The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-03-23
Stone Dwellings of Village in Dashestan.

psychological traits tnat grow out Oh
and depend upon Typographical envi-
ronment.
They number perhaps Il million n
a half, and are settled in small, $50
lated stone villages throughout the
whole extent of the range from the
Black sea to the Caspian, at heights
ranging from 1900 to 5000 feet. me
maintain themselves chiefly by pastur-
ing sheep upon the mountains ana cul-
tivating a little wheat, millet and IN
dian corn in the valleys, and before
the Russian conquest they were III tbe
habit Of eking out this Scanty suDSist-
ence by making plundering raids into
the rich neighbCring lowlands or
Kakhetia and Georgia.
In religion they are nearly all Mo-
hammedans, the Arabs having over
run the country and the
faith Of Islam as early rs the ElShth
century. In the more emote II IN
accessible parts of the eastern eau
casus, there still remain a few isolated
aouls (villages) OF idolaters.
In Daghestan there are four or ilVe
thousand Jews, who, although they
have lost their language and their ma
tional character, still cling to thelr
religion; and among the high peaks Oh
Tooshetia, in the same province, Is
settled a community Of Christians, sald
TO be the descendants of Il band OF
medieval Crusaders. But these are
executions: nine-tenths of the noun
t~aineers are MOhammedanS of the
i~iercest, most intolerant type.
More Than Thirty Languages.
The and dialects spoken
by the different tribes of this heterO-
geneous population are more thah thlr-
ty in number, and two-thirds OF thelu
are TO be found in the province OF
Daghestan, at the eastern end OF the
range. where the ethnOlogical diversity
OF the population is most marked. 1T
circumscribed and clearly defined are
the geographical limits OF many d
casian languages that in some parlS
of Daghestan it is possible to rld,
through three or four widely dlfferen'
linguistic areas in Il single day
spoken by only twelve o.
fifteen settlements are c0mparatlVei!
common; and On the headwaters o
the Andiski Koisu, in southwestern
Da ghestan, there is an isolated village
Of fifty or sixty hOuses-the a0ui 0
Innookh, which has a language OF IL
|, own. not spoken or understood by an.
other mart of the whole Caucasian
!. population.
| OF course, the life, customs and sc
cial organizations Of Il people WI
: originated in the way described, an
: who lived for perhaps 1000 years ]
e almost complete isolation from all IN
rest of the world, presented when the
first became known many TRANCE an
archaic features. In the secluded va
g leys and canyons of the eastern Iat
casus it was possible to study n stat
V OF society that existed i'll England h'
fore the Norman conquest, anu see !
full operatiOn customs and legal pro-
esses that had been obsolete ever!
where else in Europe for ut least
l. millennium.
II Nany Of the aOulS Of central an
southern Daghestan bear Il striking =
d spmblance to the pueblos and ell
# dwellings Of New Mexico. The ston
walled houses are built together III
T. COMPACT mass on the steep slope Oh
high terrace, and the fiat roofs rise
T. tiers or steps. one above another. Ja
N az they do in the settlements or OF
sc pueblo Indians.
K I'm some aouls the streets, or la
,d sages. from house to house are dal
underground corridors. cut Oh VIII
u the inhabitants climb into Their DIV
In lings on perpendicular ladders
pr rOtched logs. AS the country Is near
r. ~treeless and affords comparatively
tie wood, the walls of the one-sto
ri buildings are almost invariably
roughly broken stone and the roo
n. and floors are usually Of clay mix
ns with chopped straw and beaten haI
rs Near the center OF every large v
lage rises the slender stone minar
Of the Mohammedan mosque, and
IN some high point Of vantage stands
,g- square loopholed NARROWER, In whi
TO the surviving inhabitants take refu
#. and defend themselves to n IL
,e- when their village has been taken
all assault.