History of the Alans. Alans and their role in the history of the North Caucasus

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Alans(ancient Greek Ἀλανοί, lat. Alani, Halani) - Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes of Scythian-Sarmatian origin, mentioned in written sources from the 1st century AD. e. - the time of their appearance in the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and Ciscaucasia.

Some of the Alans from the end of the 4th century took part in the Great Migration of Peoples, while others remained in the territories adjacent to the foothills of the Caucasus. The tribal union of the Alans became the basis for the unification of the Alanian and local Caucasian tribes, known as Alania, and the formation of an early feudal state in the central Ciscaucasia, which existed before the Mongol campaign.

The Mongols, who defeated Alania and captured the fertile plain regions of Ciscaucasia by the end of the 1230s, forced the surviving Alans to take refuge in the mountains of the Central Caucasus and Transcaucasia. There, one of the groups of Alans, with the participation of local tribes, gave rise to modern Ossetians. The Alans played a certain role in the ethnogenesis and formation of the culture of other peoples of the North Caucasus.

1 Ethnonym
- 1.1 Etymology
- 1.2 The names of the Alans among neighboring peoples
- 1.3 Modern form
2 History
3 Data from DNA archeology
4 Culture
- 4.1 Wedding ceremony
5 Language
6 Religion
- 6.1 Christianity and the Alans
7 Alani legacy
- 7.1 Caucasian Alans
- 7.2 Cultural and ethnographic influence of the Alans in the West
- 7.3 Alans and East Slavs
- 7.4 Alanian heritage controversy
8 See also
9 Notes
10 Literature
11 Links

Ethnonym

The ethnonym "Alans" is first encountered in 25 AD. e. in Chinese sources as the name of the Sarmatian tribe that replaced the Aorses (Yancai): “the possession of Yancai was renamed Alanliao; depends on the Kangyui... The habits and attire of the people are similar to those of the Kangyui.”

Another interesting evidence of the Chinese annals belongs to a later time: “Reign in the city of Alanmi. This country formerly belonged to the Kangyui specific ruler. Large cities are considered forty, small trenches up to a thousand. Courageous and strong are taken in zhege, which in translation into the language of the Middle State means: combatant warrior.

Later, in the 1st century A.D. e., evidence of the Alans is found in Roman authors. We find their earliest mention in Lucius Annaeus Seneca, in the play "Fiestes", written in the middle of the 1st century AD. e.

The name "Alans" was used by the Romans, and, after them, by the Byzantines, until the 16th century (the last mention of the Alanian diocese in the Byzantine chronicles).

The Arabs also called the Alans by the name Al-lan, derived from the Byzantine "Alans". Ibn Rusta (about 290 AH / 903) reported that the Alans are divided into four tribes. It is known that the westernmost of them was called "ases". XIII century, Western scientists (Guillaume de Rubruk) testified that the "Alans and Ases" are one and the same people.

Etymology

At present, a version substantiated by V.I. Abaev is recognized in science - the term "Alan" is derived from the common name of the ancient Aryans and Iranians "arya". According to T.V. Gamkrelidze and Vyach. Sun. Ivanov, the original meaning of this word “host”, “guest”, “comrade” develops in separate historical traditions into “tribe comrade”, then into the self-name of the tribe (arya) and the country.

About the origin of the word "Alans" were expressed different opinions. Thus, G. F. Miller believed that "the name of the Alans was born among the Greeks, and it comes from a Greek verb meaning to wander or wander." K. V. Myullenhof derived the name of the Alans from the name of a mountain range in the Altai, G. V. Vernadsky - from the ancient Iranian “elen” - deer, L. A. Matsulevich believed that the issue of the term “Alan” had not been resolved at all.

The names of the Alans among neighboring peoples

In the Russian chronicles, the Alans were called the word "yasy". The Nikon chronicle under the year 1029 reports a victorious campaign against the jars of Prince Yaroslav.

In the Armenian chronicles Alans are often referred to by their own name. In Chinese chronicles, the Alans are known under the name of the Alans people. The Armenian medieval geographical atlas Ashkharatsuy describes several Alanian tribes, including “the people of the Alans ash-tigor” or simply “the people of Dikor”, which is seen as the self-name of modern Digorians. The Alans described by him from the eastern region of Alania - “Alans in the country of Ardoz” - are the ancestors of the Irons.

In Georgian sources, the Alans are referred to as ovsi, osi. This exonym is still used by Georgians in relation to modern Ossetians.

Modern form

According to V. I. Abaev, the natural development of the ancient Iranian *āruаn in Ossetian is allon (from *āryana) and ællon (from *ăryana).

She hid the young Narts in a secret room. And just then waig returned and immediately asked his wife:
- I hear, smells of allon-billon?
- Oh my husband! - answered his wife. - Our village was visited by two young men, one played the flute, and the other danced on his fingertips. People were amazed, we have never seen such a miracle. That's their smell and remained in this room

Story

Main article: History of the Alans Alans migration map. Yellow indicates the places of settlement of the Alans in the 4th century, before the Great Migration of Peoples and after it; red arrows - migrations, orange - military campaigns

The first mentions of the Alans are found in the writings of ancient authors from the middle of the 1st century AD. e. The appearance of the Alans in Eastern Europe - in the lower reaches of the Danube, the Northern Black Sea region, Ciscaucasia - is considered a consequence of their strengthening within the North Caspian association of the Sarmatian tribes headed by the Aorses.

In the I-III centuries. n. e. Alans occupied a dominant position among the Sarmatians of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and Ciscaucasia, from where they raided the Crimea, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Media.

“Almost all Alans,” writes the Roman historian of the 4th century Ammianus, Marcellinus, “are tall and beautiful ... They are scary with a restrained menacing look of their eyes, very mobile due to the lightness of weapons ... They consider the one who breathes in battle to be happy.”

In the 4th century, the Alans were already ethnically heterogeneous. Large tribal associations of the Alans were defeated by the Huns in the 4th century, and by the Avars in the 6th century. Part of the Alans participated in the Great Migration and ended up in Western Europe (in Gaul) and even in North Africa, where, together with the Vandals, they formed a state that lasted until the middle of the 6th century. All these events were accompanied everywhere by the partial ethno-cultural assimilation of the Alans. The culture of the Alans IV-V centuries. represent the settlements and burial grounds of the foothill zone of the Northern and Western Caucasus and the richest Kerch crypts of the Crimea. From the 7th to the 10th centuries a significant part of medieval Alania, stretching from Dagestan to the Kuban region, was part of the Khazar Khaganate. For a long time, the North Caucasian Alans waged a stubborn struggle with the Arab Caliphate, Byzantium and the Khazar Khaganate. The idea of the rich Alanian culture of the VIII-XI centuries. give the famous catacomb burial grounds and settlements on the Seversky Donets (Saltovo-Mayatskaya culture) and especially settlements and burial grounds in the North Caucasus (fortifications: Arkhyzskoye, Upper and Lower Dzhulat, etc., burial grounds: Arkhon, Balta, Chmi, Rutkha, Galiat, Zmeisky, Gizhgid, Bylym, etc.). They testify to the wide international relations of the Alans with the peoples of Transcaucasia, Byzantium, Kievan Rus and even Syria.

The materials of the Zmeysky burial ground testify to high level development of the culture of the North Caucasian Alans in the XI-XII centuries. and about the presence of trade relations of the local population with Iran, Transcaucasia, Russia and the countries of the Arab East, as well as genetic ties between the Sarmatians and Alans, Alans and modern Ossetians. The finds of weapons confirm the information from written sources that the main force of the Alanian army was the cavalry. The decline of late Alan culture was caused by the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the 13th century as a result of the campaign of 1238-1239. a significant part of the flat Alania was captured by the Tatar-Mongols, Alania itself as a political entity ceased to exist. Another factor that contributed to the fall of the state of the Alans was the intensification of avalanche activity in the 13th-14th centuries. G.K. Tushinsky, the founder of domestic avalanche science as a science, believed that as a result of the more frequent severe and snowy winters in the Caucasus, many high-mountain villages of the Alans and roads were destroyed by avalanches. Since then, the villages are located much lower on the slopes.

In the XIV century, the Alans, as part of the troops of Tokhtamysh, took part in battles with Tamerlane. The general battle began on April 15, 1395. Tokhtamysh's army was completely defeated. It was one of the largest battles of that time, which decided the fate of not only Tokhtamysh, but also the Golden Horde, at least its great power position.

If by the end of the XIV century. relic groups of the Alanian population were still preserved on the Ciscaucasian plain, then the last blow was dealt to them by the invasion of Tamerlane. From now on, the entire foothill plain to the valley of the river. Argun passes into the hands of the Kabardian feudal lords, during the XV century. moved far to the east and mastered the almost deserted fertile lands.

The once vast Alanya was depopulated. The picture of the death of Alania was outlined by the Polish author of the beginning of the 16th century. Matvey Mekhovsky, who used earlier information from Jacopo da Bergamo:

“The Alans are a people who lived in Alania, the region of European Sarmatia, near the Tanais (Don) river and in its neighborhood. Their country is a plain without mountains, with small hills and hills. there are no settlers and inhabitants, since they were expelled and scattered over foreign regions during the invasion of enemies, and there they died or were exterminated. The fields of Alanya lie in a wide expanse. This is a desert in which there are no owners - neither Alans, nor newcomers.

Mekhovsky speaks of Alania in the lower reaches of the Don - that Alania, which was formed in the Don region in the first centuries AD. e. centered on Kobyakovo settlement.

If in the foothills the remnants of the Alans ceased to exist, then in the mountain gorges they, despite the massacre, withstood and continued the ethnic tradition of the Ossetian people. It was Mountain Ossetia after the invasions of 1239 and 1395. became the historical cradle of the Ossetians, where finally during the XIV-XV centuries. both ethnos and traditional folk culture were formed. At the same time, the division of the Ossetian people into gorge societies probably took shape: Tagauri, Kurtatinsky, Alagirsky, Tualgom, Digorsky.

DNA archeology data

Analysis of the remains of the population of the Saltov-Mayatskaya archaeological culture revealed that it had a haplogroup G2, the subclade is unknown. From the point of view of the authors of this study, the catacomb nature of the burial, a number of craniological indicators and other data that coincide with the previously studied samples in the Caucasus, make it possible to identify the buried as Alans. So, for example, according to anthropological indicators, individuals from the pit burials were identified as carriers of an admixture of the eastern odontological type, while the samples studied by haplogroup were of Caucasoid origin.

A number of researchers compare the population of the Saltovo-Mayak archaeological culture with the Alans, Bulgars and Khazars.

culture

wedding ceremony

Johann Schiltberger describes in detail the wedding customs of the Caucasian Alans, whom he calls yas. He reports that

“The yas have a custom according to which, before the marriage of the maiden, the groom's parents agree with the mother of the bride that the latter must be a pure maiden, otherwise the marriage would be considered invalid. So, on the day appointed for the wedding, the bride is brought to the bed with songs and laid on her. Then the groom approaches with young people, holding a drawn sword in his hands, with which he strikes the bed. Then he, together with his companions, sits down in front of the bed and feasts, sings and dances. At the end of the feast, they undress the groom to his shirt and leave, leaving the newlyweds alone in the room, and a brother or one of the closest relatives of the groom appears outside the door to guard with a drawn sword. If it turns out that the bride was no longer a girl, then the groom informs his mother about this, who approaches the bed with several friends to inspect the sheets. If on the sheets they do not meet the signs they are looking for, then they are sad. And when the bride's relatives arrive in the morning for the feast, the groom's mother already holds in her hand a vessel full of wine, but with a hole in the bottom, which she plugged with her finger. She brings the vessel to the mother of the bride and removes her finger when the latter wants to drink and the wine pours out. “That's exactly what your daughter was like!” she says. For the bride's parents, this is a great shame and they must take their daughter back, as they agreed to give a pure maiden, but their daughter did not turn out to be one. Then the priests and other honorable persons intercede and convince the groom's parents to ask their son if he wants her to remain his wife. If he agrees, then the priests and other persons bring her to him again. Otherwise, they are divorced, and he returns the dowry to his wife, just as she must return the dresses and other things presented to her, after which the parties can enter into a new marriage.

Language

Main article: Alan language

The Alans spoke a late version of the Scythian-Sarmatian language.

The Ossetian language is a direct descendant of the Alanian. Some toponyms are etymologized as Eastern Iranian on the basis of modern Ossetian vocabulary (Don, Dniester, Dnieper, Danube), a few surviving written fragments in Alanian are deciphered on Ossetian material. The most famous is the Zelenchuk inscription. Another well-known evidence of the Alanian language is the Alanian phrases in the "Theogony" by the Byzantine author John Tsets (12th century).

On the other hand, having a Caucasian past, the Ossetian language did not fully accept the language of the Alans. Ossetian professor V. I. Abaev, Doctor of Philology, indirectly wrote about this: “among all the non-Indo-European elements that we found in the Ossetian language, the Caucasian element occupies a special place, not so much in quantity ... by intimacy and depth of revealed connections", therefore, in the Ossetian language, the Caucasian element is "an independent structural factor, as a kind of its second nature", because " common elements Ossetian with the surrounding Caucasian languages are by no means covered by the term "borrowing". They affect the deepest and most intimate aspects of the language and indicate that the Ossetian in many significant respects continues the tradition of the local Caucasian languages, in exactly the same way as in other respects he continues the Iranian tradition ... The bizarre combination and interweaving of these two language traditions and created that peculiar whole, which we call the Ossetian language.

Religion

Christianity and Alans

Back in the 5th century n. e. Alans were not perceived as a Christian people, which is seen from the statement of the Marseille presbyter Salvian:

“But are their vices subject to the same judgment as ours? Is the debauchery of the Huns as criminal as ours? Is the perfidy of the Franks as reprehensible as ours? Is the drunkenness of an Alaman worthy of the same censure as the drunkenness of a Christian, or does the rapacity of an Alan deserve the same condemnation as the rapacity of a Christian?

“The Alamanni went to war against the Vandals and, since both sides agreed to solve the matter through single combat, they put up two warriors. However, the one exposed by the Vandals was defeated by the Alaman. And since Thrasamund and his Vandals were defeated, they, leaving Gaul, together with the Suebi and Alans, as was persuaded, attacked Spain, where they exterminated many Christians for their Catholic faith.

In the future, the Alans are mentioned as a people of the Christian faith. However, religion was not widely spread among the Alans.

Impressions of the Franciscans after traveling through Comania in the 13th century. n. e.:

“The brothers who went through Komania had on their right the land of the Saxins, whom we consider Goths, and who are Christians; further, the Alans, who are Christians; then the Gazars, who are Christians; in this country is Ornam, a rich city, which the Tatars captured by flooding it with water; then the circassians, who are Christians; further, the Georgians, who are Christians.” Benedictus Polonus (ed. Wyngaert 1929: 137-38)

Guillaume de Rubruk - mid-13th century:

“He asked us if we wanted to drink koumiss (cosmos), that is, mare's milk. For the Christians who are among them - Russians, Greeks and Alans, who want to keep their law firmly, do not drink it and do not even consider themselves Christians when they drink, and their priests reconcile them then, as if they had renounced it, from the Christian faith ".

“On the eve of Pentecost, certain Alans came to us, who are called there Aas, Christians according to the Greek rite, having Greek letters and Greek priests. However, they are not schismatics, like the Greeks, but honor every Christian without distinction of persons.

Alans heritage

Caucasian Alans

The Alanian origin of the Ossetian language was proven in the 19th century by Vs. F. Miller and confirmed by numerous later works.

The language in which the well-known written evidence of the Alanian language is written (Zelenchuk inscription, Alanian phrases in the Theogony by John Tsets) is an archaic version of the Ossetian language.

There are also indirect confirmations of the Alano-Ossetian linguistic continuity.

In Hungary, in the area of the city of Yasberen, the Yas people, related to the Ossetians, live. By the middle of the 19th century, the Jassy had completely switched to the Hungarian language, so the spoken Jassy language has not survived to this day. The surviving list of Yassian words allows us to conclude that the vocabulary of the Yassian language almost completely coincided with the Ossetian. So in the English-language scientific literature, the Yas language is usually called the Yas dialect of Ossetian.

Cultural and ethnographic influence of the Alans in the West

The Alans lived in what is now Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania and other countries. Through the Sarmatian-Alanian influence, the legacy of the Scythian civilization entered the culture of many peoples.

Neither great cultural and political influence, nor participation in the most important events of the Great Migration of Nations saved the Western European Alans from rapid extinction. Their outstanding military achievements were placed at the service of foreign emperors and kings. Having split their forces and failed to build a durable state, most of the Alans in the West lost their native language and became part of other peoples.

Alans and Eastern Slavs

V. I. Abaev believed that, for example, the change of the explosive g, characteristic of the Proto-Slavic language, into the posterior palatal fricative g (h), which is recorded in a number of Slavic languages, is due to the Scythian-Sarmatian influence. Since phonetics, as a rule, is not borrowed from neighbors, the researcher argued that the Scytho-Sarmatian substratum should have participated in the formation of the southeastern Slavs (in particular, future Ukrainian and South Russian dialects). Comparison of the area of the fricative g in the Slavic languages with the regions inhabited by the Antes and their direct descendants definitely speaks in favor of this position. V. I. Abaev also admitted that the result of the Scythian-Sarmatian influence was the appearance of the genitive-accusative in the East Slavic language and the proximity of the East Slavic language with the Ossetian language in the perfective function of preverbs.

Alanic heritage controversy

The Alanian heritage is the subject of controversy and numerous publications in the genre of folk history (not recognized by the academic scientific community). These disputes determine the modern context of the North Caucasian region to such an extent that they have received the attention of researchers on their own.

Notes

1 2 Encyclopedia Iranica, "Alans", V. I. Abaev, H. W. Bailey
1 2 Alans // BRE. T.1. M., 2005.
1 2 3 Perevalov S. M. Alans // Russian Historical Encyclopedia. Ed. acad. A. O. Chubaryan. T. 1: Aalto - Aristocracy. M.: OLMA MEDIA GROUP, 2011. S. 220-221.
1 2 3 TSB, art. "Alans"
TSB, art. "Ossetians"
Agustí Alemany, Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation. Brill Academic Publishers, 2000. ISBN 90-04-11442-4
PALEOANTHROPOLOGY OF NORTH OSSETIA RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PROBLEM OF THE ORIGIN OF OSSETIANS
Bichurin 1950, p. 229.
Bichurin 1950, p. 311.
Senecae, Thyestes, 627-631.
History - Website of the Diocese of Alan
Abaev V. I. Ossetian language and folklore. M.-L., 1949. S. 156.
Abaev V. I. Historical and etymological dictionary of the Ossetian language. T. 1. M.-L., 1958. S. 47-48.
Zgusta L. Die Personennamen griechischer Stadte der nordlichen Schwarzmeerkuste. Prague, 1955.
Grantovsky E. A., Raevsky D. S. On the Iranian-speaking and "Indo-Aryan" population of the Northern Black Sea region in ancient times // Ethnogenesis of the peoples of the Balkans and the Northern Black Sea region. Linguistics, history, archeology. Moscow: Nauka, 1984.
1 2 Gamkrelidze T. V., Ivanov Vyach. Sun. Indo-European language and Indo-Europeans. T. II. Tbilisi, 1984, p. 755.
Oransky I. M. Introduction to Iranian Philology. M.: Nauka, 1988. S.
Miller G.F. About the peoples who have lived in Russia since ancient times. TsGADA. F. 199. No. 47. D. 3.
Mullenhoff K. Deutsche AJtertumskunde. T. III. Berlin, 1892.
Vernadsky G. Sur l'Origine des Alains. Byzantion. T. XVI. I. Boston, 1944.
Matsulevich L. A. The Alan problem and the ethnogenesis of Central Asia // Soviet ethnography. 1947. No. VI-VII.
Wei Zheng. Chronicle of the State of Sui. Beijing, Bona, 1958, Ch. 84, C 18b, 3.
Kambolov T. T. Essay on the history of the Ossetian language: Tutorial for universities. - Vladikavkaz: Ir, 2006.
Dictionary Ossetian language: in 4 volumes / Under the general. ed. N. Ya. Gabaraeva; Vladikavkaz scientific. center of RAS and RNO-A; South Ossetian scientific research. in-t im. Z. N. Vaneeva. - M.: Nauka, 2007. - ISBN 978-5-02-036243-7
Tales of the Narts
1 2 History of the Don and the North Caucasus from ancient times to 1917. Web tutorial. Faculty of History of the Russian State University
Essays on the history of the Don-Azov region. Book I (Lunin B.V.)
Soviet Historical Encyclopedia / Ed. E. M. Zhukova. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982.
Kussaeva S.S. Some results of archaeological excavations of the catacomb burial ground in st. Serpentine
Persistence of anxiety // Magazine "Around the world". 1987. No. 9 (2564).
Afanasiev G. E., Dobrovolskaya M. V., Korobov D. S., Reshetova I. K. On the cultural, anthropological and genetic specifics of the Don Alans // E. I. Krupnov and the development of archeology of the North Caucasus. M. 2014. S. 312-315.
Savitsky N. M. Residential buildings of the forest-steppe variant of the Saltov-Mayak culture: dissertation for the degree of candidate historical sciences. - Voronezh: Voronezh State University, 2011.
Bariev R. Kh. VOLGA BULGARS. History and culture. St. Petersburg, 2005
Schiltberger Johann. Traveling in Europe, Asia and Africa. Baku: Elm, 1984. S. 766-67.
Ossetian language // Big Encyclopedic Dictionary "Linguistics". Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1998.
Kambolov T. T. Zelenchuk inscription
Abaev V. I. Ossetian language and folklore. M.-L., 1949. S. 76, 111, 115.
salv. Gub. 4, 68 (ed. Halm MGH A A 1.1, p. 49
Fredegarius. 2, 60 (ed. Krusch MGH SRM II, p. 84)
Guill. de Rubruc 10.5 (ed. Wyngaert 1929:191)
Guill. de Rubruc 11,1-3 (ed. Wyngaert 1929:191-192)
Kambolov T. T. Alanian phrases in the "Theogony" by John Tsets
Abaev V.I. On the Hungarian yasah // Ossetian philology. No. 1. Ordzhonikidze, 1977. S. 3-4.
Nemeth J. Eine Wörterliste der Jassen, der ungarländischen Alanen //Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst. Jahrg. 1958. No. 4. Berlin, 1959.
Nemeth Y. List of words in the Yas language, Hungarian Alans. Per. with him. and notes by V.I. Abaev. Ordzhonikidze, 1960. P. 4.
Quote from http://www.xpomo.com/rusograd/sedov1/sedov4.html
Abaev V.I. On the origin of the phoneme g (h) in the Slavic language // Problems of Indo-European linguistics. M., 1964. S. 115-121.
Abaev V. I. Preverbs and perfectivity: On one Scythian-Slavic isogloss // Problems of Indo-European linguistics. M., 1964. S. 90-99.
V. A. Shnirelman. Be Alans. Intellectuals and politics in the North Caucasus in the XX century. M., 2006. - 696 p.

When writing this article, material from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907) was used.

Literature

Kovalevskaya V. B. The Caucasus and the Alans: Ages and peoples. - M.: Nauka (Main edition of Eastern literature), 1984. - 194 p. - (In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East). - 10,000 copies. (reg.)
Augusti Alemany. Alans in ancient and medieval written sources (djvu) = Sources on the Alans. A Critical Compilation. - Moscow: Manager, 2003. - 608 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-8346-0252-5.
Kuznetsov V. A. Essays on the history of the Alans. - Vladikavkaz: IR, 1992. - 390 p. - ISBN 5-7534-0316-6.

Alana Information About

Alans (other Greek Ἀλανοί, lat. Alani, Halani) - nomadic tribes Scythian-Sarmatian origin, are mentioned in written sources from 1st century n. e. - the time of their appearance Sea of Azov And Ciscaucasia .

Part of the Alans from the end 4th century took part in Great Migration, while others remained in the territories adjacent to the foothills Caucasus. The tribal union of the Alans became the basis for the unification of the Alan and local Caucasian tribes, known as Alanya, and the formation in the central Ciscaucasia of the early feudal state, which existed before the campaign of the Mongols.

The Mongols, who defeated Alania and captured the fertile plain regions of Ciscaucasia by the end of the 1230s, forced the surviving Alans to take refuge in the mountains of the Central Caucasus and Transcaucasia. There, one of the groups of Alans, with the participation of local tribes, gave rise to modern Ossetians . The Alans played a certain role in the ethnogenesis and formation of culture and other peoples North Caucasus .

[show]

Ethnonym"Alans" first occurs in 25 year n. e. in Chinese sources as the name of the Sarmatian tribe that replaced aorsi(Yancai): “The possession of Yancai was renamed Alanliao; consists depending on Kangyuy ... The customs and attire of the people are similar to those of the Kangyuy” .

Later, in 1st century n. e., evidence of the Alans is found in Roman authors. We find the earliest mention of them in Lucius Annea Seneca, in the play "Fiestes", written in the middle of the 1st century AD. e.

The name "Alans" was used by the Romans, and, after them, by the Byzantines, up to 16th century(the last mention of the Alanian diocese in the Byzantine chronicles) .

The Arabs also called the Alans by the name Allan, formed from the Byzantine "Alans". Ibn Rust (about 290 g. x./903) reported that the Alans are divided into four tribes. It is known that the westernmost of them was called "ases". IN XIII century Western scientists ( Guillaume de Rubruk) testified that “Alans and aces' are one and the same people.

Etymology

At present, a version substantiated by science is recognized V. I. Abaev - the term "Alan" is derived from the common name of the ancient Aryans and Iranians "arya" . By T. V. Gamkrelidze And Vyach. Sun. Ivanov , the original meaning of this word “host”, “guest”, “comrade” develops in separate historical traditions into “tribe comrade”, then into the self-name of the tribe ( arya) and countries.

Various opinions have been expressed about the origin of the word "Alans". So, G. F. Miller believed that "the name of the Alans was born among the Greeks, and it comes from a Greek verb meaning to wander or wander" . K. V. Mullenhof the name of the Alans was derived from the name of a mountain range in Altai , G. V. Vernadsky- from the ancient Iranian "elen" - a deer , L. A. Matsulevich believed that the issue of the term "Alan" was not resolved at all .

The names of the Alans among neighboring peoples

In the Russian chronicles, the Alans were called the word "yasy". IN Nikon Chronicle under 1029 year it is reported about the victorious campaign against the yasov of the prince Yaroslav.

In the Armenian chronicles Alans are often referred to by their own name. In Chinese chronicles, the Alans are known under the name of the Alan people. . In the Armenian medieval geographical atlas Ashkharatsuyts several Alanian tribes are described, including "the people of the Alans ash-tigor" or simply "the people of dikor", which is seen as the self-name of modern Digorians. The Alans described by him from the eastern region of Alania - "Alans in the country of Ardoz" - are the ancestors of Irons.

In Georgian sources, the Alans are referred to as ovsi, osi. This exonym is still used by Georgians in relation to modern Ossetian.

Modern form

The natural development of the ancient Iranian * āruana in Ossetian, according to V. I. Abaev, is allon(from * aryana) And ællon(from * ăryana) Ethnonym in the form ællon preserved in the folklore of the Ossetians, but not used as a self-name .

She hid the young Narts in a secret room. And just then the waig returned and immediately asked his wife: - Do I hear, does it smell like allon-billon? - Oh my husband! his wife answered him. - Our village was visited by two young men, one played the flute, and the other danced on his fingertips. People were amazed, we have never seen such a miracle. That's their smell and remained in this room

Main article:History of the Alans

Alans migration map. Yellow indicates the places of settlement of the Alans in the IV century, before Great Migration and after it; red arrows - migrations, orange - military campaigns

IN I-3rd century n. e. Alans occupied a dominant position among the Sarmatians Sea of Azov And Ciscaucasia from where they raided Crimea, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor,mussel .

“Almost all the Alans,” writes the Roman historian of the 4th century Ammianus, Marcellinus, “are tall and beautiful ... They are terrible with a restrained menacing look of their eyes, very mobile due to the lightness of weapons ... They consider the one who breathes in battle to be happy” .

In the 4th century, the Alans were already ethnically heterogeneous. Large tribal associations of the Alans were defeated in the 4th century the Huns, in the VI century - Avars. Part of the Alans participated in the Great Migration of Peoples and ended up in Western Europe (in Gaul) and even in North Africa, where, together with vandals formed a state that existed until the middle of the VI century. All these events were accompanied everywhere by the partial ethno-cultural assimilation of the Alans. The culture of the Alans IV-V centuries. represent the settlements and burial grounds of the foothill zone of the Northern and Western Caucasus and the richest Kerch crypts of the Crimea. From the 7th to the 10th centuries a significant part of medieval Alanya, stretching from Dagestan to the Kuban region, was part of Khazar Khaganate. For a long time, the North Caucasian Alans waged a stubborn struggle against Arab Caliphate, Byzantium and the Khazar Khaganate. The idea of the rich Alanian culture of the VIII-XI centuries. give the famous catacomb burial grounds and settlements on the Seversky Donets ( Saltovo-Mayatskaya culture) and especially settlements and burial grounds in the North Caucasus (fortified settlements: Arkhyz, Upper and Lower Dzhulat, etc., burial grounds: Arkhon, Balta, Chmi, Rutkha, Galiat, Zmeisky, Gizhgid, Bylym, etc.). They testify to the wide international relations of the Alans with the peoples of Transcaucasia, Byzantium, Kievan Rus and even Syria.

materials Zmeysky burial ground testify to the high level of development of the culture of the North Caucasian Alans in the 11th-12th centuries. and about the presence of trade relations of the local population with Iran, Transcaucasia, Russia and the countries of the Arab East, as well as genetic ties between the Sarmatians and Alans, Alans and modern Ossetians. The finds of weapons confirm the information from written sources that the main force of the Alanian army was the cavalry. The decline of the late Alan culture was caused by the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the 13th century As a result of the campaign of 1238-1239. a significant part of the flat Alania was captured by the Tatar-Mongols, Alania itself as a political entity ceased to exist. Another factor that contributed to the fall of the state of the Alans was the intensification of avalanche activity in the 13th-14th centuries. G.K. Tushinsky, the founder of domestic avalanche science as a science, believed that as a result of the more frequent severe and snowy winters in the Caucasus, many high-mountain villages of the Alans and roads were destroyed by avalanches. Since then, villages have been located much lower on the slopes. .

IN XIV century Alans in the army Tokhtamysh participate in battles with Tamerlane. The general battle began on April 15, 1395. Tokhtamysh's army was completely defeated. It was one of the largest battles of that time, which decided the fate of not only Tokhtamysh, but also the Golden Horde, at least its great power position.

“The Alans are a people who lived in Alania, the region of European Sarmatia, near the Tanais River ( Don) and adjacent to it. Their country is a plain without mountains, with small hills and hills. There are no settlers and inhabitants in it, since they were expelled and scattered in foreign regions during the invasion of enemies, and there they died or were exterminated. The fields of Alanya lie in a wide expanse. This is a desert in which there are no owners - neither Alans, nor newcomers.

Mekhovsky speaks of Alania in the lower reaches of the Don - that Alania, which was formed in the Don region in the first centuries AD. e. centered on Kobyakovo settlement.

If in the foothills the remnants of the Alans ceased to exist, then in the mountain gorges they, despite the massacre, withstood and continued the ethnic tradition of the Ossetian people. It was Mountain Ossetia after the invasions of 1239 and 1395. became the historical cradle of the Ossetians, where finally during the XIV-XV centuries. both ethnos and traditional folk culture were formed. At the same time, the division of the Ossetian people into canyon societies probably took shape: Tagauri,Kurtatinsky, Alagirskoe, Tualgom, Digorskoe.

DNA archeology data

Analysis of the remains of the population of the Saltov-Mayatskaya archaeological culture revealed a haplogroup in it G2, subclade - unknown. From the point of view of the authors of this study, the catacomb nature of the burial, a number of craniological indicators and other data that coincide with the previously studied samples in the Caucasus, make it possible to identify the buried as Alans. So, for example, according to anthropological indicators, individuals from the pit burials were identified as carriers of an admixture of the eastern odontological type, while the samples studied by the haplogroup were of Caucasoid origin. .

A number of researchers compare the population of the Saltov-Mayak archaeological culture with the Alans, Bulgars And Khazars .

culture

wedding ceremony

Johann Schiltberger describes in detail the wedding customs of the Caucasian Alans, whom he calls yas. He reports that

“The yas have a custom according to which, before the marriage of the maiden, the groom's parents agree with the mother of the bride that the latter must be a pure maiden, otherwise the marriage would be considered invalid. So, on the day appointed for the wedding, the bride is brought to the bed with songs and laid on her. Then the groom approaches with young people, holding a drawn sword in his hands, with which he strikes the bed. Then he, together with his companions, sits down in front of the bed and feasts, sings and dances. At the end of the feast, they undress the groom to his shirt and leave, leaving the newlyweds alone in the room, and a brother or one of the closest relatives of the groom appears outside the door to guard with a drawn sword. If it turns out that the bride was no longer a girl, then the groom informs his mother about this, who approaches the bed with several friends to inspect the sheets. If on the sheets they do not meet the signs they are looking for, then they are sad. And when the bride's relatives arrive in the morning for the feast, the groom's mother already holds in her hand a vessel full of wine, but with a hole in the bottom, which she plugged with her finger. She brings the vessel to the mother of the bride and removes her finger when the latter wants to drink and the wine pours out. “That’s exactly what your daughter was like!” she says. For the bride's parents, this is a great shame and they must take their daughter back, as they agreed to give a pure maiden, but their daughter did not turn out to be one. Then the priests and other honorable persons intercede and convince the groom's parents to ask their son if he wants her to remain his wife. If he agrees, then the priests and other persons bring her to him again. Otherwise, they are bred, and he returns the dowry to his wife, just as she must return the dresses and other things donated to her, after which the parties can enter into a new marriage. .

Main article:Alan language

The Alans spoke a late version Scythian-Sarmatian language.

Ossetian language is a direct descendant of the Alanian . Some toponyms are etymologized as Eastern Iranian based on modern Ossetian vocabulary ( Don, Dniester, Dnieper, Danube), on the Ossetian material, a few surviving written fragments in Alan are deciphered. The most famous - Zelenchuk inscription . Another known evidence of the Alanian language is Alanian phrases in Theogony Byzantine author John Tsets ( 12th century).

On the other hand, having caucasian past, Ossetian did not fully understand the language Alans. This was indirectly written by a doctor of philological sciences, an Ossetian professor V. I. Abaev: “among all the non-Indo-European elements that we found in the Ossetian language, the Caucasian element occupies a special place, not so much in quantity ... by intimacy and depth of revealed connections”, therefore, in the Ossetian language, the Caucasian element is “an independent structural factor, as a kind of its second nature”, because “the common elements of Ossetian with the surrounding Caucasian languages are by no means covered by the term“ borrowing ”. They affect the deepest and most intimate aspects of the language and indicate that the Ossetian in many significant respects continues the tradition of the local Caucasian languages, in exactly the same way as in other respects he continues the Iranian tradition ... The bizarre combination and interweaving of these two language traditions and created that peculiar whole, which we call the Ossetian language" .

Christianity and Alans

Back in the 5th century n. e. Alans were not perceived as a Christian people, which is seen from the statement of the Marseille presbyter Salvian:

In the future, the Alans are mentioned as a people of the Christian faith. However, religion was not widely spread among the Alans.

Impressions of the Franciscans after traveling through Comania in the 13th century. n. e.:

Guillaume de Rubruk - mid-13th century:

“He asked us if we wanted to drink koumiss (cosmos), that is, mare's milk. For the Christians who are among them - Russians, Greeks and Alans, who want to keep their law firmly, do not drink it and do not even consider themselves Christians when they drink, and their priests then reconcile them [with Christ], as if they had renounced it. from the Christian faith."

“On the eve of Pentecost, certain Alans came to us, who are called Aas there, Christians according to the Greek rite, having Greek letters and Greek priests. However, they are not schismatics, like the Greeks, but honor every Christian without distinction of persons.

Alans heritage

Caucasian Alans

The Alanian origin of the Ossetian language was proved back in 19th century Sun. F. Miller and confirmed by numerous later works.

The language in which the known written evidence of the Alanian language is written ( Zelenchuk inscription, Alanian phrases in the "Theogony" of John Tzetz ) is an archaic variant of the Ossetian language.

There are also indirect confirmations of the Alano-Ossetian linguistic continuity.

IN Hungary in the city area Yasberen people live jars, related to the Ossetians . towards the middle 19th century jars have completely switched to Hungarian so oral Yassian has not survived to this day. Surviving list of Iasian words allows us to conclude that the vocabulary of the Yas language almost completely coincided with Ossetian. So, in the English-language scientific literature, the Yas language is usually called a dialect of Ossetian.

Cultural and ethnographic influence of the Alans in the West

Alans lived in the territory of the present Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania and other countries. Through the Sarmatian-Alanian influence, the legacy of the Scythian civilization entered the culture of many peoples.

Neither great cultural and political influence, nor participation in the most important events of the Great Migration of Nations saved the Western Europeans. Alans from rapid disappearance. Their outstanding military achievements were placed at the service of foreign emperors and kings. Having split their forces and failed to build a durable state, most of the Alans in the West lost their native language and became part of other peoples.

Alans and Eastern Slavs

V. I. Abaev believed that, for example , explosive change g, inherent Proto-Slavic, in the posterior fricative g(h), which is fixed in a series Slavic languages, due to Scythian-Sarmatian impact. Since phonetics, as a rule, is not borrowed from neighbors, the researcher argued that in the formation of the southeastern Slavs (in particular, future Ukrainian and South Russian dialects) the Scythian-Sarmatian substrate . Mapping the range of the fricative g in Slavic languages with regions inhabited antami and their direct descendants, definitely speaks in favor of this position. V. I. Abaev also admitted that the result of the Scythian-Sarmatian influence was the appearance in the East Slavic language of the genitive-accusative and the proximity East Slavic With Ossetian in the perfecting function of preverbs .

Alanic heritage controversy

The Alanian heritage is the subject of controversy and numerous publications in the genre folk history(not recognized by the academic scientific community).

In Ossetian Ingush Mahalon. Also, there are Ingush teip Palankoy.
To the city of Aieta, where the ray arrows of the fleet-footed Helios lie in golden chambers, at the edge of the Ocean, where the divine Jason traveled ...
Hecataeus (about 550 BC).
154. Melankhlens, Scythian tribe.

Catalan battle. How the Alans saved Europe
By 451, the huge Asiatic army of the Huns had captured half of Europe, and was trying to make a final push to capture Gaul (France).
In order to prevent the capture of Europe by the Asians, the Romans gathered a coalition of peoples - an army of allies from the Romans, Alans and Germans.
The Allied army met the Asiatic army in the Catalaunian Fields (in northeastern France, west of the city of Troyes) in June 451.
One of the fiercest battles in history broke out here. ancient world significant in world history.
The Alanian guards, led by Sangiban, were in the center of the Allied Army, and therefore met with the elite guards of the Asians (Huns), which was personally led by the Asian king "Atilla with the bravest warriors."

Tirk-Chochan dhow / Darial battle.
Alans vs Arabs.
Battle.

In 852, the Armenian highlanders, who lived on the slopes of Sasun (Sasan), killed the governor of the caliph in Armenia. In the same year, the Emir of Tbilisi, Ishak ben Ismail, broke away from the caliphate and proclaimed the independence of the region he ruled.
To punish the rebels, Caliph Jafar al-Mutawakkil (847-861) sent to Transcaucasia an army of 120,000 men, huge at that time, led by Buga al-Kabir.
In the winter of 853, the huge 120,000-strong Arab army of Bugi al-Kabir destroyed Armenia, then Georgia, and rushed to the Alanian possessions.
At the southern mouth of the Darial Gorge, the Arab army was met by Alanian guards (g1appins) - a fierce battle unfolded between the Alans and Arabs, during which heavy snow fell.
In the course of a fierce battle, the Arabs utterly defeated the Arab army and put the Arabs to flight, as the Arab author al-Yakubi writes:
"Bugah moved against the Sanarians, fought with them, but they defeated him and put him to flight."
The G1appians lost about 16,000 soldiers killed. The losses of the Arabs are unknown, but it is known for sure that after that the Arabs did not invade Alania.
It was impossible for the then strongest Arab army to subdue the Alans (born warriors) by force.
The text of the Scandinavian legends - Original. The described period is 2000-2100 years ago.
“To the north of the Black Sea is Great, or Cold Sweden ... From the north, from the mountains, which are outside the inhabited places, a river flows through Sweden, the correct name of which is Tanais [Don]. It used to be called Tanakwisl, or Vanakwisl... This river separates thirds of the world. The one to the east is called Asia, and the one to the west is called Europe.
The country in Asia to the east of Tanakwisl [Don] is called the Country of the Ases, or the Dwelling of the Ases, and the capital of the country was called Asgard. The ruler there was the one who was called Odin...
Big mountain range stretches from northeast to southwest. It separates Greater Sweden from other countries. Not far to the south of it is the Country of the Turks. Odin had large possessions there. In those days, the rulers of the Romans went on campaigns all over the world and conquered all the peoples, and many rulers then fled from their possessions. Since Odin was a seer and sorcerer, he knew that his offspring would inhabit the northern edge of the world. He installed his brothers Be and Vili as rulers in Asgard [a city in the Caucasus], and he set off on his journey, and with him all the diy [priests] and many other people.
He went first west to Gardariki [Rus; an anachronism inserted into the text in the 13th century] and then south into the Saxon Country [Saxony, Germany]. He had many sons. He took possession of the lands throughout the Saxon Country and installed his sons there as rulers. Then he went north [to Scandinavia], to the sea, and settled on an island. It's where it's now called Odin's Island in Fion...
It is told as the truth that when Odin and with him the dies [priests] came to the Northern Countries, they began to teach people those arts that people have mastered since then. One was the most famous of all, and from him people learned all the arts, for he mastered all, although he did not teach all. Now we must tell why he was so famous. When he sat with his friends, he was so beautiful and magnificent in appearance that everyone had a cheerful spirit.
But in battle, he seemed terrible to his enemies. And all because he knew the art of changing his appearance as he wanted. He also possessed the art of speaking so beautifully and smoothly that to all who listened to him, his words seemed to be true. In his speech, everything was as smooth as in what is now called poetry. He and his priests are called masters of song, because from them this art came to the Nordic countries. Odin could make his enemies go blind or deaf or filled with terror in battle, and their weapons hurt no more than twigs, and
his warriors rushed into battle without chain mail, raged like mad dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong like bears or bulls. They killed people, and neither fire nor iron harmed them. Such warriors were called berserkers...
One could change his appearance. Then his body lay as if he were asleep or dead, and at that time he was a bird or an animal, a fish or a snake, and in an instant he was transported to distant lands on his own business or on the business of other people. He could also put out a fire with a word, or calm the sea, or turn the wind in any direction, if he wanted, and he had a ship - it was called Skidbladnir, on which he sailed across great seas and which could be folded like a handkerchief. Odin took the head of Mimir with him, and she told him many stories from other worlds, and sometimes he called the dead out of the earth or sat under the hanged.
Therefore, he was called the lord of the dead, or the lord of the hanged. He had two ravens, which he taught to speak. They flew over all countries and told him a lot. Therefore he was very wise. All these arts he taught with runes and songs called incantations. Therefore, Ases are called masters of spells.
Alans:
"The text, written by the famous Scandinavian historian of the 13th century Snorre Sturlusson, tells about events that took place over two thousand years ago. Snorre himself, apparently, used now lost sources. According to him, two generations before the birth of Christ, King OGDEN lived in the CAUCASUS [ Odin] and ruled by people who were called ASAMI.
Iisif Barbaro: Traveling to the Caucasus, he wrote in the Caucasus that the Alans rule themselves, they call themselves Ases, they have 2 states of the Alanian Alania and Asia).
In the course of a fierce battle, the Alans inflicted a crushing defeat on the selected army of the Asians.
During the battle, about 165 thousand soldiers from both sides died ...
It is interesting to note that legends about this battle subsequently appeared, one of which was transmitted by the Greek philosopher Damascus about 50 years later:
“When the bodies of the dead fell, their souls continued to fight for 3 days and 3 nights. The dead fought with no less ferocity and courage than when they were alive. We saw the ghosts of the warriors and heard the loud clatter from their weapons.
A year later, after this battle, the Asians again invaded Gaul (France), but suffered a crushing defeat from the Alan-German army near the Liger (Loire) River.
After this defeat, the Asians (Huns) retreated from Western Europe to the east and founded Hungary (Hungaria, i.e. the country of the Huns; modern Hungary).
The Allied army, in which the Alans played a key role, defeated the Asian hordes, and thus saved Europe from the invasion of nomads.
It is absolutely certain that if the Allied Army had not destroyed the Asian army in that battle, there would have been neither modern Europe, nor France, nor Germany.

Alans in France 407-458
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 376, 200 thousand Alans, led by Joar (Johar / Goar), moved from the Caucasus to Europe.
In 407, the Alans entered Gaul (France) through Germany.
From here, in 409, part of the Alans (about 50 thousand), led by Addak, invaded Spain, where until 418 they had their own state in the elite Spanish region of Cartagena
In 429, the Spanish Alans and the Germanic Vandal tribe invaded Africa, where in 439 they founded the Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans (in German: rex Wandalorum et Alanorum / Reich of the Vandals and Alans), on the territory of modern Tunisia, Libya and Algeria.
Those Alans who remained on the territory of France formed 5 Alanian kingdoms (in the region of Orleans, Gascony, Brittany, near Lake Geneva, and in Provence).
The largest Alanian Kingdom, headed by Joar with its capital in Orleans, existed until the end of the 450s (you can read the official history of the French city of Orleans, the Alanian period of its history is indicated there).
Due to their small numbers, the Alans have now forgotten their language and become part of the French people, moreover, as a military elite (see Bernard Bahrakh, "Alans in the West").
the French word "sir" - "king", comes from the Ingush word "sir" ("having the honor")
There are still about 300 names left in Europe left from the Alans - Alainville, Alain, Alan-Court, Court-Alan, Alansianus, Alanson, Alanse (Lance), Molendinum de Alana (Moulin de Lange), Alangaviens ( Langeis), Villa de Alan (Alanetum, Lanet), Alani-Monti, Alange, Aqua de Alandon (La Alondon / La London; from Alan "alan-dog1n" - "Alan rain, Alan water") and others in France.
The villages of Alanis, Alano and the Alani Gorge in central Spain.
The villages of Alano di Piave, Villa d'Aleno (Verona), Alan d'Riano (Landriano) and others in northern Italy.
All these names are scientifically recognized as originating from the name of the Alanian people. Moreover, the European name "Alan" appeared from the name of the Alanian people - Europeans called their children Alans, in honor of the Alans
named after Sampi - the so-called leader of the Alans in Provence in the early 440s.
The name Sampi is common among the Ingush, there are surnames Sampiev (teipa).
In France, the village of Sampigny remained from the Alans.

Having outlined a large number of facts from the military and peaceful life of the Alans in Europe and other countries, Bernard Bahrakh at the end of his book cited a list of Alanian geographical names in Western Europe. I give a photocopy of some of these names from the book, which will leave no doubt that the Alans are Ingush.

8. Alain, also called Alancourt-aux-Boeuf (Meurthe-et-Moselle): 965; Eilein and Alleyn, 1305.
9. Aleinkort (Eisn): Halinkurt, 1168; Elleincourt, 1174; Alleyncourt, 1189.
10. Aleinkort (Ardennes): Aleinkort, 1229.
11. Aleinkort (Or): Aleinkuria and Alanicuria, both 1242; Eilancourt, 1303.
12. Aleinkort (Goth-Saon).
For those readers who do not know the Ingush language, I will explain what the word KORT means in this case.
Court in Ingush head, like Dulk-court (Dolakovo), Nyasare-court (Nazran), Boashlom-court (mountain Kazbek)

If we now turn to the geographical names indicated in the work of Bernard Bakhrakh, we will find that many objects in Europe have names containing the Ingush word kort (top). I believe that here we are talking about mountains or other hills located in different countries and different cities of Europe, called the Alanian Ingush.

I will briefly give one more piece of information from the work of Bernard Bachrach. The older generation of the Ingush, to assess the prowess of young people, uttered the phrase: "Govar kanty." Understanding why this is said, it was not clear the origin of this expression. Now the history of this expression has been reliably revealed. It turns out Govar, or rather Goar, was the legendary leader of the Ingush. He even took part in the appointment of the Emperor of Germany. The outstanding qualities of Goar are also evidenced by the fact that for more than 40 years, until old age, he remained in the combat formation of the Alans. Bernard Bachrach writes about him: "For 25 years, Goar and his Alans remained faithful supporters of Rome, although their Burgundian neighbors rebelled several times and were crushed by Aetius and his Hunnic allies."
Ammianus Marcellinus pointed out the Nervi Mountains at the headwaters of the Borisfen (Dnieper), where the Alans also lived for some time.
Alans ... a fierce people ”(Egesipus, ancient Roman author)
“Almost all Alans are tall and beautiful in appearance, their hair is fair-haired, their eyes, if not fierce, are still formidable ... in robbery and hunting they reach the Meotian [Azov] Sea and the Cimmerian [Kerch] Bosporus on one side and to Armenia and Media [Azerbaijan] on the other. Just as calmness is pleasant for peaceful and quiet people, so they find pleasure in wars and dangers. They consider the one who dies in battle to be happy, and those who live to old age and die a natural death are persecuted by cruel ridicule, like degenerates and cowards ”(A. Marcellinus, ancient Roman author)
"The Alans are more powerful than the Kashaks [Circassians]" - al-Masudi (the most famous geographer of the Arab Caliphate).

“The kingdom of the Alans is stronger and stronger than all [Caucasian] peoples” (Judeo-Khazar correspondence, Cambridge documents)

"Alans ... the most warlike people among the Caucasians" (Byzantine chronicler Nikifor Vasilaki, close associate of Emperor John II Komnenos),
"Cet homme est violent et allain" - "This man is indomitable like the Alans" (French / Norman proverb about the courage of the Alans).

Chechens are the most cruel and wild tribes in the Caucasus. They are even more warlike than the Lezgins; our troops could never subdue these fierce tribes ... Their courage reaches a frenzy. They never surrender, even if one of them remains against twenty ”(Russian agent I. Blaramberg, 1834).
The Ingush consider hunting and war as the most worthy occupations for young people ”© tsarist agent I. Blaramberg to Emperor Nicholas I, 1834

General Staff Officer Russian Empire, who served in a separate Caucasian corps, Johann Blaramberg wrote about the Ingush:

“The Ingush consider an insult with a word the most sensitive of insults and take revenge for this until the death of the one who uttered the insult. Because of a trifle, they can flare up in a conversation, but they easily calm down. Their ardor is shown openly, without the slightest pretense.

February 1920 The Ingush are the smallest, most warlike people, both in the Caucasus and throughout Russia, who have long lived in the southeastern part of the Terek of the Kursk Lowland, along the right bank of the Terek River and to the East of the Assa River.

The Ingush are responsible for the victory of the revolution in the Caucasus. If the revolution in the Caucasus had been suppressed, this stubborn people would have gone to the mountains, the forests, where detachments are being created, and the forces of the Russian guard are dwindling every day from their attacks. In 1919, when units loyal to me intended to pass through the lands of the Ingush, we received a decisive refusal. And after that they moved their forces to Dolakovo, where riders from the nearest villages gathered. There were less than 300 of them.
A pitiful remainder. Three hundred horsemen, most armed with guns and daggers, against a strong division equipped with the latest technology, it seemed at first glance that the division would not leave a trace of these savages. But, alas! The Ingush not only repulsed the guards, but drove them all the way to the Terek, and only three dozen people managed to cross.
A pitiful remnant of the division. For one killed they killed ten of their enemies. In January of this year, 1920, when the Guards captured Vladikavkaz and threatened to defeat the Revolutionary Military Council, the Ingush, by their intervention, liberated the Revolutionary Military Council and at the same time fired and brutally defeated the city, seized the State Bank and firmly settled in it. They rob anyone they want. Ossetians - for their helplessness. Dagestanis - for fertile lands. Kabardians - out of habit. Terek Cossacks - because they live on the land of their fathers. Bolsheviks - for faithful service to them. But everyone hates them, and they continue to do their business. They do not feel the slightest danger from the outside, because they know that not a single people in the Caucasus will dare to raise a hand against them.
DENIKIN.

was abandoned Alans, the people who created their own statehood. For the first time they are recorded at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. and then throughout their history they appear in the reports of Armenian, Georgian, Byzantine, Arabic and other authors under different names – roksolany, alanrosy, asii, aces, jars, oats, wasps.

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Scientists are convinced that the Alans were Iranian-speaking and were one of the branches of the Sarmatians. By the 1st century AD having come from the steppes of Central Asia, they occupied vast spaces in the Southern Urals, the Lower Volga region, and the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, forming a powerful tribal union. At the same time, the hordes of the Alans spread over a significant part of the North Caucasus, subordinating their influence, only the mountainous regions of Chechnya, Dagestan and the western Caucasus retained their originality.

Initially, the economic basis of the Alans was nomadic pastoralism. The social structure was based on the principles military democracy. From the 1st to the 4th centuries, various sources constantly talk about the military campaigns of the Alans against neighboring countries and peoples. Carrying out raids in Transcaucasia, they intervened in the struggle between the great powers of that time ( Parthia, ), participate on the side and against the owners Iberia, Armenia,.

Unlike earlier Iranian newcomers, the Alans were able to move to settled life and agriculture, which helped them gain a foothold in the Central Caucasus. In the 3rd century, Alanya is a formidable force that neighboring states must reckon with, for example,.

For several hundred years of their dominance in the North Caucasus, the Alans had such a powerful impact on that the culture of all local peoples was subjected to leveling and acquired common features, including Alan found in various parts of the Caucasus. The presence of the Alans is recorded in the folk epic of the Adyghe and Nakh legends, for example, the epic legends of the Vainakhs “Elijah”.

Alans in the era of the Great Migration of Nations

At the end of the 3rd century AD. the power of the Alans was significantly undermined by the invasion of new nomadic hordes from Central Asia. Initially, in the 70s of the 3rd century, a horde Huns defeated and pushed the Alans to the foothills, and dragged the other part of them into their distant European campaigns.

One of the Hunnic groups, acacirs, remained in the North Caucasian steppes throughout the 4th century. At the same time, at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th centuries AD. almost at the same time as the Huns, another whole group rushes to the North Caucasus a number of Mongolian and Turkic tribes in origin. The most notable of these is tribal association Bulgarians.

The onslaught of the nomads forced the Alans to leave the entire steppe part of the North Caucasus and retire to the foothills and mountainous regions. The settlements of the Alans at that time are based on modern lands Pyatigorye, KChR, KBR, Ossetia, Ingushetia. The main type of dwellings are fortified settlements, which were built in hard-to-reach places. This was justified, because the nomadic expansion in the North Caucasus did not subside for several centuries.

In the 6th century, the Alans experienced the pressure of a nomadic union Turks who created their own huge education Turkic Khaganate. In the 7th century, the subjugation of the nomadic and aboriginal peoples of the Caucasus began to be carried out by another steppe ethnic group.

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The Alanian unions of the Central Caucasus became dependent on the Khazars and, on the side of the latter, took part in a whole series of Khazar-Arab wars of the 7th-8th centuries. Khazar and Arab authors during this period point to the Central Caucasus as the permanent residence of the Alans, as well as the Darial Pass ( Darial Gorge), connecting the North Caucasus with Transcaucasia, from Arabic Bab al Alan(Alanian gate).

By this time, two large and independent communities were formed among the Alans. Stand out:

Western Alans (Ashtigor), KChR, eastern regions Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory;
Eastern Alans (Ardos), KBR, Ossetia, Ingushetia.

At the end of the 10th century, the Khazar pressure on the Alans weakened and the prerequisites were created for the formation of an independent Alanian state. Over the almost thousand-year period of their stay in the North Caucasus, the Alans were able to achieve significant success in various industries. Along with traditional cattle breeding, plow farming, crafts - pottery, weapons, blacksmithing, jewelry - developed. Since the 7th century, the craft has been separated from Agriculture and turns into an independent industry.

The excavations of the Alanian settlements provided material on the social differentiation in their environment. Processes contributed to the formation of classes Christianization, which became especially active in the 10th century. Christianity penetrated into Alania through Georgia and. As a result, the construction of churches according to the Byzantine model is unfolding throughout Alanya.

The rise and fall of the Alanian state

In the 10th century, the western and eastern Alanian tribes united into a single Alanian state. In social terms, a privileged class stands out in alanya feudal lords, exploited community peasants And patriarchal slaves.

In the middle of the 10th century, the rulers of Alania are mentioned, who had the titles of “spiritual son” and “Divine ruler of the Universe”. By this time, we can talk about the emergence of cities among the Alans, for example, the city Magas.

Not only neighbors, primarily Georgia, but also distant silt powers strive to develop relations with the Alans -, Kievan Rus. During this period, dynastic marriages took place between the rulers of Alanya and other countries.

Like other early feudal states of that era, after its heyday in the second half of the 12th century, feudal strife plunged into the abyss. The once united state by the beginning of the 13th century was disintegrating into a number of small possessions that were at war with each other.

In a state of feudal fragmentation, he finds Alania. Since 1222, the Mongols have made their first attempts to subjugate Alania, but the systematic conquest of the entire country begins in 1238. Despite the heroic resistance, part of the Alans is destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols, another part of them replenishes the troops of the Tatar-Mongol khans, and the third part of the Alans is scattered over the mountainous, inaccessible places of the Central Caucasus, where the process of mixing Alans with the locals begins. Modern peoples: Ossetians, Balkars, Karachays have a certain share of the Alan component in their ethnogenesis.

From the unimaginable depths of history, the name of the ancient people, the Alans, has come down to us. The first mention of them is found in Chinese chronicles written two thousand years ago. The Romans were also interested in this warlike ethnic group, who lived on the borders of the empire. And if today there is no “Alana” page with a photo in the atlas of the living peoples of the world, this does not mean that this ethnic group has disappeared from the face of the earth without a trace.

Their genes and language, traditions and attitude were inherited by direct descendants -. In addition to them, some scientists consider the Ingush to be the descendants of this people. Let's open the veil over the events of bygone eras in order to dot the i's.

Millennial history and geography of settlement

Byzantines and Arabs, Franks and Armenians, Georgians and Russians - with whom they just did not fight, did not trade and did not enter into alliances with the Alans in their more than a thousand-year history! And almost everyone who came across them, one way or another, recorded these meetings on parchment or papyrus. Thanks to eyewitness accounts and records of chroniclers, today we can restore the main stages in the history of the ethnos. Let's start with the origin.

In the IV-V Art. BC. Sarmatian tribes roamed over a vast territory from the Southern Urals to the nomadic. Eastern Fore-Caucasus belonged to the Sarmatian union of the Aorses, who were described by ancient authors as skillful and brave warriors. But even among the Aorses there was a tribe that stood out for its special militancy - the Alans.

Historians believe that although the relationship between this warlike people with the Scythians and Sarmatians, obviously, it cannot be argued that only they are their ancestors: in their genesis in a later period - from about the 4th century. AD - other nomadic tribes also took part.

As can be seen from the ethnonym, it was an Iranian-speaking people: the word "Alan" goes back to the common word "arya" for the ancient Aryans and Iranians. Outwardly, they were typical Caucasoids, as evidenced not only by the descriptions of the chroniclers, but also by the data of DNA archeology.

About three centuries - from I to III AD. - they were reputed to be a thunderstorm of both neighbors and distant states. The defeat inflicted on them by the Huns in 372 did not undermine their strength, but, on the contrary, gave a new impetus to the development of the ethnic group. Some of them, during the Great Migration of Nations, went far to the west, where, together with the Huns, they defeated the kingdom of the Ostrogoths, and later fought with the Gauls and Visigoths; others - settled in the territory of the central.

The morals and customs of these warriors of those times were harsh, and the way of waging war was barbaric, at least in the opinion of the Romans. The main weapon of the Alans was a spear, which they masterfully wielded, and fast war horses made it possible to get out of any skirmish without loss.

The favorite maneuver of the troops was a false retreat. After an allegedly unsuccessful attack, the cavalry retreated, luring the enemy into a trap, after which it went on the offensive. Enemies that did not expect a new attack were lost and lost the battle.

The armor of the Alans was relatively light, made of leather belts and metal plates. According to some reports, the same ones protected not only warriors, but also their war horses.

If you look at the territory of settlement on the map in the early Middle Ages, then, first of all, the huge distances from to North Africa will catch your eye. In the latter appeared their first public education- did not last long in the 5th-6th centuries. Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans.

However, that part of the ethnos, which was surrounded by tribes distant in culture and traditions, rather quickly lost its national identity and assimilated. But those tribes that remained in the Caucasus not only retained their identity, but also created a powerful state -.

The state was formed in the VI-VII centuries. Around the same time, Christianity began to spread in its lands. The first news of Christ, according to Byzantine sources, was brought here by Maximus the Confessor (580-662), and Byzantine sources call Gregory the first Christian ruler of the country.

The final adoption of Christianity by the Alans took place at the beginning of the 10th century, although foreign travelers noted that Christian traditions in these lands were often intricately intertwined with pagan ones.

Contemporaries left many descriptions of the Alans and their customs. Described as very attractive and strong people. Among characteristic features cultures celebrate the cult of military prowess, combined with contempt for death, and rich rituals. In particular, the German traveler I. Shiltberger left a detailed description of the wedding ceremony, which gave great importance chastity of the bride and the wedding night.

“The yas have a custom according to which, before the marriage of the maiden, the groom's parents agree with the mother of the bride that the latter must be a pure maiden, otherwise the marriage would be considered invalid. So, on the day appointed for the wedding, the bride is brought to the bed with songs and laid on her. Then the groom approaches with young people, holding a drawn sword in his hands, with which he strikes the bed. Then he, together with his companions, sits down in front of the bed and feasts, sings and dances.

At the end of the feast, they undress the groom to his shirt and leave, leaving the newlyweds alone in the room, and a brother or one of the closest relatives of the groom appears outside the door to guard with a drawn sword. If it turns out that the bride was no longer a girl, then the groom informs his mother about this, who approaches the bed with several friends to inspect the sheets. If on the sheets they do not meet the signs they are looking for, then they are sad.

And when the bride's relatives arrive in the morning for the feast, the groom's mother already holds in her hand a vessel full of wine, but with a hole in the bottom, which she plugged with her finger. She brings the vessel to the mother of the bride and removes her finger when the latter wants to drink and the wine pours out. “That's exactly what your daughter was like!” she says. For the bride's parents, this is a great shame and they must take their daughter back, as they agreed to give a pure maiden, but their daughter did not turn out to be one.

Then the priests and other honorable persons intercede and convince the groom's parents to ask their son if he wants her to remain his wife. If he agrees, then the priests and other persons bring her to him again. Otherwise, they are bred, and he returns the dowry to his wife, just as she must return dresses and other things donated to her, after which the parties can enter into a new marriage.

The language of the Alans, unfortunately, has come down to us in a very fragmentary way, but the surviving material is enough to attribute it to the Scythian-Sarmatian. The direct carrier is modern Ossetian.

Although not many famous Alans went down in history, their contribution to history is undeniable. In short, they were the first knights with their fighting spirit. According to the scholar Howard Reid, the legends about the famous King Arthur are based on the great impression that the military culture of this people made on the weak states of the early Middle Ages.

Their worship of the naked sword, impeccable possession, contempt for death, the cult of nobility laid the foundation for the later Western European knightly code. The American scientists Littleton and Malkor go further and believe that Europeans owe the image of the Holy Grail to the Nart epic with its magic cup Watsamonga.

Legacy controversy

The kinship with the Ossetians and Alans is not in doubt, however, in recent years, the voices of those who believe that there is the same connection with, or more broadly - have been heard more and more often.

One can have different attitudes towards the arguments that the authors of such studies cite, but one cannot deny their usefulness: after all, attempts to understand genealogy allow one to read little-known or forgotten pages of the history of one's native land in a new way. Perhaps further archaeological and genetic research will provide an unambiguous answer to the question of whose ancestors the Alans are.

I would like to end this essay somewhat unexpectedly. Do you know that about 200 thousand Alans live in the world today (more precisely, their partially assimilated descendants)? In modern times they are known as yases, they have lived in Hungary since the 13th century. and remember their roots. Although their language has long been lost, they maintain contact with their Caucasian relatives, who were rediscovered by them more than seven centuries later. So, it's too early to put an end to this people.