The Mountain and the Wall (32 page)

“Khalilbek! Khalilbek!” someone called out, and the profile disappeared.

The goat-masked man rushed past, sprinkling Shamil and Asya with oat flour.

“May you have as many children as there are specks of powder in this flour!”

“May you have as much wealth as there are fibers in this burka!”

“May your faces be as festive as this Mountain of Celebrations!”

The dancers reveled, and the songs echoed to the snow-covered mountaintops that surrounded them. And the sky came down, touching the towers and the ancient houses, and the village was filled with light.

GLOSSARY OF WORDS, PHRASES, PLACES, & PEOPLE

A

Abdal
(
ARABIC
) Literally “slave of God.” Among the Avars it means “fool.”

Abrek
(
GENERAL CAUCASIAN TERM
) A person who has gone into the mountains, where he lives beyond the reach of the authorities as an outlaw and a partisan. Originally a man from the Caucasian mountains, exiled from his community for a crime, usually murder.

Adats –
The traditional common laws that governed the free mountain communities.

Ai-ui
(
AVAR
) Pandemonium.

Akhvakh and Chamalal
– Two of the indigenous ethnicities of Dagestan.

Alhamdulillah
(
ARABIC
) Praise Allah.

Aqeedah
(
ARABIC
) The Islamic creed.

Aria-urai
(
AVAR
) Hullaballoo.

As-Salaf-As-Salih
(
ARABIC
) Righteous ancestors.

Astauperulla
(
ARABIC
) Lord forgive.

Auzubillah
(
ARABIC
) I turn to Allah for protection.

Avrat
(
ARABIC
) Parts of the body that must be concealed from outsiders.

Ayat
(
ARABIC
) A sign; a portent; a miracle. Each verse of the Koran.

Azhdakha
(
TURKIC
) An evil monster.

Aziz yoldashlar
(
KUMYK
) Dear comrades.

B

Barakat
(
ARABIC
) Blessings.

Barkala
(
ARABIC
) Thank you.

Bashlyk
(
TURKIC
) A peaked cloth cowl with long ends that are wrapped around the neck, worn over headgear in inclement weather
for protection against cold, rain and sun.

Bay’ah
(
ARABIC
) An oath of allegiance.

Bida
(
ARABIC
) A new practice bordering on heresy.

Bismillah
(
ARABIC
) Shortened form of
Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
: “In the name of Allah, the Merciful and Charitable.”

Buruti
(
AVAR
) Jug.

Buza
(
TURKIC
) A fermented drink made from barley, oats, millet, or corn.

C

Ch’a
(
AVAR
) Stop, wait.

Ch’anda
(
AVAR
) Nonsense, foolishness.

Chanka
(
AVAR
) A social class in Dagestan. Descendants from marriages between members of feudal households and local free Dagestanis.

Chchit
(
AVAR
) Shoo! Scat!

Chokhto
(
AVAR
) A headdress for Dagestani women. Nowadays only worn rarely, and only by old women in the mountain regions.

Chudu
(
AVAR
) A Dagestani national dish, pancakes with various kinds of fillings.

Chukha
(
TURKIC
) A shirt worn by mountain dwellers.

Chungur
(
DARGIN
) A stringed, plucked musical instrument.

D

Derkhab
(
DARGIN
) To your health.

Din
(
ARABIC
) Faith, religion.

Dzhakhils
(
ARABIC
) Crude people, savages, ignoramuses; apostates from the Muslim faith.

Dzhigit
(
TURKIC
) In Central Asia and in the Caucasus: a horseman
distinguished for bravery, endurance, hardiness, and expertise with horses and weaponry.

Dzhamaat
(
ARABIC
) A group of comrades. The term has come to refer to militant Salafi groups active in the Northern Caucasus.

Dzhizia
(
ARABIC
) An annual per capita tax levied in Islamic states on free adult male non-Muslims (with the exception of monks).

Dzhurab
– A thick, knitted sock worn by the peoples of the Caucasus and Southwest and Central Asia.

F

Fatimids
(
ARABIC
) A dynasty of Arabic khalifs (909–1171) who traced their origin to Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad.

Fitna
(
ARABIC
) Chaos, discord.

G

Gada
(
LEZGIAN
) Guy, man.

Gazavat
(
ARABIC
) Among Muslims, the term for holy war with nonbelievers.

Godekan
(
DAGESTANI
) A gathering place for men in Dagestani mountain settlements; originally serving as a local representative assembly.

Golden Bridge
– A bridge over the river Samur on the Azerbaijan border. Called the “Golden Bridge” because of the huge amounts of bribes taken by border guards and customs officials.

H

Hadith
(
ARABIC
) Accounts of the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, as they pertain to religious and legal aspects of Islamic life.

Haram
(
ARABIC
) Acts that are forbidden in sharia.

Hijab
(
ARABIC
) In Islam any garment that covers avrat, that is, for women, the whole body except the hands and the face; for men, everything between the navel and the knees.

I

Iakh’namus
(
AVAR
) A sense of shame, conscience.

Iblis
(
ARABIC
) Evil spirit, demon.

Iman
(
ARABIC
) Faith in the tenets of Islam.

Inshalla
(
ARABIC
) God willing.

K

Kafir
(
ARABIC
) An unbeliever, an infidel, one who rejects or does not believe in God.

K’akh’ba
(
AVAR
) Slut, bitch.

Khabary
(
ARABIC
) Rumors, stories.

Khakims
(
ARABIC
) People in charge; rulers.

Khanafites
(
ARABIC
) Followers of one of the legal religious schools of Islam, disciples of the theologian Abu Khanifa.

Khapur-chapur
(
AVAR
) Nonsense, absurdity.

Khinkal
(
AVAR
) Dumplings: lumps of boiled dough served with pieces of boiled meat or sausage, broth, and various gravies.

Koisu
(
TURKIC
) Literally “sheep’s water.” The name of several rivers in the mountainous part of Dagestan.

Kufr
(
ARABIC
) Unbelief, the lack of a moral core, a spiritual vacuum.

Kufr keepers
(
SLAVIC
)
Kufrokhranitel,
a pejorative term used by Salafis to refer to policemen.

Kunak
(
TURKIC
) In Caucasian mountain communities, a person bound by mutual obligations of hospitality. The institution of kunaks

is similar to that
of xenia
(hospitality) among the ancient Greeks.

Kurze
(
TURKIC
) A kind of dumpling.

Kutan
(
TURKIC
) A populated area that falls under a regional mountain administration, but is located on a plain designated for livestock, in an area used for winter pasturing.

L

Le –
A word used in Dagestan when addressing men.

M

Madzhlis
(
ARABIC
) In Islamic states, a sort of parliament; in Dagestan, however, the word is used as a catchall term for religious gatherings, and is sometimes applied ironically, referring to any sort of gathering at all.

Magarych
(
SLAVIC
) A celebration following the successful transaction of a business deal, thrown by whichever party profited.

Mashalla
(
ARABIC
) According to Allah’s will.

Masliat
(
ARABIC
) Reconciliation.

Mavlid
(
ARABIC
) The holiday in honor of the prophet’s birthday. In Dagestan it also refers to any important event in the lives of the faithful.

Mazkhab
(
ARABIC
) The school of sharia law in Islam.

Miurid
(
ARABIC
) Broadly, representatives of one of the movements of Sufism. In the Caucasus, however, the word was used to refer to participants in the national liberation movement of mountain militants fighting for liberation from the Russian Empire.

Muchalas
(
DARGIN
) Traditional Kubachi water pitchers.

Mujahid
(plural:
Mujahideen
) (
ARABIC
) The term for one engaged in jihad.

Munafiq
(
ARABIC
) A hypocrite, keeping the tenets of Islam while harboring doubts or disbelief.

Murtad
(
ARABIC
) Apostate.

N

Nafs
(
ARABIC
) In Islam, the animal passions in man that prompt him to do evil.

Naib
(
ARABIC
) A second in command.

Namaz
(
ARABIC
) In Islam a canonical prayer performed five times a day at strictly stipulated times. One of the pillars of Islam.

Niqab
(
ARABIC
) A women’s garment, usually black, that completely covers the face, with a narrow opening for the eyes. Does not fall under one of the mandatory dictates of Islam.

Nikiakh
(
ARABIC
) Marriage within Islam.

P

Pandur
(
DAGESTANI
) A Dagestani two-stringed musical instrument.

Papakha
(
TURKIC
) Sheepskin or astrakhan fur headgear widespread among the peoples of the Caucasus, the Cossacks, and in Central Asia; worn as part of military attire.

Q

Qadi
(
ARABIC
) A sharia judge.

R

Reduktorny
– A district in Makhachkala.

S

Sabur
(
ARABIC
) Patience.

Sadval
(
LEZGIAN
) Unity.

Sag’rai
(
LEZGIAN
) Good-bye; be healthy.

Sahk
(
AVAR
) A measure of weight equivalent to four kilograms.

Sakhl-i
(
AVAR
) An exclamation during toasts, the equivalent to “to your health.”

Salafi
(
ARABIC
) Derived from
As-Salaf-As-Salih
; a representative of a radical movement in Islam that calls for a renunciation of innovation and a return to the way of life of the Prophet and his followers.

Salallakhu alaikha vassalam
(
ARABIC
) Peace be upon him. One of the standard, complimentary invocations to the Prophet Muhammad that must be spoken when his name is said aloud.

Sura
(
ARABIC
) A chapter of the Koran.

Shahada
(
ARABIC
) Islamic creed testifying to a believer’s faith in Allah as the only god, as well as the prophetic mission of the Prophet.

Shaitan –
In Islam, an evil spirit, hostile to Allah and to human beings.

Shamil, Imam –
Leader of the long-lasting resistance to the Russian Empire in the Caucasus in the nineteenth century; ruler of Dagestan and Chechnya. Ultimately, the mountain dwellers themselves turned him over to the Russians, in 1859, because of his severe policies and imposition of sharia law.