashemire [Kashmir] through Afghanistan.
The sheer breadth of Peter’s ministry makes it impossible that he could have been bishop of Rome. Betania is in the area of Tbilisi in the Caucasus. It is the area from where the Anglo-Saxons came as part of the Parthian horde and where the Israelites had been banished. Peter’s major area of mission was to the Lost Tribes of Israel scattered abroad and there fused with the Scythians and Parthians, and not to Rome. Paul was apostle to the Gentiles not Peter; he was an apostle to the circumcision.
Parthia at one time occupied areas now in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Parthia stood between Rome and the East. The sub-kingdoms of the Parthians were Characene, Elymais and Persis.
After defeating the Romans, but weakened by them, the Persians who were once part of its empire attacked and defeated the Parthians and caused a portion of its central horde to move north-west into Europe under The Judge who was its leader U’din or Odin or Woden. They brought with them the Almanac or calendar based on the New Moons. Almanach means the counting in Arabic. Some of the horde that were to become the Kurds remained behind. Their most famous leader was Salah’ u’din or Saladin.
The area contained the groups that went from what is now Armenia and Georgia and the area around the Black Sea and Caspian Sea into Europe. The tradition that Peter preached to the British comes from his mission to the Israelites among the Anglo-Saxons, Jutes and other tribes of the Horde while in Parthia and not in Britain itself. The combination of these people would be of R1b and a Semitic Haplogroup I. We find this combination throughout Western Europe in the Celts, Angles, Saxons of Britain and Saxony, Jutes, Danes, Norse, Frisians, and into France and Spain. West Europe and Denmark are largely a combination of R1b and I Haplogroups. Some are known Anglo-Saxons and Celts, some are Gomerites and some are Magogites. Some are Goths, Alans and Heruli. The I groups are Semites and the divisions of them will no doubt identify the tribes.
“Like other aspects of Parthian material culture, there are distinct differences between regions in burial practices. There have been few Parthian burials reported from Iran. This is probably due to the nature of burial, as simple cremation-type burials leave little for archaeology. Further west the picture is more complicated. The site of Shahr-I Qumis (northeast of Tehran) yielded evidence for multi-room funerary structures. Human and animal bones were found together, leading the excavators to speculate on a cultural connection with the Scythians, who deposited horse bones with human burials. As with other areas of the Parthian empire, too little is known about the relationship between material remains and religion".
The Parthians were not one tribal group and were nomads. They wore trousers and were associated with horsemanship. Many Scythians wore kilts, and further east they were in the Uigur autonomous region of what is now China. The men also took wives from other racial or sedentary groups.
YDNA evidence now shows that Scots, Irish and other Celts, as well as Anglo-Saxons and Normans, have predominantly R1b YDNA with a section of Semitic I. The historical record shows they were all from the area of the Russian steppes with some from Assyria, such as the Hermanduri, or men of Ur, who form the modern German Thuringians.
The Romans recruited the Sarmatians after they managed to defeat them and placed many of them in Britain in the army, and these were once no doubt part of the Parthian horde that did not move into Europe with the Anglo-Saxons. The Massagetae, or Greater Goths, and Vandals moved in as part of the Horde and all were Unitarian Sabbatarians. The Goths split up into the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) who settled in Italy and Austria along with the Lombards and the Visi-Goths (Western Goths) who occupied Spain. These people were all predominantly R1b or I haplogroups. Thus they were a mixture of Japhethite and Semite lineage. Hence the prophecy was fulfilled that Japheth would be enlarged and would dwell in the tents of Shem. In other words, Japheth would be the larger or greater people but the birthright promises of Shem would be conferred on him as well due to their intermarriage.
The Anglo-Saxons and the Lombards that split off from them all wore trousers and fringes around the bottoms of them.
There is little doubt that the R1bs come from the one ancestor, and ultimately the R1a Slavs also come from the same lineage, perhaps higher up; or perhaps some of them became R1a and some developed into R1b due to isolation from the same ancestors. The absence of R1b in North Africa where the Vandals went indicated they either were completely wiped out or were RxR1 basics and settled in Cameroon.
Scandinavian Ancestry Tracing Roots to Azerbaijan
Other Articles related to Thor Heyerdahl in Azerbaijan International Magazine
(1) Thor Heyerdahl in Azerbaijan: KON-TIKI Man by Betty Blair (AI 3:1, Spring 1995) (2) The Azerbaijan Connection: Challenging Euro-Centric Theories of Migration by Heyerdahl (AI 3:1, Spring 1995) (3) Azerbaijan's Primal Music Norwegians Find 'The Land We Come From' by Steinar Opheim (AI 5.4, Winter 1997) (4) Thor Heyerdahl in Baku (AI 7:3, Autumn 1999) (5) Quote: Earlier Civilizations - More Advanced - Thor Heyerdahl (AI 8.3, Autumn 2000) (6) The Kish Church - Digging Up History - An Interview with J. Bjornar Storfjel (AI 8.4, Winter 2000) (7) Adventurer's Death Touches Russia's Soul -Constantine Pleshakov (AI 10.2, Summer 2002) (8) Reflections on Life - Thor Heyerdahl (AI 10.2, Summer 2002) (9) First Encounters in the Soviet Union - Thor Heyerdahl (AI 10.2, Summer 2002) (10) Thor Heyerdahl's Final Projects - Bjornar Storfjell (AI 10.2, Summer 2002) (11) Voices of the Ancients: Rare Caucasus Albanian Text - Dr. Zaza Alexidze (AI 10.2, Summer 2002) (12) Heyerdahl Burns "Tigris" Reed Ship to Protest War - Letter to UN - Bjornar Storfjell, Blair (AI 11.1Winter 2003)
Thor Heyerdahl with Peruvian children who still construct traditional boats made of reeds, the principle material that enabled early migrations on trans-oceanic voyages. Courtesy: Thor Heyerdahl.
Thor Heyerdahl with Peruvian children who still construct traditional boats made of reeds, the principle material that enabled early migrations on trans-oceanic voyages. Courtesy: Thor Heyerdahl.
Archeologist and historian Thor Heyerdahl, 85, has visited Azerbaijan on several occasions during the past two decades. Each time, he garners more evidence to prove his tantalizing theory - that Scandinavian ancestry can be traced to the region now known as Azerbaijan.
Heyerdahl first began forming this hypothesis after visiting Gobustan, an ancient cave dwelling found 30 miles west of Baku, which is famous for its rock carvings. The sketches of sickle-shaped boats carved into these rocks closely resemble rock carvings found in his own native Norway.
Years later, the explorer stumbled upon another correlation between Norway and Azerbaijan. Norwegian mythology tells that the Scandinavian god Odin moved with his people to Norway from a land called Aser, in order to avoid Roman occupation. A 13th-century historian's description of Aser's origination matches that of Azerbaijan: east of the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea.
Is this story mythology or history? During his most recent visit to Azerbaijan in May 1999, Heyerdahl elaborated his point of view at a public forum. Here is his speech with personal notations added by Heyerdahl himself just prior to our going to press.
_____ I think as science advances, it will become more and more evident that we have more in common with each other than any of us realized a few decades ago. This afternoon I visited the Gobustan caves. From the first time I saw the carvings out there [several years ago], I was attracted to the petroglyphs that feature reed ships. On the way back from Gobustan, I was told that I was supposed to speak tonight. I was told that I should speak about my relationship with Azerbaijan and how it began. I had barely half an hour to prepare myself for this topic, but I hope you will give me half an hour so I can tell you what I've been thinking.
The first time I came to Azerbaijan was in 1981 [He also visited in 1994, 1997 and 1999]. There weren't very many visitors from outside the Iron Curtain who came here back in those days. My invitation came from Azerbaijan's Academy of Sciences. I started thinking about why the Academy of Sciences in Azerbaijan would invite me and it dawned on me that I was in a very unique situation at the time because I was both a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and had received an Honorary Doctorate from the Soviet Academy of Sciences. I didn't believe in barriers between nations. I believed in people, not political parties.
In the ancient caves of Gobustan which date back at least 5,000 years, cave drawings depict two different kinds of boats that were used for early navigation. Heyerdahl is convinced that people living in the area now known as Azerbaijan settled in Scandinavia around 100 AD. Gobustan is located about 30 miles southwest of Baku.
At that time I was fighting with scientists all over the world - both in the East and the West - because I believed that there had been peaceful contact between nations much longer than we, who consider ourselves civilized, ever realized. I believe there was contact by ships along the rivers and oceans long before civilization began. Earlier this century, nobody believed that people could navigate with the kinds of vessels that men were using 5,000 years ago. So I was fighting with scientists from all over the world - on both sides of the Iron Curtain -for my theory of ocean migration. I spent most of my time answering attacks in scientific publications. I had friends in Russia who sent me translations of these attacks. I answered back and my defense was published in Russian. Of course, it took quite a bit of time.
One day I received a very surprising letter from Professor Keldish, President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. He was quite famous on both sides of the Iron Curtain as he had sent the first Sputnik into space. He invited me to come to Moscow and defend my own theory in front of the Soviet scientists. I accepted the invitation and went alone to Moscow. It was a great moment for me to address the entire Academy, in a part of the world that was not very popular in my part of the world at that time.
President Keldish himself organized the questions and it was a very fair and honest discussion. Before I left, I was given an Honorary Doctor's Degree from Lomonosov University in Moscow.
Doctor Keldish asked me: "Why don't you collaborate with Russia and people from the Soviet part of the world in some of your expeditions in the future?"
Doctor Keldish asked me: "Why don't you collaborate with Russia and people from the Soviet part of the world in some of your expeditions in the future?"
Now let me explain my own background as a scientist, because it wasn't everyone that President Keldish invited to come to Moscow. The reason was boats like those carved on the cave walls in Gobustan.
I had been educated in Oslo University in biology. As a student, I went on an archeological expedition to an island in the middle of the Pacific called Fatu-Hiva in Polynesia. I was to study how life had arrived at this island, which had come straight up from the bottom of the ocean. Millions of years ago the island had just been boiling lava. But when the first European explorers came, there were all sorts of plants and animals and even human beings. Of course, the study of zoology includes human beings as well. This was back in 1938.
It caused me to wonder: how did early people travel across the ocean? Europeans never discovered a single uninhabited island in any ocean. Every single island that could have been inhabited already was. All the thousands of islands in the Pacific and also all those in the Indian Ocean were populated. The islands in the Atlantic - the Canary Islands and the Caribbean Islands - were also populated. And so this is how I became interested in early navigation.
Doubting the Historians
Scientists at that time insisted that no American Indian could have left America before Columbus, and no people could have reached America before Columbus except via the Bering Straits in the Arctic. This is where I learned how important it is for scientists to collaborate across different branches of science. I had my university training in biology, geography and physical anthropology. I had biological proof that someone must have brought certain plants from South America to Polynesia - for instance, the sweet potato, which only grew in South America. It could not have drifted alone across the ocean without the help of man.
Historians and anthropologists told me that in South America they had only rafts before the Europeans came. And so that's how I decided to construct a raft like I imagined the South American Indians had done, and sail with friends from Peru to Polynesia. This voyage on the "Kon Tiki" in 1947 was my first experience with a small vessel on the open ocean. From then on, I began organizing archeological excavations. My first was in 1952 to the Galapagos Islands. The next was to Easter Island in 1955-56. That was the first time I saw carvings of those large sickle-shaped ships.
They were the same type as those in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. I started to suspect that people of early civilizations in North Africa might have been able to cross the Atlantic long before Columbus did.
They were the same type as those in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. I started to suspect that people of early civilizations in North Africa might have been able to cross the Atlantic long before Columbus did.
We Europeans usually think that we have discovered everything, but that's not correct. We're realizing that everywhere there were people who came before us. My anthropological training has made me understand more and more how much alike people are, regardless of nationality, race or physical features.
I've also come to the conclusion that we err if we believe that we are much different from people who lived 5,000 years ago. I think that we can say with assurance that we are born with the same genes as people 5,000 years ago were. We start at zero for each new generation. We accumulate technical knowledge, but our intelligence or mental characteristics don't change.
With this in mind, I came to the conclusion that the Egyptians who built the pyramids left behind art and technology of an incredibly high level. They would not have continued to build boats made of reeds if they had considered such vessels to be primitive and ineffective. So, I decided that there must be something wrong with our scientific theories. All the literature that I had read at the university had said that boats made of balsam wood would absorb water and sink.
So I went on to prove that these scientific theories were wrong. The Kon Tiki raft kept afloat for 101 days until we arrived in Polynesia. In Egypt it was said at the Papyrus Institute that papyrus reed would absorb water and sink after two weeks. Again, I decided to trust the ancient pharaohs more than modern scientists who have never even seen a papyrus ship. That's how I came to build my first reed boat. Together, with an international crew of seven people, we sailed for two months. The reed boat was still afloat.
The Buduma fishermen from Lake Chad in Central Africa, who built this reed ship, were not used to ocean waves. The rope lashings busted and we started losing reeds. The problem was that half of the reeds were not floating with the rest of the ship. We were sitting there watching the reeds float behind us. When we arrived off the coast of the U.S., I decided that we should not take any risks with human life, but we should try again. For one month we had been swimming underneath the vessel and trying to tie it back together with ropes. In the end we had 17 sharks swimming alongside us, so we had to discontinue our repairs. So I told my men, "Are you going to come? We'll start again next year."
So we attempted to make the trip again and crossed the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados in 1970, with the papyrus ship Ra II and with all the same crew, plus a Japanese cameraman.
On both these Atlantic trips, I experimented not only with the vessel, but also with the crew. I mixed people - black as black as you can get, with yellow and white - along with representatives of all the existing main religions, including atheism. There was one person from North America and one from Soviet Russia, one Arab and one Jew.
We lived together so well that they all came with me again when I sailed another reed ship in the Indian Ocean in 1977-78. That reed ship, the Tigris, was larger, which made room for more nationalities. We sailed down the river Tigris up to the Persian Gulf, up to Pakistan, the Indus Valley, then reversed our direction and sailed across the Indian Ocean and came back to the entrance of the Red Sea, where we could meet the modern world. The 11 of us were from 11 nations, from all different political inclinations, all major religions, and we all lived together in peace for five months in the tight quarters of a reed ship.
We received messages from the United Nations that we shouldn't push any further because there was a war being waged on both sides of the Red Sea, where millennia ago peaceful Sumerians and the people from the Indus Valley had traded with Egyptians. We sent a telegram to the United Nations and recommended that they halt weapons delivery to people who had been fighting only with swords until Westerners had come and were making profit from perpetrating wars more catastrophic than ever.
Visiting Azerbaijan And so, after those three expeditions on three different oceans, I was invited to visit Azerbaijan. I came here because I had established good contacts with scientists in this country, and I had learned that you had something quite sensational at Gobustan. I came to Azerbaijan as a guest of the Academy of Sciences in Azerbaijan to see the petroglyphs in Gobustan.
The President of the Academy was driving around with me to see this country and its beautiful nature and to meet local people - scientists as well as farmers. I learned about his family connections the day before I left - he was the brother of the President of Azerbaijan. That's how my friendship with your country started.
Due to this friendship that I have with Azerbaijan, when Statoil from Norway came here, I was invited to join the delegation because I knew so many people here. And that's when I became interested in the fact that you have two types of boat petroglyphs in Gobustan.
On my first visit, I came to study the reed ships that are similar to the boats of the ancient Mediterranean. But on my second visit, I learned that the people in Azerbaijan call themselves Azeri.
I remembered from my school days that we have legends in Norway woven into Norwegian history in such an intricate way that we don't know where history starts and mythology ends. But the documented history of Norway dates back more than 800 years. Traditions about the original homeland of our ancestors were recorded in the 18th century in Ireland and say that we are descendants of the land of the Aser.
I remembered from my school days that we have legends in Norway woven into Norwegian history in such an intricate way that we don't know where history starts and mythology ends. But the documented history of Norway dates back more than 800 years. Traditions about the original homeland of our ancestors were recorded in the 18th century in Ireland and say that we are descendants of the land of the Aser.
Early Scandinavian History We learn of the line of royal families in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. But we didn't take these stories about our beginnings seriously because they were so ancient. We thought it was just imagination, just mythology. The actual years for the lineage of historic kings began around the year 800 AD. So we learned all the kings in the 1,000 years that followed and did not interest ourselves in earlier names.
But I remember from my childhood that the mythology started with the god named Odin. From Odin it took 31 generations to reach the first historic king. The record of Odin says that he came to Northern Europe from the land of Aser. I started reading these pages again and saw that this was not mythology at all, but actual history and geography.
Snorre, who recorded these stories, started by describing Europe, Asia and Africa, all with their correct names, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea with their old Norse names, the Black Sea with the names we use today again, and the river Don with its old Greek name, Tanais. So, I realized that this has nothing to do with the gods who lived with the Thunder god Thor among the clouds.
Snorre said that the homeland of the Asers was east of the Black Sea. He said this was the land that chief Odin had, a big country. He gave the exact description: it was east of the Black Sea, south of a large mountain range on the border between Europe and Asia, and extended southward towards the land of the Turks. This had nothing to do with mythology, it was on this planet, on Earth.
Then came the most significant point. Snorre says: "At that time when Odin lived, the Romans were conquering far and wide in the region. When Odin learned that they were coming towards the land of Asers, he decided that it was best for him to take his priests, chiefs and some of his people and move to the Northern part of Europe."
The Romans are human beings, they are from this planet, they are not mythical figures. Then I remember that when I came to Gobustan, I had seen a stone slab with Roman inscriptions. I contacted the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. I was taken to the place, and I got the exact wording of the inscription.
There's a very logical way of figuring out when this was written. It had to be written after the year 84 AD and before the year 97 AD. If this inscription matched Snorre's record, it would mean that Odin left for Scandinavia during the second half of the 1st century AD. Then I counted the members of the generations of kings, every king up to the grandfather of the king that united Norway into one kingdom, because such information is available - around 830 AD.
In anthropology we reckon 25 years per generation for ruling kings. In modern times, a generation may extend up to 30 years, but on average the length of a generation in early reigns is 25 years. When you multiply 31 generations by 25 years, you come exactly back to the second half of the 1st century AD. So there is proof that these inscriptions carved by the Romans in stone coincide with the written history written almost 1,800 years ago in Iceland.
We all know that the Northern people are called Caucasian. Here is where history, archeology, geography and physical anthropology come together.
The more I research the topic, the more evidence I find that this part of the planet has played a much more significant role than anybody ever suspected. I am working on a book at present together with a colleague, and we are halfway through it describing our observations.
Blond-Haired Mummies In the meantime we have contacts with the Academies of Sciences in 11 nations. We do not want to leave anything out. The most surprising discovery was when we contacted Communist China. They had discovered blond-haired mummies in the Karim Desert deep inside China, so perfectly preserved in the cold climate and salty earth that you could see the color of the skin and hair. The Chinese archeologists were surprised because these mummies were not Mongoloids at all; they suspected instead that they were Vikings.
But it didn't make sense to me that Vikings should be deep inside the deserts of China. When the Chinese archeologists conducted radio-carbon dating, they determined that the mummies were of Nordic type dating from 1,800 to 1,500 years BC. But the Viking period started around 800 AD. It then became obvious that these mummies were not Vikings who had come to China. Here was a missing link. And again the Caucasus enters into the picture as a mutual migratory center.
But this is not the end of the story. These mummies were dressed in cloth that had been woven, and the colors and the woven pattern were of a very specific type. The Chinese themselves studied the mummies and then invited American experts to study the clothing who determined that the weave and coloring were typical of the Celts of Ireland. But this made no sense at all. Then we contacted Ireland to get their sagas, and their written saga says that their ancestors were Scythians. So, again, their roots come back here to the Caucasus.
This is only the beginning, because this is as far as we have obtained documentation from the Academies of Sciences with which we are in contact. I will not go into detail further, but I have also found archeological evidence that is so striking that there can no longer be any doubt.
My conclusion is that Azerbaijan has been a very important center, sending people in many directions and attracting people from many directions. You have had metals that made the Romans want to come here. But you have been very central in the evolution of civilization, and more than anything, this is proven by the petroglyphs in Gobustan.
One thing is clear: navigation occurred before civilization. We used to believe that civilization came first, and once people had developed a high enough level of civilization, then they started to build boats. This just isn't true. On the contrary, it was when people built ocean-going vessels - that enabled them to contact each other so that they could trade and learn from each other. It was through contact and peaceful cooperation that civilization developed.
The oral traditions of the Aghuls claim Jewish descent as do Krymchaks, Balkars, Karachays & Kumyks. Tats are regarded the same sometimes. The Scythian group included numerous tribes, known in ancient sources as the Scythians, Massagetae, Saka, Sarmatians, Alans and Roxolans. The more easterly Khorezmians and the Sogdians were also closely affiliated, in linguistic terms.
Svans is a subethnic group of the Georgians & the name of the German peninsula of Schwansen in Danish. What's the connection? The Israelite origin of both. Svan is a Norse name that in Swede is Sven.
Some Alans (Israelites) mixed with the, with the Volga Bulgars, ancestors of the Volga Tatars or Tatars from Tatarstan.
Tats are an Iranian ethnicity that converted to Judaism in mass to Judaism & sometimes are considered to be the ancestors of the Mountain Jews.
In the NY Times of September 27, Nicholas Wade’s article, “Geneticists Report Finding Central Asian Link to Levites,” reports that 52 percent of Ashkenazi Levites have an unusual genetic signature that originated 1000 years ago in Central Asia, although it is also found less frequently in the Middle East.
Itil, today buried in the Caspian, was the capital of Khazaria & SaKil (bearing the name of iSaaC) was its main fortress & was inundated by Stalin in order to make a reservoir lake. Khazaria corresponds with the territory of today's Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia... This empire atracted many Israelites & Jews from abroad, therefore is logical that people from these countries have Israelite origin.
It's noteworthy that even the wikipedia mentions that the Aghuls themselves recognize their Jewish origin. The endogamic marriage practised by the Aghuls is a genuinely Israelitic tradition.
One of the native lands of the Lezgin people is called "Samur", a word very similar to Samurai. As different scholars have pointed, the Samurais are possibly Israelites that took upon themselves the name from Samaria, their old native land. A politico-cultural association of Lezgians is called Samur. This gives us a clue of which are their most cherished places. The name Samaria is repeated (not very altered) several other times like in the case of Samara in Russia as well, in the case of Samarkand (in the local language means "City of Samaria") being one of the largests Uzbek cities. The Lezgians are one of the ethnic groups considered by Eliyahu Avichail to be Lost Israelites.
The fact that the word "Armenian" comes from the word "Aramean" attaches this Indoeuropean speaking people to the Semitic people (Israelites) as in the case of the Pashtuns, Ossetians, Tajiks... If the mentioned peoples speak Indoeuropean languages, why not the other Lost Israelites would be found among the speaker of Indoeuropean languages like the Americans, Britons, French, Skandinavians, Irish, Jats, Gypsies, Rajputs, Thakkurs, Saurastras, Gujjars... This is reinforced by the fact that the Scythians or Sakas were the main ancestors of all these peoples as well as of the ones mentioned right before were Israelites. This doesn't preclude Oriental look Chian Ming, Kukish, Karen...or even their speaking of Sino-Tibetan languages from being Israelites though.
It's interesting that the Rutuls ( & other peoples of the Caucasus) live next to the river Samur whose name resembles Samaria. Moreover, the Rutuls are shepherd peoples like the ancient Israelites.
It's noteworthy that Chechens's DNA shows a big closeness between them & Britons, Basques, Armenians, Abazins, Ingushes, Circassians, Georgians...& in a lesser level also with western Europeans & Middle Easterners, reinforcing the different believes regarding their Israelite origin. The great identification of the Chechens with wolves (being this their national symbol) might indicate their Benjaminite origin. It's also remarkable the value that Chechens give to the concept of freedom, a very Israelitish concept. even the wikipedia remarks the love for freedom Chechens have & compares it with the same value of freedom given by other highlanders mentioning Scotts, Albanians & Kurds. Not by chance these other 3 peoples are also considered to be Lost Israelites depending on which branch of Israelitism we are referring to.
Chechen flag with wolf. Are Chechens Benjamites?
As believed by the celebrated rabbi Eliyahu Avichail & researcher on the "Lost Israelites", the Ossetians must be part of the Lost Tribes. Some Two-Housers include the Sarmatians in the list of Iranian speaking Israelites & they were the main ancestors of Alans.Some contingents of Alans stayed in the Caucasus giving birth to the Ossetians, now renamed Alans as well & others ending up in western Europe. The expert in the Lost Ten Tribes Eliyahu Avichail (not a Two-Houser) considers the Ossetes as Lost Israelites. The Tajiks are another Iranian speaking people considered to have Israelie origin. There doesn't seem to be amethysts, gold or diamonds in the area were Ossetia is, but Ossetia lies next to an area next to black gold, oil & pipes. The war between Russia & Georgia was fought mainly because the area is a very strategic area with many oil wells pipelines. This might be coincidence or indicative that the Ossetes are Zebulonites. In one of the royal crown of the former kingdom of Ossetia there's amethysts in a prominent place:
Chechen flag with wolf. Are Chechens Benjamites?
As believed by the celebrated rabbi Eliyahu Avichail & researcher on the "Lost Israelites", the Ossetians must be part of the Lost Tribes. Some Two-Housers include the Sarmatians in the list of Iranian speaking Israelites & they were the main ancestors of Alans.Some contingents of Alans stayed in the Caucasus giving birth to the Ossetians, now renamed Alans as well & others ending up in western Europe. The expert in the Lost Ten Tribes Eliyahu Avichail (not a Two-Houser) considers the Ossetes as Lost Israelites. The Tajiks are another Iranian speaking people considered to have Israelie origin. There doesn't seem to be amethysts, gold or diamonds in the area were Ossetia is, but Ossetia lies next to an area next to black gold, oil & pipes. The war between Russia & Georgia was fought mainly because the area is a very strategic area with many oil wells pipelines. This might be coincidence or indicative that the Ossetes are Zebulonites. In one of the royal crown of the former kingdom of Ossetia there's amethysts in a prominent place: 
The ascetic and spartan life practised by the Essenes might have been influenced, or might have influenced (if there were previous ascetic communities in the Land of Israel) in/by the ascetic Israelite communities like the Buddhist or Hinduist Israelites living in ancient Afghanistan, Pakistan, India & other communities of alleged Israelite origin: Greek Spartans, Turkik Kumyks...
Daniel Bart, a Swedish scholar, affirms that Karachays, Krimchaks, Balkars & Kumyks have Khazar Jewish origin, agreeing with the Israeli scholar on the Lost Ten Tribes, Eliyahu Avichail that believes that these & most other peoples from the Caucasus are Israelites. Despite their partial Turkik origin, the Balkars (& probably the other ethnic groups mentioned before) have Iranian speaking Alan ancestors (Israelites), a fact that agrees with the Two-Houser theories as well. Further, the Balkars were part of the Alan union of tribes before the Mongol conquest, when they retreated to the Caucasus mountains. This is reinforced with the fact that Balkar culture has elements that indicate a long association with the Mediterranean & Middle Eastern region, the area where Israel was & is placed. It's noteworthy that, according to the legend, the Balkars established in an area the hunters Malkar, Misaka & Basiat found. Misaka is a toponym in japan & includes the name of Isaak in saka. The name Malkar is the original name of Balkar. The word Malkar is also very close to Malka (not by chance Malka is also found in the area as a toponym), queen in Hebrew. It's also a Skandinavian last name & as Two-Housers pointed, Skandinavians have Israelite roots. The scholar Orjan Svensson, a Skandinavian himself, asserts tha the celebrated Skandinavian rhunes have Hebrew origin.
Aba means father in Aramaic & is shortened as ab, like in Arabic a related tongue. Since most peoples in the Caucasus are considered to have Israelite origin, it's possible that the word ab, that is within the Abaza & in the Abkhasian names of these peoples, may come from the Aramean. Not seeming to suffice that the Abazins' names starts with the Semitic "aba", their flag resembles strikingly the symbology of the Ulsterian flag. This Ulster flag represents the biblical story of the twins of Judah: Zara & Phares. Zara was the first that got his hand outside when he was born & received a red thread in his hand. This is the representation of the flag of Ulster. Contrary to most flags, it has a hand, white, yes, but the background is red. It's like if the colors of the white flag of Ulster had swapped places. It's also interesting that the hands of both flags are the right, although is more logical like this.
Apart from that, the Abazan flag, has seven stars, seven being a divine number as it is with the Ossetian flag. I believe that flags, coats of arms & otehr symbols are divinely even if the author is not aware of the real meaning. The name of the Abazin tongue (Ashkarua) contains the SK consonants of Isaak & resembles the name of the north European Jews, the Ashkenazis & the name of the Basque tongue: Euskera (or Euskara). Many relate Basque with some languages of the Caucasus & some consider Basques to have Israelites origins, even if the language is not Semitic.
That the Bukharan Jews come from Iranians would confirm that the captive Israelites in Mesopotamia started to speak Indoeuropean languages like the offspring the Israelites: British, Danes, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Ossetians... All Central Asian peoples have some Israelite (Scythian, Parthian... ancestry) namely Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Turkmens, Uzbeks.... (fireworshipping). Tajiks are apart. Genetic studies attach Israelites Pashtuns, Tajiks, North Indians as mentioned before.
Armenians don't celebrate Christmas, they slaughter by the neck like the Jews, differentiate between pure and impure cattle, fast in a similar way than Jews and have laws of menstrual impurity too. According to a book of history of Derbent (Dagestan) the inhabitants of Georgia, Tabaristan and Dagestan have Israelite origin.
THE TWO HOUSES OF ISRAEL
AN important key to understanding Israel in prophecy is that after the time of Solomon God’s people were split into two nations, the house of Israel (ten tribes), and the house of Judah (two tribes), as related in First Kings, chapter 12. This division continued, for God speaks of “the two families” whom He had chosen — Israel and Judah — and declares, “Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob [Israel] and David my servant [Judah] ...” (Jeremiah 33:24-26) These two families are called the “two wives”(Jeremiah 3:6-14), “sisters” (Ezekiel 23:2), “two nations” (Ezekiel 37:22), and “two kingdoms.” (Ezekiel 37:22) They were the “two sons” of Christ’s parables, indicating their continuing separateness in His day. (Matthew 21:28-32; Luke 15:11-32)
In fact, the first Scriptural mention of the Jews is in 2 Kings 16:6 where they were at war with Israel. Letters were written by the chief rabbis of the British Empire in 1918 and 1950, explaining that this division has continued to the present day, and that the Jewish people are descended only from the house of Judah. The house of Israel, sometimes called ‘Ephraim’ after its leading tribe, instead was conquered by Assyria in the 8th century, B.C. and scattered through the nations of the world.
Indeed, there are many clues to the identity of lost Israel from both the Bible and history. The Apocrypha tells us that they were conquered by Assyria and dispersed to an uninhabited land, “where never mankind dwelt” (2 Esdras 13:40-48), a good description of uninhabited Europe of that day. Isaiah 62:2 says that they would have “a new name.”
The details in our picture help to tell the story of these “lost sheep” in our world today. The soldier in the foreground wears brightly coloured clothing which was favoured by the people popularly called Scythian, the Greek form of the Medo-Persian word, Saka. A later form of the word is “Saxon,” from the Medo-Persian, “Saka-Suni” or ‘Sons of the Saca.’ In his book The Story of Celto-Saxon Israel, Mr WH. Bennett provides scholarly evidence of the origin of the words, Scythian, Saka, or Saxon in the word, Isaac. The soldier’s colourful clothing reminds us of the Patriarch Joseph’s famous “coat of many colours” referred to in Genesis 37:3, 23, and 32. The origin and inspiration of the famous Scottish Tartan patterns may also date back to Joseph. Indeed, the word, “tartan,” itself was a Semitic term for a military official or captain of a host. (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 20:1)
In the soldier’s belt is a battle-axe, an identifying mark of Israel, the nation called in Scripture, “God’s battleaxe.”
Jeremiah 51:20 says: “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms.”
Other Biblical prophets echo this: “Thus shall they be taking captive their captors, and shall tread down their oppressors.” - (Isaiah 14:2)
“Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth, thou shalt thresh the mountains [large nations], and beat them small, and shalt make the hills [small nations] as chaff.” - (Isaiah 4l :15)
A ‘Daryal Pass’ valley route sometimes called, “the Pass of Israel,” is clearly marked out in red in the Cambridge History Of Iran, (vol. 3:1:522); it was a favourite passage-way to Europe from the Mid-East.
There are many evidences of Hebrews in the Caucasus. The Jewish Encyclopedia states, “...the Caucasus Jews claim to be descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel ... the Georgians (rabbi Eliyahu also considers them as Lost Israelites. He's is an expert on the Lost Ten Tribes.) are equally certain of their descent from the Israelites who were taken from Palestine by Shalmanesar [726-722 B.C.].”
Do we have any proof that Hebrews were in the Caucasus and that they were in fact lost tribes of the house of Israel? The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia carries a fascinating article documenting the early presence of Hebrews in the Caucasus Mountains. It states, “The first immigration of [Israelites] into the Trans-Caucasus (supposed to have taken place in the 7th century, B.C.E., during the reign of the Assyrian kings) is recounted in ancient Armenian and Georgian chronicles. According to these chronicles, [Israel] arrived in these regions as early as the beginning of the 6th century, B.C.E. The first arrivals were probably free merchants, while the later partly came as captives.” (VIII:26) What Israelites were in captivity in the 6th and 7th centuries B.C.? These were the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel, found in the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe a few short years after their dispersion, according to the ancient Armenian and Georgian Chronicles. It is also significant that the Caucasus Mountain nation we call, Georgia is known to its inhabitants by its native name of ‘Sakartvelo,’ and another early town there is called, ‘Sachkhere,’ perhaps revealing the presence of the ‘Saka’ in that region in early times.
Azerbaijani people or Azeri peopleThe Azerbaijanis are the Turkic-speaking ethnic group living mainly in the two Azerbaijans (the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan), as well as in neighboring states. Also referred to as "Azeris" (Azərilər, آذریلر) or "Azerbaijani Turks" they live in a wider area from the Caucasus to the Iranian plateau. The Azerbaijanis are predominantly Shi'a Muslim and have a mixed cultural heritage including Iranian and Turkic and Caucasian elements.
Azerbaijan is believed to be named after Atropates, a Persiansatrap (governor) who ruled in Atropatene (modern Iranian Azerbaijan).: The name Atropates means "protected by fire". An alternative theory is that Azerbaijan is the combination of two Persian words, "Āzar" meaning "(holy) fire" and "pāygān" meaning "the place of". Other etymology for Azeri would be for others Asheri, member of the Israelite tribe of Asher. It's remarkable their worship of fire as other Israelites did anciently.
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Caucasian-speaking Albanian tribes are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the region where the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan is located. Early Iranian settlements included the Scythians in the ninth century BC. Following the Scythians, the Medes came to dominate the area to the south of the Aras River. Ancient Iranian people of Medes forged a vast empire between 900 and 700 BC, which the Achaemenids integrated into their own empire around 550 BC. During this period, Zoroastrianism spread in the Caucasus and in Atropatene.
Urmie & Baku
Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenids in 330 BC, but allowed the Median satrap Atropates to remain in power. Following the decline of the Seleucids in Persia in 247 BC, an Armenian Kingdom exercised control over parts of Caucasian Albania. Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the first century BC and largely remained independent until the Persian Sassanids made their kingdom a vassal state in 252 AD. Caucasian Albania's ruler, King Urnayr, went to Armenia and then officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century AD, and Albania remained a Christian state until the 8th century. Sassanid control ended with their defeat by Muslim Arabs in 642 AD.
Muslim Arabs defeated the Sassanids and Byzantines as they marched into the Caucasus region. The Arabs made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by Prince Javanshir, surrendered in 667. Between the ninth and tenth centuries, Arab authors began to refer to the region between the Kura and Aras rivers as Arran. During this time, Arabs from Basra and Kufa came to Azerbaijan and seized lands that indigenous peoples had abandoned; the Arabs became a land-owning elite. Conversion to Islam was slow as local resistance persisted for centuries and resentment grew as small groups of Arabs began migrating to cities such as Tabriz and Maraghah. This influx sparked a major rebellion in Iranian Azerbaijan from 816–837, led by a local Zoroastrian commoner named Bābak. However, despite pockets of continued resistance, the majority of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. Later, in the 10th and 11th centuries, parts of Azerbaijan were ruled by the Kurdish dynasties of Shaddadid and Rawadid.
Iranian Azaris have stronger genetic affinity with their immediate geographic neighbors than with populations from Central AsiaIn the middle of the eleventh century, the Seljuq dynasty overthrew Arab rule and established an empire that encompassed most of Southwest Asia. The Seljuk period marked the influx of Oghuz nomads into the region, who are considered to be the founding stock of modern Azeri people. The emerging Turkic identity was chronicled in epic poems or dastans, the oldest being the Book of Dede Korkut, which relate allegorical tales about the early Turks in the Caucasus and Asia Minor. Turkic dominion was interrupted by the Mongols in 1227. Turkic rule returned with the Timurids and then Sunni Qara Qoyunlū (Black Sheep Turkmen) and Aq Qoyunlū (White Sheep Turkmen), who dominated Azerbaijan until the Shi'a Safavids took power in 1501.
In Iran, Azerbaijanis such as Sattar Khan sought constitutional reform. The Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–11 shook the Qajar dynasty. A parliament (Majlis) was founded on the efforts of the constitutionalists, and pro-democracy newspapers appeared. The last Shah of the Qajar dynasty was soon removed in a military coup led by Reza Khan. In the quest to impose national homogeneity on a country where half of the population were ethnic minorities, Reza Shah banned in quick succession the use of the Azerbaijani language in schools, theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and books.
Brief independence for northern Azerbaijan in 1918–1920 was followed by over 70 years of Soviet rule. After the restoration of independence in October 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan became embroiled in a war with neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In many references, Azerbaijanis are designated as a Turkic people, due to their Turkic language. However, modern-day Azerbaijanis are believed to be primarily the descendants of the Caucasian Albanian and Iranian peoples who lived in the areas of the Caucasus and northern Iran, respectively, prior to Turkification. Historian Vladimir Minorsky writes that largely Iranian and Caucasian populations became Turkic-speaking: In the beginning of the 5th/11th century the Ghuzz hordes, first in smaller parties, and then in considerable numbers, under the Seljuqids occupied Azerbaijan. In consequence, the Iranian population of Azerbaijan and the adjacent parts of Transcaucasia became Turkophone while the characteristic features of Ādharbāyjānī Turkish, such as Persian intonations and disregard of the vocalic harmony, reflect the non-Turkic origin of the Turkicised population. Thus, centuries of Turkic migration and turkification of the region helped to formulate the contemporary Azerbaijani ethnic identity.
The earliest major Turkic incursion of the area now known as Azerbaijan began and accelerated during the Seljuk period. The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day Turkmenistan, which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under the Ilkhans were Turkic. By the Safavid period, the Turkification of Azerbaijan continued with the influence of the Kizilbash. The very name Azerbaijan is derived from the pre-Turkic name of the province, Azarbayjan or Adarbayjan, and illustrates a gradual language shift that took place as local place names survived Turkification, albeit in altered form.
Azerbaijani populated regions of the Caucasus.
Most academics view the linguistic Turkification of predominantly non-Turkic-speaking indigenous peoples and assimilation of small bands of Turkic tribes as the most likely origin for the Azeris.
The Iranian origins of the Azerbaijanis likely derive from ancient Iranian tribes, such as the Medes in Iranian Azerbaijan, and Scythian invaders who arrived during the eighth century BC. The Scythian origin of Azeris would confirm the attributed Israelite origin of them. It is believed that the Medes mixed with Mannai. Ancient written accounts, such as one written by Arab historian Al-Masudi, attest to an Iranian presence in the region: “The Persians are a people whose borders are the Mahat Mountains and Azarbaijan up to Armenia and Arran, and Bayleqan and Darband, and Ray and Tabaristan and Masqat and Shabaran and Jorjan and Abarshahr, and that is Nishabur, and Herat and Marv and other places in land of Khorasan, and Sejistan and Kerman and Fars and Ahvaz... All these lands were once one kingdom with one sovereign and one language...although the language differed slightly. The language, however, is one, in that its letters are written the same way and used the same way in composition. There are, then, different languages such as Pahlavi, Dari, Azari, as well as other Persian languages.
Encyclopædia Iranica says "The Turkish speakers of Azerbaijan (q.v.) are mainly descended from the earlier Iranian speakers". The continued presence of pockets of Iranian speakers; Talysh and Caucasian Tats are present in Azerbaijan.
There is evidence that, despite repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginal Caucasians may have been culturally assimilated, first by Ancient Iranian peoples and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity. The Udi language, still spoken in Azerbaijan, may be a remnant of the Albanians' language.
This Caucasian influence extended further south into Iranian Azerbaijan. During the 1st millennium BC, another Caucasian people, the Mannaeans (Mannai) populated much of Iranian Azerbaijan. Weakened by conflicts with the Assyrians, the Mannaeans are believed to have been conquered and assimilated by the Medes by 590 BC.
Genetic studies demonstrate that northern Azerbaijanis are more closely related to other Caucasian people like Georgians and Armenians than they are to Iranians or Turks. Iranian Azerbaijanis are genetically more similar to northern Azerbaijanis and the neighboring Turkic population than they are to geographically distant Turkmen populations. Iranian-speaking populations from Azerbaijan (the Talysh and Tats) are genetically closer to Azerbaijanis of the Republic than to other Iranian-speaking populations (Persian people and Kurds from Iran, Ossetians, and Tajiks). Such genetic evidence supports the view that the Azerbaijanis originate from a native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language through a process of "elite dominance", i.e. a limited number of Turkic immigrants had a substantial cultural impact but left only weak patrilineal genetic traces.
MtDNA analysis indicates that Iranians, Anatolians and Caucasians are part of a larger West Eurasian group that is secondary to that of the Caucasus. While genetic analysis of mtDNA indicates that Caucasian populations are genetically closer to Europeans than to Near Easterners, Y-chromosome results indicate closer affinity to Near Eastern groups.
The vast majority of Azerbaijanis live in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan. Between 11.2 and 20 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran, mainly in the northwestern provinces. Approximately 8 million Azerbaijanis are found in the Republic of Azerbaijan. A diaspora of over a million is spread throughout the rest of the world. According to Ethnologue, there are over 1 million speakers of the northern Azerbaijani dialect in southern Dagestan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
In May 2006, Iranian Azerbaijan witnessed riots over publication of a cartoon depicting a cockroach speaking Azerbaijani that many Azerbaijanis found offensive.
Azeris are famously active in commerce and in bazaars all over Iran their voluble voices can be heard. Older Azeri men wear the traditional wool hat, and their music & dances have become part of the mainstream culture. This ability for business resembles the one of their other Israelite fellow brothers. Azeris are well integrated, and many Azeri-Iranians are prominent in Persian literature, politics, and clerical world.
In many respects, Azerbaijanis are Eurasian and bi-cultural, as northern Azerbaijanis have absorbed Russo-Soviet and Eastern European influences, whereas the Azerbaijanis of the south have remained within the Turko-Iranian and Persianate tradition.
Azerbaijani woman wearing traditional clothing, 1900.
The majority of Azerbaijanis are Twelver Shi'a Muslims. Religious minorities include Sunni Muslims (mainly Hanafi, but also Shafi'i such as Sunni Azerbaijanis in Dagestan), and Bahá'ís. An unknown number of Azerbaijanis in the Republic of Azerbaijan have no religious affiliation. Many describe themselves as cultural Muslims. There is a small number of Naqshbandi Sufis among Muslim Azerbaijanis. Christian Azerbaijanis number around 5,000 people in the Republic of Azerbaijan and consist mostly of recent converts. Some Azerbaijanis from rural regions retain pre-Islamic animist or Zoroastrian-influenced beliefs, such as the sanctity of certain sites and the veneration of fire, certain trees and rocks. In Azerbaijan, traditions from other religions are often celebrated in addition to Islamic holidays, including Norouz and Christmas. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijanis have increasingly returned to their Islamic heritage as recent reports indicate that many Azerbaijani youth are being drawn to Islam.
Azerbaijanis express themselves in a variety of artistic ways including dance, music, and film. Azerbaijani folk dances are ancient and similar to that of their neighbors in the Caucasus and Iran. The group dance is a common form found from southeastern Europe to the Caspian Sea.
In Azerbaijan, women were granted the right to vote in 1919. Women have attained Western-style equality in major cities such as Baku, although in rural areas more traditional views remain.
Have you ever thought about the meaning of "ian"?
Most Armenian names end in "ian", "yan" or "jian" meaning the "son of ," but some diaspora Armenians have changed these endings to blend in their host societies. Today in Turkey "oglu" often replaces "ian," while Russian Armenians may change the endings to "ov"; e.g., Gary Kasparov, Serge Parajanov. A name ending in "ian" is not always exclusively Armenian, since the ending can also be occasionally found in names in Irish, Persian, English, Philippine and some other cultures. . .
Albania & the Albanians
As other Israelitic groups (Lebanese, Jews, Igbos...), Albanians have a large diaspora, despite the fact that they're not as numerous as the Chinese, Indian or other large peoples. Albanians are indeed dispersed in considerable numbers, not only in the Balkanic area or in western countries, but in Turkey, Egypt, China, Japan, Korea...Shqipperian Albanians are not recorded until the 11th century. Since there are not previous records about the Albanians this fact could further corroborate the identification of them as Lost Israelites as some people believe. Some of the Albanians are considered pagans, but in many cases before, some people have been attributed to practice paganism when certain peoples were practicing other pagan religions were a little away from the original non-pagan religions.
It's interesting that one of the precursors of Christianity in Caucasian Albania had Parthian (Israelite) origin & that is considered that the first Christians in the area had Jewish origin. The Tat-Jews & Mountain Jews come from them, but gentiles in the area also had this Israelite influence. The Scotts (in Latin Scotes) came from Hibernia (Ireland) & settled in Albania (also known as Albany or Alba) & renamed Albania,their new home, Scotland. The Scythians (in Greek Scothes) neighbored Iberia (current Georgia) & settled in Albania (Caucasian Albania) naming it Scythia. Can we see the paralelisms? The Scotts & Scythians had the same Israelite origin & settled or neighbored other Israelite areas with the same name.
Daniel Bart, scholar in Crypto-Judaism, afirms the Alevis are truly crypto priestly Levites. The Bektashis are a subgroup of Alevis that can be considered a sect of its own. Among the modern Albanians there are many Alevis, especially Bektashis & he afirms that the Albanians as a whole have Israelite origin. It's interesting the fact that Scotland is considered by Two-Housers to have Israelite origin since it was called Alba in ancient times, a name close to Albania. We can say the same about the Israelite origin of Albion, old name of Britain & even closer than Alba to Albania. This goes further over. The Scottish Alba could have come from Alban. The word "Lebanon" is derived from a root "Leban" meaning "white". It could also be rendered "Ha-Lebanon" and with Phoenician-Hebraic derived words in the west this could be rendered Aleban or Alban. So it's likely that Alba & Albion would have the same origin as the Albania of the Balkans & the Caucasus mountains. These mountains are considered by many different scholars a place of pass & sojourn for ancient Israelites according to Two-Housers & non-Two-Housers alike. Rabbi Eliyahu believes most peoples living in the Caucasus are Lost Israelites. Another interesting thing about Albania is that when the State of Israel was formed Albania voted in favor of its creation, a non very much expected act taken from a majoritarian Muslim country.
The great influence (linguistic, cultural...) that the Iranian speaking peoples (Alans, Sarmatians, Parthians) have caused in the Caucasus has an Israelite matrix. British comes from the Hebrew Brit (Covenant) & Ish (People), so the British are the People of the Covenant. Parthian has the same Hebrew root in PRT, since P & B are close sounds. The Iranian speaking Israelites colonized northern Caucasia reinforcing the previous Israelite colonization. The Sakasenians (Of Saka Israelite origin) were part of the original inhabitants of Caucasian Albania & they again bore the name of Isaac and other original inhabitants of Caucasian Albania were Armenians (Israelites too). It's interesting to find a Christian bishop with the name of Israel in Caucasian Albania unless it had Israelite roots. The tribes of ancient Caucasian Albania used to be independent from one another with a kingdom per tribe, but they became united under one king, just as ancient Israel did. The historian Dionysius described them as warriors.
Five Guardians of David giveaway. Ancient Israel had some of the greatest warriors.Caucasian Albania received greater Israelite influence with the conquest by Khazaria. The territory occupied by the current Republic of Azerbaijan was known as (Caucasian) Albania & was named Azerbaijan only after 1918. If Caucasian Albanian was Israelite then the Udis, its founders, are further proven to be Israelites. It's also noticeable that two of the eleven districts of Caucasian Albania have names of Israelite origin: Getaru, containing Getae & Shake containing the vowels SK of Isaac. The Armenian last name Kaghankatvatsi contains the Levitic last name Kaghan. That the Armenians, Lezgins... have Caucasian Albanian origin makes the likelyness of the Israelite origin of the Caucasian Albanians even higher. The Parthians (Israelite) not only placed their dynasty in Caucasian Albanian, but imposed their Aramaic tongue. That the Parthians spoke Aramaic (together with Persian) proves further their Israelite origin. Some Caucasian Albanians probably spoke Lezgic languages. Most of them were absorbed by Armenians, Georgians & Azeris.
The Udis are the remnants of the Caucasian Albanians. Caucasian Albania bordered the following countries: Armenia, Caucasian Iberia & Sarmatia. It included most of current independent Azerbajan & Dagestan (Russia). Some sources attribute the origin of the Caucasian Albanians to the Alans which were also Israelites. The Caucasian Albanian language was called Udi. Caucasian Albania was ruled by the Arsacids (an Israelite dynasty) that bore the name of Isaac in arSaCid. One of the cities of the Udis is kabala (not by chance it was the capital of Caucasian Albania), almost the same as Kabbalah (Azerbajan), the Jewish discipline of esoteric thought. Moreover, the name Udi is the name of several Hebrew heroes, the name of the musical instrument "oud" in Swahili & a toponym in Igboland one of the most related areas of Africa with ancient Israel. The river Kurah in Udi's land may have received its name from Korah, a Levitic clan.
Is it a coincidence that the two names of Albania, in the native language “ShQiperia”, has the SK sounds of iSaaK & in the foreign “Albania”, a term considered to come from the Hebrew word HaLeban? Durrës is one of the main cities of Albania & its name is srikingly similar to Durrani, a Pashtun (Israelite) name. Even the Albanian Shqiperian capital, Tirana, is similar to Tyre, a Phoenician city that belonged to the Israelite Empire of Solomon. Coincidence too?
According to Daniel Bart of Jewish Ideas, Albanians (including Kosovars) are Crypto-Jewish. Albanians are not in the Middle East nor in the Greater Midle East region, but in the European part of the former Ottoman Empire & they suit by religion (mostly Sunni Muslim) more in the Middle East area so I'm including them here.
Kush, father of king Saul of Israel, gave name to an area between Afghanistan & Pakistan. Although the name of the Kuchi Pashtuns is considered to mean nomad, The actual origin might come from Kush, their Israelite forefather. Serbians & Croats (& I guess Montenegrins & Bosniaks too) are considered as related to Pashtuns. Not by chance there's a Pashtun clan called Sarbani considered to have the same origin as the Serbian-Montenegrin clan called Kuchi, the very name of the mentioned Pashtun clan, so the attributed connection between Pashtuns & Serbians seems correct, therefore the Serbs & several of their former Yugoslavian patriots would be Slavian Israelites. Maybe the very nomadic life of the Kuchis made other synonymize Kuchi or Kushi with nomads. And maybe that's why a Kuchi clan is found among Serbians & Montenegrins. There's a great Kuchi diaspora all over the world. To support that the word Kuchi might come from Kush, we have the former kingdom of Kucha (Nowadayscounty of Kuqa, Xinkiang, China) that was originally called Kuchi & also was called Guzan, representing Kushan, a name derived from Kush the Israelite. Even the name Kosovo, the country/reion neighboring Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, could derive from Kush.
Other names or versions of the same name for this kingdom of modern Xinkiang would be Kus, Kos, Kujar (Very similar to Kazar, Gujjar or Gujarat, being this another possible conexion between Jews & Pashtuns) Quxians... There's another Kucha in Ethiopia that clearly evolved from Kush too (An old name from Ethiopia), but this Kush wasn't an Israelite. The Kucha kingdom (Current China) was indeed nearby Israelite lands. The Israelites of the area were the Pashtuns to the southwest in Afghanistan & the Qiangs to the southeast in Tibet (currently part of China). It's interesting that this former kingdom of Kucha is in Aksu prefecture & the Kucha woreda (Ethiopian district) is not very far away from the city of Aksum, capitall of the ancient & celebrated kingdom of Aksum. As different people have pointed out, the Albanians (neighbors of the Serbians & Montenegrins) might be Israelites. Kelmend is a city & a region in Albania close to the Kuchi Montenegrin-Serbians. Helmand (An Afghan province) has pretty much the same name of Kelmend (K & KH are interchangeable in Hebrew, Arab, Liverpoolean English) & the coincidence doesn't finish there. The Kuchis of the Pashtuns live in Helmand.
The last part "tai" is more a suffix than anything. Then the Serbs submitted Albania & then the Ottomans. It's interesting that the Serbs are attributed to be related to Sarban Pashtuns. The Sarbans are called Arbanee (the clan mentioned before) so the Albanians & Serbians might be fellow Israelites after all. How ironic! Couldn't be there Slavian Israelites? Serbians, Croatians, Bosniaks, Montenegrins could be. There are claims among them & the Polish that at least their leadership have Sarmatian (Alanian) ancestry.
Other names or versions of the same name for this kingdom of modern Xinkiang would be Kus, Kos, Kujar (Very similar to Kazar, Gujjar or Gujarat, being this another possible conexion between Jews & Pashtuns) Quxians... There's another Kucha in Ethiopia that clearly evolved from Kush too (An old name from Ethiopia), but this Kush wasn't an Israelite. The Kucha kingdom (Current China) was indeed nearby Israelite lands. The Israelites of the area were the Pashtuns to the southwest in Afghanistan & the Qiangs to the southeast in Tibet (currently part of China). It's interesting that this former kingdom of Kucha is in Aksu prefecture & the Kucha woreda (Ethiopian district) is not very far away from the city of Aksum, capitall of the ancient & celebrated kingdom of Aksum. As different people have pointed out, the Albanians (neighbors of the Serbians & Montenegrins) might be Israelites. Kelmend is a city & a region in Albania close to the Kuchi Montenegrin-Serbians. Helmand (An Afghan province) has pretty much the same name of Kelmend (K & KH are interchangeable in Hebrew, Arab, Liverpoolean English) & the coincidence doesn't finish there. The Kuchis of the Pashtuns live in Helmand.
The ancestors of Shqiperian Albanians are considered to be the Illyrians, but their origin is a little obscure. The Illyrian tribes were: Taulantii, Albanoi, Parthini, Abri, Cavii, Enchelei & Bylliones. The neighboring ethnicities were: Bryges, a Phrygian tribe & the Greek tribe of the Chaonians. The Illyrian queen Teuta (any relation with the future Teutons?) started the Illyrian wars against the Romans. Several of the mentioned Illirians tribes had Israelite sounding names: Albanoi (from haLeban), Parthini (The Parthians are considered Iranian speaking Israelites. The PRT of their name is equal to the BRT of Brit, covenant in Hebrew, because p & b are interchangeable.) & Abri (strikingly similar to Ibri or Ivri, meaning "Hebrew" in Hebrew. Vowels don't really count in Semitic & other languages.). The Albanoi gave name to the whole of the Albanian nation.
Some of their most important cities also have Israelite sounding names: Durres (Similar to the Durrani Pashtuns that lead an empire.), Shkoder (It's Italian name Scutari is very similar to Scüt, which is Scythian in German. The Scythians were also Iranian speaking Israelites & were neigboring their Parthian fellow Israelites. Some of the Saka further west were known as SKUDRA.). Goths (Israelites) & Huns invaded the area after Romans & Greeks. The Bulgarians came to the Balcans later & named the Albanians as Arbanitai. This last name is very similar to the Pashtun (Also Israelites) clan Arbanee.
Regarding Kosovo or Kosova: The Serbs call western Kosovo "Metohija" & eastern Kosovo simply "Kosovo".
The fact that the Dardani, whose exact ethno-linguistic affiliation is difficult to determine makes them good candidates to be Israelites of the tribe of Dan. In fact Dani means Danites in Hebrew. Dar means pearl in Hebrew. The other side of the Adriatic sea is a pearling area. The Dardani were a prominent group in the region during the late Hellenistic and early Roman eras.
In the 1389 locally celebrated Battle of Kosovo, Ottoman forces defeated a coalition of Serbs, Albanians and Bosnians.
Muslims Who Rescued Jews From the Nazis
The only Muslims who have been recognised as Righteous Gentiles by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, have been Albanian. Some 65 people saved some 2,000 Jews during the wartime occupation because of their code of honour, Besa. At the end of the war in 1945, there were more Jews in Albania than in 1939.
Norman Gershman, an American photographer, spent five years documenting this neglected story in his book Besa: Muslims who saved Jews in World War 11.
In Muslim Kosovo, A Jewish Claim To Nation’s Past And Future
Albanians, Kosovars will tell you, rescued Jews from genocide in the last century’s middle, while they credit Jews with rescuing Kosovar Albanians from genocide at its end.
This pairing is reflected in the plaque marking last year’s installation of a plinth near the parliament building memorializing the Holocaust: “The ceremony was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo as a token of gratitude for the support to the people of Kosovo shown by the Jewish community during the war in Kosovo 98-99.”
It is true that American Jews played a prominent role in rallying support for NATO intervention during Serbia’s brutal military campaign against Kosovar Albanians who were seeking independence for what was then a Serbian province.
Selimi rattles off the names of congressmen who championed Kosovo before, during and after the war: the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), whose survival of the Holocaust informed his concern for a nation subject to the predations of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic; and Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Ben Gilman (R-N.Y.), like Lantos leading foreign affairs activists in Congress. There was also Elie Wiesel, the Nobel laureate and Holocaust memoirist who urged international action during the Kosovo conflict.
Then it gets weird. Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state during the Kosovo action, was Kosovo’s Jewish “great aunt,” Selimi says. Then he adds the name of Wesley Clark, the commander of NATO when the alliance beat back Serbian forces. Both Albright and Clark discovered Jewish roots well into adulthood, but neither is in any conventional sense a member of a Jewish community.
With other interlocutors, the listing of Kosovo’s supposedly Jewish saviors can veer into the downright bizarre: Vice President Joe Biden, a number of Kosovars say authoritatively, is Jewish, and this is why he visited Kosovo soon after independence. Ditto for Tony Blair and his joining with President Bill Clinton in mounting the NATO action. Biden and Blair would no doubt be surprised to learn not only that they are Jewish, but that it is why they aided Kosovo.
It is as if Kosovars see their salvation as the result of a massive Jewish conspiracy, only one that is heroic rather than nefarious.
“If you look at what the U.S. government did, look at their profile, look at how many of them have Jewish roots,” says Isak Bilalli, deputy director of the Kosovo Israeli Friendship Association. “The footprints are everywhere.”
Albanian Kosovars assign epic proportions to the relationship — great and powerful Jews sweeping in to rescue the little nation that once rescued them.
Albania during the Nazi occupation not only protected its own 200 or so Jews, it welcomed Jews fleeing from other lands — between 600 and 1,800, according to Yad Vashem.
Ask Kosovars about their sister nation, Albania, and if you’re Jewish, the first thing you are likely to hear is that it is the only Nazi-occupied land that had a larger Jewish population at the end of the war than at the beginning.
Albanian Kosovars also rescued Jews, although it is not clear how many.
Bilalli, 40, a translator and consultant, likens Israeli recognition to a totem of protection against Serbian ambitions to reclaim Kosovo.
“We want a brick to put in our wall,” he says. “Israel is in a position to recognize what a great country did for them.”
Jews have their own historical affinity for Serbs, whose partisans welcomed Jews into their ranks during World War II.
Selimi is at the forefront of efforts by the government of Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi to present Kosovo as Western-leaning and multicultural. If you call Kosovo Muslim, Kosovar officials will correct you: “Muslim majority,” they say.
“Our Constitution, which tasks us to build a sovereign country of equal citizens, is very clear on the separation of religion and state,” said Jahjaga, a former deputy police chief who drew attention last year when she wore a knee-length skirt touring religiously conservative Persian Gulf states.
In cities like Pristina and Prizren, the mountain town where the conference took place, lovers stroll arm in arm, young people crowd around sidewalk cafe tables and knock back shots of raki, the revivifying anise liqueur, and women wear slacks, skirts and short-sleeved tops. The Muslim call to prayer mingles with techno and rap music pounding from cars and restaurants.
“The government and institutions are making strenuous efforts to promote an Islam that is good-neighborly,” he said.
If there is a Kosovar religion, it is pro-Americanism: Statues of and streets named for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and other U.S. officials dot the country. There are parades on the Fourth of July and Presidents’ Day.
National identity trumps religious identity, Kosovar officials say; Kosovars waged war to preserve the Albanian heritage they share with their neighbors to the south. Catholic ethnic Albanians in Kosovo identified with the national cause. Mother Teresa, the Albanian-born Catholic icon who received her religious vows in Kosovo, is a national hero.
Yet the scars of the conflict between Serbs and Albanians are most visible in places of faith. The government distributed to conference-goers a fat coffee table book depicting the restoration of mosques destroyed by Serb forces during the war. From the hotel in Prizren where the conference took place, the rebuilt Serbian Orthodox seminary is visible; ethnic Albanians burned it and a nearby church during riots in 2004.
“It’s respect for Jews who have lived here since the Inquisition”. Kosovo has affection for its Jewish heritage.
The story of the disappearance of traces of a once vibrant community is not an uncommon one in 20th-century Europe, peeled away first by the Holocaust and then by communism.
Jews in Kosovo were imprisoned during the Italian occupation, but for the most part not deported. After the Italians surrendered to the Allies in 1943, the Nazis deported 400 Jews from Kosovo. Fewer than a hundred, including Votim Demiri’s mother and aunts, who had been deported to Bergen-Belsen, returned. They joined several hundred Jews who had hidden among ethnic Albanians. In 1948, his aunts left for Israel; his mother married an ethnic Albanian partisan.
Then came the communist years, when religion was repressed. Among many other houses of worship, Pristina’s two synagogues were destroyed in the early 1960s.
During World War II, the family changed names to avoid detection by the Nazi occupiers, and what Jewish heritage there was began to dissipate. His first name, Ilir, is a common one of his generation, reflecting a theory popular in the last century that Albanians are descended from the ancient Illyrians.
Sometimes, he says, he wears one of the kippot. If the curious ask, he answers “Shabbat.” Albanians and Jews, he says, are brothers.
Interestingly enough the Illyrians who were the Thracians' neighbours have a very interesting history. The Illyrians were ancestors of the modern Albanians.
Very little is known about the beginning of the Illyrians, however a Greek myths tell of a person named Illyrium as the founder of Illyria, the son of a famous Greek hero named Cadmus, who founded the city of Thebes in Egypt.
Isn't that an amazing claim? A Greek hero was from Egypt, unless the Greeks, or part of migrating people who later called themselves Greeks, were living in Egypt and later migrated to Greek areas and surrounding areas.
Diodorus Siculus, quoting Hecataeus of Abdera a 4th BC Greek historian:" At once, therefore, the aliens were driven from the country, and the most outstanding and active among them banded together and, as some say, were cast ashore to Greece and certain other regions; their leaders were notable men, chief among them being Danaus and Cadmus. But the greater number were driven into what is now called Judaea, which is not far distant from Egypt and was at that time utterly uninhabited. The colony was headed by a man called Moses."
Who were these notable men and chiefs called Danaus and Cadmus?
If we consider the era this Hecataeus of Abdera was referring to there is only one event in the Bible that springs to mind that is quite similar to the event described by Hecataeus and that is the exodus from Egypt of the Israelites led by Moses.
From the Bible also we noticed that Jacob had 12 sons from two wives and two female servants. And 10 of them, plus two of Joseph's sons, became the patriarchs of Israelite tribes, plus the priestly tribe of Levi.
Two of Jacob's sons were named Dan and Gad who were leaders of their respective tribes. Could they be the Danaus and Cadmus mentioned by the historians Diodorus Siculus and Hecataeus of Abdera?
First of all some smart people think that Danaus and Cadmus are Hebrew names, so if Hecataeus wrote about them to be leaders of 'aliens', there is no doubt in my mind that he was referring to the Israelites who were living in harsh conditions in ancient Egypt, but were starting to be troublesome to the Egyptians (ten plagues).
When exactly did the tribe of Dan and tribe of Gad migrated to these foreign lands and beyond mentioned by Hecataeus?
The tribes of Dan and Gad were present during their marching formations while criss crossing the wilderness and had their own camping areas arranged around the tabernacle, so we can only assume that the tribes of Gad and Dan migrated to the foreign lands mentioned by Hecataeus and Diadorus, some time before the Babylonian conquest and were not part of those taken into slavery, at least not entirely.
Tat people
Tat people of Iran (Persian: تاتهای ایران) are an Iranian people, very limited and Sporadic living Northern Iran, especially in the south of Qazvin province. They are a subgroup of the Persians.
Tats of Iran use the Tati language (Iran), is a group of northwestern Iranian dialects which are closely related to the Talysh language. Persian and Azeri are also spoken. Tats of Iran are mainly Shia Muslims and about 300,000 population.
Starting from the Middle Ages, the term Tati (Tats are considered to have Jewish origin. Ossetians speak one of these minoritarian Iranian languages so it would be in the term Tati. Ossetians are considered part of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel by the expert on the Lost Ten Tribes rabbi Eliyahu Avichail.) was used not only for the Caucasus but also for north-western Iran, where it was extended to almost all of the local Iranian languages except of Persian and Kurdish.
Currently the term Tati and Tati language is used to refer to a particular group of north-western Iranian dialects (Chali, Danesfani [Any relation with Dan?], Hiaraji, Hoznini, Esfarvarini, Takestani, Sagzabadi, Ebrahimabadi [Any relation to Eber or Heber, ancestor of the Hebrews?], Eshtehardi, Hoini, Kajali, Shahroudi, Harzani) in Iranian Azerbaijan, as well as south of it in the provinces of Qazvin and Zanjan. These dialects have a certain affinity to the Talysh language as one of the descendants of the Old Azari language.
The use of the name Tati of two different Iranian languages suggests that the Caucasian Tats are related to the ones in Iran.
Tati people including Alviri-Vidari, Eshtehardi, Gozarkhani, Harzani (Population: 28.100 in 2000), Kabatei, Kajali, Karingani (Population: 17.600 in 2000), Kho’ini, Koresh-e Rostam, Maraghei, Razajerdi, Rudbari, Shahrudi, Takestani (Population: 220,000) and Taromi, Upper
It is also spoken in some villages like Vafs and Chehreghan in the central areas of Iran like Gholamhossein Mosahab's, Iran.
The Tats (The tats live in the area of the Caucasus, a region with many peoples considered to have Israelite ancestry from the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Moreover, the ancestors of the Tats were once practicing Judaism.) people (also: Tati, Parsi, Daghli, Lohijon, Caucasian Persians, Transcaucasian Persians) are an Iranian people, presently living within Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia (mainly Southern Dagestan). The Tats are part of the indigenous peoples of Iranian origin in the Caucasus.
Tats use the Tat language, a southwestern Iranian language. Azerbaijani and Russian are also spoken. Tats are mainly Shia Muslims, with significant Sunni Muslim minority.
Total population 10,900–22,041
As late as the turn of the 20th century, the Tat constituted about 11% of population of the entire eastern half of Azerbaijan (see Baku Governorate, section on Demography). They formed nearly one-fifth (18.9%) of the population of the Baku province and over one-quarter (25.3%) of the Kuba Province--both on the Caspian Sea. Either through misrepresentation, data manipulation or simple assimilation, the Tat portion of the population of Azerbaijan has shrunk to insignificance, facing a total assimilation. In the same way Jews have been assimilated & still are being assimilated in the Gentile majority.
The earliest mention of Persians in the Caucasus is found in the Greek historian Herodotus' account of the Achaemenid expansion of 558–330 BC, during which they annexed Transcaucasia(South Caucasus) as the X, XI, XVIII and XIX satrapies of their empire.
Archaeological material uncovered in present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia include Achaemenid architecture, jewelry and ceramics.
There is little information about permanent Persian population in South Caucasus since the Achaemenid period. Likely the ancestors of modern Tats settled in South Caucasus when the Sassanid Empire from the 3rd to 7th centuries built cities and founded military garrisons to strengthen their positions in this region.
Khosrau I (531–579) presented the title of regent of Shirvan in eastern South Caucasus to a close relative of his, who later became a progenitor of the first Shirvanshah dynasty (about 510 – 1538).
After the region had been conquered by Arabs (7th and 8th centuries) Islamization of the local population began.
Since the 11th century Oghuz tribes, led by Seljuq dynasts started to penetrate into the region. The gradual formation of the Azeri people started. Apparently in this period the Turkic exonym Tat or Tati, which designated settled farmers, was assigned to the South Caucasian dialect of the Persian language.
The Mongols conquered South Caucasus in the 1230s and the Ilkhanate state was founded in 1250s. Mongol domination lasted until 1360–1370, but that did not stop prominent poets and scientists to emerge.
In the end of the 14th century South Caucasus was invaded by Tamerlane. By the end of the 15th century the state of Shirvanshahs had obtained a considerable power, its diplomatic and economic ties had become stronger. In the middle of the 16th century the state of Shirvanshahs was eliminated and South Caucasus joined to Safavid Iran almost completely.
Distribution of the Tats in Azerbaijan (then Baku Governorate, part of the Russian Empire) in 1886–1890.In the middle of the 18th century Russia started to widen its influence over South Caucasus. In the course of the Russo-Persian Wars of 1803–1828 the South Caucasus and parts of the North Caucasus became a part of the Russian Empire. After that there is data about quantity and settling of the Tats, collected by tsarist authorities. When the city of Baku was occupied in the beginning of the 19th century, the whole population of the city (about 8000 people) were Tats.
According to the 19th-century Golestan-e-Eram, written by Abbasqulu Bakikhanov, Tati was widespread in many areas of Shamakhi, Baku, Darband and Guba:
“There are eight villages in Tabarsaran which are: Jalqan, Rukan, Maqatir, Kamakh, Ridiyan, Homeydi, Mata'i, and Bilhadi. They are in the environs of a city that Anushiravan built near the wall of Darband. Its remains are still there. They speak the Tat language, which is one of the languages of Old Persia. It is clear that they are from the people of Fars and after its destruction they settled in those villages. ..The districts situated between the two cities of Shamakhi and Qodyal, which is now the city of Qobbeh, include Howz, Lahej, and Qoshunlu in Shirvan and Barmak, Sheshpareh and the lower part of Boduq in Qobbeh, and all the country of Baku, except six villages of Turkmen, speak Tat. it becomes apparent from this that they originate from Fars.“
—Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov, "The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan"
According to the Calendar of the Caucasus of 1894 there were 124,693 Tats in South Caucasus., but because of the gradual spreading of Azeri Turkic, Tati was passing out of use. During the Soviet period, after the official term Azerbaijani had been introduced in the late 1930s, the ethnic self-consciousness of Tats changed greatly and many started to call themselves Azerbaijani. Whereas in 1926 about 28.443 Tats had been counted, in 1989 only 10,239 people recognized themselves as such.
In 2005 American researchers carried out investigations in several villages of Guba, Devechi, Khizi, Siyazan, Ismailli and Shemakha districts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, indicating 15,553 Tats in these villages.
There are also a number of tats residing in eastern Turkmenistan.
Although the majority of the Tat population of Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan uses the Turkic exonym Tati or Tat as a self-designation, there remain some local self-designations:
Parsi — The term Parsi has been used until the present day by the Tats of Apsheron as self-designation and zuvan Parsi as an indication of Tat language. This term relates to Pārsīk, the Middle Persian self-designation of Persians, cf. Middle Persian Pārsīk ut Pahlavīk – Persian and Parthian (According to the believers of British Israelism, the Parthians were no others but the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. They also believe that these Lost Israelites went to Western Europe through the Caucasus. There are too many coincidences to reinforce the belief of an Israelite origin of many peoples inhabiting the Caucasus mountains. It's remarkable that these British Israelites or Two-Housers have nothing to do with the sources, Eliyahu Avichail, that attribute a Jewish ancestry to the Tats. Nevertheless both coincide in considering the Sakas & Parthians as Israelites save ones say they are the ancestors of western Europeans & the other says they are the ancestors of Pashtuns, Ossetians... Thousands of Tats have mingled to Azeris & interestingly the Azeris are considered Lost Israelites by rabbi Avihail.). During the New Persian language period the final consonant was lost and the ethnonym became Pārsī. Some groups of Persian-speaking populations in Afghanistan together with the Zoroastrians of India (the Parsis) also use the term Parsi as a self-designation.
Lohijon — The citizens of the Tat settlement Lahij in the Ismailli district name themselves after their village Lohuj, plural Lohijon. Lahij is the largest Tat village (about 10.000). Its isolation has prevented local population from contacts with the outside world which has led their own isolated self-designation. A small community of the Lohijon, descendants of the 1910–20s migrants from Lahij, live in the village of Gombori in Kakheti, in the east of Georgia. They are registered as Azerbaijanis and speak Azerbaijani as their primary language.
Daghli — The Tats in Khizi district and parts of Devechi and Siyazan districts use another Turkic exonym, Daghli (mountaineers) for themselves. As a result of the spread of Azeri Turkic the term Daghli has strongly come into use and the local Tats started to use it themselves.
On December 14, 1990, the Azeri cultural and educational society for studying and development of Tati language, history and ethnography was founded by the board of the Ministry of justice of the Azerbaijan SSR. A primer and textbook of the Tat language together with literary and folklore pieces were published.
The Persian settlers of South Caucasus have long interacted with the surrounding ethnic groups, exchanging elements of their cultures. Arts like carpet-making, hand-weaving, metal manufacture, embossing and incrustation are highly developed. The arts of ornamental design and miniature are also very popular.
As a result of the long co-existence of Tats and Azerbaijanis many common features in farming, housekeeping and culture have developed. Traditional Tat female clothes are long shirt, wide trousers worn outside, slim line dress, outer unbuttoned dress, headscarf and "Moroccan" stockings. Male clothes are the Circassian coat and high fur-cap.
Traditional occupations of the Tat population are agriculture, vegetable-growing, gardening and cattle-breeding. The main cultures are barley, rye, wheat, millet, sunflower, maize, potatoes and peas. Large vineyards and fruit gardens are widespread. Sheep, cows, horses, donkeys, buffalos and rarely camels are kept as domestic cattle.
Originally the Persians were Zoroastrians. After they had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate, Islam became widespread. Today the Tats are mainly Shia Muslims, with a sizeable minority of Sunni Muslims and Jews.
The Tat language was widely spread in Eastern South Caucasus. Up to the 20th century it was also used by non-Muslim groups: Mountain Jews, part of the Armenians and the Udins. This has led some to the idea that Muslim Tats, Tat-speaking Mountain Jews and Tat-speaking Christian Armenians are one nation, practicing three different religions.
The "Mountain Jews" belong to the community of Persian-speaking Jews. Some groups of this community live in Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia (Bukharan Jews. Contrary to most people called Jews that are considered to come from the kingdom of Judah, Bukharan Jews are considered to be Lost Israelites of the kindom of Israel. Their common last name Sakharov might indicate origin in the tribe of Issakhar.). The Jews of Central Asia were classified "Mountain Jews" only in 19th-century official Russian documentation. The Mountain Jews call themselves Juhuro.
In the year 1888 A. Sh. Anisimov showed the closeness of language of the Mountain Jews and the Caucasian Persians (Tats). In his work Caucasian Jews-Mountaineers he came to the conclusion that the Mountain Jews were representatives of the Iranian family of the Tats, which had adopted Judaism in Iran and later moved to South Caucasus. The ideas of Anisimov were supported during the Soviet period: the popularization of the idea of the mountain Jews Tat origin started in 30's. Through efforts of several Mountain Jews, closely connected with the regime, the idea of mountain Jews being not really Jews at all but judaized Tats became widely spread. Some Mountain Jews started to register themselves as Tats because of secret pressure from the authorities.
As a result of this the words Tat and Mountain Jew became almost synonymous. The term "Tat" was used in research literature as the second or even first name for Mountain Jews. This caused the whole cultural heritage (literature, theatre, music) created by Mountain Jews during the Soviet period to be attributed to the Tats.
Like most "Jewish" languages, the grammatical structure of Juhuri retains archaic features of the language it is derived from. At the same time all of these languages are satiated with Hebrew words. The loanwords from Aramaic and Hebrew in Juhuri include words not directly connected with Judaic rituals (e.g. zoft resin, nokumi envy, ghuf body, keton linen, etc.) Some syntactical features of Juhuri have are ones typical for Hebrew.
Some 19th- and 20th-century publications describe the citizens of several Tat-speaking village of South Caucasus as Armenian Tats, Armeno-Tats, Christian Tats or Gregorian Tats. It was suggested that a part of the Persians of Eastern South Caucasus had adopted Armenian Christianity, but this did not take into consideration the fact that those citizens identify themselves as Armenians.[24]
In the Sassanid times and later under Muslim dynasties, Christianity wasn’t a privileged religion. Zoroastrianism dominated in the time of Sassanids, and later did Islam. It is argued, that under such circumstances there were no stimuli for the Persian population to reduce their social status by adopting Christianity.
If the Tati-speaking Armenians had been descendents of Persians (They would be descendents of Persian speaking Israelites which is not the same.) they would have used at least some Iranian terms connected with the Christian way of life and rituals. However there no such words in their language, which they call themselves Parseren, i.e. Persian. All words related to Christianity are Armenian: terter (priest, instead of Persian kešiš), zam (church, instead of Persian kilse), knunk (christening, instead of Persian ghosl ta’mid), zatik (Easter, instead of Persian fesah), pas (Lent, instead of Persian ruze) etc.
There are traces of an Armenian phonological, lexical, grammatical and calque substratum in the dialect of Tat-speaking Armenians. There are also Armenian affricates (ծ, ց, ձ) in words of Iranian origin, which do not exist in the Tat language. This can only be explained by Armenian influence.
Although they have lost their language these Armenians managed to preserve their national identity. It has a distinct "us versus them" dichotomy, "Hay" (us) to "Muslims" (Tajik, Tats and Azeri together), combined with the idea of themselves as a suffering nation with a tragic historical destiny.
Among other indigenous peoples of Iranian origin were the Tats, the Talishes and the Kurds. The Kurds are the link between the Pashtuns & the Jews. They share genes with both & family history with Pashtuns. They are also considered as Lost Israelites by many non-related scholars that differ in some of their beliefs regarding the Lost Israeltes.
Ossetia's connection to Scotland
Hundreds of years ago, Ossetians roamed all over Western Europe, from the Caucasus to Scotland. As Tim Whewell reveals, the folk memories of these wanderings have lingered down the centuries, so that it can be hard to tell where myth ends and history begins.
But the Ossetians are not just like the medieval Scots. As far as they are concerned, they are the Scots. And the Scots are them.
Centuries ago, possibly during the great migrations of the Dark Ages, some of their ancestors went down from the Caucasus and set sail through the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and arrived eventually in a landscape they recognised: Caledonia.
In fact, though, they did not just occupy Scotland. They occupied the whole of Western Europe on their fast horses, spreading the chivalrous respect for women that is originally an Ossetian concept.
Some children are taught about the arrival of the first Saxons, or Frisians, Hengist and Horsa. Very few know the story of our legendary Trojan ancestor Corinius and his battle on the cliffs of Cornwall with the giant Gogmagog.
Ossetian children know all about their forefathers' wanderings around Europe and how eventually their territory diminished again to those two little pockets on either side of the great Caucasian watershed, the southern one of which we heard so much about, so briefly, in August.
But the Ossetians, in their glory days of continental mastery, were not known by that name. They were sometimes Sarmatians, and sometimes Alans.
Every third Ossetian you meet now seems to be called Alan, and the north Ossetian republic, within Russia, is officially "Alania", as satisfying, I suppose, for Alans as it would be for me to live in Timia.
Meanwhile, the Alans in the south now live, supposedly, in an independent state, a miniscule country of 50,000 people, recognised only by Russia, Nicaragua and Somalia.
The rest of the world insists it is still part of Georgia, though the people I met there said that since the war they could never again live in one country with Georgians.
Alsace was settled by the Alemanni whose name was often used synonymously with that of the Alans who in part settled in Switzerland and were named after Elon son of Zebulon whereas the Alemanni-proper were a branch of the Suebi and came from the Jashubi (Suebi) of Issachar.
The Ossetians (Ossetian: ирæттæ, irættæ; Georgian: ოსები, osebi) are an Iranian ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, indigenous to the region known as Ossetia. They speak Ossetic, an Iranic language of the Eastern branch of the Indo-European languages family, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language. The Ossetians are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christian, with a Muslim minority.
The Ossetians mostly populate Ossetia, which is politically divided between North Ossetia–Alania in Russia, and South Ossetia, which since the 2008 South Ossetia war has been de facto independent from Georgia.
The Ossetians and Ossetia received their name from the Russians, who adopted the Georgian designations Osi (sing., pl.: Osebi) and Oseti ("the land of Osi"), used since the Middle Ages for the Iranic-speaking population of the central Caucasus and probably based on the old Alan self-designation "As". As the Ossetians lacked any single inclusive name for themselves in their native language, these terms were accepted by the Ossetians themselves already before their integration into the Russian Empire.
This practice was put into question by the new Ossetian nationalism in the early 1990s, when the dispute between the Ossetian subgroups of Digoron and Iron over the status of the Digoron dialect made the Ossetian intellectuals search for a new inclusive ethnic name. This, combined with the effects of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, led to the popularization of "Alania", the name of the medieval Sarmatian confederation, to which the Ossetians traced their origin, and inclusion of this name into the official republican title of North Ossetia in 1994.
The folk beliefs of the Ossetian people are rooted in their Sarmatian origin and Christian religion, with the pagan gods transcending into Christian saints. The Nart saga serves the basic pagan mythology of the region.
The Ossetians descend from the Alans, a Sarmatian tribe (Scythian subgroup of the Iranian ethnolinguistic group). About AD 200, the Alans were the only branch of the Sarmatians to keep their culture in the face of a Gothic invasion, and the Alans remaining built up a great kingdom between the Don and the Volga, according to Coon, The Races of Europe. Between AD. 350 and 374, the Huns destroyed the Alan kingdom, and a few survive to this day in the Caucasus as the Ossetes.
In the 8th century a consolidated Alan kingdom, referred to in sources of the period as Alania, emerged in the northern Caucasus Mountains, roughly in the location of the latter-day Circassia and the modern North Ossetia–Alania. At its height, Alania was a centralized monarchy with a strong military force and benefited from the Silk Road.
Forced out of their medieval homeland (south of the River Don in present-day Russia) during Mongol rule, Alans migrated towards and over the Caucasus mountains, where they subsequently would form three ethnographical groups; the Iron, Digoron, and Kudar. The Jassic people were a group that migrated in the 13th century to Hungary.
In recent history, the Ossetians participated in Ossetian-Ingush conflict (1991–1992) and Georgian–Ossetian conflicts (1918–1920, early 1990s) and in the 2008 South Ossetia war between Georgia and Russia.
Key events: 1774 — North Ossetia becomes part of the Russian Empire. 1801 — The modern-day South Ossetia territory becomes part of the Russian Empire, along with Georgia. 1922 — Ossetia is divided into two parts: North Ossetia remains a part of Russian SFSR, South Ossetia remains a part of Georgian SSR. 20 September 1990 – independent Republic of South Ossetia. The republic remained unrecognized, yet it detached itself from Georgia de facto. In the last years of the Soviet Union, ethnic tensions between Ossetians and Georgians in Georgia's former Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia (abolished in 1990) and between Ossetians and the Ingush in North Ossetia evolved into violent clashes that left several hundreds dead and wounded and created a large tide of refugees on both sides of the border.
The Ossetian language belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
Ossetian is divided into two main dialect groups: Ironian (os. – Ирон) in North and South Ossetia and Digorian (os. – Дыгурон) of western North Ossetia. There are some subdialects in those two: like Tualian, Alagirian, Ksanian, etc. The Ironian dialect is the most widely spoken.
Ossetian is among the remnants of the Scytho-Sarmatian dialect group which was once spoken across Central Asia. Other surviving languages closely related to Ossetian are Yaghnobi, Pashto and Pamiri languages, all spoken more than 2,000 km to the east in Afghanistan, northwestern Pakistan and some parts of Tajikistan.
The Alans were partially Christianized by Byzantine missionaries in the beginning of the 10th century. Most of the Ossetians became Eastern Orthodox Christians in the 12th–13th centuries under the influence of Georgia. As the time went by, Digor in the west came under Kabardian and Islamic influence. It was through the Kabarday (an East Circassian tribe) that Islam was introduced into the region in the 17th century. Kudar in the southernmost region became part of what is now South Ossetia, and Iron, the northernmost group, came under Russian rule after 1767, which strengthened Orthodox Christianity considerably. Today, the majority of Ossetians, from both North and South Ossetia, follow Eastern Orthodoxy, although there is a sizable number of adherents to Islam. Paganism is still very widespread among Ossetians, with rich ritual traditions, sacrificing animals, holy shrines, non-Christian saints, etc. There are pagan temples, known as kuvandony in most of the villages. Currently the Osset pagans are united under the organization Etseg Din (Ǽцǽг Дин).
Total population: 720,000 people. There is a significant number living in north-central Georgia (Trialeti). A large Ossetian diaspora lives in Turkey, and Ossetians have also settled in Belgium France, Sweden, Syria, the USA (New York City, Florida and California as examples), Canada (Toronto), Australia (Sydney) and other countries all around the world.
The Ossetians are a unique ethnic group of the Caucasus, being the only people found on both the north and south slopes of the mountain, also speaking an Indo-European language surrounded by Caucasian ethnolinguistic groups. The Y-haplogroup data indicate that North Ossetians are more similar to other North Caucasian groups, and South Ossetians are more similar to other South Caucasian groups, than to each other. Also, with respect to mtDNA, Ossetians are significantly more similar to Iranian groups than to Caucasian groups. It is thus suggested that that there is a common origin of Ossetians from Iran, followed by subsequent male-mediated migrations from their Caucasian neighbours.
Subgroups
Iron in the east and south form a larger group of Ossetians. Irons are divided into several subgroups: Kudar, Tual (including Urstual), Chsan and North Irons. Kudar (sometimes misspelled Tual, after the indigenous Dvals people), the southern group of Ossetians. Tual in the central part of Ossetia. Chsan in the east of South Ossetia. Digoron in the west. They came under the influence of the neighbouring Kabarday people who introduced Islam. Today the two main Digoron districts in North Ossetia are Digora district or Digorskiy rayon (with Digora as its centre) and Irafskiy rayon or Iraf district (with Chikola as its centre). Digora district is Christian while some parts of Iraf district are Muslim. The dialect spoken in Digor part of North Osetia is Digoron, the most archaic form of Ossetian language.
Lezgian people
The Lezgians (Lezgian: лезгияр, lezgiyar, Russian: лезгины, lezginy; also called Lezgins, Lezgi, Lezgis, Lezgs, Lezgin) are an ethnic group living predominantly in southern Dagestan and northeastern Azerbaijan and who speak the Lezgian language.
The question of origin of the ethnonym lezgin still requires a more in-depth and comprehensive analysis. Nevertheless, most researchers displays the ethnonym lezgi of the ancient legi and early medieval lakzi. The Lezgins are the descendants of Northeast Caucasian peoples who have inhabited the region of southern Dagestan since at least the Bronze Age. The Lezgins are closely related, both culturally and linguistically, to the Aghuls of southern Dagestan and, somewhat more distantly, to the Tsakhurs, Rutuls, and Tabasarans (the northern neighbors of the Lezgins). Also related, albeit more distantly, are the numerically small Jek, Kryts, Shahdagh, Budukh, and Khinalug peoples of northern Azerbaijan. These groups, together with the Lezgins, form the Samur branch of the indigenous Lezgic peoples.
Prior to the Russian Revolution, the Lezgins did not have a common self-designation as an ethnic group. They referred to themselves by village, region, religion, clan, or free society. Before the revolution, the Lezgins were called "Kyurintsy", "Akhtintsy", or "Lezgintsy" by the Russians. The ethnonym "Lezgin" itself is quite problematic. Prior to the Soviet period, the term "Lezgin" was used in different contexts. At times, it referred only to the people known today as Lezgins. At others, it referred variously to all of the peoples of southern Daghestan (Lezgin, Aghul, Rutul, Tabasaran, and Tsakhur); all of the peoples of southern Daghestan and northern Azerbaijan (Kryts Jek, Khinalug, Budukh, Shahdagh); all Nakh-Daghestani peoples; or all of the indigenous Muslim peoples of the Northeast Caucasian peoples (Caucasian Avars, Dargwa, Laks, Chechens, and Ingush). In reading pre-Revolutionary works one must be aware of these different possible meanings and scope of the ethnonym "Lezgin".
The Lezgins inhabit a compact territory that straddles the border area of southern Daghestan and northern Azerbaijan. It lies for the most part, in the southeastern portion of Daghestan in (Akhtynsky District, Dokuzparinsky District, Suleyman-Stalsky District, Kurakhsky District, Magaramkentsky District, and Rutulsky District) and contiguous northeastern Azerbaijan (in Kuba, Qusar, Qakh, Khachmaz, Oguz, Nukha, and Ismailli districts).
The Lezgin territories are divided into two physiographic zones: a region of high, rugged mountains and the piedmont (foothills). Most of the Lezgin territory is in the mountainous zone, where a number of peaks (like Baba Dagh) reach over 3,500 meters in elevation. There are deep and isolated canyons and gorges formed by the tributaries of the Samur and Gulgeri Chai rivers. In the mountainous zones the summers are very hot and dry, with drought conditions a constant threat. There are few trees in this region aside from those in the deep canyons and along the streams themselves. Drought-resistant shrubs and weeds dominate the natural flora. The winters here are frequently windy and brutally cold. In this zone the Lezgins engaged primarily in animal husbandry (mostly sheep and goats) and in craft industries.
In the extreme east of the Lezgin territory, where the mountains give way to the narrow coastal plain of the Caspian Sea, and to the far south, in Azerbaijan, are the foothills. This region has relatively mild, very dry winters and hot, dry summers. Trees are few here also. In this region animal husbandry and artisanry were supplemented by some agriculture (along the alluvial deposits near the rivers).
In the 4th century BC, the numerous tribes speaking Lezgic languages, which is part of the Nakh-Dagestan family of languages, united in a union of 26 tribes, formed in the Eastern Caucasus state of Caucasian Albania, which existed before the 8th century BC. Under the influence of foreign invaders Caucasian Albania was divided into several areas - Lakzi, Shirvan, etc.
Although Lezgins were first introduced to Islam perhaps as early as the 8th century, the Lezgins remained primarily animist until the 15th century, when Muslim influence became stronger, with Persian traders coming in from the south, and the Golden Horde increasingly pressing from the north. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Turks occupied the area, and also helped to consolidate Islam. By the 19th century, the Lezgins had all been converted to Islam, and they have since then been very devout in their faith. The Lezgins did not form their own country. Some were part of the Kuba Khanate in Azerbaijan, some were under control of the Derbent Khanate. The Lak Kazi Kumukh Khanate contrtolled the Lezgins for a time in the 18th century, but from 1812 onwards, the Russians took over. They created the Kiurin Khanate, later to become the Kiurin district.
At the beginning of the 18th century in eastern Transcaucasia began anti-Persian uprising by the Lezgins and other peoples of Dagestan and Azerbaijan. Under the leadership of Haji Dawood Myushkyurskogo (r. 1721–1728) In the vast territory of Shirvan was created Lezgin State Khanate with its capital in Shemakha.
In the first half of the 18th century at a time, Persia was able to restore its authority throughout the Eastern Caucasus. After the death of Nadir Shah, he created the state into divided several smaller khanates. The main part of Lezgins united in "free society" (Magalim) (Akhty para, Alti-para, Kure, Dokuz-para); Lezghians Azerbaijani khanate in the Kuba and Dagestan Lezgins - in Derbent Khanate. In 1812 most of the Dagestani Lezgins became part of the educated in southern Dagestan, a Russian protectorate Kyurinskoe Khanate, which was transformed in 1864 into Kyurinsky District, and the rest - in the Samur district, most of the Azerbaijani Lezgins - in the Kuban district of Baku province.
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Warrior of Lezghia (1883). Inspite of their Muslim religion he looks like the western European Christian warriors.
In 1930, Sheikh Mohammed Effendi Shtulskim organized an uprising against Soviet rule, which was suppressed after several months. In the 20th century, attempts were made to create a republic Lezgistan (independent or as autonomy).
While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred to Legoi people who inhabited Caucasian Albania, Arab historians of the 9th and 10th centuries mention the kingdom of Lakz in present-day southern Dagestan. Al Masoudi referred to inhabitants of this area as Lakzams (Lezgins), who defended Shirvan against invaders from the north. The Lezgin ethnic group probably resulted from a merger of the Akhty, the Alty and Dokus Para federations, and some clans from among the Rutuls.
The Lezgian language belongs (along with Aghul, Rutul, Tsakhur, Tabasaran, Budukh, Khinalugh, Jek, Khaput, Kryz [K'rits'], and Udi) to the Lezgian or Samurian Group of the Northeast Caucasian (Checheno-Daghestani) Language Family. The Lezgian language has three closely related (mutually intelligible) dialects: Kurin (also referred to as Gunei or Kurakh), Akhti, and Kuba. The Kurin dialect is the most widespread of the three and is spoken throughout most of the Lezgin territories in Daghestan, including the town of Kurakh, which, historically, was the most important cultural, political, and economic center in the Lezgin territory in Daghestan and is the former seat of the khanate of Kurin. The Akhti dialect is spoken in southeastern Daghestan. The Kuba dialect, the most Turkicized of the three, is widespread among the Lezgins of northern Azerbaijan (named for the town of Kuba, the cultural and economical focus of the region).
The area known as Lezgistan was divided between the Tsarist districts of Derbent and Baku in 1860, a division which continues into the 21st century.
The Lezgins resisted Russification by refusing to participate in programs to relocate them from the highlands and into lowland towns and collective farms. Thus, the majority of the Lezgins still maintain a traditional lifestyle.
Lezgins live mainly in Azerbaijan and in the Russian Federation (Dagestan). The total population is believed to be around 700,000, with 474,000 living in Russian Federation. Lezgins also live in Central Asia.
In 1992 a Lezgin organization named Sadval was established to promote Lezgin rights. Sadval campaigned for the redrawing of the Russian–Azerbaijani border to allow for the creation of a single Lezgin state encompassing areas in Russia and Azerbaijan where Lezgins were compactly settled. In Azerbaijan a more moderate organization called Samur was formed, advocating more cultural autonomy for Lezgins in Azerbaijan.
Lezgins traditionally suffered from unemployment and a shortage of land. Resentments were fuelled in 1992 by the resettlement of 105,000 Azeri refugees from the Karabakh conflict on Lezgin lands and by the forced conscription of Lezgins to fight in the conflict. This contributed to an increase in tensions between the Lezgin community and the Azeri government over issues of land, employment, language and the absence of internal autonomy. A major consequence of the outbreak of the war in Chechnya in 1994 was the closure of the border between Russia and Azerbaijan: as a result the Lezgins were for the first time in their history separated by an international border restricting their movement.
The high tide of Lezgin mobilization in Azerbaijan appeared to have passed towards the end of the 1990s. Sadval was banned by the Azerbaijani authorities after official allegations that it was involved in a bombing of the Baku underground. The end of the Karabakh war, and Lezgin resistance to forced conscription, deprived the movement of a key issue on which to mobilize. In 1998 Sadval split into ‘moderate’ and ‘radical’ wings, following which it appeared to lose much of its popularity on both sides of the Russian–Azerbaijani border.
However, Azerbaijani–Lezgin relations continued to be complicated by claims that Islamic fundamentalism enjoyed disproportionate popularity among Lezgins. In July 2000 Azerbaijani security forces arrested members of Lezgin and Avar ethnicity of a group named the Warriors of Islam, which allegedly was planning an insurgency against the Azerbaijani state.
Lezgins expressed concern over under-representation in the Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Meclis) after a shift away from proportional representation in the parliamentary elections of November 2005. Lezgins had been represented by two members of parliament in the previous parliament, but are now represented by only one.
Lezgin is taught as a foreign language in areas where many Lezgins are settled, but teaching resources are scarce. Lezgin textbooks come from Russia and are not adapted to local conditions. Although Lezgin newspapers are available, Lezgins have also expressed concern over the disappearance of their rich oral tradition. The only Lezgin television broadcasting available in Azerbaijan is that received over the border from Russia.
According to reports Lezgins in Dagestan suffer disproportionately from unemployment, with unemployment rates in Lezgin-populated areas of southern Dagestan twice the republican average of 32 per cent. This may be one contributory factor to renewed calls from within the Sadval movement in January 2006 for a redrawing of the Russian-Azerbaijani border to incorporate Lezgin-populated areas of southern Dagestan within Azerbaijan.
In March 1999 another organization, the Federal Lezgin National Cultural Autonomy, was established as an extraterritorial movement advocating cultural autonomy for Lezgins.
Svans
The Svans (Georgian: სვანი, Svani) are an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians (Kartvelians) living mostly in Svaneti, a region in northwest Georgia. They speak the Svan language and are mostly bilingual also in Georgian. Both these languages belong to the Kartvelian (South Caucasian) language family. In the pre-1930 Soviet census, the Svans were afforded their own "ethnic group" (natsional'nost) category. The self-designation of the Svan is Mushüan, which is probably reflected in the ethnonym Misimian of the Classical authors.
The Svans are usually identified with the Sanni mentioned by Greek geographer Strabo, who placed them more or less in the area still occupied by the modern-day Svans.
Typically bilingual, they use both Georgian and their own, unwritten Svan language. Though Svan is being largely replaced by Georgian, which is the language of culture and education in Georgia.
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Svan culture survives most wonderfully in its songs and round dances. Svaneti boasts archaic three part polyphony, known as chordal unit polyphony, with strong dissonant harmonies. Traditional Svan poetry is still not separated from song and has no rhymed poetry. Svans are skillful artists and as Svaneti was widely regarded as the most inaccessible region of Georgia, many items of medieval Georgian state treasury (including the rare manuscripts of the bible) are still stored in Svaneti.
Laz people
Lazs (Kartvelian: ლაზი; Turkish: Lazlar) are a Kartvelian ethnic group native to the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia, being a people of Iberian or Georgian stock. One of the chief tribes of ancient kingdom of Colchis, the Laz were initially early adopters of Christianity, and most of them subsequently converted to Sunni Islam during Ottoman rule of Caucasus in the 16th century.
The Laz of Turkey form two principal groups. One of these is indigenous to the eastern Black Sea province formerly known as Lazistan (modern Rize and Artvin provinces). The other group fled the Russian expansion later in the 19th century and settled in Adapazarı, Sapanca, Yalova and Bursa, in western and eastern parts of the Black Sea and Marmara regions, respectively. The Laz speak the Laz language, related to Georgian, Svan and Mingrelian (Kartvelian languages). Laz identity in Georgia has largely merged with a Georgian identity and the meaning of "Laz" is seen as merely a regional category, and are mainly concentrated in Adjara.
Kingdom of Lazica.According to Pontic Greek scholar Dimosthenes Oikonomides, the Laz people are related to and originate from the region of the Caucasus. This is evident by their general appearance but also to their language (Lazuri), which is related to the language of Georgia. Both the Laz, and for that matter the Georgian languages, are related to the Iberian family of languages.
Laz were converted to Christianity while living under the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Georgia. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the vast majority of Laz became Sunni Muslims, and were ruled as part of the Lazistan sanjak. There is also a very small number of Christian Laz in Georgia who were converted to Christianity from Islam.
The Georgians call Lazistan Chaneti, and the people Chan, plural Chan-ni. The Swanetian form of Chaneti (from which the Turkish Lazistan seems to derive) is Lazan (i.e. La—territorial prefix+Zan<—>Chan). The root form Chan<—>Son is widespread throughout the Caucasus, particularly as applied to tribal and place-names in the western part. The Laz by their language are closely related to the Mingrelians (who are themselves called Chan-ar by the neighbouring people of Swaneti).
The Laz people live in a geographic area which they refer to as Lazona (ლაზონა). Today, the entire area is part of the Republic of Turkey. Its history dates back to at least the 6th century BC when the first South Caucasian state in the west was the Kingdom of Colchis which covered modern western Georgia and modern Turkish provinces of Trabzon and Rize. Between the early 2nd century BC and the late 2nd century AD, the Kingdom of Colchis together with the neighbor countries, become an arena of long and devastating conflicts between major local powers Rome, Kingdom of Armenia and the short-lived Kingdom of Pontus. As a result of the brilliant Roman campaigns of generals Pompey and Lucullus, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory including Colchis, were incorporated into Roman Empire as her provinces.
The former Kingdom of Colchis was re-organized by the Romans into the province of Lazicum ruled by Roman legati. During Byzantine times, the word Colchi gave way to the term Lazica. The Roman period was marked by further Hellenization of the region in terms of language, economy and culture. For example, since the early 3rd century, Greco-Latin Philosophical Academy of Phasis (present-day Poti) was quite famous all over the Roman Empire. In the early 3rd century, newly established Roman Lazicum was given certain degree of autonomy which by the end of the century developed into full the independence and formation of a new Kingdom of Lazica (covering the modern day regions of Abkhazia, Mingrelia, Guria and Adjaria) on the basis of smaller principalities of Svans, Apsilae, Zans and Sanigs. Kingdom of Lazica survived more than 250 years until in 562 AD it was absorbed by the Byzantine Empire. In the middle of the 4th century, Lazica adopted Christianity as her official religion. That event was preceded by the arrival of St. Simon the Canaanite (or Kananaios in Greek) who was preaching all over Lazica and met his death in Suaniri (Western Lazica). According to Moses of Chorene, the enemies of Christianity cut him in two halves with a saw.
The ruins of the ancient historical city-fortress of Petra are located in the village of Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti region which dates back to the 6th century A.D. and historically the territory was inhabited and belonged to the Laz people - one of the Iberian tribes. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian build a city here because of the importance of its unique strategic and trade-economic location. The city was crossed by the essential route connecting Western Georgia, with Byzantine provinces, Persia and Armenia.
The re-incorporation of Lazica with the Kingdom of Aphkhazeti into Byzantine Empire in 562 AD, as a result of a campaign waged by Byzantine Emperor Justinian,[12] was followed by 150 years of relative stability that ceased in the early 7th century when the Arabs appeared in the area as a new regional power.
The ancient kingdom of Colchis and its successor Lazica (locally known as Egrisi) was located in the same region the Laz speakers are found in today, and its inhabitants probably spoke an ancestral version of the language. Colchis was the setting for the famous Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts.
Today most Laz speakers live in Northeast Turkey, in a strip of land along the shore of the Black Sea. They form the majority in the Pazar (Atina), Ardeşen (Art'aşeni) and Fındıklı (Vitze) districts of Rize, and in the Arhavi (Ark'abi) and Hopa (Xopa) districts of Artvin. They live as minorities in the neighbouring Çamlıhemşin (Vijadibi), Borçka, and İkizdere (Xuras) districts. There are also communities in northwestern Anatolia (Karamürsel in Kocaeli, Akçakoca in Düzce, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bartın), where many immigrants settled since the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and now also in Istanbul and Ankara.
The Laz in Georgia are chiefly centered in the country's southwestern autonomous republic of Adjara. The largest Laz villages in Adjara are: Sarpi, Kvariati, Gonio and Makho. The Laz also live in Batumi, Kobuleti, Zugdidi and Tbilisi.
An expatriate community of the Laz is also present in Germany where they have migrated from Turkey since the 1960s.
Most of the Laz in Turkey belong to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, while the Laz in Georgia are the Eastern Orthodox Christians adhering to the national Georgian Orthodox Church. Their beliefs have survived in folk poetry and in some customs related to births, marriage, death, seamanship, the New Year, and harvest rituals.
Apart some research activities at universities in Georgia and Germany (University of Cologne), there has been done little to study the language and folk culture of the Laz. A degree of cultural assimilation into the Turkish medium is high, but there has been some recent upsurge of cultural activities aiming at revitalizing the Laz tongue and folk tradition.
The social organization of the Laz community is dominated by an elaborate system of kinship in which blood and milk brotherhood as well as elements of blood feuds have survived. The family is strongly dominated by the husband, but, even under Islam, the rule of monogamous marriage has been preserved.
Abkhaz people
Abkhaz in the mid-19th century. These men have features & costums that resemble of ancient Israelites, Pashtuns, Yemeni Jews...
The Abasgoi (The suffix Goi is people in Hebrew) and Apsilai of the Graeco-Roman authors are considered as the predecessors of modern-day Abkhaz.
The Russian conquest of Abkhazia from the 1810s to the 1860s was accompanied by a massive expulsion of Muslim Abkhaz to the Ottoman Empire and the introduction of a strong Russification policy. As a result, the Abkhaz diaspora is currently estimated to measure at least twice the number of Abkhaz that reside in Abkhazia. The largest part of the diaspora now lives in Turkey, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 500,000, with smaller groups in Syria (5,000 – 10,000) and Jordan. In recent years, some of these have emigrated to the West, principally to Germany (5,000), the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Austria and the United States (mainly to New Jersey).
In the course of the Syrian uprising, a number of Abkhaz living in Syria remigrated to Abkhazia. By mid-April 2013, approximately 200 Syrians of Abkhaz descent had arrived in Abkhazia. A further 150 were due to arrive by the end of April. The Abkhazian leadership has stated that it would continue the repatriation of Abkhaz living abroad. As of August 2013, 531 Abkhaz had arrived from Syria according to the Abkhazian government.
The Abkhazian flag has the hand of Zarah, son of Judah, in red background representing the red rope fastened at his birthThe typical economy is strong on the breeding of cattle, beekeeping, viticulture, and agriculture.
The Abkhaz people are principally divided into Orthodox Christian and Sunni Muslim communities but the indigenous non-Abrahamic beliefs have always been strong. Christianity was introduced, in the 6th century, by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, and further enforced under the kings of Georgia in the High Middle Ages. The Ottoman takeover in the 16th century, missionaries such as Sufi preachers and the pressure from the Adyghe tribes (most of whom had converted to Islam) from the North precipitated the decline of Christianity and the region became largely Muslim until the 1860s when much the Muslim population was moved, leaving Christians in majority.
Aghul people
Aghuls (Aghul: агулар, Russian: агулы or агульцы) are a people in Dagestan, Russia. According to the 2010 census, there were 34,160 Aghuls in Russia (7,000 in 1959). The Aghul language belongs to the Lezgian language family, a group of the Northeast Caucasian family. Ethnically, the Aghuls are close to the Lezgins. There are four groups of the Aghul people, who live in four different gorges: Aguldere, Kurakhdere, Khushandere, and Khpyukdere. Like their neighbors the Kaitaks, the Aghuls were converted to Islam at a fairly early date, subsequent to the Arab conquest of the eighth century. Their oral traditions claim Jewish descent.
Each Aghul village had a village council, on which each of the three or four tukhums were represented. The council was headed by an elder. The village mullah and qadi also played an important role in local affairs like the Israelite priest & Jewish rabbi.. In some cases the wealthier tukhums exerted a disproportionate strong influence on village government. As elsewhere in Daghestan, the Aghuls were divided into tukhums (clans), comprising twenty to forty households. Each tukhum had its own cemetery, pastures, and hay fields, and the members were bound by obligations of mutual support and defense. The Aghuls tended to practice endogamy within the tukhum—marriages with outsiders were very rare (They were endogamic like the Jews). In the past the Aghuls lived in extended family households, though not especially large ones (fifteen to twenty members, on the average). A senior male, father or eldest brother, functioned as chief, with fairly broad authority over the affairs of the household and its members. Should the extended family split up, sisters—even those who had already married and left the household—received a portion of the land as well as the movable property. They were each apportioned one-half of the land share given to each of their brothers, a practice that was unusually generous by Daghestanian standards.
Rutul people
Rutuls (мыхIадабыр in Rutul, рутульцы in Russian) are an ethnic group in Dagestan (Russia) and some parts of Azerbaijan. According to the 2010 Russian Census, there were 35,240 Rutuls in Russia. In 1989 Soviet Census in Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan SSR then) there were 336 Rutuls. The Rutul language is a member of the Northeast Caucasian language family; its speakers often have a good command of Azeri and Russian, as Rutul was not a written language until 1990. The Rutul culture is close to that of the Tsakhur and other peoples who inhabit the basin of the upper reaches of the Samur River. Most of the Rutuls are engaged in cattle breeding (mostly sheep husbandry), farming, and gardening.
The Rutuls adhere to Sunni Islam. The earliest attempts of Arabs to affirm as Dagestan concern the 7th century, and in Rutul's territory they made the greatest success. The earliest monument of Muslim culture testifies to it on caucasus - a tombstone of Sheikh Magomeda-ibn-Asada-ibn-Mugal, buried in Khnov in 675 d.C. About early Islamisation of Rutuls the earliest testify also in mountains of Dagestan monuments building epygraphic, found in some Rutul villages. It is a stone in a wall of a building of a mosque of settlement village Luchek on which the chronograph text in the Arabian language is cut, Islam carrying the statement here to 128 of Hijra, that is 745-746. Other stone with the chronograph text has remained in a settlement Ihrek mosque of Ihrek, in it is spoken «about restoration of the destroyed mosque in 407 of Hijra».
Tsakhur people
The Tsakhur (or Caxur, in romanization. Tsakkurs might be Isakkarites.) people are an ethnic group of northern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan (Russia). They number about 45,000 and call themselves yiqy (pl. yiqby), but are generally known by the name Tsakhur, which derives from the name of a Dagestani village, where they make up the majority.
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Tsakhurs are first mentioned in the 7th century Armenian and Georgian sources where they are named Tsakhaik. After the conquest of Caucasian Albania by Arabs, Tsakhurs formed a semi-independent state (later a sultanate) of Tsuketi in what is now Zagatala & southwestern Dagestan. By the 11th century, Tsakhurs who had mostly been Christian, converted to Islam. In the 18th century the capital of the state changed from Tsakhur to İlisu . The sultanate was in the sphere of influence of the Shaki Khanate. It became part of the Russian Empire by the beginning of the 19th century.
Tsakhurs live in Azerbaijan's Zagatala region, where they make up 14% of the population, and in Gakh, where they constitute less than 2%. In Dagestan, they live in the mountainous parts of the Rutulsky district. According to Wolfgang Schulze, there are 9 villages in Azerbaijan, where Tsakhurs make up the majority of the population, all of them in Zagatala. 13 more villages in Zagatala and Gakh have a significant Tsakhur minority.
Most Tsakhurs speak the Tsakhur language as their native language. The rate of bilingualism in Tsakhur and Azeri is high. Other languages popular among Tsakhurs include Russian and Lezgian.
Dargwa people
The Dargwa or Dargin people (Dargwa: дарганти, Russian: даргинцы) constitute a Caucasian native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus, and who make up the second largest ethnic group in the Russian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Dargwa language. The ethnic group comprises, however, all speakers of the Dargin languages; Dargwa is simply the standard variety.
According to the 2002 Census, Dargins make up 16.5% of the population of Dagestan, with 425,526 people.
The Dargins have lived in their present day location for many centuries. They formed the state of Kaitag in the Middle Ages and Renaissance until Russian conquest. Today, the Dargins are the third most powerful group in Dagestan (an amalgamation of many of the historical peoples in the region), and the second most populous.
The main religion is Islam, which first reached the area in the 8th century. However, general acceptance of Islam did not reach the area until the 15th century. The Islam of the Dargins has a strongly syncretic nature, with a substantial heritage of pre-Islamic non-Abrahamic beliefs given Muslim form.
The Dargins see death as predetermined by faith. They believe in an afterlife, a judgment day, the bridge Sirat, heaven and hell, etc. Funerals follow the Muslim rite, with prayers for the deceased, generous funeral feasts, and memorials on the fortieth or fifty-second day.
Tabasarans
They are considered part of the Lezgin stock (Therefore Israelites) & their ancestors practiced Judaism. Endogamic marriage have been the rule among Tabasarans like it happened with the ancient Israelites.
As mentioned above, Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail, expert on the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, afirms the Israelite origin of Mingrelians. It's remarkable too that Mingrelians are part of the Georgians or Sakartvelans. According to Two-Housers Sakar would come either from Issakar or Isaac, so either way they would have Israelite origin. It's also interesting that Georgia (Sakartvelo) was called Iberia, a name that Two-Housers consider to come from Eber or Heber. Iberi or Iberian is similar to Ibri or Ivri in Hebrew & even the same under the Semitic vowelization.
The Mingrelians (Mingrelian: მარგალი, margali; Georgian: მეგრელები: megrelebi) are a subethnic group of Georgians that mostly live in Samegrelo (Mingrelia) region of Georgia. They also live in considerable numbers in Abkhazia and Tbilisi. In the pre-1930 Soviet census, the Mingrelians were afforded their own ethnic group (natsional'nost) category.
The Mingrelians speak the Mingrelian language, and are mostly bilingual also in Georgian. Both these languages belong to the Kartvelian (South Caucasian) language family.
The endonym Margali (მარგალი) is presumably reflected in the Greek Manraloi (Μάνραλοι), recorded as a people of Colchis by Ptolemy in the 2nd century BC.
Early in the Middle Ages, Mingrelian aristocracy and clergy, later followed by laymen, adopted the Georgian tongue as a language of literacy and culture. After the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, Mingrelia was an autonomous principality until being annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century.
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Mingrelian lady (right) negotiating with the invading Turks, 1856. An episode of the Crimean War
In several censuses under the Russian Empire and the early Soviet Union, Mingrelians were considered a separate group, largely because at the time of the annexation Mingrelia was politically separate from eastern Georgia, the historical political and cultural centers of the Medieval Georgian Kingdoms. They were, reclassified under the broader category of Georgian in the 1930s. Currently, most Mingrelians identify themselves as a subgroup of the Georgian nation and have preserved many characteristic cultural features - including the Mingrelian language - that date back to the pre-Christian Colchian era.
The first President of an independent Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1939–1993), was a Mingrelian. Therefore, after the violent coup d'état of December 21, 1991 - January 6, 1992, Samegrelo became the centre of a civil war, which ended with the defeat of Gamsakhurdia's supporters.
Types of Life The Mingrelians (1865).
Approximately 180,000-200,000 people of Georgian and Mingrelian provenance have been expelled from Abkhazia as a result of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of Georgians in this separatist region
The Exile of the Ten Tribes of Israel
BibleSearchers, in the fall of 2008, identified the Nation of Georgia as the “Israel of the Caucuses” in the article subtitle, “The Georgian Israeli Puzzle”. This was a major empire during the Roman Catholic Crusades to the Middle East in the 11-12th century. The Empire of Georgia was ruled by “The Ancient Royal Davidian Monarchy of the Caucasus Nation of Georgia.” The leading monarchs of this Davidian Empire had the names of King David and Queen Tamar for they were of the non-Solomonic royal lineage of the House of Nathan.
In the same region of this Jewish dynastic empire in the 12th century CE, the God of Israel first planted his lost Israelites. They later emerged as the famous Scythians of the Northern Plains. They also would impregnate this region with Hebrew bloodlines, traditions, and folklore that would make this same land ripe for Jewish Davidian royal influence and authority twenty centuries later.
The Guti or Catti were a people or tribe the linguists of ancient tongues feel is a derivation of Gadil or Gad or in other words, of the Tribe of Gad. The Guti and the Catti (Gadites) intermingled with the Saki, or the other (12) tribes of Isaac can be seen as a collective term for the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Interestingly the Kati is a modern tribe in the Sahara regarded as Israelites too.
Crimean Karaites
The Crimean Karaites or Krymkaraylar (Crimean Karaim: Кърымкъарайлар sg. къарай – qaray; Trakai Karaim: sg. karaj, pl. karajlar, Hebrew: קראי מזרח אירופה, Turkish: Karaylar), also known as Karaims and Qarays, are an ethnic group derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Karaism in Eastern Europe, especially in the territory of the former Russian Empire. "Karaim" is a Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Polish name for the community. Defined themselves as originally centered in Crimea, Crimean Karaites were established in Trakai, Lithuania and Eastern Galicia since late medieval times.
The name "Crimean Karaites" has often been considered as something of a misnomer, as many branches of this community found their way to locations throughout Europe and the Middle East.
As time went on, some of these communities spread throughout the region, including to Crimea. According to Karaite tradition, all the Eastern European Karaite communities were derived from those in the Crimea, but some modern historians doubt the Crimean origin of Lithuanian Karaites. Nevertheless this name, "Crimean Karaites" is used for the Turkic-speaking Karaites community supposed to have originated in Crimea, distinguishing it from the historically Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic-speaking Karaites of the Levant, Anatolia, and the Middle East.For the purposes of this article, the terms "Crimean Karaites", "Karaim", and "Qarays" are used interchangeably, while "Karaites" alone refers to the general Karaite branch of Judaism.
Lithuania and The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
According to Karaims tradition, Grand Duke Vytautas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania relocated one branch of the Crimean Karaites to Lithuania where they continued to speak their own language. In fact the Lithuanian dialect of Karaim language differs significantly from the Crimean one. The Lithuanian Karaites settled primarily in Vilnius and Trakai, as well as in Biržai, Pasvalys, Naujamiestis and Upytė – smaller settlements throughout Lithuania proper. The Lithuanian Karaites also settled in lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine, which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Karaite communities emerged in Halicz and Kokizow (near Lwów) in Galicia as well as in Łuck and Derazhne in Volhynia. Jews (Rabbinites and Karaites) in Lithuanian territory were granted a measure of autonomy under Michel Ezofovich Senior management, except Trakai Karaims that refused to comply, citing differences in faith. Later all Jews including Karaites were submitted to Rabbinite "Council of Four Lands" (Vaad) and "Council of the Land of Lithuania" taxation (1580–1646), while Turkic speaking Karaites, considered by Yiddish speaking Rabbinites as apostates, were in a subordinate and depressed position; that was one of the reasons for their dislike of Rabbinites. In 1646 Trakai Rabbinites were expelled from the town by Karaites request. In spite of that in 1680 Rabbinite community leaders were to defend the Karaites of Shaty (near Trakai) against blood accusation. In agreement, signed by representatives Rabbanites and Karaites in 1714, the parties pledged to respect the mutual privileges and resolve disputes without the involvement of the non-Jewish administration.
Some famous Karaim scholars in Lithuania included Isaac b. Abraham of Troki (1543–1598), Joseph ben Mordecai Malinovski, Zera ben Nathan of Trakai, Salomon ben Aharon of Trakai, Ezra ben Nissan (died in 1666) and Josiah ben Judah (died after 1658). Some of the Karaim became quite wealthy.
During the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Karaims suffered severely during the Chmielnicki Uprising of 1648 and the wars between Russia and Commonwealth in the years 1654–1667, when many towns were plundered and burnt, including Trakai, where in 1680 only 30 families were left, and Derazhne. The destruction of the Karaite community in Derazhne in 1649 is described in a poem (both in Hebrew and Karaim language) by a leader of the congregation, Hazzan Joseph ben Yesh'uah Ha-Mashbir Catholic missionaries made serious attempts to convert the local Karaims to Christianity, but ultimately were largely unsuccessful. The local Karaim communities still exist in Lithuania (where they live mostly in Panevėžys and Trakai regions) and Poland. The 1979 census in the USSR showed 3,300 Karaims. Lithuanian Karaim Culture Community was founded in 1988.
According to the Lithuanian Karaims website the Statistics Department of Lithuania carried out an ethno-statistic research entitled "Karaim in Lithuania" in 1997. It was decided to question all adult Karaims and mixed families, where one of the members is a Karaim. During the survey, for the beginning of 1997, there were 257 people of Karaim nationality, 32 of which were children under 16.
Russian Empire
19th-century leaders of the Karaims, such as Sima Babovich and Avraham Firkovich, were driving forces behind a concerted effort to alter the status of the Karaite community in eyes of the Russian legal system. Firkovich in particular was adamant in his attempts to connect the Karaims with the Khazars, and has been accused of forging documents and inscriptions to back up his claims.
Ultimately, the Tsarist government officially recognized the Karaims as being of Turkic, not Jewish, origin. Because the Karaims were judged to be innocent of the death of Jesus, they were exempt from many of the harsh restrictions placed on other Jews. They were, in essence, placed on equal legal footing with Crimean Tatars. The related Krymchak community, which was of similar ethnolinguistic background but which practiced rabbinical Judaism, continued to suffer under Tsarist anti-Jewish laws.
Since the incorporation of Crimea into the Russian Empire the main center of the Qarays is the city of Eupatoria.
Solomon Krym (b. 1864, d. 1936), a Crimean Karaite agronomist, was elected in 1906 to the First Duma (1906–1907) as a Kadet (National Democratic Party). On November 16, 1918 he became the Prime Minister of a short-lived Crimean Russian liberal, anti-separatist and anti-Soviet government also supported by the German army.
Until the 20th century, Karaism was the only religion of the Karaims, During the Russian Civil War a significant number of Karaims emigrated to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary and then France and Germany. Most of them converted to Christianity. The Karaims' modern national movement philanthropist M.S. Sarach was one of them.
The Crimean Karaites' emancipation in the Russian Empire caused cultural assimilation followed by secularization. This process continued in the USSR when most of the kenesas were closed.
In 1928 secular Karaim philologist Seraya (Seraya is the name of an important building in Nazareth, Israel & very similar to Seraye, one of the Ethiopian provinces where some of the Falashas used to live) Shapshal was elected as Hacham of Polish and Lithuanian Karaims. Being a strong adopter of Russian orientalist V. Grigorjev's theory about Crimean Karaites Khazarian origin, Shapshal developed the Karaims' religion and history dejudaization doctrine.
Under this doctrine, he changed the traditional title of "Hacham" to "Gahan", rising in his opinion to the Khazarian word ""Khagan". In the mid 1930s, he began to create a theory of the Altai-Turkic origin of the Karaims and the pagan roots of the Karaite religious teaching (worship of sacred oaks, polytheism, led by the god Tengri, the Sacrifice). Shapshal's doctrine is still a topic of critical research and public debate.
He made a number of changes aimed at the Karaims' Turkification and at erasing of Karaite Jewish elements of their culture and language. He issued an order canceling the teaching of Hebrew in Karaite schools, replaced the name of the Jewish holidays and the months of the Turkic-speaking(see the table below), the position of "Hacham" renamed "Gahan" in consonance with the word "khan", invented in this special custom taking office, allegedly accepted the Khazars. According Shapshal, the doctrine of Anan ben David was close to early Christianity, and Jesus and Mohammed Karaites believed for centuries prophets. Crimean Karaites adopted the law of Moses, but continued to adhere to the ancient Turkic pagan beliefs. In Post-Soviet period the Shapshal's theory was further developed in modern Karaylar publications (e.g. "Crimean Karaites legends") and officially adopted by «Кърымкъарайлар»(«KrymKaraylar») Crimean Karaim Association at 2000 as the only correct view of the Karaylar past and the present.
Turkic-speaking Karaites (in the Crimean Tatar language, Qaraylar) have lived in Crimea for centuries. Their origin is a matter of great controversy. Some regard them as descendants of Karaite Jews who settled in Crimea and adopted a form of the Kypchak tongue (see Karaim language). Others view them as descendants of Khazar or Cuman, Kipchak converts to Karaite Judaism. Today many Karaims deny Israelite origins and consider themselves to be descendants of the Khazars. Specialists in Khazar history question the Khazar theory of Karaim origins, highlighting the following facts among others:
The Karaim language belongs to the Kipchak linguistic group, and the Khazar – the Bulgar, therefore, there is no close relationship between these two Turkic languages;
According to the Khazar Correspondence Khazar Judaism was, most likely, Talmudic, and in the tradition of Karaism the only holy book is the Bible, while the Talmud is not recognized;
Khazars disappeared in the 11th century, and the first written mention of the Crimean Karaites was in the 14th century.
Some modern Karaims seek to distance themselves from being identified as Jews, emphasizing what they view as their Turkic heritage and claiming that they are Turkic practitioners of a "Mosaic religion" separate and distinct from Judaism. On the other hand, many scholars state that the phenomenon of claiming a distinct identity apart from the Jewish people appears to be no older than the 19th century, when it appeared under the influence of such leaders as Avraham Firkovich and Sima Babovich as a means of escaping anti-Semitism. In addition, Karaim works written before that time strongly suggest that Crimean Karaites previously considered themselves Jews (See Yitzhak of Troki's "Hizzuk Emunah" or a Crimean Karaite poem from 1936).
Kevin Alan Brook led the first scientific study of Crimean Karaites using genetic testing of both Y chromosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA and the results showed that Crimean Karaites are indeed partially of Middle Eastern origin and related to other Jews.
Whatever their origin, from the time of the Golden Horde onward, they were present in many towns and villages throughout Crimea and around the Black Sea. During the period of the Crimean Khanate some of the major communities could be found in the towns of Çufut Qale, Sudak, Kefe, and Bakhchisaray.
According to Crimean Karaite tradition, originated in the 20th century inter-war Poland their forefathers were mainly farmers and members of the community served in the military forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as the Crimean Khanate. On the other hand, according the historical documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Crimean Karaites main occupation was usury and they were granted special privileges including exemption from the military service while in Crimean Khanate the Karaites were repressed like other Jews, which included prohibition of horse riding.
Karaites in the Khazar Khaganate
The upper stratum of the Khazar society converted to Judaism in the 8th–9th centuries CE. A group of the Khazars who took part in a failed rebellion – joined the Magyars in the invasion of Hungary, and settled there in the end of the 9th century CE. An interesting relic of this Khazar settlement was discovered in Transylvania (today Romania) in the 20th century. It is called Alsószentmihály Rovas inscription. It was transcribed by the archaeologist-historian Gábor Vékony. According to the transcription, the meaning of the two-row inscription is the following: (first row) "His mansion is famous." and (second row) "Jüedi Kür Karaite." or "Jüedi Kür the Karaite."
During the Holocaust
Their status under Russian imperial rule bore beneficial fruits for the Karaites decades later. In 1934, the heads of the Karaite community in Berlin asked the Nazi authorities to exempt Karaites from the regulations; on the basis of their legal status in Russia. The Reich Agency for the Investigation of Families determined that from the standpoint of German law, the Karaites were not to be considered Jews. The letter from the Reichsstelle fur Sippenforschung gave the official ruling in a letter which stated:
The Karaite sect should not be considered a Jewish religious community within the meaning of paragraph 2, point 2 of the First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law. However, it cannot be established that Karaites in their entirety are of blood-related stock, for the racial categorization of an individual cannot be determined without ... his personal ancestry and racial biological characteristics.
This ruling set the tone for how the Nazis dealt with the Karaite community in Eastern Europe. At the same time, the Nazis had serious reservations towards the Karaites. SS Obergruppenfuhrer Gottlob Berger wrote on November 24, 1944:
Their Mosaic religion is unwelcome. However, on grounds of race, language and religious dogma... Discrimination against the Karaites is unacceptable, in consideration of their racial kinsmen [Berger was here referring to the Crimean Tatars]. However, so as not to infringe the unified anti-Jewish orientation of the nations led by Germany, it is suggested that this small group be given the opportunity of a separate existence (for example, as a closed construction or labor battalion)...
Despite their exempt status, confusion led to initial massacres. German soldiers who came across Karaites in Russia during the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa, not aware of their legal status under German law, attacked them; 200 were killed at Babi Yar alone. German allies such as the Vichy Republic began to require the Karaites to register as Jews, but eventually granted them non-Jewish status upon being instructed by Berlin.
On interrogation, Ashkenazi rabbis in Crimea told the Germans that Karaites were not Jews, in an effort to spare the Karaite community the fate of their Rabbanite neighbors. Many Karaites risked their lives to hide Jews, and in some cases claimed that Jews were members of their community. Many Karaites were recruited for labor battalions.
In Vilnius and Trakai, the Nazis forced Karaite Hakham Seraya Shapshal to produce a list of the members of the community. Though he did his best, not every Karaite was saved by Shapshal's list.
Post-War
After the Soviet recapture of Crimea from Nazi forces in 1944, the Soviet authorities counted 6,357 remaining Karaites. Karaites were not subject to mass deportation, unlike the Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Armenians and others the Soviet authorities alleged had collaborated during the Nazi German occupation. Some individual Karaites were deported.
Assimilation and emigration greatly reduced the ranks of the Karaite community. A few thousand Karaites remain in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Poland. Other communities exist in Israel, Turkey, the United States, and Great Britain.
Language
Karaim is a Kypchak Turkic language being closely related to Crimean Tatar, Armeno-Kipchak etc. Among the many different influences exerted on Karaim, those of Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian were the first to change the outlook of the Karaim lexicon. Later, due to considerable Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian influence, many Slavic and Baltic words entered the language of Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and Russian Karaims. Hebrew remained in use for liturgical purposes. Following the Ottoman occupation of Crimea, Turkish was used for business and government purposes among Karaims living on the Crimean peninsula. Three different dialects developed: the Trakai dialect, used in Trakai and Vilnius (Lithuania), the Lutsk or Halych dialect spoken in Lutsk (until World War II), and Halych, and the Crimean dialect. The last forms the Eastern group, while Trakai and Halych Karaim belong to the Western group. Currently only small minority of Karaim can speak Karaim Language (70 Crimean dialect speakers, 118 Trakai dialect speakers, and about 20 Halych dialect speakers)
Cuisine
Kybyn
The most famous Crimean Karaite culinary dish is Kybyn (Russian:Кибина pl. Кибины, Karaim: kybyn pl. kybynlar, Lithuanian: Kibinai). Kybynlar are half moon shaped pies of leavened dough with a stuffing of chopped beef or mutton, baked in Dutch or baking sheet. Other meals common for Crimean Karaites and Tatars are Chiburekki, Pelmeni, Shishlik (These are most often made from mutton).
Ceremony dishes, cooked for religious holidays and weddings are:
Tymbyl is Pesach round cakes flat of unleavened dough, knead with cream and butter or butter and eggs, reflected in modern name of this festival (Tymbyl Chydžy), Qatlama is Shavuot (Aftalar Chydžy) cottage cheese pie, which seven layers symbolizing seven weeks, past after Pesach, four layers of yeast dough, three – of pot cheese, Wedding pies are Kiyovliuk (on the part of the groom) and Kelin'lik (on the part of the bride).
Turkik Khazarian Jews
It is a common misconception that Hebrew was a dying language when Ben Yehudah `revived` it.
As a matter of fact, it served as lingua franca for Diaspora communities when contact had to be established in other host countries.
Jews are not the only people to have survived since the Iron Age, Armenians exist as a well defined group at least since the Achaemenid persian empire (they had a satrapy Armenia), the Chinese and Greeks have also existed for long.
It falls under ever qualification of a nation or ethnic group, they have their own culture, language, people, cuisine, music, etc. Obviously people weren't lining up to convert to Judaism therefore the majority are Semitic.
They still have a shared geneaology, common experience and nostalgia and it is unnecessary to take that away from them. The Hebrew language and religion Judaism already makes two important components attributed to 'culture' so understandably, it is little wonder that stateless people share a special bonding with one another.
There is a huge racial devide between Mizrahi , Sephardim and European Ashkenazi's. Racial divide? Likely not as anywhere near as exaggerated as anti-Jews wish it was. Moroccan Jews, Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi Jews are practically right amongst one another and far away from host people they have lived centuries next door to? Even the Caucasus (mountain) and Mesoptamian Jews are considerably closer to the Levant than their host people, and thus also closer to the other Jewish groups. Eastern Sephardim seem to blend easiest between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi communities, whilst you also get your occasional Ashkenazi who can pass for Mizrahi. Majority of the Ashkenazi otherwise wouldn't look out of place next to Turkish Jews.
A lot of Ashkenazis claim Sephardi origins , but even the stereotypical Ashkenazi person is Mediterranean-looking (dark hair etc..). These groups can easily overlap....when it is not really the case with Yemeni Jews...for example.
The Khazar theory has been debunked, this because of the genetic tests, that has shown that the Arabian/Semitic elements in the Ashkenazim Jews do dominate more so than any Turkic or Caucasian blood. However there is little traces of Turkic and Slavic admix in the Ashkenazim. The Khazar theory was popularized ironically in order to deflect anti-Semitism by trying to claim that the majority of today's Jews have no link to the Hebrews. Ironically this became the basis for anti-Semitism in the modern day period and continues to dominate the seen of many nationalistic and racialist movements who often see the Jews as the demonic bogeyman.
What we know of the Khazars, is that they were a Turkic people from the Oghuric branch, and probably originated in the Urals. By the 9th century A.D this Turkic tribe would dominate most of the Caucasus and the large portion of what is today's modern day Ukraine. According to legend the Kaghan or Khan of the Khazars became very disgusted with the pagan religion of his folk and wanted a true religion for his people to follow that these true religions to him were the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity,Islam and Judaism. The Khagan whose name was Bulan chose Judaism and his people converted. Another legend says that he encouraged the migration of Iraqi or Babylonian Jews to Khazaria , and in order to help with the theological understanding of Judaism. The Khazar empire and how it faded from world history has become a question of debate as to why , and if mentioned it's only in a very brief moment. This what leads to the misinformation that continues to be published by various sources.
What happened to Khazaria as it blocked the Arabs from entering into Eastern Europe, however the Arab raids would largely weaken Khazaria, and the same of the Slavic raids. By the 13th century A.D Khazaria fell to the Mongols, which many of whom escaped to Europe mostly to Hungary and Poland. Those who stayed in Khazaria which later become the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate were Islamized and assimilated to the population.
There is romance and vilification of the Khazars by both Jewish and as well non-Jewish historians. They are demonized and mystified at the same time.
When the Jews migrated to Europe they will obviously pick up European admixture, just like the Gypsies and other groups who did, but they are still largely Near Eastern. If the Jews are Khazars we would see genetic links with the Caucasians and the Chuvash but there isn't.
Nowadays you have the extinction of various Jewish languages such as Yevanic and Ladino. Due to the struggles of many people to preserve cultural facets, fortunately geneaology and DNA indicate that being ethnically Jewish, is being Jewish by blood. It doesn't appear as if you have been doing any research, besides going off stories from the back of your head, but i have already provided genetic evidence which can refute your claims that Jewish differences are supposably so great. Majority of Jewish groups essentially descend from one another and i'm sure i made that clear with an attachment perhaps a page back or so. I do not deny there is variation and differences between the groups either.
Judaeo-Spanish, (גודיאו-איספאנייול) in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino,[1] and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Castilian. As a Jewish language, it is influenced heavily by Hebrew and Aramaic, but also Arabic, Turkish and to a lesser extent Greek and other languages where Sephardic exiles settled around the world.
They have no Turkic language that is spoken or Turkic influences upon any of the Jewish languages that is spoken. Also in most all of Jewish communities they spoke Aramaic or Hebrew and non-Turkic languages proves that the Khazars had no profound effect on the modern day Jewish populations.
Well it's gets very tiring when people try to misinterpret your ancestors history. This because the Khazars are continually looked down upon and never even given a chance to have bright light on them, and are only seen for everything negative. Linking them with the Ashkenazi Jews also only served to create more misconceptions and lies about them, although there is some romance to the Khazars, sadly most of it is vilification to both communities. Some Jews especially Ashkenazim do carry minor Khazar blood but to say the large part of them do, is nothing but non-sense. I know there are so many lies that are being done it's not funny. Berber converts and what not when these wild theories really stop, since it's not helping anyone. I mean they have no relationship to modern day peoples of the Caucasus. However they don't show any Uralic-Turanid bloodlines like modern day Turkic peoples do so, so the Khazar hypothesis is nothing more than wishful thinking by anti-Semites who want's to take the identity of the Jewish people for their own or for other reasons. Khazar blood is more likely to be found in the Crimean Tatars probably than any Ashkenazi Jew.
The DNA almost is typical of Levantines, however the Jewish communities especially the Ashkenazim have some Slavic and Khazar blood. In fact most Ashkenazim are much closer to Palestinian and Lebanese than they are to any Turkic or Uralic population, whom the Khazars were a part of. The lack of the Turkic speech among European Jews is also one of the biggest death blow to the Khazar theory. In fact the Khazars after Judaism, and the fall of their empire were probably Islamized. The people who claim to have some traces of Khazar blood are the Balkars, Kumyks, Azeris, and the Crimean Tatars. They are more likely to descent from the Khazars than any Ashkenazim. The history of the Ashkenazim goes back to the Jews who migrated from the Roman empire into the Rhineland and not to the Khazars. Karay and Kyrimchak Jews are definetely Khazar.
DNA tests for most Ashkenazim and Sephardim shows a clear link to the Jordanian and Palestinians. Well Jordanians do descent from Edomites, Moabites and Nabateans all of these people at least according to the biblical account are descendants of Abraham or linked to Abraham in some way. Jordanians being close to Jews should not come as of surprise. Bar Rafeli despite her European looks would cluster very closely to Lebanese or Jordanian, and even to Queen Rania they would have similar genotype. Although Bar Rafeli would have more European admixture. The problem is not many Ashkenazim show Uralic or Turanid features rather they show diluted Middle Eastern phenotype.
We know that after the destruction of Khazaria by the Mongols that indeed many of the Khazars migrated into Europe mostly Poland and Hungary. The Khazars in those nation were assimilated by the Jewish population. However it seems that majority of the Khazars were in fact Islamized especially during the rise of the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate. Thus the people of the Khazar lineage would be the Balkars, Kumyks, Azeris, and Crimean Tatars, all of whom today are of the Sunni Muslim origins, with the exception of the Azeris who are Shias.
Most Ashkenazim are not Khazars as it seems. They seem to be very closely related to the Levantine populations, and they have never spoken a Turkic influenced tongue rather they spoke altered Aramaic or Hebrew. Yiddish is full of Aramaic and Hebrew lexicon but it has almost no or minor Turkic influence, although Slavic influence can be detected. The Khazars are nothing more than mystified and vilified peoples and serve as legends and tall tales.
On the Khazar theory, I think a lot of that started when the Crimean Karaites lied about their heritage to avoid being killed by the Nazis and attempted to save themselves to prove they were not of Semitic background. I do not know of any Jews today other than Crimean Karaites that claim to be descendants of Khazars. Most Azerbaijan people seem to claim some sort of Khazar connection.
Granted I would assume Khazars would have been some sort of Mongoloid/Oriental mix, most Jews are not of that background although some of the Eastern European Jews (as well as other Eastern Europeans) may have some mongoloid blood in them to a small degree, no different than other ethnic groups having mixed blood from various invasions and mixing.
The end result is the Khazar theory was used to disprove the Jews having any ties to Israel or the Semitic peoples and disconnect them from the region. That's equivalent to saying Australoids are Africans or Italians descend from blacks.
They would have still kept their Turkic language at home like the Gypsies who still speak a form of Indic languages that originated in NorthWestern India. Yet the Ashkenazim at home spoke Aramaic or Hebrew and not a Turkic tongue. However there are some words that have Turkic or Mongolic origin in Yiddish, but the lexicon of Yiddish is for the most part in fact Hebrew and Aramaic. Thus showing us a very weak link to the Khazars.
On the Khazar theory, I think a lot of that started when the Crimean Karaites lied about their heritage to avoid being killed by the Nazis and attempted to save themselves to prove they were not of Semitic background. I do not know of any Jews today other than Crimean Karaites that claim to be descendants of Khazars. Most Azerbaijan people seem to claim some sort of Khazar connection.
The Crimean Karaites are descendants of the Khazars who have survived and took refuge in the Crimean Khanate and did not convert to Islam. They also speak Karaim a Turkic langauge closely related to Crimean Tatar. However it seems to Alan Brook who is the author of the book The Jews of Khazaria, that most Crimean Karaites are no different to other Jews, but they have gained some Turkic admixture from their non-Jewish neighbours. No one is denying that some Jews do have some Khazar lineage but the majority don't. Most of the Khazars became Islamized and have become the Kumyks, Balkars, Crimean Tatars, and Azeris.
Crimean Tatars claim some Khazar blood. Same with Kumyks, Balkars and Azeris. The Khazars were a great empire and created civilization from nothing proud to have some Khazar blood in my veins.
If you had seen the various phenotypes of families, you would realize that appearance can change even within the same families. My dad has black hair and eyes and dark olive skin, his brother does too, however one of the brothers through same mother and father has blonde hair, blue eyes, a different shape nose and white skin.
One of my Persian Jewish friends in New York has dark eyes and hair, light olive skin, some of her family has blonde hair and blue eyes.
Some can call this the result of mixing or not, however the vast majority of Jews from other ethnic groups share the same cluster of DNA haplotypes, consider themselves Jewish ethnically (and in many cases religiously), and in the case of Israel, speak Hebrew. There are Ashkenazi who can pass for Arab, and there are Sephardic that can pass as Caucasian. Mizrahi usually is refered as Oriental.
The difference with Sephardic and Ashkenazi in general, most Ashkenazi speak Yiddish, most Sephardim spoke Ladino. Some of the cuisine may differ but other than that, not much different. Many Sephardic were cultured "Ashkenazi" similar to how Russians Russified the Balkans and Caucasus populations (or attempted), or the Arabs Arabized the Middle East and North Africa.
My maternal-maternal side honestly look more like Ashkenazi Jews or Turks. I think there is overlap often between Eastern Sephardim and Ashkenazi. They have their stereotypical differences in physical features, but i often see many Ashkenazi Jews who could be Sephardi Jewish and vice versa. Very few Greek Jews (living in Greece) today are left. France and America still has quite a few particularly. An overwhelming majority are culturally Sephardic, whilst a small minority are Romaniote. Technically being Eastern Sephardi means you have Romaniote ancestors and vice versa though.
The Khazar theory is only aimed at the Ashkenazim Jews. Sephardim Jews are all believed to be descendants of the Semitic Hebrews who picked up Arab, Berber, and of course Western European admixture do to their settlements.
The problem with this is that Western Chinese like the Uyghurs and Pakistanis are not closely related to the Lebanese and Palestinian populations. Yet the Jews also almost show an identical genotype with the Palestinians and Lebanese, this does indicate a common ancestry between the European Jews and the natives of the Levant. Yet Uyghurs are much closer to peoples of Iran and India, and the Pakistanis closer to Iran and India, and showing no affinity toward the Near East, unlike the Jews. If the modern day Ashkenazim are indeed Khazar we see very close links to the Urals, Siberia and modern day Central Asia, but however they are closely related to the modern day Arab populations.
The Khazars and their empire being erased from history has many questions, that continue to be left unanswered. Why did such empire that many ways had strong impact on the history of the world, has been forgotten and never to be heard or remembered to the world, and many people are asking the simple question of why? They only were resurrected in the 1970's by the Jewish author Arthur Koestler, but they were largely forgotten by all works of history.
The Russians and Soviets have systematically destroyed Khazar burial and cultural sites, especially Sarkel, the capital. However, as archeologists are fond of saying, “Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence.” Now, we do not have to rely solely on physical proof; other means such as linguistics, oral traditions, and genetics can be used to determine the history of a group. Unfortunately, Khazar history has also been used to discredit the ancestry of European Jews. Arthur Koestler, in his book The Thirteenth Tribe, claims that Ashkenazi Jews are the descendents of the Khazars and not the Judean Diaspora. This was used by the Arabs to show that Jews don’t belong in the Middle East. Recent advances in DNA testing disprove that theory and confirm that all Jews originated in Northern Iraq (Ur), just as the Bible says. Our closest relatives are the Kurds, Turks and Armenians.
Some scholars believe that only the Khazar nobility converted, since there is no significant sign of “Asiatic DNA” in the Ashkenazi gene pool. My opinion is that Turkic people are so close genetically to the Jews, that their DNA would not show up as dramatically distinct and that large numbers of Khazars converted and were absorbed by various Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. Most interesting is the theory of Simcha Jacobovici, a documentary film maker. Based on the wording of the Khazar letter as well as artifacts found in the area, he believes that the Khazars were of Israelite (lost tribe) and Turkic origin. King Joseph wrote to Ibn Shapsut “we have returned” to Judaism not “we have converted.” The memory of the Khazars refuses to die and continues to intrigue Jews. I hope that more research is done and that more sites and analytical tools become available. It would be wonderful to know more about the Jews of the steppe and their civilization.
Khazar and Karay
Khazar and Karay people
There is not any community or nation called as Khazar on the world. It is absolutely known that Khazar people lived between the centuries of VI-XI after Christ and founded a great state. It is not logically possible to comprehend that Khazar people were wiped off from the stage of history without leaving any trace of work of them. Therefore, there must be a community on the world that can be considered as the continuation or the inheritors of these people. We should look for this inheritor group firstly within the borders of the ancient Khazar State. As a result of the researches carried out, a community was determined within the boundaries of the ancient Khazar State that can be considered as the remainders of Khazars. This community is “Karay people” or “Karaim Turks”.
Karay people have lived mostly within the environs of the Crimea and Caucasus (the fields of Khazar State) so far. They speak Turkish but they are a Jewish community believing in the Pentateuch and Hz. Moses. The language of Karay people is Turkish, but their religion is the Jewish religion. It is natural that there is a relation between the Khazar people who have adopted the Hebraism and Karay Turks who have lived within the boundaries of the ancient Khazar State bearing their cultures and believing in the Pentateuch. Therefore, it should be appropriate to deal with the relation between Khazar and Karay people and to illuminate the issues in briedf through reviewing the political and religious histories of these two communities.
Khazars
Most of the historians consider Khazar people as a tribe of the Turks and some of the Western scientists have called them as a tribe who became Turk in the later periods.
Although some researchers wanted to connect the Khazar people to Sabir, Gokturk or Suvar people, we are convinced that they have always been separate Turkish nation since the ancient times of the history. However, since they were not so powerful before they founded their state, they must not have been properly known and acquainted. Maybe they were titled with the names of the dominant groups that they were subject to in those periods. They became powerful and founded their state and the name of Khazar got on the stage of history only after they became a political power.
Khazar institutions lay the foundation for various state institutions that appeared after Khazar period particularly with Seljuks, Russians and Hungarians. There are Khazar traces observed in the military and administrative system of Seljuks and also the Russian institutions of state. Khazar people were the master teacher of Russians and Hungarians and probably all Europe in respect of the mining and processing of the minerals, weapon industry, the processing of gold and silver as ornaments, the city plans, the building plans and techniques.
The Khazar people had a perfect economic system that can even be taken as a model today. In those periods, Etil was the capital city that was one of the commercial centres of the world. The city of Etil accommodated the merchants from all over the world within its structure as a Market. The state would not intervene in the economy all over the country and it was contented with only the taxes that it collected from the commercial goods. There was a commercial life based on full competition that was managed under the control of private enterprise in the country. In return for the taxes that it collected, the state would provide the road safety in the course of the transportation of the commercial goods and it would take the proper measures in order to settle down all disputes arising from the commercial relations in an equitable and fair manner. Moreover, the State would not carry out any operation that would cause any loss for the free market economy including business administration.
Having survived as a state for five centuries, Khazar people was considered as one of the rare communities that can be taken as a model on the world in respect of their religious life. There was a full freedom of belief in the Khazar State. The Muslims, Christians, Jews and the members of the other religions lived together in peace in the Khazar capital Etil. There was freedom of thought and belief in all over the country. Nobody was forced to convert to another religion and subjected to any pressure due to his beliefs.
Before they came to this region, Khazar people were the believers of the ancient Turkish religion. After their immigration to the coasts of the Caspian Sea, they followed this religious belief for a short period. But when the Khazar State was founded and the Khazar people became a political power on the stage of the history, the members of the three holy religions started their activities to attract the attention of the Khazar people to their religions. While the rulers of the Abbasid State invited them to Islam in that period, the Christian Byzantine emperors wanted to make them Christian and have them on their side. Meanwhile, some of the Hebrew religious leaders that were exiled from Istanbul, the Byzantine Empire came firstly to the Crimea and then to the Khazar country. They came to the palace of Khazars and took shelter in the justice of Khan Hakan. Hakan behaved kindly to these Hebrew religious leaders and got information from these people about their religions. As a result of the propaganda of these Hebrew religious leaders that came to the palace of Khazar, the Khan and his close acquaintances (Hakan Bulan according to the letter of Yusuf) converted to the Hebrew religion. This incident has been recorded in the history as the “Conversion of Khazar people to Hebraism or the Adaptation of Hebraic Identity”. In due course, some of the people adopted the Hebraism. Furthermore, some people from the Turkish tribes such as Kipchaks, Kaliz, etc. who were not from the Khazar tribe converted to the Jewish religion.
A question occurs to our minds at this point. Why did the Hebrews accepted the Khazar people to their religion although they did not receive any person to their religion who was not descended from the ancient Israelites? The answer to this question will settle down the problem about the origin of Karay Turks. Since the ancient periods, the Hebrews are divided into two groups as the protagonists of Talmud and the antagonists against Talmud. Since the Middle Ages, the first group was called as Rabbanim (Rabbani people) and the second group was called as Kaim (Karai people). The Hebrews that did not accept any other person from the other races are the Hebrews that are the protagonists of Talmud constituting the first group of Rabbanim. Karai Hebrews had accepted the people from the other races to their religions in every period of the history. The Hebrews that had gone to the Khazar country and influenced the Khazar Khan and his relatives to convert to Hebraism were the Karaim Hebrews that believed in the Pentateuch but opposed to Talmud. The number of the people that adopted the Karaim Hebraism in the Khazar State was not so high as exaggerated by some historians such as Dunlop, etc. Therefore, it is not possible to state that all of the Hebrews in the Eastern Europe of today have come from the lineage of Khazar people. Maybe today’s Hebrews in the Eastern Europe may have the blood of Khazar, but it is not to a high level as exaggerated.
According to the news stated by the Islam historian, Mes’udi, there were seven judges in Khazar Capital City of Etil. Two of them would hear the cases of Muslim, two of them would hear the cases of Christians and two of then would hear the cases of Hebrews. One of them would hear the cases of the members of the other religions. Therefore, there was not anybody in this country who were despised due to his beliefs and nobody would be subjected to any treatment in contradiction with his beliefs. Those who want to execute the secularism and the religious tolerance in Turkey and all over the world should investigate the religious history of Khazar people.
Karay people
Pursuant to the collapse of the Khazar State, numerous Muslim people that lived in Khazar country were lost among the other Muslim communities. The Khazar Muslims were especially assimilated within the Muslim Turkish tribes such as Kipchaks, Karacay, Karabarda, etc. In the course of the collapse of the state, some of the Christians that constituted the second biggest religious community were mixed with the Christian Slav tribes and they were assimilated among these people. The other group emigrated from the Khazar State to the Byzantine that was another Christian State. This migration took place from maritime lines and also from the main roads over the coasts of the Eastern Black Sea towards the North, East and Southeast Anatolian lands. The immigrants who came to this region were connected to the churches that had been founded in this region by the Greek and Armenians before. Although they attended the Greek and Armenian churches, these people did not speak the Greek and Armenian languages for a long time and they only spoke Turkish.
These people who came to Anatolia in the eleventh century did not learn to speak Greek and Armenian languages for exactly five centuries. They built a church in Anatolia in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and they wrote the inscriptions of this church in Turkish language using the Greek and Armenian alphabets. Although some of these people learned the Greek and Armenian languages as a result of the activities of Catholic missioners who had come to Anatolia since the seventeenth century, some of them insisted upon speaking only Turkish language. Of these people, Karaman group that was sent to Greece as a result of the intervention pursuant to the war of independence did not even know to speak Greek language. Among these Christian Khazar people who came to Anatolia over the coasts of the Black Sea, those who attended to the Greek churches lost their Khazar identity and became Greek people and those who attended to the Armenian churches also lost their Khazar identity and became Armenian people. Today, there are lots of traces pertaining to these Christian Khazar people in various regions of the East and Middle and Southeast Anatolia. Numerous names such as Khazar Mountain, Khazar Lake, Khazarshah, Hazri, Hazro, Hazriyan, Hazara, etc. show us the traces of Christian Khazar people in Anatolia.
Pursuant to the collapse of the Khazar State, the Kipchak people exiled some of the Hebrew Khazar people into the central regions of Russians. These Hebrew Khazar people that were mixed with the Russians converted to the Christianity as a result of the missioner propaganda. However, some of these people opposed to the conversion into Christianity and they were forced to become Christian by the pressure and torture of the Russians. These people pretended to be Christians in respect of their physical appearances, but they continued to follow their religion of Hebraism secretly. The Hebraic resources mention about these secret Hebrews in the Tsardom of Russia that celebrated Sabbath on Saturdays although they attended the church on Mondays. The Khazar Hebrews apart from those that were exiled immigrated to the Crimea for they considered it as a safer place for them. Those from the Kipchak and Kaliz people who had adopted the Hebraism joined to the community that gathered in the Crimea and they enlarged their society. There were some people from the tribes such as Khazars, Kipchaks, Kaliz people, etc. within the new community that came out in the Crimea. Since this new community that came out in the Crimea was a mixed community, they were called with the name of the sects that they followed instead of the names of Khazar and Kipchaks.
As it is known, the Hebrew sect adopted by Khazar people was Karaim. Therefore, the new community that came out was called as the Karaim community. The name of Karaim was frequently used after the century XV. The essence of this community was based on Khazar people and most of them were composed of Khazar Hebrews. However, due to the dominion of the Kipchak people in the region pursuant to the collapse of the Khazar State, the community started to speak with the Kipchak dialect instead of Khazar dialect. But the language that was spoken was not entirely the Kipchak language. It was a different Kipchak dialect including various words from the Khazar language with the domination of Kipchak language and this dialect was called as Karaim Turkish by some linguists. The word of Karaim was essentially a Hebrew word and it is the name of the Hebrew sect in the middle ages. There were some people descended from the Israelites in this sect in the beginning, but within a short period, the people from the other races converted to this region.
Some of Karay people who left the Crimea came directly to Istanbul and settled there. Some others emigrated from the Crimea firstly to Romania, then Edirne and finally to Istanbul and settled there. Thus, a Karay community was gathered in Istanbul. All Karay people were in peace and quiet until the revolution in October 1917; however, they were disturbed pursuant to the revolution. Some of Karay people left the Crimea and Russia pursuant to the revolution and immigrated to the European countries, America and Egypt. Nearly all of the people who immigrated to Egypt went to Israel pursuant to the Channel War in 1947 and settled in the region of Ramle lydda. According to the information obtained from Israeli resources, there are nearly 15 thousands of Karay Turks that live in Israel today. The Israeli people whom we have interviewed told that the Karay people who had come from the Crimea were not the descendants of the Turks. However, the crushing majority of Karay people who came from the Egypt were the Karay Turks who had emigrated from the Crimea to the Egypt. The Crimean Karay Turks who were shocked by the Russians in 1917 suffered from a bigger stroke of Russians in the course of the Second World War and minimum 30 thousands of Karay Turks were exiled to various regions of the Soviet geography.
Today, there are over 30.000 thousands of Karay people who live all over the world particularly in U.S.A., various European countries, Turkey, Israel and the former Soviet geography. However, it has been observed that the figures determined before were faulty and deficient pursuant to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Bucolic Hebrews that live in today’s Azerbaijani geography must have been Karay people. This number is increased to a higher level with the addition of the number of the Bucolic Hebrews who live in the cities of Kusar, Baku, Gence, etc. in Azerbaijan.
All of Karay people who still live in Israel have learned the Hebrew language and they use this language in their daily life. The Karay language tends to be forgotten by the children in Israel. Due to the strict rules of marriage in Karaim sect and the prohibition of intermarriage with relatives, young Karay people in Israel are generally married with Hebrews who are protagonists of Talmud and this situation causes to the diminution of this community. While the number of Karay people in Turkey was around 150 in the year of 1985, it has decreased to the number of 95 in the year of 1993. The numbers of the Polish Karay people determined above 1000 in 1960s have fairly decreased. Furthermore, we have witnessed that the Karay population in Europe and America decreases significantly. The Bucolic Hebrews in the Caucasus and Azerbaijan had taken pride in saying that they were the descendants of Khazar people. But, as a result of the inculcation of the religious leaders from America, Europe and Israel who were protagonists of Talmud, these Bucolic Hebrews have started to say that they are not the descendants of Khazar people, and that they do not have any relation with Karaim sect and therefore, and that they were the descendants of Israelites and the protagonists of Talmud.
Karachay-Balkars-Kumyks: Turkic peoples of Khazar Israelite origin of Northern Caucasus range
It's noticeable that one of the toponyms of the Karachays-Balkars-Kumyks peoples is called Malka, queen in Hebrew. After all the Caucasus mountains were for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel a pass to go through before ending up in western Europe. The pride of these 3 peoples in the Elbrus mountain resmbles the pride of ancient Israel in their Holy Temple, which is named in the Bible Mountain of the Lord.
It's believed that the Ossetes (Alans), Chechens, Mingrelians, Lezgians & Armenians plus almost the rest of all peoples of the Caucasus have Israelite origin since this is the passage taken to western Europe.
Kumyks
Kumyks (Kumyk: къумукълар, qumuqlar, Russian: кумыки) are a Turkic people occupying the Kumyk plateau in north Dagestan and south Terek, and the lands bordering the Caspian Sea. They comprise 14% of the population of the Russian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Kumyk language. Kumyks practice folk Islam, with some religious rituals that trace back to pre-Islamic times.
It is supposed that Ptolemy knew them under the name of Kami and Kamaks. Various explorers see in them descendants of the Khazars. Armin Vambery supposes that they settled in their present quarters during the flourishing period of the Khazar kingdom in the 8th century.
During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries CE the Kumyks had an independent kingdom, based at Tarki, and ruled by a leader called the Shamkhal.
The Russians built forts in their territory in 1559 and under Peter I. Having long been more civilized than the surrounding Caucasian mountaineers, the Kumyks have always enjoyed some respect among them. The upper terraces of the Kumyk plateau, which the Kumyks occupy, leaving its lower parts to the Nogais, are very fertile.
In recent years Kumyk nationalists such as Salau Aliev have agitated for Kumyk dominance within Daghestan, citing Khazar history as their inspiration.
The Karachays (Къарачайлыла, Qaraçaylıla) are Turkic people of the North Caucasus, mostly situated in the Russian Karachay-Cherkess Republic.
The Karachays are a Turkic people descending from the Kipchaks, with some admixture of the medieval Alans and native Caucasians, their Turkic language is the same as the Kumyks from Daghestan. The Kipchaks came to the area of the Caucasus in 11th century A.D, the state of Alania established in the Middle Ages had its capital in Maghas, which some authors locate in Arkhyz, the mountains currently inhabited by the Karachay (others place it in modern Ingushetia or North Ossetia). In the 14th century, Alania was destroyed by Timur and the decimated population dispersed in the mountains. Timur's intervention to the North Caucasus introduced the local nations to Islam, the name "Karachay" means "Black River".
16 sun beams from a circle, the sun, like 16 petal flower-16 spoke wheel from the Middle East
Various points of view exist in contemporary scholarship regarding the origin of the Karachays. Some think that the primary role was played by the Kipchaks or Polovtsians—groups which, under pressure from the Mongols in the thirteenth century, went into the mountains of the central Caucasus, where the Iranian-speaking Alans were living. Groups of Alans, assimilated by the Turkic Polovtsians, constituted the nucleus of the Karachay people. In the opinion of other scholars it was earlier Turkic-language groups that took part in the formation of the Karachay ethnic group: Huns, Bulgars, and Khazars, who were living in the northern Caucasus in the ninth to twelfth centuries.
Living for centuries in the Caucasus with the natives, made the Karachays and with their close nation the Balkars as Caucasians in folklore and traditions, they adopted the Caucasian way of life and customs, but they kept their Turkic language.
In 1828 the Russian army invaded the area of the Karachay. October 20, 1828 occurred Hasaukinskoe bloodiest battle in which the king's troops (were under the personal command of General Emanuel), equipped with artillery, managed to win. Troops Emanuel lost and injured 163 people, which exceeded the loss of the Russians in the battle with the 30 thousandth shell-Batal Pasha.
Karachaevskij elders have taken steps to prevent the massacres of their villages. The day after the battle, when troops are already Emanuel approached to-Dzhurtu, they went to meet the delegation of elders. As a result of negotiations, agreement was reached on the inclusion of Karachi in the Russian Empire. After the annexation has been left intact all the internal self-government Karachi: officials and courts. Proceedings of the neighboring Muslim peoples continued to take place on folk customs and the Sharia. In Karachay even assigned arms, but were taken from Karachai Amanat pledge their loyalty oath.
In 1831 - 1860, Karachays joined the bloody anti-Russian struggles carried out by Caucasian peoples. In 1861 - 1880, to escape repression by the Russian army, large numbers of Karachays migrated to Turkey.
Accession (in many ways more formal) Karachi to the Empire was considered very important achievement of the king's generals.
In November 1943, the Karachai, based on false charges of collaboration with Nazi Germany, most of a total population of about 80 thousand people, were forcibly deported and resettled in Central Asia: namely in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In just the first two years of deportation, disease and famine caused the death of 35% of the population. Of the 28 thousand children, 22 thousand (about 78%) perished.
Elders of the Karachai, who were eyewitnesses to these events, described the times as: "Our exile to Central Asia was terrible. The war, the expulsion, the violence and the hunger but, the Karachai were proud and preferred to die rather than to beg, and thus disgrace himself and his clan". At the same time, many of the Karachai fought in the front lines of World War II against the fascist invaders.
While not documented, the Soviet politician MA Suslov (one of the main perpetrators of repression against North Caucasian peoples), had a personal dislike of the Karachai. According to eyewitnesses, Suslov was present at a wedding in Karachae, where, during the feast, he assaulted one of the elders, for which he was severely beaten by young mountain people. This, among others, was the source of subsequent difficulties in the process of repatriation of the Karachay people. After 14 years of exile, in 1957 during the premierhip of Nikita Khruschev, the Karachai were repatriated home.
The Karachay nation, as well as its brother nation, the Balkars, took the valleys and foothills of the Central Caucasus in the water gaps of the Kuban, Zelenchuk, Malka, Baksan, Cherek and others.
The Karachays and Balkars are very proud of the symbol of the nations, Mount Elbrus, the highest double-headed mountain in Europe with an altitude 5,642 meters.
Locations with dominant Karachay populations: Uchkulan, Huzruk, Kart Dzhurt, Arhyz, Dombai, Teberda, Karachaevsk, Ust-Dzheguta, Uchkeken, Novaya Dzheguta, Staraya Dzheguta, Kuzul Kala, Eltarkach.
The Karachay dialect of Karachay-Balkar language is of the Northwestern branch of Turkic languages, the Kumyk languages is also the same language, Kumyks live in northeast Dagestan. Most Karachay people follow Islam.
Does this hand have any relation with the hand of Ulster & Zarah, son of Judah? The background is red too.
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Czarist Russian annexation of the Karachay nation led to mass migration to Turkey in the early 20th century. Karachays were also displaced en masse to the then Soviet controlled Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan after Stalin's relocation campaign in 1944. Since the Khrushchev era in the Soviet Union, many Karachays have been repatriated to their homeland from Central Asia. Karachays residing in Turkey have also migrated to numerous Western countries in search of economic opportunity. Today, there are sizable Karachay communities in Turkey (centered around Eskisehir), Uzbekistan, United States of America, and Germany.
The isolated lifestyle among the Caucasus Mountains was one of the reasons of the establishment of the Karachay's unique character. Karachay people live in communities that are divided into clans and families: Uidegi – Ataul - Tukum – Tiire.
Prominent tukums include: Aci, Batcha (Batca), Baychora, Bayrimuk (Bayramuk), Bostan, Catto, Cosar (Çese), Duda, Hubey (Hubi), Karabash, Laypan, Lepshoq, Ozden, Silpagar, Teke, Toturkul, and many others. There are roughly 32 Karachay tukums. A tukum is basically a family's clan-based lineage.
Karachay people are very independent in their behavior and adherence to their freedom. They have strong historically developed traditions and customs which regulate their lives: the wedding, the funeral, the pronouncement of family decisions, etc. They are fiercely loyal to their immediate family, as well, as their "tukum" or clan. They will never offend a guest. Cowardice is the most serious shame for the male.
Krymchaks
The Krymchaks (Krymchak: sg. кърымчах - qrımçax, pl. кърымчахлар - qrımçaxlar) are an ethno-religious community of Crimea derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Rabbinic Judaism. They have historically lived in close proximity to the Crimean Karaites. At first krymchak was a Russian descriptive used to differentiate them from their Ashkenazi Jewish coreligionists, as well as other Jewish communities in the former Russian Empire such as the Georgian Jews, but in the second half of the 19th century this name was adopted by the Krymchaks themselves. Before this their self-designation was "Срель балалары" (Srel balalary) - literally "Children of Israel". The Crimean Tatars referred to them as zuluflı çufutlar ("Jews with pe'ot") to distinguish them from the Karaites, who were called zulufsız çufutlar ("Jews without pe'ot").
Even the Wikipedia recognizes the Jewish origin of Krymchaks as seen in this picture above.The Krymchaks speak a modified form of the Crimean Tatar language, called the Krymchak language. It contains numerous Hebrew and Aramaic loan-words and was traditionally written in Hebrew characters (now it is written in Cyrillic script).
Krymchaks are probably partially descended from Jewish colonists who settled along the Black Sea in ancient times. Jewish communities existed in many of the Greek colonies in the region during the late classic period. Recently excavated inscriptions in Crimea have revealed a Jewish presence at least as early as the 1st century BCE. In some Crimean towns, monotheistic pagan cults called sebomenoi theon hypsiston ("Worshippers of the All-Highest God", or "God-Fearers") existed. These quasi-proselytes kept the Jewish commandments but remained uncircumcised and retained certain pagan customs. Eventually, these sects disappeared as their members adopted either Christianity or normative Judaism. Another version that after suppression of Bar Kokhba's revolt, by the emperor Hadrian those Jews who were not executed were exiled to the Crimean peninsula.
The late classical era saw great upheaval in the region as Crimea was occupied by Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars and other peoples. Jewish merchants such as the Radhanites began to develop extensive contacts in the Pontic region during this period, and probably maintained close relations with the proto-Krymchak communities. Khazar dominance of Crimea during the early Middle Ages is considered to have at least a partial impact on the Krymchak demographics.
In the late 7th century most of Crimea fell to the Khazars. The extent to which the Krymchaks influenced the ultimate conversion of the Khazars and the development of Khazar Judaism is unknown. During the period of Khazar rule, intermarriage between Crimean Jews and Khazars is likely, and the Krymchaks probably absorbed numerous Khazar refugees during the decline and fall of the Khazar kingdom (a Khazar successor state, ruled by Georgius Tzul, was centered on Kerch). It is known that Kipchak converts to Judaism existed, and it is possible that from these converts the Krymchaks adopted their distinctive language.
The Mongol conquerors of the Pontic region were promoters of religious freedom, and the Genoese occupation of the southern Crimea (1315–1475) saw rising degrees of Jewish settlement in the region. The Jewish community was divided among those who prayed according to the Sephardi, the Ashkenazi, and the Romaniote rites. Only in 1515 were the different styles united into a distinctive Krymchak rite by Rabbi Moshe Ha-Golah, a Chief Rabbi of Kiev who had settled in Crimea.
In the 18th century the community was headed by David Ben Karasubazar Lehno Eliezer (d. 1735), author of the introduction of the "ritual prayer book Kaffa" and the works of "Mishkan David" ("Abode of David"), devoted to grammar of Hebrew. He is also the author of monumental historical chronicle, "Dewar sefataim" ("Utterance the mouth") in Hebrew on the history of the Crimean Khanate.
Under the Crimean Khanate the Jews were lived in separate quarters and paid the dhimmi-tax (the Jizya). A limited judicial autonomy was granted according to the Ottoman millet system. Overt, violent persecution was extremely rare.
Anthropologist S.Vaysenberg said: "The Origin of Krymchaks lost in the darkness of the ages. Only one thing can be said that the Turkic blood in them is less than Karaites, although certain kinship with the peoples of both the Khazars can hardly be denied. But Krymchaks during the Middle Ages and modern times is constantly mixed up with their European counterparts. For the Italian-Jewish admixture of blood from the time of the Genoese family said Lombroso, Pyastro and others. Cases of confusion with the Russian Jews in recent times ".
Unfortunately, there is no general works on the ethnography of Krymchaks. The available summary of folklore materials are not complete. Several extensive data anthroponimics, although they reflect the situation in the late 19th and early 20th century, without affecting the earlier period, according to which there is archival material. The study of each of these groups of sources can shed light on the ethnogenesis of ethnic minorities Krymchaks.
Russian Empire annexed Crimea in 1783. The Krymchaks were thereafter subjected to the same religious persecution imposed on other Jews in Russia. Unlike their Karaite neighbors, the Krymchaks suffered the full brunt of anti-Jewish restrictions.
During the 19th century many Ashkenazim from Ukraine and Lithuania began to settle in Crimea. Compared with these Ashkenazim the Krymchaks seemed somewhat backward; their illiteracy rates, for example, were quite high, and they held fast to many superstitions. Intermarriage with the Ashkenazim reduced the numbers of the distinct Krymchak community dramatically. By 1900 there were 60,000 Ashkenazim and only 6,000 Krymchaks in Crimea.
In the mid-19th century the Krymchaks became followers of Rabbi Chaim Hezekiah Medini, a Sephardi rabbi born in Jerusalem who had come to Crimea from Istanbul. His followers accorded him the title of gaon. Settling in Karasu Bazaar, the largest Krymchak community in Crimea, Rabbi Medini spent his life raising educational standards among the Jews of Crimea.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, civil war tore apart Crimea. Many Krymchaks were killed in the fighting between the Red Army and the White Movement. More still died in the famines of the early 1920s and the early 1930s. Many emigrated to the Holy Land, the United States, and Turkey.
Under Joseph Stalin, the Krymchaks were forbidden to write in Hebrew and were ordered to employ a Cyrillic alphabet to write their own language. Synagogues and yeshivas were closed by government decree. Krymchaks were compelled to work in factories and collective farms.
Unlike the Karaim, the Krymchaks were targeted for annihilation by the Nazis. Six thousand Krymchaks, almost 75% of their population, were killed by the Nazis. Moreover, upon the return of Soviet authority to the region, many Krymchaks found themselves deported to Central Asia along with their Crimean Tatar neighbors.
By 2000, only about 600 Krymchaks lived in the former Soviet Union, about half in Ukraine and the remainder in Georgia, Russia, and Uzbekistan. A 600-700 Krymchaks still clinging to their Crimean identity live in the United States and Israel: animator Ralph Bakshi is the most famous of these.
Balkars
The Balkars (Karachay-Balkar: таулу - tawlu "mountaineer", аланла - alanla) are a Turkic ethnic group in the Caucasus region, one of the titular populations of Kabardino-Balkaria. Their Karachay-Balkar language is of the Ponto-Caspian subgroup of the Northwestern (Kipchak) group of Turkic languages.
The origins of the Balkar people have not yet been definitively established: various hypotheses have associated them with the Huns, the Khazars, the Bulgars, the Alans, the Brukhs, the Kipchaks and Cumans the Vengrians, the Chekhs and Turkicized Japhetic groups. Some contemporary scholars attribute their origin to a cultural conglomeration of northern Caucasian tribes with the Alans and with Turkish-speaking tribes, among which the most significant were probably the Black Bulgars and the Western Kipchaks. Elements of Balkar culture indicate a long association with the Near East, the Mediterranean, the rest of the Caucasus. In the pre-Mongol period (before the thirteenth century) the Balkars were part of the Alan union of tribes, but after the Mongol invasion they retreated into the canyons of the central Caucasus.
According to native ethnogenetic traditions, the Balkars originally settled in the basin of the main Balkar canyon, where the hunter Malkar found success and called his companions Misaka and Basiat of Majar (or Madyar) to join him. The oldest written information about this canyon dates from the fourteenth century and can be found in a Georgian epigraph on a golden cross in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Tskhovati, South Ossetia: the text refers to the canyon in question as "Basianian". In more recent times, in Russian sources, the Balkar population is also referred to as "Basian" and "Balxar".
Legends and chronicles describe the irruption into the fastnesses of Tamerlane's men, who intended to ascend the heights of Mount. Elbrus. The Balkars are mentioned in west European and Turkish chronicles at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Balkars together with the Kabardians mounted a resistance to the Crimean Gireys and maintained relations with Georgia and Russia. In 1827 the Balkars finally became Russian citizens, fixing their loyalty through the institution of amanat (with hostages). At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a small segment of the Balkars (Chegems and Basians) emigrated to Turkey and Syria. After the civil war and the establishment of Soviet power in 1920, the Balkars were integrated into the structure of the USSR and assigned their own national-territorial unit. In early 1944 Joseph Stalin accused the Balkars of collaborating with Nazi Germany and the entire population was subjected to a mass deportation to parts of Central Asia, especially Kazakhstan. The territory was renamed the Kabardin ASSR until 1957, when the Balkar territory was reestablished and most Balkars returned to their native localities.
In 1944, the Soviet government forcibly deported almost the entire Balkar population to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Omsk Oblast in Siberia. Starting on 8 March 1944 and finishing the following day, the NKVD loaded 37,713 Balkars onto 14 train echelons bound for Central Asia and Siberia. The Stalin regime placed the exiled Balkars under special settlement restrictions identical to those that it had imposed upon the deported Russian-Germans, Kalmyks, Karachais, Chechens and Ingush. By October 1946 the Balkar population had been reduced to 32,817 due to deaths from malnutrition and disease. The Balkars remained confined by the special settlement restrictions until 28 April 1956. Only in 1957, however, could they return to their mountain homeland in the Caucasus. During 1957 and 1958, 34,749 Balkars returned home (Bugai, doc. 64, pp. 279–280).
In the Cyrillic alphabet as used by the Karachay-Balkars there are eight vowels and twenty-seven consonants. In the past the official written languages were Arabic for religious services and Turkish for business matters. From 1920 on Balkar has been the language of instruction in primary schools; subsequent instruction is carried out in Russian. Until 1928 Arabic letters were used to write the Balkar language and after that (in 1937), Cyrillic. Ninety-six percent of the population is bilingual in Balkar and Russian. Organs of mass culture, secondary school texts, newspapers, and magazines in both Balkar and Russian continue to increase in number.
Karachays
The Karachays (Karachay-Balkar: къарачайлыла, also алан - alan, pl. аланла - alanla) are a Turkic speaking people of the North Caucasus region, mostly situated in the Russian Karachay-Cherkess Republic.
The Karachays (Къарачайлыла, Qaraçaylıla) are a Turkic people descended from the Kipchaks, and share their language with the Kumyks from Daghestan. In Turkic, "Karachay" means "Black River".
The Kipchaks (Cumans) came to the Caucasus in the 11th century AD. The state of Alania was established in the Middle Ages and had its capital in Maghas, which some authors locate in Arkhyz, the mountains currently inhabited by the Karachay, while others place it in either what is now modern Ingushetia or North Ossetia. In the 14th century, Alania was destroyed by Timur and the decimated population dispersed into the mountains. Timur's incursion into the North Caucasus introduced the local nations to Islam.
In 1828 the Russian army invaded the Caucasus region, including Karachay. On October 20, 1828 the Battle of Hasaukinskoe took place, a battle in which the Russian emperor's troops, under the command of General Emanuel killed or injured 163 people. The day after the battle, as Russian troops were approaching Dzhurtu, the Karachay elders met with the Russian leaders. In order to prevent the massacre of Karachay villages, an agreement was reached for the inclusion of the Karachay into the Russian Empire.
After this annexation, the internal self-government of Karachay was left intact, including its officials and courts. Interactions with neighboring Muslim peoples continued to take place based on both folk customs and Sharia law. In Karachay, soldiers were taken from Karachai Amanat, pledged and oath of loyalty, and were assigned arms.
From 1831 to 1860, the Karachays joined the bloody anti-Russian struggles carried out by the Caucasian peoples. Between 1861 and 1880, to escape reprisals by the Russian army, large numbers of Karachays migrated to Turkey.
In 1942 the Germans permitted the establishment of a Karachay National Committee to administer their "autonomous region"; the Karachays were also allowed to form their own police force and establish a brigade that was to fight with the Wehrmacht This relationship with Nazi Germany resulted, when the Russians regained control of the region in November 1943, with the Karachays being charged with collaboration with Nazi Germany. The majority of the total population of about 80,000 were forcibly deported and resettled in Central Asia, mostly in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In the first two years of the deportations, disease and famine caused the death of 35% of the population; of 28,000 children, 78%, or almost 22,000 perished.
Karachay girl in traditional dress
The Karachay nation, along with the Balkars and Nogays occupy the valleys and foothills of the Central Caucasus in the river valleys of the Kuban, Big Zelenchuk River, Malka, Baksan, Cherek and others.
The Karachays and Balkars are very proud of the symbol of their nations, Mount Elbrus, the highest twin-peaked mountain in Europe with an altitude 5,642 meters. The Karachays and Balkars are very proud of the symbol of their nations, Mount Elbrus, the highest twin-peaked mountain in Europe with an altitude 5,642 meters. The Karachay dialect of the Karachay-Balkar language comes from the northwestern branch of Turkic languages. The Kumyks, who live in northeast Dagestan, speak the same language, the Kumyk language. The majority of the Karachay people are followers of Islam. Many Karachays migrated to Turkey after the Russian annexation of the Karachay nation in the early 19th century. Karachays were also forcibly displaced to the Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan during Joseph Stalin's relocation campaign in 1944. Since the Nikita Khrushchev era in the Soviet Union, many Karachays have been repatriated to their homeland from Central Asia. Today, there are sizable Karachay communities in Turkey (centered around Afyonkarahisar), Uzbekistan, the United States, and Germany.
The Karachay's isolation among the Caucasus Mountains was one of the reasons for the establishment of the Karachay's unique character.
Karachay people live in communities that are divided into Families and clans (Tukum). A tukum is based on a family's lineage and there are roughly 32 Karachay tukums. Prominent tukums include: Aci, Batcha (Batca), Baychora, Bayrimuk (Bayramuk), Bostan, Catto, Cosar (Çese), Duda, Hubey (Hubi), Karabash, Laypan, Lepshoq, Ozden, Silpagar, Teke, and Toturkul.
Karachay people are very independent, and have strong traditions and customs which dominate many aspects of their lives: e.g. weddings, funerals, and family pronouncements. They are fiercely loyal to both their immediate family and their "tukum". They will never offend a guest. Cowardice is the most serious shame for a male.
Adyghe people
Adygheys are close to the Jews genetically, according to studies. Although some Ashkenazis might have Khazari ancestry, among the Adyghes, other peoples from the Caucasus...
Map of Ethnolinguistic groups in the Caucasus region including Adyghes in the narrow sense of the term Adyghe is term referring to Circassian peoples of the northern Caucasus.
In a wider sense, "Adyghe" can refer to all of the Circassian peoples (whose native demonym is Адыгэ Adyge; Russian: Адыги Adygi). In a narrower sense, "Adyghe" proper refers only to the Western Circassians (Russian: Адыгейцы Adygeytsy), i.e. speakers of the West Circassian or Adyghe language.
Within Russia, the numbers of Adyghe proper in 2010 were 124,835 including 107,048 in Adygea, 13,834 in Krasnodar Krai, 569 in Moscow, and (in 2002) 584 in Kabardino-Balkaria.
The political history of the Adyghe proper since the Russian Revolution is complex. On 27 July 1922, a Circassian (Adygea) Autonomous Oblast was established in the Kuban-Black Sea Oblast, which would later become Krasnodar Krai. After several name changes, the Adyghe Autonomous Oblast was established on 3 August 1928. On 5 October 1990, the Adygea ASSR was proclaimed and separated from Krasnodar Krai. On 24 March 1992, it became the Republic of Adygea. A significant population of the Adyghe community now lives in the Black Sea region of Northern Turkey where their culture is preserved in villages in the area.
The Circassians are the oldest indigenous people of Northwest Caucasus and identify themselves as Adyge. The Circassians preserve their culture and continue to use the Circassian language as their primary means of communication. Only in the 18th century did their language assume a written form. Organized into tribes, the Circassians have never had an independent state.
Once, the Circassians were the main ethnic element in northwest Caucasus; however, this drastically changed under the pressure of the Russian conquest, and especially after the defeat of the Great Revolt (1825-1864), when a Circassian mass exodus took place. This exodus was called 'one of the greatest mass movements of population in modern history'. Circassians moved to Turkey and other areas of the Ottoman Empire, including the Middle East. One and a half million Circassians abandoned their ancient homeland, leaving behind scattered remnant communities. The Russian census of 1897 recorded only 150,000 Circassians, less than one tenth of the original population. There are many stories, poems and songs about the victims of the war, the emigration itself and the state of exile. Rituals and memorial days are devoted to these events.
Much insight into Circassian culture and customs can be gathered from Circassian folk dances. The dances tell stories about everyday life such as courtship, preparing for war, the harvest, and showing of strength. All stories ultimately originate from the centuries-old Nart Epics, a series of 26 cycles and 700 texts dating back to 4,000-3,500 BC. The stories preserve Circassian ancient history, and they are predecessors to Greek mythology, containing ancient stories of gods from southern Russia. From these Epics came the "Adyge habza," or Circassian traditions.
The habza is an important feature of Circassian identity and was established long before their Islamization. It is the Circassian system of laws, rules, etiquette, and ethos. The habza (is it the Law of Moses?) provided the rules of behavior and morality that are handed down in other societies through religion. The Adyge habza is passed on from generation to generation, with today's Circassian youth still being taught to carry on the traditions.
The Israeli Adyghe / Circassians, although small and isolated, have succeeded in preserving their culture and identity more than any other Circassian community in the diaspora (maybe because they feel at home with fellow Israelites). They number about 7,000 and reside mainly in two villages. They are Sunni Muslims, and are recognized as a distinct community. The villages maintain good relations with the nearby Jewish villages and towns, as well as with neighboring Arabs. Circassian men serve in the army, so structurally their position in Israel is similar to that of the Israeli Druze.
In Jordan, more than in any other communities, the Circassians also have an important civil identity. In the Hashemite Kingdom, neither the Bedouins nor the Palestinians have adopted a civil Jordanian Hashemite identity to the degree that the Circassians have. The Circassians have been allies of the Hashemite rulers ever since these came from Hijaz to Trans-Jordan and established the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan with the support of the British. The Circassians have emerged as the most loyal group to the Hashemite rulers. Thus, the Jordanian Circassians share a duality whereby they have a sense of belonging to Jordan, and yet feel strong ties to their Caucasian identity and the Caucasus. Many Jordanian Circassians, for example, speak Arabic and hardly speak the Adyge language at all. On the other hand, the Adyge habza is still important.
Many Circassians were Christianized under Georgian and Byzantine influence in the 6th century. However, under the growing influence of the Ottomans, Islam gradually replaced Christianity and became fully established in the 18th and 19th century, blending with remnants of Christian beliefs and even pre-Christian folk beliefs (Israelite beliefs really). It seems that religious influence upon Circassian collective identity, both in the past and in the present, has been limited and superficial. Some Circassians became Muslims only during their mass migration, on the ships taking them to the other side of the Black Sea.
In recent years, Circassians in the Caucasus region underwent an intensive process of secularization. In addition to the absence of mosques, there is a strong norm of consuming alcoholic drinks. A whole set of social customs and rituals derived from the pre-Islamic Circassian culture has been revived.
The situation of Israel's Circassians is different and Islam takes an eminent position in the villages, governing lifestyle and morals. There is also a small percentage of Cirassians who are believed to be Christians.
The collapse of the Soviet Union has heightened Circassian national feeling both in Russia and in the diaspora. Since then, the Circassians have forged links with their brethren all over the world. The state of exile in the diaspora plays an important role in the collective identity of Circassians. A Circassian proverb says: "The one who loses his homeland loses everything" (they lost it & were evicted from it like the Jews). Other examples of proverbs expressing the longing for the homeland are: "Caucasus, my homeland, I will never forget you"; or, "I'd rather lose my eyes than forget you". These and other similar statements are not only a romantic longing or nostalgia for the Caucasus homeland; they reflect the existential condition of the individual in the Circassian community.
The re-migration of the Circassians to the Caucasus is a new phenomenon and is continuing. The successful absorption of new immigrants will depend upon the situation in the Caucasus. Political instability, economic hardship and rising crime rates limit the number of newcomers.
Today, many Circassian communities worldwide are facing the problems of losing their language and culture. Yet compared to other migrant groups, the Circassians have a greater tendency to maintain their separate identity.
Hemshin peoples
Total population 150,000 – 200,000
Regions with significant populations: Turkey Russia (Krasnodar Krai) Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Armenia
Languages: Armenian (Homshetsi dialect) Turkish
Religion: Sunni Islam Armenian Apostolic Church
Hemshin peoples
The Hemshin peoples (Armenian: Համշէնցիներ Hamshentsiner; Turkish: Hemşinliler), also known as Hemshinli or Hamshenis orHo mshetsi, are a diverse group of peoples who in the past or present have been affiliated with the Hemşin district in the province of Rize, Turkey. It is generally accepted that they were Armenian in origin, and were originally Christian and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, but over the centuries evolved into a distinct ethnic group and converted to Sunni Islamafter the conquest of the Ottomans of the region during the second half of the 15th century.
Hemshin women in traditional dress
The term "the Hemshin" is also used in some publications to refer to Hemshin.
History
History until the Ottoman conquest.
Robert H. Hewsen shows the region where today's Hemşin is located to be populated by a people with different designations throughout the ancient and early medieval history. He indicates thereby that some designations may have alternative forms and partially presents the names used with question marks. In summary from 13th century to 6th century BC Kolkhians, 550 to 330 BC Kolkhiansa and Makrones, 180 BC to 14 AD Laz (Chanian tribes), in the Arsacid Period (63–298 AD) Heniokhians, Makhelones, Heptakometians,Mossynoeci as well as Sannians, Drilles and Makrones are mentioned.
The Hemşin region is shown as part of Colchis (299–387), Tzanica (387–591) and Chaldia (654–750). The specific location of Hemşin is indicated as Tambur/Hamamašen as a fort and town for the first time in the map covering the period 654–750.
Those two names (Tambur and Hamamašen) are included in the History of Taron by John Mamikonean in a short passage about a war between the ruler of Tambur, Hamam, and his maternal uncle the Georgian Prince, which resulted in the destruction of the town to be rebuilt by Hamam and be named after him namely Hamamshen. This event is declared by Mamikonian to have taken place in early seventh century. Hamamashen became Hamshen over time. Simonian who conveys this story reports also that the date given by the author may be wrong.
Two other Armenian chronicles, Ghewond and Stepanos Asoghik of Taron, report in short passages in their histories about a migration from Armenia/Oshakan led by prince Shaspuh Amatuni and his son Hamam. Ghewond conveys this immigration to be to avoid heavy taxes imposed on Armenians by the Arab rulers. The Amatuni lords are offered fertile land to settle down by the Byzantine Emperor, after they crossed the Corukh river. This migration is dated to be after 789 by Ghewond and as 750 by Stephen Asoghik of Taron.
Benninghaus specifies "Tambur" as the destination of the migration led by Hamam and his father Shapuh Amaduni and says that they have seemingly met people there who were already Christians, possibly Greeks. Redgate informs about possible symbolism used in the Ghewond’s history and possible garbling in Mamikonian’s history, and cautions not to take everything at face value. Hachikian states “There is no clue as to where Tambur, the legendary capital of Hamshen, was located. The only certain thing about it is that it clearly belonged to a much earlier time- if it existed at all”. He also mentions in the footnote the name similarity between Tambur and a yayla known as Tahpur or Tagpur, in the heights of Kaptanpasa. Simonian states that Tambur is probably in the vicinity of Varoşkale (altitude 1800 m).
A description of "Haynsen" in the Kingdom of Georgia, its inhabitants and history is contained in "La Fleur des histoires de la terre d'Orient" by Hetu'm of Corycos, written around 1307, translated into English in 1520, and later reproduced in the travellers' tales of Samuel Purchas published in 1614. Purrchas uses the term "Hamsem" to designate the region and concludes that this is the place of the original Cimmerian gloom of Homer's Odyssey. The translation of He'tum's related passage to modern English uses the term Hamshen. He'tum describes the region to be "miraculous and strange place" unbelievable unless seen by own eyes, dark and without roads. Signs of human settlement are that "... People in those parts say that one frequently hears the sounds of men bellowing, of cocks crowing, of horses neighing in the forest," Those people are described by He'tum, leaning upon Georgian and Armenian Histories, to be the descendants of the men of the "wicked" Iranian Emperor Shaworeos who had chased and harassed Christian people.
The referenced translation suggests this Emperor could be Shapuhr II.
Simonian considers the so described difficulty in access not to imply total isolation. On the contrary, he reports, Hamshen served sometimes as a transit route between the coastal regions and the Armenian plateau.
Further theories of medieval settlement to Hamshen are that following the Seljuk Turks occupation, Ani Armenians have fled to Hemshin which had never seen any human face before; there has been continuous influx of Armenians from the South following the initial settlement; resulting in an armenisation of the area through expelling local Tzans population and the armenization of the Tzan people took place through ruling dynasties in the South.
Sources of the ruling powers in the region, (Byzantine Trapezuntine, Georgian, Armenian and Turkish) are silent about Hemshin; until the conquest by the Ottomans. It is deduced that Hemşin has been governed by local lords under the umbrella of the greater regional powers changing by the time namely the Bagratid Armenian kingdom, the Byzantine Empire, its successor the Empire of Trebizond, the Georgian Kingdom, the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu Turkmen Confederations until it was annexed by the Ottoman Empire which collapsed as a result of the World War I and gave birth to the Republic of Turkey.
The Ottoman conquest of Hemshin occurred sometime in the 1480s: an Ottoman register dated around 1486 calls it Hemshin and mentions it as being an Ottoman possession.
Turkish dominance and division
Turkish influence was firmly established in the region after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, after which the Seljuk Turks and other Turkish tribes gained a strong foothold in Central Anatolia and Western Armenian Highlands, often referred to as Eastern Anatolia, bringing the local population in contact with the religion of Islam. In the 15th century, the region of Hamshen was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the Turkish rule, two most important developments are human migrations and conversions. Most sources agree that prior to Ottoman era majority of the residents of Hemshin were Christian and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The details and the accompanying circumstances for the migrations and the conversions during the Ottoman era are not clearly known or documented.
As a result of those developments, distinctive communities with the same generic name have also appeared in the vicinity of Hopa, Turkey as well as in the Caucasus. Those three communities are almost oblivious to one another's existence.
The Hemshinli of Hemshin proper (also designated occasionally as western Hemshinli in publications) are Turkish-speaking Sunni Muslims who mostly live in the counties (ilçe) of Çamlıhemşin, Çayeli, İkizde re, Pazar and Hemşin in Turkey's Rize Province.
The Hopa Hemshinli (also designated occasionally as eastern Hemshinli in publications) are Sunni Muslims and mostly live in the Hopa and Borçka counties of Turkey's Artvin Province. In addition to Turkish, they also speak a dialect of western Armenian they call "Homshetsma" or "Hemşince" in Turkish.
Homshentsik (also designated occasionally as Northern Homshentsik in publications) are Christians who live in Abkhazia, Georgia and in Russia's Krasnodar Krai. They speak Homshetsma as well. There are also some Muslim Hamshentsi living in Georgia and Krasnodar and some Hamshentsi elements amongst the Meskhetian Turks.
Demographics
Two major developments in the Hemshin region during the Ottoman era: Islamization and population movements. Islam may have begun to spread prior to the Ottoman rule, but it did not become the general religion before the end of the 16th century. A number of population movements (both into and out of the region) also happened during the Ottoman era. Even though detailed information regarding the nature of these movements is missing, in summary:
some Hemshinli who were members of the Armenian Orthodox Church emigrated to other countries on the eastern Black Sea during the early centuries of Ottoman rule; some Muslim Hemshinli migrated to western Anatolia and the Caucasus as a result of the Turco-Russian wars and related hardships during the 19th century; some immigration into the area have occurred during Ottoman rule.
The present community of Hemshinli is exclusively Muslim and Turkish speaking. This goes for the people living in Hemshin or people maintaining links to the area and living elsewhere in Turkey.
A distinct community settled about 50 km east of Hemşin in villages around Hopa and Borçka also call themselves “Hemşinli”. They are often referred to as the “Hopa Hemşinli”. Professor of Linguistics Bert Vaux at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee refers to this group as the “Eastern Hamshenis”. Hemşinli and Hopa Hemşinli are separated not only by geography but also by language and some features of culture. The two groups are almost oblivious to one another's existence. Simonian reports various theories regarding the appearance of the Hope Hemshinli group. Those theories relate to whether the groups migrated from Hemshin or they were settled by the Ottoman authorities, whether the migration/settlement was in the early 16th or late 17th centuries, and whether the migration took place in one step or two waves. The Hopa Hemşinli are exclusively Muslim as well. Simonian reports that there is a controversy regarding whether they arrived in the Hopa region as Muslims or converted to Islam after arrival.
The Hopa Hemşinli speak a language called "Hemşince" or (“Homşetsi” and/or Homshetsma in some sources) as well as Turkish. Recent studies by Hovann Simonian (Author: The Hemshin: A Handbook (Caucasus World)) suggest that this language is an archaic dialect of Armenian subject to influence from Turkish and Laz. Vaux also reports that "Hemşince" has been subject to influence from Turkish to a much greater extent than other Armenian dialects. Hemşince and Armenian are generally mutually not intelligible.
In addition to these two groups there are people speaking Hemşince / Homshetsma in the countries of the former USSR whose ancestors probably originated from Hemşin and/or Hopa Hemşin in course of the various population movements to the Caucasus. Many of the Muslim Hemşince speakers in the former USSR were deported from the Adjara area of Georgia during the Stalin era to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Since 1989, a considerable number of these deportees have moved to Krasnodar Krai since 1989, along with the Meskhetian Turks.
Most Christian Hemşince speakers currently live in Abkhazia, Georgia and in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia, concentrated in the Sochi area and Adygeya.
Culture
Hemshinli are well known for the clever jokes, riddles,and stories that they tell. Some of the anecdotes that the Muslim Hemshinli tell are actually based on older Armenian ones. They accompany dances with their own brand of music using the tulum (the Pontic bagpipe; interestingly the bagpipe is considered to be a genuinely Israelite instrument, also played by other Israelites like the Scottish) (for the Western group), the şimşir kaval (flute made of buxus) (for the Eastern group) or the Hamshna-Zurna (Hamsheni zurna) (for the Northern group). The traditional occupations of the Turkish Hemshinli are cultivating tea and maize, breeding livestock, and beekeeping. The Northern Hamshenis of Russia and Georgia, meanwhile, are primarily known as citrus, corn, tobacco and tea growers as well as fishermen.
The Hemshin people and their mansions were featured in issue twelve of Cornucopia Magazine.
Present situation
Hemşinli in Turkey
The "Turkey for the Turks" ideology, writes Neal Ascherson, "offered no security for minorities" with "the tiny Hemşinli group having especially compelling reasons to keep its head down" because "its members are the descendants of Armenians." Beginning in the 1930s, a number of Turkish historians attempted to ascribe an entirely Turkish origin to the Hemshinli, the most prominent of them being M. Fahrettin Kırzıoğlu, whose theories have since gained wide currency among the community. His theories on the Hemshinli, however, have come under close scrutiny and have been roundly criticized. The German scholars Wolfgang Feurstein and Tucha Berdsena describe Kırzıoğlu's methodology as so:
The filmmaker Özcan Alper, an eastern Hemshinli, made the first motion picture in Homshetsi, Momi (Grandma), released in 2000. As a result, Alper was accused in the Court for State Security of producing material intended to destroy the unity of the state, under article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law. This law was repealed in 2003 after EU pressure, and Alper's trial did not go ahead. [58] Hamsheni singer Gökhan Birben (from the Western group) and Laz singer Kâzım Koyuncu had also sung in Homshetsi. In 2005, the first music album exclusively of anonymous Hamshen folk songs and sung mostly in Homshetsi, Vova - Hamşetsu Ğhağ was released.
Older generations of Turkish Hemshinli see the reference "Ermeni" (often used by their Laz neighbours) as an insult.
Mesut Yılmaz, a former Prime Minister of Turkey, was born in Istanbul to a family with partial Hamsheni (Western group) origins. Ahmet Tevfik İleri (who was born in Yaltkaya (Gomno) village of Hemşin), a Deputy Prime Minister and before that, a Minister of Education in Turkey within successive Adnan Menderes governments between 1950 and 1960, as well as Damat Mehmet Ali Pasha, the Ottoman Grand Vizier on the eve of the Crimean War in 1853 were also of Hamshenis descent. The community issued other important names in Turkish history and society such as Murat Karayalçın, current leader of SHP and a former Deputy Prime Minister and mayor of Ankara who is from Şenyuva (Çinçiva) village of Çamlıhemşin.
There are two ongoing projects involving Turkish NGOs and EuropeAid, European Commission's external aid instrument, that touch their issues. The more recently (2007) launched "Ecodialogue Project" ("Ekodiyalog", web site pending ) has set itself as goal raising environment consciousness of the region's enterprises and improving the poor levels and quality of the information relayed by local guides, many of whom are self-styled and unlicensed The other project, started 2004 and involving also the World Conservation Union, aims to raise the profile and awareness of the grouse, particularly black grouse, who visit the region, also with focus on enterprises and guides.
Hamshenis in Russia and the former Soviet Union
Interest in Hamshen heritage is rising among Christian Hamshenis in the former Soviet Union. In 2006, the first music album in Homshetsma by the Ensemble Caravan was released in Krasnodar. Hamshen Scientific, Information and Cultural Centre began to work on exclusive projects in order to recover the cultural heritage of the Hamshenis living in the region. The Armenian newspaper published in Sukhumi carries the name Hamshen.
During the Mikhail Gorbachev period of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, the Hamshenis of Kazakhstan began petitioning for the government to move them to the Armenian SSR. However, this move was denied by Moscow because of fears that the Muslim Hamshenis might spark ethnic conflicts with their Christian Armenian brothers.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, most Hamshenis lived relatively undisturbed. However, those in the Abkhazia region of Georgia had trouble coping with day-to-day life during the Georgian Civil War.
Since 2000, several hundred of the Muslim Hamshenis in Russia who have resettled from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Krasnodar Krai (about 1000 total) have repeatedly attempted to formally receive registration from the local authorities. This is similar and related to the problem of the Meskhetians. These actions have been made difficult by the attitude of the Krasnodar officials. In defiance of the authorities an organisation of their co-ethnics in Armenia have appealed to the Russian ambassador in Yerevan to get Moscow to intervene in this case and overrule the regional officials who seem intent on preventing Hamshenis from gaining a status of permanent residency.
In the 2002 Russian Federation census, 1,542 people identified themselves as Hamshenis, two-thirds of whom were living in Krasnodar Krai.
Traditional Hemshin bagpipe, Çamlıhemşin, Rize, Turkey.Recognition by the Armenian mainstream
From October 13 to 15, 2005, a Hamsheni international scientific convention was held in Sochi. The conference was organized under the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Russian-Armenian Commonwealth Organization of Moscow (commissioned by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation) with help from the Armenian Scientific Informational and Cultural Center, "Hamshen" (Krasnodar, Russia) and Russian Armenian newspaper Yerkramas. It involved scholars from Armenia, Russia, the United States, Germany, and Iran to discuss the past of the Hamshenis.
The general public in Armenia recognizes the Hemshinli as being a lost part of the Armenian people. In the last decades, the Hemshin culture has gained its place in the minds of the Armenian people and it is often celebrated in dance and song. One folk dance group which has successfully revived the ancient Hemshin dances is the Karin Folk Dance and Song Group.
The Hamshenis were denied to return to the Armenian SSR during the time of the USSR.
Circassians & their love for the people of Israel
[Joshua 9:17] And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim.
<<Kirjathjearim>>: Also known as Telstoneand a Jewish settlement at present but beside it is a large Arab city known as Abu Gosh. Perhaps 20% of the Arab population of Abu Gosh are Circassian. The Circassians are Moslems from the Caucasus whom the Turks settled inn the area.
The Circassians were originally pagans (was this paganism a deviated Israelite religion really?) and Christians. They were conquered and forced to become Moslems. Then the Russians conquered them and pressured them to return to Christianity. Many of them fled southward to the Middle East that was then ruled by the Turks. The Turkish authorities were pleased with the martial qualities of the Circassians and settled them in troublesome areas throughout the Turkish Empire. There is another small village of Circassians in the Northern Galilee. In general they are loyal to the State of Israel and serve in the armed forces. There are also large numbers of Circassians in Jordan and they together with the Beduin maintain the ruling Hashemite regime there. [Most of the population of Jordan is Palestinian]. The remainder of the population of Abu Gush (ca.80%) are of unknown origin. Unlike other Arab groups the people of Abu Gush are traditionally pro-Jewish on the whole. They assisted Jewish resistance fighters against the British and inn the War of independence sided with the Jews. Many of them serve in the IDF and police forces. Some Jews live in their township and on the whole relations are good but there are exceptions. Some of them now identify with the Palestinians but overall the impression is that most remain pro-Jewish, in some cases , fanatically so. Most of the people of Abu Gush are Moslems but a sizeable Christian community also exists. Perhaps some of the people of Abu Gosh are descended from the ancient Gibeonites who made an alliance with Israel as related in the present chapter?
At the end of the Caucasian War with most Circassians (is not a coincidence that there are 12 stars in the Circassian flag representing their 12 tribes like the 12 Israelite tribes & this is not the first time this is been suggested) were expelled to the Ottoman Empire, many of the tribes were destroyed or evicted from their historical homeland.
Most Adyghe living in Circassia are Bzhedugh, Kabarday and Kemirgoy, while the majority in diaspora are Abzekh and Shapsugh. Standard Adyghe language is based on Kemirgoy dialect.
The twelve stars on the Circassian flag symbolize the individual tribes of the Circassians; the nine stars within the arc symbolize the nine aristocratic tribes of Adygea, and the three horizontal stars symbolize the three democratic tribes (are these three democratic or special tribes the three special priestly tribal subdivisions? Makes sense.). The twelve tribes are the Abdzakh, Baslaney, Bzhedug, Hatuqwai, Kabarday, Mamkhegh, Natukhai, Shapsugs, Temirgoy, Ubykh, Yegeruqay, and Zhaney.
Kabarday, Kabards, or Kabardians
Kabardians or Kabardian people (Adyghe: Къэбэртайхэр-адыгэ or Qăbărtajxăr-adǝgă; Russian: Кабардинцы; Arabic: القبرطاي أو القبردي); are terms referring to a people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin (or Kebertei as they term themselves). Originally they (with the Besleney (Arabic: البسلني) tribe comprised the semi-nomadic eastern branch of what was once the Adyghe tribal fellowship. The Kabardin still consider themselves as a tribe of Adyghe. They speak Kabardian, a North West Caucasian language that represents the easternmost extension of the Circassian language group.
There is an approach among the Circassians in Circassia from different tribes to use only the name Circassians (Adyghe) in Census 2010 in Russia; to reflect and revive the unity of the Adyghe Nation (Adyghes in Republic of Adyghea, Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria, Cherkess (Adyghe: Шэрджэс or Šărdžăs) in Karachay–Cherkessia, and the Shapsugs in the southern part of Krasnodar Krai, plus small Adyghe groups in Stavropol Krai and North Ossetia. This approach is widely supported in the Caucasus and among the Circassians in Diaspora.
They number around 520,000 in Russia (as of 2002), living mainly in Kabardino-Balkaria. Significant populations of Kabardin are found in Turkey and Georgia. There are also communities in the USA, Jordan and Syria. Kabard villages in Turkey are concentrated on Uzunyayla plateau of Kayseri Province.
Most Kabardin are Sunni Muslims. However, Kabardin speakers living in Mozdoksky District in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania are Orthodox Christians.
Some of the Kabardians living in North Ossetian Republic's Mozdok district and the southern part of the neighbouring Kursky district of Stavropol Krai are Orthodox Christians, whereas the other part of which are Sunni Muslims as well as Kabardians of Kabardino-Balkar Republic who belong mainly to Sunni Muslim faith, with a Habze minority.
The Kabardians & their diaspora
There's a nationalist group called Kabardian National Front. It's interesting that they have stars of David in the flag's group. Are they claiming their Lost Israelite origin?
The Circassian conquest by the Russians brought Circassians through out the Middle East & eastern Europe. The Kabardians, one of the main Circassian ethnicities, are spread mainly in Turkey, but also in Caucasia (apart from their own republic), Romania... Like most Caucasian Moslems, they follow folk Islam, a very mild way of the religion.
It's easy to notice it by the way their women dress. At weddings they lay flowers for the groom & bride.
They have a monument dedicated to the Kabardian genocide called the "Tree of Life" that have 7 branches skyward. It has some resemblance to the Jewish Menorah because both have seven branches. They have a code of honor & high respect for their elder. They treat very well their guests.
These are two remarkable mottos for the Kabards: "A guest is a messenger from God." Or, "The guest of a Kabardian is as safe as if protected by a fortress." These sayings resemble of the story of the hospitality that Abraham towards God's messengers. Their former pagan tree worship resembles also the tree worshipping of the pagan ancient Israelites.
Population 1,074,000 Largest Religion Islam (100.0%)
Mountain Jews
Mountain Jews or Caucasus Jews also known as Juhuro, Kavkazi Jews or Gorsky Jews are Jews of the eastern and northern slopes of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan and Azerbaijan. They are the descendants of Persian Jews from Iran.
The Mountain Jews community originated from Ancient Persia, from 5th century AD onwards, and their language, Juhuri is an ancient Southwest Iranian language and a Persian dialect which integrates many elements of Ancient Hebrew. It is believed that they had arrived in Persia from Ancient Israel as early as the 8th century BCE. The Mountain Jews survived numerous historical vicissitudes by settling in extremely remote and mountainous areas. They were known to be accomplished warriors and horseback riders.
Mountain Jew wearing a chokha. Circa 1898.
The Mountain Jews, or Jews of the Caucasus, are believed to have inhabited Caucasia since the 5th century AD. They arrived from southwestern Iran (The same area were theLak Iranians live). The Jews of the Caucasus (Kavkaz) have a tradition, passed down generation after generation, that they are descended from the Ten Tribes which were exiled by the king of Assyria (Ashur), who ruled over northern Iraq from Mosul (the ancient Nineveh). The reference, no doubt, is to Shalmanesser the king of Assyria who is mentioned in II Kings 18:9-12. According to Kavkazi Jewish tradition, some 19,000 Jews departed Jerusalem (used here as a generic term for the Land of Israel) and passed through Syria, Babylonia, Persia and then entered, northbound, into Medai. The language of the Mountain Jews, Juhuri, is an Ancient Southwest Iranian language (Thru Perisan other Israelites evolved their languages), which integrates many elements of Ancient Hebrew. It is believed that they had arrived in Persia, from Ancient Israel, as early as the 8th century BCE. The Mountain Jews maintained a strong military tradition. Some historians believe they may be descended from Jewish military colonists, settled by Parthian and Sassanid rulers in the Caucasus as frontier guards against nomadic incursions from the Pontic steppe.
The Karaite Jews
The largest Karaite presence in Israel is found in Ashdod and Ramle. Though they do not recognize rabbinical authorities, Israeli rabbinical authorities recognize Karaites as Jews, allowing them the Right of Return under the Israeli law. The issue of whether Karaites are Jewish is further compounded by the fact that in their community, a person’s “Jewishness” is passed along the paternal line, whereas in mainstream, Rabbinical Judaism, maternal descent is what counts.
Only the Cohen and Levite status and membership in the Ashkenazic or Sephardiс groups is passed on through paternal line in Rabbinical Judaism. Although Karaites are recognized as Jews in Israel, they have not always been granted this status in other parts of the world.
Karaites and the Caucasus
In order to avoid the disabilities imposed upon Rabbinite Jews, the Karaites of Russia attempted to prove that they were guiltless of the execution of Jesus because they were descended from the Lost Ten Tribes and had been settled in the Crimea since the time of Shalmaneser (seventh century B.C.). In particular Abraham Firkovich edited a number of forgeries of inscriptions on tombstones and manuscripts to prove the early date of their settlement in the Crimea. The argument was effective with the Russian government in 1795, when they were exempted from the double taxation imposed upon the Rabbinites, and in 1828, when it obtained for them exemption from military service. From the similar traditions among the Jews of the Caucasus, according to Chorny, the Jews of Derbent declared that the Daghestan Jews were those who were carried away by the Assyrians, and that some of them had ultimately migrated to Bokhara, and even as far as China. It is, of course, only natural that the outlying colonies in China, in India, and even in the Sahara should have been at one time or another identified as remnants of the Lost Ten Tribes.
G. Moore, indeed, attempts to prove that the high-class Hindus, including all the Buddhists, are descendants of the Sacæ, or Scythians, who, again, were the Lost Ten Tribes. He transcribes many of the Indian inscriptions into Hebrew of a wonderful kind to prove this contention. Buddhism, according to him, is a fraudulent development of Old Testament doctrines brought to India by the Ten Tribes.
Rabbinical Judaism, the Halacha, the Talmud well nigh demands hot food on Shabbes morning. This is how we Orthodox Jews may be distinguished from Karaites, Samaritans and other fundamentalists who rejected the Oral Torah.
The Karaite Jews
The Karaite Jews are the only sect of modern Jews whose worship of HaShem ("the Name" = God) has not been influenced by the "oral law". "Karaite" means "readers" (of the Scriptures). Their final separation from their Jewish brethren coincides with that of the Messianic Jews.
Around A. D. 132, Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph declared Simeon ben Kosiba to be the Messiah and King of Israel (Akiba changed ben Kosiba’s name to bar Kokhba - meaning "son of the star"). The Talmidei Yah Shua HaMashiach ("Disciples of Jesus Christ") refused to join the revolt for obvious reasons as did the Karaite Jews and were branded traitors. As such, they were persecuted (and executed) in those areas under the rebels’ control. It took the Romans four years and the loss of an entire legion (the XXII) to destroy the rebels, but the Jewish losses were perhaps even greater than that of the Holocaust some 1,810 years later. After such losses on both the Messianic (Christian) and non-Messianic Jewish sides, emotions were so high and deep that they would barely associate with each other or even acknowledge that they shared a common heritage. The Messianic Jews faded into the background (but never disappeared completely) to be overshadowed by their gentile brethren. Many of the surviving non-Messianic Jews ignored the fact that Rabbi Akiba was a false prophet and Kokhba a false messiah.
The Karaite Jews trace their lineage to those Jews who rejected both the "beliefs" of the rabbinical Jews (the "oral law" as reflected in the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Zohar, etc.) and the belief that Yah Shua (Jesus) is HaMashiach (the Messiah). They accept only the Tanach (the Old Testament containing the Torah) as the Word of God. They have no Rabbis. Because the Temple was destroyed, they have no venue for priests to conduct sacrifices.
They strictly observe all of the Biblical holidays rejecting the Babylonian calendar used by all of the other Jewish sects [the other Jews have two calendars - a religious one (derived from the Babylonian calendar and nonexistent before the Babylonian captivity) and a secular one]. Therefore they observe Yom HaZikkaron ("Day of Remembrance") instead of Rosh Hashanah ("Head of the Year") (Leviticus 23:25 "And Yahu’ah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first of the month, shall ye have a rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. No manner of servile work shall ye do; and ye shall present an offering by fire to Yahu’ah."). This is two-day festival observed on the 1st and 2nd days of Tishrei in the Jewish religious calendar. The other Jewish sects claim that Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the holy New Year. It is supposedly the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve and these other Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah as the birthday of mankind, highlighting the special relationship between Yahu’ah and humanity. However, the official Biblical holiday is called Yom HaZikkaron and that is the holiday celebrated by the Karaite Jews.
So if one is looking for the "original" Judaism, the Karaite Jews are by far the closest one can find today. Though at one time the majority of Jews were Karaite, today they only number in the hundreds of thousands. They are found mostly in the Middle East, but there is a congregation in Los Angeles, California.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Turkey’s Secret Armenians
The presence of “secret” Armenians in Anatolia has become the subject of a news report in the Argentine press. In an article titled “The Footprints of Secret Armenians in Turkey,” Argentine journalist Avedis Hadjian writes that people of Armenian origin, estimated to number hundreds of thousands, continue to live in Anatolia and Istanbul under false identities. Hadjian’s research begins in Istanbul’s Kurtulus neighborhood and then takes him to Amasya, Diyarbakir, Batman, Tunceli and Mus.
Turkish or Kurdish identity
According to the report, those who have been hiding their real identity for almost a century reside mostly in Turkey’s eastern regions. They have embraced the Sunni or Alawite sects of Islam and live with Turkish or Kurdish identities.
Still, a tiny community living in villages in the Sason district of Batman province preserves their Christianity. Stressing that no one really knows the exact number of crypto-Armenians, Hadjian says he has seen that many of them are scared to acknowledge their Armenian identity. He quotes a crypto-Armenian in Palu: “Turkey is still a dangerous place for Armenians.”
The crypto-Armenians who live under various guises do not socialize with those who live openly as Armenians, and evade contact with strangers. According to Hadjian, some reject their identities even though they accept their parents or grandparents were Armenian and their Turkish and Kurdish neighbors still call them “Armenians” or “infidels.” Others acknowledge their real identity but say they keep it secret from their offspring.
To church in winter, to mosque in summer
Hadjian says that identifying crypto-Armenians is not easy, recounting several examples. The last Armenian in Amasya, Rafel Altinci, for instance, was brought up as a Christian and graduated from the same school as Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist who was killed. He then converted to Islam, married a Turkish woman and raised his daughter as a Muslim. Only recently has he begun to acknowledge that he is an Armenian. Jazo Uzal, a villager from the province of Mus, goes to church in Istanbul, where he spends the winters, but when he returns home during the summer he observes the Muslim rites of worship, including fasting.
In Diyarbakir, lawyer Mehmet Arkan says he became aware of his family’s Armenian identity at the age of seven. “Until 10 years ago, we used to conceal our identity from everybody, but being an Armenian in Diyarbakir is no longer dangerous,” Arkan says, pointing to the restoration of the Surp Giragos Church in the city. He explains he does not feel less Armenian for being a Sunni and performing Muslim prayers.
In some cases, secret Armenians have been transformed in surprising ways. The Ogasyan clan from Bagin village in Palu, for instance, survived the “events” of 1915 and emigrated to the United States, settling in Rhode Island. But before their departure, a Kurdish tribal chief abducted the family’s youngest son Kirkor to use him as a laborer in his fields. The chief then married off the underage Kirkor to an orphan named Zerman. The couple settled in a village in Palu, converted to Islam and adopted Turkish names. They even went on a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca together.
Years later, relatives in the U.S. got in touch with Kirkor and Zerman. Today the couple’s grandson is an imam in Harput, while their second-generation nephew Oshayan Cloloyan is the archbishop of the Armenian Church in New York.
Little girl in Raman Mountains
Hadjian writes about the presence of crypto-Armenians also in Tunceli and its environs, and recounts an encounter he had in Sason. The journalist describes a girl aged 6 or 7 in a group of Armenians heading to the Raman Mountains on pilgrimage. Due to the force of the wind, the white sack on the girl’s back turns around to reveal the Armenian cross. The journalist approaches the girl to take a picture. She hides her face behind her scarf, and when asked whether she is Armenian or has Armenian relatives, she answers: “We are Muslims.”
The Hidden Armenians of Western Armenia
The village of Chunkush was home to about 10,000 Armenians, and hardly anyone else, until 1915.
That’s when the Armenians were driven out, and were marched for two hours to a ravine known as the Dudan Gorge. Once they arrived at the ravine, they were herded by the force of batons and bayonets into its depths. Here they died, if they hadn’t already perished before entering the abyss.
One young Armenian girl, not more than 10 years of age, stood at the edge of death. She was part of a group that had been marched to the ravine on one of the killing days—the day on which her Chunkush neighborhood had been selected for this “deportation.”
This girl was pretty, and she must have captured the attention of one of the Turkish soldiers who was herding the Armenians to their deaths. Her life was spared. At the age of 10, she became the soldier’s bride.
Five years later, in 1920, a baby was born from their union. This baby, named Asiya, was raised in Chunkush by her mother, a genocide survivor who had been able to remain in the home of her husband as one of the village’s “hidden Armenians.”
When I met Asiya in 2014, she was the oldest surviving Armenian, and indeed, the only Armenian, of Chunkush. Speaking through a translator, Asiya told me her story.
Her father, the Turkish soldier, had died when Asiya was three or four years old. While Asiya was growing up, Asiya’s mother had taught her that she was an Armenian child. Her mother also taught her that her identity as an Armenian was information that they could not share with the neighbors. Their identity had to remain hidden.
Asiya was married off to a much older man when she was 11 years old. There was no right to pick your own husband, she told me. “They gave me to whoever they thought was appropriate.” She and her husband stayed in Chunkush, and raised two daughters and a son.
I asked Asiya about the massacres of 1915. Her mother must have explained to her what had happened. But Asiya refused to talk about it. She did talk a bit about the old days.
“Chunkush was once very beautiful. The churches were so beautiful in the past,” she told me. But now “nothing remains from the old times. They even destroyed all the [Armenian] cemeteries.”
Asiya must have been about 95 years old when I met her in 2014. Her life has been swept along in a torrent of sadness. I asked her how she feels when, as the only Armenian of Chunkush, she meets Armenian visitors from the fiaspora.
“I get happy as much as a mountain,” she told me. This girl was pretty, and she must have captured the attention of one of the Turkish soldiers who was herding the Armenians to their deaths. Her life was spared. At the age of 10, she became the soldier’s bride.
Five years later, in 1920, a baby was born from their union. This baby, named Asiya, was raised in Chunkush by her mother, a genocide survivor who had been able to remain in the home of her husband as one of the village’s “hidden Armenians.”
When I met Asiya in 2014, she was the oldest surviving Armenian, and indeed, the only Armenian, of Chunkush. Speaking through a translator, Asiya told me her story.
Her father, the Turkish soldier, had died when Asiya was three or four years old. While Asiya was growing up, Asiya’s mother had taught her that she was an Armenian child. Her mother also taught her that her identity as an Armenian was information that they could not share with the neighbors. Their identity had to remain hidden.
Asiya was married off to a much older man when she was 11 years old. There was no right to pick your own husband, she told me. “They gave me to whoever they thought was appropriate.” She and her husband stayed in Chunkush, and raised two daughters and a son.
I asked Asiya about the massacres of 1915. Her mother must have explained to her what had happened. But Asiya refused to talk about it. She did talk a bit about the old days.
“Chunkush was once very beautiful. The churches were so beautiful in the past,” she told me. But now “nothing remains from the old times. They even destroyed all the [Armenian] cemeteries.”
Asiya must have been about 95 years old when I met her in 2014. Her life has been swept along in a torrent of sadness. I asked her how she feels when, as the only Armenian of Chunkush, she meets Armenian visitors from the fiaspora. “I get happy as much as a mountain,” she told me.
Raffi Bedrosyan: “I was excited at showing Armenia to the hidden Armenians, and they were excited about seeing Armenia…”
Recently, 50 hidden Armenians from Diyarbakir (Tigranakert) participated in “Ari Tun” program. The initiator was Canadian Armenian pianist, engineer-constructor Raffi Bedrosyan, who together with his co-thinkers carried out the reconstruction works of St. Kirakos Church in Diyarbakir. Interview of “Hayern Aysor” with Raffi Bedrosyan is about this topic.
- Reconstruction of St. Kirakos Church in Diyarbakir had several objectives:
Firstly, to prove to the Turks and the Kurds that, prior to 1915, Armenians used to live there and they had a very large Armenian community, as they would always deny the fact. Besides, by reconstructing a church for three thousand people, we pursue the goal to attract their attention, so that those that are unaware of the Armenian Genocide, would be able to confront the history of their past.
Secondly, St. Kirakos Church became a living genocide memorial for those Armenians of Diaspora and Armenia, who visit Turkey, the Western Armenia.
Thirdly, the biggest and the most important goal was that St. Kirakos Church should be a magnet attracting the hidden Armenians living in Diyarbakir. And this became a reality much earlier than projected by us. Many children and grandghildren of Armenians that were Islamized after 1915 (forced or as orphans being taken by the Turks and the Kurds), today begin to realize that there are Armenian roots in their families, restore their identity and return to their roots. For the time being, several persons have been baptized at St. Kirakos Church. The majority of these hidden Armenians disclose their Armenian roots, but continue to profess Islam.
This is a new reality, which we should recognize, and we should perceive that, along with the Armenians from Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora, there are also Islamized hidden Armenians making up a quite big number in Turkey. We should encourage them, so that they would feel that they are Armenians and could be Armenians.
Therefore, we organized, together with the Municipality, Armenian language classes in Diyarbakir. We took the graduates of these classes to Armenia as a prize for completion of the course. We came to Armenia with pleasure and anxiety. I was excited at showing Armenia to the hidden Armenians, and they were excited about seeing Armenia.
We want to again hire a teacher, who will continue teaching the Armenian language. In Armenia, we visited AGBU; we were familiarized with the terms and conditions of the Virtual University. Many of them, especially the youth, said that they could learn the Armenian language also via this channel. We should work hard, so that the Armenian language could develop in Diyarbakir, and later on – in other locations as well.
- Mr. Raffi, how many hidden Armenians have participated in “Ari Tun” program?
- Our group was comprised of 50 persons, ranging in age from 18 to 83, and representing all socio-economic and education levels; among them were lawyers, doctors, traders, teachers, farmers, craftsmen, students, etc. All of them have Armenian roots, wishing to be Armenians and speak the Armenian language. This program should have been very important for them.
- You are in touch with the hidden Armenians. What interesting stories can you recall?
- There are many such stories; the story of each hidden Armenia can become a material for one book. Some of them knew about their Armenian identity from their parents, at the same time being strictly warned not to talk about it outside.
Some of them got to know about the location of Yerevan and Armenia, as they lived among the Kurds. For many years, the Turkish government had forced the Kurds not to use the word “Kurd” and not to speak Kurdish. And these people would listen to Kurdish news and music only via Yerevan radio, thus, having contacts with Armenia.
Some of them found out about their Armenian identity only in the middle of their life, when their parents had confessed,before they died, that they were previously Armenian. Do you know what it means? Being shocked and surprised, these 40-year old people realize that they are not any more Kurds or Turks, but are Armenians.
Unfortunately, in Turkey the word “Armenian” is used as a curse, and this is still the case today. They tell that when boys would quarrel, the Kurdish and Turkish boys, knowing that their peers were hidden Armenians, would swear at them as Armenians. The latter, without knowing about their origin, would perceive this as a curse, and would cry and go home, telling that they were cursed being named as Armenians. And only then, their parents would confess that this was not a curse, but the reality.
- Mr. Raffi, in course of the visit to Armenia, two Armenians from Diyarbakir were baptized at St. Astvatsatsin Church in Etchmiadzin. I wonder how it occurred to them to do that.
-Several members of the group were baptized at St. Kirakos Church, the rest were either Islamic Armenians or atheists. When we came to Armenia, no one had an intention of being baptized. But Sami Chelik, who is a teacher at a Turkish government school, said that he wanted to make his dream come true and to become a Christian Armenian. We agreed that the baptism would be conducted in Etchmiadzin, as we were going to visit Etchmiadzin in scope of “Ari Tun” program. As I told, that man was a teacher, and there was a risk that he might lose his job. But he was determined and wanted to be baptized in Armenia.
Rahime Karakash was hesitant whether to be baptized or not. Her situation was more complex; she is married to a devoutly Muslim Kurd, who had made it a condition that she would never convert. But Rahime’s father, before passing away, had encouraged her to become Christian, as they are Armenians. And she felt that she had an obligation to her late father. So she wasbetween her father and her husband. She had to make a hard choice. The day, when we went to Sardarapat, on the way back she said that she wanted to be baptized. So when we arrived in Etchmiadzin, instead of one, two participants were baptized.
- I wonder, what changes will happen in their life, when they return back?
- When they return, they will be a bit braver and the Armenianness in them will be more powerful. As compared to the past, today the situation is better in Turkey and they feel more open. At the same time, a new episode, a shock might happen there any time.
One thing I may say for sure: they are very happy for being Armenians; they change their names; they are baptized and want to learn Armenian in a short period of time. And their children – the next generation, will be more predetermined as Armenians.
- Isn’t it dangerous today to confront own identity in Turkey?
- We do not intervene in such issues. It is not in our competence to tell them what to do. And if they express willingness to return to their origins, we should make efforts to help them. However, we cannot impose pressure and take any step without their consent. I hope that the conditions will improve.
- Is the number of the hidden Armenians living in Diyarbakir known?
- We cannot state precise figures; but they say that more than 100 000 hidden Armenians having Armenian roots and blood, live in Diyarbakir.
- Mr. Raffi, how many years have you been dealing withthese matters? And what has been changed in your life, when you began to communicatewith the Islamized Armenians?
- After my friend Hrant Dink’s murder, I began to think more about these matters, about the remaining/living victims of genocide, instead of only the long gone dead victims. The more I communicate with the hidden Armenians, the bigger becomes the problem, and in the meantime – the solution. Perhaps this takes a lot of time, but this is my duty, which I do with great pleasure.
- You are a pianist. How do you combine these two activities?
- I try to combine both. After reconstruction of St. Kirakos Church, I gave the first concert in the church, mostly works of Armenian composers, which was received very well. For the first time after 1915, Armenian music would sound at St. Kirakos Church. This concert was only the beginning; we want to implement other programs as well, particularly,to establish a cultural center, so that the cultural life could develop in Diyarbakir.
- How often do you visit Diyarbakir?
- One or two times per year. Hidden Armenians live also in Istanbul. The life is a bit easier there with less pressure, but the “core” should be sought in the Eastern Anatolia/Western Armenia, and contacts should be maintainedwith those living in Diyarbakir, Dersim and Van.
- Mr. Raffi, I know that you had climbed Mount Ararat.
- It was one of my biggest dreams, which came true in August last year. With my son Taron, we climbed Mount Ararat, together with Americans and the Dutch. The first day, when we spent the night on the mountain, I heard an Armenian song from the tent next to ours – “tableful, and in front Ararat…”; we went and found out that they were Armenians from Armenia, who also had decided to climb the mountain. We decided to leave our group and to join them. When we climbed to the summit of Ararat, the six of us -theArmenians, were all together, and it was abreathtaking moment, which I will never forget.
- What has been changed in your life?
- Now I have stronger will to continue such activities.
- What plans do you have in the near future? I know that you have some projects connected with Hamshen Armenians.
- Yes, I would like to be able to implement the same program with the Hamshen Armenians, as we did with the Diyarbakir Armenians. This will be a more complex and challenging program, as among the Hamshen Armenians, there are not many people who would accept their Armenian identity, as they had been Islamized much earlier – about two centuries ago. However, among the Hamshen Armenians there are people, who know that the language they are speaking is one form of the Armenian language, rather than a dialect of Turkish language, as they had been told. After realizing this, many things couldbe changed in their life. Many of them have started to deal with this issue with the help of specialists that study this issue; they begin to show interest, go deep into the issue and understand that they have Armenian roots.
- How was your cooperation with the Ministry of Diaspora established?
- It wouldn’t be possible to implement such programs without the assistance of the Ministry of Diaspora. And for that, we are grateful very much to the whole staff of the Ministry of Diaspora, especially the Minister Hranush Hakobyan and Mr. Firdus Zakaryan (Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Diaspora), who were very much supportive, encouraging and jointly we were able to implement all that.
I hope that this is only the beginning and that in the near future, we will be able to implement many programs. We already have a good experience and the next ones will be done more easily.
Interviewed by Lusine Abrahamyan (this last name is very Israelite indeed)
Hidden Armenians
Hidden Armenians (Turkish: Gizli Ermeniler) or crypto-Armenians (Armenian:tsptyal hayer; Turkish: Kripto Ermeniler) is an umbrella term to describe people in Turkey "of full or partial ethnic Armenian origin who generally conceal their Armenian identity from wider Turkish society." They are mostly descendants of Armenians in Turkey who were Islamized "under the threat of physical extermination" during the Armenian Genocide.
Turkish journalist Erhan Başyurt [a] describes hidden Armenians as "families (and in some cases, entire villages or neighbourhoods) [...] who converted to Islam to escape the deportations and death marches [of 1915], but continued their hidden lives as Armenians, marrying among themselves and, in some cases, clandestinely reverting to Christianity." According to the European Commission 2012 report on Turkey, a "number of crypto-Armenians have started to use their original names and religion." The Economist suggests that the number of Turks who reveal their Armenian background is growing.
History
Background
The western parts of the Armenian Highlands, the traditional homeland of the Armenian people, came under Ottoman (Turkish) control in the 16th century.
Armenians remained an overwhelming majority of the area's population until the 17th century, however, their number gradually decreased and by the early 20th century they constituted up to 38% of the population of Western Armenia, designed at the time.
Armenian Genocide
In 1915 and the following years, the Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated by the Young Turk government in the Armenian Genocide. During the genocide, between 100,000 and 200,000 Armenian women were taken into harems by Muslim husbands and children were converted, forced into slavery, or kidnapped and raised as Turks or Kurds. When relief workers and surviving Armenians started to search for and claim back these Armenian orphans after World War I, only a small percentage were found and reunited, while many others continued to live as Muslims. Additionally, there were cases of entire families converting to Islam to survive the genocide.
Republican period
"After converting to Islam, many of the crypto-Armenians said they still faced unfair treatment: their land was often confiscated, the men were humiliated with "circumcision checks" in the army and some were tortured." Between the 1930s and 1980s, the Turkish government conducted a secret investigation of hidden Armenians.
The term "Crypto-Armenians" appears as early as 1956.
Recent developments
Since the 1960s, there have been cases of Islamized Armenian families converting back to Christianity and changing their names. Some have suggested that the 2010 mass in Akdamar Island's Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross—first time after the genocide—encouraged hidden Armenians to reveal their origin. Since Armenians in Turkey are all defined as belonging to the Armenian Church, if the newcomers are rejected by the Patriarchate, they become double outcasts, not only from their previous Muslim Turkish/Kurdish community, but also from the Armenian community, as they cannot get married, baptized, or buried by the church and cannot send their children to Armenian schools. If they have made a conscious decision to identify themselves as Armenian, regardless of whether they stay Muslim or atheist or anything else, they face risks and outright danger.
Relationships get even more complicated as there are now many families with one branch carrying on life as Muslim Turks/Kurds, another branch as Muslim Armenian, and a third branch as Christian Armenian.
In 2009, the British MP Bob Spink tabled an early day motion entitled "Independent Inquiry into The Armenian Genocide" that stated that the House of Commons "is concerned about the welfare of thousands of Crypto-Armenians in Turkey."
Number
Various scholars and authors have estimated the number of individuals of full or partial Armenian descent living in Turkey. The range of the estimates is great due to different criteria used. Most of these numbers do no make a distinction between hidden Armenians and Islamized Armenians. According to journalist Erhan Başyurt the main difference between the two groups is their self-identity. Islamized Armenian, in his words, are "children & women who were saved by Muslim families and have continued their lives among them", while hidden Armenians "continued their hidden lives as Armenians."
Depending on the different sources the offspring of Armenian converts to Islam goes between 40,000 5,000,000 people.
Yusuf Halaçoğlu, Turkish journalist reinforces the data on hundred of thousands crypto-Armenians.
Karen Khanlaryan, Iranian Armenian journalist and MP "In Germany alone, there were 300,000 Muslim Armenians. He insisted that today in the Eastern part of
Alvrtsyan, Turkey, in various areas of historic Armenia there live at least 2.5 million Muslim Armenians, half of which are hiding."
Through the 20th century, an unknown number of Armenians living in the mountainous Dersim region, officially known as Tunceli since (Dersim) had converted to Alevism. During the 1930s.
Armenian Genocide, many of the Armenians in the region were saved by their Kurdish neighbors. According to Mihran Prgiç Gültekin, the head of the Union of Dersim Armenians, around 75% of the population of Dersim are "converted Armenians." He reported in 2012 that over 200 families in Tunceli have declared their Armenian descent, but others are afraid to do so. In April 2013, Aram Ateşyan, the acting Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, stated that 90% of Tunceli's population is of Armenian origin.
Notable hidden Armenians
Fethiye Çetin (b. 1950 in Maden, Elâzığ Province), lawyer, writer and human rights activist
Ahmet Abakay (b. 1950 in Divriği), journalist
Müslüm Gürses (1953–2013), popular arabesk singer and actor
Yaşar Kurt (b. 1968), rock singer
Ruhi Su (1912-1985), musician
Although today's inhabitants of Geben hesitate to call themselves Armenians, a growing number of "crypto-Armenians" (people forced to change identity) do just that.
"Dagch says according to different calculations, there are 3–5 million Islamized Armenians in Turkey"
There are Armenian Elements in the Beliefs of the Kizilbash Kurds.
Jewish History of Armenia
ARMENIA, in Transcaucasia. Historically its boundaries embraced a much wider area in different periods. The Armenian diaspora is scattered in many countries of the world and still identifies its past history and future aspirations with the wider connotations of the term Armenia. Jewish historical, exegetical, and descriptive sources reveal knowledge of the variations in geographical area and history of this remarkable people. The fate and modes of existence of the Armenians have been compared in some essential features to those of the Jews.
Much of the original Armenia is now the area of Kurdistan in Turkey. However, from the seventh to ninth centuries the Arab conquerors called by the name Armenia a province which included entire Transcaucasia, with the cities Bardhaa, now Barda in the present Soviet Azerbaijan, where the governors mostly resided, and Tiflis (now Tbilisi, capital of Georgia). The province is also sometimes called Armenia in eastern sources.
The Khazars were sometimes credited with Armenian origin: this is stated by the seventh-century Armenian bishop and historian Sebeos, and the Arab geographer Dimashqi (d. 1327). In the 13th to 14th centuries the Crimea and the area to the east were known as Gazaria (Khazaria) to western authors, and as Maritime Armenia to Armenian authors. The term Armenia often included much of Anatolia, or otherwise referred to cities on the Syrian-Mesopotamian route (now Turkey, near the Syrian frontier) such as Haran (Harran), Edessa (Urfa), and Nisibis (Na\ibin).
Identification of Armenia in Literature In the past Armenia has been connected with the biblical Ashkenaz. The Armenians are termed "the Ashkenazi nation" in their literature. According to this tradition, the genealogy in Genesis 10:3 extended to the populations west of the Volga. In Jewish usage Ashkenaz is sometimes equated with Armenia; in addition, it sometimes covers neighboring Adiabene and also Khazaria , the Crimea and the area to the east (Isaac Abarbanel, Commentary to Gen. 10:3), the Saquliba, i.e., the territory of the Slavs and neighboring forest tribes, considered by the Arabs dependent of Khazaria, as well as Eastern and Central Europe, and northern Asia.
In other expositions found in rabbinical works, Armenia is linked with Uz. The anti-Jewish attitudes prevailing in eastern-Byzantine (Armenian) provinces made the Targum identify it with the "daughter of Edom that dwellest in the land of Uz" (Lam. 4:21) or with "Constantina in the land of Armenia" (now Viransehir, between Urfa and Na\ibin (Nisibis). Hence Job's "land of Uz" is referred to as Armenia in some commentaries, for instance in those of Nahmanides and Joseph b. David ibn Yahya. The "Uz-Armenia" of Abraham Farissol is however the Anatolian region near Constantinople. Armenia is also sometimes called Amalek in some sources, and Jews often referred to Armenians as Amalekites.
This is the Byzantine term for the Armenians. It was adopted by the Jews from the Josippon chronicle. According to Josippon, Amalek was conquered by Benjaminite noblemen under Saul (ibid., 26), and Benjaminites are already assumed to be the founders of Armenian Jewry in the time of the Judges (Judg. 19–21). Benjaminite origins are claimed by sectarian Kurds. The idea that Khazaria was originally Amalek helped to support the assumption that the Khazar Jews were descended from Simeon.
Armenia is sometimes identified in literature with the biblical Minni, based on onomatopoeic exegesis of Armenia = Har ("Mountain") Minni; similarly, Harmon (ha-Harmonah, Amos 4:3) is understood in the Targum to denote the region where the Ten Tribes lived "beyond the mountains of Armenia." Rashi identified Harmon with "the Mountains of Darkness," the term used by medieval Jews for the Caspian mountains, believed in the West to surround the kingdom of the Khazars (who were often taken for the Ten Lost Tribes) and to include the Caucasus. The reference in Lamentations Rabbah 1:14, no. 42, does not refer to the passage of the Tribes through Armenia as is usually claimed, but more probably to theJerusalem exiles' easy (harmonyah, "harmonious") route.
Armenia has further been identified with the biblical Togarmah (Gen. 10:3). In Armenian tradition this genealogy has competed with the theory of Ashkenazi origins, and extended to the Scythians east of the Volga. The identification of Armenia as Aram (Gen. 10:22; 25:20; 28:5) is adopted by
Saadiah Gaon and also occurs in Islamic literature.
In the biblical age Armenia was conceived as the mountainous expanse in the north dominating the route from Erez Israel to Mesopotamia (via Haran or its neighborhood) and extending to (and beyond) the boundaries of the known world. The forested heights near the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris stimulated Jewish commentators to develop geographical concepts concerning this area in regard to Paradise (Gen. 2:8 ff.), the divine "mount of meeting" in the north (Isa. 14:13), the connection of the two (Ezek. 28:13–16), and the rebirth of mankind after the Flood (Gen. 8:4ff.). The name Ararat (Gen. 8:4; II Kings 19:37; Jer. 51:27) recalls the indigenous Armenian kingdom of Urartu, based on Lake Van.
Connections and Similarities Between Jewish and Armenian History in Premedieval Times
The Armenians had been formed as a people by 521 B.C.E. Both Armenia and Judea shared common overlords in the Persians, Alexander the Great, and the Seleucids, until their liberation during the Seleucid decline. The ancient kingdom of Armenia attained its apogee under Tigranes II. He invaded Syria, reached Acre, menaced the Hasmonean state, then retreated because of the Roman attack on Armenia (69 B.C.E.).
The medieval Armenian historian, Moses of Chorene, claims that Tigranes settled many Jewish captives in Armenian cities, a statement reflecting the idea that the growth of cities and trade under Tigranes was likely to attract Jews. In fact many Jews settled in the area. Vassal kings appointed there by the Romans included the Herodians Tigranes IV (c. 6 C.E.) and Tigranes V (60–61) in Greater Armenia, and Aristobulus (55–60) in the western borderland, or Lesser Armenia.
Under the more autonomous Parthian dynasty (85–428/33), the Armenian cities retained their Hellenistic culture, as the excavations at Garni (the royal summer residence) have shown. The Jewish Hellenistic immigration continued, and by 360–370, when the Persian conqueror Shapur II reduced them by massive deportation to Iran, the cities were largely populated by Jews. The exaggerated figures recorded by the chronicler Faustus Byzantinus give 83,000 Jewish families deported from five cities, against 81,000 Armenian families; the Jews formed the majority of the exiles from the three cities of Eruandashat, Van, and Nakhichevan.
Halakhic studies never flourished in Greater Armenia, in contradistinction to the center at Nisibis; the scholar R. Jacob the Armenian is exceptional. However, Armenia is mentioned in the aggadic Targums. The mention of two "mountains of Ararat" upon which Noah's ark stood (Targ. Yer., Gen. 8:4) indicates that the location of Armenia found in Jewish Hellenistic sources (roughly adopted by the Muslims) was now identified with a place further north, in conformity with the Christian Armenian tradition, which had won more general acceptance.
Medieval Times
Medieval Armenia consisted of a group of Christian feudal principalities, under foreign overlordship for most of the time. The cities were smaller, with a more ethnically homogeneous population than formerly, and generally excluded Jews. The Armenians joined the Monophysite current of Christianity, which here (as in Ethiopia) opposed the claims of the Byzantine church to hegemony by claiming closer connections with the ancient Israel. Moses of Chorene attributed a Hebrew origin to the Amatuni tribe and to the Bagratuni (Bagratid) feudal dynasty of Armenia.
The Bagratids, who claimed King David as their ancestor, restored the Armenian kingdom, which lasted from 885 to 1045, when it fell to the Muslim invaders. The royal branch, whose descendants remained in Georgia until 1801, also spread the fashion of claiming Israelite genealogies and traditions in this Orthodox Christian territory. The downfall of the Armenian kingdom was followed by general decline. Many Armenians settled in Cilicia (a Byzantine province in Asia Minor) and founded the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia, an ally of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, lasting until 1375, when it fell to the Mamluks. Armenian Jewry ultimately disappeared as a distinct entity, although a part was absorbed into Kurdish Jewry.
Armenia in Legend as the "Jewish Country"
Armenia figures prominently in tales from the medieval and early modern periods about the existence of autonomous settlements of "free Jews." The kingdom of the legendary Christian eastern emperor, Prester John, who was the overlord or neighbor of a Jewish land, is sometimes placed near Armenia. The 14th-century Ethiopic historical compendium, Kebra Negast, states that Ethiopia will assist "Rome" (Byzantium) in liquidating the rebel Jewish state "in Armenia".
The 14th-century Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a geographical compilation, states that the Caspian Jews, the future Gog and Magog, are tributaries to the queen of Armony, Tamara of Georgia (1184–1212). The Armenian diaspora is the closest historical parallel to the Jewish Diaspora, and a comparison of the two reveals much in common. Both suffered loss of statehood and underwent the process of urbanization. They traveled similar migrationary routes, adopted similar trades, received special charters of privilege, and established communal organizations.
They also faced similar problems of assimilation, survival, and accusations made against a dispersed people, and underwent similar psychological stresses. In the Ukraine, both the Jews and the Armenians were accused of having destroyed the livelihood of indigenous merchants and artisans by the communal solidarity they manifested against competition. The massacres of the Armenians have also been explained as a revolt by the exploited masses. During the depopulation of Ottoman Armenia by the massacres and deportations of World War I, the Germans planned to "send Jewish Poles" to resettle the country. The Jewish population in Soviet Armenia numbered 10,000 in 1959.
In Israel Mosaics with Armenian inscriptions point to an Armenian population in Jerusalem as early as the fifth century C.E., and scribal notes on manuscripts indicate a school of Armenian scribes of the same period. In Armenian history 21 bishops of Jerusalem are mentioned in the Arab period.
Scribes
In 1311 a certain Patriarch Sarkis preserved the independence of the patriarchate when Erez Israel came under Mamluk rule. In the early 17th century the patriarchate was short of funds but Patriarch Krikor Baronder (1613–1645) succeeded in raising large sums from Armenians in various parts
the world over, and constructed an Armenian quarter in Jerusalem. There was a long dispute over the rights to use the monastery of St. James, and in 1813 the sultan Mahmud II granted it to the Armenians over the objection of the Greek Orthodox.
In 1833 a printing press was founded which has published many liturgical and ritual books as well as a monthly periodical Sion (since 1866). In 1843 a theological seminary was founded. In the 20th century the community has been centered around the patriarchate and the Monastery of St. James, and the Church of the Archangels, all in the Armenian quarter of the old city of Jerusalem, and the Church of St. Savior on Mt. Zion. These institutions have over the centuries inherited a large collection of manuscripts donated by bishops and pilgrims, firmans granted by sultans and caliphs, and specially commissioned religious articles for the services of the cathedral. The library of manuscripts in Jerusalem is exceeded in size only by the collection in Soviet Armenia. Though always available to scholars in the past, these treasures were exhibited to the general public for the first time in 1969.
The presence of “secret” Armenians in Anatolia has become the subject of a news report in the Argentine press. In an article titled “The Footprints of Secret Armenians in Turkey,” Argentine journalist Avedis Hadjian writes that people of Armenian origin, estimated to number hundreds of thousands, continue to live in Anatolia and Istanbul under false identities. Hadjian’s research begins in Istanbul’s Kurtulus neighborhood and then takes him to Amasya, Diyarbakir, Batman, Tunceli and Mus.
Turkish or Kurdish identity
According to the report, those who have been hiding their real identity for almost a century reside mostly in Turkey’s eastern regions. They have embraced the Sunni or Alawite sects of Islam and live with Turkish or Kurdish identities.
Still, a tiny community living in villages in the Sason district of Batman province preserves their Christianity. Stressing that no one really knows the exact number of crypto-Armenians, Hadjian says he has seen that many of them are scared to acknowledge their Armenian identity. He quotes a crypto-Armenian in Palu: “Turkey is still a dangerous place for Armenians.”
The crypto-Armenians who live under various guises do not socialize with those who live openly as Armenians, and evade contact with strangers. According to Hadjian, some reject their identities even though they accept their parents or grandparents were Armenian and their Turkish and Kurdish neighbors still call them “Armenians” or “infidels.” Others acknowledge their real identity but say they keep it secret from their offspring.
To church in winter, to mosque in summer
Hadjian says that identifying crypto-Armenians is not easy, recounting several examples. The last Armenian in Amasya, Rafel Altinci, for instance, was brought up as a Christian and graduated from the same school as Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist who was killed. He then converted to Islam, married a Turkish woman and raised his daughter as a Muslim. Only recently has he begun to acknowledge that he is an Armenian. Jazo Uzal, a villager from the province of Mus, goes to church in Istanbul, where he spends the winters, but when he returns home during the summer he observes the Muslim rites of worship, including fasting.
In Diyarbakir, lawyer Mehmet Arkan says he became aware of his family’s Armenian identity at the age of seven. “Until 10 years ago, we used to conceal our identity from everybody, but being an Armenian in Diyarbakir is no longer dangerous,” Arkan says, pointing to the restoration of the Surp Giragos Church in the city. He explains he does not feel less Armenian for being a Sunni and performing Muslim prayers.
In some cases, secret Armenians have been transformed in surprising ways. The Ogasyan clan from Bagin village in Palu, for instance, survived the “events” of 1915 and emigrated to the United States, settling in Rhode Island. But before their departure, a Kurdish tribal chief abducted the family’s youngest son Kirkor to use him as a laborer in his fields. The chief then married off the underage Kirkor to an orphan named Zerman. The couple settled in a village in Palu, converted to Islam and adopted Turkish names. They even went on a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca together.
Years later, relatives in the U.S. got in touch with Kirkor and Zerman. Today the couple’s grandson is an imam in Harput, while their second-generation nephew Oshayan Cloloyan is the archbishop of the Armenian Church in New York.
Little girl in Raman Mountains
Hadjian writes about the presence of crypto-Armenians also in Tunceli and its environs, and recounts an encounter he had in Sason. The journalist describes a girl aged 6 or 7 in a group of Armenians heading to the Raman Mountains on pilgrimage. Due to the force of the wind, the white sack on the girl’s back turns around to reveal the Armenian cross. The journalist approaches the girl to take a picture. She hides her face behind her scarf, and when asked whether she is Armenian or has Armenian relatives, she answers: “We are Muslims.”
The village of Chunkush was home to about 10,000 Armenians, and hardly anyone else, until 1915.
That’s when the Armenians were driven out, and were marched for two hours to a ravine known as the Dudan Gorge. Once they arrived at the ravine, they were herded by the force of batons and bayonets into its depths. Here they died, if they hadn’t already perished before entering the abyss.
One young Armenian girl, not more than 10 years of age, stood at the edge of death. She was part of a group that had been marched to the ravine on one of the killing days—the day on which her Chunkush neighborhood had been selected for this “deportation.”
This girl was pretty, and she must have captured the attention of one of the Turkish soldiers who was herding the Armenians to their deaths. Her life was spared. At the age of 10, she became the soldier’s bride.
Five years later, in 1920, a baby was born from their union. This baby, named Asiya, was raised in Chunkush by her mother, a genocide survivor who had been able to remain in the home of her husband as one of the village’s “hidden Armenians.”
When I met Asiya in 2014, she was the oldest surviving Armenian, and indeed, the only Armenian, of Chunkush. Speaking through a translator, Asiya told me her story.
Her father, the Turkish soldier, had died when Asiya was three or four years old. While Asiya was growing up, Asiya’s mother had taught her that she was an Armenian child. Her mother also taught her that her identity as an Armenian was information that they could not share with the neighbors. Their identity had to remain hidden.
Asiya was married off to a much older man when she was 11 years old. There was no right to pick your own husband, she told me. “They gave me to whoever they thought was appropriate.” She and her husband stayed in Chunkush, and raised two daughters and a son.
I asked Asiya about the massacres of 1915. Her mother must have explained to her what had happened. But Asiya refused to talk about it. She did talk a bit about the old days.
“Chunkush was once very beautiful. The churches were so beautiful in the past,” she told me. But now “nothing remains from the old times. They even destroyed all the [Armenian] cemeteries.”
Asiya must have been about 95 years old when I met her in 2014. Her life has been swept along in a torrent of sadness. I asked her how she feels when, as the only Armenian of Chunkush, she meets Armenian visitors from the fiaspora.
“I get happy as much as a mountain,” she told me. This girl was pretty, and she must have captured the attention of one of the Turkish soldiers who was herding the Armenians to their deaths. Her life was spared. At the age of 10, she became the soldier’s bride.
Five years later, in 1920, a baby was born from their union. This baby, named Asiya, was raised in Chunkush by her mother, a genocide survivor who had been able to remain in the home of her husband as one of the village’s “hidden Armenians.”
When I met Asiya in 2014, she was the oldest surviving Armenian, and indeed, the only Armenian, of Chunkush. Speaking through a translator, Asiya told me her story.
Her father, the Turkish soldier, had died when Asiya was three or four years old. While Asiya was growing up, Asiya’s mother had taught her that she was an Armenian child. Her mother also taught her that her identity as an Armenian was information that they could not share with the neighbors. Their identity had to remain hidden.
Asiya was married off to a much older man when she was 11 years old. There was no right to pick your own husband, she told me. “They gave me to whoever they thought was appropriate.” She and her husband stayed in Chunkush, and raised two daughters and a son.
I asked Asiya about the massacres of 1915. Her mother must have explained to her what had happened. But Asiya refused to talk about it. She did talk a bit about the old days.
“Chunkush was once very beautiful. The churches were so beautiful in the past,” she told me. But now “nothing remains from the old times. They even destroyed all the [Armenian] cemeteries.”
Asiya must have been about 95 years old when I met her in 2014. Her life has been swept along in a torrent of sadness. I asked her how she feels when, as the only Armenian of Chunkush, she meets Armenian visitors from the fiaspora. “I get happy as much as a mountain,” she told me.
Raffi Bedrosyan: “I was excited at showing Armenia to the hidden Armenians, and they were excited about seeing Armenia…”
Recently, 50 hidden Armenians from Diyarbakir (Tigranakert) participated in “Ari Tun” program. The initiator was Canadian Armenian pianist, engineer-constructor Raffi Bedrosyan, who together with his co-thinkers carried out the reconstruction works of St. Kirakos Church in Diyarbakir. Interview of “Hayern Aysor” with Raffi Bedrosyan is about this topic.
- Reconstruction of St. Kirakos Church in Diyarbakir had several objectives:
Firstly, to prove to the Turks and the Kurds that, prior to 1915, Armenians used to live there and they had a very large Armenian community, as they would always deny the fact. Besides, by reconstructing a church for three thousand people, we pursue the goal to attract their attention, so that those that are unaware of the Armenian Genocide, would be able to confront the history of their past.
Secondly, St. Kirakos Church became a living genocide memorial for those Armenians of Diaspora and Armenia, who visit Turkey, the Western Armenia.
Thirdly, the biggest and the most important goal was that St. Kirakos Church should be a magnet attracting the hidden Armenians living in Diyarbakir. And this became a reality much earlier than projected by us. Many children and grandghildren of Armenians that were Islamized after 1915 (forced or as orphans being taken by the Turks and the Kurds), today begin to realize that there are Armenian roots in their families, restore their identity and return to their roots. For the time being, several persons have been baptized at St. Kirakos Church. The majority of these hidden Armenians disclose their Armenian roots, but continue to profess Islam.
This is a new reality, which we should recognize, and we should perceive that, along with the Armenians from Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora, there are also Islamized hidden Armenians making up a quite big number in Turkey. We should encourage them, so that they would feel that they are Armenians and could be Armenians.
Therefore, we organized, together with the Municipality, Armenian language classes in Diyarbakir. We took the graduates of these classes to Armenia as a prize for completion of the course. We came to Armenia with pleasure and anxiety. I was excited at showing Armenia to the hidden Armenians, and they were excited about seeing Armenia.
We want to again hire a teacher, who will continue teaching the Armenian language. In Armenia, we visited AGBU; we were familiarized with the terms and conditions of the Virtual University. Many of them, especially the youth, said that they could learn the Armenian language also via this channel. We should work hard, so that the Armenian language could develop in Diyarbakir, and later on – in other locations as well.
- Mr. Raffi, how many hidden Armenians have participated in “Ari Tun” program?
- Our group was comprised of 50 persons, ranging in age from 18 to 83, and representing all socio-economic and education levels; among them were lawyers, doctors, traders, teachers, farmers, craftsmen, students, etc. All of them have Armenian roots, wishing to be Armenians and speak the Armenian language. This program should have been very important for them.
- You are in touch with the hidden Armenians. What interesting stories can you recall?
- There are many such stories; the story of each hidden Armenia can become a material for one book. Some of them knew about their Armenian identity from their parents, at the same time being strictly warned not to talk about it outside.
Some of them got to know about the location of Yerevan and Armenia, as they lived among the Kurds. For many years, the Turkish government had forced the Kurds not to use the word “Kurd” and not to speak Kurdish. And these people would listen to Kurdish news and music only via Yerevan radio, thus, having contacts with Armenia.
Some of them found out about their Armenian identity only in the middle of their life, when their parents had confessed,before they died, that they were previously Armenian. Do you know what it means? Being shocked and surprised, these 40-year old people realize that they are not any more Kurds or Turks, but are Armenians.
Unfortunately, in Turkey the word “Armenian” is used as a curse, and this is still the case today. They tell that when boys would quarrel, the Kurdish and Turkish boys, knowing that their peers were hidden Armenians, would swear at them as Armenians. The latter, without knowing about their origin, would perceive this as a curse, and would cry and go home, telling that they were cursed being named as Armenians. And only then, their parents would confess that this was not a curse, but the reality.
- Mr. Raffi, in course of the visit to Armenia, two Armenians from Diyarbakir were baptized at St. Astvatsatsin Church in Etchmiadzin. I wonder how it occurred to them to do that.
-Several members of the group were baptized at St. Kirakos Church, the rest were either Islamic Armenians or atheists. When we came to Armenia, no one had an intention of being baptized. But Sami Chelik, who is a teacher at a Turkish government school, said that he wanted to make his dream come true and to become a Christian Armenian. We agreed that the baptism would be conducted in Etchmiadzin, as we were going to visit Etchmiadzin in scope of “Ari Tun” program. As I told, that man was a teacher, and there was a risk that he might lose his job. But he was determined and wanted to be baptized in Armenia.
Rahime Karakash was hesitant whether to be baptized or not. Her situation was more complex; she is married to a devoutly Muslim Kurd, who had made it a condition that she would never convert. But Rahime’s father, before passing away, had encouraged her to become Christian, as they are Armenians. And she felt that she had an obligation to her late father. So she wasbetween her father and her husband. She had to make a hard choice. The day, when we went to Sardarapat, on the way back she said that she wanted to be baptized. So when we arrived in Etchmiadzin, instead of one, two participants were baptized.
- I wonder, what changes will happen in their life, when they return back?
- When they return, they will be a bit braver and the Armenianness in them will be more powerful. As compared to the past, today the situation is better in Turkey and they feel more open. At the same time, a new episode, a shock might happen there any time.
One thing I may say for sure: they are very happy for being Armenians; they change their names; they are baptized and want to learn Armenian in a short period of time. And their children – the next generation, will be more predetermined as Armenians.
- Isn’t it dangerous today to confront own identity in Turkey?
- We do not intervene in such issues. It is not in our competence to tell them what to do. And if they express willingness to return to their origins, we should make efforts to help them. However, we cannot impose pressure and take any step without their consent. I hope that the conditions will improve.
- Is the number of the hidden Armenians living in Diyarbakir known?
- We cannot state precise figures; but they say that more than 100 000 hidden Armenians having Armenian roots and blood, live in Diyarbakir.
- Mr. Raffi, how many years have you been dealing withthese matters? And what has been changed in your life, when you began to communicatewith the Islamized Armenians?
- After my friend Hrant Dink’s murder, I began to think more about these matters, about the remaining/living victims of genocide, instead of only the long gone dead victims. The more I communicate with the hidden Armenians, the bigger becomes the problem, and in the meantime – the solution. Perhaps this takes a lot of time, but this is my duty, which I do with great pleasure.
- You are a pianist. How do you combine these two activities?
- I try to combine both. After reconstruction of St. Kirakos Church, I gave the first concert in the church, mostly works of Armenian composers, which was received very well. For the first time after 1915, Armenian music would sound at St. Kirakos Church. This concert was only the beginning; we want to implement other programs as well, particularly,to establish a cultural center, so that the cultural life could develop in Diyarbakir.
- How often do you visit Diyarbakir?
- One or two times per year. Hidden Armenians live also in Istanbul. The life is a bit easier there with less pressure, but the “core” should be sought in the Eastern Anatolia/Western Armenia, and contacts should be maintainedwith those living in Diyarbakir, Dersim and Van.
- Mr. Raffi, I know that you had climbed Mount Ararat.
- It was one of my biggest dreams, which came true in August last year. With my son Taron, we climbed Mount Ararat, together with Americans and the Dutch. The first day, when we spent the night on the mountain, I heard an Armenian song from the tent next to ours – “tableful, and in front Ararat…”; we went and found out that they were Armenians from Armenia, who also had decided to climb the mountain. We decided to leave our group and to join them. When we climbed to the summit of Ararat, the six of us -theArmenians, were all together, and it was abreathtaking moment, which I will never forget.
- What has been changed in your life?
- Now I have stronger will to continue such activities.
- What plans do you have in the near future? I know that you have some projects connected with Hamshen Armenians.
- Yes, I would like to be able to implement the same program with the Hamshen Armenians, as we did with the Diyarbakir Armenians. This will be a more complex and challenging program, as among the Hamshen Armenians, there are not many people who would accept their Armenian identity, as they had been Islamized much earlier – about two centuries ago. However, among the Hamshen Armenians there are people, who know that the language they are speaking is one form of the Armenian language, rather than a dialect of Turkish language, as they had been told. After realizing this, many things couldbe changed in their life. Many of them have started to deal with this issue with the help of specialists that study this issue; they begin to show interest, go deep into the issue and understand that they have Armenian roots.
- How was your cooperation with the Ministry of Diaspora established?
- It wouldn’t be possible to implement such programs without the assistance of the Ministry of Diaspora. And for that, we are grateful very much to the whole staff of the Ministry of Diaspora, especially the Minister Hranush Hakobyan and Mr. Firdus Zakaryan (Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Diaspora), who were very much supportive, encouraging and jointly we were able to implement all that.
I hope that this is only the beginning and that in the near future, we will be able to implement many programs. We already have a good experience and the next ones will be done more easily.
Interviewed by Lusine Abrahamyan (this last name is very Israelite indeed)
Hidden Armenians (Turkish: Gizli Ermeniler) or crypto-Armenians (Armenian:tsptyal hayer; Turkish: Kripto Ermeniler) is an umbrella term to describe people in Turkey "of full or partial ethnic Armenian origin who generally conceal their Armenian identity from wider Turkish society." They are mostly descendants of Armenians in Turkey who were Islamized "under the threat of physical extermination" during the Armenian Genocide.
Turkish journalist Erhan Başyurt [a] describes hidden Armenians as "families (and in some cases, entire villages or neighbourhoods) [...] who converted to Islam to escape the deportations and death marches [of 1915], but continued their hidden lives as Armenians, marrying among themselves and, in some cases, clandestinely reverting to Christianity." According to the European Commission 2012 report on Turkey, a "number of crypto-Armenians have started to use their original names and religion." The Economist suggests that the number of Turks who reveal their Armenian background is growing.
History
Background
The western parts of the Armenian Highlands, the traditional homeland of the Armenian people, came under Ottoman (Turkish) control in the 16th century.
Armenians remained an overwhelming majority of the area's population until the 17th century, however, their number gradually decreased and by the early 20th century they constituted up to 38% of the population of Western Armenia, designed at the time.
Armenian Genocide
In 1915 and the following years, the Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated by the Young Turk government in the Armenian Genocide. During the genocide, between 100,000 and 200,000 Armenian women were taken into harems by Muslim husbands and children were converted, forced into slavery, or kidnapped and raised as Turks or Kurds. When relief workers and surviving Armenians started to search for and claim back these Armenian orphans after World War I, only a small percentage were found and reunited, while many others continued to live as Muslims. Additionally, there were cases of entire families converting to Islam to survive the genocide.
Republican period
"After converting to Islam, many of the crypto-Armenians said they still faced unfair treatment: their land was often confiscated, the men were humiliated with "circumcision checks" in the army and some were tortured." Between the 1930s and 1980s, the Turkish government conducted a secret investigation of hidden Armenians.
The term "Crypto-Armenians" appears as early as 1956.
Recent developments
Since the 1960s, there have been cases of Islamized Armenian families converting back to Christianity and changing their names. Some have suggested that the 2010 mass in Akdamar Island's Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross—first time after the genocide—encouraged hidden Armenians to reveal their origin. Since Armenians in Turkey are all defined as belonging to the Armenian Church, if the newcomers are rejected by the Patriarchate, they become double outcasts, not only from their previous Muslim Turkish/Kurdish community, but also from the Armenian community, as they cannot get married, baptized, or buried by the church and cannot send their children to Armenian schools. If they have made a conscious decision to identify themselves as Armenian, regardless of whether they stay Muslim or atheist or anything else, they face risks and outright danger.
Relationships get even more complicated as there are now many families with one branch carrying on life as Muslim Turks/Kurds, another branch as Muslim Armenian, and a third branch as Christian Armenian.
In 2009, the British MP Bob Spink tabled an early day motion entitled "Independent Inquiry into The Armenian Genocide" that stated that the House of Commons "is concerned about the welfare of thousands of Crypto-Armenians in Turkey."
Number
Various scholars and authors have estimated the number of individuals of full or partial Armenian descent living in Turkey. The range of the estimates is great due to different criteria used. Most of these numbers do no make a distinction between hidden Armenians and Islamized Armenians. According to journalist Erhan Başyurt the main difference between the two groups is their self-identity. Islamized Armenian, in his words, are "children & women who were saved by Muslim families and have continued their lives among them", while hidden Armenians "continued their hidden lives as Armenians."
Depending on the different sources the offspring of Armenian converts to Islam goes between 40,000 5,000,000 people.
Yusuf Halaçoğlu, Turkish journalist reinforces the data on hundred of thousands crypto-Armenians.
Karen Khanlaryan, Iranian Armenian journalist and MP "In Germany alone, there were 300,000 Muslim Armenians. He insisted that today in the Eastern part of
Alvrtsyan, Turkey, in various areas of historic Armenia there live at least 2.5 million Muslim Armenians, half of which are hiding."
Through the 20th century, an unknown number of Armenians living in the mountainous Dersim region, officially known as Tunceli since (Dersim) had converted to Alevism. During the 1930s.
Armenian Genocide, many of the Armenians in the region were saved by their Kurdish neighbors. According to Mihran Prgiç Gültekin, the head of the Union of Dersim Armenians, around 75% of the population of Dersim are "converted Armenians." He reported in 2012 that over 200 families in Tunceli have declared their Armenian descent, but others are afraid to do so. In April 2013, Aram Ateşyan, the acting Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, stated that 90% of Tunceli's population is of Armenian origin.
Notable hidden Armenians
Fethiye Çetin (b. 1950 in Maden, Elâzığ Province), lawyer, writer and human rights activist
Ahmet Abakay (b. 1950 in Divriği), journalist
Müslüm Gürses (1953–2013), popular arabesk singer and actor
Yaşar Kurt (b. 1968), rock singer
Ruhi Su (1912-1985), musician
Although today's inhabitants of Geben hesitate to call themselves Armenians, a growing number of "crypto-Armenians" (people forced to change identity) do just that.
"Dagch says according to different calculations, there are 3–5 million Islamized Armenians in Turkey"
There are Armenian Elements in the Beliefs of the Kizilbash Kurds.
Jewish History of Armenia
ARMENIA, in Transcaucasia. Historically its boundaries embraced a much wider area in different periods. The Armenian diaspora is scattered in many countries of the world and still identifies its past history and future aspirations with the wider connotations of the term Armenia. Jewish historical, exegetical, and descriptive sources reveal knowledge of the variations in geographical area and history of this remarkable people. The fate and modes of existence of the Armenians have been compared in some essential features to those of the Jews.
Much of the original Armenia is now the area of Kurdistan in Turkey. However, from the seventh to ninth centuries the Arab conquerors called by the name Armenia a province which included entire Transcaucasia, with the cities Bardhaa, now Barda in the present Soviet Azerbaijan, where the governors mostly resided, and Tiflis (now Tbilisi, capital of Georgia). The province is also sometimes called Armenia in eastern sources.
The Khazars were sometimes credited with Armenian origin: this is stated by the seventh-century Armenian bishop and historian Sebeos, and the Arab geographer Dimashqi (d. 1327). In the 13th to 14th centuries the Crimea and the area to the east were known as Gazaria (Khazaria) to western authors, and as Maritime Armenia to Armenian authors. The term Armenia often included much of Anatolia, or otherwise referred to cities on the Syrian-Mesopotamian route (now Turkey, near the Syrian frontier) such as Haran (Harran), Edessa (Urfa), and Nisibis (Na\ibin).
Identification of Armenia in Literature In the past Armenia has been connected with the biblical Ashkenaz. The Armenians are termed "the Ashkenazi nation" in their literature. According to this tradition, the genealogy in Genesis 10:3 extended to the populations west of the Volga. In Jewish usage Ashkenaz is sometimes equated with Armenia; in addition, it sometimes covers neighboring Adiabene and also Khazaria , the Crimea and the area to the east (Isaac Abarbanel, Commentary to Gen. 10:3), the Saquliba, i.e., the territory of the Slavs and neighboring forest tribes, considered by the Arabs dependent of Khazaria, as well as Eastern and Central Europe, and northern Asia.
In other expositions found in rabbinical works, Armenia is linked with Uz. The anti-Jewish attitudes prevailing in eastern-Byzantine (Armenian) provinces made the Targum identify it with the "daughter of Edom that dwellest in the land of Uz" (Lam. 4:21) or with "Constantina in the land of Armenia" (now Viransehir, between Urfa and Na\ibin (Nisibis). Hence Job's "land of Uz" is referred to as Armenia in some commentaries, for instance in those of Nahmanides and Joseph b. David ibn Yahya. The "Uz-Armenia" of Abraham Farissol is however the Anatolian region near Constantinople. Armenia is also sometimes called Amalek in some sources, and Jews often referred to Armenians as Amalekites.
This is the Byzantine term for the Armenians. It was adopted by the Jews from the Josippon chronicle. According to Josippon, Amalek was conquered by Benjaminite noblemen under Saul (ibid., 26), and Benjaminites are already assumed to be the founders of Armenian Jewry in the time of the Judges (Judg. 19–21). Benjaminite origins are claimed by sectarian Kurds. The idea that Khazaria was originally Amalek helped to support the assumption that the Khazar Jews were descended from Simeon.
Armenia is sometimes identified in literature with the biblical Minni, based on onomatopoeic exegesis of Armenia = Har ("Mountain") Minni; similarly, Harmon (ha-Harmonah, Amos 4:3) is understood in the Targum to denote the region where the Ten Tribes lived "beyond the mountains of Armenia." Rashi identified Harmon with "the Mountains of Darkness," the term used by medieval Jews for the Caspian mountains, believed in the West to surround the kingdom of the Khazars (who were often taken for the Ten Lost Tribes) and to include the Caucasus. The reference in Lamentations Rabbah 1:14, no. 42, does not refer to the passage of the Tribes through Armenia as is usually claimed, but more probably to theJerusalem exiles' easy (harmonyah, "harmonious") route.
Armenia has further been identified with the biblical Togarmah (Gen. 10:3). In Armenian tradition this genealogy has competed with the theory of Ashkenazi origins, and extended to the Scythians east of the Volga. The identification of Armenia as Aram (Gen. 10:22; 25:20; 28:5) is adopted by
Saadiah Gaon and also occurs in Islamic literature.
In the biblical age Armenia was conceived as the mountainous expanse in the north dominating the route from Erez Israel to Mesopotamia (via Haran or its neighborhood) and extending to (and beyond) the boundaries of the known world. The forested heights near the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris stimulated Jewish commentators to develop geographical concepts concerning this area in regard to Paradise (Gen. 2:8 ff.), the divine "mount of meeting" in the north (Isa. 14:13), the connection of the two (Ezek. 28:13–16), and the rebirth of mankind after the Flood (Gen. 8:4ff.). The name Ararat (Gen. 8:4; II Kings 19:37; Jer. 51:27) recalls the indigenous Armenian kingdom of Urartu, based on Lake Van.
Connections and Similarities Between Jewish and Armenian History in Premedieval Times
The Armenians had been formed as a people by 521 B.C.E. Both Armenia and Judea shared common overlords in the Persians, Alexander the Great, and the Seleucids, until their liberation during the Seleucid decline. The ancient kingdom of Armenia attained its apogee under Tigranes II. He invaded Syria, reached Acre, menaced the Hasmonean state, then retreated because of the Roman attack on Armenia (69 B.C.E.).
Under the more autonomous Parthian dynasty (85–428/33), the Armenian cities retained their Hellenistic culture, as the excavations at Garni (the royal summer residence) have shown. The Jewish Hellenistic immigration continued, and by 360–370, when the Persian conqueror Shapur II reduced them by massive deportation to Iran, the cities were largely populated by Jews. The exaggerated figures recorded by the chronicler Faustus Byzantinus give 83,000 Jewish families deported from five cities, against 81,000 Armenian families; the Jews formed the majority of the exiles from the three cities of Eruandashat, Van, and Nakhichevan.
Halakhic studies never flourished in Greater Armenia, in contradistinction to the center at Nisibis; the scholar R. Jacob the Armenian is exceptional. However, Armenia is mentioned in the aggadic Targums. The mention of two "mountains of Ararat" upon which Noah's ark stood (Targ. Yer., Gen. 8:4) indicates that the location of Armenia found in Jewish Hellenistic sources (roughly adopted by the Muslims) was now identified with a place further north, in conformity with the Christian Armenian tradition, which had won more general acceptance.
Medieval Times
Medieval Armenia consisted of a group of Christian feudal principalities, under foreign overlordship for most of the time. The cities were smaller, with a more ethnically homogeneous population than formerly, and generally excluded Jews. The Armenians joined the Monophysite current of Christianity, which here (as in Ethiopia) opposed the claims of the Byzantine church to hegemony by claiming closer connections with the ancient Israel. Moses of Chorene attributed a Hebrew origin to the Amatuni tribe and to the Bagratuni (Bagratid) feudal dynasty of Armenia.
The Bagratids, who claimed King David as their ancestor, restored the Armenian kingdom, which lasted from 885 to 1045, when it fell to the Muslim invaders. The royal branch, whose descendants remained in Georgia until 1801, also spread the fashion of claiming Israelite genealogies and traditions in this Orthodox Christian territory. The downfall of the Armenian kingdom was followed by general decline. Many Armenians settled in Cilicia (a Byzantine province in Asia Minor) and founded the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia, an ally of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, lasting until 1375, when it fell to the Mamluks. Armenian Jewry ultimately disappeared as a distinct entity, although a part was absorbed into Kurdish Jewry.
Armenia in Legend as the "Jewish Country"
Armenia figures prominently in tales from the medieval and early modern periods about the existence of autonomous settlements of "free Jews." The kingdom of the legendary Christian eastern emperor, Prester John, who was the overlord or neighbor of a Jewish land, is sometimes placed near Armenia. The 14th-century Ethiopic historical compendium, Kebra Negast, states that Ethiopia will assist "Rome" (Byzantium) in liquidating the rebel Jewish state "in Armenia".
The 14th-century Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a geographical compilation, states that the Caspian Jews, the future Gog and Magog, are tributaries to the queen of Armony, Tamara of Georgia (1184–1212). The Armenian diaspora is the closest historical parallel to the Jewish Diaspora, and a comparison of the two reveals much in common. Both suffered loss of statehood and underwent the process of urbanization. They traveled similar migrationary routes, adopted similar trades, received special charters of privilege, and established communal organizations.
They also faced similar problems of assimilation, survival, and accusations made against a dispersed people, and underwent similar psychological stresses. In the Ukraine, both the Jews and the Armenians were accused of having destroyed the livelihood of indigenous merchants and artisans by the communal solidarity they manifested against competition. The massacres of the Armenians have also been explained as a revolt by the exploited masses. During the depopulation of Ottoman Armenia by the massacres and deportations of World War I, the Germans planned to "send Jewish Poles" to resettle the country. The Jewish population in Soviet Armenia numbered 10,000 in 1959.
In Israel Mosaics with Armenian inscriptions point to an Armenian population in Jerusalem as early as the fifth century C.E., and scribal notes on manuscripts indicate a school of Armenian scribes of the same period. In Armenian history 21 bishops of Jerusalem are mentioned in the Arab period.
In 1311 a certain Patriarch Sarkis preserved the independence of the patriarchate when Erez Israel came under Mamluk rule. In the early 17th century the patriarchate was short of funds but Patriarch Krikor Baronder (1613–1645) succeeded in raising large sums from Armenians in various parts
the world over, and constructed an Armenian quarter in Jerusalem. There was a long dispute over the rights to use the monastery of St. James, and in 1813 the sultan Mahmud II granted it to the Armenians over the objection of the Greek Orthodox.
In 1833 a printing press was founded which has published many liturgical and ritual books as well as a monthly periodical Sion (since 1866). In 1843 a theological seminary was founded. In the 20th century the community has been centered around the patriarchate and the Monastery of St. James, and the Church of the Archangels, all in the Armenian quarter of the old city of Jerusalem, and the Church of St. Savior on Mt. Zion. These institutions have over the centuries inherited a large collection of manuscripts donated by bishops and pilgrims, firmans granted by sultans and caliphs, and specially commissioned religious articles for the services of the cathedral. The library of manuscripts in Jerusalem is exceeded in size only by the collection in Soviet Armenia. Though always available to scholars in the past, these treasures were exhibited to the general public for the first time in 1969.
Lands of the Dispersion: Khazaria
On closer examination, I find that Samara in fact appears to be much older than the fifteenth century city cited in some sources. Immanuel Velikovsky notes:
‘On the middle flow of the Volga, a city with the name Samara exists and has existed since grey antiquity. It is situated a short distance downstream from the point where the Volga and the Kama join. Russian conquerors of the ninth century found this city in existence.’ Immanuel Velikovsky, ‘Beyond the Mountains of Darkness,’
Was Samara ever a Khazar city?
Immanuel Velikovsky states, ‘the medieval Arab geographer Yakubi, basing himself on accounts of the ninth-century traveller Ibn Fadlan, speaks of the Khazars who dwelt in Samara’
I knew of the fact that another name for the Armenian Kingdom was Ashkenaz given by both Armenians and Jews to the Armenian Kingdom. And I knew that the same name was given to the European Jewry respectively. I was always puzzled at that…For example in the Armenian accounts often the Ashkenaz were also put with the Scythians. The Scythians on the other hand at one time or another controlled vast areas of present day South-Western Russia. We also know that Scythians for a fact were in Armenia (I know for a fact that there are Scythian kurgans from Northern Armenia all the way to Yerevan). We also know that almost exact area of the Scythians was occupied by the Khazars. Armenians speak an Indo-European language, so did the Scythians. The Indo-European element is there but there is, just like in the case of Hebrews, so much more to the people.
Both Armenians and Jews share common lineage that can not be denied along with other non-related elements/influences… There is some mysterious connection to the Khazars. In Armenian hard L become gh or kh (just like the r sometimes). So Armenians call Lazar – Ghazar or Khazar (the last name Ghazarian or Khazarian is very common in Armenians today).
[Kazarian, Kazaryan, Khazarian, Khazaryan are all common Armenian surnames. -DS]
The amazing part is also throughout all of history of the Khazars there is not one chronicled attack on the Armenian lands of the powerful kingdom that was at odds with all of its neighbors except bordering…. Armenia. It is also true about Bagratids (who restored the Kingdom of Armenia in the IXth Century by liberating it from the Arabs) stating of their Jewish origins as recorded by the Father of Armenian History, Moses of Khorene. One of the most common names back then used exclusively by Bagratids was Smbat or Shambat. Also when the Persian Shah Shapur II attacked Armenia the Jewish leaders confronted the invasion and stated that they will support Armenians for the freedom of Armenia. Unfortunately the Persians overwhelmed Armenian forces and thousands upon thousands of Armenians and Jews were forcibly moved to populate vast empty lands of Iran. They were the ones who put an end to Arsacid Armenia. Now most of the Iranian Jews (as well as the Armenians) are direct descendants of these migrants. I have met some Iranian Jews that even amazingly to this day had the traditional Armenian -ian endings. I was surprised and when I asked how the last name came about in the family that person unfortunately did not know. He only told me that it (Yaghubian) was in the family for generations. At the same time it made me respect the tenacity of both peoples and the superhuman will to preserve their cultural identity for so long.
There must be more research done on the subject matter to learn about all of these connections. The amazing and interesting part is that Armenians just like the Jews in Armenia had also a number of rights and privileges in Israel/Palestine that no other peoples enjoyed. The Armenians have exclusive rights as a people in the Old Jerusalem to a separate quarter. The only people that have this right are as you know the Jewish people. The other peoples have to settle for religious quarters (Muslim/Christian). Armenians have a number of exclusive rights on the Holy sites including the control of the St. James Cathedral in the Armenian Quarter. This common contact has been vice versa for centuries and the amazing thing is that this contact that is alive dates back to thousands and thousands of years to the times of dawn of recorded human history, when there were still people that gave both to Armenians and Jews yet they themselves died out and disappeared. Their identity is not known, often they are only classified as ‘Armenoid’ in their appearance, a type that once was the core of all of civilization of the Fertile Crescent. Were they Sumerians, the Hurrians or one of the lost tribes? I hope that there will be a a consequential effort and thorough research by a historian or better yet a team of historians to finally answer this question.
Lands of the Dispersion: Armenia
'When we were called to serve in the Russia Moscow Mission with a submission to Armenia, I was one day packing to go to the MTC, and in a quiet moment it was like a voice said to me, 'Jack, you are going to teach the 10 tribes.' I stood there chilled, and from that moment I knew that many Armenians would turn out to be of the 10 tribes lineage. One story we heard in Armenia from one of the candidates for Catholicos (Armenian Church Patriarch) was that there were masses of records stored in the private basement of the Armenian Church museum in Etchmiadzin.'
It is widely acknowledged by their own scholars that Armenians have a high proportion of Israelite blood. In Armenia Awakening: Sons of the Prophets (see Gathering of Israel Bulletin #6), Elder Jack Hughs writes: An old Russian folk song titled 'Abdul the Bul Bul Ameer' begins with the line 'The sons of the prophets were brave men, and bold, and quite unaccustomed to fear...' The ballad tells of the battle between a Russian soldier and Abdul, a transcaucasian Tartar renowned for his sword play. The duel ends in the death of both combatants, Abdul being tossed in the Black Sea one dark stormy night.
It is a humorous tale, containing references to thedescendants of the Prophets being in the area of the Black Sea, very near what is now known as Armenia. Armenia, the oldest Christian nation in the world, is poised on the brink of a new age of enlightenment. Armenians are a people descended from Noah's son Japeth, merging with Semitic tribes including the biblical covenant people through Shem, Abraham and the 12 tribes of Israel. Dr Nephi Kezerian, a noted genealogist, traces these ancestral streams in an appendix to his excellent book 'Genealogy for Armenians.' It is interesting to note how closely associated the Armenians were with the 'Lost ten tribes of Israel' for over 700 years. Armenia's Christianity dates to around AD32 when kings Agbar and Sanatruck were baptized by Jesus' Apostle Bartholomew and Thaddeus.
It is dated to early First Century AD and according to the accounts of the Chroniclers of this time (both Armenian and Assyrian) such as Agathangelos and Phaustos Buzand - Christ and his Disciples were in Armenian (Northern) Mesopotamia, in the Armenian kingdom of Edessa in the court of king Abgar (not to be confused with non-related Islamic Akbar). It is during this time according to these accounts that Abgar after hearing our Christ and His mission for humanity converts to Christianity, thus becoming one of the first early Christians.
We know that two of Christ's Apostles - St. Thaddeus and St. Jude (St. Bartholomew) entered Armenia via the Armenian Atrpatakan in the south of Armenian Highland, proceeded with their preaching to Siunik (present day parts are in the Siunik Marz of Republic of Armenia) and Goltan (present day Azeri controlled Nakhichevan area) where they fell victims to initial anti-Christian stance of Arsacid (Arshakouni) dynasty. The Armenian Church prides itself on the Apostolic legacy and their martyrdom. But the roots of the Armenian Apostolic Church and its continual success as a religious institution (not counting the individual converted Christians from the First Century onward) date back to early Fourth Century AD. In 301 AD when St. Gregory the Illuminator became the first supreme Patriarch, the Catholicos, the spiritual leader of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church, which he himself established. It is during this period in 303 AD when we have another major account of Christ's appearance to St. Gregory the Illuminator. Even today there is some common identity in physical features, cultural aspects, outlooks, approaches to life and cultural aspirations of both Armenian and Jewish peoples.
The Jewish call of overthrow of Babylon in the Sixth Century BC is clear. Armenians of the Land of Ararat as it was known, the Medes and others must united in overthrowing Babylonian – Assyrian domination on the many peoples of the Fertile Crescent.
Jeremiah: 51:27 ‘Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a captain against her, cause the horses to come as the rough caterpillars.‘Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captain thereof, and all the rulers thereof, an all the land of his dominions.’
In 538 BC, King Tigran of Armenia contributed to the capture and overthrow of wicked Babylon with his Armenian army. Tigran was a firm friend of the Persian monarch Cyrus, who led the combined Medo-Persian army. The prophet Jeremiah made these summons about a century before the destruction of the Babylonian Empire.-
Khazars adopted a kind of Bnei Noach type of Basic Judaism but later became full-fledged converts
Polak claimed that at first the Khazars adopted a kind of Bnei Noach type of Basic Judaism (without becoming Jews) but later became full-fledged converts. At first the King and leading nobles converted, then all of the Khazars. Apart from the Khazars part of the subject and allied peoples ( such as a portion of the Alans) also became Jewish. A lot of Jews had fled to Khazaria from the pagan Persians and Arabs in the Middle East and from the Byzantines who then ruled over Turkey, Syria, Greece, and part of Southeast Europe. The Islamic Arabs, pagan Persians (before the Moslems conquered them), and Christian Byzantines had all persecuted the Jews so they fled in large numbers to Khazaria where they freely intermixed with the population. This facilitated their later conversion. he King of the Khazars along with many of his nobles and Khazar subjects converted to Judaism. The Khazars were actually a small group but they ruled over many others. Most of the converts to Judaism came from the Khazars and Alans and not from the other peoples. Both the Khazars and Alans were descended from the Ten Tribes of Israel.
Yehuda Halevi (1075-1141 CE) wrote the book "Ha-Kuzari" (The Khazar) which is based on a Disputation the King of Khazaria is said to have had between representatives of different faiths. As a result of this Disputation the King decided to convert to Judaism. The book Ha-Kuzari by Yehuda Halevi is an Apologia or argument presenting his behalf in Judaism. This is a Classical Work in Jewish Literature and Rabbinical Studies.
After the Mongol invasion in the 1200s CE, the Khazars disappeared. Many of the Khazars were assimilated by the Jewish People. Some Jews today are their descendants. Exactly what portion of Jews descend from Khazars is not known but all indications are that it is not a substantial number. A minority of Jews however do come from the Khazars and a great number of Jews may have some Khazar ancestry. Khazars were also to be found in Sweden and in Scotland. In Sweden we have archaeological evidence and in Scotland we have proofs both from archaeology and mythology. The Khazars were also known as Agathyrsi and according to Roman accounts a portion of the Agathyrsi crossed the sea and became the Picts in Northern Scotland.
The Physical Appearance of the Khazars.
Three different types of Khazar are described by Arab writers who apparently through trade and diplomacy had had direct contact with them. The Arab Geographer Istakhri (Koestler p.20) said: "The Khazars do not resemble the Turks. They are black-haired and of two kinds, one called the Kara [i.e. "Black"] - Khazars who are swarthy verging on deep black as if they were a kind of Hindu, and a white kind [Ak-Khazars], who are strikingly handsome". The above description says that both kinds of Khazars had black hair though regarding countenance, etc. one was white and the other very dark.
Al Maghribi said: "As to the Khazars, they are to the north of the inhabited earth towards the 7th clime, having over their heads the constellation of the plough. Their land is cold and wet, their eyes blue, their hair flowing and predominantly reddish, their bodies large and their natures cold. Their general aspect is wild". Al-Maghribi is here apparently speaking of another section of the Khazars who lived more to the north. These had "predominantly reddish" hair and blue eyes. It was remarked above that the Khazar White Ugrians were described by the Chinese as red-haired, pale-skinned, and green-eyed. The Alans who were closely associated with the Khazars were described by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcelinus as being blonde-haired like all the Scythians according to him. Ammianus includes the Agathysoi (Khazars) amongst the Alans. From the above it follows that different Khazar and Khazar-linked groups were of different types.>>
The Khazars were not "a mongoloid Asiatic or turkic people". They did however rule over many peoples and it may be that some of their subjects were as described. A recent Israeli documentary had a program on the Khazars. It depicted what were apparently old Russian illustrations that showed the Khazars as a red-haired people with blonde rulers (?).
As to your other questions in brief: Ancient Israelites were of different types. Some were blond and red haired,
others were darkish. It may be that in some tribes certain types prevailed. Later environmental influence and intermixture with surrounding peoples would also have had an effect. Lost Ten Tribes before their exile in my opinion had degenerated religiously, were probably mainly illiterate, confused mixture of Hebrew beliefs, popular superstition and paganism.
Khazars are not the Ashkenazi, but the Karachais, Crimean Karaites (Karaim), Mountain Jews, Kumyks, Kabards, Balkars...
According to some, the Karaim or Crimean Karaites have the Kipchaks (it's believed that regarding the Karaim, that it's more likely that the Kipchaks would be their forefathers) as their ancestors, whereas for others the Khazars would be their ancestors, both groups being in theory Turkish converts to Judaism. I say in theory because for others these Turks were only Turkish (languages taken from their influential neighbors of Central Asian, Ukrainian & Russian steppes.) speakers that came from the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel & rejoined their Israelite religion. If Two-Housers believe in the Israelite (Lost Ten Tribes, not Jews) origin of western Europeans as well as Khazars, the Karaites, at least some, believe that they come from Israelites whom from Assyria went through the Caucasus. Apparently the descendants of the Khazars are not the Ashkenazi, but the Karachais, Crimean Karaites (Karaim), Mountain Jews, Kumyks, Kabards, Balkars...
Karaim language
Karaim is a member of the Turkic language family, a group of languages of Eurasia spoken by historically nomadic peoples. Within the Turkic family, Karaim is identified as a member of the Kypchak language group, in turn a member of the Western branch of the Turkic language family (Dahl et al. 2001). Within the Western branch, Karaim is a part of the Ponto-Caspian subfamily (Ethnologue 2007). This language subfamily also includes the Crimean Tatar of Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and Karachay-Balkar and Kumyk of Russia. The close relation of Karaim to Kypchak and Crimean Tatar makes sense in light of the beginnings of the Lithuanian Karaim people in Crimea. One hypothesis is that Khazar nobility converted to Karaite Judaism in the late 8th or early 9th century and were followed by a portion of the general population. This may also have occurred later, under Mongol rule, during an influx of people from Byzantium.
Today, there are Karaims living in Turkey, Crimea, Lithuania, Poland, Israel, and the United States. However, there only remain about 200 Karaims in Lithuania, only one quarter of whom are competent speakers of the Karaim language.
Karaim can be subdivided into three dialects. The now-extinct eastern dialect, known simply as Crimean Karaim, was spoken in Crimea until the early 1900s. The northwestern dialect, also called Trakai, is spoken in Lithuania, mainly in the towns of Trakai and Vilnius. The southwestern dialect, also known as the Lutsk or Halich dialect, spoken in Ukraine, was near-extinct with only six speakers in a single town as of 2001 (Csató 2001). Crimean Karaim is considered to make up the “Eastern group,” while the Trakai and Lutsk dialects comprise the “Western group.”Throughout its long and complicated history, Karaim has experienced extensive language contact. A past rooted in Mesopotamia and persisting connections to the Arab world resulted in Arabic words which likely carried over via the migration of the Crimean and Lithuanian Karaim people from Mesopotamia. The Karaim language was spoken in Crimea during the rule of the Ottoman empire, so there is also a significant history of contact with Turkish, a member of the same language family. Finally, since Karaim has always been a small minority language in the other areas to which it dispersed, Karaim coexisted with Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian, which were all dominant majority languages in the areas where Karaim people lived and spoke their language.
The migrations of the Alans during the 4th–5th centuries AD, from their homeland in the North Caucasus. Major settlement areas are shown in yellow; Alan civilian emigration in red, and; military campaigns in orange.Migration to Gaul
Around 370, the Alans were overwhelmed by the Huns. They were divided into several groups, some of whom fled westward. A portion of these western Alans joined the Vandals and the Sueves in their invasion of Roman Gaul. Gregory of Tours mentions in his Liber historiae Francorum ("Book of Frankish History") that the Alan king Respendial saved the day for the Vandals in an armed encounter with the Franks at the crossing of the Rhine on December 31, 406). According to Gregory, another group of Alans, led by Goar, crossed the Rhine at the same time, but immediately joined the Romans and settled in Gaul.
Europe, AD 117-138. The Alani at the time were concentrated north of the Caucasus Mountains (centre right).Under Biorgor (Biorgor rex Alanorum), they infested Gallia round about, till the reign of Petronius Maximus and then they passed the Alps in winter, and came into Liguria, but were there beaten, and Biorgor slain, by Ricimer commander of the Emperor's forces (year 464).
Under Goar, they allied with the Burgundians led by Gundaharius, with whom they installed the usurping Emperor Jovinus. Under Goar's successor Sangiban, the Alans of Orléans played a critical role in repelling the invasion of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Châlons. After the 5th century, however, the Alans of Gaul were subsumed in the territorial struggles between the Franks and the Visigoths, and ceased to have an independent existence. In order to quell unrest, Flavius Aëtius settled large numbers of Alans in various areas, such as in and around Armorica. Several towns with names possibly related to 'Alan', such as Allainville, Yvelines, Alainville-en Beauce, Loiret, Allaines and Allainville, Eure-et-Loir, and Les Allains, Eure, are taken as evidence that a contingent settled in Armorica, Brittany. Other areas of Alans settlement were notably around Orléans and Valentia.
Hispania and Africa
Following the fortunes of the Vandals and Suevi into the Iberian peninsula (Hispania, comprising modern Portugal and Spain) in 409, the Alans led by Respendial settled in the provinces of Lusitania and Carthaginiensis: "Alani Lusitaniam et Carthaginiensem provincias, et Wandali cognomine Silingi Baeticam sortiuntur" (Hydatius). The Siling Vandals settled in Baetica, the Suevi in coastal Gallaecia, and the Asding Vandals in the rest of Gallaecia.
In 418 (or 426 according to some authors, cf. e.g. Castritius, 2007), the Alan king, Attaces, was killed in battle against the Visigoths, and this branch of the Alans subsequently appealed to the Asding Vandal king Gunderic to accept the Alan crown. The separate ethnic identity of Respendial's Alans dissolved. Although some of these Alans are thought to have remained in Iberia, most went to North Africa with the Vandals in 429. Later Vandal kings in North Africa styled themselves Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum ("King of the Vandals and Alans").
Map showing the location of Alans, c. 650. (small yellow area, near the middle of the map)There are some vestiges of the Alans in Portugal, namely in Alenquer (whose name may be Germanic for the Temple of the Alans, from "Alan Kerk", and whose castle may have been established by them; the Alaunt is still represented in that city's coat of arms), in the construction of the castles of Torres Vedras and Almourol, and in the city walls of Lisbon, where vestiges of their presence may be found under the foundations of the Church of Santa Luzia.
In the Iberian peninsula the Alans settled in Lusitania (cf. Alentejo) and the Cartaginense provinces. They became known in retrospect for their massive hunting and fighting dog of Molosser type, the Alaunt, which they apparently introduced to Europe. The breed is extinct, but its name is carried by a Spanish breed of dog still called Alano, traditionally used in boar hunting and cattle herding. The Alano name, however, has historically been used for a number of dog breeds in a few European countries thought to descend from the original dog of the Alans, such as the German mastiff (Great Dane) and the French Dogue de Bordeaux, among others.
Religion, language, and later history
In the 4th–5th centuries the Alans were at least partially Christianized by Byzantine missionaries of the Arian church as their fellow Visigoth Israelites did in Iberia. In the 13th century, fresh invading Mongol hordes pushed the eastern Alans further south into the Caucasus, where they mixed with native Caucasian groups and successively formed three territorial entities each with different developments. Around 1395 Timur's army invaded Northern Caucasus and massacred much of the Alanian population.
Alans in Europe
Some historians argue that the arrival of the Huns on the European steppe forced a portion of Alans previously living there to move northwest into the land of Venedes, possibly merging with Western Balts there to become the precursors of historic Slav nations.
It's believed that some Alans resettled to the North (Barsils), merging with Volga Bulgars and Burtas, eventually transforming to Volga Tatars.
It is supposed that Iasi, a group of Alans have founded a town in NE of Romania (about 1200–1300), called Iași near Prut river. Iași became the capital of ancient Moldova in Middle Ages.
Medieval Alania
Some of the other Alans remained under the rule of the Huns. Those of the eastern division, though dispersed about the steppes until late medieval times, were forced by the Mongols into the Caucasus, where they remain as the Ossetians. Between the 9th and 12th centuries, they formed a network of tribal alliances that gradually evolved into the Christian kingdom of Alania. Most Alans submitted to the Mongol Empire in 1239–1277. They participated in Mongol invasions of Europe and the Song Dynasty in Southern China, and the Battle of Kulikovo under Mamai of the Golden Horde.
In 1253, the Franciscan monk William of Rubruck reported numerous Europeans in Central Asia. It is also known that 30,000 Alans formed the royal guard (Asud) of the Yuan court in Dadu (Beijing). Marco Polo later reported their role in the Yuan Dynasty in his book Il Milione. It's said that those Alans contributed to a modern Mongol clan, Asud. John of Montecorvino, archbishop of Dadu (Khanbaliq), reportedly converted many Alans to Roman Catholic Christianity.
Map of medieval Alania (10th–12th century), according to Ossetian historian Ruslan Suleymanovich Bzarov.As the time went by, Digor in the west came under Kabard and Islamic influence. It was through the Kabardians (an East Circassian tribe) that Islam was introduced into the region in the 17th century. After 1767, all of Alania came under Russian rule, which strengthened Orthodox Christianity in that region considerably. Vast majority of today's Ossetians are followers of traditional Ossetian religion.
The descendants of the Alans, who live in the autonomous republics of Russia and Georgia, speak the Ossetian language which belongs to the Northeastern Iranian language group and is the only remnant of the Scytho-Sarmatian dialect continuum, which once stretched over much of the Pontic steppe and Central Asia. Modern Ossetian has two major dialects: Digor, spoken in the western part of North Ossetia; and Iron, spoken in the rest of Ossetia. A third branch of Ossetian, Jassic (Jász), was formerly spoken in Hungary. The literary language, based on the Iron dialect, was fixed by the national poet, Kosta Khetagurov (1859–1906).
Surviving architectural monuments of the Alanian kingdom include three churches in Arkhyz, the Shoana Church, and the Senty Church.Alliance with Khazaria
Surviving architectural monuments of the Alanian kingdom include three churches in Arkhyz, the Shoana Church, and the Senty Church. As a result of their united stand against the successive waves of invaders from the south, the Alans of the Caucasus fell under the overlordship of the Khazar Khaganate. They remained staunch allies of the Khazars in the 9th century, supporting them against a Byzantine-led coalition during the reign of the Khazar king Benjamin. According to the anonymous author of the Schechter Letter, many Alans were during this period adherents of Judaism. In the same way that the Israelite Khazars joined Judaism, the Israelite Alans did. However, in the early 10th century, the Alans fell under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, possibly due to the conversion of their ruler to Christianity. The conversion is documented in the letters of Patriarch Nicholas Mysticus to the local archbishop, whose name was Peter.
When Ibn Rustah visited Alania at some point between 903 and 913, its king was by then Christian. The Persian traveller came to Alania from Sarir, a Christian kingdom immediately to the east: You go to the left from the kingdom of Sarir and, after three days of journey through mountains and meadows, arrive in the kingdom of Al-Lan. Their king is Christian at heart, but all his people are idolaters. Then you travel for ten days among rivers and woods before arriving at a fortress called the "Gate of the Alans". It stands on the top of a mountain at the foot of which there is a road; high mountains surround it and a thousand men from among its inhabitants guard its walls day and night.
The Byzantines, who had adopted an anti-Khazar foreign policy, involved the Alans in a war against the Khaganate during the reign of the Khazar ruler Aaron II, probably the early 920s. In this war the Alans were defeated and their king captured. According to Muslim sources such as al-Mas'udi (943/56), the Alans abandoned Christianity and expelled the Byzantine missionaries and clergy roughly contemporaneously with these events. Aaron's son married the daughter of the Alan king and Alania was re-aligned with the Khazars, remaining so until the collapse of the Khaganate in the 960s.
The Davidian Dynasty in Georgia, the “Israel of the Caucasus”
Strange as it may seem, very little has been written and documented by the ruling elite of Georgia that is called today the “Israel of the Caucasus.” At the turn of the first millennium CE, this entire region was under the rule of a Prince of King David whose name was King David Agmashenebeli (1089-1125 CE). Later upon his death, King David’s granddaughter, the Davidian Empress, the Princess of David, Queen Tamar became the imperial ruler of the Greater Georgian Empire. They both shared in the imperial quest of creating a United Georgian Dynasty that came down from the Davidian lineage of the Bagrationi family that started with the rule of Bagrat III, the King of Abkhazis and the Kartvelians (975-1008 CE).
This Georgian Kingdom prospered in the 11th to the 13th century under the rule of King David IV (1089-1125) and his great granddaughter Tamar (1184-1213) and is celebrated even today as the “Golden Age” of Georgia. It was an august era of imperial rule, military exploits and a remarkable expansion of their Jewish culture during the era when the city of Jerusalem was attacked and the Muslims and Jews alike were slaughtered in a massive genocide by the Roman Christian Catholic Crusaders between the 11th and the 13th century CE.
Even more strange is that the region where the modern State of Georgia ruled between the Black and the Caspian Seas is also the same region that we have discussed throughout this series as the homeland of the Lost Ten Tribes of the House of Israel from the 6th century to the 1st century BCE. One again it the same region that is now inflaming the world with Russia again poised to take possession of Crimea and destroy the Nation of Ukraine. And we doubt that the G-d is actively involved in the affairs of the nations today?
With all the political rhetoric between about who actually controlled the regions surrounding the Black and the Caspian Sea, it does not take much historical sleuthing to discover that the linkage between this region by the rule of the Lost Ten Tribes of the House of Israel is astounding yet largely ignored by modern historical scholars of the region. It was the ancient Sakai or the Sakya who survived the invasions of the Turkish descendants of Genghis Khan and continued to rule, not as Lost Israelites, but instead invited the Jewish rabbanim to the land of the Khazars and convert the royal and the aristocratic families in to Judaism.
The Georgian-Israeli connection
The Georgian-Israeli connection is irrevocably intermingled in the international press and geo-political circles with the War of Georgia and Russia in this “time of the end” mini-conflict. History of the Nation of Georgia may show that it will be the “flash point” of the larger battles that are waiting for the near future. As one insider intelligence source stated, “Georgia sees herself like a New Israel”. He was thinking geo-politically, but the real truth may have been deeper.
The answer was surprising. The ancient royalty of the Georgians may not only be Jewish but were Princes of David. This research was documented in the BibleSearcher article, “The Ancient Royal Davidian Monarchy of the Caucasus Nation of Georgia”
