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Khinalug people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Khinalugs
Total population
2,233[1] (2009, census)
Regions with significant populations
Quba District2,177[1]
Khachmaz District36[1]
Qusar District20[1]
Languages
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups

The Khinalugs (Azerbaijani: Xınalıqlılar, Khinalugh: кеттитурдур,[2] кетш халх[3]) are an indigenous people of Azerbaijan that speak the Khinalug language, a Northeast Caucasian language. The Khinalugs are indigenous to the Quba District and have been named after their main village, Khinalug. They are one of the peoples that have traditionally been called Shahdagh (together with Budukh people and Kryts people).[4][5][6]

History

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The first written information about the Khinalug people is from the 18th century. Because there is no information about their history, it is impossible to study their ethnogenesis. There were some attempts to identify an ethnogenetical relation between the Khinalug people and the tribes of Caucasian Albania.

A. Geybullaev considered the endonym ketid to be related to the name of one of the Caucasian Albanian tribes, ket/gat.[7]

Another attempt was made by Anatoly Novoseltsev. He wrote: "Of those (i.e. tribes mentioned in Ashkharatsuyts—N.d.R), I think, the most interesting are Khenuks (Khenuts), i.e. obviously, Khinalugs, who retained as an independent ethnic component in the north of Azerbaijan even today". According to N. G. Volkova, such an approach in determining ethnogenetical relations is hardly acceptable as Anatoly Novoseltsev's theory proceeds from a resemblance of two ethnonyms.[8] Another scientist, R. M. Magomedov, considered that Khenoks are Rutuls.[9]

The first mention of the Khinalug toponym is in the works of Yaqut al-Hamawi in the 18th century[clarification needed] as Khinaluk. The first information about the Khinalug people is also from the 18th century. In the 18th century, they were an "independent community" (jamaat) and at first, the community was a subject of the Shirvan Khanate and later the Quba Khanate. Although being a subject of the Shirvan Khanate, unlike the rest of the population, they were free of any obligations and taxes, except military service.[8]

During the First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union in 1926 there were 105 Khinalugs in Azerbaijan.[10] Already then part of the Khinalugs considered themselves to be Azerbaijanis both by self-identification and by language.[8] In the 1960s they were offered to be resettled in the lowlands of the Quba district, but they refused.[8] For a long time they have not appeared in any census. They were recorded in the 2009 Azerbaijani census.[1]

Language

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Main article: Khinalug language

Khinalug language is a Northeast Caucasian language, either forming its own sub-branch[11] or as a member of the Lezgic languages.[12] Russian orientalist I. N. Berezin, who traveled in South Caucasus in 1840s wrote: "It is said that in the Quba Khanate, there are living antiquities. They are the people of Khinalug, who speak a non-human or at least non-local language, that is understood neither by people of Quba, nor by Lezgins".[8] Anatoliy Genko who visited Khinalug in 1926, speculated about the closeness of Khinalug with the Udi language.[8]

As Khinalug language is spoken only in one settlement, it has no dialects. But some phonetic differences noticed in the speech of the upper, middle and lower parts of the settlement.[3] It is an unwritten language. But in 1991 "ХӀикмаьти чаьлаьнг" in Khinalug language (in Cyrillic script) was published in Baku. It has been taught in the primary school in 1993-1999, but later was discontinued. The reason is believed to be parents' great interest in good reading and writing abilities of their children in the Azerbaijani language.[13]

In 2007 a new alphabet based on Latin script was adopted.[citation needed]

Religion

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Khinalugs are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims.[6] According to a legend, they converted to Islam in the mosque Jomard (Gomard) or Abu Muslim located in their settlement.[14] Beside Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, they also celebrate Nowruz.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Ethnic composition of Azerbaijan 2009". Tim Bespatyov. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Хиналугцы" [Khinalugs] (in Russian). БСЭ. Archived from the original on 2012-07-21.
  3. ^ a b Bokarev, E. A. (1967). Языки народов СССР [Languages of the Peoples of the USSR] (in Russian). Vol. 4: Iberian-Caucasian Languages. Moscow: Nauka. p. 659. OCLC 278293598.
  4. ^ Cavadov, Qəmərşah (2000). Azərbaycanın azsaylı xalqları və milli azlıqları (Tarix və müasirlik) [Few Peoples and National Minorities of Azerbaijan (History and Modernity)] (in Azerbaijani). Baku: Ėlm. pp. 167–209.
  5. ^ Bruk, Solomon I. (1986). Население мира: этнодемографический справочник [World Population: Ethnodemographic Handbook] (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. p. 167. OCLC 18557502.
  6. ^ a b Bennigsen, Alexandre; Wimbush, S. Enders (1986). Muslims of the Soviet Empire: A Guide. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780253339584.
  7. ^ Mustafyev, Arif (2009). "Хыналыг — реликт в этнической истории Азербайджана" [Khinaliq — a relic in the ethnic history of Azerbaijan] (PDF). Ethnosis (in Russian). 37 (1).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Volkova, N. G. (1980). "Хыналыг" [Khinalig]. Кавказский этнографический сборник (in Russian). 7.
  9. ^ Lavrov, L. I. (1962). "Рутульцы в прошлом и настоящем" [Rutuls in the past and present]. Кавказский этнографический сборник (in Russian). 3: 113.
  10. ^ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по регионам республик СССР" [All-Union Population Census of 1926: National composition of the population by regions of the republics of the USSR] (in Russian). Demoscope Weekly. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-02-10.
  11. ^ "Nakh-Dagestanian". Ethnologue. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  12. ^ Jarceva, Viktorija N. (2005). Языки народов Российской Федерации и соседних государств [Languages of the Russian Federation and Neighboring Countries] (in Russian). Vol. 3. Moscow: Nauka. p. 319. ISBN 9785020112377.
  13. ^ Alekseev, Mikhail; Kazenin, K. I.; Suleymanov, Mamed (2006). Дагестанские народы Азербайджана: политика, история, культур [Dagestani Peoples of Azerbaijan: Politics, History, Culture] (in Russian). Moscow: Europa. p. 99. ISBN 9785973900700.
  14. ^ Ismailova, A. A. (1980). "Полевые материалы о пережитках архаических верований в селе Хыналуг" [Field materials on the survivals of archaic beliefs in the village of Khinalug]. Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Azerbaijan (1977) (in Russian). Baku: Ėlm. p. 59. OCLC 23695923.
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