Kaitagians

In the fourteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, they entered the Kaitag Utsmii ^[1] , which was one of the princely possessions in Dagestan with the ruler of Utsmii (from the word uzi - brother in Kaitag). Utsmi military and political forces were Upper Kita and Dargin free societies Utsmi-Dargo, Akusha-Dargo, Kaba-Dargo, Burkun Dargo, Muira, Gapsh, Sirkha, Surgi and Usmiy, valuing their loyalty, sent a newborn son to them, where women put it to the chest ( atalism ). In this way, Utsmiy cemented a political alliance with the free societies of the Upper Dargo, having relatives with them. The capital of Kaitag Utsmii is Kala-Koreish (Utsmii mausoleum), later - Urkarah and Majalis , the residence in Bashly . Traditionally, the upper Uzden Kaitag Utsmi-Dargo was distinguished, and the lower one - Rayatsky, Terkeme, Bashly, Yangikent ^{[1] [2]} . Since the 1860s - in the Kaitago-Tabasaran district of the Dagestan region . Islam has spread since the 14th century. According to the 1926 census, Kaitagans numbered 14.4 thousand people. Starting from the 1939 census, they are counted as part of the Dargins ^[1] .

The neighboring peoples are known by the names:

• khaidakalar - among the Kumyks,
• haidakyanti - at tabasaran,
• jugyar , kaytagyar - in Lezghins.

Traditional culture is typical for Dagestan peoples . The main arable tool in the Upper Kaitag was a mountain plow (derezzz), in the Lower - a dump. From the 19th century engaged in sericulture . Weaving of wool, hemp, cotton and silk was developed, in Upper Kaitag - wood carving (housing details, furniture) and stone (gravestones, architectural carving , including animal figures, plot scenes), blacksmithing , in Nizhny - embroidery I’m stitching on a dark blue background (inserts on pillows, curtains, clothes) ^[1] .

They traded (mainly with Derbent) cattle, honey, fruits, madder , scaffolding, wooden utensils, and others. From December to May, most of the Upper Kaitag men were engaged in exodus to the Derbent region ^[1] . In the XX century. formed the intelligentsia ^[1] .

The traditional occupations of Kaitagans are agriculture and cattle breeding (in the foothill and lowland zones - agriculture, horticulture and viticulture). The main crops in the mountain valleys are: corn, which was sown with beans, barley, bare-grain barley, hemp, flax, and wheat. In the mountain zone - barley, wheat, carrots, potatoes, rye. In the foothills - winter wheat and barley, spelled, millet, corn, oats. Of the auxiliary industries, hunting was developed. From December to May, most of the men from the Upper Region went to the latrine industry in the Derbent region. Wool and hemp weaving, the manufacture of paper and silk fabrics were developed. In the Upper (forest) region, crafts related to the processing of wood were developed (the production of agricultural implements, wheels, chests, beds, chests, various utensils, etc.), blacksmithing and stone-cutting. Minor blacksmithing existed in the Lower Region. They traded (mainly with Derbent) cattle, honey, fruits, madder, scaffolding, wooden utensils, etc. ^[2]

Nowadays, the main occupations of Kaitagans are agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, and cattle breeding; otkhodnichestvo is developed in the cities of Russia.

The traditional villages of the Western Kaitagans are crowded settlements with pronounced vertical zonality; The villages of eastern Kaitaghs are approaching the type of neighboring Kumyk and generally foothill settlements. Houses are often stone. Kaitagans are characterized by houses with a veranda on the front sunny side. The interior of the house: huge, full-length walls of chests, cabinets for dishes and products with several shelves, decorated with carvings, wooden ottomans and beds with curly decorations and carvings, chairs, small stools with and without backrests, a stool with three legs ^[2] .

In Upper Kaitag, battle and watch towers are known; in s. Itzari of the Dakhadayevsky district (west of Kaitag) has preserved walls and a round watchtower - probably part of the fortification system of the 15th – 16th centuries, coming from Derbent ^[1] .

In the XIX century, each aul was a rural community, in which the division into a number of large and small related groups — tukhums (zhins) ^[2] , large families (hola kulpet) ^{[1] -} remained.

The traditional clothes of the Kaitagians are similar to the clothes of the Dargins. Men's clothing: tunic-shaped shirt, trousers, beshmet, Circassian sheepskin coats, cloak, sheepskin hats, for wealthy Kaitagh people - karakul hats, cap, felt hats. Shoes - woolen socks, windings, morocco boots (with sewn and not sewn on shafts), galoshes (galush) and shoes without backs on thick leather or wooden soles (rawhide or morocco upper), diricha and other shoes. A silver belt, a dagger, a flintlock pistol with a completely blackened silver handle, a checker, etc. served as adornments for the men's suit. Elegant Circassians sheathed with a braid ^[2] .

The traditional women's costume consisted of two kinds of pants (wide and narrow), tunic-shaped shirts of bright colors (red, yellow, green, orange, etc.), an archaluka, a dress like the Kumyk hem (open swing dress) and a shirt-dress with a detachable waist, sheepskin coats. Headgear: a chukh, a large ashmag blanket, a variety of scarves ^[2] .

The diet includes meat and dairy products (including poultry and game meat), dough products, edible wild herbs. Of the traditional dishes, pancakes ( burshchina ), pies made from cornmeal (ava mucheri), chicken pie (arkvalla basbik), figured bread in the form of a partridge with an egg baked inside (kyakba), halva (flour - arbish, walnut - flies) are typical of traditional dishes. From drinks, wine made from boiled Musti grape juice has spread ^[2] .

The Dargin miracle got its start from the Kaytag people (but the Kaytag people also added walnut).

National holidays and ceremonies: weeding (akhrartsdila bayram) sweet cherries, calling and stopping the rain, calling the sun ^[2] .

A funeral rite is characteristic (only a widow could sew funeral clothes for a deceased, only unmarried women could wash the floor after removal of the body, etc.). The main calendar holidays: spring New Year (Gevla Bayram; girls rocked on a swing, men competed in horse racing, throwing a stone, etc.), a grape festival ( Ikari hursan bari ), etc. The rites of invoking the sun, invoking and stopping the rain, etc. p. ^[1]

From traditional types of folk art: stone carving (tombstones, details of stone houses), wood (utensils, furniture, wooden structures of the house, etc.), embroidery, etc. They have traditional solar and spiral motifs, often on the walls of houses there are carved figures of people, animals, sun discs, competitions, archery, etc. In pre-Islamic religious beliefs, the specificity of individual elements and rites is found ^[2] .

Of the genres of folklore, the most common prose genre (stories and tales) ^[2] .

• Alimova B. M. Kaitagtsy // Peoples of Russia. M., 1994. Ss. 176-178.
• Alimova B.M. Kaitagi. XIX - beg. XX centuries Makhachkala, 1998.
• Alimova B.M. Kaitagi // Peoples of Dagestan. M., 2002.
• The peoples of Russia. Atlas of cultures and religions. - M .: Design. Information. Cartography, 2010 .-- 320 p. - ISBN 978-5-287-00718-8 .
• Sergeeva G. A. Kaitagtsy // Big Russian Encyclopedia, Volume 12. - M .: Scientific Publishing House "Big Russian Encyclopedia", 2008. Ss. 468-469.