FIG. 107.—Kundrof Tatar (Turkoman) of Astrakhan, with cap.
(Phot. Sommier.)
FIG. 108.—The same in profile, with skull-cap,
which is never removed, worn under the cap.
(Phot. Sommier.)
C. CAUCASIAN PEOPLES.[391]
All who have seen the ethnographical maps of the Caucasus must have been struck by the motley appearance which they present; fifty various tribes may in fact be counted in this isthmus, the area of which is less than that of Spain. I shall speak here only of the Caucasians properly so called—that is to say, of the peoples who dwell only in the Caucasus, putting on one side all others (Iranians, Europeans, Turks, Mongols, Semites, etc.) who have overflowed into this country from the adjacent regions.
The Caucasians are sub-divided into four linguistic or ethnic groups: the Cherkess (on the north-west of the Caucasian range), the Lesgian Chechen (on the north-east of the range), the Kartvels or Georgians (on the south-west of the range), and the Ossets (in the centre of the range on both slopes). The last, by their language, are the nearest to the Iranians and the Armenians, but the three other groups form a perfect linguistic unit. The dialects which they speak preserve the impress of a common origin and form a family apart which has nothing in common with any other.
The Cherkess or Circassians, until the middle of this century, inhabited all the western part of Ciscaucasia; but, since the conquest of their country by the Russians, they have emigrated en masse into the Ottoman empire. At the present day there are only a few remnants of them in the Caucasus. Principal tribes, Abkhazians, Adighé or Cherkess (Circassians) properly so called, Kabards of the plain, Abadzeh, Chapsugh, etc.
The Chechen-Lesgians are divided, as the name implies, into two groups: the Chechen (with the Ingushes, the Kists, etc.) of the upper basin of the Terek, who have long been considered as a population apart (Figs. [110] and [111]), and the Lesgians of Daghestan. These last are sub-divided into five great sections, according to their dialects: (1) The Avars-Andi, with the Dido, whose language tends to preponderate owing to the historic part played by the tribe of the Avars, to which belonged the famous Shamil, the hero of the Caucasus, whose memory still lives. (2) The Dargha in the centre of Daghestan, the best known tribe of which is that of the Kubachi, living in little houses piled one above the other on the sides of the mountains. (3) The Kurines of the Samur basin, with the Tsakhurs (Tabassaurans, etc.). (4) The Laks or Kazi-Kumyks, with which are connected lesser known tribes, like the Agul, the Budukh, and the Khinalugh, whose language is distinct from all the other dialects of Daghestan. (5) The Udes, an ancient Christian tribe converted to Islamism, of which there remain but 750 individuals still acquainted with their mother-tongue (district of Nukha, province of Elisabetpol).