Wedding customs

The wedding ceremony of the Tabasarans, while remaining generally Dagestani, had a bright specificity and was distinguished by diversity. It consisted of three consecutive stages: pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding. Each of these stages was accompanied by certain customs and rituals that existed in different societies in different versions. As a rule, the parents themselves were looking for a bride ("shvush") for their son from a circle of families equal to them in social and economic status. Matchmakingwas usually started by the boy's parents themselves – father or mother. With the consent of the bride and her parents, the wedding day was immediately appointed, which took on the character of a celebration. In different villages, betrothal, as well as the whole wedding ceremony, had their own peculiarities and variants. These differences were caused by the peculiarities in the economic and cultural development of each local group. One of the main points in this cycle of rituals was the payment of a kalym, which was called "pol-puli". The size of the bride price differed in different societies, depended on the class affiliation of the parties and were fixed in the customs of rural societies. In addition to the kalim, the groom paid his bride the kebine money prescribed by Sharia, which was the wife's security in case of widowhood or divorce on the initiative of her husband.The period from matchmaking to the wedding was filled with extensive communication between the relatives of the bride and groom with each other, the payment of a kalym and the preparation of a dowry. For the bride and groom, this is a time of observing the custom of "avoidance" and various kinds of prohibitions.Wedding (sumchir) The Tabasarans started on Friday and finished on Monday. In some villages (Arkit, Tinit, Yersi), on the eve of the wedding, the bride's send–off (bachelorette party) – "kizlar gejesi" ("shubarin") – "maiden night" - a bachelorette party, which was attended by rural youth. On this day, the groom's main friend also came to the bride with a ritual meal. Young people had fun here: they sang songs and danced. The bride also took part in the fun. In some societies, the bachelorette party was called "kyoz kyran" (breaking nuts). Each participant of the evening brought with her a full sieve of nuts for the wedding halva. The boys and girls had fun all evening, "declared love directly or indirectly, chose brides for themselves, expressed their reproaches for lack of attention, etc. The climax came when the light was turned off in the room for a few minutes – "chirag senduren" (extinguishing the lamp). In the past, according to legend, it lasted 1-2 hours. In the village of Yersi, this custom was called "aman-aman" (approximately, "save" or "have mercy"). His informants explain the purpose by the desire of boys and girls, taking advantage of the opportunity, to approach each other, shake hands, hug, kiss their loved ones, which at other times was completely impossible". In other villages (Upper and Lower Yarak, Zaldik, Tsuduk, Kondik), where such hen parties were not arranged, the bridesmaids came to her on the wedding day, each with a chicken. In the bride's house, chickens were cut, plucked, boiled and placed in the bride's chest to be sent to the groom's house.On the day of the wedding (less often the day before the wedding), a religious ceremony of marriage was performed in the groom's house in a specially designated room – "nikyah". A few days before the wedding, the bride and groom were placed in "other houses", where they were surrounded by friends and girlfriends.Music was played in the courtyard of the groom's house (in some villages on the village square) throughout the wedding days. At the wedding, the "khan" (shah), endowed with special powers, and 5-6 of his assistants, who maintained order at the wedding, were chosen from among those present.In the middle of the dance circle, the Tabasarans set up a felled fruit "tree" on which various dishes (eggs, nuts, small loaves, etc.) were strung. Decorated trees at the wedding appear in some other nations. In the Tabasaran village of Vartatil, an oak tree was installed – "myakhyun gyar". It was believed that this tree was strong and branchy. It was assumed that the new family would be the same.On the second day of the wedding at noon, and for some Tabasarans (village Syrtych) at dusk, they went to get the bride. In a traditional wedding, the composition of the persons traveling for the bride was strictly regulated. If the bride was from another village, 20 men and the same number of women went after her on horseback. In their village, only those who brought a tray ("huncha") to the groom's house were sent for the bride with halva. The bride was transported in the mountain villages on a decorated horse, and in the plains on a cart. But the young men accompanying arba also rode out on horseback here. On the way to the bride's house, young people organized equestrian sports, and repeated blank shots were fired.In all villages, on the way to the bride's house, residents of the quarter where the bride lived blocked the road several times. Relatives and friends of the groom bought off with gifts.Many songs were sung by the parties near the gate of the bride's house. The songs were mostly majestic, but humorous, corny verses were also performed. Then the guests were invited to the house, where they were generously treated.In some villages, representatives of the groom's house in the bride's house were made fun of in every possible way, they played a kind of performance: they staged target shooting at the target. For example, when meeting representatives of the groom's house, the bride's young relatives stuck a long pole with an apple attached to the end out of the chimney onto the roof and twisted it all the time.The groom's ambassadors had to hit the apple with a shot and only after that they could enter the house.There was a certain procedure for the departure of the wedding train from the bride's house and its meeting by the groom's side. The bride was taken out of her parents' house by her father, brother or uncle under gunfire. A handkerchief or some beautiful cloth was tied to the gun that was fired from. One of the bride's relatives splashed clean water or scattered rice. A burning candle or lamp was carried in front of the wedding train, and in some villages a mirror. We tried to keep the candle from going out and the mirror from breaking. It was believed that along with the extinguished candles and the broken mirror, the happiness of the young would also be shattered. As a guardian, the bride was accompanied by the wife of the bride's uncle or brother, "shvushvan bab". At the same time, it was meant that the bride could be accompanied by the woman who had a successful family life. It was assumed that all the positive qualities of a woman should be passed on to the young. An integral part of the Tabasaran wedding cycle was the presence of a boy, "chublikan", 3-5 years old, next to her when the bride moved. In some villages, the groom's parents sent some kind of gift for the "chublikan" even before the wedding, in others (the village of Lyakhlya) - a plate of barley. In our opinion, barley in this case was a symbol of abundance, multiplication and constant revival of life. At the gates of the groom's house, the wedding procession was greeted with a tray containing a lighted candle, "hanz" (bread spread with butter and honey) and a flag made of expensive cloth. Then the candle was brought into the family room (khizandin khal) and left lit until the next morning. According to the informants, the burning candle was supposed to ensure that the young people had a bright and happy life until the end of their lives.Before the bride entered the groom's house, the following rituals were performed: until the bride got off the horse, a girl of 13-14 years old ran up to her, touched the bride's right foot with her finger, for which she received a gift; at the threshold, the bride was met by a boy, whom the bride also presented; at the threshold, the bride was showered with sweets, barley, nuts, so that she She lived in this house in prosperity and had many children. In some villages (Khiv, Varta, Tsuduk), bread was broken at the threshold above the bride's head with the wish to give birth to 7 sons and one daughter. Before entering the room reserved for the bride, some iron object, silk cloth were thrown under her feet, honey with butter and sorbet were given to taste. The last rite was called "yichchv kai tlub" (honey finger). Then, at the entrance to the room, a bowl of flour was brought to her and, dipping her hand in flour, she left prints on the lintel. After all these procedures, the bride was led into a room reserved for her, and she stood in the right corner of this room. The woman accompanying the bride ("shvushvan bab") sat next to her. It was a common custom to immediately put a boy on the bride's lap. On the very first night, "shvushvan bab" showed the groom's relatives the dowry and the bride's gifts. At midnight, the guests dispersed. Late at night, the groom came to the bride, accompanied by a friend ("tapakhan"). At the entrance to the bride's room, a ransom was demanded from the groom for the door handle. At dawn, the groom went to the tapakhan house. One of the main rituals in this cycle was the custom of dressing the bride. After the wedding night, the bride had to appear in a new outfit, as if to indicate that from that day on she would become a married woman.At 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the bride in a new outfit was taken out to a dance, which ended with her giving gifts. The dance usually started with "tapakhan". After the dance, all the guests were invited to the groom's father's house, where they were richly treated. The guests, in turn, left money on the tray, for which they received gifts from the bride.On the same day, the young husband escorted home "shvushvan bab" on horseback with gifts for her and for his wife's relatives. Three days later, the ceremony of the bride's first appearance for water was performed, a few days after the wedding, a series of invitations to young people by her husband's relatives began. 1-2 months later, sometimes six months after the wedding, the young woman was visited by her mother, only after that, accompanied by her mother-in-law with gifts, the young woman visited her parents' house.Thus, the Tabasaran wedding ritual is characterized by a complex combination of various rituals. Some of the rituals of the wedding ceremony were associated with religious beliefs and magical ideas.

The collapse of Caucasian Albania, the Arab invasion

In the 7th century, the Arabs invaded the Caucasus, defeating many Middle Eastern and Caucasian states, who headed to Dagestan. The main center of power here was Caucasian Albania, with its ally in the person of the Sassanids. On the eve of the Arab invasion, Tabasaran was one of the largest and strongest feudal entities. After the defeat of the Persian caliphate, Tabasaran was caught between the Arabs and the Khazar khaganate, however, Tabasaran did not give up, together with the Tabasarans, the last ally of Tabasaran and the last center of Caucasian resistance continued to be the Lezgins. When the Arab detachment of Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabi'a (who was part of the compound of the Arab commander Suraki ibn Amr), under Caliph Umar, approached Derbent in 643, the last defenders of the city were Tabasarans, Lezgins and detachments of the Persian garrisons.The city bravely held on and continued to defend for a long period of time, but even when all the resources to continue the defense of the city ran out, the city continued to defend, but when everyone realized that the city could not be saved, the residents of the city, led by Shahrbaraz, made demands to the Arabs, according to which the Arabs, the city would be surrendered and the Arabs, having lost a huge The number of resources and people in the siege of Derbent agreed to these conditions in order to finally subdue the city. On this occasion, at-Tabari writes: "The conditions of peace should have been that no taxes and duties were required from the Derbent people." For this, the Derbent people, under the terms of the peace, were obliged to lock up "all the gorges and not let anyone pass" towards Transcaucasia. During the punitive Arab policy of robbery and violence in Dagestan, Tabasaran was destroyed and looted for refusing to obey and accept the power of the nomads. The Persian historian Balami says that the commander Jarrah called one of his confidants, gave him three thousand soldiers at his disposal and ordered him to go towards Dagestan, ruin everything there that you meet, fight with anyone who decides to resist us and return to me before sunrise. As a result of the punitive expedition, the Arabs took up to 2,000 prisoners from Tabasaran, over 700 from Kaitag, and seized 10,000 cattle and other property. Following the Arab invasion of Dagestan, Tabasaran became part of Derbent or Shirvan. The Arab invasion disrupted the natural course of development of Tabasaran society, its economy and culture. Even more sad for Tabsaran were the consequences of the Gazian campaigns.

The Arab conquerors brought their religion with them — Islam. Qadis (judges who administered justice on the basis of Sharia) and other clerics were appointed for the religious, legal and ceremonial norms of Islam. Mosques were being built. Back in the 8th century, Islamic qadis were in Derbent, Tabasaran, Kumukh, Cure, Richa, and Kaytag. Later they appeared in other places.However, the majority of Dagestan residents hardly abandoned their previous beliefs and rituals. Traditions have been preserved about the resistance to the introduction of a new religion in Serir, in Lakza and in Kubachi. In the VIII century, a church operated in the Tsunta, in the Lavkadan gorge, not all Didoites were Christians, but it was still the state religion of Serir and Lakza. Derbent and Kumukh gradually became centers of the spread of Islam. Hence, under the rule of the Caliphate, regular expeditions were undertaken by supporters of the "fighters for the faith". The spread of Islam in Dagestan lasted until the XV century. By the time Dagestan fell away from the Caliphate, Islam had established itself only in Derbent, on the plane and in the foothills to the south of it and in Tabasaran, that is, in lands where feudal orders had previously been established and ties with the previously Islamized Eastern Transcaucasia were strong.

The Tabasaran Principality

Tabasaran principality (in some sources called "Tabasaran Mysumate" in honor of its first ruler Shirvanshah Muhammad Maysum). The Tabasaran principality was a feudal state entity that existed on the territory of Dagestan. Its ruler bore the title of "Mysum". Tabasarans were the titular nation, and Lezgins also lived on the territory of the principality. Tabasaran principality was one of the strongest, if not the strongest in the Caucasus and in particular in Dagestan, this is evidenced by the fact that in the XV century in the "Testament of Andunik" it is said that out of 260 thousand Dagestan troops 70 thousand were troops of Tabasaran principality. The territory of Tabasaran bordered on the north with Haidak, on the northwest with Gumik, on the south with Lakz, on the east with Baba-ul-Abvab, and on the southeast with Shirvan. Tabasaran not only bordered them, but also played an important role in political events related to the history of the Caucasus. During the Arab invasion of Dagestan, the territory of Tabasaran became part of the Arab Caliphate, and after its collapse Tabasaran came under the control of the state of Shirvan. In 917, Muhammad Maysum came to power in Tabasaran and declared Tabasaran an independent and sovereign state. After that, the rulers of Tabasaran began to be called "Mysums". The main enemy of Mysore was the Derbent Emirate. In 944-956, Muhammad's brother Ahmad was able to establish himself there. In 948, Muhammad became Shirvanshah and handed over the administration of Tabasaran to his son Haysam. After that, he was succeeded by his brother, Ahmad, and he was succeeded by his son Haysam II (981-1025).In 1025, Haysam II died in the "estate of Muhammad" (Humaidiya). In 1065, Khurmuz, the grandson of Yazid (through Manuchikhr), was buried in the estate of Irsi (Ersi), with which he must have been hereditarily related (probably through his mother). As for Derbent, its relations with Tabasaran (protected from it by the mountain), apparently, were less favorable. In 915, Abu'l-Najm ibn Muhammad unsuccessfully fought with the people of Tabasaran. The fact that in 990, Emir Maimun, being expelled from Derbent, retired to Tabasaran, indicates the isolation of these places from Derbent (This is not contradicted by the events of 1054, when Emir Mansur was helped by the people (volunteers) of Tabasaran).By the beginning of the XII century, the Tabasaran Mysumate was divided into 24 estates, each headed by a local "sarhang" (military commander).

Around the same time, in the XII-XIII centuries, the "Khuchni fortress" or "Fortress of seven brothers and one Sister" was erected in the capital of the principality in Khuchni, which has since been preserved, although it has undergone serious modifications. At the moment, the fortress is an object of the national historical and cultural heritage of Tabasaran.