This state arose in the territories of Azerbaijan, South Dagestan and Georgia at the end of the 2nd century BC. The borders are not exactly known, the most controversial issue is the border between Caucasian Albania and Armenia, and most importantly, the lands of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Name

The name Caucasian Albania (Alvania) appeared in the 1st century AD. Its origin has not been fully elucidated. Some historians believe that the Romans were involved in its appearance (in Latin "albus" means white), because this name is found in the Balkans, in Italy and even in Scotland, which was called Albania in ancient times. The largest of the Scottish islands is called Arran - this is how Caucasian Albania was called after its conquest by the Arabs.

Others believe that the Romans only gave a Latin sound to some local name of the country. Armenian historians of the 5th-7th centuries assumed that the word came from the name of the ruler, whose name was either Allu or Aran. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Azerbaijani historian Bakikhanov conjectured that the ethnonym appeared from the name of the people "Albans", which included the concept of "white" (albi), as "free man".

Population

For the first time, Albanians are mentioned during the time of Alexander the Great by the historian Lucius Flavius ​​Arian. According to him, the Albanians fought on the side of the Persians at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC.

It is known that originally Albanians were called a union of 26 different tribes who spoke different dialects of Lezgi. They began to be called Albanians because it was this tribe that initiated the unification. Among the tribes were Gargars, Udins, Chilbi, Lezgins, Lpins and Silvas. All of them lived on the lands between Iberia and the Caspian, inhabited the foothills of the Greater Caucasus and the territory of Dagestan.

Language

The most numerous tribe among the Albanians were the Gargars. Based on their language, an alphabet was created in which there were 52 simple graphemes and two digraphs. In addition to the Lezgi languages, Middle Persian, Armenian and Parthian were spoken in Albania. Albanian was gradually supplanted by the Turkic dialects, Armenian and Georgian.

Archaeologists have found several samples of Albanian writing, which date back to the 7th-8th centuries. So, in the Christian monastery of St. Helena on the Sinai Peninsula in 1996, a text in Albanian of 120 pages was found. A text in Georgian was written over it. The text has now been deciphered and published.

Religion

In ancient times, the Albanians were pagans, they worshiped the sun and the moon and made human sacrifices to the gods. Zoroastrianism actively penetrated from Persia to Albania. The spread of Christianity is associated with the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, who was brutally murdered in the city of Alban, and with the preaching of Saint Elisha, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus, better known as Elisha. Christianity has been the official religion of Albania since the beginning of the 4th century. During the period of Arab rule, Mohammedanism penetrated the country, and gradually spread everywhere.

Story

Around the middle of the 1st c. BC. the union of tribes was transformed into a state headed by a king. The capital of Albania until the 6th century was Kabala (destroyed by the Persians in the 6th century). For the first time, Caucasian Albania as a separate country was mentioned by the Roman historian Strabo, who in his 17-volume "Geography" indicated that the country lies between the Kura River and the Caspian Sea.

In the III - I centuries BC. on the territory of Albania there was the Yaloylupetian culture, whose people were engaged in winemaking and cultivating the land. Here they find characteristic burial mounds, burials in jars and in tombs. During the excavations, iron knives and daggers, arrowheads and spears, sickles, gold jewelry, and ceramics were found.

In 66 B.C. the country was invaded by the Roman consul Gnaeus Pompey, who stood with his army on the Kura, but was attacked by the Albanian king Oroz. Having beaten off the attack, the consul attacked Albania, destroyed the king's army and "bestowed" peace on the Albanians. In the 2nd century AD, the Roman emperor Trajan turned Armenia into a Roman province and elevated his protege to the throne of Albania, but soon the independent position of the state was restored.

Dynasties

The first royal dynasty that ruled in Caucasian Albania, the Arranshahs, according to Armenian sources, descended from Japhet, the son of the biblical righteous Noah. Perhaps the first kings were nominated from among the most distinguished local leaders. The dynasty ruled until the middle of the 3rd century. Then, until the beginning of the 6th century, the Arshakids, the younger branch of the Parthian kings, ruled in Albania. The first representative of the dynasty was Vachagan I the Brave, who was a descendant of the leaders of the Maskuts.

In the 9th - 10th centuries, the processes of armenization were going on in the country, and then - the Turkenization of the population. Since a single Albanian nationality did not develop, the country is disintegrating into principalities. The Albanian ethnos disappears, leaving behind only names.

March 4, 2018 at 13:00 "Bulletin of the Caucasus"

The territory of present-day Azerbaijan for many centuries was part of one of the state formations most unstudied by historians - Caucasian Albania. The ancient Albanian state has existed since ancient times. From the 13th century, the Center of the Albanian Church was located in Karabakh, where the patriarchal church, Gandzasar, was built, which served the Alban-udins until 1836. However, in 1836, at the insistent request of the Armenian Church, a rescript was issued by the Russian emperor on the abolition of the Albanian autocephalous church and the transfer of its property, including archives and all documentation, to Etchmiadzin. So there was a violation of the hierarchical relationship - all the churches of Nagorno-Karabakh began to be called Armenian, and the Christian population of this land was automatically rewritten into Armenian.The abolition of the Albanian Church was the beginning of a policy of aggressive appropriation of the Albanian ethno-cultural heritage and its transformation into Armenian.

Professor Farida Mammadova, an Albanian historian, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, told Vestnik Kavkaza about what happened to the heritage of a rich civilization and who are considered the direct descendants of the Albanians.

- When and why did you become interested in such a little-studied topic as the history of Caucasian Albania?

Armenian historical science - both pre-revolutionary and Soviet - has always declared a monopoly on the heritage of Caucasian Albania. Azerbaijani historians have long been thinking about the need to study this topic, however, in addition to writing monographs, it was necessary to publicly, at international conferences, bring the scientific truth to recognized scientists of the world who study the historical problems of the Caucasus. This mission fell to my lot. Although before that, Armenian historians made considerable efforts to prevent me from becoming a doctor of science.

- Who dealt with this topic before you?

The study of Caucasian Albania was carried out by the Soviet and Azerbaijani scientist Ziya Buniyatov. When his book "Azerbaijan in the 7th-9th centuries" was published in 1965, I just arrived in Leningrad to study ancient Persian and ancient Armenian languages ​​on the recommendation of Zelik Yampolsky, a prominent Azerbaijani scientist, Doctor of Historical Sciences. I wanted to learn not ancient Armenian, but Arabic, but Zelik Iosifovich said: “We have a lot of Arabists, but there are no Armenians. Then, when they wanted to make a candidate of my thesis, Yampolsky promised:“ You will give everyone the heat! ”But that was later , and then I was studying the ancient Armenian language and the history of the Iranian Pahlavi dynasty.Suddenly, a teacher of ancient Armenian, an eminent Soviet, Armenian scientist who worked in the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Karen Yuzbashyan calls me and says: "Because of Ziya Buniyatov's book, I'm flying away to Armenia. We're interrupting classes."

It turns out that after the publication of Buniyatov's book, a discussion of it took place at Leningrad University, where serious passions flared up. Yuzbashyan ransacked the book, and Zia called him a "Dashnak". At that time, few people in cold academic Leningrad knew what Dashnaktsutyun was. In addition, the rector of the Leningrad Institute, who went through the Great Patriotic War, adored the front-line soldier Ziya and somehow settled everything. Yuzbashyan flew to Yerevan, but returned a week later and said: "The Academy of Sciences of Armenia, all the universities of Armenia, all the institutions of Armenia, issued a verdict on the rejection of Nagorno-Karabakh." But then it was 1968!

- That is, the book influenced the rise of nationalism in Armenian scientific circles?

The fact is that before Buniyatov, no one lifted the veil of a false Armenian concept related to the history of Caucasian Albania. Zia was the first to show why Armenians call the book of the Albanian author Mukhtar Gosh "Armenian law book". In fact, the book of Gosh, who was born in Ganja, is simply called "Sudebnik". But the Armenians called it the "Armenian Code of Law", editing it at their discretion. So Zia wrote the truth about it.

When Yuzbashyan said that a verdict had been passed in Armenia on the rejection of Nagorno-Karabakh, I, frankly, did not understand the situation. By and large, scientists had to turn to Heydar Aliyev, who then served as chairman of the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR, so that he would convey the information to the Central Committee. After all, it was about the fact that the Armenian nationalists set out to seize Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, realizing that the veil of lies that they had been forming for a long time was lifted.

- How were the facts manipulated?

For example, in the book "History of Albania" by Moses Kalankatuysky there is an elegy "On the death of Javanshir", consisting of 19 couplets, written by the Albanian poet Davtak. Upon a detailed study of this elegy, it becomes clear that it was originally written in Albanian and later translated into Armenian. (Javanshir went down in history as an outstanding commander and wise statesman who did a lot for the development of the material and spiritual culture of Albania. It is believed that on his instructions, the Albanian historian Moses Kalankatuysky wrote the "History of Albania" - ed.)

When I started working on the elegy, I found the manuscript of Moses Kalankatuysky in Leningrad. The niece of academician Iosif Orbeli, Rusidama Rubenovna Orbeli, who headed the archive of orientalists and the Caucasian department of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, was a specialist in Georgian sources, but it was in her archive that I found the manuscript of Moses Kalankatuysky, which belonged to Iosif Orbeli.

Two more manuscripts were kept in the Yerevan Institute of Ancient Manuscripts Matenadaran. I tried for two years to get permission to work with them, but I never got it. Then I found out that two more manuscripts are kept in the British Museum and in the National Library of Paris. Ziya Buniyatov wrote a request to foreign archives, and just a month later we received copies of the manuscripts from there. It turned out that those manuscripts of Davtak's poems that we received from abroad retained the original Albanian edition.

- What was the difference between the Albanian and Armenian editions?

In the Albanian manuscript, the elegy consists of 19 quatrains, and in the manuscripts that have undergone Armenian editing, it consists of 36 quatrains, according to the number of letters of the Armenian alphabet. Davtak's elegy was written in an acrostic. In an acrostic, the initial letters of the lines must form a word or phrase, or the acrostic may contain all the letters of the alphabet of the language in which it is written. In the Armenian translation of Davtak's elegy, the first 19 letters of the Armenian alphabet have quatrains each, and after the 19th couplet - only one, two or three lines instead of quatrains. The harmony of the rhythm is broken, and it becomes clear that the lines have been added in order to show all 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet. In addition, the elegy was written in such a way that in 19 verses, not one thought should repeat another. However, in the Armenian edition, after the 19th verse, all thoughts are repeated - there is a stretch.

- Has the Albanian alphabet been studied enough?

The Albanians had the richest literature. The alphabet consisted of 52 letters. It was the alphabet of all 26 tribes inhabiting Albania. It has been well studied. The sound of each letter is known. The first inscriptions in the Albanian alphabet were found in Egypt, in the monastery of St. Catherine. I was there together with the famous scientist Zurab Aleksidze, who was working on deciphering and reading Albanian inscriptions.

The "History of the Albanians" by Moses Kalankatuysky says that the holy apostle Elisha founded the first Kish church in the Caucasus, which later became a metropolis. It is located in the village of the same name in the Sheki region. Was restored in 2003. (See video below)

- It turns out that the Armenian Church “appropriated” the heritage of the Albanian Church?

Every nation, whether Christian or Muslim, has its own place of worship. Muslims - a mosque, Christians - a church. Where people live, there are their places of worship. Almost all the bishoprics of the Armenian Church, cities, areas where Armenian councils were held, were located on the eastern banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, around Lake Van, that is, outside the Eastern Caucasus, in rare cases in the southwestern Caucasus.

In 2002, an international conference was held, paid for by the Armenian Catholicos. The organizers were warned not to let me into the conference. I contacted an Austrian scientist, Professor Seibt, who confirmed that the conference should take place without me. And then I worked at the Western University with Hussein Bagirov. He calls me and says: "Why are you sitting there? You must be there. Go to the American embassy, ​​go to all the embassies. Do whatever you want, but you must be there."

I was able to take part in the conference as a listener, without the opportunity to speak. I sit at the end of the hall. An Armenian scientist speaks, says that the entire Caucasus is Armenian. I knew that one of the ancient Armenian sources says: "They entered the Euphrates River and were baptized there." But the Euphrates River is not in the Caucasus! From the gallery I ask the question: "Where did the Armenians get baptized? In what river?" The Armenian scientist was confused, but answered: "Farida, in that very one. In which one, you know. In that very river" ... I ask again: "In the Euphrates?" They shushed me. The organizers announced a break. The shock is small. Seibt brings a map, we look where the Caucasus is, and where Eastern Anatolia is. Seibt says: "Does this mean that the Armenians were not in the Caucasus?!"

From the 13th century, the center of the Albanian church was located in Karabakh, where the patriarchal church of Gandzasar was built. Since April 3, 1993, the Gandzasar monastery complex has been under the occupation of Armenian military units.

Is the Gandzasar monastery in the Kalbajar region a monument of Albanian or Armenian culture? They say that this is the heritage of the Albanians, but after the reconstruction, nothing Albanian remained there.

The Armenians did something terrible there. They also destroyed all Albanian literature. The Albanian church was reassigned to Etchmiadzin. The entire archive of the Albanian church went to the Armenians, it was translated, finalized, Armenianized, like the “Sudebnik” of Mukhtar Gosh, which I spoke about at the beginning.

Gandzasar was built by Hasan Jalal in the 12th century, when there was stability and a renaissance of the culture of Muslim and Christian peoples in Azerbaijan. But in the Gandzasar Monastery, the Armenians stamped the ancient Albanian letters and edited them. Inside the Gandazar Cathedral there was an inscription, I don’t know if it has survived now: “I am Hasan Jalal, the Grand Duke of Albania, built this cathedral for my Albanian people.”

- It turns out that the Karabakh Armenians incorrectly identify their belonging, and can they be considered Albanians?

They are Albanians, but they consider themselves Armenians. This was the result of the propaganda of the Armenian authorities and scientists. A striking example of the Albanians can be considered Udis. Now my student and niece Ulviya Hajiyeva is working on ancient sources. She examines the books of Maakar Barkhudaryants, the last representative of the 19th century Albanian clergy. When examining the work "Albanians and Their Neighbors", my student found the following text: "Until 1829, the entire Albanian heritage was in a flourishing, excellent condition, but now everything is plundered, destroyed, broken." Makar Barkhudaryants ends his book with these words, showing where this legacy has gone.
"Artsakh" is a region of Albania, which had nothing to do with Armenia. The Albanian historian Moses Kalankatuysky also writes about this. But the Armenians for a long time inspired the Azerbaijanis that Albania is an Armenian region.

- Is there a need to recreate the Albanian church today?

Undoubtedly, although her diocese is small. There is a church in Nij. There are Udins who live in America, but come to their homeland. We must cherish this ethnic group like the apple of our eye. (After the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence, in the early 1990s, the historical and cultural revival of the Udins and the renaissance of the culture of Caucasian Albania began. If the Armenians pursued a policy of assimilation towards the Udins, in Azerbaijan, on the contrary, Udin churches are being restored and cultural monuments are being repaired, - ed.) ed.).

) to the fortress called Hnarakert and ... this country, due to the meekness of Sisak's temper, was called Alvank, since his name was Alu. The same explanation is repeated by the Armenian historian of the 7th century. Movses Kaghankatvatsi; he also gives the name of this representative from the Sisakan clan - Aran, "who inherited the fields and mountains of Alvank"

Further, K. Trever identifies two more versions. The first is the Azerbaijani historian A.K. Bakikhanov, who at the beginning of the 19th century made an interesting assumption that the ethnic term “Albans” contains the concept of “whites” (from Latin “albi”) in the sense of “free”. At the same time, A. Bakikhanov referred to Konstantin Porfirorodny (X century), who used the term "White Serbs", speaking of "free, unconquered." The second is the assumption of the Russian orientalist and Caucasian scholar N. Ya. Marr that the word "Albania", like the name "Dagestan", means "country of mountains". The author points out that "taking into account that Balkan Albania, like Scotland, is a mountainous country, this explanation of N. Ya. Marr seems to be quite convincing" .

A. P. Novoseltsev, V. T. Pashuto and L. V. Cherepnin consider the origin of this name from the Iranian-Alans to be possible. The version about the Iranian origin of the toponym was also adhered to by Guram Gumba, who connects its formation with the Iranian-speaking Sirak tribes.

Ethnic map of the Caucasus in the 5th-4th centuries BC. e. The map was compiled on the basis of the evidence of ancient authors and archaeological assumptions. Unpainted places are explained by the insufficient study of these territories

The population of Caucasian Albania - Albanians (not related to the Balkan Albanians and representatives of the Kazakh genus Albans) - was originally a union of 26 tribes that spoke various languages ​​of the Lezgi branch of the Nakh-Dagestan family. These included Albanians, Gargars (Rutuls), Utii (Udins), Gels, Chilbi, Legs (Lezgins), Silvas, and Lpins. Numerous tribes of the Albanian tribal union inhabited the territories between Iberia and the Caspian Sea, from the Caucasus Range to the Kura River, although the territory of residence of the Albanian-speaking tribes also spread further south, to the Araks. Albanian-speaking tribes - Gargars, Gels, Legs, Chilbi, Silva, Lpins, Tsodi - inhabited the foothills of the Greater Caucasus and the south of modern Dagestan.

When ancient geographers and historians talk about the population of Albania, first of all they are talking about Albanians. According to experts, only one of the 26 tribes that lived on the left bank of the Kura was originally called Albanians. It was this tribe that initiated the unification of the tribes into a union, and the name "Albans" began to spread to other tribes. According to Strabo, the Albanian tribe lived between Iberia and the Caspian, Pliny the Elder localizes them from the Caucasus Range ( montibus caucasis) to the Kura River ( ad Cyrum amnem), and Dion Cassius literally reports that the Albanians live "above the Kura River" (ancient Greek. Ἀλβανῶν τῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ Κύρνου οἰκούντων ). According to K. V. Trever, the native territory of the Albanians, the largest in the union of Albanian tribes, was the middle and lower reaches of the Kura, mainly the left bank. VF Minorsky, one of the leading specialists in the history of Transcaucasia, localizes the Albanians in the open plain. According to VV Bartold, the Albanians lived on the Caspian plains. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Albanians lived in the mountainous plains of the Greater Caucasus and in the country to the north, bordering Sarmatia, that is, on the territory of modern Dagestan. Ancient authors, describing Albans, note their high stature, blond hair and gray eyes. This is exactly what anthropologists think of the most ancient type of the indigenous Caucasian population - Caucasian, which is currently widely represented in the mountainous regions of Dagestan, Georgia and partly Azerbaijan. Somewhat later, another one (also quite widely represented here is the most ancient anthropological type) penetrates into the Eastern Caucasus, namely, the Caspian, which differs significantly from the Caucasian.

The Utians lived on the Caspian coast and in the province of Utik. Among all the tribes, the Gargars were the most significant (large), as many researchers point out. According to Trever, Gargars were the most cultured and leading Albanian tribe. The ancient Greek geographer Strabo wrote in detail about Gargars and Amazons. According to Trever K.V., perhaps the “Amazons” mentioned by the ancient authors are a distorted ethnic term “Alazons”, inhabitants of the area along the river. Alazani, in whom the remnants of matriarchy could be preserved somewhat longer than among other Caucasian peoples. The term can mean "nomads" (from the verb "wander", "wander", "wander"), that is, nomadic tribes, perhaps from the Gargars. Researchers claim that the Albanian alphabet was created on the basis of the Gargar language.

Throughout history, there has never been a single consolidated Albanian people. Already in the 9th-10th centuries, the concepts of "Albania" or "Albanian" were rather historical.

A significant part of the Albanian multilingual population on the right bank of the Kura River adopted Christianity, switched to the Armenian language in the early Middle Ages, mixed with the Armenians and was armenized. The Armenian influence in these areas was especially strong due to their rather long stay in Greater Armenia. The process of armenization began in antiquity, back in the era of the political hegemony of Greater Armenia, but was especially active in the 7th-9th centuries. K. V. Trever notes that in the 7th-10th centuries “Artsakh and most of Utik were already Armenianized”. A.P. Novoseltsev notes that at the time of the 7th century, even before the subordination of the Church of Albania to the Armenian Church, part of the population of Caucasian Albania was already Armenized, and this process intensified in subsequent centuries. This is confirmed by numerous historical sources. So, for example, in 700, the presence of the Artsakh dialect of the Armenian language is reported. Since then, Armenian culture has also been developing here. Sources still record the Albanian language in the flat part of Utik in the district of Barda in the 10th century, but then the mention of it disappears.

The ethnically diverse population of the left bank of Albania at this time is increasingly switching to the Persian language. This mainly applies to the cities of Arran and Shirvan, while the rural population for the most part retained for a long time their old languages, related to modern Dagestan, primarily the languages ​​of the Lezgi group. The Albanians, who inhabited the eastern flat lands, were first Iranianized by Persia, then converted to Islam from the Arabs, after which they became Turkicized, entering the Caucasian part of the Azerbaijani ethnos. In the XII-XV centuries, the foothill part of Arran was intensively settled by Turkic nomads, and gradually the ancient name Arran was replaced by Karabakh (Turkic-Iranian "Black Garden"). At the same time, the mountainous regions of Karabakh strongly resisted Turkization and became a refuge for the Christian population, by that time Armenianized.

Since the early medieval era, there has also been a kartvelization of the regions lying in the border zone of the Albanian-Georgian. Thus, the western Albanian tribes were Georgianized and formed the basis of the population of the historical province of Hereti. The southern, Caspian regions, in particular Caspian, were inhabited by various Iranian-speaking tribes, whose descendants are part of the modern Talysh.

According to the editor-in-chief of the Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires, the American historian James S. Olson, the Albanian state ceased to exist in the 9th century. The author states that some historians consider the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh to be the successor of Caucasian Albania, however, recognizing such statements as insignificant, James Olson nevertheless notes that the Caucasian Albanians participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijanis, Georgians of Kakheti and some Dagestan peoples: Laks, Lezgins and Tsakhurs . Another American historian R. Husen notes that the Albanian state ceased to exist by the 10th century, the exact time of the disappearance of the Albanian ethnos is unknown, but it "may have lasted longer" .

The most ancient region of Caucasian Albania was the northern part of the Kura valley to the south of the confluence of the Alazani into it. In I millennium BC. e. early urban communities began to form here, including the ancient capital of Albania, Kabalak.

The population of the country was multi-ethnic, it was based on peoples who spoke the Nakh-Dagestan languages.

At the end of the 2nd or the middle of the 1st c. BC e. - from the beginning of the emergence of the centralized Albanian kingdom, it occupied the left bank of the Kura, starting from the middle reaches of the Iori and Alazani rivers, to Akhsu, from the Greater Caucasus to the Caspian Sea. Its areas are listed in "Ashkharatsuyts" of the 7th century. So, Anania Shirakatsi reports that the indigenous territory of Caucasian Albania proper consisted of 6 provinces: “Albania, that is, Aguank, to the east of Iberia, is adjacent to Sarmatia near the Caucasus and extends to the Caspian Sea and to the borders of the Armenians on the Kura. … Albania includes the following provinces”:

Shirakatsi, like all ancient Greco-Roman authors, places the territory of Albania between the Kura River and the Greater Caucasus Range, noting that: .

According to most authors, the eastern border of Greater Armenia with Caucasian Albania was established along the Kura at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. e., when the founder of this state, Artashes I, presumably conquered the Kura-Araks interfluve near Media Atropatena (or conquered the Albanian tribes living there), and persisted throughout almost the entire period of the existence of Great Armenia from the 2nd century BC. e. until 387 CE e. . According to other sources, even earlier, in the IV-III centuries BC. e., the eastern borders of Yervandid Armenia reached the Kura.

Probably since 299 Albania was a vassal of Persia. In 387, after the partition of Great Armenia between Rome and Persia, with the tacit consent of the latter, the eastern lands of Armenia (Artsakh and Utik) were transferred to Albania (from 462 - marzpanism). Thus, unable to suppress Christianity in Armenia, Persia decided to dismember the Armenian kingdom. As a result of this division, a little more than half of the former territory remained with Armenia.

Caucasian Albania in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. e., map from The Cambridge History of the Ancient World, vol. 14, ed. 1970-2001 The purple line (along the Kura River) shows the Armenian-Albanian border by the end of the 4th century AD. e., the red line - the borders of Albania after 387

Albania of that era was a multi-ethnic country, Armenians lived in Artsakh (according to some authors, and Albanians), the main part of the population of Utik was armenized ..

According to Husen, the peoples inhabiting Artsakh and Utik, who were conquered by the Armenians in the 2nd century BC, underwent armenization over the next few centuries, but some of them were still mentioned as independent ethnic groups when these regions were ceded to Albania in 387 AD. era. R. Husen also notes that "".

The ancient history of Caucasian Albania is evidenced by artifacts of archaeological cultures such as Yaloylutepa.

The Yaloylutepe culture dates back to the 3rd-1st centuries BC. e. and named after the monuments in the area of ​​Yaloylutepe (Gabala region of Azerbaijan). Among the finds are burial grounds - ground and mounds, burials in jugs and mud tombs, burials - crouched on their sides, with tools (iron knives, sickles, stone grain grinders, pestles and millstones), weapons (iron daggers, arrowheads and spears, etc. ), ornaments (gold earrings, bronze pendants, brooches, numerous beads) and mainly with ceramics (bowls, jugs, vessels with legs, "teapots", etc.). The population was engaged in agriculture and winemaking.

The Albanians are first mentioned in the time of Alexander the Great by Arrian: they fought against the Macedonians on the side of the Persians in 331 BC. e. under Gaugamela in the army of Atropates, the Persian satrap of Media. At the same time, it is not known what dependence they were on Atropates or King Darius III, whether this dependence was at all, or whether they acted as mercenaries - like, for example, the Greek hoplites.

The truly ancient world met the Albanians during the campaigns of Pompey, in 66 BC. e. . Pursuing Mithridates Evpator, Pompey moved through Armenia towards the Caucasus and at the end of the year he stationed the army for winter quarters in three camps on the Kura, on the border of Armenia and Albania. Apparently, the invasion of Albania was not originally in his plans; but in mid-December, the Albanian king Oroz crossed the Kura and unexpectedly attacked all three camps, but was repulsed. The next summer, Pompey, for his part, made an unexpected attack on Albania as a retribution and completely defeated the Albanian army in battle, partly surrounding and destroying, partly driving into a neighboring forest and burning there; after that, he granted peace to the Albanians and took hostages from them, whom he led in his triumph. In the course of these events, the first detailed descriptions of this country were compiled (especially by the historiographer of Pompey Theophanes of Mytilene), which have come down to us in the presentation of Strabo (Geography, 11.4):

Transcaucasia in the I-IV centuries. n. e. according to the "World History" (tab) Shaded are the lands of Greater Armenia, which moved away from it to neighboring states after the division in 387

“[that is, in plate armor covering riders and horses].

The ruins of the fortress walls of ancient Kabala (the foundation of white limestone was made in the 20th century to prevent the collapse of the remains of the towers)

One way or another, at the end of the II century. - middle of the 1st c. BC e. Albania turned from a union of tribes into an early class state with its own king. The main city of Albania until the VI century was cabal(Kabalaka; Kabalak). This city existed until the 16th century, when it was destroyed by the Safavid troops. Its ruins have been preserved in the modern Kabala (until 1991 - Kutkashen) region of Azerbaijan.

The genealogical legend about the origin of the first royal dynasty of Albania - Arranshahs (as the Albanian kings called themselves, from the Persian Arran - Albania and shah - king, that is, king of Albania) - is reported by Movses Kalankatuatsi, while retelling Movses Khorenatsi. The legend is obviously late and has a bookish Armenian origin; but the work of Kalankatuatsi shows that it was also widespread in Albania. Nevertheless, she had nothing to do with reality, since Hayk, Sisak and Aran were not real persons.

The first royal dynasty known to historiography, bearing the title of Arranshahi (Aranshahiks, Yeranshahiks), was of local origin. The name Aranshahik could come both from the name of the eponym Aran and from the ethnikon Aran. According to K. V. Trever, “the first kings of Albania were undoubtedly representatives of the local Albanian nobility from among the most prominent tribal leaders. This is also evidenced by their non-Armenian and non-Iranian names (Orois, Kosis, Zober in the Greek transmission; we do not yet know how they sounded in Albanian) ” .

In the 7th-8th centuries, Khazars and Arabs passed through the territory of Albania, replacing each other, fighting for control over the region.

In 654, the troops of the Caliphate, passing through Albania, went beyond Derbent and attacked the Khazar possession of Belenjer, but the battle ended in the defeat of the Arab army, and the Khazars exacted tribute from Albania and made several raids.

Javanshir tried to resist the invaders for several decades, made alliances with the Khazars and Byzantium, but in 667, in the face of a double threat from the Arabs in the south and the Khazars in the north, he recognized himself as a vassal of the Caliphate, which became a turning point in the history of the country and contributed to its Islamization. In the 8th century, most of the population of Caucasian Albania was Muslimized by the Caliphate.

Being in canonical unity with the Armenian Church, the Albanian Church opposed the Council of Chalcedon. Agvans were also present at the Vagharshapat (491) and Dvin (527) councils of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which simultaneously condemned the Council of Chalcedon, Nestorius and Eutychius and approved the Armenian confession. The Chalcedonites declared the Armenians and their allies, including the Agvans, to be Monophysites, the same regarded the Chalcedon Cathedral as a return to Nestorianism.

During the period of Arab rule, the Albanian Catholicos Nerses I Bakur (688-704) tried to convert to Chalcedonism, thus recognizing the spiritual authorities of Constantinople, but was deposed by the Grand Duke of Albania Shero and other feudal lords who remained devoted to the Albanian Church, and cursed at the local national - the church cathedral of 705.

And when these trials fell upon us, God sent us His help through you, the successor of St. Gregory, the Armenian Catholicos. We have been and will be disciples of your Orthodoxy - Vladyka, who managed to take revenge on the enemy of justice.

The Armenian Church, which enlisted the support of the Arab administration, which feared the strengthening of Byzantine influence in the region, actively contributed to the preservation of the unity of the Albanian Church. At the council, the restoration of canonical unity between the two churches was announced, and the Albanian Catholicosate again became an autonomous throne, recognizing the primacy of the Armenian Catholicos:

Concerning the ordination of the Catholicoi of Aluank, we also adopted the following canon: since recently our Catholicoi have been ordained [ordained] by our bishops, and since they have now shown inexperience and imprudence, as a result of which our country has fallen into heresy, then because of this we [ now] we pledge before God and before you, hayrapet, that ordination to the Catholicoses of Aluank should be done through the throne of St. Gregory, with our consent, as it has been since the time of St. Gregory, because from there we received our enlightenment. And we know for sure that the one you choose will be pleasing to both God and us. And let no one dare to violate this condition and undertake something else. And if, nevertheless, [someone does otherwise], it will be invalid and futile, and the ordination will be unacceptable. And so, all who, out of fear of God, adhere to these canons, may they be blessed by the Holy Trinity and all Orthodox servants of God. And if anyone opposes and departs from this truth, then let him answer to God, whoever he may be.

Despite the almost complete assimilation of Christian Albanians among Armenians, the Autonomous Albanian (Agvan) Catholicosate as part of the AAC (residence in Gandzasar, historically populated by Armenians Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)) existed until 1836, then it was transformed into a metropolis, directly subordinate to the AAC Catholicos. The Armenian language remained the liturgical language for the Udins (descendants of the Albanians) until the end of the 20th century.

The history of the Albanian legal system can be traced through early medieval written sources. During the IV-VIII centuries. The main sources of law were the normative documents of the Sasanian and Albanian rulers, customary and ecclesiastical law, as well as norms adopted from the legal systems of other states. The norms of Albanian law can be recreated based on materials from both church and state law, as well as some indirect information from chronicles and geographical materials.

The scope of customary law extended to civil and criminal cases. Some of its norms were reflected in the resolutions of the church-secular councils of this state.

This right established intra-clan rights and privileges, the order of inheritance and disposal of family property. So, in the Aguena canons of 488, legislators paid great attention to family and marriage relations. The canons were intended to settle disagreements between clergy and laity. They fixed, for example, the distribution of the tithe, which was levied in favor of the church, the imposition on the bishop of legal proceedings in civil and criminal cases, etc. The institution of vassalage and parochialism relied on this right. Other sources for the development of customary law in Albania, in addition to the decisions of courts and gatherings, could be orders and decrees of the Sasanian rulers and Albanian kings.

In Albania, an extensive judicial system was created to resolve disputes and disagreements. Based on the available written sources, primarily the Agueni Canons of the King of Albania Vachagan III, it is established that there are three hierarchical judicial instances in Albania - the supreme royal, episcopal and priestly (communal) court. The competence of these instances included the consideration of both religious and civil cases, which were regulated both on the basis of church law and state legislation.

The All-Albanian Court, headed by the king, with the participation of church and secular nobility, was the highest legislative and arbitration body. The decision on the death penalty belonged to the king, as the supreme judge. On the ground, the sentences were carried out by village foremen and parishioners. During the periods of interregnum, the supreme legislative and judicial power passed to the Persian marzbans and Albanian catholicoses. During this period, there was no complete separation of the functions of secular and spiritual power in the country, which was characteristic of all ancient societies.

Representatives of the spiritual hierarchy who committed misconduct were punished in accordance with the canons. The punishment could be deprivation of dignity or property, as well as exile. However, one of the canons provided for the possibility of appealing against the decision of a lower authority (priest, deacon) before the bishop.

The study of archaeological material contributes to the restoration of the picture of the development of the art of Caucasian Albania. The heyday of Albanian culture is considered from the II-I centuries. BC e. and up to the III century. n. e, the period of the formation of the Albanian state. If the artistic essence and character of the art of Caucasian Albania of an earlier period (4th century BC - 1st century AD) was determined by the most ancient religious beliefs, then starting from the first centuries of the new era, they gradually weakened, gave way to progressive ideas related to the origin and development of feudalism. The economic development and geographical position of Albania determined the specific character of the development of its culture.

The first period is characterized by the production of such types of jewelry as pendants, plaques, buttons, earrings, tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, etc. The second period is more developed both in terms of the richness of artistic and plastic forms and the use of various technological methods. For example, on the left bank of the Kura, in Sudagylan (near Mingachevir), in 1949-1950. 22 burials were discovered in log cabins. The report also lists jewelry made of gold and silver, gold beads, rings with seal inserts.

An antique silver dish of the 2nd century BC is considered a unique monument of art. n. e., found at the end of 1893 near the village of Yenikend, Lagich section of the Geokchay district of the Baku province (now in the Geokchay district), with a relief image of a Nereid floating in the sea on a hippocampus, surrounded by tritons and erotes (Hermitage). The discovery was made by chance while digging the earth in a mountainous area.

The state of archaeological work on the territory of Albania at the present time does not yet make it possible to speak about the architectural monuments of the pre-Christian pagan period of its cultural history. This is explained not only by the insufficiency of the excavations carried out, but also by the fact that when Christianity was planted, new churches were usually erected on the foundations of old sanctuaries, therefore, to recognize where the ancient temple ends and where the Christian building begins is sometimes a very difficult and difficult task, such as on the territory of Sudagylan near Mingachevir.

In any case, in the scientific archaeological literature, we are currently talking about only three Christian churches of the 6th-7th centuries. on the territory of Albania: about a church in Sudagylan near Mingachevir and about two churches in the Kakh region of western Azerbaijan - about a basilica in the mountain village of Kum and a round church near the villages. Lakit. After the last two at the end of the XIX century. was mentioned by S. A. Khakhanov), they were again revealed for science in 1937-1938. D. M. Sharifov.

Murtazali Hajiyev notes that in Albania, the Aramaic script and language, and later the Pahlavi language, were used for administrative and diplomatic documents until the 5th century.

The only known language of Albania is Aghvan, otherwise "Gargarean", the letter for which, according to Movses Kaghankatvatsi, was created. Armenian is spoken in Armenia, and Arran in Arran; when they speak Persian, they can be understood, and their Persian language is somewhat reminiscent of Khurasan. Georgia. The transcript of the palimpsest was published in 2009 as a separate book in two volumes, with a historical essay, a brief description of grammar and vocabulary. The final opinion about the dating and origin of the text in this edition is more restrained: thus, considering the arguments in favor of one or another dating, the authors argue that both discovered Caucasian-Albanian texts "". As for the source for the translation, the texts have coincidences with both the Armenian and Georgian, as well as with the Greek and Syriac versions of biblical translations.

Little is known about the once existing and completely lost literature of Albania. In comparison with Armenia and Georgia, where local original and translated literature of various genres is created almost immediately, this does not happen in Albania. Religious and some other books were translated into Albanian, but Albanian literature did not last long] .

As Redgate suggests, a native Albanian literature was probably never created, and Albania was dominated by the Armenian language and culture [ ] .

The first and earliest report of the existence of Albanian translated Christian literature is attested by the Armenian historian Koryun. According to him:

Blessed Bishop Jeremiah immediately set about translating the divine books, with the help of which the (barbarian), idle wandering and wild customs people of the country of Albania soon recognized the prophets, apostles, inherited the Gospels, were aware of all divine traditions. According to the German linguist and Caucasian scholar Jost Gippert, the existence of a complete translation of the Bible into Albanian has not been proven. According to Murtazali Gadzhiev, a specialist in archeology and culture of Caucasian Albania, according to written sources, religious and educational literature was created in the Albanian language and Albanian script. Further, new written monuments appeared in the Albanian language, which were also translated into other languages. Thus, several Armenian manuscripts are stored in the Matenadaran under the title “On the history of the holy and divine oil, which was written by the fathers of the East in Albanian script and translated into Armenian”.

It is authentically known, based on the message of the Armenian historian of the 8th century Levond, that the translation of the New Testament was made into Albanian, but it was lost in the early Middle Ages. Among the languages ​​he listed in which the Gospel exists, Albanian is named twelfth.

A number of researchers do not rule out that the canons of Vachagan the Pious, which were later included in the collection of Armenian canons compiled in the 8th century, were originally written in Albanian and now preserved in Armenian. They are distinguished by their semi-secular nature, which is due to their creation not only by the church circles of Albania, but also by the Albanian tsarist authorities. Albanian canons, these and later, of the Partav Cathedral, were introduced into the Kanonagirk hayots.

After the Church of Caucasian Albania lost its independence at the beginning of the 8th century, worship switched to Armenian, and the use of religious books in a different language began to be suppressed. The rewriting of books in Albanian ceased, and the script ceased to be used. Manuscripts of the 5th-7th centuries were embroidered or destroyed, the text from their pages was washed off for reuse in other languages.

Based on the ancient Greek text of the astronomer of the Alexandrian school Andreas Byzantine, Ashot Abrahamyan notes that since 352 the Caucasian Albanians used the fixed calendar of the Alexandrian school. Judging by the information from the surviving calendar works of Armenian authors Anania Shirakatsi (VII century), Hovhannes Imastaser (XII century) and others, the Albanian calendar was the calendar of the Egyptian system.

The names of the twelve Albanian months were first published in 1832 by Academician Marie Brosset on the basis of an Armenian manuscript found in the archives of the Royal Library in Paris. This text was published in 1859 by the French scientist Edouard Dulyurier, and subsequently republished in 1871 by Professor Kerope Patkanov, who corrected some of the mistakes of previous authors.

In 1946, Eduard Aghayan, having analyzed the peculiar names in two manuscripts of Anania Shirakatsi, tried to find out the names of the Albanian months. Comparing them with the vocabulary of the Udi language, Aghayan considered six of them to be Albanian. And although in the book “Deciphering the inscriptions of the Caucasian Agvans” by Ashot Abrahamyan, published in 1964, the issue of the Albanian calendar was raised and it was noted that information about it was preserved in some manuscripts of the Matenadaran. Abrahamyan in 1967 stated that the Albanian calendar had not been subjected to special and serious research before him.

The German linguist and Caucasian scholar Jost Gippert compared and analyzed the name of each Albanian month from twelve different manuscripts. According to the researcher, the names can have the following interpretation:

The presence of similar features in all three Caucasian alphabets would suggest that they reflect the same reference system, however, there is no evidence that their calendars were synchronous during the creation of writing. In particular, there is no evidence that the “scattered year” used by the Armenians was used by their neighbors. In the 6th-7th centuries, the beginning of the Armenian year moved from mid-July to the first days of June, the beginning of the Georgian year fell on August, for the Albanian year there is no such information in the sources. However, there is a comparative table developed by Hovhannes Imastasera in accordance with the Julian months and containing the dates of the main Christian festivities. From this table it becomes clear that the Georgian and Albanian calendar years were parallel to the Egyptian one, with its first month starting on August 29th. Certain matches in this table indicate that this information is credible. Thus, the Albanian and Georgian calendars were not synchronous with the Armenian in the historical period, however, this does not mean that they could not use a common time measurement system earlier. If we assume that the beginning of the "Great Armenian Era" falls on the year 552, then we get the year 350, when the first "Navasardon" falls on August 29. During this period, the Georgians and Albanians changed their "wandering" calendar to the Egyptian one. This hoard also included three imitations of the Seleucid tetradrachms with an attempt to convey the Greek inscription (Apollo is depicted on one). After examining the obverse and reverse sides of these coins, S. Dadasheva came to the conclusion that the tetradrachms of Antiochus IV served as a model for them.

The appearance on the territory of Albania of Parthian coins led to the displacement of local imitations by the Parthian drachma. This phenomenon was also due to the fact that Parthian coins, starting from 140 BC. e., contained less and less silver.

According to a number of experts, modern Azerbaijani historiography, which is directly ordered by the Azerbaijani government, has been (approximately since the mid-1950s) falsifying the history of the Albanians, motivated by nationalist considerations. In particular, the history of the Albanian state is unlawfully made old, its strength and significance are exaggerated; A number of Armenian writers are unreasonably declared "Albanians"; they are also credited with all the Armenian monuments on the territory of Azerbaijan; Albania, contrary to the clear evidence of historical sources, is “transferred” to the territories belonging to Armenia between the Kura and the Araks, including Nagorno-Karabakh; Albanians are attributed partly, and sometimes even completely, Turkic origin. Direct juggling and falsification of sources are used to substantiate these ideas.

Attempts to falsify are also being made by Lezgin figures. Professor of Physics and Mathematics A. Abdurragimov published two books - "Caucasian Albania - Lezgistan: History and Modernity" and "Lezgins and Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: History, Myths and Stories", in which the author holds the idea of ​​a "direct genetic connection" between Lezgins and such ancient peoples like the Sumerians, Hurrians, Urartians and Albanians. Abdurragimov's work paved the way for the appearance of a fake "Albanian book". Back in the early 1990s. there was a message about the "discovery" of "a page from an unknown Albanian book", the deciphering of which, as reported, was carried out by professor of chemistry Ya. A. Yaraliev. However, it soon became clear that the text was written in the modern Lezgin language and historical events are greatly distorted in it. The forgery made it possible for various Lezgin public and political figures to assert that the Lezgins are the direct descendants of the Albanians, that “the basis of the Albanian script and the state language is the Lezgin language”, in which the Albanian language has been preserved. It is noted that the "Albanian book" has become a kind of catalyst and basis in the formation of modern Lezgi ethnocentric mythology.

According to V. A. Shnirelman, in order to substantiate the territorial disputes with Azerbaijan, Armenian scientists created their own myth about Caucasian Albania. A number of Armenian researchers deny the presence of any Albanian groups in the right bank in the early Middle Ages and argued that this territory was part of the Armenian kingdom since the 6th century. BC e. Consequently, the Armenians have lived there since ancient times, and the ethnic border that ran along the river. Kure, developed long before the emergence of the Albanian kingdom. Some Armenian historians (in particular, Bagrat Ulubabyan) declare Uti Armenians, believing that they were almost originally Armenians. Shnirelman notes that revisionist concepts in Armenia were populist in nature, primarily directed against leading Armenian historians and published in literary and popular science journals. The writings of leading Armenian historians in academic journals regularly criticized revisionist theories.

Stretched out from the eternal snows and ices of the Main Caucasian Range crowned with caps and descending below the level of the World Ocean, the territory of the North-Eastern Caucasus was a region not only of an exceptional diversity of relief, but also of complex ethno-political processes that took place here during the 1st millennium BC. e. - 1st millennium AD e. If all previous eras of settlement in Dagestan and the level of development of the culture of local tribes were recreated mainly on the basis of archaeological sources, then the complex nature of the ethno-political processes that took place here in the 1st millennium BC. e. for the first time is reflected in written sources. In ancient times, in Latin and Greek sources, the names of the ancient and largest tribes that inhabited the territory of the North-Eastern Caucasus are found for the first time. New sources not only supplemented archaeological materials, but also significantly expanded the possibilities of researchers in solving complex issues of the socio-economic development of local peoples. According to Greek-Latin written sources, Primorsky Dagestan was not only the main route of nomads (Scythians, Sarmatians) in their campaigns to the south, to the countries of Transcaucasia and the Near East, but also the territory where political formations of local and nomadic peoples arose and disintegrated. The motley composition of the tribes of the North-Eastern Caucasus in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. was reflected on the map of the Greek historian Herodotus, as well as in the information of other ancient geographers. In particular, Strabo has here 26 tribes and peoples of different languages, each of which had its own king. Strabo's information testifies not only to the disintegration of the ethno-linguistic and cultural unity of local peoples that had developed here back in the Bronze Age, but also to the emergence of new tribal associations in the territory of the Eastern Caucasus, formed according to the ethnic principle. The ethnic diversity of the new associations is also reflected in the names of local tribes, which then became part of the state formation, under the name Caucasian Albania (Strabon, 1983). Among these tribes, ancient and then medieval sources name the Caspians, Albapov, Legs, Hells, Uti, Gargarei, Silvs, Andaks, Didurs, etc. This list of names of some of the 26 tribes of the North-Eastern Caucasus in the 1st millennium BC BC e., obviously, included the names of the largest tribes, which attracted the attention of ancient historians and geographers.
Researchers quite unanimously compare the listed tribes with the living and disappeared peoples of the North-Eastern Caucasus. The tribes of the Caspians, according to researchers, inhabited the vast southwestern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea and, judging by the information of ancient sources, headed here a union of tribes. From them comes the name of the Caspian Sea. However, after the penetration of nomadic peoples into the Caspian Sea in the 1st millennium AD. e. the tribes of the Caspians, obviously, left the territory of the seaside, and the rest mixed with the newcomers and lost their leading role in the region. In Transcaucasian sources, all the peoples of Dagestan are called Legs. Along with the Legs, there is also the name Lezgi, which is identified with the peoples of the Lezgi group, who still live in the territory of Southern Dagestan and Northern Azerbaijan. The ancient tribes of the Gells are localized by some researchers in the Sulak valley, where their main city was located under the name of Gelda, comparable with the current village. Gelbach. The remnants of the Uti (Udin) tribes are still known in certain regions of Southern Dagestan and Northern Azerbaijan. Most researchers compare the tribes of Gargarei with the peoples of the former Checheno-Ingushetia. Some researchers consider the mountainous regions of Dagestan to be the habitat of the Silva tribes. Perhaps they mixed with other local tribes and therefore information about them is found only in early ancient sources. The Andak and Didur tribes are identified with the Andi and Didoi, who lived in the mountainous regions of Dagestan. And finally, the Albanian tribes, whose name comes from the Latin Albi (“mountains (highlanders)”), are of particular interest. Sources also connect with the Albanians the emergence of the most ancient state in the Caucasus called Albania.

One of the first to pay attention to the term Alban (Galbi) was the scientist N. S. Trubetskoy. He notes that "among the names, names that the neighboring peoples called the Avars, there is a short Albi, comparable with the Caucasian Albanian of Greek origin." A similar opinion is shared by the researcher I. Bechert. Academician N. Ya. Marr directly notes that the main Albanian tribe is the Dagestan people of the Avars. There are no objective objections to such statements in science. Therefore, it is quite natural that the Albanians (highlanders) acted as the leading force in the Eastern Caucasus, they managed not only to unite numerous tribes, but also to create an ancient political association here. The important role of the Albanians in the events in the Caucasus and the Near East can also be evidenced by the fact of the participation of Albanian soldiers in one of the largest battles of the 4th century. BC e. between Greece and Persia. We find information about the military activities of the Albanians from the Greek historian Arrian, who reports that in the battle of Alexander the Great with Darius III at Gaugamela, “Kadusi and Albans and Sakasenes were connected with the Medes.” At the same time, he notes that "Albans and Sakasen, these adjoined the middle of the entire phalanx of the troops of Darius III."
The participation of Albanians (highlanders) in the Greek-Persian wars testifies not only to political experience, but also to the entry of these tribes into the arena of world history. Remarkable is not only the very fact of the participation of Albanian soldiers in one of the largest battles of the 4th century BC. BC e., but also the important role assigned to them by Darius III, who placed them in the middle of the phalanx of the battle order of the troops. The well-known researcher K. V. Trever notes on this occasion that they, in all likelihood, were better equipped than others and were distinguished, perhaps, by high military qualities (Trever K. V., 1959). Of interest is Strabo's information that before the unification of the Albanians into a single state, 26 tribes of different languages ​​lived here, each of which had its own king. All these tribes then united under the rule of the Albanian king, who was also a military leader. In necessary cases, the king's brother could also lead the troops. In his "Geography" Strabo also indicates that the Albanians put up more troops than the Iberians: they arm sixty thousand infantry and twenty-two thousand horsemen. Regarding the weapons of the Albanians, Strabo writes that they are armed with darts and bows, have shells, large shields and helmets made of animal skin, fight on foot and on horseback, and their weapons are similar to those of the Armenians and Iberians.
If the very fact of the formation of the Albanian state in the Caucasus is not in doubt, then the opinions of researchers on the problem of territory and the time of its origin are very contradictory. This is especially true of the issue of the northern border of the country and the possibility of the inclusion of the territory of the settlement of Dagestanis into Albania. A number of researchers believe that the main region of the formation of Caucasian Albania is the territory of Azerbaijan. Based on this assumption, some believe that the northern borders of Albania passed along the river. Samur, others push them back to Derbent and, finally, others - to the river. Sulak (Trever K. V., 1959; Khalilov D. A., 1985). And as a result, Dagestan turns out to be completely or partially outside the borders of Caucasian Albania. The subjectivity of such judgments is quite eloquently evidenced not only by archaeological, but also by written sources. In this regard, Strabo's already noted information that before the unification of Albania into a single state, 26 tribes and peoples of different languages ​​lived here is of interest. Such ethnic diversity, as well as the mention among them of such tribes as Albanians, Legs, Gels, Udins, Didurs, Andaks, Gargarei, paint a picture very close to the modern ethnography of Dagestan, where the descendants of these peoples still live. And if the main tribes, which, according to sources, lived within Albania, are the original peoples of Dagestan, then it is, accordingly, not the outskirts, but the cradle of this state. In this regard, the studies of S. V. Yushkov, who specifically dealt with the issue of the borders of Ancient Albania, are also noteworthy. On the basis of written sources, which list the internal rivers of Caucasian Albania (Soana, Kae, Albana), he quite convincingly compares them with the main rivers of Dagestan (Terek, Sulak and Samur).
Thus, not only the tribes listed in the sources, but also the rivers of Caucasian Albania are territorially connected with Dagestan (Yushkov S.V., 1937). Such conclusions are consistent with the data of ancient authors, who note that Albania occupied a significant territory between the Caspian Sea, Alazan and Kura. Ancient geographers call the northern neighbors of the Albanians the Sarmatians, who inhabited the North Caucasian plains (Pliny, 1949).

Ancient authors divide Albanians into inhabitants of mountains and plains. The entire territory of Shirvan up to the Alazan River was also an integral part of Caucasian Albania, which is confirmed not only in archaeological, but also in toponymic materials. The descendants of the Albanians are the Avars, who now live in the territory of Jaro-Belokan and Kvarelia (in the Avar language, “narrow gorge”).
Strabo also draws the border between the Albanians and the Sarmatians through the Keravisky mountains (the northeastern spurs of the Caucasus). This conclusion is not contradicted by other evidence of Greek historians (Plutarch, Pliny, Tacitus), indicating that part of the Albanians inhabited the river valley, while others lived in the mountains. Referring to the mountainous part of Albania, Strabo notes that the mountainous part is occupied by the militant majority of the highlanders, who, in the event of any alarm, recruit many tens of thousands of soldiers (Strabo, 1947). If we take into account that Strabo used the information of the satellites of Lucullus and Pompey during their campaigns in Albania (66-65 years; BC), then the mountainous part that is adjacent to the Sarmatians could be mainly the territory of Dagestan and Chechen-Ingushetia. And the militant majority of the highlanders, probably, formed the basis of the Albanian army, which, perhaps, forced Pompey to refuse to advance into the depths of the Caucasus. The Albanian state was able to organize resistance to the elite legions under the command of Gnaeus Pompey and to oppose the regular troops of Rome, which was possible only if there was a strong centralized authority in place. It is no coincidence that Strabo notes: “Their kings are also wonderful. Now they have one king governs the tribes, while before each multilingual tribe was ruled by its own king.
It is also noteworthy that the ancient authors, describing the Albanians, note their high stature, blond hair and gray eyes (the Caucasian type, widely represented in the mountainous regions of Dagestan, Georgia and Azerbaijan). Later, another type penetrated into the Eastern Caucasus - the Caspian, which differed significantly from the Caucasian. Interesting data about the Albanian language is reported by Moses Khorensky, who notes that the language of one of the significant Albanian tribes - the Gargarians - is “rich in throat sounds”. It has already been noted that the Gargareans are usually referred to the group of related tribes of the Vainakh-Dagestan circle. On the basis of the language of one of the descendants of the Albanian tribes - modern Udins - it became possible to read Albanian inscriptions on clay tablets found during excavations in the Mingachevir area. Remains of Albanian writing on stone slabs were also found in Levashinsky, Botlikh and other regions of Dagestan, which were the original territory of the former Caucasian Albania.
The data of the Dagestan languages ​​also etymologize the names of the Albanian kings, attested in ancient sources (Vachagan, Vache). The name of the Albanian king Oroiz is found in the ancient Avar legend about Iraz Khan. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Academician N. Ya. Marr repeatedly emphasized that the main Albanian tribe is the Dagestan people of the Avars. Thus, the data of written sources, which are also confirmed in extensive archaeological materials, leave no doubt that Dagestan was not only part of Caucasian Albania, but was also its cradle. Albans (highlanders) lived not only in the foothills and mountainous regions of Dagestan, but also from ancient times occupied the vast expanses of Transcaucasia. From ancient times, not only ancient sources, but also a number of researchers (D. Bakradze, I.P. Petrushevsky, and others) speak about the entry of the Zakatalsky district into the composition of Caucasian Albania. In general, formed in the vastness of the Eastern Caucasus and Transcaucasia and stretching from the Araks in the south to the Terek, and according to some sources, to the Darial in the north, Caucasian Albania was a vast and highly developed state formation for its time.

Against this background, G. Abduragimov's recent monograph titled "Caucasian Albania - Lezgistan", in which the author made clumsy attempts to connect the emergence of the Albanian state with the Lezgin tribes of Southern Dagestan, is bewildering. Such unsubstantiated statements of the author, who has nothing to do with history and is obsessed with nationalism, do not stand up to elementary criticism and have received a worthy rebuke from experts.
The question of the time of the emergence of the Albanian state, on which there are also a variety of opinions, remains difficult. Most researchers consider the end of the 1st millennium BC to be the time of the formation of Albania. e. - the first centuries and e. (Trever K. V., 1959). However, written sources make it possible to concretize the chronological framework of its formation. It has already been pointed out that for the first time Albanian warriors are mentioned by a historian who accompanied Alexander the Great and a participant in the Battle of Gaugamel in the 4th century BC. BC e. Arrian. The participation of Albanian soldiers in such a battle was possible if there was a centralized state power in Albania, which obviously had close ties with the power of Darius III. Scattered local tribal leaders could hardly send their limited military squads to the aid of Darius III. Therefore, the formation of the Albanian state could occur during the campaigns of Alexander the Great. In this regard, it is interesting to note the message of the ancient author Solin about sending the Albanian king as a gift to Alexander the Great, who reigned on the throne, a special breed of dog (wolfhound). Such reports leave no doubt that the emergence of the Albanian state already in the 4th century. BC e. was a fait accompli.

One of the most important in the history of Albania is the issue of the emergence and development of its cities, information about which is also contained in Latin written sources. Judging by these sources, settlements located along the Caspian route and in places most favorable for the development of handicrafts and trade are gradually turning into cities. Ptolemy mentions 29 cities and large settlements in Albania. Among them, four large cities are highlighted: Teleba - at the mouth of the Herr River; Gelda - at the mouth of the Kesia River; Albana - at the mouth of the Albana River; Getera - at the mouth of the Kir River. The remains of these cities, with the exception of Getera, have been preserved on the territory of Dagestan. They were the most significant cultural and economic centers of Caucasian Albania. With sufficient certainty, they can be identified with the remains of ancient cities discovered and explored by archaeologists in the Caspian region. The remains of the vast Nekrasov settlement, preserved at the mouth of the Terek, in which the cultural layers of the Albanian time are clearly preserved, can be compared with the city of Teleba, which, according to sources, was located at the mouth of the river. Herr, comparable with the Terek. The city of Gelda at the mouth of the Kasia is identified with the Verkhnechiryurt settlement located on the banks of the Sulak, which was called the river Kae (Kesia) in the Albanian era.

The old-timers of the Upper Chiryurt still call their village Gelbakh (Geldakh). Dagestan researchers, not without reason, compare this region with the territory of the settlement of the ancient Albanian tribes of the Hells. The location of the city of Alba-na - the first capital of Caucasian Albania - has not yet been established. The city of Getera, located at the mouth of the Kir (Kura) River, is being explored by Azerbaijani archaeologists. Its remnants are known as Kabala. The most complete picture of the nature of the cities of the era of Caucasian Albania allows you to get the famous Urtsek settlement, the remains of which were discovered and explored in the foothill valley, not far from the city of Izberbash. Excavations revealed a rather complex structure of the city that arose here in the era of Caucasian Albania. The remains of it consisted of a carefully fortified citadel, where the privileged part of the townspeople lived. Below the citadel stretched the remains of residential and utility buildings of the city itself, also fortified by a powerful system of defensive structures. And, finally, a vast agricultural district stretched around its fortress walls, protected by difficult-to-pass branches of the coastal ridges and a whole system of “long” walls from the coastal side. The inhabitants of the city, judging by the archaeological materials, were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, as well as various crafts - metalworking, pottery, weaving, etc. Craft quarters were located within the city.
In the Albanian era, such cities as Derbent, Eski-Yurt, Targu, Tarkinskoe, Andreyaulskoe and other settlements appeared. They also gravitated towards the foothill valleys and were fortified by defensive structures surrounding the core of the settlements, usually small in size (10-20 hectares). They were surrounded by small settlements, as well as arable and pasture plots, which were the economic basis for managing these cities. The explored cities, in which the cultural remains of the Albanian period have been preserved, are a strong confirmation of the reliability of Ptolemy's information about the cities of Caucasian Albania. And it is no coincidence that they all stretch along the river valleys of the foothills of Dagestan. In the group arrangement of small settlements and fortresses around a large urban center within closed river valleys, gorges or mountain plateaus, a type of settlement characteristic of subsequent eras also emerges. Such a topography of the studied sites corresponds to the mutual arrangement of large cities and settlements in Caucasian Albania described by Ptolemy, localized by him along the valleys of large rivers. They obviously corresponded to certain territorial-political formations that united as part of Caucasian Albania. Pliny the Elder reports that at the turn of our era, the main city of Albania was the city of Kabala, the remains of which have been preserved on the territory of Azerbaijan. The strengthening of the role of cities south of the historical center of Albania is quite natural. The change in the general situation in the country, which led to the displacement of the ancient centers of the country to the south, is associated with the penetration of northern nomads into the Caspian region. Invasions of nomadic hordes into the northern regions of Albania at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. e. not only complicated the socio-economic situation in the country, but also contributed to the movement of the population of Albania from the Caspian Sea to the mountainous regions, as well as to the south of the country, where old cities continued to exist and new cities were formed, such as Shemakha (at Ptolemy Kemakhia), Berda , Shabran, etc. These monuments, studied by Azerbaijani archaeologists, revealed the remains of residential and monumental structures of the ancient era, which testify to the high level of culture in the southern regions of Albania.
The emergence of cities in Caucasian Albania is the result of a high level of economic development and the separation of handicrafts from other types of production. As B. D. Grekov notes, “no tribal system knows cities in the exact meaning of the terms.” The appearance of the city means the destruction of the tribal system. Due to the high level of development of productive forces, which entailed the separation of handicrafts from other types of production, in Caucasian Albania there are conditions not only directly for exchange, but also for the development of commodity production, and with it, trade not only within the country, but also on its borders. The city is always the result of the social division of labor and is a settlement of a handicraft and trade character. Depending on the natural and geographical conditions, the population of Albania was engaged in various types of production. In the lowland zone, thanks to artificial irrigation, the basis of the economy was agriculture. Cattle breeding predominated in the mountainous part. A certain place in the economy of the population was occupied by viticulture and winemaking, horticulture and fishing. Strabo notes the exceptional fertility of Albania, "... where often the land, sown once, bears fruit twice or even thrice ..., moreover, on those that were fallow and being plowed not with iron, but with rough wooden plows." He also notes the presence of excellent pastures and the tendency of the Albanians to cattle breeding. In the cities of Albania and in its large settlements, judging by the archaeological excavations, such types of crafts as metallurgy and metalworking, jewelry, pottery, glassmaking, processing of bone, stone, wood, leather, and weaving were developed.
Albanian blacksmiths made a variety of grud tools (ploughshares, coulters, knives, sickles), weapons (swords, daggers, spear and arrowheads), etc. The high skill of the potters is evidenced by various ceramics from the studied monuments of Albania. The large buildings of Kabala, Shamakhi and other cities already had tile coverings. Tiles were also found at the Andreyaul settlement in the layers of the Albanian era. The remains of pottery kilns found in Mingachevir, Kabala, Hujbala and Andrejaul testify to the wide scale of pottery production in Albania. The ancient Albanians also mastered the art of making glass products and gradually established this production. This is evidenced by the finds of glass goblets, bracelets, beads and other items at the studied sites. Albanian jewelers knew almost all the techniques used in this production (casting, chasing, stamping, embossing and various other techniques of jewelry art). One of the main crafts was weaving, based on cattle breeding. According to the ancient historian Elian, in the herds of the Caspians there were "very white, hornless, small and blunt-nosed goats, camels, whose wool was very soft, so that it was not inferior to Milesian wool in softness." It was valued, as Elian notes, very highly, since only priests wear clothes woven from it, as well as from among the Caspians - the richest and noblest. In Albania, obviously, there were royal workshops, where everything that was required for the court was made, and coins were minted. The main indicator of the development of trade in the country are coins depicting the kings of Albania. Coins occupy a prominent place among the studied archaeological materials. The minting of coins and the active money trade in Albania testify that there already existed a category of persons specially engaged in both domestic and foreign trade. Judging by the foreign coins found in the country, Albania had trade relations with the Hellenistic world, the Bosporus, the North Caucasus and other regions. The nature of the spiritual culture of the Albanian population is reflected in the remains of works of fine art (ornamented ceramics, anthropomorphic figurative vessels), in statues (of bulls and ancestors), and sculptural metal products (figures of people, animals, birds). The art of Albania satisfied the spiritual needs of its population. Religious centers (temples) of various pagan deities appear in the country. Before the adoption of Christianity in the IV century. n. e. stone statues, which personified the cult of ancestors, were one of the main objects of religious veneration. According to Strabo, in Albania they revered Helium (the sun), Zeus (the sky), especially Selene (the moon). For them, accordingly, temples were built, in which human sacrifices were also practiced. The remains of one of these pagan temples were investigated at the Tarka burial ground on the outskirts of the city of Makhachkala. Here, within the limits of the ancient burial ground, the remains of a religious building (pit) with traces of sacrifices were found. In the remains of a sacrificial fire among burnt human bones, original decorations were also found here. The most notable among them is a chest quadrangular gold plate covered with floral ornaments. Next to it lay a golden headband adorned with stamped rosettes, a golden bone plate covered with Christmas ornaments, a rolled up small gold plate, and more than 200 glass paste beads, some with traces of gilding. There were also five ceramic vessels of original shapes. Judging by these finds, a girl richly dressed with gold jewelry was sacrificed to the pagan gods near a pagan temple on the outskirts of Makhachkala in the Albanian era. Such finds leave no doubt that in the Albanian era there already existed a large city in the Makhachkala region, which was one of the cultural centers of the country. The feudal relations that developed in the country contributed to the penetration into the country of a new religion that replaced various pagan cults. CIV century. n. e. in Albania, according to ancient sources, Christianity is spreading, which is most clearly evidenced by the remains of Christian churches in Derbent, as well as in mountainous regions.

Thus, Caucasian Albania was one of the most developed state formations of the North-Eastern Caucasus and Transcaucasia for its time. This is evidenced by the presence of numerous cities in the country, the development of crafts, money circulation, the minting of our own coins, the spread of writing and other elements characteristic of a highly developed class society. However, at the turn of the new era, the northern nomadic tribes made their own significant adjustments to the rapid development of the productive forces of Caucasian Albania. They, gradually penetrating into Primorsky Dagestan, not only pushed the border of the country from north to south, up to Derbent, but also created a completely new ethno-political situation here. The beginning of the collapse of Caucasian Albania was due not only to foreign policy factors, but also to internal socio-economic reasons associated with the desire of local rulers for political independence.

CAUCASUS ALBANIA - ANCIENT STATE

ON THE TERRITORY OF THE CAUCASUS AND RUSSIA

CAUCASIAN ALBANIA, THE MOST ANCIENT STATE ON THE TERRITORY OF THE CAUCASUS AND RUSSIA

© 2014 Gasanov M. R.

Dagestan State Pedagogical University

Dagestan State Pedagogical University

Summary. The article is devoted to one of the topical problems of the history of the Caucasus. It highlights the issues of the emergence of Caucasian Albania, the settlement of tribes, the socio-economic, political development of the country. The article reveals the struggle of Albanians against foreign conquerors. When writing the article, ancient and medieval sources, archaeological materials, as well as literature were used.

abstract. The article deals with the actual problem in the history of the Caucasus. It highlights the issues of occurrence of Caucasian Albania, resettlement tribes, socio-economic, political development of the country. The article considers the struggle of the Albanians against foreign invaders. The article used the ancient and medieval sources, archaeological materials and literature.

Rezjume. Stat "ja posvjashhena odnoj iz aktual" nyh problem istorii Kavkaza. V nej osveshhajutsja voprosy voz-niknovenija Kavkazskoj Albanii, rasselenija plemen, social "no-jekonomicheskogo, politicheskogo razvitija strany. V stat"e raskryta bor"ba albancev protiv inozemnyh zavoevatelej. Prinapisanii stat"i ispol"zovany antichnye-ve s , archeological materialy, a takzhe literatura.

Key words: Caucasian Albania, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, Albans, Gels, Legs, Gargarei, Udins, Tavaspars, Rome, Tigranes.

Keywords: Caucasian Albania, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, Albanians, Gels, Legs, Gargarians, Udi, Tavaspars, Rome, Tigran.

Kljuchevye slova: Kavkazskaja Albanija, Strabon, Plinij, Ptolomej, albany, gely, legi, gargarei, udiny, tavas-pary, Rim, Tigran.

The Albanian state, which occupied part of the territory of Dagestan and Azerbaijan, played a big role in the history of the peoples of the Caucasus. Various authors of the 18th-20th centuries addressed this topic. The greatest interest in the history of this state was shown by historians of the XX - early. 19th century

One of the disputable issues is the issue of the borders of Albania, which, depending on the internal situation and the international situation in the Caucasus, changed.

In substantiating the issue of the indisputability of the entry of Dagestan into Albania, Strabo's message about 26 different tribes of Albania is of considerable interest - these are Albanians, Legs, Gels, Gargars, Caspians, Andaks, Sodas, Tavaspars, Udins, etc. . Ethnic variegation, multilingualism in the ancient era is evidenced by scientists on the territory of Dagestan.

During the period of strengthening, it included the territory of Dagestan up to the Sulak River. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that the largest number of Albanian tribes occupied the territory of Dagestan.

Archaeological research has shown the striking unity of archaeological cultures on the territory of Dagestan and Northern Azerbaijan in the era of the Albanian state.

The material culture of the peoples of Dagestan from the III century. BC e., as archaeological materials indicate, it is basically local, Albanian, because its formation took place as part of Caucasian Albania.

The main occupation of the population of Albania was agriculture and gardening. According to ancient authors, the natural conditions of the Albanian state were favorable for the successful development of agriculture.

On the territory of Dagestan, during excavations, many agricultural tools were found, indicating the development of agricultural crops. Strabo notes that all sorts of plants grew in Albania; there are even evergreens.

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The Albanian population was also engaged in cattle breeding. Strabo writes: "In the same way, their animals, both domestic and wild, have a good growth." In Dagestan, a variety of breeds of livestock were bred: sheep and goats, bulls, horses, pigs and donkeys. Great attention was also paid to horse breeding.

The level of development of trades and crafts in Albania is evidenced by the reports of ancient authors about military equipment that was excellent for this era, as well as archaeological materials.

The development of agricultural and cattle breeding, trade and handicraft production, the strengthening of internal and external exchange - all this created the conditions for the emergence of cities - centers of trade in Albania.

A detailed description of the cities and significant settlements of Albania is given by Ptolemy, who lists them up to 29. The number mentioned by Ptolemy far exceeds the number of settlements in neighboring states. A number of cities on his map are localized on the coastal plain of Dagestan, at the mouths of rivers. The large political and trade and economic center of the Albanian state was the city of Albana, which, apparently, was not accidentally named after the country.

Archaeological excavations on the territory of Toprakh-Kala, where Albana was located, showed that this was a large city of the ancient era.

In the III-II centuries. BC e. The Urtsek settlement grows into a city, the layout of which reflected the class structure of society.

The fortified citadel occupied hills; residential, economic and public buildings were erected along its slopes. “The settlement of Urtseki,” write J. A. Khalilov, I. A. Babaev, “is identified with the early medieval city mentioned by Moses Kagankatvatsi, the capital of the Hun kingdom in Dagestan - Varachan. There is no doubt that before that the city was one of the largest cities in Albania. The development of agricultural and cattle breeding, as well as trade, contributed to the deepening of property and social differentiation, the allocation of "kings". About the social structure of Albania at the first stage of its existence, Strabo wrote: "Before, every people with a special dialect had its own king."

In the III-II centuries. BC e. Albania is already acting as a state with a strong central authority. This is also reflected in religion. Historical, ethnographic materials give a whole pantheon of gods, headed by the gods of the central government of the country.

On the socio-economic development of Albania in the IV-III centuries. BC e. such a factor as its connections with the most ancient slave-owning states of the East and Transcaucasia - Urartu, Iberia (Kartli), etc. could not help but influence. It is known that Urartu had a huge impact not only on Transcaucasia, but also on the North Caucasus.

Regarding the social system of Albania, it should be noted that various social groups were presented to the king. The person closest to the king of Albania was the priest, about whom Strabo reports the following: “The priest is the most respected person after the king, the person who is at the head of the administration of the sacred land, vast and well populated, and also at the head of the servants of the temple, of whom many are inspired and prophesy ".

The term priest, by which Strabo refers to the ruling class in Albania, was a widespread social term in the Hellenistic East. Therefore, Strabo, himself being a Malaysian by origin, imagined the Albanian priests to be more similar in social status to the priests of the eastern countries.

The priesthood in Caucasian Albania, as well as in the slave-owning states of the Ancient East, played a significant role in the economic and political life of the country.

The "kings" of 26 peoples, whom Strabo wrote about, also belonged to the ruling class. Later, the ancient Armenian authors Yeghishe and F. Buzand wrote about them.

Military forces are also an attribute of the established state. The Albanians already in the IV century. BC e. there was an army. Arrian (II century AD), telling about the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. e., reports that the Albanian detachment was part of the Achaemenid army. In the IV century. BC e. in the first period, when a state unit began to take shape in Albania on the basis of a tribal union, an army was formed. Strabo testifies that "they (Al-bans) put up more troops than the Iberians: they arm sixty thousand infantry and twenty-two thousand horsemen - with such forces they fought against Pompey." Plutarch reports that the equipment of most of the Albanians who fought the Romans was made from animal skins. It can be assumed that the mountaineers represented the main military force in Albania.

On the high level of weaponry of the Albanians in the 1st c. BC e. the comparative data of their weapons with the Armenian and Iberian also speak. As a result of archaeological excavations on the territory of Dagestan, various types of weapons were obtained. Of no less interest in studying the social system of Albania is a comparison of the level of its development with neighboring Iberia. “A similar social process took place in neighboring Albania,” writes

The main social unit of the Albanian state was the rural community with all the specific features of the eastern community. To designate a community in the Dagestan languages, there are terms: in the Avar “bo”, in the Dargin “khGureba” (lit. hGureba), which, according to researchers, arose in the era of military democracy. Of course, these terms had a different content in the Albanian period. The rural community of Albania was named by Moisei Kagankatvatsi "mi-

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rum", and community members - "laity". To designate community members in Dagestan, Iakut finds the term "khamashira", which in translation

VF Minorsky means "free".

The community members, who enjoyed self-government, retained, of course, a certain independence, but were not spared from exploitation by the state authorities of Albania. Their independence was nominal.

Slaves also belonged to the dependent population of the Albanian state. “Before the Arab conquest,” writes Prof. S. V. Yushkov, - slavery in Dagestan did not have a pronounced character. At the same time, it was patriarchal. It should be assumed that in determining the social system among the Albanians, the main role was played not by the absolute number of slaves, but by their importance in production.

There is no reason to suspect Strabo and other ancient authors of distorting the facts on the issue of slavery in Albania. But it is quite possible that they, under the impression of highly developed slaveholding relations in their own country, reduced their role in Albania, as well as in neighboring Iberia, and left only meager data. One should also keep in mind the tendency of ancient authors to emphasize the backwardness of other peoples.

Temple attendants known from ancient sources (hyerodules), about whom, in particular, Strabo reports, are believed to have been slaves. In the Armenian source, the category of dependent population, designated by the term "common people", most likely should be attributed to slaves. Arab authors refer to the servants of the Dagestan possession of Lakz as "mshak". A similar term was used to designate slaves in ancient Armenia.

Linguistic analysis of social terms in the Dagestan languages ​​allows us to judge that slavery in Dagestan has its roots in the depths of centuries. The presence in the words "bow!" and "lag" (which in the Dagestan languages ​​denotes a slave) of sounds characteristic of the Iberian-Caucasian languages, according to linguists, suggests that they belong to the same basis of the original Dagestan lexical fund and are ancient social terms.

The main sources of slavery in Albania seem to have been the slaves that appeared as a result of the wars.

In the Greco-Roman era, Albania did not pay as much tribute to the Roman Empire as it pledged to participate in joint campaigns, as a result of which a large proportion of the prisoners went to the Albanian military nobility, who turned them into slaves. The Hellenistic period is a time of widespread piracy. The ancient Armenian historian F. Buzand (5th century AD) notes: “But when the Persian troops went on a campaign against the Armenians, the Albanian king Urnayr with his detachment was also with them. The Albanian king entered into a conversation with those who were with him, and said: “Now I warn you so that you remember

that when we take the Greek troops into captivity, many of them must be left alive, we will tie them up and take them to Albania and make them work as potters, masons and masonry workers for our cities, palaces and other needs. Quite interesting information about the piracy of the North Caucasian tribes is reported by Strabo.

Slave labor was used mainly on construction sites. Ancient cities and other structures were erected by slaves, the construction of which required extraordinary effort.

In connection with the further development of productive forces, the growth of handicraft production, trade, as well as the emergence of cities - trade and craft centers, a certain percentage of the population of Albania were artisans who specialized in the production of luxury goods, military equipment.

Of great interest for revealing the social relations that prevailed in Albania is the elucidation of the question of land relations. Comparing what is known about Albania with the state structure of neighboring Iberia, we can assume that there was a "royal land" in Albania.

Temples, which owned vast land holdings, acted as large landowners in Albania, as in other Western Asian states. The land owned by the priests is called "sacred" by Strabo. It was inhabited mainly by slaves (hierodules).

The military nobility was also endowed with land. The Arab geographer Iakut has a term that, in the translation of A. Karaulov, means "al-akra", and prof. V. F. Minorsky - “aka-ra”. The term "agarak" denoted a privately owned economy in ancient Armenia. It goes back to the Sumerian-Akkadian<^аг» (акар) со значением «посев», пахотное поле, луг. Можно допустить, что и в древней Албании частновладельческая земля обозначалась подобным термином. О других формах земельной собственности античные авторы ничего не сообщают.

Due to the presence of transit trade routes crossing in Albania, its population is included in the exchange of goods of the Hellenistic-Roman world. This position is illustrated by numerous coins and other finds in various places of ancient Albania. In the world market, foreign coins played the role of an international standard. During this period, Albanians used Roman and Arshakid coins.

In the era of Pompey, Indian goods went from India to Bactria, from here to the Caspian Sea, and further along the Kura and Phasis to the Black Sea. This path has been used since early Hellenistic times. Intermediaries in the Indian trade that took place in the Caucasus were Albanians, Iberians, and others.

In turn, the population of Albania exported various products. Even in the first centuries of our era, the population of Albania made

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lo linen, linen fabrics. From Albania, as ancient authors noted, they exported fish, glue, fabrics from camel hair to neighboring and distant countries. The latter were widely known outside of Albania. Albania was the mediator of trade relations of the Northern Black Sea region, the South of Russia with the countries of Central and Western Asia.

In ancient times, the interest of the peoples in the western coast of the Caspian Sea, where international trade took place, was significant. As ancient authors point out, on the Caspian road, the Utidorses traded Indian and Babylonian goods, and Albanian fishery products were exported to Ekbatani (the modern Iranian city of Hamadan) and other countries.

According to the evidence of Greco-Roman, ancient Georgian and ancient Armenian sources, the Albanian state in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC. e. and the first centuries of the 1st millennium AD. e. was at a fairly high level of economic development.

There were many trade and craft centers reported by Pliny and Ptolemy in Albania. According to the latter, in Albania the number of cities and the most significant centers reached 29. A large number of foreigners lived in Albanian cities - Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Jews, etc. Craft centers were located on trade routes connecting various interior parts of Albania with neighbors. The fact that there are cities in this state speaks volumes.

The active participation of Albania in international trade in the last centuries BC. e. and first centuries AD. e. well illustrated by numismatic and archaeological materials. Another major trading center in the Caucasus in ancient times was the city of Phasis, where

sixty tribes converged, speaking different languages. The significance of Phasis went far beyond the Caucasus. Merchants from India and Bactria came here. At the turn of the century BC. e. the interest of both the East and the West in the Caucasus was quite great. The cities of the Eastern Black Sea coast in ancient times played the role of connecting links both in relations between the West and the East, and the Caucasian peoples themselves.

Thus, the population of Albania in ancient times maintained economic contacts with many countries and peoples. The main items of exchange were the products of agricultural and cattle breeding, household items - jewelry, tools, weapons.

The territory occupied by Albania played an important role in the relations between the peoples, since international routes of trade, economic and military strategic importance ran through it.

The shortest communication routes between Albania and neighboring regions were along the passes of the main Caucasian ridge. The population of Albania communicated with the outside world not only along these shortest routes, but also through the coastal territory.

Playing an important role in the relations between peoples, trade routes contributed to the further economic and cultural development of Albania and the expansion of trade and economic contacts between the Albanian population, on the one hand, and the ancestors of Georgians, Armenians, Chechens, Ingush, Ossetians, on the other.

Trade routes drew Albania into the orbit of international trade - with China, India and Egypt, Parthia and the Black Sea region, Central Asia.

The ancestors of the Dagestan highlanders fought against numerous conquerors as part of Albania.

Arrian (II century BC), referring to the author of the book Anabasis, reports that in the battle of Gaugamela, in the battle in which it was decided whether or not to be a Persian state, Darius III put an Albanian on the battlefield, and with this in the center of his battle formation.

The eyes of Alexander's successors repeatedly turned towards the Caucasus; they made numerous attempts to conquer this region, but all their attempts to conquer it were in vain. Armenia, Albania, Iberia withstood the stubborn long-term struggle and retained their independence.

The Albanians also fought against the Roman slave state, which had become the leading power in the Mediterranean basin. In an effort to capture and hold world routes and markets in the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, the Romans made a number of conquest campaigns in the East, in particular, in the Caucasus. Mastering it gave Rome the opportunity to keep the Caucasian highlanders and the dangerous rival Parthia in subjection, as well as to protect its richest eastern provinces.

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tion from the invasion of nomadic tribes.

The same economically and strategically important areas were also claimed by the Pontic king Mithridates Eupator (111-63 AD). Between Rome and the Pontic kingdom at the beginning of the 1st century. n. e. there were a number of wars, as a result of which the Pontic king lost important economic areas.

Having defeated the troops of the Pontic king Mithridates Eupator, the Romans under the command of Lucullus in 69 BC. e. attacked Armenia. Roman troops headed for the city of Tigranocerta, founded by Tigran II. The Armenian king was forced to retreat deep into the country in order to gather forces to fight against Rome. A long siege of the city began. In this struggle, the Albanians and other peoples came to the aid of the Armenian people. The fight against Rome for the Albanians was not only a matter of nobility. In essence, the war of the population of the Caucasus against the Roman conquerors begins. Although the Roman commander managed to occupy the territory of the Pontic kingdom, he could not take Tigranokert. Tigran, supported by the joint efforts of the Albanians, continued to fight against Rome.

In 68 BC. e. the Romans moved to the city of Artashad (Artaxatus - Greco-Roman). And here the Albanians opposed the Romans. In the battle near Artaxatus, in the army of Tigranes, many horsemen and selected detachments were lined up against Lucullus, among them were Albanians. The hostilities took on a protracted character, the Roman legions suffered significant losses, Lucullus was forced to retreat to Cilicia, not having achieved his goals. In 66 AD e. Tribune of the people Gaius Mamilius submitted to the comitia a proposal to transfer the supreme command to Pompey in order to continue the war with Mithridates.

The Albanians put up strong resistance to Pompey, who was pursuing the Pontic king Mithridates. Plutarch reports that the Albanians, in the amount of about forty thousand people, attacked the Roman army, crossing the Kura River. The leader of the Albanians in this battle was King Orioz (Oris). The Iberians and other Caucasian highlanders came to the aid of the Albanians this time too.

Roman authors exaggerated the successes of the military operations of the legions. But they could not ignore the struggle waged by the Caucasian peoples against the Roman conquerors. Dio Cassius admits that Pompey failed to subdue the Albanians, Iberians and other Caucasian peoples. About this fact, he writes the following: “Pompeii granted peace to the Albanians and concluded agreements through ambassadors with some other inhabitants of the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea, at which this ridge ends, starting from Pontus.”

Albania's dependence on Rome was nominal.

In the middle of the 1st c. BC e. The Roman-Parthian wars continued. An open military clash between Parthia and Rome followed in the 50s. BC e., when Parthia tried to

stop Armenia. In 54 BC. e. Rome moved to active operations in the Caucasus and began another expansion against the Albanians. At the suggestion of Pompey, Krase was appointed leader of the troops. Having defeated the Iberians, he invaded Albania, but he could not establish himself here. The campaign of Crassus, undertaken against Parthia and the Caucasus in 53 BC. e., also ended in his defeat.

In 36 BC. e. M. Anthony again made a trip to Parthia. Antony left one of his generals, Crassus, in Armenia to pacify the neighboring Albanians.

The Romans in the Caucasus pursued a traditional policy of setting some peoples against others, which was in their interests. According to D. Cassius, in winter, Krasse, having undertaken a campaign against the Iberians, defeated the king from Pharnavaz in battle, attracted him to an alliance and, having invaded neighboring Albania with him, defeated the Albanians and their king Zober. Although at times the Romans were able to bribe the rulers and stir up hostility between them, the Iberians and Alans mostly fought together for their independence. And after the Parthian campaign of Antony (36 BC), the Iberians and Albanians actually remained independent from the Romans.

The joint struggle of the peoples of the Caucasus against the Roman conquerors was of great importance. By their stubborn struggle for independence, the Albanians made a significant contribution to the defeat of the common enemy.

In the 1st century n. e. a fierce struggle flares up between Parthia and Rome. The international situation prevailing in the Caucasus and Asia Minor again dictated the need to unite the forces of the peoples of the Caucasus against foreign conquerors. The Roman conquerors made new attempts to conquer the peoples of the Caucasus. Emperor Nero at the end of his reign (368) dreamed of eastern campaigns against the Caucasian peoples. According to some researchers, the matter did not go beyond broadcast plans, and, according to others, Nero's detachment made an expedition to the border of Dagestan, to the coast of the Caspian Sea, to the Derbent passage, known in ancient times as the Caspian Gates. Under Domitian, the Roman troops found themselves not far from present-day Baku, on the way to the Derbent passage. It is believed that the new Roman emperor carried out Nero's plan: he captured Albania and subjugated the Sarmatians who lived near present-day Derbent, leaving a whole legion in the country of the latter. Objectively, all these events were dictated by the desire of Rome to establish itself in Transcaucasia and take possession of the Derbent passage. Researchers believe that there is every reason to believe that the punitive expedition of Domitian ended in failure - the departure of the Romans from Albania. Thus Nero's plan was half executed by Vespasian and completed by Domitian.

Part of the Dagestan highlanders took an active part in the struggle against the Romans, Sassanids and under the collective name of the Alans.

V. Miller writes that there is no doubt about

Izvestia DSPU, No. 4, 2014

the fact that all the North Caucasian peoples, whom the Georgian chronicle sometimes calls by name, were known to the Romans under the common name of the Alans.

The formation of the New Persian kingdom of the Sassanids in the East disrupted the stability of the Roman Empire. The contradictions between the Sassanid state and Rome were far from being eliminated. The desire to conquer the Caucasus and other regions of the East continued to be one of the main foreign policy tasks of the Romans and the New Persian state. The protection of the Caucasian passages has been since the first centuries AD. e. the subject of agreements between the empire and the Parthian state, and later, from the middle of the 3rd century, which replaced it with the Persian one. During the period of Sassanid Iran (III-IV centuries), the struggle of the Dagestan highlanders and other peoples of the Caucasus against the invasions of the Sassanids did not stop. Thus, the Dagestan highlanders as part of Caucasian Albania put up fierce resistance against numerous conquerors. The state, which managed not only to resist, but also to maintain its independence from the major powers of the ancient era,

it must be assumed that it was sufficiently organized and significant.

Summing up, it should be noted that the Albanian state arose as a direct result of the development of the ancient Dagestan and ancient Azerbaijani societies.

The Albanian state, which arose in antiquity, was an early class state with remnants of the primitive communal system.

The presented material gives grounds to propose the following periodization of the history of ancient Albania: V-III centuries. BC e. - the period of the birth and formation of a strong union of Albanian tribes and the emergence of the beginnings of statehood; III-II centuries. BC e. - II century. n. e. - the period of the emergence and flourishing of a multi-tribal, early slave-owning or communal slave-owning state with remnants of the primitive communal system; from the middle of the 2nd century n. e. - IV century. n. e. - the period of the collapse of the Albanian early slave-owning state and the formation of early feudal political possessions on the territory of Dagestan.

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The article was received by the editors on June 10, 2014.

UDC-94(470.67)

"Flexible Means" of Autocracy in Relation to the People's Liberation Struggle of the Peoples of the Caucasus in the First Half of the 19th Century

“FLEXIBLE MEANS” OF THE AUTOCRACY AGAINST THE NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF THE CAUCASIAN PEOPLES IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19th CENTURY

© 2014 Gichibekova R. M.

Dagestan State University

© 2014 Gichibekova R. M.

Dagestan State University

Summary. Based on archival and other materials, the article describes the methods and means of flirting with Muslim religious leaders in the Caucasus in the first half of the 19th century. in order to discredit the leaders of the people's liberation struggle and suppress this struggle.

abstract. The author of the article on the basis of archival and other materials describes the methods and means of making advances with Muslim religious leaders in the Caucasus in the first half of the 19th c. to discredit the leaders of the national liberation fight and to suppress this struggle.

Rezjume. V state na osnove arxivnyx I drygix materialov opisybautsa metodi I sredstva zaigrivania s mysyl-manskimi religioznimi liderami na Kavkaze v zelax diskreditazii predvoditeleu narodno-osvoboditelnou borbi i podovlenia atou borbi.

Keywords: Caucasus, imam, Muslim clergy, Shamil, armed struggle, qadi, Dagestan, Russian authorities, highlanders, Naib.

Keywords: the Caucasus, Imam, Muslim clergy, Shamil, armed struggle, Qadi, Dagestan, Russian authorities, highlanders, Naib.

Kluchevie slova: Kavkaz, imam, mysylmanskoe dyhovenstvo, Shamil, voorygonnaa borba, kadiy, Dagestan, rossiuskie vlasti, gortsi, naib.