New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1923-02-16
KNOW OF DAGHESTAN'
EUROPEAN Country
Il Is Continental Land OIL CliI.
DWellers Who Lived in Long Ago


mountains second only In magnitud
TO the Himalayas. Of men and Gu,
toms that are hold.over from IN
tenth century. and OF eliff.side vii
lagos that resemble nothing so niue
as our own Indian pueblos OF IN
southwest"
Such IL Daghestan. says a bulleti
from the Washington, headquarter
OF the National Geographic society 4
regard to the Russian Switzerland,
a tiny republic OF the Soviet fed
GRAFTON. whose starving people. II ha
been announced are TO be give
American relief
"Daghestan. II Is safe TO say,
one Of the least known regions o
Europe" continues the bulletin. "on,
reason for this In that II In on on,
OF Europe's remote borderlands. De
spite political borders OF the past ant
muddled racial boundaries OF th'
present. the Caspian sea and tn,
Caucasus mountains are generally ac.
eepted as marking the southeastern
lines where Europe ends and Asia
begins. Daghestan Is wedged In be.
tween the two.
Live Ijfc Of Middle Ages.
''The rough rectangle OF Daghes.
tan. about so miles wide. by 100
miles long consists almost entirely OF
practically treeless mountains that
extend from the crest OF the eau
casus TO the sea. and deep valleys
and gorges In the more open val
leys near the coast the inhabitants
were influenced by the Russians and
became relatively civilized and pros
porous. But In the deep valleys and
on the precipitous terraces of the
higher mountains the primitive life
and customs OF the Middle Ages still
exist.
"Daghestan has had waves of i'm
migration since before Jason and his
Argonauts went into this part of the
world In search OF the Golden
Fleece. But II cannot be called a
melting pot Instead 1t has been
sort Of racial sample room where
the odds and ends of many peoples
have been thrown together. Descend
ants of Aryans, who dropped out
there as Aryan tribes moved west
ward, were Joined by deserters from
the Greek and Roman armies of
Alexander and Pompey. The Celts
who founded Galatia probably lost
some stragglers there Some of Tam
erlanes Mongos were added. The
Arabs who operran the country in
the eighth century established in the
mountains military colonies. whose
members became another factor In
the population and gave it the Mo-
hammedan religion. Crusaders, wan
dering back from the Holy Land,
stopped there to rest and never took
up again their homeward journey.
To these mountain Businesses, too,
sl,aye come the prosecuted of alrI
,neighboring lands-Jews. Georgians, !
Persians, Armenians and Tatars.
Z Highlanders Look Like Scotsmen.
There has been fusing of these
elements, of course, but in many of
the isolated villages or aouls certain |
dominant strains are easily recog-
5nized. Dress some Daghestanian
in kits and bonnets and
you could hardly distinguish them
from Scotsmen. Some fair-haired,
blue-eyed villagers one might meet
on German highway. Others are
obviously of Italian, Armenian, Jew
ish or Mongo origin. But though
they keep the appearance of their
remote ancestors and resemble their
distant cousins Of today, psychology
ically they have lost the kinship.
Their mountain environment has
nodded them as mountain environ
ments ever do. They have common
traits; and the plainsman of the
north does not differentiate. To him
they are merely the fortse, or noun
Like mountaincers throughout the
world the people of Daghestan cher
ish their liberty. They were uncon-
luered until the tremendous numbers
and modern equipment Of the Rus
slams, pushing their empire south
ward, overwhelmed them about athe
middle Of the nineteenth century.
Even then, it had taken two genera
lions TO subdue them.
They are picturesque people,
-ho Daghestanians. Like the Geor-
;ians on the south slope of the eau
,asus, they wear long. tight wasted !
outer garments, decorated across the
hest with shining cartridge cases.
On their heads are large wooly,
,rimless hats.
Enter Houses by Ladders. +
Just as the need of protection :
rom enemies drove the Indians of
outhwestern United States to build h
Iwellings on the cliff-sides, SO sim 4
lar need developed such houses in
)aghestan. Some of the villages or II
ouls are as much as 1000 feet h
bove the valley floors on almost I
cliffs, and can be II
cached only by several hours of Il
along zigzag paths. The +
ouses are built of rough stone stuck
ogether with clay. The floors are Of Il
ard-beaten clay. but in many cases r
re covered with rugs. House rises Y
bout house in terraces, the roofs of II
he lower one serving as courts for II
hose above. The comparison with Y
ueblo villages does not depend on Il
uperficial appearances, but may ex- n
md even to the ladders and notched =
,gs used to mount from level to
vel. n
Deep among the higher Daghes- =
In mountains the traveller finds his l.
slendar turned back almost a mil n
nnium. The port-hole windows Of r
he houses have neither glass nor |.
Ish. Dried human hands. the tro- II
HES of battle. may now and then be r
'und nailed to a door. Meals are y
item on the floor from common {
sh with sharpened splinters of pine. |.
here is trial by ordeal, and the y
God feud still RACES"